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4 



A 


*^ Sf 




DATE DUE 




















































































—A 


^ 







STANRDRD UNIVERSITY UBRARIES 

STANFORD, CAUFORNIA 

94305 



MUSIC Ll| 

STANFORD UNIVEli 



DWIGHT'S 



JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



^ ^a^rtt: of ^vt anA %iUK«tnvc. 



JOHN S. DWIGHT, Editor. 



VOLUME XXXIX 



BOSTON; 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY. 

1880. 



MtJilC LiSRARY 

'-■ r^ i 6 1976 

ML I 



Reprint Edition 1967 

JOHNSON REPRINT CORP. ARNO PRESS, INC. 

New York— London New York, N.Y. 



Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 67-24725 



Manufactured in the U.S.A. by Amo Press Inc. 



VOLUMES XXXIX & XL 



1879-1880 



INDEX. 



AcUof How the Fmich lemni it. Imd. Timet, 

««»ix. 116 

Adun, Adolph. Hii Fauit Ballet, . . . x\, 106 
Adamowik), TimoEli^ 4', . xxxlx. 162, IBS ; xl, M 

Adaim, Charle* R. xl, TB, 192 

Additional Accompanimenti to Korai of Bacli, 

Handel, etc. W.F.A^ . xxxix, ITS. IBS, 180 
- .Xathetio of Moiical Art," Dr. Hand'i. PaU 

MaU Got. xl, 162 

"Aida," and iti Author. Dr. E. Handick, xl, 201 
" A Koae by any otlier name," etc. Fmrng Bag- 

mmut Oatr, zxxix, 18 

A^torja: Hw Stabat Mater. IW. N. £.) 

xixix. 188; Ita., 189 

Award of the Thoiuand Dollar Frite, at Cin- 

c-inoati xl, 28 

A«T: PlINTtltD, ScDLTTomk, ■!& 

Ow Falnlan: Tlia dbv naputure. T. a. A. 

mix, S 

Lift Hchor.lt, ud Hon. X. i»li, U 

Wm. M.ilDnl-iTalkaoiiArt. IMoand SwtM. B*- 
poit«1 b; Min H. M. KnowltoD, . xixli, M, 

U, eo, n, Tn. m, sa, loi, im, in, lis. Mi, M, in, 

IM, ih, 1*1. 1!M, 3lS: if, 11, 13 

R«l ami IdaU In PrtDob AM. W.F.A., . mil, ISI 
I>eMh ot Wlllimn M. Hunt. T. Q. A. Do., Jfitt 

JCmmiUim »xlx. UT 

LMIar f ron nonnoB. " (Mt," .... mix, H 
IMlaeroli iiili, SI, 41 

Bach-BitiiiK. W. F. Antkorp, .... xxxix, 36 
BMh, J. S. Hit Oreheitral Suite in D, xxxix, 
16; MoteE: " Sing to the Lord," xxxix, 46; 
Concertot for three Pianoi, xxxix, 29, xl, 
200; CinlatM, xxxix, 30, 111, xl, 83, 96; 
SL Matthew Pauion Mniic entire in two 
performance* on Good Kridsj, xxxix, 69, 
TH; Chorali, xxxix. 94; manoforte Coni- 
potitinn*. xxxix, 1ST, 146; xl, 96; An al- 
leged unpubliiltcd MS. - xl, 136 

Bailey, MIm Lillian xl. 1T4, 192 

Barker, C, S. Inventor of the PiMuroatlc LeTw, 

xl, 8 

Bamett, J. F. Hi* CanUta " The Snilding of 

the Ship," xl, IBS 

Beethoven : hi* Strinfi Qaarteta, xiiix, 22, 64, 
DO; riano Sonala*, xxxix, 64, 164, IBS; xl, 
1 ; Heroic Symphony, xxxix, 82 ; Ninth do. 
xl, 86 ; Seventli do. 197 ; Fifth do. 1106 ; hi* 
arranftemenl of Scotcb and lri*h Song*, 
with trio accompaniment, xxxix. 190, 187; 
Mitia Solemnii, xl, 96; Triple Concerto, 

BeethoTen, at the height of hi* Actitity. Frvm 
Thaj^'t third vclnme, xxxix, 76, 90; hi* re- 
markable Concert ("Akademie") at Vien- 
na, flO; ThayGr** Biography, xl. 39; B. and 
Vienia (ffniti/jci), xl, 100; B. and hii Mu- 
tic. Land. Mm. SUadard, xl, ISO; Wagner 
on, 140; hii Violin M. (T. 7*.), .... 

" Be ggar*i Opera," the. Sprinafidd AvnUiciui. 
{X. W.T.) xxxix, 148, 1B6 

Benedict, Sir Juliue. Grtst't DictioRory, . xl, 108 

Berlins, H. : hi* '■ Flight into Egypt,'*^ xxxix, 
ST. 19T ; Sjinphonie Fantaitique. xxxix, 47, 
lSrhHn,nn«) xl, 21; "L'F.ntance du Chriit," 
[W. F. A.) xxxix, IBB; Do. (Erf), 306; 
Song, "Tlic Captire," xxxix, 207; "Priw 
de TrxMB,";^. y. Jtfiw. fim., xl, 11; "Dam- 
nation de Fauit," xl, 86, 38, 89, 4», 68, 87, 
121, 191, 207 

Berlioi : Stephen Heller on, xxxix, 67; hi* Mn*- 
ical Creed, 91 ; hii Lrtten (Ed. Hnntliek), 
xxxix, B7 ; Do. xl, 149; B. on Becthofen'* 
Fourth Sjmphony, xl, 41 

Bernhardt, Mile. Sara, the French actreM. 
Mn. F. R. Rilirr, xl, 306 

fiiiet, George*: hi* "Carmen," xxxix, 14; hi* 
Me, by A. Marmontel xl, 146, 166 

Blind, the, in Mu^ xixlx.UO; xl, 110,163, 
180, 196 

Boieldien : hit " John of Farf i," Bmiliek, li, 10 

Boito: hii''MeB«lofele," ■ xl, ISS, ISS, ISO, S04 



Appla Bloaaoraa ; V«w« of two ChlUrm, E. A I>. 

K. Ooodale. r. H. O mix, 

A MuqM or Foat*. r.H.V. .... xxili, 
Hanry Jamaa'a " Saolatr the Badeamad Form o( 

Motlwr-FIaj and Ndimij Song*. From Froatxl. 



Pola'i 



uli. 



«;■'.'.. ' 



TbaPhlloaopbjot Muls." J.S.D. 

Thomu Hardy-i " Batnin of tlia KatlTS " F. H.'&. 

mix, M 
"Zoptil«],"byMartBdelO«ilduiU. F.H.V. 

Bors, Hiaa Selma; her Orcheetral Concert of 

rloree Ma*ic xxxix, 06 

I, 167 

_ Je*tct, op. IB, xxxix, 37, 66; 

Choral Hymn, xxxix, 46: Second .Sym- 
phony, xixix, 46; Dentiche* Bequiem, 

\HimdUk), xxxix, 801 

Braaiin, Loni*: hi* Piano Concerto in F, xl, 3D 

Broniart, H. »on : hii Trio in G-mlnor, xxxix, 

64 ; P. F. Concerto xl, SI 

Bnich, Max : hit " Frithjofi Saga," xxxix, S»; 
" Odyiien*." xxxix, SO, 804, xl,6, 14 ; " Lay 

of the Bell," 166; xl. 7 

Buck, Dudley : hii Prize Cantata : " The Gold- 
en Legend," xl, 28, 91, 06 ; hii Comic Opera, 
"The Mormon*," "" 

' - "inhdaT at Cambridire. xL, 

I, 20S 



Cecilia (Cltib) ; Freddent'i Report, 1870. xxxix, 

— Do., 1880, xl, ii» 

Chadwjck, George W. Hi* OTcrture "Rip Tan 

Winkle," .... xxxix, 184, 305; xl, 81 
Chamber Hnaic, Dr. F. L. Ritler'i Lecturei on, 

xl, 116, 136 

Cberablni : hU Orerture to "Anacreon," xxxix, 

89 ; Prrinde to third act of " Medea," xl, 80 ; 

String Qoarteti, 7B, 17S, 103; D-minor 



Maa 



Oeorse 8and : a 8tndy bj Faniy 
-, xxxTx, 9, e, 36, 33, 41, 66, 73, BI ; 



Chopin, and 
R.Ritur 

A SouTcnir of, T. G. A., 18 ; Anecdote 
104 ; hii CompMltiona, 177 ; Ll*st on C, re- 
Tiewed by Heaalldi, xxxix, 186; An Even- 
ing with (Ll*it) 203 

Church Hu*ic, Reform in : Lecture of Eugene 
Tliayer, xl, ISfl, 182 

Cincinnati ^ College of Muaic, xxxix, 83, 81, 33, 
71,96,103,111,127; xl, 66, 144, 176 ; Sin- 

fiT-¥nl (June, 1870), xxxix, 124; Biennial 
e.tlTd (May, 1879) xl, 80, 96, 102 

Cochrane, Mia* Jewie, the Piani*t, . . xxxix, 64 
Cohen, Henrys hii "Marguerite et Fauit," xl, 07 

College FeBtiiali, Huiic at xl, 117 

CraccERTi in BoeTOR : 

Apollo Club. . . . ixiU,4S,«) xl, 30, n'j, 101,107 
Dbrt, HIa Salnia: Orahaitnd CoBoan of Sort* 

MmIo, ...11, M 

Boaton CozuarTBtory, . . . xxxix. 190; il, '^. 71, 101 
Boylilon Club. . . xiili.M. 1(8, IM; .1, :;!, ii>, 1(B 
CampMiart.Bli., and MDw.Penii Banc. .i. it, 110 

Campball, HU^TaraaaCarTeiKi xl. 4T 

Cmlanl.HBia ixili,4«, ir^, ,1, 31 

C«nia, Tbe, xxili, 30, TO, K (I>raald«Bt'g K-p.iri), 

119; xl, t, H. 47, TB, 10) 



Kl«lib*rf, 
^itaoopal 



Failafa bboln : Rmrtb' Faatinl, ' 



COXCIKTB IN BoeTON : 

Hudal and Haydn Soclalyi " Maaalih " at ChrUt- 

n«, xxxix, 14; il, •; Ul>ii*llui«iii PrDcrBinni*, 
JT; Bach'* PurioD, tS,W, 13; '• Jndu liIWKiab- 
iaiu--Il: "£11)111.'' (Zarnhn TaatlmODUl). IB; 
Hulllfas'a "Prodlcal »on," ato., 137; " laiaal In 
EaypI, II, «; rOth -rtitntm rttUnl IMbt. 

iffliS. 11,70.77,(4, » 

MBrranl Muival AibooIbUoii: 14lh SaaaOD ot Sym- 
pbony Conearta, mix, 3, U, 3», 33, 43. U, 31; iBth 
SaaaoD, 110, !0t; x), IS, W. », «I, H, «1; l*tb Bak- 

Ulll, IlonlotV.' '. '. xl| la 

<fo*affy RBphaal, ixxli, 131) al, H, M; (wUh Wll- 



ha W, ak 
Unt, B. J., I 



I; Berlloa'* "Fault," 






mbildia), 



M«dal**obB ualBb 

N«w Tr«iiont Tampla; Ortau Eibmiloci, xl, 174; 

"HeailBb."lT4;-'Kll]ab," II 

Old Bay Stale Conise it, ^I 

Orib, John, xixli,«;il, 7 

Ouood, OeoTfa I. XIili, I 

pBCll, Hma. Oirlolta, xxxli, 11 

Parabo.Emit, xl. 31, 01,11 



Concan'vlth Hr.'A. Deatra, 
Slmondi, Ml*. Anna MByhaw 
ShSTWOOd. Allan and FiIm, , 
Snmnar, 8. W., Piano Conow 
TMUnionUl to J. 8. Dwlfht, 



BMltali, xxxix, 30, 

. xl, II 



Wtlbalml ud Dl Mnnka, xiHx) 7 

Conierratoirc, the, in Parii, xl, 3 

Corelli, Arcangelo xl, 136 

CoMEirONDBRca : 

Anron, M. Y xl, III 

BBlllmoia, ixxlx, 3, 13, M, S3, 33, 71, 73, », 17S, IM, 

101; xl, lit. 2i 46, 43, SJ, al 7d, 8S, 103. 307 
Chloan, ixxix. 3, H, 30, it, SB, 34, 7 J, Id, 8T, H, 103, 
IIMI*. 1*0. ITS, in, 1>1, IM, W; It. T. 13, A, 40, 

CS, 30, 30. 107, 173, 133, 100. SM 
Clndnnatl, . xixlx,SS,il,«3, 71, H, 111, IST; xl. se 

DiflaiiM.O xxxli, 143 

FloraDM, Italy xl, M 

Lelp^ xU 43 

Mllnokia. mix. 10, 31,43, 33,34, 30 — — — 
IBl, IM, IM, ItO, J03; xl, 31, M, 71 

Newport, K. I., 

KewYork.xiitx.1, 13,13, 13. , „, .... 

xl, 10, 13, 31, 30, 43, «t, 0, 71, m, 190, 104, Mt 

P«rU xxilx, 3. 47 

PhllBdalphla, . xxxix, 7,M, 30, 30, 33,(7, 143; xl, 33 
Pilnsaton, Tnd. ........ . . xxxix, 133 

Prorldanaa, B. 1., . . xiiU,SO, 30; xl, T,M, SB, II 

St. LOBl*. Mo xxxix, Ml 

TiMala, Anitria, xl, 1(3 

Toklo, Jinui xl, 133, m 

ViMBT Collan, Poo^kearaie, N. T xl, IW 

Wtlkwbarr*. I^ xixlx, Itt 

Cramer, J. B xxxix, 161 

Crax; Critic*. Lmd. Mui. Standard, . . xl, 107 



71,38,111,173, I 
xxxix, t;xl, 1 



Dictionary of Hnaic and Muiiciani, edited br 
Oeone Grove xl, 166 

Diiplay, tafluence of In Huaic. C H. BritUBi. 
xxxix, 107 

Donate Children, The, xxxix, 23 

Drama, the Lyrical. 0. A. Mac/arrm, xl, 134, 
190. ISO 

Dreoden : Hemfniocence* of a week there in 
1860, J.S.D xl, 109. 146 

Dforak, Anton. Dr. E. Heaaliek, . . . xl, S 

Dwight'i Journal of Muaic: Salntatian, (Jan. 
1870), xxxix, 5; Plan* for IBSO, 178; An- 
other year; Teatimonial Concert to Ito 
Editor, xl, M6 

Dyapep^ Mnaical, zl, ISt 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC.-- INDEX. 



m 



Eisteddfod, a German. Tonic Sol-Fa Rmorter, 
xl, 178 

Emma of Nerada. A,W,T. xl, 196 

Euterpe, The : a new Mntical Sodetv in Boston, 
xxxix, 21 

Expresaiye Power of Music, The. W. F. 
Aptkorp, xxxix, 77 



Fashion in Music. W. F, Anthorp, . xxxix, 166 
Faust. Goethe's: the Musical Versions of, 
Addj^ JuUien, xl, 69, 97, 106, 113, 121, 129, 
137, (See also Berlioz, Boito, and Lisst), 
Field, John : his Sonatas, etc. . . . xxxix, 101 
Five Sonatas at a sitting. Land. Mtu, Standard, 

xxxix, 3 

Flautist, a Ladj: Maria Bianchini Hanalick, 

xl, 00 

Foote, Arthur W xxxix, 88, — xl, 03 

Folk Songs, Russian. Fanny R Bitter, . xl, 34 

Form, Musical Prof, Maefarren, . . xxxix, 179 

Franz, Robert: his Songs, xxxix, 86; Is he a 

Failure (in his added accompaniments to 

Bach and Handel Scores) t W. F. Aptkorp, 

xxxix, 173, 188, 190 

Gabrieli, Gioranni: his Benedictus in twelVe 

real parts, xxxix, 66 

German Schools, Musical Instruction in, xxxix, 181 
Gerster<Hrdini, Mme. Etelka, xxxix, 13, 23; in 

Berlin {Die Gegemimrt), ..... xxxix, 17 
Qluck: his Operas (G. A. Maefarren), xl, 139; 
with Wagner's additions to the scores, 196; 

his Oyertures, 196 

Goetz, Hermann, and his Symphony in F. xxxix, 
40, ^ xl, 22 ; CantoU, " McenU," xxxix, 143 ; 
Opera "Taming of the Shrew," xl, 37; 
187th Psalm: "By the Waters of Baby- 
lon," {W,N.E.), 61 

Gounod, Charles F. His*' Faust," . . . xl, 129 
Gregoir, Joseph : his " Faust " music, . . xl, 97 
Grieg, Edward: his Quartet, Op. 27, xl, 7; 

piano Concerto in A-minor, . . . . xl, 190 
Grore's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, xl, 166 
Gueymard, Louis : his career and death, . xl, 133 

Hanchett, H. G. His unique Circular and Con- 
certo, xxxix, 02, 190 

Handel: his "Messiah" in Italy, xxxix, 128; 
his will and other relics, 144; The Leipzig 
edition of his complete works (Part 27, 
Chamber Music), xl, 2 ; his " Solomon " (J, 
S, D,), 76, 94: "Utrecht Jubilate" {J. S. 
DA, 83 ; Concertos for Organ and Orchestra. 
114; hisItaUan Operas, 182; " Alessandro,'' 197 
Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston : its in- 
fluence in other places, xxxix, 10; Annual 
Report of the President (June, 1879), 100; 
Annual Meeting (June, 1860), 96; Do., 

- President's Address 99 

Hanslick, Dr. Eduard : his musical lectures in 
Pesth, xl, 8 ; from his critical writings : on 
the letters of Berlioz, xxxix, 97; on His- 
torical Ballets in Paris, 171 ; on Laroix's 
History of Instrumentation, 172 ; on Liszt's 
" Chopin," 186 ; on a Wagnerian attack on 
Schumann, 186 ; on " Idomeneo " in Vienna, 
198; on Music in Vienna (Brahm'8 "Deut- 
sches Requiem," etc.)> 201 ; on Boieldieu'8 
"John of Paris," xl, 11; on Schubert's 
"Des Teufels Lustschloss," xl, 16; on the 
Mozart Week in Vienna, 42, 60; on Hiller 
and Zelter in Vienna, 74 ; on a Liszt-ian Pro- 
gramme, 82; on BeethoTen and Vienna, 
100 ; on Jacques Offenbach, 187 ; on " Aida " 

and its author, 201 

Harrard Unirersity; its Musical Qubs. (J. 
S. />.), xxxix, 147 ; Do : Reminiscences of 
an ex-Pierian, 166, 168 ; music in its annual 
festirals, xl, 117 ; proposed performance of 

"(EdipusT^rannus," 196 

Hank, Bliss Biinnie, in " Carmen," . . xxxix, 14 
Haydn: his Symphony in D (No, 14), xxxix, 
64; his Piano works, xxxix, 164: his "Sea- 
sons," xl, 87 

Hearing Music on Compulsion. J.S.D. xxxix, 126 
Hegel on the "Content" (Inhalt) of Music. 

W^. S. B. Mathewe, xl, 88 

Heller, Stephen: on Hector Berlioz, . xxxix, 67 
HenscheLCSeorg, .... xL 119, 191, 204^ 207 
Hensel, S. His "Die FamUie Mendelssohn," 

xl, 17, 26, 29 

Hiller, Ferd. and 2elter in Vienna, xl, 74; his 

" Faust "OTerture, 106 

H. Bl S. Pinafore, xxxix, 118 

Homer versus " Pinafore." Fortnightlw Review, 

xxxix, 116 

Household Music Geo. T. BuUing, ... xl, 142 
How the French learn to act London Timee, 

xxxix, 116 

Hummel : his Piano works, .... xxxix. 161 
Hunt, William Morris: Obituary notices. T. 
G, A. and Mise Knowlton, . . . xxxix, 167 



Influence of Display in Music C H. Brittan, 
xxxix, 107 

Is Robert Franz a Failurel W. F, A, xxxix, 
178, 188, 190 

"Italophobia." W. F, A xxxix, 21 

lyry. Marquis D^ : his Opera " Les Amants de 
Verone." Lond, Academy, . . . xxxix, 104 

Japan: Mr. L. W. Mason's Music-teaching in 
itoSchools, xl, 96, 186, 161 

Joachim, Joseph. Peether Hotfd. xxxix, 69; 
and Clara Schumann, in I^sden, 1860 (J. 
5. Z>.), xl, 109, 146 

Joseffy, Raphael: in New York {Tribune), 
xxxix, 172, xl, 40, 48, 66 ; in Boston, xxxix, 
182, xl, 32, 79, 94 

Jullien, Adolphc : on the Musical Versions of 
Goethe's " Faust," xl, 89, 97, 106, 113, 121, 
129, 137 

Karasowski's Life of Chopin, . . xxxix, 2, 9, 26 
Kellogg, Miss Fann^, the Sinfper, . xxxix, 16, 16 
King, Mme. Julia Iut^, the Pianist, xxxix, 68, 71 
King, OliTer : Pianist and Composer for Orches- 
tra, xl, 174, 181 

Krebs, Carl: Obituary, xl, 116 

Kreissmann, August : Obituary notices and trilK 
utes, xxxix, 61, 72 ; Address by F. H. Under- 
wood before the Orpheus Musical Society, 123 
Kreutzer, Conradin: his "Faust" Music, . xl, 97 



Lassen, Eduard: his Musical Adaptation of 
Goethe's "Fau8t/' ....... xl, 96 

Leipzig Coneenratorium, The, described by a 

young English Lady, xl, 141 

Leipziger Strasse, No. 3. From "Die Familie 

Mendelssohn ^' by JTense/, . . . xl, 17, 26 
Letters from an Island. Fanny Raymond Bit- 
ter, .... xxxix, 92, 117 ; xl, 18, 84, 44 

Lieblin||^, S., the pianist, xxxix, 61 

Lindpamtner : his " Faust " music, . . . xl, 90 
Lisztian Programme, A. Handiek, . . . xl, 82 
Liszt, Franz: his Hungarian Fantasia, xxxix, 
62; xl, 190; "Benediction de Dieu dans 
le Solitude," xxxix, 86; his "Chopin" 
(HanMliek), 186; his "Faust Symphony," 
206; xl, 67, 106; his Career {Groove Dic- 
tionary), xl, 20, 27, 36; T>o»iGartenlauhe), 
161, 169; Catalogue of his Works, 36, 43; 

his Dante " Inferno," 197 

Local Orchestras : Plan of. C. VUliere Stanford. 

xl, 142 

Locke, Warren A xxxix, 98 

London "Monday Popular Concerts": their 
Rise and Progress. Mut. Standard, xl, 

148, 164, 166 

Luther, BCartin, as a Musician, . . . xxxix, 164 
Lyceum Bureau Concerts, . . . xxxix, 169, 166 
Lyrical Drama, The. G, A. Maefarren, xl, 124, ' 
130, 139 

MaUbran, Maria Felidtk {Grove'e DietA, xxxix, 180 

Marsick, M., the Belgian VioUnist {Haneliek), 
xxxix, 202 

Mason, William, Mus. Doc. His " Pianoforte 
Technics. C. B. Cody, . . . xxxix, 28, 86 

Mason, Lowell, Mus. Doc A. W» Tkayer. 
xxxix, 186, 196 

Massenet, M. His Opera " H Ri di Lahore." 
xxxix, 128 

Mendelssohn, Die Familie, by Hened, xxxix, 
24, 40: xL 17, 26, 29; his many pursuito 
{Grove^M Diet.), xl, 49, 67, 66; his desire to 
compose " Faust," 187 

Mendelssohn : his B-flat Quintet, xxxix, 37 ; his 
Octet, xl, 26, 46, 71 ; " St. Paul," xl, 77 ; 
43d Psalm, 84; Orerture " Meeresstille," 
etc xl, 206 

Mephistophelian Mummery. Lond. Mus. Stand- 
ard, xl, 138 

Moscheles, Ignaz, as a piano composer xxxix, 169 

Mozart, as a dramatic composer {F. L. Bitter), 
xxxix, 49: a Portrait of, 162; Mozart 
Week in Vienna, xl, 60; his Skull, ... 90 

Mozart : his Piano Concerto in A-major, xxxix, 
16; Cone, for two pianos, 140; "Magic 
Flute," xxxix, 23 ; Leporello's" Catalogue " 
Aria, xxxix, 49 ; Quintet in G-minor, xxxix, 
66; QuarteU, xl, 14; his "Idomeneo" in 
Vienna {Hantliek), xxxix, 198; Sympho- 
nies, xl, 18 

Murska, MUe. Di, xxxix, 7 

Musio Abboad. [See also Corbssfohdbmcs.J 

Alz-la^OhAMlle, xxxix, 128 

Bsden-BMlen, xxxix, 40 ; xl, IM, lis 

Bayreath, xl, 168 

Berlin, . . xxxix, IM ; xl, S9, 69, 119, 138, 160, 184, 300 

Birmingbam, Eng xxxix, 186, UW, IflB 

Bologna, xl, 136 

Bonn, xl, 60, 96 

Bmisels, xl, 88, 138, 136 

Cologne, . . . xxxix, 186*, xl, 69, 77, 104, 113, 178, 300 

Copeuhsgen, xl, 168 

DiSdenT. xl, 39, 106, 113, 186 

DOsseUknf, xl, 160 



S 



Music. 

Floreiiee, xl. 64, 77 

Frankfort-on-Main, xl, 8, 176 

Gkmoester, Eng. xl, 100 

Uamboigh, xl, 88 

Baanorer, xxxix, 104, 168 ; xl, 8 

Hereford, Eng., xxxix, 136 

Leipiig, xxxix. 40, 48, 80, 136, 144, 198, 200, 306; xl, 

8, 21, 88, 46, 69, 77, 103, 119, 128, 100, 184, 200 

Le«te, Eng., xl, 168. 183 

LiTerpool xl, 76 

London, xzxix, 40, 48. 64. 88, 104. 112, 120. 128, 144, 
165, Itt, 176, 192, 300, 206 ; xl, 8, 37, 40, t6,8i, 92, 
IM. Ill, 118. 122, 138, 135, 148, 1^ 168, 184, 189. 200 

Manchester, Eng. xxxix, 208 

Meiningen, xl, 184 

Moeoow xl, 70 

Mnnich, xxxix, 208 

Oxford UniTeraitj, xL 111 

Paris, xxxix, 40. 64, 80. 96, 104, 136, 144, 166, 176, 206 

208; xl, 8, 8, 12. 29, 46, 77, 112, 136, 144, 184. 200 

Pwth, xl. 8. J84 

Batiabon xxxix« 144 

Bome, xxxix, 128 ; xl, 8. 98, 184 

Stnttgart, xxxix, 40 

St. Petenburg, . . . xxxix, 104 ; xl, 60, 119, 136, 168 

Trieste xl, 198 

Utrecht, xl, 119 

Vienna, xxxix, 88, 152; xl, 8, 10. 16, 29, 88, 42. 00, 82, 

98, 1J6, 128, 152, 184. 200 
Wiesbaden, . 7 . . . xl. 77 

Musical Colleges, Academies, Consenratories : 
at Cincinnati, xxxix, 32, 103, 127, 200 ; xl, 
66,72,176; Philadelphia, xxxix, 18; Vas- 
sar, xl, 103; Paris, xl, 3, 144; Boston, xl, 
28, 71, 191; Normal Mus. Institute, at Can- 
andaigua, N. T., xl, 186; Leipsig Conserra- 
torium 141 

Musical Festirals : of Episcopal Parish Choirs 
in Boston, xxxix. So, 94 ; Leeds, Engl, xl, 
168, 183 ; Saengerfest at Cincinnati, xxxix, 
HI, 112, 124; Cincinnati (fourth Biennial), 
xl, 80, 91, 06; Rhenish at Aix-la-Chapelle 
(1879) xxxix, 128; Cologne, xl, 77. 104, 112, 
173; at Salzburg, xxxix, 139; Birmingham 
Engl.), xxxix, 166, 168, 102 ; Handel Fest. 
ndon, xl, 92, 118; Worcester, Mass., 
xxxix, 166, xl, 144; Fifth Triennial of Boa- 
ton Handel and Haydn Society, xl, 70, 77, 
84,86,93, 90; Utrecht, 119 

" MusicallT Mad." Lond. Times. ... xl, 126 

Musical Education, Thoughts on {W. F. A.) 
xxxix, 98, 101; in German Schools {Dr. 
W. Lanokaus), 181 ; Form (Maefarren), 
xxxix, 179; Prejudice (IT. F. A.), xl, 6; 
Commentators {W. F. A.), 30; Notation, 
{C.B. qady),W; •• Drspepsia " ( J.' 5. Z>.), 
184; A^yertising {W. F. A.), l&O; Chats 
{G.T.BvUing) 164,171 

Music Hall, Boston : in danger of Vandal " Im- 
proTement," xxxix, 77, 160 

Music : in the West {C. H. Brittan), xxxix, 10; 
its Expressive Power ( W. F. Aptkorp), 77 ; 
with the Blind, 110^x1, lia 162, 180, 189; 
M. and Culture {Lond. Mus. Standard), 
xxxix, 122; heard on compulsion, 126; 
Fashion in ( W. F. A.), 196 ; " M. and Musi- 
cians," Schumann's {F. L. Bitter), 178, 187, 
194, 202 ; « Content " of, Hegel on ( W. S. B. 
Matkews), xl, 88; a Practical View of (N. 
Lincoin), 41 ; " Scientific," ( W. F. A.\ 101 ; 
at College Festirals (/. S. D.), xl, 117; at 
English Uniyersities, 170 ; in the Low Coun- 
tries, 170 ; Prof. Macfarren's Lecture on, 179 

Musical Iktbzxioxncb, Amxricax. (See 

NOTBS AVD GlXANIHOSO 

Musicians in Motley. Lond. Mus. World, . xl, 101 
" Musiker " and " Musikant" {J. S. D.), , xl, 117 

Nohl, Ludwig : his Life of BeethoTen {Prof. 

Franx Gekrinq) * . . . xxxix, 114 

Normandy, Days m. JuUa Ward Howe, xxxix, 11 
Norman-Nemda, Mme.Wilma. H. Von Bvelov, xl, 00 
Notation, Musical. C.B.Cady, .... xl, 66 
NoTBS AVD Gleanikos: Local Ixtxixiobkck : — 

Albany, K. Y., xxxiz, 168, 200 

Anbum, N. T., xxxix, 120 

Aurora, N. T., xl, 192 

Boston, xxxix, OS. 72, 120, 127, 128, 162. 168, 176, 184, 
192, 199, 208 ; xl, 16, 24, 32, 40. 06, 80, 90, 110, 119, 

1«>, 161, 160, 167, 176, 192 

Buffalo, N. T., .•«.•.. xL 120 

Cambrtdge, Man.. . . xxxix, 48, W, 199 ; xl. 82, 40, 176 

ChleagOk xxxix, 40, 112, 188 : xl, 100 

andanali, xxxix, 82, 48, 88, 103, 112. 160, 184, 200 ; 

xl,K.72,80,144,176, 192 

Ganandaigna, N. T., xxxix, 88 

Dayton, a, xl, 104 

Detroit. xxxix, 120 ; xl, 72 

New York and Brooklyn, xxxix, 80, 127, 136, 151, 
102, 160, 168, 184, 192, 200; xl, 16, 06,72, 104, 120, 

160. 167, 192 

Philadelphia. xxxix, UB, 260 ; xl, 16, t2 

Plttsburgb, Fa., xxxix, 88 

Plttsfiela, Mass., xxxix, 38 

Salem, Msss., xl, 16 

San Franoisoo, xxxix, 82 

Stonebam. Mass., xl, 192 

SyraeoM, «. T., xxxix, 128 

winobsstsr, Msss.. xxxix. 199 

WsUssley, Ifan., . xxxix. 40. 96, UP ; xl, 72, 120. 196 
Woreastar, Msss., . . . xxxix, lOO: xl, 120, 144, 168 
OfFenhach, Jacques : his death and nis career. 
{Ckieago Tribune), . xl, 171; {Handick), 187 



IV 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OP MUSIC— INDEX. 



Onilow, George, A MarmontsL . . . . xl» 100 

Opera, Shoitoomion of {Walter B. Latnon), 
xxzix, 10, 27, ft; EngUth, origin of, 148; 
French, archiret of, xl, 30 

Opera Abroad: in Berlin, xxxix, 61, 104; xl, 

20. 09, 128, 100, 184, 200 

in London, xxxix, 104, 128, 208 ; xl, 8, 28. 

. •. 37, 08. 118, 128, 135 

in Paris, xxxix, 144 ; xl, 8, 20. 40. 112. 144. 200 
in Vienna, xxxix, 103; xl, 8, 10, 10, 20. 42. 

60, 184. 200 

in Dretden xl, 20, 10:$. i:iU 

in Hambttrgh, xl, 38; Frankfort. . . xl. 170 

in Leipzig xl, 00. 77. laS. 110. 128 

in St Petersburg xl, 00, 110. i:)0 

in Brussels, 128, 1:10 

in Trieste, xl. 108 

Opera: in Boston (Her Majesty's Theatre. Lon- 
don), xxxix, 13, 28; its Prospects, xxxix, 
162 ; xl. 161 ; " Ideal " Companv. xxxix, 170 
in Chicago, xxxix, 81, 60. 136, 188, 100 ; xl, 

24, 100, 208 

in Philadelphia, xxxix. 30, 143 

in Milwaukie xxxix, 04 

hi New York, xxxix, 127, 184, 102, 200; xl. 

107. 204 

in Baltimore, . . . xxxix, 170 ; xl, 24. 48 
in New Orleans xl. 120 

Orchestral Societies in Boston, xxxix. 110 ; xl. 
110; Question, the, . . . xl, 6, 142. 150, 168 

Orchestras: Theatrical [Pkiitnieiithia BmIMm), 
xxxix, 144; Local (C. VlUier»JStaHfir(l),x\, 142 

Organ. The: Wanted a Composer for (7/. B. 
Statham), xl, 0; at the New Tremont Tem- 
ple xl, 176 

Original! t J in Music, False notions of, G. A. 
Mac/arrfHf xxxix. 179 

Otis, Philo A. His 121st Psalm (CA/cayo Tril>- 

Orerture, The, its origin and derelopment 

( Grodie'M Dietianary), xl, 106, 204 

Paine, Krof . J. K. His *' Spring " Symphony, 
xl, 63 

Palestrina : Republication of his works, xxxix, 
01 ; his life and music ( IK. N. Ea^rs), . . CO 

Paris ; its Conserratoire ana Classical Concerts. 
(Corr. Chicago Tribune), xl. 3 

PaAer, J. C. d. His '* Redemption Hynm,'^ 
xxxix, 37 

Pathetic Fallacr, Tlie. T. G. A. , . xxxix. 43 

Pianoforte: Wm. Mason's Technics, (C. B. 
Cadgh xxxix, 28,36; Playing, the Brain 
in ( W. S. B. MafkewB,) 139 ; Music, derel- 
opment of from Bach to Schumann (C 
Vam Bmgck), 130, 137, 146. 164, 101. 100. 177 

Pierian Sodality, the, ol Harvard College, 
xxxix, 147. 166, 103 

Plerson, Hugh. His Music to Goetlie's " Faiist." 
A.JulUtn xl, 07 

" Pinafore," Homer versics. xxxix, 116 ; {J. H. 
D.) 118 

POBTBT : — 

TO Thaliarehw. Tnnsl. from Homes. 0. P, 

OwKcA, xxxix, 1 

T. Apollo. Transl. from Horses. ('. P. Craneh, . 9 

A||han Song. AVnmy Haifwumd Ritter 17 

To Pnblios Vtrgillus Maro. Tnnsl. from Horsos. 

aP.Crameh, 88 

fionaoi. Siuatrt Sterme, . . .^^ . . . .... 41 

foiiimI* Prou QoetBO. Jv. S* /nii'Mon, • ... 49 
Saasto. SimartSiem; 81. 108, 118, 131, 129, 18Z, 145, 188 
SoBfi, translated from Mtrsa-Sebaffy. Fanm^ i?ay- 

imomd Miter. xl, 19 

RoMtoB Folk-Sonn. Fkumw BoMwumd Hitter. . . 34 
Songs, Koisian, Qrssk, Orlsntai, Msori. rauHif 

Kairmomd Hitter, 44 

IMalogoo botwoon an inquiring young Movlcisn 

anda Doctor of this "AdTaaeod^' School. Lonit. 

Mut. World, xl, 129 

Sonnets : To an Artist. Stmart Sterne 158 

A Finnish Rone. TrsasL by Fleum]f Hatimond 

Ritier, 169 

Prejudice in Music, fV. F. A xl, 

Preston, John A., the pianist, xxxix, 40; his 

Organ Reciuls xl, 177, 182 

l*rogramme Music. A, W. Thawr, . xxxix, 76 
Prottt, Ebeneser: his Cantata "liereward the 

Wake." LiMd, Mm, Standard, . xxxix, 107 
Public, the, and the Virtuoso. W. F, Apthorp, 

xxxix, 11 ' 



Purcell, as an Opera Composer, 



xl, 13 



RadxiwiU, Prince : his " Faust *' Music, . xl, 07 
Raff, Joachim : his Symphonies, xxxix, 38, 100. 

2XKI; xl, 180, 100; his Suite in C. op. 101. 

xxxix. 64; String Quartet "Die Scliune 

Mullcrin." 00; xl, 70; his Career, . . xl, 08 
Rasoumowsky Quartet, the. A, W. Thayer, 

xxxix, 00 

Reform in 'Church Music : Mr. Kugene Thayer's 

lA'cture. xl. laO. 132 

Reeves, Herbert, son of Sims Reeres, the Tenor. 

xl. Ill 

ReiMiger. C. G. His Quartet, op. Ill {R. Sehu- 

iMttnn) xl, 178 

Rcmeiiyi. the Hungarian Violinist. . xxxix, 8 
Richter, Kmst Friedrich : Ohituarj, . xxxix. 82 
Richter, the Conductor, in London. . xl, 110, 123 
Rietz. Julius: his "Faust "Music. . . . xl, 07 
Ritter, Dr. F. L. His lecture on Chamber- 
Music. (N. r. Mtt$. /?«•.), . . . xl. no, 126 
Riye-King, Mme.,lhe Pianist, xxxix, 71. xl, 40 
Roda, Ferdinand de : his " Faust " Drama, xl, 08 
Rossini: hi^ Subat Mater, xxxix. 72; his "Le 
Comte Cry." xl, 200; how he wrote " Otel- 
lo" (Alex. Dnma»), xxxix. 170; his pro- 
j>osed " Faust " Opera (A. JhUUh), . xl, 137 
Rubinstein. Auton : his Piano Concerto in G, 
No. 3. xxxix. 64 ; " Ocean " Symphony, xl, 

13 ; his Songs. xxxix, 86, 04 

Rumniel. Franz, the Pianist, . . xxxix. 38, 108 
Russiiin Folk-Songs. Fanny Raymond Ritter, 

xl, 84, 44 

" Ruth Burrage Room," Tlie : Letter from b\ 
J. Jaiwj xxxix. 127 



Saint-Saens, Camille : his " Phaeton," xxxix, 
20; "The Lyre and the Harp" xxxix. 
102; "Rouet d' Omphale," xxxix, 100; 
"Deluge." . xl, 84 

Salvi, Lorenzo : Obituary, .... xxxix. 00 

Sand. George, and Chopin. FanuM Raymond 
Rittrr, xxxix, . 2,0,26.38,41,06,73, 81 

Schaplcr. Julius : his Prize Quartet {Schumann), 
xl. 108 

Schindler-Beethoren Papers, The. A. W. 

Thayer xl, 100 

Schubert. Franz: his Unfinished Syniphony, 
xxxix, 16; Symphony in C, xl, 37; Ins 
Piano Music, xxxix. 101 ; " Des Teufels 
Lustschloss." xl, 10; his Orertures, xl, 22; 
Cliamber-Music, xl. 66; 1 is " Faust" Songs, 
xl, 80 

Schulz, Chretien : his " Faust " Orerture, xl, 106 

Schumann, Clara and Joachim: Dresden in 
1800 {J. S. IJ.) xl, 100, 146 

Schumann: his Syniphony in C, xxxix. 20; 
hU " Manfred ^ music, xl, 78. 78, 81 ; String 
Quartets, xl, 7 ; his Song Series : " Frauen- 
Liebe und I^ben/' xxxix. 86; IMaiio Works, 
xxxix, 177. 102; Overture to "Julius 
Csesar." xl. 107 ; his " Music and Musi- 
cians" (F. L. RUter), xxxix, 178, 187, 104, 
202; {J, S. DX xl. 182; a Wagnerian at- 
tack on {Hamtiick), xxxix, 186; on String 
QuarteU, xl. 177, 186, 108 

" SclenUfically." W. F. A xl, 101 

Seller. Mme. Emma : her School of Vocal Art 
in Philadelphia xxxix. 136 

Sherwood. Wm. H. xxxix, 00; xl, 72; his 
Normal Institute, xl, 06 

Singing Clubs : Report of the President of the 
Cecilia, xxxix, 133 

Smart, Henry : Obituary, xxxix, 130 

Sonatas: Five at a Sittins, xxxix, 3 

Sonata, The, as an art form, xxxix, 138, 146, 
101 ; the physical basis of unity between its 
different movements ( W. S, B, Mathewi), 
xl, 1 

Spohr : his " Last Judgment," {J, S. D,), xl, 06 ; 
his Opera " Faust,^' xl, 118 

Sternberg, Constontin, tlie Russian Pianist, (G'. 

T. BnUing) xl, 168 

Strauss, Joseph: his "Faust" opera, . . xl, 80 

Suite, The, as an art form, .... xxxix, 138 



Sullivan, Arthur: his Career, xxxix, 140; his 
" Prodigal Son," 108; in Victoria Street, xl, 
12 ; his " Martyr of Antioch," 180 

Svendsen, Johann : his Symphony in D, xxxix, 104 

Thayer, A. W. His life of Beethoven, Vol. Ill, 
xxxix, 24; xl, 20; Translations from, 76. 
00 ; Nohl's Criticisms on, . . . . xxxix, 114 
Theatrical "Tremolo" Fiend, The, . xxxix. \U 
Theatrical Orchestras (Philo. BnlUtiu), xxxix, 144 
Thomas, Theodore, in Cincinnati, xxxix, 31. 
111. 100; his retirement from the College 
of Music, xl, 72; Conducts the Cincinnati 

Festival IK5 

Tliursby, Miss Emma, in Paris and London, 

xxxix, 80 

Tone-Quality. Geo. T. BnUina, . . . xxxix. 100 
Toujours Perdrix : Nohl v$. lliayer on Beetho- 
ven. Prof. Franz Gehriny, . . . xxxix, 114 
Tremont Temple, (Boston) ; the New Hall and 

its Organ, xl, 174, 175 

Tchaikowsky: his Piano Concerto in B-flat 
minor, xxxix, 108 ; his Miniature March, xl. 107 

University Music in England, xl, 170; at Har- 
vard, 170, xl, 117 

Vandal " Improvement" : Boston Music Hall in 

Danger xxxix, 77, 160. 184 

Vassar College, /*. R. R. xxxix, 02, 117 ; (^4. Z) 

xl. 103 

Veit, W. H. His Second Quartet reviewed bv 

Schumann, xl. 186 

Verdi: his Manzoni Requiem, xl, 86, 80, 112, 

126; his " Aida" and its Author (E. Han*- 

lick), 201 ; his String Quartet hi £-minor. 

xxxix, 111 

Vienna and Beethoven. E. Handick, . . xl, 100 
Violin Classes, Julius Eichberg's, xxxix, 7, — 

xl, 23; Collectors, xxxix, 04; Violin and 

bow Piano : a California Invention, 174 ; 

" Violin Fairy," the : Mme. Neruda, xl, 60 ; 

v., Beethoven's, 100 ; V. Story in five acts 

(C. H. Brittan) 62 

Virtuoso, The, and Public. W. F. Apthorp, 

xxxix, 1 

Virtuosity. Some peculiar phases of . W.F.A. 

xxxix, 53 

Vocal Clubs: their rapid spread in England, 

xxxix, 188; the orchestra question m, xl, 5 

Wagner, Richard: his relations with Berlioz, 
xxxix, 00; his "Work and Mission," ad- 
dressed to the New World, 171 ; from his 
book on Beethoven, xl, 140 ; his Theories 
( W. S. Rockitro, in Grove's Dictionary), 153, 
101 ; a French View of {Henri JEUaxe de 
Bury), 172 ; Compared with Gluck (Hans- 



Urk 



I: 



100 



Wagner, Richard : " Siegfried Idvl," xxxix, 15, 

64 ; " Gutter diimmerung " at Vienna (Han - 

tiick), xxxix. 07 ; hU "Faust Overture," xl. 100 

Wagnerian Attack on Schumann (Han»iick), 

xxxix. 186 ; Appeal to American (Freihrrr 

von HVxor/en), xl, 4 

Wanted » a Composer for the Organ. H. H. 

Statham, xl. 

Ware, Miss Josephine, the Pianist, . . xxxix. 02 
Warning : Perils of Young American Girls in 

European Cities, xxxix, 141 

Weber, Albert, the Piano Maker: Obituary, 

xxxix, 130 

Weber, C. M. too : his " Oberon " revived in 

- London xl, 8 

Wenael, Ernst Ferdinand : Obituary, xl, 104. 178 
West, John A. His cantata " Domr5schen." 

Chicago Tribnne xl. 13;i 

What lack we yet 1 W. F. A, on the need of a 
Permanent Orchestra, xl. 150; {J. S. D.), 158 

Wilhelmi, A., in Boston xxxix. 7 

" Wunderkinder": the Douste Children, xxxix. 22 

Zelter and Ferdinand Hiller in Vienna {Hat*- 

slick), xl, 74 

Zerrahn, Carl : Testimonial Concert to, xxxix, 

78. 83 



January 4, 1879.] 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



BOSTON, JANUARY |. 1^9. 

CONTENTS. 

To THAUARcani. TTmnRlation from Horace. C. P, Oanek 1 

Tai VinooM un rai Pobuq 1 

GioiOB 8\ifB ANB ITiuEDiuo Chopix. A Study. Fawny 

Rnymontt Riittr 2 

Firs SOHATAt AT A SiTTIM* 8 

Book Noricsi 4 

Applv BloMoms : Venei of two Chlldrao. — A Ma^ue of 
Po«U. -~ An Auioriean Couiiul AbruMl. 

OoKPAurriBs: Tns NkwDbvaetum 5 

Bditoual: Salutation 6 

C0!IOB«T< 6 

Tii«t Utrrard Mosteal AmoeUtton. — Wliheli^J aiid Di 
Mumlctt. —Mr. Xichb«if's Violin OImms. 

MoaiCAL CouuPoiiDi»cs 7 

All the articles not credited to other publications were expresslif 
written for this Journal. 

TO TUALIAUCHUS. 

TItAK8l<ATIO:i PICOM HOKACK, BY C. P. CRA3ICH. 

Thou Mart how on Soncto*s lofty brow 

Tbe white inow gleanu. 
Tho Uborini( forenta tend, and Mmrcely now 
Smtain thdr load. Sharp Ice hath etoppad the streaiui. 
— Diaaolve the froetj coMf heap high the wood 
Upon the fire, and with a elieerier mood, 

O ThaliarchuN, draw 
The four-year Ttntage from ite Sabine jar! 
Leare to the gode all else, by wliose great law 
llie warring winds u|ion the mms afar 
Are lulled, and ancient ash aixl cypress tree 

Krmain unscathed autl free. 
Seek not to know what k>t the morrow brings ; 
Ami what to thee thy daily fortune grants, 
riace U) thy gain. Spurn not love's dallyings, 

O youth, nor shun the dance. 
While crabbed ago is far, and hath no power 
To touch thy bloom, now let the field and park, 
>Vitli soft low wbisppTB in the dark, 
Ite Mought again at tlie appohited bonr; 
Or in some secret nook the hiding maid 

Be by her merry laugh betrayed, 
Yielding from finger or ftwn dainty wrist 
The fiirfeit Jewel, feigning to resist 

THE VIRTUOS.O AND TflE PUBLIC. 

A VKBT excellent article entitled " Virtu- 
osity versus Art," which was copied from the 
London MiMxcal Standard into the number 
of this journal for November 9th, emphasizes 
certain (xiints concerning the relation which 
virtuosity, properly so called, is too often 
made to bear to true art. If the habit some 
brilliant performers have of altering the 
printed letter of respectable compositions for 
the sake of displaying their personal execu- 
tive powers, and of fascinating the not over- 
earnest listener by their facile toying with 
astonishing difficulties, were the only evil re- 
sult of that self-love which tempts the virtu- 
oso to try to outbid the composer in the es- 
teem of the public, the Standard's article 
would cover the whole ground. But this is 
the least of its evils. The parading of un- 
necessary difficulties can nowadays mislead the 
admiration of only the very partially musical 
person. No one who is in earnest about list- 
ening to music for musical ends can be car- 
ried away by it. And let it be said here, at 
once, that the class of listeners whose applause 
lies in wait for mere executive pyrotechnics 
are of the merest imaginary importance in 
the world of art. The purity or impurity 
of the musical impressions they receive is of 
very secondary moment. As it is unimport- 
ant whether the pitiable individual whose 
whim leads him to take singing lessons, though 
he have no music in his soul, and no voice in 
his throat, be well taught or ill, so is it 
unimportant what music is played (or how it 
is played) to the unmusical listener whose 
eai on the alert for tbe mere circus-riding 



side of the art. If a savage have a taste for 
glass beads, we are content to purchase the 
right of way through his territory with that 
article, without attempting to develop his 
taste for diamonds. There is no need of 
people being musical who have no natural 
bent that way. We sow see<l in the soil 
that is fittest for it ; and if a farmer's laud 
can bear wheat, he were foolish to go to the 
expense of artificially making it rich enough 
to bear tobacco. 

It is the really musical people whose 
musical culture we should have at heart, and 
they* are for the most part little to be harmed 
by the exhibition of fireworks. The virtuoso, 
if he be nothing better, is soon enough ap- 
preciated at his proper value by them ; they 
do not let his flash ground-aud-lofty -tum- 
bling infiuence their musical notions one 
whit. 

But there is another sort of virtuosity — 
what might be called a transcendentHl virtu- 
o.'>ity — which is far more insidious and harm- 
ful than the mere physical kind, and which, 
especially in our own day, works much 
ruin among just that class of listeners 
whom the true music-lover and urtist should 
most try to cultivate. Tiiis is the virtuosity 
which does not so much seek to dress up music 
in' unworthy gew-gaws to catch the applause 
of the tinsel-loving masses, as to pierce to 
the heart of the music itself and change its 
very essence. Here we have the very devil 
in music The man who plays certain great 
compositions '* in his own way," — " with 
overpoweringly grand subjectivity uf concep- 
tion " is a longer term for it, — even if he do 
not add any imnecessary flourishes of his 
own, can do almost incalculable harm to the 
general musical taste. He presents the works 
of great composers in a false light, which is 
the more injurious in that its aesthetic un- 
truth is not always to be easily detected. 
The Venus of the Medicis, decked out in 
diamond bracelets and etM*-drops, would call 
forth a cry of horror from a vast number of 
persons who would not be shocked by seeing 
the god-like statue hewn out of a block of 
alabaster. Many music-lovers would scorn 
admiring virtuoso ornamentation, while they 
might be unsuspiciously carried away by vir- 
tuosity of conception. The day has now 
gone by when Leopold de Meyer could win 
applause by heaping gratuitous trills and 
arpeggi upon a Chopin nocturne, and Liszt 
could bedevil the first movement of Beet- 
hoven's Opus 27 sonata without fear of re- 
proach ; but Sir Michael Ck>sta .puts trom- 
bones and a big drum and cymbals into the 
first finale of Don Giovanni, and substitutes 
a bass-tuba fur the 'celli in parts of the 
second finale, without running any risk of the 
gallows ; Anton Rubinstein plays the Schu- 
mann quintet *' in the Russian [quftre : rush- 
ing ?J manner" to the almost unanimous 
applause of enrapturei audiences. Yet Mo- 
zart knew how to make his Don Giovanni 
finale one of the most overpowering pages 
in dramatic music without having recourse 
to crashing instrumentation, and Schumann 
wrote his quintet in the Schumann manner, 
but by no means in the Russian manner. 

The sins against composers that are com- 
mitted by many artists to-day, and of which 



I have tried to give two significant examples, 
have ' been too generally referred by critics 
to the (real or supposed) iuclinatioti toward 
the intense in art which characterizes the 
spirit of our era. I do not think that this is 
the true explanation of the evil. In the fii*st 
place I utterly deny that art is more intense 
in its intrinsic character now than it was 
years ago. Homer's Achilles is as intensely 
passionate a person as any character in mod- 
ern poetry ; Victor Hugo's Barkilphedro can- 
not outdo lago ; King Lear puts any modern 
unhappy father to the blush by the unbridled 
vehemence of his invective ; Heathcliff can 
do his worst to nurture fury in the bosom of 
his luckless ward, but he cannot make a 
Caliban of him ; Emily Bront(S cannot ring 
out a curse as Shakespeare could ; Verdi's Dlei 
Ires is weak beside Sebastian Bach's ^ Donner 
und Blitzen ;" the wildest-whirling Tarantelle 
Liszt ever concocted is tame by the side of 
Beethoven's Dervt's/ies* Chorus ; the Commeu- 
datore's ** Non si pa^ce di cibo moriale" chills 
the blood as Alberich's ** Der L ebe fiuch' ich " 
cannot do ; even in the domain of the purely 
horrible, which our age seems to be in some 
respects ambitious to claim as especially its 
own, the most tremendous example I know 
of in all mo<lern music, the appalling phrase 
to the words ^ Devore palpitant par Cfs mon- 
stres hideux," in Berlioz's La Prise de Troie, 
is not more terrible than Handers *' They 
loathed to drink of the river.' No, it is 
not intensity that is our besetting sin; it 
is lack of discrimination ; the ancients were 
quite as intense as we. But nowadays, if we 
try to express passion, we are, in general, 
too prone to deal in broad generalities ; we 
express love as we instinctively feel it, with 
little regard for whether we impersonate a 
Juliet or a Messalina; if cursing is to be 
done, we do it with heartiest good will, but 
we do not sufficiently distinguish between the 
invective of a King Lear or a Duke of Glos- 
ter (in Henry the VI., not in Richard the 
IIL) and the billingsgate of a Thersites. 
We make a Chopin A-fiat polonaise pass as 
legal tender for the warlike fury of a Cos- 
sack horde with as little compunction as we 
change the high-bred elegance of Verdi's 
** Bf Ua figlia d'amore " into the screaming of 
a drunken candidate for six months in the 
house of correction, or the chivalric fire of 
the andante of the C-minor symphony into 
the flaccid sentimentality of a fashionable 
boudoir in the days of Louis XV. We make 
Mendelssohn sigh like Schumann ; we make 
the graceful and winning Mozart chant like 
Palestrina ; we make Schumann sound like 
Brahms; we turn Weber, Meyerbeer, and 
Beethoven into — well, the metamorphoses 
diat we have not made Beethoven undergo 
would be difficult to name. By *'ire" I 
mean a large class of performers who com- 
mand the admiration of audiences to-day. 

Many otherwise admirable artists, and of 
the very highest reputation too, seem to try 
their uttermost to adapt whatever composi- 
tion falls into their hands to their own — oft- 
en transcendently brilliant — powers, instead 
of trying to adapt their powers to it ; they 
have a sort of Procrustes' bed, which every- 
thing they sing or play must be made to fit 
willy-nilly. This is what i have called trau- 



2 



DWIGHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 984. 



sceiidental virtuosity ; not the mere showing 
off of technique, but the improper display of 
persona] qualities — "glorious individuality'* 
some people call it — at the expense of the 
intrinsic characteristics of the music. This is 
ilnmoral. More than immoral, it is stupid. 

An artist worthy of the name desires (dne 
would imagine) to appeal to the most ear- 
nest and culture-seeking (that is, truth-seek- 
ing) audience. Does this artist, be he pian- 
ist, violinist, singer, or orchestral conductor, 
fondly think, when he announces on a 
programme that he will play, sing, or con- 
duct a really exalted composition, that he, or 
the composition, is the more important object 
in the eyes of the listener whom he should 
most try to interest? Unquestionably, the 
composition is of the greatest importance, 
and every listener has an inalienable right to 
hear that composition in all the integrity that 
the performer's high talents, — genius, if you 
will, — and his thorough and conscientious 
study can compass. The sincere music-lover 
does not honor Mr. X. for. the amount of his 
own ** glorious individuality " that he can put 
into a Beethoven sonata, but for the amount 
of Beethoven's individuality and spirit that 
he can get out of it. The performer whose 
local or world-wide reputation lends author- 
ity to all he does, and who puts his own gen - 
ins before that of the composer whose works 
he presents to the public, is little better than 
a cheat. Aye, and a clumsy cheat too ; for 
however much the *• glorious-individuality "- 
people may compel the admiration of the 
world, one can find, in looking over the list 
of great artists, that those who have most 
surely won the respect (which is better than 
cutmtration) of the majority of true tifusicians 
are those who have been most anxious to do 
reverent justice to the works of great com- 
posers, and not to parade the glorious, or in- 
glorious, individuality of their own precious 
selves. A great artist should not merely 
dazzle, and lay hold of the emotions of his 
hearers ; he should try, as far as in him lies, 
to be a model also. 

William F. Apthorp. 



GEORGE SAND AND FRflDfiRIC 
CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 
BY FANNY BAYMOND RITTRR. 

In Karasowski's recently published life of 
Chopin,^ the following passage occurs: "The 
spirit of Chopin breathes from the best of 
George Sand's romances ; like many authors 
of vivacious fancy, she often lost patience 
while at work, because her mind was already 
busy with a new plan before she had com- 
pleted an older one. To confine herself 
more closely to her desk, and to be able to 
work with greater cai-e, she begged Chopin 
to improvise at the piano, while she wrote, 
and thus, inspired by his playing, she pro- 
duced her best romances." When I read this 
passage, I could not avoid pausing 'to wonder 
whether it was not one of M. Karasowski's 
romances ? 

The friendship and the intercourse of art- 

1 FrUdrich Chopin,' tein Leben, $nne Werlf und 
BrUfe, Yoo Moarrz Kabasowski. Draidni: F. Rio. 
1877. 



ists and literati have always been a subject 
of intere^t to the student, and of inquiry 
to the psychologist. In what manner, and 
how far, did one mind influence the other ? 
Was that influence voluntarily or involuntarily 
yielded to, and what effect did it produce on 
the works of the artists who experienced it ? 
Such questions are asked in such illustrious 
examples of love, friendship, or artistic col- 
lal)oration as existed, or exist, between Liszt 
and Wagner, the Rossetti family, Erckmann 
and Chatrian, Robert and Elizabeth Brown- 
ing, Robert and Clara Schumann, Goethe 
and Schiller, Byron and Shelley, A^lard 
and H^loise, and others. Whs the well- 
known friendship between George Sand and 
Fr^d^ric Chopin one of a similar character ? 
What was her influence on his music ; and 
did she i*eal]y "- write her best romances under 
the influence of his playing " ? To form an 
opinion, we must first recall the outlines of 
an episode in the lives of these artists, — one 
of an unwonted nature, though in its social 
aspects not wholly foreign to French manners 
and habits thirty or forty years ago. 

Chopin, when thirty years old, met Ma- 
dame Dudevant, five years his senior, for the 
first time at a soiree given by a Countess 
C , at Paris. The lady, already sur- 
rounded by the halo of recently and suddenly 
acquired celebrity attached to her nom de 
plume of George Sand, had previously ad- 
mired more than one of the then published 
compositions of Chopin, and wished to make 
his acquaintance ; Liszt, the friend of both, 
informs us ^ that Chopin was a little afraid 
of the famous novelist, and rather deferred 
an introduction. It. occurred, however, amid 
music, flowers, elegant society, and all the sur- 
roundings of a Parisian evening party. Cho- 
pin, in writing to his parents of this meeting, 
said, ** her face does not inspire me with 
sympathy ; there is something in it that re- 
pels me." He should, judging from after 
events, have rather said, ** that fascinates 
me;" for he was certainly powerfully im- 
pressed by ** the dark steady gaze that seemed 
to read his soul,** and still more, adds Kara- 
sowski, by the exceptional influence which 
this extraordinary woman involuntarily ex- 
erted on those capable of understanding all 
that she really was; while ** in listening to 
her poetic expressions, uttered in a deep, 
euphonious, gentle voice, ovei*flowing with 
spirit and feeling, he felt that be was under- 
stood as he had never yet been understood.*' 
It was not long after his first presentation to 
the lady tl^at Chopin became one of Madame 
Dudevant*s almost daily visitors, while she 
was often to be found at his musical reunions, 
the most admired and fSted among many fa- 
mous representitives of art and literature, 
besides some of the most distinguished mem- 
bers of the Polish nobility then in Paris. 
Before this period, Chopin's health had be- 
gun to show symptoms of xiecline ; the po- 
litical troubles of his father-land, his at first 
unsuccessful struggles to obtain a position in 
Paris, disappointment in his projects of mar- 
riage, the late hours of fashionable society, 
excessive artistic labor, had injuriously af- 

< Lifi rf Chcpm, By F. Lisrr. Thuwkted by M. 
W. Cook. PhilMldphu: F. Leypoldt. 186^. London: 
\V. lUeret. 



fected his sensitive temperament ; but, under 
the influence of this new, engrossing friend- 
ship, his health seemed to revive, his gayety 
returned, and he became more exclusive and 
reserved than ever in his social habits, de- 
voting himself with greater assiduity to oom- 
lx>sition. 

More than a year after their first acquaint- 
ance, Madame Dudevant determined to take 
her children to spend the winter in Majorca, 
in hopes of improving the health of her son 
Maurice. I will translate an extract from 
her own account of what occurred in conse- 
quence of that determination : ^ — 

** Thei-e is another soul, not less fine and 
pure in its essence [than that of M. Everard, 
of wlK>m she had been s|>eaking], not less 
sick and troubled in this world, in whose 
face I ^&ze peacefully in my imaginary con- 
templation of the dead, and whom f shall. 
I trust, find again in that lietter i^orld which 
I await, where we shall learn to know each 
other better, in a light more living, more di- 
vine, than that of earth. I speak of Fr^- 
d^ric Chopin, my guest at Nohant during the 
eight years of my retirement there under the 
monarchy. In 1838, when the cure of my 
children had been definitively confided to me, 
I resolved to seek a warmer winter climate 
than our own, for my son Maurice. I thus 
hoped to save him from a return of the cruel 
rheumatism of the preceding year. I also 
wished to find a quiet spot, where I could 
continue to educate him and his sister, and 
write — not in excess — myself. We gain 
so much time when we do not receive com- 
pany ; we are not obliged to sit up t^o late ! 
Chopin, for whose genius and character I en- 
tertained an affectionate a'dmiration, and 
whom I then saw almost daily, was aware of 
my plans and preparations, and insisted that 
if he were in Maurice's place, he would get 
well at once. I mistakenly believed it would 
prove as he said, and took him, — not in the 
place of my son I — but beside him. He 
was thought to be seriously consumptive, and 
his fi lends had long besought him to try the 
climate of the south. Dr. Gurnbert, after 
examining Chopin, told me he was not yet 
dangerously affecte^l, adding, 'Your care, 
with open air, exercise, and rest will save 
him.' Other friends, knowing that Chopin 
would never leave Paris except with an at- 
tached friend, beloved by him, added their 
entreaties that I would allow him to accom- 
pany our party, and begged me not to oppose 
the wish he manifested so opportunely and 
unexpectedly. I afterwards became con- 
vinced that I had done wrong in yielding to 
their hope', and my own interest and anxiety. 
It was enough care for me to travel into a 
foreign country with two chUdren, one al- 
ready ill, the other exuberant with health 
and turbulence, without also taking a physi- 
cian's responsibility upon me, and trouble of 
the heart besides." 

Many incidents of their life in Majorca 
have bfcn related by her in the book she 
published respecting her stay in the island,^ 
as well as in her autobiography. They 
were obliged to take up their residence in 

• Ifistoirt dt ma Vie. Par Georob Samd. Pfcrii : 
Michel lArj, Frirn. 18fi6. 

« (/n ffirer a Afaiorytu, GxoroxSakd. V*m:ljfvr, 
1867. 



Jandaby a, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



the ruined Chartreuse of Valdemosa, a most 
romnntic, but possibly, for an invalid, a not 
very comfortable habitation. It was Madame 
Sand's custom to give her children their les- 
sons in the morning, and to write in the 
afternoon ; their evenings were passed to- 
gether, and the only time left to her for the 
out-^loor 'exercise she seems always to have 
needed, in oixier to continue her labors in 
health and with success, was an hour or two 
with her children in the evening, when 
Chopin had retired. But in the rainy win- 
ter season his health again declined ; the 
provisions and service necessary for an in- 
valid, were difficult to obtain in that wild 
country, and Mudime Sand, who says she 
would often have given all she possessed to 
procure beef soup or claret for Chopin, more 
than once risked her own life and that of her 
son, in her endeavors to bring home what 
was needful for him from the distant town 
of Palma. The physicians at Palma insisted 
that a C(»urse of bleeding was necessary to 
the patient ; Madame Sand says that Provi- 
dence alone gave her strength of persuasion 
enough to prevent such treatment, which she 
felt would have been certain to put an end 
to Chopin's illness only by putting an end to 
his life. Her own health began to suffer 
under her countless cares ; a^d when the ig- 
norant people who surrounded them discov- 
ered that Chopin had a cough, they, believ- 
ing it to be an epidemic, avoided the whole 
family as though its members were plague- 
sir icken. 

The lovely spring weather of Majorca 
retunied, Chopin's health seemed again re- 
stored ; 'the family wished to spend the sum- 
mer on the island, but he impatiently insisted 
on returning to France at once. Madame 
Sand says: ** Playful, amiable, charming in 
8<x:iety, Chopin, in the domestic retirement 
of intimate friendship, drove one to despair. 
No disposition more noble, delicate, disinter- 
ested than his, no character more loyal and 
true, no mind more brilliant in gayoty, no 
intelligence more 'serious and complete in its 
own domain ; but, on the other hand, alas ! 
no temper more unequal, no. imagination 
more suspicious, no susceptibility so easily 
irritate<1, no attachment so exacting. Yet 
this was not his fault, but his misfortune. 
His spirit was flayed alive ; the fold of a 
rose-leaf, the shadow of a fly, caused it to 
bleed. Everything under the sky of Spain 
now seemed repulsive and revolting to him, 
— except myself and my children, — and he 
wiis dying to be gone, not so much on ac- 
count of the inconveniences of our residence, 
as from mere impatience." The party ac- 
cordingly returned to France through Bar- 
celona, Biarseilles, and Genoa, and Madame 
Sand allowed Chopin to accompany them to 
her chateau at Nobant, where the physicians 
pronounced him entirely recovered, save for 
a slight affection of the larynx. Life at No- 
bant, and the air and surrounding scenery, 
were especially pleasing ami congenial to 
Chopin, and quieting to his nature; but 
Madame Sand, after debating with herself 
whether she should allow him to remain 
there as a member of her household, finally 
determined to go to Paris, to continue her 
children's education under more favorabltt 



auspices, and with the especial intention of 
placing Maurice as a student of painting 
under Delacroix. The residence she en- 
g;i;re<l in Paris consisted of two puvilion-like 
houses in an extensive garden, which last 
was the great attraction to her, as it offered 
to her chil Iren the opportunity of exercise 
combined with retirement and safety. Chopin 
had rente 1 an apartment in the Rue Tron- 
chet. It unfortunately proved damp, his 
health began to decline, and a distressing 
cough returned. Affection, pity, yielding 
good-nature, that love of nursing every one 
she cared about into health and happiness, 
which always characterized her, and the al- 
ternative of either giving up her friend alto- 
gether, or of consuming much time in useless 
visits to and fro, induced Madame Sand to 
let half of one of her pavilions to Chopin, 
with whom she installed her son Maurice. 
She, with her daughter, and other relatives 
and their children, inhabited the other house 
in the garden. Here, for seven or eight 
winters, resided Madame Sand, and her 
^habitual invalid," as Chopin was called. 
The days of the two great artists were filled 
with continnal and assiduous occupation : in 
bis rooms Chopin received his pupils, ladies 
of the highest Parisian aristocracy, some of 
the greatest beauties of the capital, women 
of talent, we may be sure, besides, — for 
without talent there was little hope of being 
accepted by Chopin as a pupil, — or, in the 
intervals of teaching, he played and com- 
posed; Madame Sand, when at home, writ- 
ing in her pavilion, surrounded by the chil- 
dren, whose presence, she says, she often 
found her best inspiration, and for whose es- 
pecial delight she wrote many tales and 
dramas. The tradition of the performance 
of these dramas by the children at the Cha- 
teau of Nohant (which contained a private 
theatre) in summer, has been preserved. 
What representations ! — with that small 
family circle, and sometimes Chopin's sister 
Louise, and Madame Sand alone as audience ; 
Eugene Delacroix for stage manager and 
scene-painter, Liszt and Chopin the or- 
chestra ! Happy children, with four of the 
most gifted, and peculiarly originally gifted, 
minds in Europe pressed into service for the 
furtherance of your holiday games and pleas- 
ures ! 

When in Paris, the salons of Madame 
Sand or of Chopin were opened several 
evenings in the week to receive many of the 
most illustrious men and women of the day, 
such as Cavaignac, Lcmis Blanc, Henri Mar- 
tin, Arago, Liszt, Delacroix, Heine, Mick- 
iewicz, Madame Garcia, Madame Marliani, 
the Princess Czartoryska, etc., etc^ and 
Chopin's friends among his pupils and the 
circle of Polish nobility then in Paris. 
Nevertheless, Madame Sand complains that 
she passed through many trials during this 
period, not the least of which, she says, were 
the sight of Chopin's sufferings, and her own 
struggles against his exacting disposition and 
morbid irritability, which must have pained 
and oppressed those who saw so much of him 
in domestic life, in spite of his tender and 
devoted attachment, his genius and his graces. 
Persons who were familiar with I he literary 
or fashionable Parisian circles of that day 



relate that a general feeling of surprise ex- 
isted that Madame Sand, whose good graces 
were almost fought for by many of the most 
distinguished men in Paris, as a sort of di- 
ploma of literary or artistic ability, should 
have allowed so much of her time to run to 
waste in ministering to the caprices and suf- 
ferings of an irritable invalid who was not re- 
lated to her ; and that it was thought Chopin 
displayed little delicacy in remahiing so long 
an inmate of her household. The malicious 
gossips of the day also whispered that Chopin 
was perfectly well aware of the prestige and 
increased artistic distinction he was likely to 
acquire by means of the intimate friendship, 
openly displayed, and the literary infiuence 
of so famous a woman as George Sand. 
The first opinion had possibly some founda- 
tion, the second could not have had any ; it is 
too incompatible with a character so gener- 
ous, fastidious, noble, and disinterested as was 
that of Chopin. It sounds as inapplicable to 
him, as another, about some lady of rank, 
who complained that when she went to take 
her lessons from Chopin, ^his nails were not 
clean." The elegant Chopin, with nails un- 
trimmedl Ink-stained they may sometimes 
have appeared, from accident ; but that is a 
different affair. However, in taking these 
ami similar or more serious slanders for what 
they are worth, we must remember, in partial 
excuse of the slanderers, that Chopin was 
not then estimated at his true intellectual 
value as a composer, however he may have 
been admired as a pianist. Among those 
who understood Chopin's great, original gen- 
ius, save Madame Sand herself, Madame 
Garcia, Liszt, Schumann, Delacroix, and a 
few other representatives of the highest art- 
aristocracy of the day, the circle of Cho- 
pin's admirers extended little beyond that of 
his pupils and the fashionable habituds of a 
few dozen Parisian drawing-rooms, among 
whom his grace, elegance of manner, and 
social accomplish men tSf made him an idol. 
Indeed, his admirers would all seem to have 
been rather adorers ; nevertheless, his rank 
as a genius of the first magnitude was dis- 
puted; he was a rising, not a risen star, 
whose ascent to recognition was a slow and 

difficult one. 

(To h€ ewtinu§d,) 



FIVE SONATAS AT A SITTING. 

Wk are now beginning to reap the harvest 
which is the natural outcome of the seed sown by 
the disciples of the '* higher development school " 
in piano-forte playing. Dr. Von Bulow has recent- 
ly played at one recital five of Beethoven's pumo* 
forte sonatas — in ' fact, the entire programmu 
was thus made up. Th«se five were the last 
five of the thirty-two, namely : A major. Op. 101 ; 
B-fiat major. Op. 106; £ major, Op. 109; A- 
fiat major, Op. 110 ; and C minor, Op. 111. 
This is a great feat ; and the Doctor is probably 
as proud of it as his admirers are proud of hfm 
for having accomplished' it. To play these five 
sonatas at all is no easy task ; to play Uiem from 
music, at one sitting, would be still more surpris- 
ing ; but to play them all at one sitting from 
memory is a truly astonishing performance. 
Robert Schumann said that a performer who 
played in pub ic without music, whether from 
charlatanism or any other motive, showed that 
he |K>sseS8ed at all events the quality of thorough 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX.— No. 984. 



musicianship ; and this quality we should be the 
last to deny to Dr. Von Billow, who has so oflen 
proved his right to be regardtxl as an artist 
of the first rank. But we do protest — an<l 
we feel that wu cannot protest too much — 
against these extraordinary displays of virtuos- 
ity. They are not good lor art ; they ai*e not 
an advantage to the artist ; they are not good for 
the public ; they are unfair to the composer ; 
and, on these grounds, we are bound to oppose 
them. 

It is not to be imagined for one moment tliat 
the matter will stop where it is ; others will at- 
tempt it ; and where an artii<t of the first rank 
has succeeded, a second or thinl-rate artist will 
fail, though, with a peitinacity wortliy of a liet- 
ter cause, failure will only incite to further and 
probably moi'e disastrous attempts. Jf this tort 
of thing goes on, it is easy to foretell the con- 
sequences. We shall have artists, who can never 
do justice even to one of Beethoven's sonatas, 
announcing that they will play six or seven ; 
and the competition will become so keen that 
the quality of tlie work done will be quite hid- 
den by the enormous quantity of pages played. 
Just as Cleopatra tried to draw out Anthony by 
asking him, '^ If it be love indee<l, tell nic how 
much ? '' so, by and by, the public will begin to 
say to artists, ** If you a]*e really an artist, 
show us how much ! '* and players will strive to 
show how much niu:<ic they can cram in'o their 
memories. The result wilt be utterly destruc- 
tive of all true art. We hhall have conductors 
announcing as an attraction that they will con- 
duct without the score ; tliat Mr. So-and-So's 
band will play the nine s}mphonies of Beetho 
yen in a day witliout copies ; that such and-such 
a choir will sing the Elijah without books ; 
and tliat no candidate will be admitted to a 
band, or choir, who cannot play, or sing, his 
part in the Passion music from memory. It 
will be a struggle — not to do best, but most ; 
and he who can endure most fatigue^ and play 
longest from memory, will win most applause 
and most guineas. We shudder to think what 
would become of music as an art, if this kind of 
thing should become a precedent. 

We must remember, too, that artists them- 
selves would suffer in a conflict of this sort, where 
** natural selection *' would come into operation 
with terrible effect The weakest would go to 
the wall, and the " survival of the fittest '' would 
be secured ; but the '* fittest," in a scramble of 
this kind, would, te the men who possessed the 
best memory and the strongest physique. It is 
a tremendous strain ui)on the system to play a 
great work from memory, and none but those 
who have experienced it can tell how great are 
the lassitude and depression which, especially in 
persons of only moderate strength, 8uc«:eed these 
efforts. Artistic feeling, taste, judgment, con- 
scientious adherence to the text of the composer, 
— and, in fact, all those qualities which combine 
to make the true artist, — would be at a discount, 
if such displays as that of Dr. Von Biilow should 
become general ; and ai*tists proper would have 
but little chance of being either heard or paid in 
the headlong rush for big memories and strong 
bodies. 

We have oflen insisted that the artist - is of 
no consequence as compared with the interests 
of art and the faithful rendering of the works 
of the composer ; but this system of big recitals, 
by fostering vanity and discouraging accuracy 
and taste, would make the artist everything, and 
tlie art and the composer nothing. 

Ilie public should also be con suited in this 
matter. Conrert-jrivcrs have, of course, a right 
to expect that their enterpri>es wilt pay'; but, 
firjni an art point of view, the true object of giv- 
ing concerts is to give the public an opportunity 



of hcarin<; either a <n*cat art'-work or a CTcat art- 
ist — or both. If the public are to hear works 
of art, and to profit by hearing them, such works 
must be hO placed before them as to give an oppoi^ 
tunity for studying and contemplating their beau- 
ties. This, however, is utterly impossible under 
such conditions as those against which we are 
protesting. It is like stud\ing paintings by 
means of a moving panorama, where Uie pict- 
ures succeed each other so rapidly ihat no idea 
of any one of them can be retaine<l in the mind ; 
or sculpture through the medium of beautiful 
statues and groups which f ome and go with the 
rapidity of actual life. Tlie thing is manifestly 
impossible. Great works like Beethoven's Op. 
106 cannot be stuilie<i if other great works of a 
similar kind precede and follow them so closely. 
Tlie public needs to be instructed by hearing 
great works; but these exhibitions, from their 
very nature and object, must end in bewilder- 
ment without profit. We once studied the A- 
fiat Sonata, Op. 110, and then went to hear 
Charles Halle play it at the Popular Concerts, 
an<l the effect on eye and ear together was to 
fix the beauties of the work in our memory ; but 
with two other great works before and two after, 
without intermission, the effect would have been 
losL Such great ideas can only be assimilated 
by slow degi*ee8 ; and to overfeed the public will 
be to ruin its musical di(;estion. 

We think the composer — if it were possible 
to consult him, or if artists thought it worth their 
while to do so — would protest with more vigor 
and effect than we can do, because, though we 
feel strongly on the point, he would feel much 
iiioix! strongly. But it is one of the failings of 
the Si'hool of which Dr. Von Biilow is so distin- 
guishe<1 a leader, that its tenets, to quote a con- 
temporary, ** peruiit fantastic readings, occasional 
departures from the letter of the partition, and 
false notes, in an attempt to arrive at a 'high- 
er development ' of piano-forte playing." This 
means, in plain English, that a player can alter 
his text to suit his purpose. It is for this very 
reason that we are bound to oppose such at- 
tempts as that made by the great pianist. One 
sonata is enough for one concert ; and he who at- 
tempts three or four not only does injustice to 
himself and his art, as well as to the public he is 
suppoi'dl to instruct, but also sets in a false light 
the composer whose works he is supposed to 
play. — Lond, Muiical Standard, Nov, 80. 



BOOK NOTICES. 

Apple Blossoms : Verses of Two Children, 
Elainr GooDAi.K and Dora Rkad Good- 
ale. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 

People like to believe in the miraculous ; and 
to the general apprehension genius is a miracle. 
Certainly the dictum of Charles Dickens that 
" genius is only patience and attention " is a nar- 
row and inadequate statement. If the great 
caricaturist had said that genius toarla by pa- 
tience and attention, he would have been nearer 
right. Tlie original impulse is still to be ac- 
counted for. Af^er allowing what we musi to 
heredity, — and in a certain way heretlity must 
claim everytiiing, — we still find genfus to be an 
unexpected combination of ancestral traits, near 
or remote, — a development so new and strange 
that the astonished mother must, like Virgil's 
graltetl tree, wonder at the strange leaves and 
blossoms, and the fruit not her own : 

*' MinUurqne no^iu frondes et non toa poma." 

These children, born in 1863 and 1866 respect- 
ively, have produced a volume of near 250 pages 
of genuine fx>etry. It is not all equally good, but 
the poctir* feelinj; pervades every page. The 
poetry seems spontaneous ; there is no invoca- 






tion of the unwilling Muse, no preparation for 
song. The scenery and wild flowers of B<*rk^hire 
County, the vicissitudes of the seasons, the jo}s 
of home, the mere delight of living, — these are 
the simple materials out of which the child artists 
have made some of the most exquisite pictures of 
our time. The literary art appears not to have 
been thi uglit of, but yet the choice of words has 
often been guided by a divine instinct. You do 
not t'l-vl that there is any conscious attempt at 
decking the thought with ornament; and the 
phrase, *' jewele<l perfection," which we have 
seen applied by a warm admirer, tbongfa well 
meant, is singularly inappropriate. 

At the time when most girls are joat begin- 
ning to abjure dolls, these young prietteatet of 
nature are celebrating the praiyes of the beauti- 
ful, and furnishing pictures of country life worthy 
of the most mature and experienced poets. Gren- 
erally this power comes only with maturity, and, 
when it comes, the freshness of early feeling has 
too often been exhaled. If, in addition to this 
natural exuberance, there were attempts at div- 
ing into the mysteries of life, and of tracing anal- 
ogies between tlie soul of nature and the soul 
of man, we Fhould suspect the soundness of their 
growth, and shoulil anticipate an early decay of 
their powers. To be sure, what they have done is 
not the less miraculous, but the tone of it agrees 
with tlie spring-time of life, and its charming 
youthfulness leaves room for the hope of a deeper 
and more spiritual development in after years. 

Such poetry is lit once antidote and relief to 
the sentimental sorrow ^nd melodious woe of 
which much (feminine) poetry seems to be made. 
There is not a false intonatioa in all the volume. 
There are crudities which experience will here- 
after detect and work out ; but the most obvious 
lapses are less offensive than the pretense of feel- 
ing to which the poet is a stranger. 

But the verses are finer than anything we can 
write about them. 

[POEMS BY ELAINE GOODALE.] 

O WILD axalea, rosy red, 

In every woody boUow 
Put out, put oat yoor pretty bead 

That I may eee and follow! 

That I may see and follow, dear. 

That I may see and follow ! 

Asnaa or aoaKs. 

Sorr on the sonaet sky 

Bright daylight doefs, 
Leaving, when light doth die, 
Pde hues that mingling lie, — 

Aahcaof roacs. 

When Ijove't warm tnn Is set, 

Love*t brightocaa cloaes; 
Ejca with hot tears are wet, 
In lieartt there linger yet 

Ashes of rueea. 

TKAX8FIGUUKO. 

SiucaiTLT away, away, 
Gtides the day, 

Underneath her misty robes, 
All of gny. 

Ooee her daik mists settle down, 
0*er the crown 

Of the mountahia tipped with dctf 
Golden brown. 

Ah, what ray so glad and bright 
Cheers my tight? 

Parting, breaking see the donda 
Fringed with Ught! 

Soft and dear the sunset air! 
Fresh and fair 

Dreamy hnea that blush and mingle 
New and nrtl 

Robed in purple glides the day 
Still away, 

At her feet red meet trembla 
In the gray. 



Januakt 4, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[POEMS BT DORA READ GOODALE.] 
suxsrriKK akd shadow. 

SuHSHiHB pUji on tlw b01-«ide iteep. 

Or kiiMs the daisied meadow, 
Leaving the fonet and watera deep 

To quiet shadow. 



When we paM thro* this life, tliix life below, 

When we find no flowery meadow, 
Shall we watt snd wait for the sun*s bright glow, 

Or rest in shadow ? 

Uf TilK IX)FT. 

In the hay-loit, dark and sweet, 
With the breath of new mown liay ; 
There the lights and shadows fall 
Wnrd npon the seamed, scarred wall, 
And the dusky swatk>ws soar, 
High above tlie broken floor, 
IJghtly poise on tiny feet. 
Quiver, dip, and dart away. 

MAIDKM'S HAIR. 

( With a tfift <(f preutd f^rfu.) 

Whbmr the tinkling water-&lk 

Sparkle over rocky ledges. 
Where the slate-gray catbird calls 
In and out the tangled hedges, 
<irceu and slender, spreading Mr, 
Tou may oee the maiden's hair. 

*Tis as tho* some lady left 

By the stream her floating tresses 
Ijoua; ago, and now, bereft, 

Whoe they be she little guesses, — 
Bat they still are toning there, 
And we call them maiden's hair. 

Then may these a picture bring 
Of green aUers overhanging, 
Of a wind-blown bro(A in spring, 
And a thousand ripples, cknging 
In a silver mingling, where 
Node the alander iiiaiden*i hair. 

Tlio* their grace more formal be 

Than when by the brook they fluttered, 
Touched by winds that lazily 
In among the treetopa muttered. 
Still the same quaint charm they bear 
Of the eariiest maiden's hair. 



A Masqub of Ports. No Name Series : Rob- 
erts Brothers. Boston. 

In a real masquerade some prudence and re- 
serve are needful, or you may speak evil of dig- 
nities in their own ears. In this mock masquer- 
ade there u less danger. We don't think the DU 
majores are here. The huge mask opposite the 
title page is held by a chil<1 ; at least it is a pair 
of plump and well rounde<l baby knees we see 
below, — not the strongly articulated joints of 
Apollo or his stately sons. 

The general imprf*.ssion made by such a book 
is unpleasant. Much of the delight of poPtry 
comes fW>m the sense of personality. In even 
the scraps of tho masters there is some sugges- 
tion. In this volume the promise is alluring, 
the result disappointing. There are a number of 
yery fine poems in it ; poems that would be 
creditable to the first in the land. There are 
others which we wonder at : — 



*• The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, 
But wonder how the devil they gut there.' 



»> 



The Horizon is a delicate .piece of work, much 
like the admired verses of H. H. Avallon is 
written in a noble strain, much as Dr. Joyce 
would have done. Appledore is an exquisite 
picture which only one woman (we think) could 
liave written. Theocritus is simple and strong, 
a fine paraphrafe of the thought, of the antique 
world. The series of Medallion Heads shows the 
touch of a praciiced hand, ^- perhaps that of the 
sculptor Story. Running the Blockade is full of 
spirit ; but we remember Brownell, the Connect- 
icut poet, and the suthor appears to remember 
him also. Aucassin and Nicolette is a sprightly 
little poem, one that would have delighted 
Tliackeray at the time he wrote *' Ho I pretty 
fiage, with the dimpled chin." There are many 



other pleasing things in this book ; but ar, per- 
hsps, their few mannerisms are imitated, it might 
not be safe to assign them to the poets whose 
works they resemble. An anonymous poem may 
give Mncere pleasure, but if it is one that the 
world wishes to cherish, the authorship bec(>mi*K 
a matter of public interest, quite beyond curios- 
ity. Then through the poem we come to know 
the poet, and aflerwarUs wc fet^l wc have a riwht 
to the ideal intimacy. Thus it is, as Holmes imti 
finely said, " the soul of the poet is naked and 
not ashamtd.'* This is the legitimate place of 
the great poe^ — a friend as well as high priest 
to his readers ; and as this comes from what is 
personal and chaiacteristic in him and his verse, 
we cannot feel anv more than a transient inter- 
est in a play of masquers like this. 

The novelette in verse, Guy Vernon^ appeared 
at first unreadable, but (waiving the objection to 
the Byronic stanza) it proves to be a fine story, 
containing passages of indisputable poftry. Wu 
have only hinted at resemblances above ; but in 
this instance we will make a guess; and it is 
that Gvy Vernon was written by the accom- 
plishcil author of The Blameless Prince. 

An Amkkican Consul Abroad. Bo>ton : 

Lee & Shepanl. 

Many readers of tho Jouknal will remember 
Luigi Monti, the accomplished professor of the 
Italian language and literature. This book shows 
how he did not go consul-ing ; but how many a 
well meaning American does go, and how he fares 
at it. Its pictures are sad, or rather niortif} ing 
to tbc national pride ; but we believe them faith- 
ful. The state department, and Congress also, 
must feel complimented in view of the liberal 
treatment of the public servants in foreign coun- 
tries. 

If any adolescent litterateur thinks of beccm- 
ing consul as a part of his training, the lesson of 
this book will be wholesome. f. ii. u. 



OUR PAINTERS: THE NEW DEPART- 
URE. 

This rejuvenescent musical journal will not 
forget to look after the interests of Painting, — 
the sister art. And all the more interest will 
she feel, as the date of her own fresh start coin- 
cides pretty well with the date of the new de- 
parture America takes in painting. The old is 
passing awny ; a newer and brighter day is 
cheering us. The ardent crowd of youth, who 
thirty years ago were the pioneers of the hour in 
Art, are now its veterans. Most ungenerous is 
it to say, — 

** Superfluous Ugs the veteran on the stage," 

when we remember that they too once led, and 
opened a ])ath to their fellows ; and the art, like 
everything else of a country's gi-een youth, must 
look poor before its maturer strength. Each of 
us has in him, or should have, that laudator 
temporis acti, the affectionate conservative of the 
past, and that radical, overturning old walls to 
bui d new ones. 

A drawing-master in Rome once spoke to me 
of a certain *' affectation of bad drawing," which 
the English had. I told him I feared that with 
our Anglo-Saxon race it was no affectation ; nor 
is it. A timidity of assertion, an unwillingness 
to be uncompromising, mark the American out- 
line with feebleness. Our pictures debilitate 
when they should strengthen us. In this con- 
nection it is pleasant to ob-erve tlie crowd of 
accomplished young artists returning from the 
best schools of Europe and longing for recogni- 
tion. We are amazed when we see that they 
can draw the figure. They are bold in design, 
strong and cheerful in color, and make ua believe 
we may yet see schools of our own which the 



world will respect. And to do this we must 
have life schools of our own, life schools which 
the artists must feel they need, pay for out of 
their own pockets, and assiduously study in. 
Tlie hour has struck when we need and must 
have sucli life Fchouls. Without theni America 
can never hold up her head before foreign train- 
ing. With them wc can accomplish as goo<l art 
as Rome, Muni<-h. or P»ris furnish. T. G. A. 

T^tDtgl^t'jac 3;oumal of fiSiusAc. 

SATURDAY. JANUARY 4, 1879. 

Published fortnightly by IIouohtox, Omood akd Comfaxt, 
220 Devonshire Street^ Boston. Pries ^ 10 cents a number; 
$2.60 per year. 

SALUTATION. 

On the eve of Christmas and New Year's, 
with the greetings of the joyful holy season 
to our renders, this first number of another 
volume of our new- old Journal, bearing 
the imprint of new publishers, presents itself 
a fortnic:ht in advance of date. Of course 
when its date arrives it will no longer be 
found fresh in all its matter, though some 
topics and some records do not lose their 
freshness in a day. We issue it thus early 
simply to satisfy the very many calls for a 
" specimen " number. 

Everybody knows, a *' specimen " never is 
a specimen, and never can be. An hour is 
no specimen of a year. A part cannot show 
the whole. A brick is not the house in 
little. A specimen paper is made up in a 
hurry, in a distracted and unnatural condi- 
tion of the editorial mind, thinking of too 
many things at once, and lacking that repose 
of settled routine in wiiich the happy thought, 
the clear and quick decision, comes. Every 
man is scatterbrained, half -idiotic, when he 
is in a hurry; his thought deserts him, his 
consciousness is blank ; not so are the Muses 
won.. We do our best when we are not 
thinking of doing something great. A gen- 
eral, who should go into a battle with the idea 
of showing the world a specimen, would be 
pretty sure to lose the fight. He would wish 
to exhibit all the elements of his strength, all 
his strategic arts and subtleties, whether the 
occasion called for them or not ; would order 
up artillery only to find it in the way. So 
we, having issued a Prospectus of our plans 
and topics, with an attractive list of writers 
for the coming year, set out to make a speci- 
men t^umber just to show that all these writ- 
ers, all these things, are really to figure in the 
volume here begun. But in the first place 
there is no time ; in the next place no room. 
This is a small paper ; its eight pages cannot 
make a show of all its departments and con- 
tributors at once ; the little bark cannot hold 
all its crew ; they must take turns. We 
have invited our trusty contributors to this 
trial trip; but when it comes to taking all 
aboard, it is like going to sea in a bowl. 
Some, of whose companionship we hhould 
have been proud, must wait. Some have 
contributed in such generous abundance that 
were we to accept it all, though good as gold, 
our boat would founder before leaving shore. 
Some have offered us whole book.-, where we 
timidly asked for occasional short papers. 
Of correspondents from other musical cities 
we have been anxious to include as many as 



6 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 984. 



possible ; but in almost every instance we 
have been obliged to cut their letters short 
by full one half ; besides contracting our own 
editorial space more than in duty to our read- 
ers seems excusable. 

Nevertheless (to change the metaphor) we 
make what show we can. As a manager, on 
the opening night of his irew theatre, mar- 
shals his whole company before the audience, 
BO we endeavor to present a goodly number 
of our contributors in this first issue : and, if 
the actors jostle one another, if each is cut 
down to a short part, appearing hardly long 
enough to make his bow, it is because the 
stage is narrow and the evening soon spent. 
When the auditorium too is crowded, we'll 
enlarge the stage. 



Of our artistic faith, ideals, principles, our 
journalistic policy, etc., we cannot say much 
here ; they are perhaps hinted with sufficient 
clearness in the Prospectus on another page. 
We think there will be no mistaking the 
spirit of the paper, or its high aim and hon- 
esty. Whatever its shortcomings, it will be 
found faithful to high and noble views of 
art; always striving to uphold a high ar- 
tistic standard ; to make the enduring master- 
works appreciated and cherished, that thus, 
informed and duly oriented, we may listen to 
new things intelligently, without danger of be- 
wilderment and dissipation of all sound ar- 
tistic sense. We want to make the ground 
so solid, and the atmosphere so wholesome, 
that one may gi*atify the curiosity for novel- 
ties, new schools, new forms, new styles and 
fashions, with no fear of losing his head, or 
of becoming a victim ^f that musical dys- 
pepsia which afflicts so many amateurs and 
critics. 

It may be that* we have some hobbies, 
which we shall ride as opportunity or provo- 
cation comes. We shall continue, for one 
thing, to throw out suggestions tending to- 
ward. what may be called a unitary organiza- 
tion of the concert management in each of 
our important musical centres; an under- 
standing and arrangement whereby the best 
interpretation of the best in music may reside 
in guaranteed und permanent tnstitiUions, and 
not be left entirely to the competitive, con- 
flicting interests of speculating showmen. Wc 
shall keep hinting and appealing to the pub- 
lic-spirited, wealthy would-be benefactor to 
the cause of art and culture, to make liberal 
endowment of such institutions, by placing 
money in the hands of fit societies or trus- 
tees, instead of building vast and showy halls 
and theatres, with vaguest notions of their 
uses. Mindful of one institution, out of 
which our journal sprang, — the Harvard 
Musical Association, — and of the simple germ 
from which that sprang, the little *' Pierian " 
club in college, we shall still plead for the en- 
dowment and establishment of what would be 
a central and presiding institution among a^ 
the members of such an ideal organization of 
our musical opportunities and culture, to wit : 
a complete School or Conservatory of Music 
under the wing of Harvard (or any other) 
University, on an equal footing with the 
School of Medicine, or Law, or Natural Hi:^- 
tory, having its seat both in Cambridge and 
1.1 Boston, strong and permanent under the 



guaranty of that res (peccability, authority, dis- 
interestedness, »ind broad, wise catholicity of 
view which goes with a university. Then, 
be the pupils many or few, the education will 
be sound and thorough, the influence inspiring 
and far-reaching, and there will l)e, what we 
now want in music, an authoritative standard. 
And again, as naturally flowing out of this 
last thought (and echoing the brief but preg- 
nant wonl of the friend who writes us in 
another column of a.'' new de^ianure'* in the 
sister art of Painting), we trust we shall 
make it appear that this turning over of a 
new leaf in our journalism comes just in 
time to herald and to help a corresponding 
^ new departure " in the culture and the art 
of Music in America. The musical student 
also begins to recognize the importance of 
the "life school." The real, earnest music 
lovers are getting past the period of senti- 
mental, superficial dilettantism. They set 
them.selves to watch and Biudj Nature in the 
works of genius ; to learn how musical beau- 
ties and splendors and preciou** memories and 
meanings develop by natural law and process, 
through the sympathetic instinct and trained 
insight of the genial composer, out of musical 
seed-thoughts, themes, and motives. For 
soon they find that every so-called classical 
form and structure, the subtle shining web 
of imitative Counterpoint, the exhaustless 
Fugue, the thematic development of the So- 
nata, and all the established musical forms 
grew out of Nature's own " life-school," and 
are in very truth the organic life and princi- 
ple of Music, tlie only musical manifestations 
which are not arbitrary and merely of the 
moment Signs of this beginning are the 
musical courses recently established at Har- 
vard under Professor Paine, and the appear- 
ance in a literary periodical of such articles 
as that by Mr. Apthorp, in the Atlantic, on 
"Additional Accompaniments to the Scores 
of Bach and Handel," most of which we cop- 
ied at the time. At all events, Music is be- 
coming a more earnest matter among its vota- 
ries in our country than it ever was before. 
It is beginning to be studied in a deeper 
sense; and to further this tendency, this 
movement, must be one main object with our 
journal. ^ 

CONCERTS. 

Ix spite of tlie bad prospect in October, the 
ante-Christmas half of the musical season has 
kept attention busily occupied with frequent 
concerts, remarkable artists, and excellent per- 
formances of many first-class compositions. We 
have not been entirely deprived of orchestral dc- 
liglit.4, as there was danj^er that we might be ; 
and it is no disadvantage on tlie whole that we 
have had to fall back on our own local resources. 

The Hakvakd Musical Association, by 
the time this is printed, will have given two Sym- 
phony Concerts of its fourteenth season. The 
first, on Thursday, December 5th, though not so 
well attended as one might expect of Boston, made 
a decided mark, delighting the audience and hold- 
ing all in their seats to the last chord of a two 
hours* performance of a programme purely clas- 
sical, and winning tlie approbation of all the 
criticii, as we have already shown io our last 
number. That exiMsrlcnce proved that a pro- 
gramme may be mafle up wholly from the so- 
called soli<l works of the ^reat classical masters, 
and be thoroughly enjoyed by a whole audience. 



The interf>retation, too, was wortliy of tlie pro- 
gramme. Knowinj^ all behind the curtain, from 
the beginning of the brief and hurried pn*para^ 
tion, wc had hanlly <lared to expect so much. 
Yet so well did the orchestra (of forty-four men, 
witli Mr. C. N. Allrn at tlie head of the violins) 
play, in such true intonation (even the olioes al- 
ways in tune), with such precision antl well 
blended coloring, such good light and shade, and 
such Kpirit^ — almost one might say entliusiasm, 
— that many spoke of it as a miraculous transfor- 
mation, the dawn of a new era, and gave credit 
for a most unusual amount of time and care 
s|)ent in rehearsal. The fact is that hardly ever, 
in the whole history of these concerts, had the 
musicians rehearsed so little. How account for 
the encouraging surprise ? Was it that, in the 
withdrawal of an exceptionally perfect, and in 
fact virtuoso orchestra for comparison, and of the 
distracting influence of ail tlie startling, brilliant 
novelties that orchestra continually set before 
us, the criterion now reverted to the calm, true 
court of ap|>eal in the hearer's own mind and 
sincere impression, so that we took things natu- 
rally, and judged them by the ** inner light," 
not brow-beaten by compariiK>n, not dragged 
oflT our centre by surrounding excitement? In 
otlier words, does not ])erliaps this freedom from 
outsitie ''attractions'* that disti-act, this quiet 
being left alone, for once, to listen to our music 
in more peace and leisure, help us to see and 
feel it as it is inirinsically, and find great joy 
in it, without being over-senbitivc to real or fan- 
cied imperfections in the rendering ? We do be- 
lieve Uiere is something !n this, but certainly not 
all. Our musicians did play remarkably well. 
And we fancy one secret of it was that these are 
hard times lor musicians ; they Hud not so much 
promiscuous employment as in past years; they 
have time upon their hands, and they have 
enough of the artist feeling in them to try to im- 
prove it artistically, and use the unpaid hours in 
making for themselves artistic character against 
the better times when good engagements will flow 
in. Hence they played the symphony not like hack 
Alusikanten, fagged out witli theatres and balls all 
night, but as lovers of good music, having now a 
chance to give their whole soul to it, as well as 
automatic breath and blinds. Such are tlie pre* 
ciou» uses, sometimes, of adversity I And we believe 
the same privation sharpened the sense and predis- 
posed the sympathetic recognition of the audience. 
All was in good earnest; the artists played well, 
and the people listened well, — not as in the 
spoiledand pamper ed times when all were run- 
ning after new sensations. 

We can cast back but a glance upon the de- 
tails of that concert It opened with an eflective 
rendering of Mendelssohn's noble overiure to 
St, Paul, never so appreciable in the bustle of a 
gatliering oratorio crowd. By some strange 
oversight, however, the organ was left out. How 
many thought of it? Then came Mr. Sher- 
wood's masterly performance of the great E-flst 
concerto of Beethoven, — the *' Emperor " con- 
ceito as the £ngli«h call it, — being in truth the 
greatest ever written. We cannot say we ever 
heard this glorious work more satisfactorily pre- 
sented on Uie part of the pianist. With perfect 
certainty of technique, musical, clear touch, grad- 
uated to all degrees of power or fineness, and 
firm, sustained, symmetrical unfolding of all the 
grandeur and the beauty of the work, and a 
thoroughly intellectual well thought out and well 
felt conception of his task, he brought it home to 
every listener, and it was impossible not to listen. 
Spohr's Jeisonda overture came next, and that, 
too, was relished. 

Part II. opened with Bach's great organ fnn- 
taisie and fugue in G minor, transcribed by 
Liszt, which Mr. Sherwood played with gieat 



Janoabt 4« 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



power and dUtinctness. 'liieii, nince Uiu E-flnt 
concerto is equal to a great Beethoven symphony, 
a short, lii^ht, charming symphony by Haydn wan 
pelectud for tlits time, — one never heard here 
but once before, composed by Haydn on receiv- 
iiig the honorary degree of Doctor of Munic at 
OxOard. Light, playful, aii>y, as are most of its 
themes, yet it is a gem of masterly musicianship; 
by the subtle art of thematic development and 
the fine instinct of instrumentation, every theme 
is worked up into a thing of wondrous beauty. 
Just such a sample of his art as Haydn cared 
to lay before the Oxford Dons I Rossini knew 
how good it wtis ; in the second subject of the 
'dle<*To you see whura he found and used (uncon- 
Mrionsly, no donbt) one of the molo<Uc ideas in // 
Barbiere / Schubert's lUiter-Marjich, transcribed 
for orchestra, by Liszt, made a spirited conclusion 
to a noble concert. Mr. Cabl Zkrkaiin is to 
Im) heartily congratulated on the fine results his 
baton has elicited from a ban<l so newly brought 
together. 

WiLHKLMj returned to ns, witli tliat remark- 
able cnloratur singer. Mile. Dx. Mur^ka, (or tliree 
concerts in the Music Hall, December 4th, 6th, 
and 7ih. They were largely attended, and of- 
fered much that was excellent. In the first, 
Willichnj played the first movement of BiH:tho- 
vcn's greatest of all violin concertos, in D, and 
played it with supremo, consummate mastery. It 
would have been better with a larger and more 
trained orchestra, yet the accompaniment was not 
bad. He gave Ernst's fantasia on the Desde- 
uiona romanza and aria (the song of " Willow ") 
in OfellOf and some of his fine encore pieces. 
Mile. Di MuKSKA, though her middle tones are 
worn and harsh, and she lacks sustained tone for 
euiihibUey displayed a marvelous perfection of 
florid execution in ** Una voce," etc., and in some 
bravura variations by Pruch. Her very highest 
noUss are liquid purity and sweetness free from 
all alloy, and revel with alt ease in ornamental 
passages. 

On the second evening, Wilhelmj's pih:e de 
ritinlance was a concerto, composed for him by 
BafT, — a strange, unsatisfactory production in it- 
self, which hardly seemed a concerto afler those 
greatest ones we had just been hearing of Beet- 
hoven. It consibted of a long, slow, vague, sen- 
timental movement, in which we felt no progress, 
but a sort of spell-bound, nightmare state of mind, 
followed by a quick movement mainly made up 
of a march. The march was a relief after the 
nightmare^ but Raff is always marching. There 
are immense difficulties in it for the principal in- 
strument, but Wilhelmj cairied all be'ore him 
with all ease. On Saturday he played the ada- 
gio and allegro of the Memlelatsohn concerto 
wonderfully well, except tli.it there was some 
nu>ody humoring of tempo in the first part. But 
the memorable thing in that concert was the 
adagio and variations from the rare old " Kreut- 
zer Sonata," which he and Mme. Tkuksa Cak- 
KKNo at tlie piano played as if possessed with 
one spirit, both moved by a higher power invis- 
ible. It was one of those inspired moments 
which now and then occur to relieve the tedium 
of too many concerts. The beautiful pianist, 
whose face and movements had until then worn 
an * expression of impatience and almost disgust 
at being repeatedly recalled afler flashy virtu- 
oso pieces (Gottschalk, etc.), now evidently felt 
at home and happy in good music ; her cooper- 
ation was perfect, and her face grew poetic and 
inspired. \Vhy cannot an artist always have ar- 
tistic tasks to do ? Sig. Tagliapietra, one of 
the most artistic and refined of baritones, made 
a very fine impression by his singing of a beau- 
tiful romanza of Wilhelmj's composition, as well 
as by sevei*al songs by Gounod and others in two 



concerts. Mnic. Dt Mumka again and again dis- 
played her finished, facile art in Benedict's vari- 
ations on the " Carnival of Venice," Meyerbeer's 
*' Shadow Song," and the aria from Linda^ be- 
sides ^ RolN*rt, toi quo j'aime.'* 

The little improvised orchestra, under Carl 
Zrhkaun, played the Prometheus overtura of 
Beethoven, antl Mendelssohn's to Das Heimkehr, 
in a manner quite refreshing. 



Mr. Eiciibkro's Violi.n Clauseb. — The ex- 
hibition of the Boston Conservatory of Music at 
Tretnont Temple, on Saturday, Dec. 14. was 
most attractive and significant. Half a <lozen of 
the pupils were young ladies, some of them mere 
girls, and there were three young men. They 
played difficult solos, concertos, Hungarian airs, 
fantasias, — such pieces as we have been hearing 
from Wilhelmj and Bemenyi, — and they played 
quartets. A very young girl. Miss Edith Chris- 
tie, of delicate, poetic appearance, stood forth and 
performed the first concerto of De Beriot with 
great purity of intonation, clear phrasing, and 
good accent, excellent bowing and expretision. 
The violin seemed to belong to her and she to it. 
Another of the youngest, Miss Lillian Chandler, 
led in a Fuiooth, effective rendering of the theme 
and variations from Beethoven's fifth quartet, be- 
ing ably supported by Miss f^ttie Launder, sec- 
ond violin. Miss Abbie Shepardson, viola, and 
Miss Lillian Shattuck, cello. The fair 'celliist 
also figured as violinist, and to good advantage, 
in Beethoven's romanza in F, in a beautiful noc- 
turne for four violins by Julius Eichbe^, with 
the same three associates ; and these four per- 
formed in unison the adagio from Mendelssohn's 
concerto; the uniFon was perfect, the technical 
rendering and expression really artistic. The 
solo perfbnnances by Miss Launder and MUs 
Shepardson showed natural aptitude, witli the 
thorough training of several years. 

It all tended to confirm us in the opinion we 
have long held, that the violin, is a true instru- 
ment for woman. Her fine sense of touch, her 
quick and delicate perception, and the natural 
grace with which she can hantlle the bow, give 
her advantages for such a practice. She looks 
well in the action and the attitude. But all this 
we expressed more folly a rear since, when Mr. 
Eichberg produced a much larger number of 
young girls in a similar exhibition. This time 
it was confined to some of the more advanced and 
gifted pupils. 

We must not forget to mention the solid proofs 
aflbrded also by the young men of satisfactory 
progress, and indeed real mastery in the hand- 
ling of thi) ^uost difficult of instruments. Mr. 
Albert van Raalte, one of the older graduates of 
this school, ii an artist; his performance of 
Ernst's Ot*ilo fantaiisie did not sound badly after 
the two great virtuosos we have lately had here. 
And Mr. Willis Nowell played the Hungarian 
airs by Ernst in true, sound, manly fa>hion. Per- 
haps the most remarkable thing about the whole 
exhibition was the playing in good tune, almost 
without exception. Great good must come from 
such a school. Imagine the delights and the re- 
fining influence in homes where sisters and broth- 
ers, or neighbors of like training, can play a 
string quartet together in the evening 1 And 
think, too, liow surely this will give us fresh ma- 
terial for our orchestra and chamber concerts I 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Nxw York, Dec. 12. — The prognmroe of the flist cod- 
oeitof the Fbilharmoiiio Society, Nov. 80, was as follows : — 

Symphony, No. 3, in D . . . Bttthmi. 

Concerto Path^tique £rtui. 

Hkrr E. Rkmkiiti. 

Aris, tnm *< 11 Ginranietito *' AfereaffaiUe. I 

Sic. a. Galassi. | 



Overture, ** Ltconora,'* No. 3 Biethoven. 

{a.) Nocturne, K flat I ^. . 

(6.) Maxourka, B flat ( t*«y«a. 

Hkrr K. Rkmkmti. 

Komansa, ftx>ni Tainihiiuaer Wngner, 

Sio. A. Galassi. 
Symphonic Poem : <* Die Uunneoaeblacki *' . . . Littt, 

'lie second aymphony of liralmis i« graceful and pleat- 
ing, but in no sense a great work. ** The Battle of the 
I Inns** was performed here yean ago under the dinetion 
of lliomas. Herr Kemenyi gained much applause by his 
performance of the *' Concerto l*ath^tique,*' a work which 
fairly bristles with technical diflicuhies. 

The second concert of the New York Symphony Society 
took place at Steinway Hall, Deo. 7, with the foUowing pro- 
gramme: — 

Symphony in G, No. 13 Haydn, 

Pianoforte Concerto, E flat, No. 5 Btttkwtf^ 

M. Max Pixnkk. 

Chierture, ^ King Lear '* Bei-Uoz. 

Norwegian Mekdy, for string orchestra . . . Hvenmltn. 
Allegro, for string orobestia and two hautboys Hfitnltl, 

Kamaruiakiua Glinku, 

Overture, *» Fingal's Cave *^ Mtndtlnohn, 

I rewrve an account of the work of this orchestra under 
l)r hamrosch, and a comparatire estimate of its merita 
with those of tlie Philharmonic orchestra under Mr. Neu- 
endorfi; and the ei-t/etant lliomas orchestra under Mr. G. 
Carlberg. 

The season of Italian Opera at the Academy of Blusle 
has iMfcn fairly successful Colonel Mapleson has, to beghi 
with, a Hfll-drilled chorus (something which his predece ss ors 
have always managed to get along without), and an vrches- 
tral leader pfv exctiUncef Signer Arditi. 

'J'he r<^|iertoire thus far has not been remarkable, consist- 
ing mostly of such worics as // Trt/vatort^ La SumrambuUt^ 
Rit/t^tUo^ Fautt^ tlie erer* welcome Nvtxe </• Fiyai-u^ etc. 
The only departure from the beaten track is the representa- 
tion of Bizet's opera, Ctntuen, and // TtiltMmnno^ tlie poet- 
humous work of Balfe. 

It lias lieeii said that Uiere can be nothing baruiful or ini« 
pure in mnsic, cxi-ept by the association of words- Be this 
as it may. there is certainly music that in itself is hisufler- 
ably vulgar Of this kind b the music of Carmen. 

H TaUtmano is not enUrely a novelty. It was brought 
out here four years ago by Miss Kellogg and her English 
opera troupe. Tliia season it is given hi Italian for the 
Arst tiuie in New York. 

Hie ** Talisman ** contains not a single idea of any true 
significance or %-alue. The music reminds Obe of llioreau's 
deacriptioti of modem society, where people ** feebly fabulate 
and puddle aliout In the social slush." Tlie work contains 
a numlier of pretty airs of the ballad order. So doea Arthur 
Sullivan's new burlesque, ** H. M. S. Pinafore,** which the 
composer has not dignified by the name of opervr, although 
it has real musical \-a1ue, while H TaUtmano hunone. Ilie 
opera was well presented and was listened to by a large and 
(of courje) delighted audience. 

I am ghid to say that the singing was generally good, ex- 
cept that the singers were not in Uieir l)est voice, owing to 
the bad vwather. Mme. Gereter is in no sense a great 
singer; but her voice is excellent and cultivated to the high, 
est extent. She is certainly an artist who charms both by 
her singing and her acting. 

Mme. Sinico has a hard and not altogether agreeable 
voice, but makes the best of it. Sigtior Campanini is well 
known to be the best tenor who has appeared here for many 
}ears. His voice is of peculiar timbrt, and partienUrly 
beautiful in oantabile pasnges. His stage manner is awk- 
ward : he is no actor, but one quite forgets this defect in ad- 
miration of his singing. Sig. liel Puente is also well known 
to the oper^-going public, with whom he is deservedly a 
favorite. 

Sig. Galassi has a fine voice and sings in good style. 
Mme. Gerster and Sig. Campanini gained a double encore 
in the duet, " Oh va! La mia preghiera.*' 

On Saturday evening, Dec. 14, the Brooklyn Philharmonic 
Society will give the £it concert of the season. Theodore 
'lliomas will come from Cincinnati to conduct the orchestra. 

X^m ^^m %^-% 

PifiUiDEU^iA, Dkc. 13, 1878 — Just now the musl. 
cal elemaits are in a condition of blissful repose with us, 
as is generslly the case immedmtely pmeding the Christ- 
mas holidays. So our attentioD will be directed towards 
the music of the future, that is, of the immediate future. 
The rehearsals and preparations are being conducted with 
energy, and there is a prospeet of a gowl time coming. 
The Ceciliaii is rehearsing the healthy music of good okl 
Father Uaydn, and the charming melodies of the Creation 
are daily growing more familiar to this fine choral body; 
but no date is yet fixed for the performance, as, in the judg- 
ment of the excellent president, the oratorio should not be 
produced prematurely. A chonis formed of Bladame £. Sel- 
ler's pupils is studying Dr. Loewe's oratorio of the Sevn 
aUfpert. No announcement of date has }ei been made. 

The StoU and Barili Soirte will be oooUmied monthly 
In the Natatorium Hall. Mr. Jarvia's superior Chamber 
Concerts will be giivn hi the same hall at more frequent In- 
tenals, -and bis future programmes hak very iiivitii^. 
The Phllbarmociic dub, assisted by Mma. Monlsgo, a yonni{ 
soprano of great proniss, has Ukeu the pretty little theatre 



8 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX.— No. 984. 



known m North Broftd, for a leries of niMiueet, mnd Colonel 
XUpleson hM l)een negotiating with the dirvcton of the 
Academy of Music for a eerieA of operu with his fine com- 
pany now performuig in New York, hut with what success 
we are not infonned. 

Mr. F. T. S. Darley, the composer of '' Malchns,'' has 
held the position of ory^anist and choir-master in the Church 
of the Holy Trinity iot nine years past, and had under 
him the finest chorus choir in our city, which sang music of 
a superior character in the very beat style. His labors in 
the interest of church music have not been appreciated, and 
he has met the fate of all reformers. His resignation left 
the situation q>en, and Mr. BI H. Cross has been appointed 
his successor. If he obtains as good results as his prede- 
cessor he will be entitled to all praise, but it will be done 
only by dint of earnest and persistent labor. Mr. Cross oc- 
cupies the organ bench on tlie first of the year. Cireat regrets 
are expressed that Mr. l^rley's excellent work of nine 
long years will go for naught: more 's the pity, for church 
music, with one or two exceptions,. is at a discount with us, 
and the new Methodist Hynmal, by tlie aid of Moody and 
Sankey, is doing yeoman*s work in its det^radation and de- 
struction. The first number of the neir old Jhuhnal is 
looked for with much interest, and its editor is (;reeted with 
a ** Happy New Year" from Amkkicus. 

Daltimoke, Dec. 12, 1878. — Verily, our innsical pub- 
lic would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer. Kenieiiyi «a.<t not 
expected to accomplish wtiat Wilheln^ had done, and in this 
he did not disappoint us; but, a^ an artist making his first 
appearance here, he certainly desen'ed a (air hearing. The 
small attendance is the more surprising because his selec- 
tions and style of pUying arc calculated to please a mixed 
audience, and because his snppoit was superior to tliat ac- 
cumpanying Wiliielmj. 

First, Kemenyi pUycd the Ottllo fautaisie l>y Knist, evi- 
deutiy to solicit comparison witli Wilheluij's performance of 
the same piece. If so, it was a most unfurtuuate selection. 
The other violin solos were three by Chopin : a noctunie, 
Hungarian melodies, and the beautiful mazurka. Op. 7, No. 1 . 
The kst two of tliese (both transcribed by Kemenyi) were 
best suited to his style, and in tliem he appeared to decided 
advantage. The programme ckieed with Paganini's cap- 
priccios, Nos. 21 and 2i. 

I1iis class of music was about what I expected to hesr, 
but I was not prepared for the *' Suwanee Kiver,'' and, oh, 
horror of horrors! mnst it be told? " Grandfather's Clock,*' 
whicli were thrown in by way of good measure after the 
Chopin mazurka. The audience applauded uproariously, 
probably in the hope of hearing ** Whoa, £nmia," with orig- 
inal Hungarian variations- 

Kemenyi has, by his selections, courted comparison with 
Wilheln^, but if the bitter iias any fear of lieing deprived of 
his laurels by the Hungarian virtuoso, he has but to hear his 
performance of the OuUo fantaisie to dbpel any such fearv. 
The unerring precision in runs in octaves, thirds, etc., chrx>- 
niatic scales, the flnytolH^ and abo\« all, the massive power, 
the n)ascidine force, of the German violinist, — where are 
they? Keroenyrs striking characteristics are pathetic inter- 
pretation of melody calculated to Mruuse tender emotions and 
Tei^ng on the sentimental, and subtle delicacy in the use of 
the bow. He is a rirtnoso, but tmly a virtiinw, and il 
would be just as ridiculous to elevate him on a par with tlie 
solid German mtaieitin as it is to call him the " Li*a of 
the «ofi«." 

The support was much whove the avenge, with the excep- 
tion of Mr. Courtney, who made a deplorable nie«s of Beet- 
ho^ien's ** Adelaide.*' Mr. Courtney was evidently suffering 
firom a cold, which seems determined not to leave Mm, for lie 
is reported as having been troubled with it continually while 
in New York. 

Miss Helen Ames has a pure, sweet voice, not strong, but 
possessing a clear ring, and giving evidence of substantial 
training. 

Signor Kiirico Campobello sang very acceptably an air 
finom Handel, and the ** Village BUcksmith." His name 
looks very Italian on the programme, but the singer looks 
very Scotch on the stage. 

Mr. Diilcken accompanied well, except that he tried to 
impress too much on the audience the importance of the 
Boeompaniment, and inserted in a well-filled programme a 
trashy '* Valse de Concert '* of bis own composition, which 
it would have been man becoming in him to have left out, 
for more reasons than one. Musikus. 

Chicago, Dec. 10, 1878. — I>ist week was the most fa- 
voted one of fine vocal performances for several years. On 
Monday e\'ening we had the Marie- Roze concert troupe. 
Tbia, they say, was well attended. 

On Tuesday came the opening concert, for the season, of 
the Beethoven Society. The programme was very good 
indeed. It embraced Mendelssohn*s ** First Walpnrgis 
Night," Rubinstein's Navid n\io soto and chorus, Gade's 
*• Spring Message," and sdectaons from TatuihAuer, con- 
sisting of the overture, W'olfram^s " £vening Star " air, two 
duets, and a trio. Tlie chorus consisted of about 150 
singers, who sang with good volume of tone. The orches- 
tra was of forty pieces, also of good body of tone and not 
obstreperous. The soloe in the *' Wnlpurgis Night *' were 
taken by BIrs. Watrous, who has a large contralto voice and 
a good delivery of the text, but a ratlier monotonons style 
of singing; Mr. Chaa. Knox, who, in spite of fiitlgne, suc- 
ceeded very nicely with hit . part, and Mr. Jnaii Moranski, 



w'.io has a very heavy and solid but rather unelastic baas 
voice. 

This interesting work was given with good spirit and in 
an enjoyable way. The chorus is well balanced, the tenors 
and basses showing a mariced improvement over hst year. 
The attack is very good. Shading was manifested to a cer- 
tain degree. But it must be confessed that in spite of the 
efforts of the enthusiastic conductor, "Mr. Curl Wolfsohii, 
the phrasing is decidedly slovenly, and the perfunnance as 
a whole too nneUsUc. This is the more to be rq^rrtted be- 
cause the present fikult is alike trying to the singers and the 
hesrers. 

Nor can I omit the opportunity to comment on the or- 
chestra, which, though showing an impro^'enient over former 
efforts, is still too monotonous and misympathetic. 

The Rubinstein Nuiati solo was taken by Miss FJla 
White, one of our very best singers and most indefatigable 
bvers of music. Her voice is not large, but of compact and 
remarkably good carrying quality, in spite of which she was 
too much Mccompanied, so that her excellent delivery of her 
text was covered up and to a great degree lost. On tlie 
whole I think the Gade " Spring Message " the best chonu 
singing of this concert The o%-erture to Tannhaiuer was 
played in good honest style, and I must say I think it a 
masterpiece always worth hearing. That " IMkn'im Chorus *' 
is a grand and massive melody, which goes fiu* to make me 
a Wagnerite, besides which I always enjoy hearing a less fin- 
ished orchestral performance; one can follow the different in- 
struments so much better, llie vocal selections were also 
well received, the bcKt being unquestk>nably Mr. .lohn Mo- 
WadeV " Kveiiing Star " aria. The part of »• Klizalieth " 
wns taken hy .Miss Hannah McCarthy, who has a very lar;^ 
and agreeable soprano voice. Her singing was a Mcca 
(VeMfimt^ the good voice compensating for the extremely 
ni\-alier manner in which slie trested the words of tlie pert 
(if indeed she sang any words at all, of which I am not 
sure). 

TiiK Apollo Sociktv comes out this year with a mixed 
chorus of about the same size as the former. The music 
this time consisted of Handel's '• .\cis and Galatea," given 
after the original score (it having been found impossible to 
get tlie. Mozart parts in time), and half of Mendelssohn's 
»» St Panl." 

The Handel solos were given hy Bliss Fanny Kellogg, 
Dr. C. T. Barnes (tenor), and Mr. Myron W. Whitney. 
Those in *' St. Paul " by Miss Kellogg, Miss Abby Chirk, 
Mr. Fessenden, and Blr. Whitney. Having named the solo 
artists, I perhaps need say no more, for from your acqiuunt- 
nnoe with most of them you will at once know how well 
they must have done them. 

This w.ns the first time I had heard Miss Fanny Kellogg, 
and her singing was a genuine snd most delightful surprine 
to me It was not alone the flexible and a';reeable voice, 
the pleasant nietlio<I and the refinement of her phrasing: 
but tlie union of these with so much intelligence. And so 
I am pleased to record how perfectly and most satisfactorily 
she sang (frir there is a kind of iunpUl prrftcHtm^ such as 
llieodore Thomas sometimes gets, and Tomlins is some- 
times guilty of). 

Dr. Barnes is a native, and it was an unexpected pleasure 
to find him capable of the work he did in the part of 
'* Acis." His voice is light, and like all those light tenors 
prone to the nasal. But I did not observe this peculiarity 
the other e\'ening. Whitney was glorious, as he always is. 

Tlie orchestra wu another moat agreeable surprise to me. 
For, wonderful to rekite, Air. Tomlins proved equal to this 
demand also, so tiiat they played with a most delightful 
subjection to the voices, and with refined and s}inpathetic 
expression. This was the case throughout, but especially 
and altogether unusually so in the recitatives, which were 
accompanied in the most exquisite manner. I have never 
heard so fine phrasing from a Chicago orchestra, and did not 
lielie^e them capable of it, though «* The Chicago Orches- 
tra" under Mr. Roaenbecker's direction shows a marked 
Improvement. 

'Ilie chorus singing wu the best we have ever had. I 
have iie\'er heard a chorus of the sixe sing with such delicacy 
and precision, such elasticity, such easy and natural shad- 
ing, and with pfenty of power, rising at the ckne of the 
" St. Paul " selection, at the words '' Oh, great is the 
depth," to a climax so impressive as to set the audience 
wild with eiithusinsm. 

The Whitney combination is doing fine work throughout 
the West, and, I hear, doing well in pocket. And this I 
am glad of, for it deser\*ea to succeed when such smgen as 
Whitney, Bliss Kellogg, and Fessenden and Miss Chirk can 
be heard ui small pUces in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and 
the rest. 

.... I find that moaical people generally look with in- 
terest at your new departure, — for which we wait. 

Der Frktbchuetz. 



end was given with a vigor and tome which waa by no means 
studied or conventional, but showed a natuial abanthn^ quite 
remarkaliie in so young a society. 

In Mendelssohn's beautiful motet, t*Hear my prayer," 
the chorus did thdr part ddightfuUy, tinging with true feel- 
ing, and managing thtpianiuimo passages with gnat skill. 
'£he Finland Song, by Henry Hiles, waa well rendered, al- 
though Uckiiig a little of the usual rigor. Schumann's 
" Gypsey Life " was, on the whole, good; the only fault be- 
ing a slight want of unity in the ritttrdando parts. Beetho- 
ven s canutaof two inovemenU: (1) ** Becahned* at Sea," 
(2) '• l*ros{)erous N'oyage," wns open to criticism in two 
respects; the hist movement was too hurried both by ac- 
conipanyist and chorus Mr. Sliarinnd's baton seemed pow- 
erkas to get tUm into order; and they ooiitiuued their reck- 
less career to the end. Then, too, ihera was a need of more 
soprano. The male voices overtiahuiced the female element; 
and in the high notes, especUUy, the Lick of high soprano 
voices was fidt. 

'I'he solo singing I will not dwell on at length, as the cho- 
ral work U what 1 partimdarly wiali brxMight into notice; only 
saying that it was all warmly appreciated by tlie audience, aa 
it deserved to be. I'he two gentlemen, Mr. Seabnry and 
Mr. West, made their appearance hi public for the first time 
last evening, and astonished all with theur fine voices and 
great promise. When we consider that it is but two years 
since this society was organized, and that it is the first at- 
tempt at any tiling like a higher order of music here, we 
must regani the progress made in that time as really ra. 
markable. I'he members liave shown an ability and readi. 
ness to learn most praisewortliy ; and what u even more to 
the purpose, an earnest iiersistency in carrying out tlie ui- 
structions of their excellent leader, Mr. J. B. Shakimmd, 
of Butnton. ills patient perseverance, his good saise and 
wonderful tact, bis thorough tmining, added to very remark- 
aliie musical instincts, combine to nnike him one <^ the moat 
cflicient choral leaders, not only in America (indeed many 
who have had much experience abroad think he has few 
superiors in Europe) for that kind of work. Having had so 
propitious a beginnhig, we trust that the Newport Choral 
Society may contuiue to flourish and expand under its ad- 
mirable director. £. 



Newpoict, R. I. Dec. 6, 1878. — Last night the New- 
port Choral Society gave its fourth concert at the Opera 
House, having been engaged for the occasion by the Lecture 
Association. The programme was judiciously selected by the 
committee of the Choral Society, and was well reoeix-ed by 
an audience which has hitherto had but little opportunity of 
hearing classical music. 

The opening cantata for choros, <^ Spring's Message," by 
Gade, was charmingly rendered; the lights and shades being 
well brought out The burst of religioiu form towards the 



Paris, Nov. 26, 1878. — Parisians ought ne\«r to oom- 
pLun of a lack of good music, for certainly we have been 
(av-ored the last week with two fine oivhestral concerts and 
any quanUty of ofienis; slthough among the latter there 
was not niu-.h to lioast about. At the Pasdeloup Sunday 
Popular Concert (a fine institution, and one that ought to 
be introduced in the United States) we had a purely daa- 
sicai programme with a few exceptions. The " Surprise " 
symphony of Haydn was exquisitely rendered ; as the main 
defect in M. Pasdeloup's orchestra was not to palpable, 
namely, the brass and druma. But a greater contrast could 
not be imagined to liaydii than the second nuinbin' playeii 
It was primed thus: "i..es Krinyes, miisiqne pour niie \aift 
antique," by .1. Massenet If my memory ferves me aright, 
Uiis l>rain.i S3mphony or Symphonique Drama has never 
been heard ui America, and, by the shad«« of Mocirt, may 
it nev«*r be! It opened with a movement called on tlie pro- 
gramme entr'acte, a very sweet uir but repeated ad nayteam, 
A lively but remarkably eccentric dance followed; then a 
dirge, expressive of a Trojan woman weeping over her coun- 
try. This is all for chirinet and 'cello, and in its instru- 
mentation reminds one of the worst side of Berlios; I mean 
the tlieatrical and sensational. - Of course it was applaud xl 
to the skies, as it just suits the taste of the Parisian public, 
who will liave novelty <h> die. A ^* daiise des Satumales ' 
ckised the suite. 'I'he composer, Massenet, is of tlie school 
of Berlioz and St. Saens, but hu-ks the spontaneity of the 
former and the occasional happy touches of the latter 

The old familiar ** Scotch Symphony " was given next. 
It wu very well played, except tliat the delicacy of the 
scherzo was marred by the drums, — a serious defect. Mr. 
Theodore lUtter, the well-known pianist, who is very popu- 
lar here, phtyed the sonata of Beethoven, Op. Ill, in C- 
minor. Mr. Bitter's technique is enormous; bnt somehow 
he does n't touch you. He had a very metallic-toned piano 
to play on, and the consrquence was there was too much 
bang in the introduction. However, the variations were 
gi\-en as near perfection as posuble. One would naturally 
suppose that such a late work of Beethoven's wouU not be 
popnUr; but it appeared to be just the reverse. The con 
cert doaed with the well-known Marehe Turque of MoxarL 
On Sunday afternoon also was given, at Uie Concert da 
Chatelet, Beriiox's Damnation de FauU with a large chorus 
and orchestra, under the direction of M. Ed. Colonne. This 
was the eighteenth and last representation. Next week we 
are to have the Drama- Oftitoire that took the prixe at 
the ooncours of the city of Paris. It is called Le ParadU 
Pefdu. The music is by Theo. Dubois. On the 3ad of 
this month, St Cecilia*s Day, a great day here among the 
musicians, a new mass by Charies Gounod waa sung at the 
Church of St. Eustache. It was lai^ly attended, and the 
mass waa a perfect success. I'he morning's performance 
ckised with a grand Marche Reliyieuse, by tlie same com- 
poser, with the principal solos for the harp. The operas are 
almost numberleas: Poli/eucte, Oixmd Dudieme, a new opera 
by Lecocq, Camargo^ and Le* Amantt de Vercne by Mar- 
quis d'lvry, — a very large mixture to swallow, but which 
I have not yet sttempted. So you see the week has not 
been a bad one in a musical sense- J* H. 



Jakuart 18, 1879.] 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



9 



BOSTON, JANUARY 18, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 

To AroiLo. TnuislAtlon ftom Home*. C P. Cnuuk . . 9 

OiOMi Saitd Ain» FBSDtfftic CaoFiif. A Stndj. F>annf 
Raymond ^tter 9 

TBI PKMMSt Of HDSIO Df TBI WbIT. C. H. BrittOM . . 10 
DATS UV NOBlfAHDT. JulUt Ward HOUM 11 

Book Mo«cm 12 

Moiher-Play and Nnmry Songf. 

Lira ScBoou — AMD Mori 18 

BoiTORiAi: iTAUAii Opbra 18 

CoBCBKr Rbooro 14 

The Chriatmai Ontlons of tho Huid*l and Haydn 80- 
detT. — Tta* Symphony OooeorU of tho Harrard Ma- 
•leai AMOoUtioo. — 0. W. Sumner's Oonetrt. 

HntiOAi Coi&ispoin>xaoB 14 

Now York. — Baltlmora. — MUwmnkM. 

PtMuktd fohmghay fry Hooobtov, Omood abo Covpabt, 
t20 DevofisMre Strett, Boston. Price, 10 c*nt$ a nwnbtt ; $2.60 
ptrytor. 

AM the arfidu not credited to other gmblieettiom were expreedy 
written for this JoumeU. 



TO APOLLO. 

TRAMSLATIOir PROM HORACB, BT O. P. CRAMCR. 

Fbox great Apo]]o*s deiUoBted ahriiM 

What aeeks the bwd to gain, 
While pouring out new HMviflfCial wine? 

Not rich Sardinian grain ; 
Not the tleek herds that hot Calabria jidds; 
Not gold, nor Indian Itotj, nor fields 
Bj liris* silent waters washed awaj. 
Let those to whom their fortune gives the viDes 
Their eareftd praoing-books upon them \hj. 
Let the rich merehant quaff his wines — 
Bj Syrian traffic bought — ftx>m cups of gold. 

Dear to the gods is be. 
Four times a year, forMwth, be most behold — 
And nothing lost to him — the Atiaotic Se*. 
For me, plahi olives are my food, 
And mallows soft, and ehieoory. 
O thou, Latona's son, grant I may be 

With health and strength endued; 
With a sound mind eqjoying what I own. 
No base old age in me be ever known ; 
Nor let me ladi my lyre or poet*s mood. 



GEORGE SAND AND FRfiDfiRIC 
CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 

BY PANNY RAYMOND BITTER. 
(Oontinued from page 8.) 

Nervous prostration, hallucinatioDs, the 
loss of dear friends by death, the exhaustion 
of too severe artistic labor, combined with 
the late hours of Parisian society to break 
up Chopin's health entirely. Mndame Sand 
vainly endeavored, by persuasion and coun- 
try excursions, to tear Chopin from his 
piano and the over-exertion of composition. 
She says : " I did not dare to persist. Cho- 
pin, angry, was terrible ; and as he always 
restrained himself with me, he seemed, at 
such times, to be on the point of suffocation 
and death. My life, active and successful 
on the surface, had become inwardly more 
painful than ever. I began to despair of 
ever being able to bestow on others the hap- 
piness I had long ago renounced for myself, 
for I had many reasons for profound sadness. 
Chopin*s friendship had never been a sup- 
port or a refuge for me; my son Maurice 
was my real source of strength, for he was 
now old enough to understand the serious 
interests of life, while he sustained me by 
his precocious intelligence, equable disposi- 
tion, and unalterable cheerfulness." Chopiu 
appears always to have taken pains to retain 
the affection of Madame Sand, but he was 
not so careful with the other members of her 
family ; quarrels, recriminations, misunder- 
standings, ensued, until the situation became 
insupportable, and Maurice declared to his 



mother that, unless she requested Chopin to 
find another place of residence, he would 
leave the house himself. The mother, a 
woman, too, always the slave of children, as 
well as their idol, to her last hour, was not 
likely long to hesitate ; and, after eight years 
of daily intercourse, a sudden and decisive 
break took place betweeh the friends, who 
then parted, — meeting but once again, at 
an evening party a year after, when only 
one word was spoken between them, the 
name " Frdd^ric ! " from the lips of Greorge 
Sand. The blame of this rupture has been 
almost universally given to George Sand, 
especially as Chopin died two years after it, 
and people thought she might have supported 
the harassing presence of her '^ customary 
invalid " for so short a period longer, — as 
if she could have foreseen what was to en- 
sue. The reasons and causes that brought 
about the parting of George Sand and Cho- 
pin have been variously stated by friends 
and foes. Among the foes of George Sand 
it is difficult to avoid classing M. Karasowski, 
whose estimate of her character and actions 
is, throughout his book, narrow, prejudiced, 
yet often sentimentally weak. M. Karasow- 
ski, who, in placing Madame Sand's conduct 
in the worst light, scarcely shows himi^elf 
an enlightened friend of the artist who so 
wholly adored her, tells us that Chopin only 
desired to marry her " in his youth," — yet 
their entire acquaintance merely extended 
over a period of a little more than ten years ; 
that she *' poisoned his whole life ; " and de- 
plores the fact that this infatuation prevented 
Chopin from entering into some happy mar- 
riage that would have brightened his life and 
greatly augmented his artistic success. He 
forgets that twice before Chopin's acquaint- 
ance with Madame Sand his projects of mar- 
riage came to naught, though without any 
fault on his side ; and that during his resi- 
dence in her house he failed to carry out a 
matrimonial alliance, because, when visiting 
the lady, she offered a chair to a more fa- 
mous man before asking Chopin to take one ; 
and that although, with an artist's natural 
susceptibility to beauty and elegance, he 
would sometimes return from an evening 
party enthusiastically in love with three 
graces at once, he had the next day forgot- 
ten them all in his absorbed devotion to the 
genius, and reposeful, sympathetic qualities 
of the woman whose friendship and almost 
DQLaternal care were bestowed on him. In 
vain, after their parting, he attempted to for- 
get one who had filled his existence for ten 
years with dreams of happiness ; during the 
visit he made to England in the following 
year, he took little pleasure in the brilliant 
reception accorded to him at the English 
court, or by the public at the few concerts 
he gave. His health suffered from the cli- 
mate ; the state of his mind was betrayed by 
many expressions in his letters to his friends : 
'^ If I begin to complain, I shall never end, 
and all is in the same key. I am wearied to 
death, though the people here almost kill me 
with their kindness. I am disgusted with life ; 
nothing touches me any more ; I only wait 
for the end." On his return to Paris, his 
health gave way entirely. The details of his 
last days on earth, the sufferings he endured 



with so much resignation and piety, seeming 
rather to long for than to fear death, are re- 
lated by Karakowski with much pathos. 

The Rev. Mr. Haweis,^ in speaking of 
Madame Sand's " deliberate refusal " to marry 
Chopin, treats the whole subject from the 
merely sentimental and superficial point of 
view commonly accepted. Lenz is one of 
Madame Sand's most severe judges.^ He la- 
ments the web into which Chopin had fallen, 
^' to which a spider was not wanting." 
Should we not describe the situation more 
truthfully, if we were to deplore the entan- 
glement of two butterflies in a net ; if we 
entitled that the web of circumstance, and 
the spider Destiny, or shall we say mor- 
tal fallibility? But indeed Herr Lenz 
must have found it difficult to forgive Ma- 
dame Sand, when, after he had played — no 
doubt, finely — to her, "' she did not say one 
word ; " and Chopin showed himself once 
very deficient in his usual delicate tact, when 
he told Lenz that all contemporary writers 
ought to lay down their pens, and leave the 
whole field in possession of the incomparable 
George Sand ! It is quite true, as Karasow- 
ski observes, that George Sand was not 
found among the friends and relations who 
attempted to soften Chopin's sufferings dur- 
ing his last hours ; but be it remembered 
that Chopin ^ did not request to see any one 
at all ; " he was too proud and reticent in 
character, and just then, no doubt, too hope- 
less and discouraged to ask for the presence 
of the woman he perhaps most desired to 
see. Had he not declared that ^ his whole 
life wa^ contained in one episode," and that 
after it had closed he ^ merely vegetated " ? 
The bitter things he said of her after their 
parting were but natural from a man who 
had passed through such a disappointment, and 
possess little weight as evidence against her ; 
they must be accepted with reservation, as 
the expressions of the deepest, most sensi- 
tive, but morbid feeling on the part of one 
who, as Liszt says, '* refused to be comforted, 
while all attempts to fix his attention on 
other subjects were vain." Vainly, alas, 
has an acute French critic advised men to be 
more chary with their hatred, which is, he 
says, *' a poison more precious than that of 
the Borgias, for it is compounded of our 
blood, our health, our sleep, and — two thirds 
of our love " I 

The commonly received reason of the 
parting of Chopiu and Madame Dudevant is 
that she, in order to force him to leave her 
house, depicted him in her novel ^ Lucrezia 
Floriani " as Prince Karol, a jealous, tire- 
some, transcendental invalid ; threw the 
proof-sheets in his way, and instructed the 
children to inform him that ^ Mamma in- 
tended Prince Karol for M. Chopin." But, 
as Ehlert says,' ^ I cannot judge whether 
Karasowski's information be correct, or de- 
rived from authentic sources, but I doubt it. 
No woman acts thus, not even one whose 
patience has been completely wearied out." 
More than twenty years ago, Madame Sand 

1 Mwie and Momls, By tbe Bev. H. R. Hawkis, 
M. A. London and New York. 

* Die grotten Pianoforte -Virtuoten uiwerer ZeiU Vov 
W. VON Lenz. Berlin. 1873. 

s Aia der TonweU. Essays by Louis Ehlest. Ber- 
lin. 1877. 



10 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 985. 



found it necessary to deny this report, as 
well as partially to refute the charge that 
she had kept Chopin dangling on for her 
own entertainment, the most devoted of her 
slaves, until she was tired of him, and dis- 
missed him broken-hearted. Tlie following 
remarks occur in this passage of her auto- 
biography, illustrative of the character of 
Chopin as displayed in his intercourse with 
her : " The depth of Chopin's emotion was 
always disproportioned to its cause. A 
slight grief, some awkwardness in a person 
to whom he was indifferent, the small con- 
trarieties of real life, affected him for days, 
for weeks ; while he heroically supported the 
great dangers and sufferings of his deplor- 
able health, he was miserably vexed by its 
insignificant variations. But such is the his- 
tory, the destiny, of all persons in whom the 

nervous system is developed to excess 

Long life was impossible to one of such an 
extreme artistic type. He was consumed by 
a dream of the ideal, unbalanced by mundane 
charity or philanthropic toleration. He 
never would make terms with human nature. 
He accepted nothing of reality. In this lay 
his vice and his virtue, his grandeur and mis- 
ery Chopin was an epitome of those 

magnificent inconsistencies that must possess 
their individual logic, since Heaven pleases 

to create them I accepted all this, and, 

differing from him in ideas outside of art, in 
political opinions and judgment of passing 
events, I did not attempt any modification of 
his character, but respected its individuality 
as I did that of Delacroix and many other 
friends, whose paths differed from my own. 
On his side, Chopin accorded to me, nay, 
I will say honored me with, a friendship of 
a nature so entire that it made an exception 
in his whole life. He was always the same 
to me. He must have understood me thor- 
oughly, without illusion, as I never descended 
in his estimation. A stranger to my studies 
and researches, and consequently to my 
convictions, bigotedly attached as he was 
to the Catholic dogma, he nevertheless al- 
ways said of me, as did the gentle nuu in 
my convent. Mother Alicia, in the last hours 
of her life : * Pooh, pooh ! I am sure she 
loves Godr But if, with me, he was all 
respect, deference, devotion, he did not ab- 
jure the asperities of his character towards 
those who surrounded me. With them he 
gave free vent to the inequalities of his char- 
acter, by turns generous and fantastic, pass- 
ing from infatuation to aversion, and vice 
vend. And yet he displayed little of his in- 
terior life, save in those masterpieces of art, 
in which he expressed it even then only 
vaguely, mysteriously ; his lips never be- 
trayed his deepest feelings, and his reserve 
was so great that I alone, for many years, 
was able to divine them, and, where I 
could, to mitigate them and retard their out- 
break." In alluding to the current report 
that ^ Lucrezia Floriani" had been the cause 
of their parting, she explicitly contradicted 
it, as well as the statement that Chopin was 
depicted in Prince Karol. She says that he, 
always anxious to read her xomances before 
any one else, also read the proof-sheets 
of this, and never dreamed of connecting 
their own characters or experience with it, 



until long after, when evil-disposed persons 
put the idea in his head, and when he had 
forgotten the book. In describing their sep- 
aration, she says there was no recrimination 
between them. *' We never addressed to 
each other a reproach save one, — alas! the 
first and the last. So elevated an' attach- 
ment broke asunder, »s was best ; it was at 
least not worn away in ignoble quarrels." 
It seems to me, as to M. Fetis,^ that amid 
what he calls *' the gilded language of the 
greatest French writer of her day, the truth is 
evident," — far more so than in the comments 
upon this famous friendship, to be found in 
novels, biographical sketches, dictionaries, 
and encyclopaedias, ,too many of them flip- 
pant, as well as incorrect. But, while ac- 
cepting Madame Sand's denial of having in- 
tended to sketch the character of Chopin, 
especially with cruel intention, in ^ Lucrezia 
Floriani," — that story, so different from her 
own, one of the dullest of her novels, — we 
are at liberty to surmise that as certain types 
must have floated before her imagination, often 
involuntarily, when writing, since she wrote 
with the inspired speed of an improvisatrice, 
so her own character and that of Chopin may 
have stood before her mind's eye at this 
time, objectively, without her being aware 
of it. I am the more inclined to think 
so, since the epithets " expansive " and ^ ex- 
clusive," applied by her to Lucrezia and 
Karol, so exactly define her own large, S3rm- 
pathetic nature, and the intense and concen- 
trated character of Chopin's genius. 

While attempting to describe with impar- 
tiality an episode in the lives of two famous 
artists, — one that is supposed to have ex- 
erted so much influence on many of their 
works, — let it not be thought that I am in- 
spired by prejudice in favor of one, who is 
now almost universally regarded as perhaps 
the most illustrious example of feminine im- 
aginative power, or by an equally illiberal 
prejudice against the other. For Chopin, 
who can feel anything but the deepest, the 
most tender admiration and pity ? A disap- 
pointed patriot, the child of two nations, 
without a country or a home he could call 
his own, eternally consumed by the inward 
fire of genius, his wounded soul reacted on 
his body, his suffering body embittered his 
mind ; the possibility of passing his life in the 
security of a tie hallowed by religion, under 
the happy influence of the sunlike nature that 
could have reduced all this discord to har- 
mony, was denied to him ; ever to have met 
Madame Sand was a terrible fatality for him, 
considering the circumstances that surrounded 
them; but since such was his destiny, he 
would not have been the profound, sensitive, 
fervid poet-nature that he was, if he could 
have met her without loving her, or lost her 
without a despair that sometimes led him al- 
most to " curse the day he had met her." 

It is difficult to arrive at conclusions un- 
colored by indulgent pity for both parties, 
after endeavoring to sift the truth from a 
mass of conflicting opinions, and the vitupera- 
tion that was hurled at that " large-brained 
woman or large-hearted man " after Chopin's 
early death, and more recently since her own 

1 Biographie vmverseUe de* MuticUns, F. J. Fktis. 
Psrii. 1861. 



decease; and without the sincerest attempt 
to be just and unprejudiced, it is impossible 
to enter into the exceptional, abnormal char- 
acter of one artist, or that of the other, so 
unique from hereditary descent and individual 
peculiarities, and therefore not to be meas- 
ured by ordinary standards. Common justice 
towards George Sand, however, has been too 
often lost sight of by Chopin's admirers, es- 
pecially by German writers on music, either 
from prejudice towards a Frenchwoman, or 
because the old-fashioned idea of regarding 
literary women as necessarily cold-hearted, 
selflsh, hard, and self -asserting, seems to lin- 
ger longer in Germany than in other coun- 
tries. 

Were I inclined to listen to the prompt- 
ings of my own individual feelings alone, I 
should be anxious to yield all the merits in 
the case to Chopin, if only out of gratitude 
for the exhaustless, exquisite fountain of en- 
joyment unsealed to me in the works of this 
most original, profound, delicate, yet power- 
ful of tone-poets. For me to pronounce 
which of the two artists in this question was 
the greater would be presumptuous ; but I 
do not hesitate to declare that I have derived 
more continual, ever-renewed, stronger, finer, 
— if sometimes also painful — pleasure from 
the audition or in the performance of the 
works of Chopin, than from the perusal of 
those of George Sand. And this I confess, 
in spite of my keen appreciation of all her 
noble qualities, deep feeling for nature, and 
for all great art; in spite of her swing, verve, 
picturesqueness, and, above all, her style — 
a style so clear, limpid, richly-rolling, that I 
cannot recall any more perfect, in spite of 
its occasional exuberance, in the merely art- 
istic qualities of style in itself, than that of 
our own De Quincey, that master magician 
in the command of splendid English prose, 
whose manner is nevertheless so different, 
that it presents rather an opposition than a 
pendant to that of George Sand. 

( To be continued,) 



THE PROGRESS OF MUSIC IN THE 

WEST. 

BT C. H. BRITTAK. 

It is now some ten years since the writer 
of this article, fresh from musical experiences 
in Boston, began his life in the West. Every 
indication of musical progress has been care- 
fully noted from that time until the present 
hour. The great West has bent the full 
force of her energy to commercial and agri- 
cultural life. Yet the development of a love 
for art and music is being manifested in so 
marked a manner, and its aspect is so notice- 
able in the generous support that is given to 
all that is worthy of recognition, that at 
last we have reached a position which entitles 
us to respect and consideration. The con- 
dition of music in the West is one that is 
brighter than ever before. The organization 
of important musical societies and home or- 
chestras gives evidence of a more extended 
interest. A better class of music is studied 
by these societies, and our programmes often 
bear the marked words, ^ for the first time 
in America," even of an important composi- 
tion. When one considers the vast influence 



Januaht 18, 1879.] 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



11 



that flowed, year by year, from the Handel 
and Haydn Society in Boston, and realizes 
the benefit that has been derived from its 
example, by the formation of musical societies 
in many of the towns and cities in New Eng- 
land, he understands that a greater service 
was rendered to the cause of music than that 
which came from the mere develo[)ment of 
local taste. At the close of the last season, 
the Handel and Haydn Society had given six 
hundred and ten public concerts, and an ex- 
amination of the number of great works per- 
formed in the years of its existence indicates 
that a high motive prompted the organization 
to work for the pure, the grand, and the true 
in classic and modern music. Thus we real- 
ize that the concentrated efforts made in the 
cities indicate the general movement of taste 
and culture throughout the land. 

In three or four of the great cities of the 
West, we see efforts made in the same direc- 
tion that was taken by Boston in the ear- 
lier years of its musical life. The growth 
may be more rapid, from the greater number 
of helps and influences that surround us ; but 
we have every reason to believe it is no less 
real and positive. When I first came to the 
West and attempted to find some of Robert 
Franz's lovely songs, it was with much difli- 
culty that I made the music clerk understand 
what I wanted. There was little market for 
the so-called classical music, and the general 
tone of musical taste was largely indicated 
by the trashy compositions that found the 
largest sale. Yet there were influences at 
work that soon developed a taste for the bet- 
ter class of musical works, and Schumann's, 
Schubert's, and Franz's songs got a vocal 
hearing. The musicians were aided in their 
work by music lovers, and everywhere the 
signs were brighter. Should our Eastern 
friends watch our programmes for a season, 
and note the works which our local societies 
are producing, in contrast with their own, 
they could but admit that in endeavor, at 
least, we were equal. The first concert of 
the Beethoven Society of Chicago, this season, 
gave us « The First Walpurgis Night" of Men- 
delssohn, the overture and scenes from the 
TaniihoMer of Wagner, besides smaller pieces 
from Rubinstein and Gade; while the Apollo 
Club produced Handel's Acts and GiUaUa, 
and the first part of Mendelssohn's St Paul. 
The orchestral accompaniments were better 
performed than last season, while the chorus 
did its work with more earnestness and a 
greater finish. When we contrast the pro- 
grammes given in Cincinnati at the musical 
festivals with those offered by the Handel 
and Haydn Society at their triennial perform- 
ances, we see that the West is in no way be- 
hind the East in her endeavors to produce 
the works of the great masters. The piano 
and organ recitals, that form no insignificant 
part of our musical season, are devoted to 
the performance of the best music One so- 
ciety had all the sonatas of Beethoven, and 
the complete piano works of Schumann and 
Chopin, performed in an artistic manner, for 
the edification and education of its members, 
active and honorary. Thus also with the 
classical song- writers, a wider acquaintance 
has been made with their beautiful composi- 
tions by efforts of the same noble character. 



I do not speak of the support given to 
operatic representations, for where fashion 
largely reign», perhaps its motives are other 
than those which spring from a real love for 
the beautiful in art. To support an orches- 
tra of excellence at home, to found and en- 
dow a music school of an exalted character, 
and to build noble halls to enable societies to 
have a proper place to perform great works 
in, would indeed show an atmosphere in which 
art could flourish. But, unfortunately, we 
are as yet in the early years of our develop- 
ment, and the whole country has hardly been 
able to support one really great orchestra, 
such as that of Mr. Thomas. Real culture 
must develop from germs that unfold in the 
home, and we cannot expect a great Conser- 
vatory of Music that can produce noble ar- 
tists, and be above the low plane of a money- 
making concern, until we have created that 
love for music that shall induce the capital- 
ist to part with some of his treasures, ex- 
pecting no return but that which would come 
to him in benefiting his country and its peo- 
ple. 

The various musical "conventions," "Nor- 
mal Music Schools," and local gntherings for 
the performance or study of music, which 
have been held in the small towns in the 
West, have presented marked indications of 
progress during the past few years. Not 
long ago, a singing-book maker would hold 
gatherings of the " convention " character for 
the purpose of introducing his work ; give 
an indifferent concert or two, with the aid of 
all the church choirs in the town or village, 
and pass on to another place to do likewise 
if possible. But of late there has been a 
great difference manifested in the work at- 
tempted at these conventions. Local soci- 
eties are formed for the study of oratorio 
or cantata music, and as soon as they are 
able to perform it a public concert is given. 
Thus the convention director is obliged to 
furnish better works for study, if he would 
obtain an engagement, for the old and crude 
idea of music is giving way to one that 
shows a fuller culture. The normal schools 
that are held all over the western country 
during the summer months, bring together a 
better class of teachers and performers. As 
one notes their programmes, he observes the 
weekly " recitals " at which classical music 
is largely given, while the evening chorus re- 
hearsals are devoted to parts of oratorios, or 
choruses of the better class. Solo talent of 
no mean order is employed, and year by year 
improvement is made in the manner of con- 
ducting all their public performances. These 
musical gatherings are but the forerunners 
of permanent organizations, and leave behind 
them a local interest that in time will de- 
velop into better things. It is no uncom- 
mon occurrence to have pupils come into the 
city for instruction, bearing with them perhaps 
a sonata of Beethoven, a nocturne of Chopin, 
or something from Mendelssohn, which they 
had learned in a far distant little town. 
Upon being questioned as to their instruc- 
tion, we hear of some devotee of music, who, 
having settled in the Far West, made his 
influence felt by training young fingers to 
play the noble works of the truly great mas- 
ters. Thus, in thousands of cases, is the good 



seed planted all over this western land. It 
is not alone in the cities that a deeper love 
for the pure in art is manifested. Not long 
since a letter was received by one of our 
local teachers, coming from a little town in 
the extreme western part of Kansas. The 
writer mentioned a young daughter who had 
been studying the piano, with the best as- 
sistance that could be obtained in the vil- 
lage, and also stated that the little girl had 
found Mendelssohn's and Beethoven's let- 
ters among the books in a small library in 
the place, and from her interest in them 
was eager to have some of their music 
" Would it be possible," wrote the father, 
" for you to send us some little things from 
these masters, that young fingers might try ? 
for although we are living beyond the reach 
of the benefits of a city's culture, we do not 
wish to degenerate in our love for what is 
beautiful and grand." Any number of pleas- 
ing indications of this character are con- 
stantly coming to the observer of the ad- 
vancement of culture in the West. 

Yet, notwithstanding our seeming progress, 
we are far from being, even as a nation, 
a musical people. Can Boston be really a 
musical city, when it becomes necessary to 
send out most earnest appeals to the colti- 
vated part of its people to give a better sup- 
port to the Harvard Musical Association, 
that it might go on another season, and fur- 
nish orchestral concerts of an artistic char- 
acter without the danger of financial ruin ? 
Is New York musical, when she allows a 
fine organization like Thomas's Orchestra to 
be disbanded for want of enough support to 
live ? Can we be a musical people, and yet 
have no permanent opera in any city in the 
country, and no endowed musical school of 
a high ranks anywhere in the land ? We 
force even our best musicians into the teach- 
ing rank to earn their bread. Until home 
organizations in good musical societies, fine 
orchestras, and conservatories worthy of the 
name are supported by the great cities of 
our land, and the musical talent is given 
proper encouragement, we cannot be more 
than slowly approaching the rank of a music- 
loving nation. 

Yet Music will live. Her melodies shall 
be reechoed throughout the land, and mani- 
fest the idea of beauty through the harmo- 
nious medium of sweet sounds. The musi- 
cian will yet prove his intellectuality, not 
only by thiriking in soundsy but by manifest- 
ing his ideas in compositions that shall have 
universal recognition. And the tidal wave 
of progress shall not only sweep westward, 
but it shall penetrate into the dark comers 
of the globe, and make radiant all lands. 
The pure rays of the light of a truer culture 
shall send forth brighter illuminations, until 
civilization shall make one great family of 
the many races of humanity. 
CmcAOO, Dec, 21, 1878. 



DAYS IN NORMANDY. 

Dieppe and Rouen belong to the beaten track 
of common travel. In the one, you have an un- 
surpassed exposure to the sea, with a current of 
ozone much prized by valetudinarians. Here is 
also a casino, where one may hear music, and 
on certain occasions dance to it. The beaoh just 



12 



I) WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 985 



below is good for bHthing, and is well provided 
with cabins. The display here reminds one of 
the beach at Newport in Uie season, but the hour 
for bathing is somewhat earlier, as breakfast is 
taken in the middle of the day. At the casino, 
the toilettes are usually simple, and there is a 
preponderance of cotton materials, which the 
Parisian dress-makers know how to fit and 
Irim Tery tastefully, and for which they charge 
heavy prices, thirty dollars being the ordinary 
price for a gingham or batiste dress, trimmed 
with very cheap lace and with the ribbons now 
so much in vogue. The materials for such a 
dress would scarcely cost ten dollars in America, 
and must here amount to much less, so that the 
profits of the fa^on must be large. I would here 
suggest a new proverb : *' Qui dit modiste dit 
principe." So lofty are the pretensions, so un- 
bounded the expectations, of tbis class. 

In Rouen, we visit the fine old cathedral, 
where the choir particularly interests us. It con- 
tains on the right the tomb of the Steur de Br^s^ 
husband to Diana of Poitiers. The chief feat- 
ure in this is the figure of the deceased, repre- 
sented in the moment which succeeds the last 
agony, with the traces of the final struggle still 
impressed upon the lifeless face. The winding 
sheet which drapes the body is gathered in a 
curious knot above the head, the whole as realu- 
tic as possible, said to be the work of Jean Gou- 
jon. At the head of the tomb stands the afilicted 
widow ; at its foot, the dead man appears as a 
child in the arms of his mother. The epitaph 
expresses a grief and fidelity which history does 
not credit. The monument of the two cardinals 
d'Amboise, uncle and nephew, is on the right of 
the choir, in florid Gothic. In the nave is shown 
the effigy of Richard Coeur de Lion, rudely carved, 
in his crown and royal robes. Beneath it lies 
the heart to whose qualities he owes his title. 

The architecture of the church of St Ouen is 
considered much more perfect than that of the 
cathedral. Its walls show' the largest possible 
proportion of glass to stone, the windows occupy- 
ing nearly the whole space, while the weight of 
the roof is supported by pillars and buttresses 
only. One of the rotoees is beautifully reflected 
by the water in a baptismal font of bkck marble, 
which has the effect of a black mirror. The 
windows are all of ancient glass, very beautiful in 
coloring. The museum of antiquities contains 
fifteen windows of stained glass, taken from sup- 
pressed churches and convents, forming a series 
from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, 
and of unrivaled interest and value. Many 
other things of interest are shown here, among 
them the chimney and mantel-piece of the house 
in which Comeille was bom, and the sad mask 
taken from the features of Henri IV. of France, 
after his untimely death. 

So much for Rouen, which deserves fuller men- 
tion. It is now a place so full of life that the 
bustle of trade and manufacture puts to flight the 
pale memories of the past. But in Caen, the past 
still asserts itselfl The quiet streets leave zoom 
for imagining the old victories and processions. 
Here is St Pierre, one of the most beautiful of 
Korman churches. Here also are the two great 
abbeys built by William the Conqueror and his 
Queen Matilda, as a peace-offering to the Pope, 
who was offended by their marriage. Of these, 
the church of St £tienne, otherwise termed 
L'Abbaye aux Hommes, is the finest and the 
most extensive. It is of the style termed Kor- 
manno-Romanesque, and is very severe and grand. 
It was completed and dedicated during the mon- 
arch's life, having been intended by him to serve 
as a resting place for his remains. A slab of 
gray marble in the pavement before the altar 
marks the place where they did rest The in- 
scriptioQ is as follows : — | 



HiC SKPDLTYJS EST IKVICTISSIMUS 

6UGLIELMUS 

COSQUISTOR KoRMAHniAR DVX BT AXOUAB 

Rbx hvjusck domub condror 
QUI OBirr ARHO 1087. 

A superb lamp of bronze, heavily gilded, hangs 
above the tomb, and near it stands a paschal can- 
dle forty feet in height The Huguenots in 1562 
destroyed the ancient monument, and left of its 
contents only one thigh-bone, which the Revolu- 
tionists of 1798 in their turn demolished. If we 
add to this the fact that the death of William 
was of a very painful character, and that his 
funeral was really given him by the charity of a 
private individual, we shall conclude that the 
vicissitudes to which royalty is subject received 
no small illustration in his person. 

The Abbaye aux Dames, built by Queen Ma- 
tilda, is a smaller edifice, in pure Norman style. 
Its front is adorned by two square towers, and 
within its choir u shown the tomb of the queen. 
The most interesting memento of Queen Matilda 
will bo found in the taj>estry preserved at Bayeux, 
said to have been wrought by her hand. It is 
worked in crewel on a strip of linen many yards 
long, and represents, somewhat remotely, the 
Norman conquest of England. The mind of the 
beholder is, however, much assisted by divers 
Latin sentences, also in embroidery, which accom- 
pany and explain the various groups and figures. 
The first of these shows King Edward the Con- 
fessor telling his son Harold that William, Duke 
of Normandy, should one day be king of England. 
Harold next appears in the act of taking the oath 
of fealty to William. After this Harold is seen 
wearing the crown of England, and Duke William, 
hearing of this act of treacheiy, orders the build- 
ing of a fleet to convey his forces to England. 
Then follow various battles, processions, and so 
on, till matters Qulminate in the death of Harold 
and the victory of William. The whole work is 
very incongruous. The horses are sometimes 
wrought in crimson worsted, sometimes in blue. 
Cities and palaces are represented by curious fig- 
ures resembling nothing in parUcular unless it be 
a soup tureen or fancy pagoda. The faces are 
in outline, and the anatomy of the figures reminds 
one of the ^ Slovenly Peter" book once so much 
in vogue in the nursery. And yet, in spite of 
its grotesque imperfection, the work remains a 
very interesting one. It suggests so much : the 
queen and her maidens, day after day, returning 
to toil at its tedious leng^; the king looking 
on with interest; the admiration of the primitive 
court for a work considered in its time so remark- 
able. Poor as it b in design and execution, it 
has yet a certain merit and expression. The 
work improves as it goes on. One wonders who 
drew the endless outlines which the queen fol- 
lowed and filled, since artists must have been 
rare in those fighting days. A modern painting, 
hanging near the tapestry, represents the queen 
with her work on her knees, surrounded by her 
ladies in wuting. It is said that when Napoleon 
I. was intent upon an invasion of England, he 
caused Queen Matilda's tapestry to be carried 
in honor through the streets, in order to excite 
the multitude by the remembrance of this an- 
cient achievement 

King William could not write his name. A 
charter, long shown in Rouen, but now removed 
elsewhere, bears his attested mark, he having no 
signature. 

In traveling through Normandy, one is struck 
with the resemblance of the country to some parts 
of England. The English look of the people is 
perhaps still more striking. They are fair and 
blue-eyed and the children might easily be sup- 
posed to be of English birth. As we drove past 
a roadside inn, one day, we saw upon its humble 
sign, " Plantagenest Aubergiste,** Plantagenet» 



tavern keeper. This man was, no doubt, a re- 
mote ** collateral " of royal Richard and the rest 
His name, thus encountered, led one to think of 
the various circumstances which at once connect 
and separate the prince and the peasant Both 
may be not only of one humanity, but of one race. 
The source of the aristocracy which culminates 
in royalty is almost always to be sought in some 
superiority of physical force and of animal cour- 
age, helped by cunning. When one reads the 
record of these things one almost admires the 
candor of the Spartans, who made successful thefl 
a credit, and only failure a disgrace. 

The Normans are considered very cunning 
people by the French in generaL They are 
shrewd experts in horse-dealing, ranking with the 
Yorkshiremen in this respect In looking over a 
series of hotel accounts, I am led to believe that 
their talent in making money at the expense of 
others is not limited to one branch of industry. 
The traveler in Normandy pays very dearly for 
the necessaries of life. He may be surprised to 
receive in a small and remote town a bill for 
board and lodging which would not discredit Lon- 
don or Paris. TVavel by diligence, on the other 
hand, u cheap. Cider, the common drink of the 
country, is furnished at most iMea d'h6ie with- 
out extra charge. Damp beds are rather the 
rule than the exception. Finally, I see no rea- 
son why Norman French should be considered 
better than any other, and I, for my part, would 
rather have come over with the Pilgrim Fathers 
than have gone over with the Conqueror. 

J. W^. H« 



BOOK NOTICEa 

Mothbb-Plat and Nubskbt Songs. From 
the German of Fbokbbl. Boston: Lee & 
Shepard. 

A beautiful English edition of this admirable 
book is before us. The charming, lively German 
songs, with the thoughtful verse addressed to 
the mother by which each is headed, have been 
exquisitely reproduced in our own tongue by the 
translator (Miss F. £. Dwight), and the music 
to each little song and game is given in full. 
The book is thus a play-house from which happy 
child-life may be drawn, day after day and week 
after week, while the ordinary book of rhymes 
is quickly thrown aside when the first stimulus 
of infantile amusement is over. What strikes 
us as especially important in these games is that 
they contain so much good sense; for we are 
sure that the flatness and pointlessness of ordinary 
rhyming games not only pall upon, but some- 
times seriously puzzle, little children. Not real- 
izing that the seniors who composed ** Uncle 
John u very sick,*' or, *' Lady Queen Anne, she 
sits in the sun," were simply making fools of 
themselves for their benefit for the nonce, the 
intelligent little child supposes that there is a 
hidden meaning to these purely abstract and 
gratuitous statements, which it is hb duty to find 
out, and is troubled at his failure to fiithom the 
freakish mystery. The rhyming games of Froe- 
bel, on the contrary, are full of practical sugges- 
tion, yet do not lose their beauty, or even jol- 
lity, on this account The little versified appeals 
to the mother, before noticed, which introduce 
each song-game, like the verses^ before the chap- 
ters of an old-fashioned novel, are touching in 
their pleading on the child's behalf. 

Froebel is truly the advocate of children, and 
as such seems as much a part of the ** kingdom 
of heaven " as they do. We cannot close this 
brief indication of the merits of the work before 
us without quoting two of the little songs, which 
seem to us especially picturesque and character- 
istic:— 



Januart 18, 1879.] 



J) WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



13 



801IG OP SMBLL. 

Now my litUe rogua may omU 
TtiMe inv«ei flowen Iw lores w welL 
Ah! what ii it? CwMt thou tell — 
So iweet ! — where the hidden eoiine may dwell? 
Yes, an angel in the eell 
All the ciipe with eweeU doth fill; 
Says, " Though from the child eonoMled, 
•• Sweet perfumee I freely yield, 
So sweet, soiweet!*' 
Let me too the angel greet, 
Let me smell the ^rfume sweet, so sweet! etc 

THE KXIOHTS AMD THE GOOD CHILD. 

Five knights I eee riding at rapid pace; 

Within the court their steps I tiaoe. 
•• What would ye now, fidr knights, with me? " 
<« We wish thy precious child to see. 

They say he is like the dote so good, 

And like the lamh of merry mood. 

Then wilt thou kindly let us meet him, 

Thai tenderiy our hearts may greet him? ** 
M Now the precious child behold: 

Well he meriU love untold." 
M Child, we give thee greetings rare, 
• This will sweeten mother*8 care. 

Worth much kive the good child Is, 

Peace and joy are ever his. 

Now will we no longer tarry, — 

Joy unto our homes we '11 carry.* 




t» 



TRB.KHIGRT8 AMD THE ILL-HUMOBBD CHILD. 

Five knights I see ridtog at rspid pace; 

Within the court their steps I trace. 
M What wouU ye now, Cur knights, with ma? ** 
«* We wish thy precious chiM to see.** 
•• Ah, friendly knighU, I grieve to say 

That I cannot bring him to you to-day; 

He criae, Is so morose and cross 

That all too small we find the house." 
** Oh, such tidings give us pain ; 

No k>nger we sing a joyful strain. 

We 'U ride away, we 'U ride afar, 

Where aU the good little chihlren ara.< 



If 



The book is embellisbed by very attractive 
engravingt on eTery page. Germany is so pre- 
eminently the country of domesticity that it 
seems especially appropriate that Froebel, the 
apostle of children, should be a natiTe of that 
land ; but we heartily rejoice to see the gospel 
of good things for children spreading through- 
out every country, appealing to the native good- 
ness of little children, and perpetuating and 
carrying it forward into manhood and later life. 

J. B. A. 



LIFE-SCHOOLS — AND MORE. 

'* T. G. A." is right in saying that wo need 
life-schools to keep our young artists up to good 
drawing, but it seems to me that we need some- 
thing more. Of schools we have no end. Bos- 
ton is in the midst of an academical yUror. She 
is nothing, if not artistic ; less than nothing, if 
not academical. Drawing per $€ is the tine qu& 
non of existence. 

But is this school-drawing all that is needed ? 
Did ever an academy produce an artist ? Is it 
not always the same story, — that the ateUer and 
the master make the artist ? To be sure, the 
alphabet must be learned ; but don't let us stop 
there, and never get beyond spelling 6-o-y, and 
making our pot-hooks and hangers. 

What we do need is the life-giving presence 
of a true and a great artist who long ago left 
behind him the minutiss of the schools, and who 
shall be to Boston what Liszt is to Weimar. 

Said an artist who lives more in Europe than 
in America: "In Boston everything is wrong. 
The women paint strong and broadly. Most of 
the men do not." The reason is evident. The 
women-students asked for instruction, and pi^d 
for it. Hence Mr. Hun\'s class of three years' 
duration, and his subsequent instruction in classes 
that were the outgrowth of his. I doubt not that 
if a score or two of young men were to meet to- 
gether, show their work, and, in a spirit of docil- 
ity, ask fiir help, it would be given with the same 



generous spirit with which it was bestowed upon 
die thirty or forty young women who asked Mr. 
Hunt to teach them. 

I say nothing against art-schools and acade- 
mies as such. The majority of students roquire 
their help ; but there will always be a few who 
go on faster and with more endiusiasm without 
them, — students who must go their own way, un- 
der guidance, and who would be cramped and 
injured by school-training. 

Let us have the life-schools, by all means, for 
the study of the figure is the key to all artistic 
knowledge ; but let us not expect to be a great 
artrcentre without the inspiration of a master. 

X. 



ITALIAN OPERA. 

Boston has been enjoying two fall (over- 
full 1) weeks of opera, given on a grander scale 
as to completeness, and in a finer style through- 
out, of execution, than we have ever had be- 
fore. This we are not afraid to say while not 
oblivious of the delights of the old Havana 
troupes, the Grisi and Mario period, and others 
ever memorable. But this time we have actu- 
ally had one of the standard opera companies 
of Europe, in its completeness, brought into our 
beautiful and spacious Boston Theatre. To the 
enterprise of Colonel Mapleson, lessee and man- 
ager of Her Majesty's Theatre, London, — the 
only rival of Covent Garden Theatre with its 
Royal Italian Opera, — we are indebted for this 
rare visitation. 

In the disturbance of our fortnightly routine, 
and the long interval necessitated between two 
numbers by the transfer, just at this time, of our 
journal to new publishers, we have found noth- 
ing quite so hard to reconcile ourselves to as 
this long compulsory silence about such singers, 
such operas, and such an orehestra, until now 
that all is over. How we have envied those 
young midnight writers who could publbh every 
morning the glowing, fresh impression of each 
opera before they had even slept upon it I Ours 
is no such privilege, and we must look back over 
the whole period and gather up what memories 
we can of it into one condensed, brief sum- 
mary. 

Of the twelve performances announced, the 
first (December 30) was to have been the new 
French Opera Carmen^ — one of the last sensa- 
tions, — with Miss Minnie Hauk in the rdle she 
has made so famous. Nearly all the seats in 
the house had been bought at high prices, and 
the event was eagerly awaited. But the prima 
donna remained sick in New York ; the Trova- 
tare had to be substituted at short notice ; most 
of the tickets were returned, and this great disap- 
pointment cast a damper over the opera-going 
enthusiasm, which was felt throughout the week. 
Report speaks highly of the style in which the 
hackneyed, hateful Trovatare was presented. For 
us the opera began with Bellini's ever fre»h and 
beautiful SonnanUnila on the second evening, 
with Mme. Etelka GersteivGardinl, the purest, 
sweetest star that has risen in the lyric firma- 
ment for many years, in the character of Amina. 
She is very young, — twenty-three, they say ; 
with a slight, graceful figure, and a face which, 
though perhaps not handsome, yet has all the 
fine effect of beauty as it lights up with the in- 
spiration of true feeling and of genius. From 
her first entrance upon the stage she seemed to 
identify herself instinctively with the part of the 
artless village maiden. In her first tones of wel- 
come to her companions, the voice was not only 



fresh, but individual, almost peculiar in timbre ; 
the lower notes not strong; but as it rose it 
grew purer, clearer, sweeter, and more powerful, 
revealing what we were tempted to call a clari" 
net quality. The impression of peculiarity, how- 
ever, gradually passed away; and as she went 
on singing night after night, that voice became 
so much the standard of what is loveliest and 
purest in soprano sounds, that all its pecidiarity 
was hidden in its own perfection. The part of 
Amina was completely suited to her ; and while 
her action was altogether natural and admirable, 
her singing was entirely in harmony with it, and 
as near to absolute perfection as we ever hope 
to hear. In the pathetic cantabile passages, 
like " Ah I non credea," she sang straight to 
the heart with an unconscious simplicity which 
could not be doubted ; and in all the ecstatic 
fioriture and high flights in which the bird-like 
Bellini melody is prone to revel, not only was 
the voice adequate, the execution perfect, even 
to the extreme highest notes, — the form of 
every leaf and tendril cleanly, delicately finished 
as in rivalry with Flora's kingdom, — but, what 
was a greater wonder, eveiy phrase and every 
note of all these ** vocal pyrotechnics," commonly 
so coldly and mechanically rendered, was touched 
with the chaste ^t^ of true dramatic expression. 
It did not suspend the action for one infinitesi- 
mal instant ; it was the same soul that shone in 
the face and pervaded every motion. When she 
holds out one of the very highest tones, it is not 
merely very sweet or brilliant, but it is a tone of 
substance, charged with feeling and expression, 
which she can modulate like any lower tone. 
We need not say that her intonation is unim- 
peachable ; there is never a shade of variation 
from the perfect pitch. We have seen and 
heard many good Aminas, but none, upon the 
whole, so beautiful as this of the young Hunga- 
rian singer. 

But we must leave her for a moment, or we 
shall foi^t to speak of the performance of the 
opera as a whole. It was the best performance 
of La Sonnambula that we remember. This 
most genuine and happy inspiration of Bellini's 
muse, — the very soul of melody, — which never 
loses its freshness for us, renewed its youth and 
charm wonderfully that night. It was all good. 
Sig. Frapolli sang and acted earnestly, and like 
an artist, as Elvino, and his tenor voice, though 
sometimes a little pinched and forced, has much 
essential sweetness. Sig. Foil, with a bass voice 
of remarkably rich, elastic, and expressive qual- 
ity, did full justice to the music of the Count, 
which' character, in spite of his remarkably tall 
and slender form, he impersonated with dignity 
and ease. The secondary parts, the Lisa of 
Mile. Robiati, the Alessio of Sig. Grassi, and 
even that of the Mother, were better than we 
ordinarily hear. The chorus, imported fW>m 
London, was numerous, fresh, and musical in 
tone, and admirably tndned. It were worth a 
long walk to hear the noble ^ Phantom Chorus " 
sung so satis&ctorily ; and the pretty episodical 
chorus in the middle of the play was most re- 
freshing as a relief from the pathetic progress of 
the drama, as well as a foreshadowing of the 
happy end. But, rarest element of all in our 
local operatic experiences, a most complete and 
admirable orehestra I It is mainly made up of 
the best New York musicians, many of them 
from the late orehestra of Theodore Thomas. 
Sig. Arditi is one of the best of conductors, and 
has brought them all into perfect unity and sen- 
sitive obedience to every hint from his baton. 
The violins played as one, and all the reeds ani 
brass were smooth and sympathetic. There was 
power enough, yet no superfluous noise, no 
brutal covering up of the voices, l^e Sannam' 
bula was a success, and Gerster was acknowl- 



14 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 986. 



edged even to exceed all that fame had said in 
her praise. The audience was only moderately 
large, but those who saw and heard were thor- 
oughly conTinced, and they were persons of 
enough taste and experience to assure and per- 
suade the many for another time. 

Yet the next night's experience was far from 
creditable to Boston's musical taste and culture. 
One would suppose that a chance to listen merely 
to tlie exquisite music (without the singers and 
the actors)^ of one of the first operas of Mozart, 
Le Nozze di Figaro, with so fine an orchestra, 
would have been seized upon as a rare privi- 
lege and have filled the house ; but by far the 
b^t, most faithful and complete performance of 
the work we ever had was given before empty 
.benches ; there were barely three hundred people 
in^the auditorium I Fashion, fickle goddess, who 
is nothing if not absurd and treacherous, had 
ruled that to be an '' off-night," — no Gerster, 
Hauk, nor Roze ! Do we go for mti^ic, the di- 
vine, or only for the prima donna, whom men 
call the Diva? Judging by that evening, Col. 
Mapleson would have reason to think ours not 
a musical community. There are other ways, 
however, of accounting for the strange indiffer- 
ence. First, the natural reaction and desire for 
rest after two days of excitement, one disappoint- 
ing, the other too glorious, too much of a reve- 
lation not to dull the appetite for anything else 
immediately after. Periods of excitement and of 
keen enjoyment run in waves, and there is room 
for ** ofi'-nights " in the alternate moments of de- 
pression. But Mozart's Figaro ! Can one afford 
to lose it ? Here, again, several reasons suggest 
themselves in our past experience of the opera 
itself. It. is very hard for the average audience 
to understand what is passing on the stage dra- 
matically ; the plot is far from clear, unless one 
has studied it carefully beforehand, and there are 
reasons why it is perhaps not best to pry too 
deeply into its motives. Then, its long stretches 
of dialogue in dry old-fashioned recitative, with 
only those irritating scrapes upon the double-bass 
and 'cello for accompaniment, which some judi- 
cious person might,, we should think, prune out 
pretty freely to the advantage of the work, — or 
else let the parties simply talk together. Then 
again, wearisome recollections of the inadequate 
performances which we have had of it in past 
years; the associations were not predisposing. 
The fortunate few who did go on that New Year's 
night have exchanged the old associations for 
Iresh and bright ones ; they listened from begin- 
ning to end, for three hours and a quarter, with 
deliffht For the first time we heard this mas- 
terwork in its completeness; it was all there, 
and justice done to every rdle, to every measure 
of the music. Nothing in the whole fortnight 
has done more to show the rich resources of the 
Mapleson company than the fact that not only 
the principal, but all the secondary rdles, some 
ten in all, and all important, were satisfactorily 
filled by excellent artists, not one of the '^bright 
peculiar stars " appearing. Mile. Parodi, with a 
sweet, full, powerful mezzo-soprano voice, and fine, 
{renerous presence, made an acceptable Countess. 
Mme. Sinico sang and acted charmingly as Su- 
sannah. Mme. Lablache, who has proved her^ 
self one of the most versatile and ever-ready 
artists of the troupe, — having already harrowed 
up the feelings by her intense impersonation of 
Verdi's unlovely witch Azucena, — made a very 
pleasing Cherubino, singing the arias finely (al- 
beit transposed to a lower key, as were some 
otlier parts), encored after *• Voi che sapete," and 
entering with much spirit and grace into dl the 
pretty action and roguish by-play of the boy 
lover's part Marccllina was worthily presented 
by Mme. RobiatL The Figaro was Sig. Galassi, 
who has a musical, rich, flexible baritone voice. 



which he uses artistically and with expression, 
and he put plenty of vivacity and volubility into 
the droll, gay part. Sig. Del Puente, an admi- 
rable baritone, easy and dignified in action, was 
as good a Count Almaviva as one could desire. 
M. Thierry, thick and rotund in person, had a 
good unctuous bass voice for Dr. Bartolo, and the 
parts of Don Basilio, Don Curzio, even to the 
drunken gardener Antonio, were no mere shad- 
ows in the song and action of Signori Bignardi, 
Grazzi, and Franceschi. Add the fine orchestra 
and chorus, and it will be clear that there we 
had for once a memorable presentation of a hith- 
erto but half appreciated masterpiece in opera. 

Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, musically, 
does not keep its freshness like the Sonnambula. 
Its music is far less spontaneous. Yet it abounds 
in ever-pleasing and pathetic melody, and has 
superb ensembles. It still remains, and probably 
will long remain, one of the popular favorites 
among operas. It palls and again grows upon 
us by turns, and should not be heard too fre- 
quently. Such pathos and pervading gloom, 
even if the pathos were all real, though for a 
while it fascinate, may easily grow irksome, and 
the sum of its expression morbid. Some of the 
happiest and brightest of its musical ideas occur 
in strange connection, malapropos dramatically ; 
for instance, that lively strain with which the 
chorus suddenly interrupt Edgardo's dying scene 
— strange form of sympathy ! And again much 
of the florid vocal virtuosity of Lucia's mad 
scene, especially the rivalry of voice and flute. 
But then, such was the power of Gerster's genius, 
with her wonderful purity of voice and perfect 
execution, to lift it all up into a higher atmos- 
phere and spiritualize it, making the highest tones 
and brightest ornamental passages to thrill with 
feeling, that you lost all thought of anything at 
all technical and artificial, and took it all as 
pure, consistent, simple and divine expression. 
In her singing and entire impersonation of the 
part, she was to us the very ideal of Lucia. The 
rustic simplicity of Amina had given place to 
the refined and high-bom maiden. All she does 
is characteristic, and the discrimination seems to 
be without calculation and unconscious, one of 
the instinctive processes of the artistic genius. 

It was the best performance of the opera as a 
whole that we have ever had here. Sig. Cam- 
panini, greatly improved in voice, and wonder- 
fully so in action, came in for his full share of 
the enthusiasm of the public, leaving little to 
be desired in the Edgardo. Galassi made a 
very marked impression as Enrico'. Foli, with 
his imposing voice and stature, lent great weight 
to the part of the priest Raimondo; and, for 
once, the ungrateful tenor music of Arturo found 
an agreeable exponent in Bignardi. The great 
sextet and chorus was magnificently sung, and 
received with the wildest enthusiasm. 

We hardly trust ourselves to speak of Carmen 
(given on Friday evening, January 8), so dis- 
appointed were we and so little interested in the 
music, of which we had read and heard such 
glowing praise. It was the romantic plot, the 
intense dramatic action, the picturesque local 
coloring, the Spanish scenes and tableaux, that 
made the principal appeal, and that mostly to 
the eye. Bizet's music has a certain piquancy, 
and charm of nationality ; the instrumentation 
is brilliant, oflen rich, and sometimes overloaded; 
some of the melodies have a strange, peculiar 
beauty ; but the resulting impression of the 
whole, in our mind, and we believe in most 
minds, was of a continual and rather tiresome suc- 
cession of Spanish dance- tunes, — many of them 
very pretty, but so many of them very cloying. 
The song of the hero of the buU-fight created 
some enthusiasm ; but nearly every aria or song 
of any serious pretension seemed to be bedev- 



iled by a restless struggle to get away from the 
key, right in the middle of a period sometimes, 
and then wriggle or jump back again ; we can* 
not tliink it anything but willful, a desperate en- 
deavor to appear original. Perhaps this is what 
some of the admirers mean by ** traces of the 
Wagner style," which they discover in it We 
will not hold Wagner responsible for anything 
so bad, although he did wage war upon the fam- 
ily relationship of keys. In Wagner's ** un- 
endliche Melodie," such restless confusion of all 
keys is one thing (his thing), but in set melodies, 
like these of Bizet, it is quite another. 

We cannot think it can be wholesome to be- 
come infatuated with such an opera, or such a 
drama. It seemed to us unfortunate for the first 
introduction of Miss Minnie Hauk, that she 
should be identified with such a character as the 
reckless, selfish, sensual, degraded Spanish gypsy 
and girl of the streets, Carmen. And identified 
she was with it about as fully and as cleverly as 
one dramatically could be. Her rich dramatic 
quality of voice, her ease and versatility of song, 
her beauty, enhanced by the picturesque cos- 
tume, her dashing and defiant air, and her in- 
tensity of passion, with her complete consistency 
of action (though upon so low a plane) com- 
bined to make a strong impression. But we had 
rather that her triumph haid been in some other 
music and in another sort of play. Moreover, 
the Carmen music confines her to the middle 
and lower region of her voice, which is not her 
best, although she made it singularly expressive ; 
the part is now taken in London by Trebelli, 
the famed contralto, whom it suits better as a 
singer, while Hauk is probably the better actress. 

As for the way in which the piece was put 
upon the stage and sung and acted, and accom- 
panied by Arditi's admirable orchestra, we have 
only praise. Sig. Campanini, as the tormented 
soldier lover, Don Jose, surpassed himself in 
song and action ; his acting in the last sc^ne 
was superb and carried all before it Sig. Del 
Puente had all the vivacity and conscious power 
and triumph of the Toreador ; and M. Thierry 
and Sig. Grazzi, the two gypsy smugglers, filled 
out the music and the picture well. Excellent, 
too, in their by-play and in their singing^ both 
in solo and concerted passages, were Miles. La- 
blache and Robiati, as Carmen's two gypsy 
friends. But the one redeeming element of in- 
nocence and purity, amid so much that is repul- 
sive and depraved, was the small but gracious 
part of Michaela, modeled apparently upon the ^ 
Alice in Robert U Diable, which was most 
sweetly sung and impersonated by Mme. Sinico. 
But think of Meyerbeer's Alice music, and what 
is this to it in point of beauty, fireshness, or 
originality 1 There were some graceful bits of 
ballet introduced. Afler listening to it all as 
well as we were able, we came away caring but 
little about Carmen, and many confessions to the 
same effect were whispered in our ear. 

On Saturday afternoon the Sonnambula was 
repeated to a crowded theatre, when the enthti- 
siasm for Mme. Gerster was almost at fever 
height Of the second week we must speak in 
our next number. 



CONCERT RECORD. 

The long intemtl between thit number of our new vol- 
iime and the first, which wm issued two wteki in sdvmBoe 
of date, and then the all-»beorbing cUimt of a dosen nights 
of opera have left as sadly in arrears in our attempts to 
keen up with the calendar of conoerts. We have to go 
bacK to a week or more before Chrivtmas to jriek up the 
thread. Perliape the beet thing we eould do would be to 
wipe the date off clean and open a fresh account Bat 
memory will furnish a few fragmentary notes out of the eon- 
fused and crowded past to bridge the chaam over, though 
but slightly. 

>- 'Die Christmas Oratorio, The Mesdak, given by the 
oU Haxdbl Aim Hatdm Sooictt (Dec. 22), was reUg- 



Jahuart 18, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



15 



Sooaly attended bj m great % crowd as usaal, and the per- 
formanoe as a whole may be recorded as a remarkably icood 
one, — at any rate, so fiur as the grand chorus, orchestra, 
and organ (Mr. B. J. Lang) were concerned. Some of the 
noblest and seldom quite successful choruses, like "And 
with his stripes," and the final "Amen" chorus, went bet- 
ter than we ever heard them here. Mrs. Dexter, of Cincin- 
nati, sang the soprano solos, some of them, like •* He shall 
feed his fioek,** with fine expression; but on the whole she 
disappointed by the eflfort with which she strove to control 
her voice and by her unclear enunciation ; we hav9 heard her 
when she did herself more justice. Mr. Courtney, too, the 
English tenor, seemed not quite to have recovered from the 
hoarseness which has afiected his fine manly voice in all hb 
public elR»'ts rince he came to this country, although his 
style was excellent Miss Ita Welsh, our young contralto, 
made her first attempt in oratorio, and with mariced suo- 
eeas. She sang with fervor and with simple, true expres- 
sion; her rich and sympathetic voice only lacking weight 
sufficient for so laige a haU. It is to her credit that she 
did not omit (as nearly all contraltos have done) the second 
part of the air: " He was despised." Mr. John F. Winch 
(in place of Mr. Whitney, who was ill) bore off the triumphs 
of the evening in the great bass urs. The chorus was in 
force, at least 600 voices, and bore noble testimony to the 
thorough training of the experienced conductor, Carl Zer- 
rahn. 

— Harvard Musical Association The second 
Symphony Concert (Dec. 19) had for programme: — 



J. a. Bach. 
Mozart. 



*Putorale, from the Christmas Oratorio . 
••Piano-fin-be Concerto, in A ni^or . . 

Allegro. — Andante Presto. 

H. G. Tucker. 
Overture to " Alfonso and Estrella " .... Schubert. 
••Siegfried Idyl Waffner. 

••IVanscription for Piano, " Der Ritt der Wal- 

kiiren" Wagner- Tausig. 

H. G, Tucker. 
Seventh Symphony, in A, Op. 92 . . . . Beethcven. 

(One star means fint time in. these concerts; two stars first 
time in Boston.) 

The k>vely PastonJe of Bach, &r finer even than that 
in Hsndel*s Memah, was beautifully given with Franz's ad- 
ditional instrumentation. The short Schubert Overture is 
very spirited and brilliant, and was brilliantly played. The 
t<fiiigfried Idyl" is a remarkably mild piece for Wagno-, — 
in one rather short moderato movement, and but lightly 
scored, with no brsas but a single trumpet and two horns. It 
was composed some time before the Siegfried of his Niebe- 
Inngen Cycle, on the occssion of the birth of a young Sieg- 
fried Wagner. Its themes are characteristic enough of 
Wagner in his gentler and more sentimental moods, and are 
worked up into a vague and dreamy web of seiisttous sweet 
sound, which is all that many people ask of music. It seems 
to hint of the mystical and fascinating influence of the sounds 
of Nature on a young, heroic, and poetic mind wandering in 
the forest There are birds warbling in abundance. The 
mnsie, though it has sensuous beauty, rich and delicate tone- 
ooloring, lacks progress; the themes do not develop; they re- 
volve, or rather squirm within a narrow cucle; they give 
you a sort of nightmare feeling, an intense restlessnetM, but 
no getting forward; we have fidt and expressed the same 
with regard to his MeUterdnger prise song. It was, how- 
ever, warmly received, as it was carefully and nicely played, 
on this first hearing. 

Bir. Tucker, who came in at a day's warning when the 
committee wen disappointed in a singer, generously sacri- 
ficed himself in some degree to give us the not too common 
pleasure of hearing a Mosart Concerto. T1>is one in A 
nugor b very beautiful, and Mr. Tucker, accustomed to 
bolder and more modem tasks, went so iGu' in his loyal ten- 
derness and deference to Mosart, that the music did not 
speak quite freely for itself. The piano-forte part, having 
but littie of the modem breadth and brilliancy, was treated 
delicately to be sure, yet timidly and coldly. The tempo of 
the slow movement was taken much too slow, so that it did 
not seem to mareh. The brilliant, strong, young virtuoso 
did not seem to feel quite in his element. Those, therefore, 
who did not fix their attention mainly on the orchestra, 
voted the work dull and disappointing; taken as a whole it 
is a rich and beautiful Concerto. Mr. Tucker had his 
chance for strength and brilliancy in Tausig's transcription 
of the *«Ride of tiie Walkiiren;" if that piece seemed a 
reckless, mad extravaganza, it was Tausig*s fault, not his in- 
terpreter's. But the ever-glorious, the dirine Seventh Sym- 
phony eama after to purify the air and hush the Babel; the 
first two measures of it transported one into a serene, pun 
lieaven of delight That, too, was phtyed with fine precision 
and with fervor, and has seldom been more heartily ei\joyed. 

.The thurd concert cams last week (Jan. 9), and these wen 
the selections: — 

Orchestral Suite in D J, 3. Bach, 

Overture. — Air — (Savotte. — Bourrfe. — Gigue. 
•Soena,'«Ah! perfido" ) 

•Aria, ^ Ttr pietk, non dirmi addio *' ( ' * 

Miss Fam»t Keulooo. 
Overture to <'Genoveva" 3<Attmann, 



••Song, "The Young Nun," with orchestral 

accompaniment by Liszt Schubert. 

Miss Faxmt Kellogg. 
••Second Symphony, in D, Op. 73 ... . Brahnu. 

Allegro non troppo. — Adagio non troppo. — Allegretto 
grazioso quasi Andantino. — Allegro con spirito. 

The Bach Suite made a fine impression ; its first move- 
ment (overture), so seldom heard, opens the series of pieces 
in a large, broad, solid, hearty style; and, though with no 
contrast of other instruments, except three trampets, against 
the strings and oboes in unison with them, it seems to lack 
no wealth of color. It was a satisfaction to hear the well- 
known heavenly Aria, so often played of late by the great 
virtuosos of the violin for a solo on the G string, given fn* 
once in its proper place and as Bach wrote it, — as a so- 
prano melody, in right relations with the accompanying in- 
struments. It seemed a pity that the brusque and jovial 
Gavotte should not end the Suite, after the tamer Bourrte 
and Gigue. 

Schumann's Genoveva overture, one of the greatest over- 
tures since Beethoven, was splendidly performed, and can 
more properly be called the striking feature of the concert 
than tiie new Brahms Symphony, with which we will not 
wrestle just now, having neiUier room, new time, nor mood. 
Suffice it to say, the orchestra, considering the few rehear- 
sals, gave a very creditable interpretation of it; and that, if 
the Adagio and some portions of the oUier movements were 
obecure and vague to most listeners, it was in the main fol- 
lowed with interest and much Mijoyed. We shall, per- 
haps, have a better opportunity to discuss its merits more at 
length. 

Miss Fanny Kellogg is one of the most improving and 
most satisfactory of our young soprano singers. Her beau- 
tiful voice has gained much in strength and in endurance, 
as well as in sweetness, throughout its compass. Beetho- 
ven's Italian Scena is a severe trial for any singer. She 
gave the recitative with strong dramatic emphasis and power, 
and sang the Aria, •«Per pieta," beautifully. The whole 
piece was well conceived and given in the right earnest 
spirit, the voice only showing symptoms of fetigue in the 
trying finale. Schubert's *<L)ie junge Nonne" is a song 
well known with piano; but Liszt's instramentation supplies 
a rich, imponing background, against which the singer's 
voice was well relie^'ed, although the heavy basses now and 
then partially obscured it. It was sung with trae feeling 
and exprestion. 

— One of the most delightful of the smaller concerts of 
the season was that of Mr. G. W. Summer, at Mechanics' 
Hall, on Monday evening. Dee. 16. The programme con- 
sisted of four pieces, banning with the fint movement of 
Mendelssohn^s fine old Quintet, in B flat, Op. 87, — the 
Quintet which formed the comer -stone, as it were, of the 
original Mendelssohn Quintette Club; this time it had the 
brilliant interpretation of the club as it is admirably com- 
posed to-da}', Mr. Thomas Ryan being the only one left of 
the original members; Biessn. B. Listemann, G. Dannreu- 
ther, ^ward Heindl, and Rudolph Hennig being now as- 
sociated with him. Next, Mr. Sumner pUyed Tausig's 
extremely diflScult arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue, 
in G minor, by Bach, which showed a remarkable develop- 
ment of his powen as a pianist — now taking rank among 
our foremost ones. He then joined with our masterly vio- 
loncelUst, Mr. Hennig, in a brilliant performance of the 
bright and genial Sonata, in A major, Op. 69, of Beethoven. 
Finally came a most clear and finished, and in every way en- 
joyable performance of the great Septet by Hummel. All 
the seven instruments were adequate; the flute of Mr. Hdndl, 
the oboe of Mr. de.Ribas, and Mr. Hamann's bora blend- 
ing delightfully with the strings, to which Bir. Ludwig 
Manoly supplied a sure and noble contnbass. 



Beethoven, 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

NEve ToRK, Dec. 30. — On Saturday evening, Mr. 
Carlberg gave his second Symphony Concert at Chickering 
Hall, with the following programme : — 

Overture to " Medea " Bargiel. 

Fourth Concerto (G) Beethoven. 

Mr. S. B. Mills. 
Romania (ftx>m Suite in A) . . , , H. W. NicholL 
Recitation and Aria, ** Nozze di Figaro '* . . Momrt. 

SlO. CAMPOBELLa 

Symphony, in A (Scotch) » Mendelsaohn, 

Perhaps Mr. Carlberg is wise in giving us few novelties, 
although he certainly deviated from his system — if it be 
one — in pUeing upon his programme the Romania, by 
Nicboll; this was really a* very neat bit of composition, with 
an instrumentation full of color (possibly too full), while the 
treatment suggested the chMsic-romantic school. I should 
be greatiy pleased to hear the remaining movements. 

The overture to Medea is a charming work of a most 
serious and elevated character; almost every composer some- 
times dismounts from bis Pegasus and descends to — wdl — 
if not triviality, to something very like it. This Bargiel 
never does ; he may, perhaps, be bizarre or weird, but every 
phrase is full of serious intention and noble purpoee. 

Sig. Campobello sang the Mosart Aria very acceptably, 
and received an encore to which he responded with (xounod's 
u Valley ; " be is * manly, earnest, and painstaking singer. 



(^dor compels me to say that Mr. Mills did not disttnt 
guish himself in the Concerto, which requires far difleren- 
treatment from that which he choee to give it. In the first 
place, in almoet every one of the forte passages, he forced 
the tone of the piano in a %ray that was positively painAil. 
In the second place he made many slips and errors, which 
may be attributed to his being out of practice. Lastiy, 
he hurried the time in the most unexpected pbces, in a way 
for which the score seemed to furnish no warrant. Added 
to sU this, there seemed to be an entire lack of sympathy 
between the orchestra — u conducted — and the pianist; 
they seemed to be, in one sense, at swords'-poiuts, and 
there were repeated instances where the piano was half a 
beat in advance of the other performers: in one case — 
in the final movement — it was only by the utmost agility 
that Carlberg managed to jump his forces to the correct 
spot. On the whole, it was a performance which reflected 
oedit neither upon the pianist, whose ability we all know 
and recognize, nor upon the conduct^'. 

The ** Scotch " Symphony went really very well, albeit 
Mr. Orlberg takes some singular liberties with the tenipos ; 
and, by the way, the orehestra, unused to the Utitude which 
be made use of, could hardly be induced to conform to his 
ideas, and did so with obvious reluctance. This, of course, 
was all wrong, for even if his conception of the symphony 
be erroneous (I certainly think it is), it Is still the busi- 
ness of the privates Ut obey their ofiScer, and it would seem 
that adequate rehearsals should have secured a unity of pur- 
pose which was conspicuous by its absence. F. 

New York, Jam. 6. — The Brooklyn Philharmonic So- 
ciety have secured the services of Theodora Thomas as 
musical director for the coming season. He will conduct 
the orchestra at each concert and at the rehearsal imme- 
diately preceding. The first two rehearsals of each concert 
will be conducted by Mr. William G. Dietrich. The or- 
chestra numbers sixty-five performen, and is nuunly com- 
posed of players formerly in the Thomas Orehestra. Ii is 
substantially the same as that engaged by Mr. (}arlbeiig for 
his symphony concerts at Chickering Hidl, in New York. 
The programme of the first concert of the twenty-fint season 
(Dec. 14) was as follows: — 

Symphony, **Eroica" Beethoven. 

Aria, " Acb ! Ich babe sie verk>ren " ... 67«db. 
Miss Anhie McCvllum. 

Concerto for riolin Mendeluohn, 

Andante — Rondo. 

Mr. Edward Remehti. 

Overture to ** Genov e va " . . . . . . S^umann. 

Solos for violin : — 

(a.) Nocturne, E flat. Op. 9, No. 2 . . . Chcpin, 
(6.) Mebdies heroiques et lyriques Hongroises. 
Transcribed by Rkmemti. 

(c.) Mazourka, Op. 7, No. 1 Chopin. 

Vorspiel, <*Die Meistersinger'* Wagner. 

Opinions may vary concerning the manner in which 
Thomas interprets the music of certain chusical composen; 
but there can be only one voice with regard to his command 
of an orehestra, and we know that the l*homas band without 
the magnetic hifluence of Thomas is like the play of Hamlet 
minus the Prince of Denmark. The orchestra is one of the 
best in the worki, and, with Thomas at the head, it is perfec- 
tion. 

In the performance of the Symphony, a cloee observer 
might have noticed the absence of certain fine touches of 
tone-shading which formerly characterized the work of this 
orehestra; but the strength, clearness, and brilliancy of the 
interpretation were beyond question The Vorspiel of JHe 
Meisteniitger also was performed in magnificent style. 

Mr. Edward Remeiiyi gave an admirable performance of 
Mendeksohn's beautiful Concerto. The orchestra was a sus- 
taining power, instead of a drag upon the peribrmance, as 
was t^ case when he played in New York. In response to 
an encore, after the Chopin pieces, he played a transcription 
of Mendelssohn's " Spring-Song." Altogether his perform- 
ance was the best I have heard from him, being really ad- 
mirable, albeit the eccentricities of his style will come out 
in the oddest manner. Miss McCullum Is endowed by nat- 
ure with a good voice, but she has yet to learn how to sing. 
Her efforts in this direction wen warmly appkiuded by the 
assemblage and crowned with flowers, if not with success. . . . 

Jak. 11 — At the third concert of the Symphony So- 
ciety, at St^iway HaU,- on Saturday evening, Jan. 4, the 
programme was : — 

Unfinished Symphony, in B minor Schubert 

Air from '» Xerxes " Handel. 

Miss Akma Drasdil. 
Concerto for piano. Op. 16, A minor . . Edward Grieg. 

Mr. Frame Rummel. 
" La Captive.'* Reverie for contralto, with orehestra, 

B. BerKoe. 
Symphony in C, No. 2 R. Schumann. 

The strangely beautiful fragment by Schubert aifocts the 
imagination with an indescriUible charm. It is a tragedy of 
the gods. What the rest might have been who shall dare to 
fimcy? As well attempt to restore the Venus of Blilo. 
Sdiumann's Symphony, in C, is among the greatest of aU 
tiie great symf^onies, — a masterpiece of genius. The sub- 
jects are lofty and poetic, and devdoped with matchless skill. 
The work, as a whole, is symmetrical in fbnn ss well as noble 



16 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXCC - No. 986. 



ill d«t!gn. It eootains not a triTial nor a rednodant meM- 
ura. llie woric of the orchMtra wm not quite what it should 
he. With all respect to Dr. Damroeeh, who is a sound mu- 
sician and who is doing good work, it must be said that eer- 
taki portions of the S jmphony were slighted ; notably the 
Seheno, which was rushed through at a terrible paee, at the 
saerifioe of clearness and expression. Miss Drasdil sang the 
air from " Xerxes," fiuniliar to concert goers as the " Largo," 
fbr violin, with organ, harp, and strings, arranged by Helms- 
berger. Afterwards (for encore) she sang Hiller*s ^ Prayer." 
Her phenomenal voice and her fine phrasing were best dis- 
phiyed in the " Reverie " by Berliox, a composition of consid- 
erable difficulty, and remarlcable for the exquisite beauty of 
the orchestral setting, la well as the skill with which the 
melody is varied to suit the changes in the poet*8 thought. 

Mr. Ftans Rummd plays with fiidlityand good taste, but 
fbr some unknown reason he friled on this occasion to do 
Justice to the Grieg Concerto, a remarkably original and elc' 
gant composition, which I have found occarion to praise 
heretofore. His interpretatton was lacking in force, and he 
failed to produce a broad, sonorous tone tnm his instrument. 
The orchestral accompaniment was too heavy, and at times 
the piano was quite Inaudible. I hedtate to sit in Judgment 
on Mr. Rumniel'i playing, as I hear flrom every quarter that 
it is remarkaHy fine, f am incUned to believe that trom 
nervousness or some other cause he failed to do himself Jus- 
tice at the concert. A. A. C. 

Baltimore, Jah. 11. — We are to have our Peabody 
Concerts, eight of them as usual, the first to take place 
the 25th of this month. Rather a late beginning thit, and 
to be ascribed mainly to the usual delay in opening the sub- 
seriptkin Ust, which the committee shoidd have done in Octo- 
ber instead of putting it ofT until December. If this had 
been done the requisite signatures would probably have been 
obtained by this time. Aa It is, the list &lls short, about 
one hundred subecribers, of the number calculated on, and 
the deficit will have to be made up in some way or other 
before the end of the month. Perhape a trustee with a big 
heart and a plethoric purse will assist the musical depart- 
ment out of its preeent dilemma. The arnmgemcnt with the 
orchestra is essentially the same aa last whiter. The per- 
formers are guaranteed a certain sum out of the subscription 
fund, for thirty reheersals and eight concerts, the receipts fbr 
admissions at the door being dirided equally among them. 
The Institate fVimisbes gratU the hall, gas, printhig, at- 
tendance, and the director. 

Af a natnrsl consequence of such an arrangement, the 
orchestra will be smaller than might be wished (there will 
be but thirty-two performers), and scarcely able to cope with 
the new music of the new schools, for which our ambitious 
director entertains so decided a predilectkMi. We shall 
therefore have to content oursdves with the more simple 
ccHnpositious of the esriier standard classics, and the <^in- 
ion of your correspondent is that m can wdl afford to do 
without the clashing innovatkma of Berlioi and Saint- 
Saens fbr a season, and turn with keener enjoyment to the 
pure simplicity, the psMionate depth, and the sublime beau- 
ties of Haydn, Beethoven, and Moeart 

It is greatly to be deplored that, while the other depart- 
ments c7 the Peabody Institute are et^joying ample appro- 
priation firom the InsUtute fbnd and fh>m private souross, 
the musical department should suffer so much neglect It 
is true, the Institute, like some other institutions and cor- 
porations to-day, is, to use a common but suitable term, 
^ short," for reasons given in fbrmer letters to the Joukm al. 
But how does such an excuee agree with the new annex 
erected for the library, and the unstinted appropriations to 
the lectures? Without inquiring more deeply into the 
causes of this unfortunate state of affiiirs, let us rather look 
about us for a remedy. The InsUtute will probably not be 
in poritton to make appropriations to the concerts as for- 
meriy, for some years to come, and until that prosperous con- 
ditMNi of affiurs is reached, the only way in which the con- 
certs can be oMde an abeolute certidnty is by private dona- 
tion. The Peabody Art Gallery sprung into existence 
entirely in this way; by donations of wwks of art from 
such men as Mr. W. T. Walters, and Mr. John McCoy, 
and a good round sum from Mr. John W. Garrett. Mr. 
Chariee Eaton, chairman of the musical committee, and 
the only trustee who seems to take an intdligent, active hi- 
tcrest In the wdlhre of the musical department, has, on 
several occasions, substantially assisted the concerts. 

Theee are steps in the right direction. Seventy-five 
thousand dolhirs, property invested, would, with the addi- 
tion of what shodd be realized from the sale of tickets, 
yield a sufficient sum annually, to insure the performance 
of ten symphony concerts, with fbur rehearsals each. Surely 
a few of our wealthier citlaena should have 976,000 to 
spare for so laudable an olf)ect! 

For the immediate future, we are satisfied to know that 
we shall have the concerts this season, at any rate. The 
advent of the Boston Mendelnohn Quintette Club, which 
is to give a concert here on the 31st, is looked forward to 
with interest in musical drelca. MusiKua. 

Milwaukee, Wis, Dec. 14, 1878. — The week fimn 
Dec 6 to Dec 18 brought us four concerts of note, two by 
local organisations, and two by visiting musicians. The 
first was by the Arion Club, a male chwus of about sixty 
voices, whose leader is Mr. Wm. L. Tomlins, of Chicago. 



They have associated with them the Cecilian Choir, a 
chorus of some sixty ladies, who assisted at this concert, 
the programme of which was composed of Handel*s AcU 
and Galatea and the first part of Mendelsaohn's SL PauL 
The choruses of these two compositions were sung, in the 
main, with precision of attaelc, with accuracy throughout, 
with purity of iutonatk>n, with delicate gradation of light 
and shade, with fire, spirit, and vigor such as I have never 
seen surpassed and rarely equaled. It is evident that Mr. 
Tomlins has very rare gifts as a chorus director. He knows 
how to select his singen; he restricts the number to pre- 
cisely those required to balance the parts properly; be weeds 
out poor material remoTBelesRly ; he carefully develops every 
voice which can be made available, giring personal attention 
to each indiridual singer; he knows exactly what he wants 
done, and insists on its being done, requiring strict attention 
from every singer fh>m the start; he has the gift of com- 
mand, and of inspiring his fbroes with unbounded enthusi- 
asm, and he is full of power and unflagging energy. He 
pays the ckieest attention to minute details, and be studies 
the compositions he is to conduct with the utmoet care, so as 
to give a true interpretation of them. The result of all this 
was that the choruses were almoet fiualtlessly done I should 
not be obliged to write "ahnost " but fbr ths fiwt that the 
chorus had only a single rdieanal with the orchestra, and 
that in a place so dififerent fhnn the room where theu: usual 
rehearsals are held that they felt awkward and embarrassed. 
The same uneasiness af^wared somewhat at the concert, and 
in some parts of the meet difficult chorueea the singers 
showed a tendency to pull apart; but Mr. Tomlins, iriio also 
seemed slightly anxious, succeeded in holding them wdl 
together. The remedy fbr this is obvious, lliere should 
be more rehearsals with the orchestra, and in the place 
where the concert is to be given. The orchestra, also, ought 
to be better than this one, which was very weak in strings. 

The part of Acis was taken by Dr. C. T. Barnes of 
Chicago, who gave it very creditably. The other sokists 
were Miss Fanny Kellogg, Miss Abby Ckric, Mr. W. H. 
Fessenden, and Mr. M. W. Whitney. Miss Kellogg has 
made marked improvement during the past two years. Her 
vokse has gained in ftdlnces aiKl evenness, and she has 
grown a more mature artist. Her style shows everywhere 
the careful training and example oif Mme. RudersdorfF. 
One could desire to M. more power behind her rendering 
of such mudc as j8I. Paul; at the last recitative, espe- 
cially, before the chorus at the climax, *< Oh great is the 
depth," it was erident that she had reached her limit, and 
had no power iu reserve; but she makes noble use of the 
gifts she has, and we are to be thankf^ and ask nothing 
more. Miss CUrk has a beautiful tone, and sang the Aria 
»( But the Lord is mindful of his own " so exquisitely, and 
with such pure and deep feding, that we all regretted that 
there was nothing man for her to sing. This Aria was as 
eigoyable as anything else in the whole evening.' Bfr. Fes- 
sendien was not in his best voice, but his work was entirely 
adequa te , as was, of course, Mr. Whitney's, who sbgs as 
earily as if he had power enough in reeerve for half a docen 
other parts at the same time if it could only be made avail- 
able. 

On the whole, except the inadequate orchestra, the per- 
formance was one which Bfeudelssohn himself might have 
admired. 

The second concert was the S59th of the Milwaukee Mu- 
sical Society, also a male chorus with an associated chorue 
of ladies, about the same in numbers as the Arion dub and 
CeciUan Choir, under the leadership of Prof. Wm. Mtokler, 
a sound and learned musician, and an excellent conductor. 
The following was the programme : — 

1. Second Symphony (D m%)or) Op. 73, Jokamut Brahnu, 

2. Aria for Soprano, from the Opera 

t* Ofpheus *' Ckr, v. Gluck, 

BGss LiXA Allabdt. 

3. BCaenncrchor, •* Take wing, my song " . . /*. Toetm. 

4. Songs for Soprano. 

(a.) Asra Hubinttein, 

(b.) The YUAA Jioaart. 

5. Reverie for Violin S, Vieuxtew^, 

Mr. Emil 0. WoLPp. 
0. Introduction and Chann of the Meeaen- 

gers of Peace fhnn the Opera **Bir 

ensi •.■••■••.. amss. WtifftttT, 
Soprano, Mies Lina Allabdt. 
Tenor, Mr. J. Oestbeicheb. 
Of course^ the main interest of the evening centred in 
the Symphony, a noble, satisfying, and inspiring composi- 
tion, every way worthy of a great writer. I heard It all 
twice in rehearsal before the concert, and, baring preriously 
gone through the score at the piano with Profteor Mickler, 
was able to form a very good idea of the whole. The form 
is tlie traditional one, the only noteworthy peculiarity being 
the interruption of the AUe^etto, which reminds one of a 
minuet, though it has by no means the dance sf^rit of the 
Moeart minuets, by a genuine schenando movement in 
six-eight time. This interruption occurs twice, if I to- 
member rightly, and contrasts with the stately and graceful 
movenmit of the Allq;retto meet diarmingly. It comlnnes 
new motives with a modificatkm of the principal motive 
of the AlkgnlUo in a thoroughly musician -like way, and 
so gives the most perfect bahmce of unity and variety. In 
fact, theaa qualities ^ipear throughout the work, the more 
one studies it, not only in the separate movements, bat In 



the balance and contrsst of the four movements. Thb 
thematic treatment is admirable, the counterpoint masteriy, 
and the instrumentation a continual surprise and delight. 
The themes of the first and third movements are well 
marked melodic phrases, easily remembered, and very 
charming, thoee of the first movement impreesing at oiice 
by their significance, and by their broad, noble charActer. 
'llie Adagio and final Allegro are formed of motives not so 
easy to csiry away with one, but the total effect of the 
former is very pleasing, while the latter, ruahbig forward 
merrily to the final climax, makes a very satisfoctury ending 
to an extremely fine eompoeition. This Symphony is not 
what the Germans call an ** epoch-making " or a •* path- 
breaking " work, but it is nevertheless thoroughly original, 
both in its motivee and treatment; and couihig, as it does, 
from a compoeer twenty yean younger than Wagner, it 
proves that those prophets of the AiUire who sung dl^jea 
over the grave of pure instntmental music were too haety. 
The Symphony has life in it yet, and only requires the 
touch of a master to show that genius Is still able to ex- 
prees its conceptions through forms which sufficed for Beet- 
hoven. 

As to the performance of this work, the orsheetra was of 
fUr sbe, — eight first and dght second riolins, five vidaa, 
five 'cdloe, three doable baeses, and the usual wind instru- 
ments, — but had to be made up in part of young and in- 
experienced players ; and the number of rehearsals was Koh. 
ited by lad of funda, so that one must not think of i^iply- 
ing the tests of excdlence which we i^iply to oroheetrss of 
mature artists, who play together continually under the 
same leader. But though varioos cmdlties and roughnesses 
were pereeptiUe, the horns being especially uncertain, the 
pwforraanoe as a whole was very spirited, and good enough 
to enable us to keep our attention fixed on the work itself, 
and to make it thoroughly interesting and delightfuL We 
owe cordial gratitude to Uie Musical Sodety, and to its able 
conductor, fbr this performance. -The rest of the pro- 
gramme dioes not rsquire lengthy mention. The solo per- 
Ibrmances were not remarkable dther for merit or demerit; 
the male chorus was wdl sang, as was also the chorus firom 
JtieiMa, a chorus ample enough in form to be by anybody 
else than Wagner; it is really charming in its motivee and 
instrumentation, and even iirits perpetual modnlatione, ao 
characteristic of lU author. 

I approach the topic of the Marie Roae concert, wUch 
cooiea next in order, with aome diffidence. Is it not pre- 
sumption, even damnable heresy, to fbid fank with a great 
*^prima domna ajwlata, the only legitimate suooeeeor of 
Pkrepa'*? And yet, if I must coufbss the honest truth, 1 
not only was not Inapind by this renowned lady's singing: 
I was even diesatisfied and dbpleaaed by it. She eang a 
grand Aria from // TroM? Core, she tore a paesion to tat- 
ters, she worked her tremoio stop (Italian *« wobble *' ?), 
and I fbrgave her; fbr though I fUt even more etrongly 
than ever before that the music was all rubbish, I recog- 
nised the fhct that, if she maut sfaig and act this stufi; she 
must needs be melodramatic and aeiisationaL But she also 
sang a song In English, >* It was a dream," 1^ Cowen, and 
kept on her tremolo all the same. I doubted here, but 
smothered my doubts because of the eemi-pathetle chaiaeter 
of the song. But when sbesang *« CooUn* thro' the rye,*' and 
** wobbled *' throogh this also, I gave her up. Deliver qs 
fh>m prima donnas who cant sing a singte pfaun straight- 
forward tone in a simple ballad! Hie programme had this 
merit, it wae a very condstent whole, — not one really noble 
or fine thing in it, thoagh moet of it wae better than the 
afbrssaid grand Aria. Mmc Roae wae very wdl snppotted; 
but I confbss to etgoying Brignoli more than all the rest 
put together. I hope this doesn't do ii^ustice to Mr. 
Ooieton, Mr. Kaiser, or Mr. Peace, whoee performances, aa 
such, were certainly creditable; but nothing but the high- 
est rirtuodty can redeem a programme of infierior, unin- 
spiring music, and prevent it from bdng tedious. 

Vhtuodty we had in Wilbdn^'s concert, the feet one I 
have to mention, and plenty of it; unfbrtunatdy we had 
also a programme the diief aim of which wae the display 
of virtoodty. But somdiow the general tone was hi{^ier, 
and deepite the feet that there was little real mndc playwl or 
sung, one oouU n't hdp being not only interested butenthu- 
suetic. Tour readers need no wtimat^ or eokigy of Wil- 
hdn^'s playing from me; thoee who have heard him will 
bdieve that in him the highest point of technical excdlence 
has been reached. Pity that we couU n't have heard him 
pby the Beethoven Concerto inetaad of Paganini'a. Next 
to him, Mmc Carreno hite i ee t e d and pleased us; bat she 
also had no music to pby which couM ehow whether she is 
a gnat artist or only a skillful executant. More 's the pity. 
Why must artists leave all the good music out when they 
give us a chanoe to hear them but once? I am fiiuly oca- 
vinced that the inferior programmee do not satisfy even the 
general public as wdl as the best music would. And how- 
ever much a virtuoeo may r^ce in the consdousnees of 
ability to overoome difficulties, surdy every real artlet must 
fbd that mere ability to play a violin or piano, oonddered 
as an end, is no more worthy of respect than ability to 
walk a rope stretched over Niagara. It is the end to which 
teehnical attainment is a means, the interpretaUon of the 
noblest productions of human genius, which makes a ridin- 
ist higher and better than a tight-rope performer. Will 
artists ever learn to appeal to what is out in thdr an- 
dlanees? J. C F. 



Fkbbuart 1, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



17 



BOSTON, FEBRUARY i, 1879. 



CONTENTS. 

ArvBAH Soso. Funny Raymond Ritler 17 

Xtblka GBBSTEm IM Biuiit, 1877. Paul lAndau ... 17 
A SouTiKia or Cuorur. T. Q. A, , 18 

** A ROSl BT ANT OTHBE Nai6/' RO. F, R. RUUt ... IS 

SaoETOoicnios op thb Opbba. W. B. Lauuon 19 

Edetoeial : " Xtalophobia." W. F. A 21 

GOffCBBTS III BOSTOS SI 

TiM KotcTpt. — The Donate CbUdran. 

TBI Opiba (ooDclnded) 88 

Musical CoKEBSPOMDBNCi 28 

CiMiniiBtL — New York. — Baltimovs. — PhUadolphU. 
Nfir MusiOAL Books 24 

Publisked /ortnigkUy iy Houohtor, Osgood un Cokpamt, 
S20 Dt9on$kirt SUett, Boston, Friee, 10 ttnU a numbtrj $2M) 

AU thi vtide* n»t erodiud to other pubUeatio$u w«r$ ncprtt^y 
writun/or this Jonrnal. 



AFGHAN SONG. 

RENDERED IIITO BMOLISH BY PAXMT RAYMOND RITTER. 

She. I mm the ehaam whose hidden ground 

Timorotts huuter shall never sound ; 

How.canst thou meuure those depths profound ? 
Be. I am the rains that, descending, sweep 

Interspace, fiuure, and channel steep; 

I will awaken thine echoing deep ! 

Ske. I am a poniard, I dazsle or smite; 

I am a serpent, aa sage u slight; 

I am the teeth of the topmost height! 
J?e. Feint, that defends from the dagger hbw, 

Knowledge that baffles the snake, I know; 

Fatha romid the uppermost peak may go ! 

Bke. Seek not thy wandering way to wend 

Up where no chamoia yet dared aaeend; 

Orer pine aummita my branchea bend ! 
JTe. I am the ailvery flakea that reat 

Wrapt in the folda of the anow-cloud*B breait; 

I will repoae on thy k>fly creat! 

She. I am the motloalesa mountain mere, 

Century- fettered by froat-chaina drear; 

Hope not to breathe in mine atmosphere! 
He. I am the beama of the burning sun, 

Warming to life all I shine upon ; 

I will enkindle that heart of atone I 

She, Gate of the garden of Paradiae, 

Haughty aa Khyber, my heart defies 
Open approach or aatute aurpriae! 

He. Love, dauutlesa daughter of rook and anow, — 
Love atrong aa mine will the power beatow 
Hearta proud aa Khyber to win, aweet foe! 



ETELKA GERSTER IN BERLIN. 

(Txaaalated from Bk Gageawart, Uaj, 1877.) 

Berlin has just had, at the close of winter, 
a great and unexpected pleasure. \Xt the 
present hour, can be made the rare, supremely 
consoling, I might almost say exalting, ob- 
servation, how an honest and sincere good- 
will, in the best sense, such as under ordinary 
circumstances one is fortunate to find in a 
single individual, has suddenly seized a whole 
community. Commonly, through the crowd- 
ing together of individuals, the nobler emo- 
tions ai*e suppressed and the baser are forced 
to the surface; commonly unkindness, envy, 
ill-will, rule the masses, and, as a matter of 
course, the world is mentioned as ^* the wicked 
world, the stupid crowd ; " but now the sweet 
miracle is to be seen of Berlin — yes, Berlin, 
execrated for its coldness and its lacerating 
criticism — pleasing itself with the office of a 
loving, tender, and indulgent father. 

The young girl who has worked this mir- 
acle is called Etelka Grerster ; and it is a real 
tendeniess, an affecting and solicitous friend- 
ship, that Berlin offers this young maiden. 

About four weeks since, there stood in the 
newspapers the announcement that one of the 



usual Italian opera companies, such as have 
been accustomed to favor us for many years, 
would appear at Kroll's Theatre. Every one 
knows what is generally to be expected from 
such a company. 

*• Sie war nicht in dem Thai geboren, 
Man wusate nicht wober aie kam, 
Und achnell war ibre Spur verloren, 
Sobald aie von una Abachied nahm." 

The " accomplished artists " outbid each 
other in insignificance. The affair then took 
its natural course. At the first performance, 
three weeks ago, the hall of KroU's Theatre 
was empty ; if we except ^he critics, who in 
the way of business were obliged to be pres- 
ent ; only a few of those people had strayed 
in upon whom it depends whether an impres- 
sion is to be made upon the public ; and thus 
of this singing company it could almost with 
certainty be prognosticated that it would share 
the fate of its predecessors, and, like the rose, 
would blossom but a day. 

Three weeks later, and in KrolFs great 
hall not a seat remains unoccupied I Hun- 
dreds and hundreds must turn away from the 
door disappointed and cross ; and the privi- 
lege to attend a performance must be paid for, 
by those who are unable to procure tickets in 
the customary way, at prices that remind one 
of the extravagant days of commercial pros- 
perity. The first rows of the parquet are re- 
served for the court, which is represented in 
a completeness only seen on extraordinary 
artistic occasions. The Emperor himself is 
present long before the beginning of the per- 
formance, and salutes his guests. All the 
high officers of the court have appeared. The 
gray-haired field-marshal, Moltke, the minis- 
ters, the highest representatives of foreign 
diplomacy and ambassadors, are here ; and 
farther in the hall the eye beholds nearly all 
the well-known and renowned persons of the 
capital ; and the name of the so recently en- 
tirely unknown *^ artiste," who sings Lucia, is 
to-day in every mouth ! 

The younger people cannot remember ever 
to have seen so sudden and tremendous a 
triumph; the elders, to find a counterpart, 
refer to the first days of Henrietta Sontag, 
Pauline Viardot, and Jenny Lind. The en- 
tire public is as if electrified. All the pro- 
fessional critics announce, with a unanimity 
entirely unexampled, that a wholly unusual, 
divinely-gifted artist has appeared before us, 
furnished by beneficent nature with every gift 
to reach the loftiest heights ; and who, under 
judicious direction, and an intelligent appre- 
ciation of her wonderful natural capacity, will 
also reach them. 

The critic's praise sounds this time quite 
otherwise than when laurels are to be be- 
stowed on those who have already achieved 
greatness. It is plainly to be perceived in the 
criticisms, how the writers rejoice to be able 
to praise the unusual appearance in an un- 
usual manner, and do it with a heartiness and 
cordiality, with the sincere conviction of do- 
ing good, while they demand what is good. 
At the same time can be read, from the joy- 
ous and unreservedly appreciative criticisms, 
a friendly care for the future of the new 
bosom child, a sort of melancholy anxiety lest 
the tender germ nouty not be allowed to ma- 
ture, lest, in the foolish haste to force its 



growth, it may be materially injured, if not 
perhaps entirely destroyed. And this anxious 
forethought is fully justified. 

Etelka Gerster is a girl in the bloom of 
youth. Her power of voice is in no way re- 
markable ; she does not possess one of those 
voices that defy the storm, that through their 
impoving proportions compel universal atten- 
tion. Her's has nothing striking, nothing on 
a large scale. It is therefore entirely natural 
that the directors of both the great Grerman 
operas, who have had the opportunity to hear 
Friiulein Grerster, have passed this modest and 
unassuming nature by, without having made 
an attempt to win her for their prominent 
establishments. Her lovely and poetic voice 
corresponds with her appearance : a simple, 
sweet face, with intelligent, speaking eyes, 
modest and maidenly, and no great beauty. 
Through her entire absence of stage routine 
(until now she has appeared before no import- 
ant audience), she shows still in her bearing 
and gestures a certain want of security and 
a helplessness which a refined public, already 
beginning to love the singer, finds charming, 
but which, perhaps, might be otherwise judged 
by a foreign audience, before whom Etelka 
Gerster might now appear with a famous 
name. Her repertoire is still small. 

Everything indicates that Etelka Gerster's 
duty toward herself and toward us is : to 
oppose herself steadfastly to all allurements 
that may hereafter arise, and to show herself 
firm now amid the temptations of a sudden 
fame. This restraint must be doubly hard 
for her at the present time. She has stepped 
in a day out of complete obscurity into re- 
nown. The nowhere justly appreciated prima 
donna of an insignificant Italian troupe is 
to-day mentioned in one breath with the 
first living artists. The stormy applause 
must have something intoxicating in it, and 
it would be strange if the incense that rises 
to her to-day in thick clouds should not be- 
wilder her senses. But at the same time let 
her make the most earnest efforts, in the 
midst of the turmoil that must seize her, to 
preserve for herself some sobriety and delib- 
eration. Let her think of the truth of Vol- 
taire's utterance, that there is no heavier bur- 
den than a suddenly renowned name: ^11 
n'est plus lourd fardeau qu*un nom trop t6t 
fameux ; " and that she must become strong 
not to succumb under this sweet burden. 

The characteristic of Etelka Grerster's art 
is, as has already been said, not the imposing, 
powerful, gigantic; it is the lovely, tender, 
the maidenly charm. It does not transport, 
it wins ; it does not seize, it touches ; it does 
not shake, it holds. A favorable star has so 
decreed that these charming gifts have been 
immediately recognized here. It has been 
an inestimable piece of good fortune that 
Etelka has sung for the first time before a 
small audience on KroU's small stage. Had 
her d^but taken place at the Opera House, in 
that great building, with a spoiled and not 
always considerate audience — in which yes- 
terday the trombones blared out the Conse- 
cration of Swords, and which to-morrow will 
be visited, it may be, by the mad dances of 
the Venus Mount, — who knows, whether the 
weighty orchestral masses would not have 
covered the modest voice, and whether the 



18 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 986. 



peculiar charm of her soulful tones might 
not have died away in the vast space, unrec- 
ognized before an apathetic public. 

Now the case is quite different. Now that 
it is known how wonderfully beautiful the 
voice is, how masterful its cultivation, now 
Etelka Gerster may feel sure in Berlin, 
wherever she may sing, of full appreciation. 
How would it be in another, greater, more 
pretentious city, in which she has not had the 
opportunity to show herself under the condi- 
tions that here offered the proper opportu- 
nity for the unfolding of her peculiar art? 
How would it be in great, noisy Paris, which, 
rumor says, seeks to allure the young artist 
who is truly ours ? 

I must honestly confess that I cannot 
imagine this timid girl, who has entranced us 
all by her simple and heartfelt expression, 
by her masterly execution, as now appear- 
ing on the stage of the Parisian opera-house, 
behind the powerful orchestra, which forbids 
every fine shading, where one must scream at 
the side of singers in whom routine and great 
register of voice take the place of true art. 

Etelka Gerster belongs to the same family 
of artists from which sprang Jenny Lind, 
and she knew quite well what she did when 
she consistently refused the most' brilliant 
offers to sing in Paris ; it was a true knowl- 
edge of herself that directed the Swedish 
singer. It is a good friend of Etelka Gers- 
ter who now repeats to her the beautiful 
verse from Simrock*s " Warning from the 
Rhine : " 

"D'cb bezaubert der Laat, Dich bethoret der 
Schein, 
Entzucken fasst dich und Graus." 

It is no petty self-seeking, no selfish de- 
sire to gain permanently an excellent singer, 
that has inspired these lines. Berlin, which 
has installed Etelka Gerster in art, feels 
itself much more called upon to care that 
the wonderful talent shall remain preserved 
to art, and that it shall not be too soon 
exhausted by a foolish overstraining of its 
powers, and through compulsion, become en- 
tangled in a false position and discouraged. 
Etelka Gerster has for the present but one 
duty : to enter upon no new duties. Let 
her use the coming time, after the close of 
her present obligations, in completing her 
studies, and in the extension of her reper- 
toire. Let her strive for a further cultivation 
in dramatic action, for which she possesses an 
unlimited capacity, and then — let her stay 
with us in Grermany I She is a complete 
mistress of the German language ; and, be- 
sides, Germany offers to a true artist, quite 
other and more profitable duties than are 
placed at the disposition of artists in France. 
Glance only at the repertoire of the Pa- 
risian opera: Huguenots and William Tell, 
William Tell and Huguenots, in pleasing 
alternation 1 And when she has really sung 
the queen in the Huguenots and Bertha in 
Tell fifty times in the course of the year, she 
will, in the most favorable case, stand at 
the end of the year in the same artistic 
grade at which she stood at the beginning, 
or perhaps will have descended some grades 
lower in the path of routine. Mozart's op- 
eras alone should be able to hold her back 
from the serious step of crossing the Rhine. 



Etelka Gerster is the appointed singer of Mo- 
zart, — let her remain with us ! But however 
her fate may be decided, we deem ourselves 
fortunate to have been able to greet her at 
least at the brilliant commencement of her 
career, and our heartfelt wishes will hence- 
forth accompany her. Paul Lindau. 



A SOUVENIR OF CHOPIN. 

Chopin was a genius, pleasant to remem- 
ber. He was sui generis, unique. When with 
him, he seemed to you in a certain sense 
far off and intangijjle. We are not very fa- 
miliar with the Polish character, and he was 
a Pole, and, as such even, not like olher 
Poles, though they have a dash of the charm 
and mysticism of the East ; but he had a per- 
sonality which was of no country. Like Haw- 
thorne, 

(( Something o^eriDformed the tenement of daj/' 

and made them both evanescent and weird, 
if not spectral and unreal. 

The genius of each precisely answered to 
that feeling of remoteness which we had when 
near them. If Hawthorne had not written 
a line, if Chopin had not traced a note, we 
still should have felt each to be a genius. 
For this mysterious something which we call 
genius is not composed wholly of the brain, 
but the entire nature and temperament go to 
its formation. And in all geniuses it is this 
total force which agitates and interests us. 
Shelley is another instance. He is never fa- 
miliar, humdrum, and ordinary. We hear of 
his sailing paper boats, or wandering with a 
book into the forest, but we know that some- 
thing kept him apart from others who do so. 
It is not by choice, but by a high necessity, 
that they ravish us with their gifts. The 
sacred fire, so bright to us, often hurt and 
branded them with pain. 

Chopin, with blonde hair and light blue 
eyes, had a whiteness of complexion all his 
own. We feel sure that Shelley's face shone ; 
and from Chopin's came a sad and plaintive 
brightness which excited your highest sym- 
pathy. 

Another great genius was living with him 
at the same time in Paris ; but what worlds 
kept them apart, in temperament as in gift ! 
Rossini seemed the embodiment of jovial 
worldliness. A thousand Barbers seemed to 
look out from his merry eyes, and in his ca- 
pacious frame one could fancy stored, in or- 
der as on shelves, a thousand operas. 

He often dined at a table cThote, where I 
met him, and, when there, seemed the king 
of it. His wit, his laughter, his spacious 
plenitude of jovial strength, illumined and 
led the company. He seemed happy with a 
crowd about him ; and is not his sunny mu- 
sic made for the many, full of sociable fire 
and a nobleness which the crowd *could un- 
derstand, if not emulate? But in no such 
gatherings would you find Chopin. He shrank 
like a sensitive plant from the rude touch of 
the world. His music cannot be called pop- 
ular, or nimbly expressive of pleasant com- 
monplaces. There is a wail through it, like 
the cry " Finis Poloniae ! " attributed to his 
heroic countryman. There is something ma- 
ladif, saccade, petulant, whimsical, in it, full 
of surprises. I should suppose it would be 



called, as art, very personal and distinguished. 
It was written for the select few, for those 
who suffer and for those who think. There- 
fore it was a pleasure, in eyerj sense rare, to 
encounter him. 

I had several times that pleasure. I heard 
him at a concert in St. James' Square, Lon- 
don, where, in a nobleman's house, all that 
was choicest in that capital came to do him 
honor. While he played, a row of prima 
donnas stood behind his piano, —-Viardot, 
Garcia, Madame Sartoris, and others. He 
seemed to play as much upon the expressive 
nerves of their faces as upon the ivory of the 
piano. His mood, his touch, were reflected 
in their looks, and as his transparent hand 
and long, far-reaching fingers shot along the 
keys, there was a mute echo in their sympa- 
thetic eyes. Through the room there was 
that feeling of exaltation which is known 
when something superior is acting upon you. 
Each heart by itself conversed with that other, 
so alien, so mystic, so impossible, in the heavy 
atmosphere of London. 

I had the great pleasure of dining with him 
afterwards, with a few of his lady friends. 
The whole man was changed. The reaction 
had come. There was the detente, the un- 
bending, the escape from that too high strain. 
He was infinitely frolicsome, playful, and bi- 
zarre. By the law of sympathetic antago- 
nism, antipathy, he was obliged to ridicule and 
make fun of a fat lady and her daughter, who 
had sat just before his eyes. He mimicked 
the mother's suggestions to her daughter as 
to when applause was fit, and the fine efforts 
this worthy lump of prose had made to follow 
the flights of so strange a bird. 

But he was a genius in all this as much as 
in his playing ; and it was delightful to see 
the gamesome boy appear, insCbad of the lyr- 
ical and suffering poet. One of the ladies, 
with much simplicity, asked me to describe 
Niagara to him, that he might write a piece 
of music upon it. I did so, and he was 
pleased, but it was asking too much, even of 
such a genius as his, to describe what he had 
not seen, and it was very plain he would not 
care to get his wares at second-hand. 

I also had the privilege of sitting with 
him, an old lady friend of mine our sole com- 
panion, while Jenny Lind sang for the first 
time in London the ^ Mariage de Figaro." 
There was something in her exceptional and 
Northern nature which pleased him. They 
were, perhaps, in their intensity and strange- 
ness, somewhat akin. He spoke of her hav- 
ing accepted his advice to banish all additions, 
and sing the music simply, just as Mozart 
wrote it. It made one of those evenings one 
never forgets ; and, alas, I have none such 
afterwards to remember in the society of the 
illustrious master. T. G. A. 



" A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME," ETC. 

A MUSICAL work may sound ^ as sweet," 
although some other name than that of its 
true creator has been bestowed on it; but, 
should we call a rose a violet, would not even 
a blind man think its scent, if quite ^'as 
sweet," yet a little foreign and unexpected ? 
Many lovely children of the composer's im- 
agination are wandering over the world under 



FBBBDA.RT 1, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



19 



the disguise of names that do not belong to 
them, although their rightful ones possess an 
equal claim to consideration. 

Even the half - cultivated amateur now 
knows that the gentle little waltz of sixteen 
measures, No. 2 of the set << Les Viennoises," 
Opus 9, by Franz Schubert, is the composi- 
tion of Franz Schubert; yet its soft melan- 
choly is still misnamed *' Le Desir/' and 
refractory publishers, here and there, still 
persist in presenting it to the musical world, 
a poor solitary on the desert island of a '* one- 
page sheet," as a daughter of Beethoven ! 
Every pianist knows, too, that the little waltz 
still occasionally encountered under the title 
of " Weber's Last Waltz " is not by Weber, 
but by Reissiger, who has vainly remonstrated 
against the injustice of depriving him of the 
credit due to him as its composer. The list 
of works whose authorship is contested is 
a long one ; among these Mozart's Twelfth 
Mass will be remembered, as the Ritter von 
Koechel and Otto Jahn, not to mention other 
authorities, have decided this to have been 
written by some other composer than Mo- 
zart. 

If Schubert has been unjustly deprived of 
the credit of having composed his pensive 
'< La M^lancholie," misnamed Beethoven's 
''Le Ddsir," a sort of compensation has been 
offered by destiny, or the publishers, in the 
song "L'Adieu" ("The Last Greeting"), 
printed as No. 3 in the Lanner (Paris) edi- 
tion of forty songs by Schubert, with French 
text. This song was really composed by an 
amateur named Wegrauch, at Dorpat, in Li- 
vonia, in 1820, and entitled by him '* Nach 

Osten." Another amateur, a Prince W , 

was accustomed to sing it successfully at 
evening parties in Paris, announcing it as a 
Lied by Schubert (the only Lied composer 
then known in Paris), either from careless- 
ness, or — as Lenz suggests — to spare Pa- 
risians the trouble of pronouncing another 
rough German name. And as a Schubert 
Lied, under the title '' L' Adieu/' it was after- 
wards published in Paris. 

The claim of the fine sacred song, '' Pietk, 
Signore. di me dolente," to be considered as 
the work of Stradella is disputed by some 
authorities ; but as by far the greater num- 
ber of these agree as to its genuineness, we 
are at liberty to take the side that pleases us 
best in this musical drawn battle. 

But another fine aria has been, this time 
altogether erroneously, attributed of late to 
Stradella : I mean that entitled " del mio 
dolce ardor," from Gluck's opera, Paris and 
Helen, Every student of musical literature 
is aware that this opera was composed by 
Gluck in 1769, two years after the composi- 
tion of his Alceste ; but it has been entirely 
dropped fiom the modern opera repertory, 
though the earlier produced Alceste is still 
occasionally represented, at least in part. 
Paride ed Elena\ however, is so little known 
that few persons, even of some culture, are 
acquainted with the score (published in 1770), 
or its preface, replete, like all the (too little) 
literary work Gluck gave to the world, with 
the elevated thought, the fine critical insight, 
to be expected from so great an artist, inter- 
spersed with not a few passages of self-de- 
fense against the unjust judgments of some 



of his contemporary reviewers. Alas, that 
genius should ever be forced to waste its val- 
uable time and power» on such self-defense ! 
Gluck, however, as a reformer, could scarcely 
have hoped to escape the auto da fi alto- 
gether. 

The aria, *' del mio dolce ardor," is the 
second number in the first act of Paris and 
Helen^ and is sung by Paris, who, landing near 
Sparta with his sailors, thus expresses his 
emotion on first treading the earth trodden 
by Helen, and breathing the air she breathes. 
The melody is large and noble, and yet '' ele- 
giac as a soft Italian dream," as Marx beau- 
tifully says, and the insfrumentation of. the 
accompaniment is altogether admirable. The 
singing of Paris is interrupted by a sacrificial 
dance and offering at the shrine of Venus ; 
then Paris 'continues, in the aria, " Dall' 
aurea sua Stella ; " then another dance inter- 
venes ; and, before the entrance of Amor, Paris 
concludes his fine scena d^entrata with the 
aria, ^ Spiagge amate," another powerful and 
charming melody, an appeal to nature — 
the meadows amid which Helen wanders, the 
fountains where she crowns her hair with 
roses — to disclose to him the spot where 
dwells the most beautiful among all women. 
The action of the opera then proceeds. 

Mrs. Adelaide Sartoris, in her novelette, 
" A Week at a French Country House," has 
also erroneously attributed Gluck's aria to 
Stradella ; and the error is continually re- 
peated in concert programmes, when the song 
is performed. Not to speak of historical ac- 
curacy, what a singular error of taste to 
include the melodious sighs of Paris in a col- 
lection of '' classical sacred songs," entitled 
" Sion," as has been done by Schlesinger's 
publishing house (attributing the air to Stra- 
della) ! And how audibly, notwithstanding, 
the melody, expression, declamation of Gluck, 
speak to us in every measure of the compo- 
sition ! 

Then there is the exquisite motet by 
Anerio, '' Adoramus te, Christe," the credit of 
which has been given to Palestrina (who 
needs no credit), etc, etc. My musically 
cultivated readers may recall many other ex- 
amples of works whose authorship is either 
disputed or erroneously bestowed ; it is, how- 
ever, strange that such an example as that of 
Gluck's '* del mio dolce ardor " should 
hitherto have escaped remark. 

Fanny Raymond Ritter. 

Note. — Some yean ago (April, 1869), we eopied into 
ibis Journal the interesting, programroee of tome historical 
recitals given in New York by the writer of the above art- 
icle, in one of which appears the aria, " O del mio dolce ar- 
dor," rightly attributed to Gluck. We believe that Mrs. 
Ritter was the first to introduce it to an American musical 
public — Ed. 



THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE OPERA. 

BY WALTER B. LAW80N, B. MU8. 

Adopting as a normal condition the justifica- 
tion of opera conveyed in the definition of Dr. 
Marx, who tells us that it is ** a drama in which, 
in lieu of ordinary speech, an elevated utterance, 
the language of music and song, is introduced, 
with the same artistic rights and truth, as, in the 
higher dramOj poetry supersedes the prose of com- 
mon life" we are next led to inquire more closely 
into its nature as an art-work, which may be de- 
scribed as an endeavor to portray, for man's de- 
lectation and instruction, some of the countless 



phases of human existence, — not only the super- 
ficial existence which society sees around it, but 
also an inner life which we all know from expe- 
rience to exist, and from which spring '* fountains 
of joy and of sorrow." The drama is some- 
times entirely based upon these secret emotions, 
— for instance, a so-called psychological drama 
of modern date entitled '' T]ie Bells." To this 
end, poetry, music, painting, and mimetics jointly 
contribute, and inasmuch as human existence is 
made up of moments of indifference and of pas- 
sionate energy, of moments spent in self-com- 
munion or in the society of our fellow-creatures, 
so it became necessary to create in the opera 
forms of expression, which, while receiving addi- 
tions and improvements at the hands of many 
generations of master-minds, were acknowledged 
by them to be justly suitable. These forms are 
recitative, aria, duet, ensemble, chorus, etc., all 
of which are susceptible of modification, accord- 
ing to the number, character, or length of the 
episodes of emotion. It was also found neces- 
sary to adopt the overture, interlude, postlude, 
as a means of preparing an audience for what 
was to follow, to allow time for the accomplish- 
ment of an act, for the purpose of commenting 
upon the same, or for other reasons. 

It will at once appear that these forms require 
some sort of justification ; for instance, it is quite 
contrary to the laws of nature that a person 
should speak, still less sing, his thoughts aloud, 
or that two or more persons should be guilty si- 
multaneously of the same thing. Yet in the 
monologue of drama and the aria of opera, in 
the dialogue and duet, etc., such a proceeding 
occurs. This is a privilege of art without which 
it would be impossible to represent life as it 
really is, and it finds sufficient justification in 
the pithy remark of Goethe : " Art is so called 
simply because it is not Nature ; " but, in addi- 
tion to this, it may be observed that the audience 
while listening to an aria u perfectly aware that 
it involves a very in*egular proceeding, but is 
quite content to be deceived with regard to the 
nature of monologue, as it is to be misled by a 
departure from the Aristotelian laws respecting 
the dramatic unities. '* The fact is," says Dr. 
Johnson, "the spectators are always in their 
senses, and know that the stage is only a stage, 
and that the players are only players." 

We have, then, a creation in which several 
arts work together according to certain laws, 
and subject to the restrictions imposed by form 
for the purpose of producing through the medium 
of various senses one and the same impression in 
an enhanced degree. In this combination the 
drama is not to be wholly sacrificed to the music, 
nor is the music slavishly to follow the drama, 
or act merely as commentator ; its province is, 
rather, to render in all its psychological signifi- 
cance each phase of feeling or action which is in- 
volved in the drama ; nay, more, it is to suggest 
and complete that which words would be unable 
to express (we do not agree with E. A. Poe, 
the American poet, who held that language could 
express everything) ; it is here the " inarticu- 
late unfathomable speech" which lays bare the 
deeper emotions of the human breast. 

A cooperation of arts atler this manner nat- 
urally offers to the artist such a catalogue of 
difficulties that we can hardly wonder at not yet 
having attained to the ideal of opera. As it is, 
the weaknesses of the present style are evident 
in every score and every libretto ; and moreover 
they are not such as admit of dispute, but stand 
there in all the abjectness of self-conviction. To 
point some of them out is the purpose of this es- 
say, and I may perhaps be excused if in so do- 
ing I adopt an arrangement of topics which has 
no greater recommendation than that of being 
most convenient to myseli*. The following are a 



20 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 986. 



few of the " counts ** on which opera may be in- 
dicted : — 

(1.) Non-accordance of musical expression 
with the expression of the text. 

(2.) Subordination of (a) orchestra to song ; 
(h) song to orchestra. 

(3.) Chaotic accumulation of instrumental and 
Yocal forces. 

(4.) Flimsy character or abhorrent nature of 
plot. 

(5.) Stereotyped character of recitative. 

(6.) Psychologically unjustifiable overtures. 

(7.) Mutilation involved in adapting a drama 
to a musical setting. 

The following remarks, and references to well- 
known works may now support these charges : — 

(1.) We have all heard of the disputes to 
which the union of music and drama has given 
rise. The wars between the Gluckists and Pic- 
cinists in the eighteenth, and between the Wag- 
nerites and Anti-Wagnorites in the nineteenth 
century, have served to concentrate general at- 
tention upon the matter, but without affecting 
it permanently ; for the idea of opera at the 
present day is much the same as it was a quarter 
of a century before Gluck's classical period ; 
and, as far as can be foreseen, the opera as 
evolved by the genius of Mozart will not cease 
to hold the stage while that which is form, power, 
and beauty is appreciated by musical artists. 
This I say without venturing an opinion as to 
the respective merits of the rival systems, which 
would only lead me from the object which I 
have in view ; nor, on the other hand, do I wish 
to suggest that Mozart's operas ara free from 
faults in this respect, even if their type of con- 
struction be true. The affinity between words 
and music has not always been rightly under- 
stood or sufficiently respected, and many have 
unconsciously erred in their judgment with re- 
gard to the very nature of the combination, — 
which must be alike pleasing to the intellectual 
and to the sensuous perceptions. 

Two of the most flagrant examples in classic 
opera of a total disregard for the sentiment of 
the text may be found in the ZauberflQte of Mo- 
zart, in the r6le of the " Queen of the Night." 
The first of these arie contains no less than thir- 
teen bars of extremely florid writing upon the 
syllable ce of " mercede ; " and the second, twice 
eight bars upon the word e, commencing after a 
rest with which we should be satisfied to conclude 
the phrase ; also eleven further bars of mixed 
legato and staccato phrases upon the second syl- 
lable of "crudel," the whole being broken up by 
pauses of three quarters of a bar and less. 
Moreover, the voice compass extends in these 
arie to the F in alt. And for all this where is 
the justification? 

The physical effect produced in the 'singer by 
such performances must be known to every one. 
Song which imposes such severe strain upon the 
vocal organs (evident in the fact that these arie 
are more oflen than not transposed into other 
keys to suit the singers, and are even then sung 
by them at the utmost limit of their voices) can- 
not but be detrimental to art. To those who 
may ask for proof of this, I strongly recommend 
an essay written by Herr Gloggner, formerly pro- 
fessor of singing at the Conservatorium of Leipzig, 
which was published in several of the early num- 
bers of the Muiikalisches Wochenhlatt} Therein 
they may read, or get a Grerman scholar to read 
for them, of the superb organs of vocalists who 
have passed away: of soprani possessing pow- 
ers of voice unknown at the present day, of 
tenori who could for many seconds completely 
overtone the blast of a trumpet ; therein they 

1 Translated in toI zzxi. of this Joumtl. Herr Gloggner 
was for some Ume connected with the Boston Conservatory 
of Music. 



may study the causes which have led to the de- 
cline of vodal power which is thus rendered ap- 
parent. With this def^line the name of Verdi is 
frequently associated. 

But to return to the subject. In Donna An- 
na's aria in the second act of Don Juan^ we find 
ten bars devoted to vocalizzi upon the last syl- 
lable of " senfiri^" the broad vowel offering such 
a tempting opportunity for the display of the 
singer's technic. Here the text is certainly not 
suggestive of such tours deforce; indeed, there 
is no psychological justification whatever. It is 
worthy of remark that in the first aria of Don 
Ottavio*s affianced, which might with greater 
reason have been written in the florid style 
which characterizes that now under considera- 
tion, there is absolutely nothing of the kind ; it 
is simply true. 

As a concluding illustration of my meaning, 
I will quote the so-called "Jewel-Song," from 
Gounod's opera Faust, This is not wholly with- 
out justification ; the shake (which Mozart has 
used to express cowardice) is here highly ex- 
pressive of Margherita's excitement ; but the suc- 
ceeding phrases are open to the charge of being 
somewhat ordinary and unsuggestive. 

The non-classical works of Donizetti, Bellini, 
and others offer innumerable instances of these 
faults, although worthy of study for finish in 
vocal writing ; but the beautiful vocalization of 
Italian opera does not compensate us for the shal- 
lowness of composers, who, to quote Dr. Schliiter, 
*< make tlicir heroes encounter death to the tune 
of a lively waltz." But, as we have seen, there 
are faults almost as glaring in classic opera ; and, 
amongst tliese the bravura aria is not the least 
prominent. Than this, no variety of the aria 
has met with more abuse. In most instances a 
direct concession to the vocalist, we may find it 
in our hearts to excuse the divergence from the 
strict rules of art, although in the studio we may 
feel necessitated to shake our heads over certain 
leaves in the scores of, for instance, Mozart and 
Rossini, knowing as we do that the vocal portion 
was adapted in the one case to the voice of a 
sister-in-law, in the other to the somewhat hlas^ 
organ of a wife. Why is it, O ye gods, that 
even those things which we are accustomed to 
regard as a means of raising us above the level 
of mere animal existence into an ideal world 
should be open to the. suspicion conveyed by an 
astute lieutenant of police, in the words, " Ou 
estlafemme"? Why? 

(2.) (a.) The subordination of orchestra to 
song is a well-known characteristic of Italian 
opera, and in some of them is carried to such an 
extreme that the usual demands upon an orches- 
tra are reduced to little more than rhythmical ac- 
companiment, so strongly marked as to be pre- 
sumably a source of delight to individuals of terp- 
sichorean proclivities. Tliose musicians whose 
patience has been exhausted by the sheer monotr 
ony induced by a performance of, for instance, 
La Traviata^ with all its aggravation of beats, as 
regular and continuous as those of the human 
pulse, will bear me out in what I say. It is here 
tliat we feel the inestimable superiority of the 
opera of Mozart, or of the new school, in which 
the orchestra plays such an important part. 

This same principle exists in another and bet- 
ter form. In the seventeenth century, LuUy, in 
his endeavors to give due prominence to the 
words, adopted a style of art in which not only 
form was wanting, but melody — the very essence 
of music — was sacrificed. In the eighteenth 
century, Gluck brought these ideas to a higher 
stage of development ; but it was left to Wag- 
ner in the nineteenth century to attain to what 
some are inclined to regard as the highest form 
of musical dramatic art. These three periods 
evidence enormous strides in the development 



of the orchestra, . which, while being subordi- 
nated to the drama, shows itself, in contradis- 
tinction to the mere accompaniment of Italian 
opera, more in the light of commentator and en- 
hancer. It is peculiarly instructive to consider 
the differences and resemblances which exist be- 
tween the three-century-old recitative opera of 
Jacopo Peri and the musical dmma of Wag- 
ner, minute in detail and colossal in proportions. 

(6.) Beethoven's Fidelio instances faults of the 
opposite nature. A master of the orchestra, he 
gave to it an undue prominence over the vocal 
parts. It would seem, that the human voice did 
not offer him sufficient scope, for the same thing 
is noticeable in all his vocal works. A contrib- 
utor to a musical lexicon says of him, *' He has 
written more music that is sung than vocal 
music ; " and Mensel, the author of an excellent 
volume upon hb life and works, tells us : " Not 
seldom he gave way to the temptation of raising 
the declamator}' element above the melodic, and 
the lyric above the dramatic, and of hiding the 
want of progress and activity by means of the 
ordiestra." 

(3.) The masters of the modem school, fol- 
lowing the example set tliem by Hector Berlioz^ 
who has developed to caricature the powerful 
orchestration of Beethoven, seek, by increasing 
the number of instruments in ordinary use, re- 
viving those which have become obsolete, and 
adopting others newly invented, to increase the 
means of efi'ect at tlieir disposal ; and this is 
perhaps necessary in some respects, — ^^for in- 
stance, to restore the disturbed balance of wind 
and string, to accommodate the orchestra to the 
growing dimensions of concert-halls, opera-houses, 
etc. ; but for all this, there has undoubtedly been 
an excess of zeal in this direction, and effects 
have been produced which may be catalogued 
with those reported during the leviathan festival 
held at Boston some years ago. The small or- 
chestras of Mozart are regarded disdainfully by 
these gentlemen, who, however, are for the most 
part wholly unable to produce similarly powerful 
effects, even with all their additions and multipli- 
cations. Notably in the scores of Richard Wag- 
ner, we find a heaping together of vocal and in- 
strumental forces; in fact, there are passages in 
Lohengrin which amount to little more than an 
inexpressive jumble. Take, for instance, the 
chorus " £in Wunder ist geschehen," quoted by 
Lobe in his work on instrumentation, where, be- 
sides the string quartet, there are 8 flauti, 8 
oboe, 8 clarionetti, 8 fagotti and tuba, 4 horns 
(in £ and A), 8 trombones, and the timpani 
playing fortissimo against the chorus of mixed 
voices. *' Who," asks Lobe, '* amongst those 
who have heard the opera, can affirm that he 
received any other than a most hazy impression 
of the men's voices sounding out of the noisy 
orchestral tutti ? " With respect to the phrase 
''Dank der Herr" of the females, he further 
says : *V With the eye, one can see it in the par- 
titur, but no mortal ear either of the present 
or of the remotest future will hear anything of 
it." The so-called " Priigelscene " in the Meuter* 
singer offers a further instance of miscalculation. 
These are, of course, but occasional lapses, for, 
generally, Wagner's orchestration and instrumen- 
tation are blameless, and he is, moreover, like 
Liszt, a perfect master of orchestral color. 

Meyerbeer also laid himself open to censure 
on the same score, as indeed upon almost every 
other, according to the opinions of eminent art 
critics and connoisseurs, — London Mttsieal 
Standards 

{TohseontiMtd,) 



Thk Cincinnati Musical Association connected. with the 
CoUege of Music offer a prise of $1000 for the best ohonl 
Kui orchestral composition of about one hour in length. 



Fbbrdaby 1, 1879.] 



DWIQHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



21 



Wm!&^t'fi Sjouvnal of fRmxt. 

SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 1, 1879. 



« ITALOPHOBIA." 

We have heard a good deal about this curious 
disease lately. If we were to credit some ac- 
counts, almost all of our resident musicians are af- 
flicted with it, and are trying their best to inoc- 
ulate the general musical public. The symptoms 
of this fell malady are described as a tendency 
to smile contemptuously, to exhibit signs of bore- 
dom, at times even to show disgust and horror, 
accompanied in extreme cases with gnashing of 
teeth and profane ejaculations, while listening to 
music written by any Italian composers, with the 
single exception of Luigi Cherubini. The dis- 
ease is also said to attack musicians with various 
degrees of severity. For instance, a very severe 
case will bo accompanied by all the above-men- 
tioned symptoms ; in a less violent one the person 
attacked with it will show no signs of discomfort, 
will even bo pleasurably excited while listen- 
ing to Spontini's operas, Boccherini's quartets, 
Rossini's Barbiere, or Bellini's Sonnamhula ; in 
very mild cases the diseased subject will be 
roused to fury only by Verdi, Donizetti, Merca- 
dante, Gordigiani, Petrella, and a few others. 
One of the most remarkable characteristics of 
Italophobia is said to be that those persons who 
are subject to it, especially in its more malignant 
forms, are really pleased at their own morbid 
condition, and do all in their power to spread it 
among their friends ; that they strive to become 
a sort of pathological propagandists, and even to 
establish a mlisical inquisition for the torture of 
healthy music-lovers who are not afflicted as they 
are. The effects of the disease upon its victims are 
described as most disastrous, generally inducing 
desiccation, or ossification of the heart, and an 
abnormal development of the brain, notably of 
the mathematical faculty ; if allowed to run its 
course, unimpeded by powerful antidotes, it re- 
sults in a species of semi-insanity, or monomania. 
We are told that this frightful disease was first 
brought to the United States by Teutonic emi- 
grants, who evaded the quarantine laws, and thus 
gave it to the inhabitants of this country, among 
whom it spread rapidly ; in the vicinity of Bos- 
tpn it has assumed afl the dread proportions of a 
raging epidemic. 

Just see what terrible things may be happen- 
ing in the very midst of oar community, without 
our having the faintest suspicion of it I For 
surely we should nev'er have known anything 
about this insidious Italophobia, had not some 
public-spirited Italians discovered it, and kindly 
told us of it. Some curious remedies have been 
recently proposed. They are admirably fitted 
to combat a disease of such peculiar nature, one 
against which homoeopathy, idbpathy, electricity, 
and the water-cure have shown themselves to be 
utterly impotent. One's only doubt is whether 
these remedies are such as our people can take 
with safety, and whether they may not have 
some unhappy results, such as softening of the 
brain, and fatty degeneration of the heart. Let 
us see for a moment what medicaments this new 
Italian pharmacopoeia has discovered. There 
seem to be only two. 

The first is " that the patient should banish 
all prejudice in favor of any particular school of 
music." A most excellent tonic, and one that 
can be taken with equal benefit by both physi- 
cian and patient 

The second is that the diseased subject should 
subscribe to the following articles of faith, and 
implicitly believe in them. 

** (1.) An amateur is a better judge of art than 
an artbty for the- latter has given up a great por- 



tion of his life to the study of art, has acquired 
an extended knowledge of the subject, has con- 
sequently certain fixed ideas and opinions, and 
looks at art through scholastic spectacles. The 
amateur's soul, on the contrary, is a tabula rasa, 
upon which art can inscribe what it pleases, un- 
hindered. 

'< (2.) One work of art is not better in its way 
than another, except in so far as it appeals more 
or less strongly to the emotions. The sentimen- 
tal emotions are the only trustworthy criterion of 
aesthetic value. 

" (3.) The opera is the highest foi*m of music, 
because it includes all other forms. 

** (4.) The good and bad in art are merely a 
matter of individual taste." 

When taken to be well shaken, and the cure 
is certain. 

Ah, but good, kind doctors, what a dose you 
propose to us I How can we ever swallow it ? 
What Aesthetic oesophagus is large enough to ad- 
mit it ? Yours may be, but surely ours is not 

In the first place I, for one, wholly deny that 
an amateur is a better judge of music than a mu- 
sician. To quote from Berlioz : '* If the art of 
music is at once an art and a science ; if, to have 
a thorough knowledge of it, one must go through 
complex and quite long studies ; if, to feel the 
emotions it arouses^ one must have a cultured in- 
telligence and a practiced ear ; if, to judge of the 
value of musical works, one must have a well- 
fnrnished memory, in order to be able to make 
comparisons, and, in fine, know many things of 
which one is necessarily ignorant when one has 
not learned them " (all of which suppositions I 
most potently believe to be true), then, I say, 
the musician has an incalculable advantage over 
the amateur. Then I also deny that any art 
should be judged on a purely emotional basis. A 
picture, poem, statue or musical composition 
which appeals strongly to the emotions, is not 
necessarily a fine work. One has to ask, whose 
emotions it appeals to ? Tupper may affect a 
boor very much as Shakespeare affects a culti- 
vated man. The aesthetic faculty is not simply 
emotional ; some of the very grandest works of 
art are those which have no hold upon the emo- 
tional part of man whatever. Which produces, 
or attempts to produce, the more emotional effect 
upon the bpectator, the Marcus Aurelius before 
the Capitol, or one of Canova's pugilists ? And 
which is the greater work of art ? The answer 
need not be given. 

As for the opera being the highest form of 
music, because it includes all others^ one must re- 
member that the opera is, and ever will be, a 
compromise. No art can attain to its highest 
development by encroaching upon the domain of 
another art. No art can attain to its highest de- 
velopment by giving way to the encroachments 
of another. In so far as music reigns supreme 
in opera, it tends to weaken the dramatic truth 
and vigor of the form. In so far as the dra- 
matic element predominates, it will tend to dwarf 
and disturb the musical part And tlien, doe^ 
the opera include all other forms ? Who would 
ever venture to introduce a well-worked out 
string quartet into an opera? Where do we 
even find a vigorously elaborated fugued chorus 
in one ? This is enough to prove our point that 
the opera does not include all other forms. 

When it is said that the good and bad in art 
are only matters of individual taste, I, for one, 
can only say that, by nature and education, I am 
entirely unable to imagine how any one can up- 
hold such a proposition. The good and bad in 
art, as in all things, are, to be sure, purely rela- 
tive. But to deny the existence of certain eter- 
nal canons of art seems as wild as to deny the 
existence of natural laws. 

But, after all, is this Italophobia a wholly 



morbid state? Is it the result of prejudice? I 
cannot think it to be so. If I may make so bold 
as to speak, not for myself alone, but as one of a 
class, I would say that there are many persons 
whose firm and matured conviction it is that mod- 
ern Italian composers, in spite of their surpassing 
genius and natural gifts, have by no manner of 
means reached so high a degree of development 
in the art of musical composition as the Ger- 
mans have. It is no one-sided question of na- 
tionality, it is simply a question of what is better 
and what is worse. And who shall blame us for 
keeping our strongest enthusiasm for what we 
honestly hold to be the better ? We recognize 
as well as any one that the average Italian music 
appeals to the feelings in a very different way 
from the works of those men whom we rever- 
ence as classic masters. But we are firmly con- 
vinced that the classic Grerman masters appeal to 
the feelings in a far higher way than the Italians, 
and appeal more strongly to them. W. F. A. 



CONCERTS IN BOSTON. 

The Eutkrpe. This is the name of a new 
association, which has been formed quite silently 
and privately, with just enough of mystery to 
pique curiosity, and just enough of exclusiveness 
to make the many wish to count among the few. 
That is to say : the purposes are indefinite, tlie 
membership is limited. Its object, as stated at 
the head of its by-laws, is ^'to promote the 
cause of Music;" but the document is non- 
committal as to special fields in musical art 
which the society designs to cultivate ; all fields 
are open to it But so far as its mission may bo 
read by its first practical examples of activity, it 
is a most important one, and most desirable to 
have well represented, namely, the giving of 
classical chamber concerts (string quartets, etc.), 
in the best style practicable and with the best art- 
ists that can be obtained. Amid the crowd of 
concerts, great and small, the wilderness of pro- 
grammes, pure and mixed, Boston has too long 
lacked this element. It was not always sol 
Twenty and thirty years ago the violin quartets, 
quintets, trios, with piano, etc., of Haydn, Mozart, 
Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, 
and the rest, were of regular and frequent occur- 
rence winter after winter. Those were the days 
when the Mendelssohn Quintette Club stayed at 
home and had not begun their '^ apostolic" cir- 
cuits through the West 

Chamber music, in the nature of the case, is 
only for small audiences, not much more than a 
parlor circle, select, appreciative, quietly atten- 
tive, in a hall of moderate size. As the quartet 
for strings forms in itself the quintessence, as 
it were, of musical art, so its audience must in 
some sense correspond. The Euterpe, therefore, 
wisely (at least for the present) limits itself to 
150 members, each paying an annual assessment 
of seven dollars, for which he receives two tick- 
ets for each of the four concerts to be given (until 
otherwise ordered) on the second Wednesday of 
December, January, February, and March. This 
leaves a small margin of room for a few more 
privileged listeners. The executive committee 
are bound to " provide the very best performances 
that the treasury of the association will allow." 
There is a special programme committee for each 
concert The officers for 1878-79 are : President^ 
Charles C. Perkins ; Vice-President, B. J. Lang ; 
Secretary, Arthur Reed; Treasurer, Wm. F. 
Apthorp ; Directors, Julius Eichberg, W. S. Fe- 
nollosa, John Orth, George L. Osgood, Hamilton 
Osgood, John K. Paine, J. C. D. Parker, and H. 
G. Tucker. 

The first concert was given on Wednesday 
evening, January 15, at Mechanics' HalL The 
aspect of the room was agreeably social and art- 



22 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[VOL. XXXIX. - No. 986. 



istic, the platform for the performers being raised 
upon the middle of the floor, surrounded by the 
listeners in hollow square. The artists cnga<red 
for the occasion were of the New York Phil- 
harmonic Club : Messrs. Richard Arnold, first 
yiolin; Julius Gantzberg, second violin; Emil 
Gramm, viola; and Carl Werner 'cello. But, 
Mr. Werner being ill, Mr. Henry Mollenhauer, 
also of New York, took Ins place. The pro- 
gramme was certainly most choice, consisting 
of two important quartets : Quartet in F major, 
Op. 59, No. 1 ; dedicated to Prince Rasou- 
moffsky ; composed in 1806, L. Van Beethoven. 
(Allegro. Allegretto vivace e sempre scher- 
zando. Adagio molto e mesto. Th6me Russe ; 
allegro.) Quartet in A minor. Op. 41, No. 1; 
dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy ; com- 
posed in 1842. Robert Schumann. (Introdu- 
zione; andante expressive, allegro. Scherzo; 
presto. Adagio. Presto.) 

There are few, if any, compositions in this 
form to which we can listen with more interest. 
They are such works as the most appreciative 
and most experienced music-lov(>rs and musicians 
like to hear whenever they have a chance. Yet, 
considering that a generation has grown up here 
innocent of all acquaintance with the earlier 
quartets of Beethoven, or with those of Haydn 
i^nd Mozart, so familiar once, and that already 
in this seventh quartet Beethoven enters his most 
profound and mystical period, as it were sound- 
ing new depths in advance of his contemporary 
compositions in other forms (the third, fourth, and 
fifUi Symphonies, the Sonata Appassionata, Over- 
ture to Coriolanus, etc.), might it not have been 
wiser, from an educational point of view at least, 
to be<nn with some of the clearest and most 
readily appreciable models of the quartet form 
and genius ? After such long privation we fancy 
we could listen with an appetite to all the six 
quartets of Beethoven's Op. 18, given seriatim, 
— say two of them each evening, with a third 
for contrast from another master ; or say, one by 
Haydn or Mozart, one early one of Beethoven, 
and one more modern on a larger scale. In this 
way the younger generation might learn the form 
and structure of the quartet in simpler speci- 
mens, and thus lay the foundation for a right 
understanding of the later works. But we make 
no complaint, and we are well aware that for the 
carrying out of our suggestion there should be 
ten or twenty quartet concerts in a season, in- 
stead of only four. As it was, the concert was 
exceedingly enjoyable. 

This Quartet in F is one of Beethoven's most 
imaginative creations, revealing him in all his 
moods. We cannot weary of the opening theme : 
it starts with the violoncello, broad and full of 
snggesUon, grows to a triumphant climax in the 
first yiolin, then is answered by the curt stac- 
cato chords of an equally suggestive counter 
theme ; then both flow on together gathering a 
wealth of fresh accessory ideas to swell the 
stream, developing into a complete, strange, fas- 
cinating whole. Then the Allegretto Scherzando 
is led ofi* by a playful rhythmic figure of four 
bars on one note, a sort of mocking or coquettish 
challenge, by the 'cello, which is answered soUo 
voce by a most quaint and piquant theme in the 
second violin ; then comes the working up, with 
truly magic art, the episodes, the modulations, 
and the sudden transformations into remote keys, 
keeping imagination on the qui vive with eager 
and delighted interest to the end of a ver}* long 
movement. The scene and the mood change en- 
tirely with the lovely Adagio, one of the most 
wonderful revelations of the deepest tenderness, 
the most profound and spiritual experience of 
the master's inmost soul. It cannot be described, 
it must be heard and felt. But how strangely 
it passes, through a slight airy figure floating 



through several bars of fine divisions in the first 
violin, into a long trill which covers the almost 
surreptitious introduction of the seemingly friv- 
olous Thbmc Russe (a compliment to his Russian 
patron), — again, for the third time, the 'cello 
leading ofi*l The little theme, however, is so 
treated with all the marvelous resources of his 
imitative and contrapuntal art, and set in so 
many chifcrming lights, presented under such Pro- 
tean aspects, that you believe it full of meaning 
and importance before you are done with it. 
On the whole, the fantastic element predomi- 
nates in this quartet ; but it is such Jine fantasy, 
so essentially poetic 1 and then the Adagio has 
seriousness enough to temper all. 

The performance was well studied, accurate, 
smooth, finished, elegant, with few exceptions. 
All was distinct, the phrasing nice ; yet it was 
rather a subdued and dreamlike impression which 
it gave us. It was dcli^itful to read the score 
of it, hearing the notes translated into sounds in 
that way ; yet it was more like recalling it in 
thought, in calm fireside contemplation, than 
like being moved and thrilled by the Beethoven 
fire and accent. We think it might have been 
played with more fire to advantage. Mr. Ar- 
nold's leading is sure and even, hardly strong 
and quickening. We were much struck by the 
beauty and power of tone, and the masterly exe- 
cution on that important instrument, so seldom 
heard at its best, the viola, in the hands of Mr. 
Gramm. 

The first of Schumann's three Quartets, Op. 
41, is also a tone-poem of a deep and earnest 
spirit, imaginative, not at all commonplace, but 
of decided individuality. It is one of Schumann's 
most ideal, and yet clearest works. The A-minor 
key of the musing introduction (two-four meas- 
ure) a single page, lasts only to Uie entrance of 
the Allegro, which is in F major, a delicate and 
subtle movement in six*eight rhythm. This was 
nicely rendered. The Scherzo (Presto) again 
in A minor, six-eight, nimble and fairy-like, with 
a brief Intermezzo in four-four time, is most 
original and charming; this was perhaps the 
most felicitous performance of the evening. The 
Adagio, in F, is a marvel of beauty, and deep, 
thoughtful feeling. There is nothing morbid or 
unclear about it. It will reveal new charm and 
meaning the oflener it is heard. There is great 
life and stir and vigor in the Presto Finale, 
mostly in A minor, but ending in the major, and 
it was well brought out. 

For the second concert the two works selected 
are : the Sextet (for strings) by Brahms, and the 
good old B-flat Quintet by Mendelssohn. 

" WuNDERKiNDRR." We have had within 
these last weeks two fresh revelations of un- 
doubted musical genius. One was Etelka Grex^ 
ster's singing ; die other was the performance of 
those truly wonderful child pianists. Miles. Louisa 
and Jeanne Douste. Such things come once in 
an age. These children, born in London of 
French parents, — one a serious looking maiden 
of twelve and a half years, the other, a minute 
speck of humanity, who looks all eyes and merry 
smiles, only sdven and a half, — came to this 
country with the Mapleson opera troupe. Their 
principal teacher in London has been M. Mortier 
de Fontaine, a distinguished player of Beethoven, 
and, if we remember rightly, one who was near 
to Chopin, if not for some time his pupil. The 
gifl of the children seems to have been not rec- 
ognized from the first, but properly respected. 
They have been made at home almost exclusively 
with good classical music, and they evidently 
love and feel it. 

In response to a very general request, so glow- 
ing was the report of those who had been hear- 
ing them in private, they gave a concert at 



Mechanics' Hall on Thursday, January 16. A 
severe snow-storm kept many away, yet there 
was ail encouraging attendance on the part of 
our most refined and appreciative music-lovers. 
This was the remarkable programme of these 
little ones : — 

Concerto No. 9, in G major (orchestra rep- 
resented at a second piano-forte) Mozart. 
Allegro — Andante — Allegretto. 
(Cadenzas by Mortier de Fontaine.) 

Jeanne Douste. 
Sons without words. No. 1, in E Mendelssohn. 
Arabesque, Op. 18 Schumonn. 

Louisa . Douste. 

Fugue Bach. 

Gigue Mozart. 

Jeanne Douste. 

Theme and Variations, for Four 

Hands Beethoven. 

The little Jeanne mounted the piano stool 
with difficulty, looking laughingly round upon 
the audience as if conscious of the joke of it. 
The beautiful, refined mould of her head and 
forehead — and of the sister likewise — inter- 
ested all. Mr. Lang, at a second piano, led off 
with the orchestral prelude of the Mozart Con- 
certo, of which she played the three difficult 
movements, including the long, elaborate Caden- 
zas, not only with fine technical precision, excel- 
lent phrasing, with an amount of force astonish- 
ing for one so small, but with an expressive ac- 
cent, a seemingly instinctive light and shade, 
which made it idl as beautiful as it was wonder- 
ful. You were not only surprised, you enjoyed 
it as artistic interpretation. Though her fingers 
could not span an octave, yet she brought out 
every chord, and sequences of chords, with full 
significance. Though she could not reach the 
pedals, yet she contrived somehow to produce 
pedal effects. It was the instinct of genius, the 
inner sense of how it ought to sound, that put 
power into her fingers where it was required. 
Now and then she suddenly struck out a passage 
of two or three bars, putting it in so strong a light, 
that all were startled and amused and broke out 
into spontaneous applause. It was simply the 
child's own musical sense and feeling that did 
that, and nerves and muscles found themselves 
for the occasion. Her reception of the applause, 
and indeed her whole manner, throughout the 
concert, was perfectly simple and childlike. 

The Bach Fugue (not one of the most interest- 
ing) was play-ed with perfect distinctness and 
clear individiudizatiott of the parts, and with that 
vitahty of touch and accent which is found only 
in those in whom musical feeling and perception 
are innate and positive. It was g<K>d, clear, 
solid, ftigue playing. And the Mozart Gigue was 
all it was meant to be. In the four-hand Theme 
and Variations by Beethoven little Jeanne took 
the upper part, as well as in one of Brahms's 
Hungarian dances, where the child caught the 
real quaint Hungarian accent. 

The sister seems of a serious nature, but has 
not parted with the sweet graces of childhood. 
Her face is full of sensibility, and she shows 
every sign of a fine organization. If there was, 
necessarily, now and then a weak place, or a be- 
trayal of efibrt in the pUying of the younger 
one, the older showed herself an artist, sure, 
intelligent, expressive, finished. We could hardly 
have a more satisfactory interpretation of that 
Song without Words, or of all the phases of that 
difficult Arabesque of Schumann. In a piece of 
Chopin which she offered for an encore, her 
memory fidled her — for, be it understood, the 
entire programme was performed without notes, 
Mozart Concerto and all ; she brought it to a 
graceful close, but seemed as much mortified by 
the accident as any mature artist would be. 



Fbbbuart 1, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



23 



Altogether, it was a most interesting and de- 
lightful exhibition. It was music, it was art; 
and the child artists none the less true children. 
There is no siorn whatever of their having; been 
forced or bound to task work ; they play as if 
they loved it; and it is all wholesome, happy 
life with them, as much as if their life were all 
play in the literal sense. It is clearly genius, 
and much is to be expected of these children, 
provided they are not brought too much before 
the larger public, but suffered to remain as 
simple, unaffected, and spontaneous as they now 
are. 



THE OPERA, 

We had to leave the second week of the M^leson troupe 
at Boeton Theatre uuchronicled ; and now a few words only 
must suffice. Hap[Jily the task is lightened by our lack of 
opportunity to attend three of the six performances : the 
repetition of Carmen, Verdi's RigoltUo^ and the repetition 
of LiMa on Saturday afternoon, when hundreds were un- 
able to procure even standing room, and Mme. Gerster's 
triumphs reached their climax. Thursday evening ofifered 
a much finer opportunity for Miss Hauk, as Margaret in 
Gounod's FauH, and she improved it well. In singing and 
in action she fell not much short of any of her predecessors 
in the character. Into the '< Jewel Scene," to be sure, she 
put more of girlish outright joy and vanity, no shadow of 
the evil influence in the I>ackground tinging her voice or 
Jbok with sad foreboding. At the spinning-wheel, too, slie 
flung aside the melancholy strains of the King of Thule 
ballad with singular freedom. In the garden scene there 
was hardly the tenderness, the innocent and beautiful aJban- 
don, that we have sometimes witnessed. But in the scene in 
the church her action rose to real tragic power and her vo- 
cal declamation was impressively dramatic. Mme. FrapoUi 
(known as Pisani) was the Siebel; and her large and noble 
contralto voice, her artistic and expressive singing, her well 
conceived and easy action, made much of the little part. 
The Martha, too, was uncommonly clever. Sig. Gampanini's 
Faust was excellent, and SIg. Del Puente's Mephistopheles, 
capitally sung and acted, reiJly appealed to the imagination. 
Mr. Carlton, who took the part of Valentine at an hour's 
notice, acquitted himself with great credit. Choruses and 
orchestra were quite up to the mark. 

On Friday evening the house was crowded for 11 Flauto 
Maffico of Mozart, so delightful in its music, so humorous, 
so sublime and exquisitely absurd by turns, and thoroughly 
enjoyable when well performed, in spite of its absurd and 
niiintelligible libretto. The cast was a strong one, although 
the shortcoming of one essential part, the Queen of Night, 
was fatal to completeness. Mile. Lido, the Russian lady, 
who took this parib, was ill, and sang very feebly, omitting 
altogether the second of her two great arias. No wonder 
that the delicious music of her Three Ladies suffered and 
was out of tune; and the infection, in a less degree, ex- 
tended to the other trio, the three Genii, though excellent 
singers (Mme^ Frapolli, Mme. Labkche, Mile. Parodi, etc.) 
wire east in both sets. It was the one appearance in the 
season of Mme. Koze, who had been ill for some time, in 
the principal character of Pamina. Her beauty of person, 
tasteful (hiental splendor of coetume, ease and grace of ac- 
tion, and expressive singing (although qomewhat aflfected 
with the tremolo — not, however, to the extent that one of 
our Western correspondents had led us to anticipate), com- 
bined to make a very artistic and satisfactory presentation 
of the part Sig. FrapoUi's Tamino, the Moor Monostatos of 
M. Thierry, the Papageno and Papagena of Sig. Del Puente, 
were all excellent; but Sig. Foli surpassed himself in his 
superb presentation of the august part of Sarastro. His 
ddivery of the great aria was magnificent. 

There were two Gerster nights, besidea the mating al- 
ready mentioned. In / Puritam, which contains some of 
Bellini's sweetest and most florid melody for her, — although 
the opera as a whole has little of the freshness of the Son- 
nambula, — she still confirmed and deepened the impi^ession 
that in her we have one of the purest revelations of genius, 
beautiful voice, and unstrained, perfect art in music of that 
kind. It was no doubt the same with her Gilda in Biffo- 
lettOf unnatural and horrible as the {dot of that is. She 
still confines hersdf, and wisely, to her own true sphere, — to 
the innocent, pure, maidenly parts, and to the music which 
does not demand the grecU voice suited to miyestic, intense 
tragic roles. That may come in time. But what she does 
is well-nigh perfect of its kind, and a singer may be great 
in that kind as well as in the other. We think the dever 
Berlin feuilletonist, Paul Lindau, has described her truly in 
the article translated on our first page, in spite of his cool 
suggestion of appropriating her for Berlin. Since he wrote, 
she has become married, and has gone on in the discreet 
path which he pointed out. She does not sing in Grand 
Opera Huguenots and TtUs, but keeps to her maidenly and 
graceful parts. There is sense in his suggestion that she 
ought to be par excellence the Mozart singer. We shall 
hail her return to us, and with her that of Her Bi^jesty's 
Opera, whenever it may be, with Joy. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Cincinnati, January 25 It is but a few years 

since Cincinnati succeeded in obtaining acknowledgment for 
her claim of advancing art and especially musical culture. 
The limits of this letter will not permit my giving even a 
cursory account of the manner in which progress was made. 
The faithful and thorough work of tlie resident teachers and 
artists prepared the way for the great achievements which 
unbiased and sober observers may safely predict. A short 
statement of the condition of musical matters at present, 
and of the immediate pixwpects which are daily being real- 
ized, will enable your readers to judge for themselves, per- 
haps with more coolness or rather coldness than is in the 
power of one who is siil^ect to the influences at present at 
work in our city. After the remarkable pecuniary and sat- 
is&ctory artistic success of the kst May Musical Festival, 
the project of making Cincinnati the musical centre, let me 
modestly say of the West, could be more emphatically 
brought home to the skeptical and reflective few whose 
cooperation was indispensably necessary. The departure of 
Mr. Thomas from New York, and the loss or gain which 
would probably arise to that city in consequence are points 
which have been more than sufficienUy ventilated. But, 
unless indications are entirely deceiving, the influence which 
his activity is exerting in his new field of labor has by no 
means been overrated. A Faculty was formed of such local 
teachers as had proven themselves thorough and efficient; 
in addition to these the services of Messrs. Jacobssohn, Bae- 
tens and Hartdegen, were secured to form witli Mr. Thomas 
a string quartet. Mr. Whiting was engaged as organist, 
Sig and Mme. La Villa as vocal instructors. A recent 
addition, in the person of Mr. Perring as teacher of oratorio, 
has'swelled the number of the Faculty to thirty-two. 

The success of the College of Music from a business point 
of view has exceeded all expectations. The number of stu- 
dents enrolled is rapidly passing three hundred. While the 
activity of the teachers tiierefore is reaching a large num- 
ber of the musical element in our community, the most 
potent influence is exerted through the orchestral coucerts, 
the chamber concerts, organ concerts, and last but not least, 
through the chorus classes which have been arranged and 
are daily growing. In these latter general elementary n^u- 
sical instruction is most thoroughly given, as well as in- 
struction in sight singing. One step suggested the other, 
or made it necessary; the college choir resulted from the 
success of the chorus ckisses. A thorough, impartial exam- 
ination of each indiridual applicant has brought together 
the very best of our local singers, and a chorus which prom- 
ises great things has thus been formed. The most rigid 
discipline is enforced in regard to the attendance of the re- 
hearsals, the first half of which is given to training similar 
to that of the chorus classes, the second to the study at 
present of Cherubini's Requiem, Mr. Foley is the instruc- 
tor and assistant director; the general plan of study adopted 
is that of Wi^lner, the Munich chorus director. 

The series of orchestral concerts consists of twelve, that 
of the chamber concerts of the same number, while organ 
recitals are given on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. 

The programmes of the orchestral concerts comprised: — 
Beethoven : Symphony No. 2, in D, Op. 36. 

Overture, »» Leonore," No. 4. 

Violin Concerto, Op. 61, pUtyed by Herr Wilhelog. 
Bach: Air, adapteid by Mr. Thomas. 

Aria: "Erbarme," sung by Miss RoUewagen, violin obh'- 
gato. Mr. Jacobssohn. 
Haydn: Symphony in G, No. 13, Breitkopf & Haertel ed. 
Sohubert: ''Der Doppelgaenger," adapted for orchestra by 

Theo. Thomas. Sung by Miss Hollewagen. 
Schumann: Fourth Symphony. Overture, "Genoveva." 
Bralims: C minor Symphony. 

Hungarian Dances. 
Wagner: Vorspiel, *' Die Meistersinger." 

Overture, '• Tannhauser." 
Berlioz: Ball scene from <* Romeo and Juliet." 
Reinecke. " In Memoriam : " Introduction and Fugue. 

On Christmas night the Mesnah was given ; soloists. Miss 
Marie Van Thompson, Miss Emma Cranch, Mr. Hartley, 
and Mr. Myron W. Whitney. 

In the Chamber Concerts we heard : 
Beethoven : Quartet No. 9, Op. 59. 

Quartet No. 10, Op. 74. 

Quartet No. 11, Op. 95. 

Trio in B, Op. 97 (Mr. Andres, pianist). 
Mozart: Quartet No. 1 in G. 
Haydn: Quartet in 6. 
Schubert: Quartet D minor (posthumous). 
Schumann: Piano quartet, ()p. 47 (Mr. Schneider, (uanist); 

Quartet, No.- 3, Op. 41. 
Brahms: Quintet, Op. 34 (Mr. Smger, pianist). 
Saint-Saens: Suite for 'cello and piano. Op. 16 (Mr. Doer- 

ner, pianist). 

Mr. Whiting has drawn on his almost unlimited r^per. 
toire to such an extent that space will not permit e^'en a 
short ritumi of his programmes. Bach, Mendelssohn, 
Hesse, Thiele, Fink, Lemmens, Best, Smart, — in brief, all 
the celebrated organ eom{)06ers of the old and new school, 
have been interpreted in a masterly manner. His own com- 
positions, too, find favor with musicians and the public. 

At the Wilheln\j concert on the 23d, almost every seat in 
the immense hall was occupied, and the conquest of this great 
virtaoao was complete. Alpha Mu. 



Nkw York, Jan. 27 The second concert of the Brook- 
lyn Philharmonic Society took place Jan. 18, with the fol- 
lowing programme: — 

Symphony No. 3 ("Scotch**) Mendelisokn. 

" Slumber Song " from the Christmas Oratorio . Bach. 

Miss Cary. 

Entre Acte, ) " Ali Baba** (revived by Carl Rei- 

Ballet Music ) necke) Cherubim. 

(First time.) 

Pmno Concerto, No 1, in E-flat Liszt, 

Madame Rive-Kino. 

Alia: ** Ah, Mon Fils," from ** \jb Prophet." Meyerbeer, 

Miss Cary. 

Overture, ** Jessonda," Op. 63 Bpohr, 

The so-called Scottish Symphony is a noble and beautifVtl 
composition, always to be heard with pleasure, and to which 
praise seems more fitting than criticism ; yet in the fourth 
movement the march at the close seems like an after-thought, 
and a thought quite foreign to the vein in which the sym- 
phony is composed. In other words, the symphony ends 
when the march b^ns. Query: Why the march? llie 
performance of this work was all that could be desired. 
Theodore Thomas has excellent Ideas; not only can he "csU 
spirits from the vasty deep,*' but the spirits come at his 
<»il, and that is more than they will do for some conductors 
on tliis side of the river. 

The Entre- Acte and Ballet from the forgotten opera of 
CHierubini were played with a precision and delicacy which 
were as delightful as the music itself is charming. ^ 

In the " Slumber Song," from Bach*s Christmas Oratorio, 
the orchestral part is all important, and this work of the 
greatest of all composers was performed with true reverence 
and loving care. The vocal part was rendered by Miss 
Cary, in a manner deserving the highest praise. I have 
never heard her sing otherwise than well; but the music of 
Bach is a crucial test, and woe to the artist who brings to 
the performance anything short of honest merit. Her sec- 
ond selection might have been a better one, but she received 
an encore, to which she responded with some ordinary bal- 
lad, — something of an anti-climax after the Bach music in 
the beginning of the evening. But then she went from 
Bach to Meyert>eer, and, after ihttij/acUis descentusj etc. 

It is but a few years since Mme. Julia Riv4 King — then 
at an age when usually the artist has in view only long years 
of toil and vexation, with perhaps success at the end — came 
to New York, unheralded, almost unknown, and established 
her reputation as a pianist of the first order by a perform- 
ance of Liszt*s O>ncerto, in E-flat, at one of the concerts of 
the Philharmonic Society. Her public appearances in this 
city since that time have not been numerous, but each one 
has served to confirm the critical judgment that pronounced 
in her favor on the occasion of her d^but. 

The E-flat Concerto is not only a work of aiormous me- 
chanical difficulty, but it demands that the artist who un- 
dertakes to perform it brilliantly and efiectively should be 
many-sided. In all works of this clsss much is left to the 
imagination of the performer, who must feel the life, the 
warmth, the passion, the splendor of conquest, the gloom of 
defieat, and see the profusion of changing hues with which 
the composition is colored. That Mme. Riv^-King is tecli- 
nically perfect in any work she undertakes may be taken for 
granted; it only remains to say that her phrasing was 
broad and intelligent, her expression full of fire and inten- 
sity; and this, added to the. excellent support afibrded by the 
orchestra, made the interpretation full and complete. For 
an encore the pianist gave her own arrangement of the Guil- 
mant fugue. 

Mr. G. Carlberg gave his third Symphony Concert at 
Chickering Hall, on Saturday evening, Jan. 25, with the 
follo?ring programme: — 

Overture, " Ruy Bbs ** Mendelssohn. 

(}oncerto for Piano, Op. 10 ^new) .... Ignaz BriHU. 

1. Allegro Moderato. 2. Andante. 3. Finale Presto. 
Mr. Richard Hoffman. 

Aria from " Belmonte e Constanza " . . W. A. Mozart. 

Mrs. J. K. Barton. 

" Waldweben,'* from the Music Drama, 

«* Siegfried " Richard Wagner- 

Gavotte, arranged for string instruments, 

and with an intermediate original move- 
ment, by Ferdinand Dulcken (first 

time) Padre Martini. 

String Orchestra. 
Symphony No. 4, in B-flat, Op. 60 ... . Beethoven. 

The material firom which the list was made up is not bad, 
but the arrangement of the programme might be improved. 
The miscellaneous character of the selections in the first part, 
to which was added an encore for each solo artist, did not 
furnish the best kind of introduction to a Beethoven sym- 
phony. Many persons in the audience were doubtless 
wearied before the symphony began, and many more, I am 
sure, before it was finished. 

The work of the ordiestra in the lighter selections was 
better than in the symphony, in certain parts of which the 
first violins and a few other instruments appeared to be car- 
lying out their own ideas instead of those of the conductor. 

The Gavotte by Padre Biartini was originally written for 



24 



BWIQHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[ Voi- XXXIX. — No. 986. 



the piaiio. It is Tery ingenioitilj adapttd for ttring oiches- 
tf» by Mr. DulckeOf and wm beautifully played. 

The Coiioerto by If^naz Brilll, known to fame ai the com- 
poser of the opera of The Golden Civst^ is a fine piece 
of composition, 'fbe leading tlieme of the first movement is 
origlnsil and well worked out; but the work as a whole seems 
not designed to leave a deep or lasting impression. The 
Concerto was beautifully played by Mr. Hoffman, who de- 
serves and receives unqualified praise whenever he appears in 
public. Being recalled, after the Concerto, he played one of 
Schumann's " Novelletten.** The singing of Mrs. Barton was 
not conspicuous by any pronounced fault, nor remarkable by 
any great merit It seemed to please the audience, and, as I 
believe singing is introduced ui the programme of a sym. 
phony concert for that purpose alone (in any other sense it 
li oertainly an innovation), nothing more was to be desired. 

A. A. (./. 

Baltimoiue, Jax. 27. — The laige attendance which 
greeted the concert of the Maidelssobn Quintette Club, of 
your city, given here on the 21st inst., may be accepted as 
an evidence that our taste for good old chamber music is 
developing. The audience was composed of the flower of 
our musinl public, and showed by the discriminating man- 
ner in which the applause was bestowed, that it understood 
what it listened to. The ooncerted pieces were the '* Obe- 
ron ** Overture, Beethoven's Quartet in C minor, No. 4, a 
melody tor quintet by Haydn, a roennetto for sextet by 
Moiart, and a Valse Caprice, composed for the piano by 
Kttbinsteb, and excellently adapted for the little orchestra, 
by Mr. R. Hennig, a musician whose evident knowledge of 
instrumentltion la pleasing to note in connection with his 
masterly performance on the 'celk>. 

The power of tone and the precision and accuracy of 
shading with which all these selections were given, were re- 
ceived with the appreciation they deserved. Very agreeable 
ia the addition of Mr. Lndwig Manoly's contrabasso to the 
olub; the beautiful blending oif its rich, sonorous tones with 
the other instruments, was decidedly efRwtive. The solo 
selections were a Cuitaisie for flute by Brioeialdi, a charac- 
teristic piece by Jervais for 'ceUo, Balhuie and Polonaise 
for vi(din by Vieuxtemps, and a fimtaisie for clarinet, of 
Mr. Ryan's own composition. 

For the soloists, in ** showing,*' as one oi our leading 
musicians who is not quite up to the vernacular, expressed 
It on a certain occasion, " the skill of the instrument,** one 
can have only praise; but in the selections we should like 
more music and less pyrotechnic display; and the manner 
In which the solo perfiimances were received proved that 
by far the greater portion of the audience were of the same 
opinion. 

The Quintette Club may have had some unpleasant ex- 
periences as to the quality of Baltimore audiences on former 
occasions, but the att e ndance on Tuesday evening was of a 
character well able to digest more solid musical food than 
that which was served up to them in the instrumental solo 
selections. BIr. Heindl and Mr. Listemann were both re- 
called, and we hoped to hear what else tliey would play beside 
fluriture and bravura. They kindly responded with more 
fioritura and more bravura. Mr. Uyan'i darinet playing 
ia the best, in the recolleetion of your correspondent, that 
has ever been heard in Baltimore, but his part in the 
** Oberon *' Overture gave us more pleasure than his entire 
fiuitaisie with variations. The fine, well-cultured mexzo- 
soprano of Mrs. H. F. Knowles took the audience by storm' 
She sang a song by Benedict with Mr. Ueindl's flute ob- 
ligato, an encore piece, and the « Batti-Batti ** air from 
Don Juan, Her rendering of the air, in style especially, 
reminds one forcibly of Miss Cary's channing Zerlina. 

The Quintette Club should visit us occasionally in the 
»< off** weeks, between the Peabody concerts, and assist in 
reviving our taste for good old chamber music 

An exceptionally liMrge audience gathered to ei\joy the 
first Peabody Concert on Saturday evening. libe pro- 
gramme was as follows: ^ 

I. W. A. Mosart (1756-1791). (a.) Symphony G minor. 
No. 2. Work 45. 

(b.) Recitative and Air from the opera <' Magic Flute.** 

Mi88 JE^fitY Busk. 

II. L. van Beethoven (1770-1827). (a.) Eighth Symphony 
F migor. Work 93. 

(b.) YioUn-Romanoe F mi^or. Work 50. 

Mr. Josef Kaspar. 
Air with Variations. 

Miss Jknkt Busk. 
August Sdderman (1830-1873). Norse Folk-Songs and 

Folk-Dances. Adapted for orchestra. 

The orchestra was in foir trim, the reeds and FVeneh 
horns especially so, the critic of the Baltimore American 
to the contrary notwithstanding. This distinguished an- 
thority, in oonjuncUon with ^ erudite positivist of the 
GaMette^ is agahi riding his ancient hobby of hisisting that 
the orchestra should be seated accordmg to the i^an of 
Hector Berlios, and, moreo>-er, scarcely oondeeoends to no- 
tice the violin soto of Mr. Kaspar because, forsooth, the 
young musician did not phiy the Beethoven Romance from 
memory, ** according to the accepted custom among solo 
performers at the present day ! '* The orchestra is rather 
small, owing to the peculiar circumstances under which tlie 
eonoerts are given this season, but taking this CKt into con- 
sideration, everything went as smoothly as ooiild be 



peeted at the first concert The attentive can with which 
the Andante in the Mozart Symphony was given, and the 
precise shading in the second and third movements of 
Beethoven's " Kleine Symphonic,*' were particularly notice- 
able. 

Miss Jenny Busk is an old Baltimore favorite, and, al. 
though she is fast passing into Uie period of the ** sere and 
}ieilow leaf,** one caimot help aduiuring the still b^-ely purity 
of her voice, and tlie excellence of her method. 

Mr. Joeeph Kaspar is the son of a member of our Pea- 
body orelicstra, and has the reputation of being a hardwork- 
ing, ambitious young violinist. He played the F miyor 
liomance in the styte of a violin student wlio has been 
thoroughly trained under good masters, and what slight im- 
perfections there were in his performance, are to be ascribed 
entirely to the embarrsssmeiit incident to a fint appearance 
in public. He needs a little more confidence in his own 
ability, and some experience; his talent and ambition will 
do thereat 

S<iderman*s Norse Folk-Songs and dances, with which the 
programme closed, are simple and quite pleasing, but ratlier 
out of place in a symphony concert Tlie dances contin. 
ually awaken recollections of " right hands across,** •« ladies' 
chain," •' swmg your partners,'* etc., and the repetitions are 
tiresome 

Mr. Hamerik has left for New York, to direct the con- 
cert to be given there this week by the American composer, 
O. B. Boise, whose symphony was performed by our Pea- 
body orchestra two yean ago. Mn. Falk-Auerbach ac- 
companies him, and will perform a concerto for piano and 
orohestra, also by Mr. Boise. Musikus. 

Philadelphia, Jax. 12. — Ur. Charles H. Jarvis 
gave his fourth Soirte last evening to an appreciative au- 
dience in Natatorium Hall, being assisted by Mr. Carl 
Graertner, well known, I believe, in your city, of which he 
was formerly a resident A sonata by Schubert, No. 9, 
A migor, not heard here before, was the openujg piece. 
'I'he allegro and aiidantino did not prore so acceptable as 
the scherzo, and the rondo, the latter being specially full of 
beautiful and quaint thoughts. This was executed by Mr. 
Jarv'u as if con antore and In perfect accord with the great 
composer, whose early death has caused continual regrets 
from all civilized nations. 

A posthumous work by Mendelssohn, — Andante Omtab- 
lie, B minor, — which could not deny its creator, gave great 
satisfiaetion, and may be cbssed with his better piano.forte 
compositions. Quite a treat to some of us were Stemdale 
Bennett's three musical sketches. Op. 10, whose refined and 
foiry-like fancies commend them to all iutdligeni musical or. 
ganizaUons; and the Ballade, Op. 20, by Reinecke, which 
procured a biglicr regard for fivedom of treatment than has 
been previously sscribed to him. An Etude, Op. 1 
by Tausig, of no special merit; and Weber*s *«InvltaUon 
as transcribed by Tausig, brilliantly closed the pianoforte 
solo portion of the programme. 

Mr. Gaertner was well received upon this, his first ap. 
pearance this season. This superior artist is entirely too 
modest, and should by all means permit himself to be heard 
more frequently. In his sofo, the Capriccio by Vieux- 
temps, his bowing, intonation, and expression were all that 
could be asked, but, in the Beethoven Sonata, Op. 30, No. 
2, there was a flavor of intelligence and exaltation displayed 
which gave a special charm to a performance of rare beauty; 
indeed, I cannot recall a lai^ger appreciation of any previ- 
ously heard instrumental duo, for both performen were in 
excellent spirits, and woriwd together in eloeest sympathy. 

Amxxicus. 



No. 2, 



NEW MUSICAL BOOKS. 

[Wk take the following from the Cryttal Palace Pro- 
gramme (London). It is eridcntly firom the pen of the ac- 
complished editor of the new *' Dictfonary of Music and Mu- 
sicians,** Mr. (leoige Grove, whom some of us had the pleasure 
of meeting a few months since during his brief visit to this 
country in company with Dean Stanley.] 



Three works have appeared withhi the last month that 
are important enough to chum a few words of notice here. 
(1.) Die FamUie J/enrfelcMAn (1728-1847).— This, as 
its name implies, is a history of the Mendelssohn fimiily, 
from Moses Mendelssohn, the great Jewish philosopher, down 
to the death of his still greater grandson, Felix Meudelsiohn- 
Bartholdy. The book is by Sebastian Hensel, the only child 
of Felix's eldest sister, the well-known ** Fanny ** of the 
oompoeer's too delightful letters, and himself the subject of 
more than one letter and allusion in the same charming- col- 
lection. The work is in three volumes, compiled ftt>m fomily 
papers, and includes frequent unpublished letten and jour- 
nals by Felix, his father, mother, and sisters, and his friend 
Klingemann, filling up many a gap in the firagmentary rec- 
ords which have been hitherto given to the public with such 
sparing hand. As a specimen of the deeply interesting nature 
of its contents to musical people we wUl only mention the 
fac-simile of the first twenty ban of the Hebrides Overture as 
written down by Mendelssohn in a letter to his fomily im- 
mediately after his visit to the Cave of Stafllt, which is known 
to have inspired him with that most fascinating work. An- 
other very valuable feature of the work is a series of eight 
portraits from the pencil of W. Hensel (the husband of 



Fanny,) namely, the father and mother of Felix, Felix him- 
self, Fanny, Rebecca, their hiubands, Hensel and Dirichlet, 
and Ocile, Felix's wife. 

(2.) Corrffpondance inediU de Iledor Berliot^ a small 
octavo volume, containing one hundred and fifty-six letten 
by one of the most original, witty, spirited writere to be found 
even among Frenchmen, lliey are addressed to men and 
women alike, and a few names taken almost at rendoin from 
the Index will give an ktea of the intellectual rank of the cor- 
respondents of this eminent composer and critic, long ac- 
knowledged as the most brilliant feuilletonist of the Paris 
press: Liszt, Mme. Ernst, Ferdinand Hiller, D'Ortigue, 
Robert Schumann, Mme. Horsoe Vemet, Richard Wagner, 
General LwofT, Mme. Mssssrt, Hans von BOlow, etc. But 
no list of names can gire an idea of the wit, grace, ami foree 
of the letten themselves. They range through half a cent- 
ury (1819-1868). The first is a hpmble note to old Pleyel 
— Haydn's contemporary — begging his subscription to- 
wards the publication of a pot-pourri on Italian open ain 
for flute, horn, and strings. The hut Is a pathetic broken 
detail of the suflBsrings of a dying man, written a month or 
two before his departure, and ending, " Adieu ! J'ai beaucoup 
de peine a to'ire.'* ** Je sens que je vajs mourir.*' The 
price of this precious little volume is only three shilUngs. 

(3.) I'he last on our list is the third %'olume of the IJ/e of 
Beethoven by Alexander W. Thayer, an American amateur 
well known to foven of music, who has left his pleasant New 
England home, and resided in Germany for a quarter of a 
century that he might collect the materials for a real 
thorough biography of the great compoeer. It Is no compli- 
ment to Mr. lliayer to say that his woric surpasses evrry- 
thhig written upon Beethoven before It, for nothing that 
came before it can compare with it at all. He has for the 
first time sifted every statement; seen every document fpr 
himself, left nothing to hearsay or inference where facts were 
obtunable; while from the columns of new^pers, from play- 
bills and concert programmes, from diaries of obscure trevd- 
ers, and the recollections of those who were on tlie verge of 
the gnve, and tcom the innumenble materials which Beet- 
hoven himself fortunately left behind him — sketch-books, 
cmiversaUon-hooks, memorandunu on maigins of his fiivorite 
authors, scnps of notes three lines long, which he would fire 
off by dozens a day to his intimate fHends, in a hand more 
like Uie marks of a spider cnwling over the paper than any- 
thing that a pen, guided by human fingers, could produce, 

from all these he has, with unwearied patience and devotion, 
produced a work which exceeds not only the biography of 
other musicians, but Is hardly surpassed by anything that 
has been written on the sulgect'oT Frederick the Great, 
(joethe, <Nr Napoleon. N<Nr must it be supposed that the 
ultimate form of these researehes is dry or repulure. Quite 
the revene. The iint volume, occupied in great part with 
details of the Archbishop-Elector's (3ourt at Cologne, and of 
society at Bonn — details neeessaiy as the foundation for 
the statue of the vast figure which hsd its terliest station 
there — is perhaps more ioriting to the arehcological musi- 
cian than the genieRil reader. But even before the doee of 
the fint volume Mr. Thayer lanncbes his hero in full stream ; 
and through the second and third volumes there is no im- 
pediment to his course. The result Is a picture different In 
many respects to the ordinary portraits of Beethoven ; and If 
the differences sre not always In his fiivor, but tend to bring 
out into better colon men like MiUzd and Jolmnn van Beet- 
hoven, — whom we hare been In the habit of thinking all 
wrong, while Beethoven himself was all right, — the result 
ean h% nothing but a gain. The more a really great char- 
acter can be studied exactly as be was, the more just will be 
the appreciation of him. He may not be what we imagined 
him, but he will be more real and more consistent, and on the 
whole, properly balanced and considered, not less great We 
need not fcar for the author of the Ninth Symphony. What 
BetUna says of him in one of the letten here quoted by Mr. 
Thayer will always be true: ** If I codd nndmtand him as 
I feel him, I should know all about everything.*' 

Mr. Thayer's volume begins with 1807 and ends with 1816. 
It thus embraces the great middle period of Beethoven's pro- 
ductive activity, the period which produced the 6th, 6th, 
7th, and 8th symphonies, the 4th and 5th pianoforte con- 
certos, two great qturtets, the B-flattrio, the Egmont music, 
and many works hardly Inferior to these masterpieces; and 
is cut off from that later epoch, — the splendid " IndUn 
Summer ** of his life, the epoch of the Biass in D, the Cho- 
ral Symphony, and the so-called " Posthumous (Quartets,** 

by the miserable interval of despondency and inaction 

caused by his difBculties with his nephew. Nor in other re- 
spects are these ten yean less interesting in Beethoven's bi- 
ognphy; they include the invasion of Bettina, the romantic 
Intercourse with Amalie Sebald, the sUll mon romantic and 
mysterious episode with an unknown lady, when Beethoven 
really seems to hare been on the brink of maniage, — the 
dissipations of the Vienna Congress, and mudi more of mo- 
ment in his personal life. We trust that we may kwk for 
the concluding volume or vdumcs of this important woric 
before long, and that notiiing may occur to interrupt Mr. 
Thayer's usefUl and hononble labon till he has brought hia 
biogrepby to a complete cloee. We might add, till be has 
published it in English ; for at present it is in German, — a 
curious indication of the greater speed of musical literetun 
in Germany than in this country. Meanwhile, however, the 
cierman is not difikult, sud Beethoven's own letten are quite 
untranslatable. 



Fbbruart 15, 1879.] 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



25 



BOSTON, FEBRUARY 15y 1879. 

C0NTHNT8. 

KsAWAKiifiiia. 8 Mart Sum* 25 

OiOBoi Sard axd Faiskuc Chopin. A Studj. fhiuiy 

BAmnond Ritter 25 

Thb Sao&Tcoxuios ov tbi Opiba. W, B. Lawson ... 87 
M\4)!iri l*(it>>lfiirt r«.i{viC4. C. B. Cadg .... 28 

BorroKiAL: Comobkts ik Dostosi 29 

Fourth Sjmphony CoDoart. — W. II. Shervooirf Plano- 
VorU BMtt«ls.~Th« CaoUla.— Mr. Kdaj's Organ tm- 
dial. 

Ladt Covdootom 80 

UutiCAL CoaaispowftniGa 80 

Maw York. — Philwtolphla. — CloeiDnati. — Chlcsago. — 
HUwaakM. 

NOTBS AMD GLBAMIirOt 82 

8aa Vfaoelwo. — dnelniiaU. — PIfctoflvld. 

PMishtd fortnifka^ fry IIouaKToiv, Omood amd Compavt, 
2Z0 Dtvontkin Slrttt, Boston. Prietf JO etnts a nmmb$r; $2.60 
ptrymr 

AU tk9 articte* not ertdittd to othir jmUieatUnu wtr« exprtulf 
writttnfor this Journal. 

REAWAKENING. 

O rtJLLNEU of the earth and Ma. 

O spletidon of the skjr, 
Have ye no power wherewith to stay 
llie voice whoee musio ebbe away, 

The song whoee aooente die? 

For, as in him wlioiie days are done, 

Whose sands of life run low, 
Spirit and senses hint and Cul, 
And round about grow dim and pale 

Starlight and sunset^s glow, 

To chilly aahes sinks and frdet 

The flame of all desire, 
And mute, as thoui;h no feeblest straio 
It evermore could sound af^in, 

Hangs the long silent lyre, 

Where love itaelf can wake no more 

Its wonted tender lay; 
For love but glimmers from afar, 
£*en like some white, swift-dying star, 

Thnmgh shilling shadows gray. 

And, like a bird whose heavy wings 

In vain would rise on hii^h, 
Unto dim earth my soul alone 
Can deave, nor reach God's sunlit throne, 

Nor send to Him its cry. 

Yet praise to Him, the dawn Is near. 

The hour of night is past. 
Faint life re^nves rjid earth grows fidr, 
As on my lips this dumb despair 

Bursts into song at last! 

Stuart Stsrnk. 

GEORGE SAND AND FR£d£RIC 

CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 

BT FANNY RAYMOND RITTER. 

(Coatinned from psgo 10.) 

I RETURN to M. Karasowski's observation, 
made, he asserts, by ^ a lady/' on the oc- 
caMoii of that evening party at which George 
Sand and Chopin met for the last and only 
time after their separation, — the assertion 
that George Sand '* begged Chopin to im- 
provise at the piano while she wrote, and 
thus, inspired by his playing, she pro<luced 
her best romances.'* With all due defer- 
ence to the lady who displays such intimate 
familiarity (?) with the habits of George 
Sand and Chopin while engaged in artistic 
occupation, I doubt the possibility of success- 
ful literary labor under such a condition. 
As far as we may judge from their own ac- 
counts, and those of their friends, Chopin and 
Mme. Dude van t were accustomed, when re- 
siding under the same roof, to pursue their 
occupations apart from and independent of 
each other. She expressly says that when 
at Valdcmosa she wrote ^ in solitude." 
Chopin, when residing in one of Mme. Sand's 



pavilions at Pari?*, Wiis much engaged, during 
the day, in teacliing, the iiitermiUent, yet at- 
tention-compelling noise of which was not 
likely to prove especially inviting to her muse. 
If it occasionally Ii:ippene«l that they pnr>ue<l 
their avocation's together, — if George Sand, 
the enthusiastic lover of all art, especially of 
music, sat within hearing of Chopin's improv- 
isation while writing her romances, — we may 
be almost certain that she either paused to 
listen, or, if she continued to writ«, did not 
listen at all, and consequently was not *^ in- 
spired by his playing while she wrote." For 
the music of Chopin demands, nay, com- 
mands, the closest, the most wrapt attention 
from an intellectual and musically constituted 
listener. How much more must it not have 
compelled this when enhanced by all the per- 
fection of performance, the poetic grace, the 
fervor, that characterized its com(K)ser I This 
romance-writing of George Sand " to music " 
sounds too nmch like the magical invoca- 
tions of witchcraft ; and will the spirits rise 
** when you do call for them " under such 
circumstances? Apart from the question as 
to whether they were invoked, and did re- 
spond in this especial case, we may doubt 
the power of any artist to excite, by the ex- 
ercise of his artistic powers, another artist to 
immediate activity in his ; and although such 
a result is of occasional occurrence, it is the 
least powerful form in which the influence 
of one mind can manifest itself upon that of 
another. True influence, lasting inspiration, 
is more occult, penetrates more deeply, and 
displays itself less superficially. As George 
Sand herself has said : ** The combination of 
the arts must be sought for within the depths 
of the soul ; but, as they do not all speak the 
same language, they can only be affected by 
and explain themselves to each other through 
the most mysterious analogies, in which, after 
all, each one only expresses itself." 

But by what of beautiful, by whom among 
the gifted that she knew, was George Sand, 
'* the sonorous soul, the .£olian harp of his 
time," as Renan has called her, not inspired 
in some way ? Generously glad to give 
honor where she fancied it to be due, she 
sometimes imagined that she derived in- 
spiration from sources on which she really 
bestowed it, often overvaluing her friends, 
and projecting the rays of her own genius 
and warm feeling on unworthy objects. 
In one of his *^ Causeries," Sainte-Beuve 
writes : *^ Though people say of George Sand 
that when she speaks of her friends she be- 
comes an echo that multiplies the voice, I 
say that far from merely multiplying the 
voices of her supposed inspirers, she abso- 
lutely renders them unrecognizable." And 
again, in another essay : ^* This illustrious 
author imagined for a time that Gustave 
Planche was a great critic, able to unveil all 
the my&teries of language to her; he cer- 
tainly corrected her proofs with tolerable ex- 
actitude, but not without destroying some of 
the graces of her style." She lent the charm 
of her eloquence, in gratitude, to whatever 
caused her heart to beat in unison with the 
joys and sorrows of her fellows, their pas- 
sions, politics, or philosophy, during her 
brave and continual search for truth, amid 
all her errors and illusions never losing her 



deep, instinctive faith in God, or her human- 
itarian optimism. Like all true artists and 
poets, she echoed or reflected all she felt or 
witnessed in the experience of others ; and^ 
next to love, beyond all things art, — and 
nature, the foundation, the life, the soul of 
art. Not by right of distinct, artistic genius, 
or by means of study, but through her inti- 
mate feeling for nature, r>he has often sounded 
profound psychical truths and aesthetic prin- 
ciples. Yet we should greatly err were we 
to apply to her the often misapplied title of 
<* art-critic." Say, rather, that she knew ex- 
actly how to give prompt and correct expres- 
sion to the warm and noble emotion with 
which all true art inspired her. Witness a 
few of her remarks on this subject : *' There 
is only one truth in art, beauty ; one in mo- 
rality, goodne&s ; one in politics, justice. But 
if any of us should attempt to restrict the 
frame, and exclude from it all that is not 
beautiful, good, and just, according to us, we 
should deface the image of the ideal, and be 
left alone with our own opinions. For the 
limits of truth are vaster than any of us 

suppose The only really important 

and useful works on art are those tending to 
excite admiration for great art-works, and 
consequently to enlarge and elevate the en- 
thusiasm of the reader. All other criticism 

is cold, evil, puerile pedantry Art 

and poetry are the two wings of the soul. 
Let the notes they strike be terrible or de- 
licious, these awaken within us an instinct 
of sublimity that lies slumbering or ignored 
by us, or renew it when they find it ex- 
hausted by suffering or fatigue." And again, 
when alluding to her artistic aspirations, in 
a letter to Victor Hugo : i '* I fear I was 
wrong in supposing myself predestined to ar- 
tistic creativeness. I am too contemplative, 
too much like a child. I wish to seize, em- 
brace, understand everything at once ; and, 
after such little puffs of misplaced ambition, 
I often happen to fall with all my weight on 
a mere nothing, a blade of grass, a small in- 
sect that passionately delights me, and which 
suddenly, by what prestige 1 know not, seems 
to me as great and complete, as important in 
my emotional life, as the sea, volcanoes, em- 
pires and their sovereigns, the ruins of the 
Coliseum, the pope, the dome of St. Peter's, 
Raphael and all the masters, and the Medi- 
cean Venus into the liargain! Perhaps I 
love Nature too well to be able to interpret 
her reasonably ; so call me * artist ' no more, 
but only *• friend,' as we term the weary and 
unfortunate who hesitate on the way, and 
whom we encourage to proceed, meanwhile 
pitying their sorrows." 

Among those of her intimate friends in 
the world of art whom we may a>njecture to 
have exerted some influence on the develop- 
ment and the works of George Sand, we find 
as many painters as musicians ; for Chopin, 
Pauline Grarcia, and Liszt, we have Cala- 
matta, Clesinger, Delacroix, Fromentin, and 
others ; her style is picturesque as well as 
musical, and her subjects are often borrowed 
from the art of painting. And if, on the 
other hand, we glance at the varied results 
of the inspiration that flowed from her, let 

1 NouveUet LtUret d'un Fbya^eur. FtoQBOBGK Sand. 
FmU: JAwj. 1877. 



26 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. —No. 987. 



us not forget the assertion of some of her 
admirers, that she created a revolution in 
the entire school of French landscape paint- 
ing among her contemporaries. All unprej- 
udiced observers of the progress of art and 
literature will so far agree with this as to 
admit that, but for the pen that brought 
French scenery, especially that of Berry, 
into fashion even in France itself, — but for 
George Sand's extraordinary truth of descrip- 
tive detail in conveying not only the large 
general impression, but also the inward indi- 
vidual expression of landscapes, — such men 
as Daubigny, Dupre, Theodore Rousseau, 
and their followers, would have sought to 
illustrate foreign scenes and subjects more 
often. It was this powerful literary influence 
that kept pictorial fancy busy at home. It 
is at least certain that George Sand's con- 
temporaries were the first among French 
painters to abandon those classic models of 
imaginative design which they found in the 
landscapes of Rubens, Rembrandt, Watteau, 
and others, and to substitute, in place of 
noble but conventional embodiments of fan- 
tastic reverie, the actual aspects of Nature ; 
and not merely her outward realism, but her 
picturesque accidents, her vatied expressions, 
interpreted by their own lyric individuality ; 
thus using a landscape site to express their 
emotions, as a poet interweaves his feelings 
with an event that occurs outside of his own 
experience. Before the appearance of this 
school of landscape art in France, we may 
look in vain for any exposition of such ro- 
mantic moods of nature as we find translated 
by the largo, breezy shades, the strange sun- 
sets, the magrificent yet not dazzling color, 
of Theodore Rousseau, who has so fitly been 
termed *^ a naturalist continually seduced 
from nature by ideality ; '' or the sometimes 
cold, yet always harmonious twilight melan- 
choly of Corot, whose wondrous tone of unity 
wins upon us by slow and sweet degrees. 
The school of to-day is also true to nature, 
but not in so profound a sense ; realistic im- 
itation has, for the time, discrowned roman- 
ticism, in art as in literature, and many art- 
lovers lament, with Jardien, that '^ the wood- 
land Muse of France is now in mourning for 
the loss of her grand school of landscape 
painters," the contemporaries of George Sand. 
We may question, however, whether the ro- 
mantic movement in musical and pictorial art, 
which so closely followed that of literature, 
was not rather '* in the air," than an intel- 
lectual epidemic which the mass of artists 
caught from the example of two or three 
leaders. Perhaps the so-called <^ impression- 
ist " school of to-day directly descends from 
Jean Jacques Rousseau, the literary grand- 
father of the modern landscape ! Such revo- 
lutions, though of apparently sudden appear- 
ance, are always really gradual in growth, 
progressive, historical. 

George Sand passed through better train- 
ing in design and painting than usually falls 
to the lot of those journalists or magazin- 
ists who make a specialty of reviewing works 
of pictorial art. Her first teacher in drawing 
was Mile. Greuze, daughter of the celebrated 
painter. After her separation from her hus- 
band, before becoming aware that she pos- 
sessed the necessary qualifications for a suc- 



cessful literary career, Mme. Dude van t at- 
tempted to add . to her income by painting 
cigar boxes, fans, and other fancy articles, in 
which attempt she failed to meet with much 
success. At this time she made an earnest 
study of the masterworks of painting to be 
seen in Paris ; and she thus describes her ex- 
rience in endeavoring to explain to herself 
the varieties and the differences existing in 
schools, subjects, types, and methods : " I 
went alone, mysteriously, to the Louvre, as 
soon as it was open, and often remained un- 
til it was closed. As I had no one to tell 
me what was fine, my growing admiration had 
all the attraction of a discovery for me ; 1 
was surprised and delighted to find, in paint- 
ing, enjoyment as great as that I had derived 
from music. I interrogated ray own feel- 
ings in regard to the obstacles or afiinities 
that existed between myself and these crea- 
tions of genius. I contemplated, I was sub- 
dued, I was transported into n new world. 
In fine painting I felt all that life is ; a splen- 
did resume of the forms and expressions of 
beings and tilings, the outward spectacle of 
nature and humanity seen through the mind 
of the painter who places it on view. I lie- 
held the present and the past together ; I be- 
came classic and romantic at the same time ; 
I had conquered an infinite treasure, the ex- 
istence of which had been hitherto unknown 
to me. I could not give a name to the feel- 
ings that seemed to crowd my heated and yet 
dilated mind ; but I went away from the mu- 
seum under such an influence that I often 
lost my way in the streets, forgetting that it 
was necessary to eat, and knowing not whither 
I was going, until I suddenly discovered that 
it was already time to prepare for the opera, 
to hear WiUiam Tell or Der Freischiitz." 
Passages in the " Voyage en Italic," ** Les 
Maitres Mosaistes," and others of her works, 
prove the extent of her studies in the art of 
painting, made during her tour through Italy, 
and testify to her keen powers of observa- 
tion. Take, for example, these remarks on 
Benvenuto Cellini, in one of her letters : 
** We may observe in his works that he often 
undertook to execute a vase, and designed its 
form and proportions carefully ; but, during 
the execution, he would become so strangely 
fond of a figure or festoon as to be led into 
enlarging one in order to poetize it, and dis- 
playing the other in order to give it a more 
graceful curve. Thus, carried away by the 
love of detail, he forgot the work for its or- 
nament, and, perceiving too late the imposn- 
bility of returning to his first design, instead 
of the cup he had commenced, he produced a 
tripod ; instead of a ewer, a lamp ; in place 
of a crucifix, a sword-hilt. This, while satis- 
fying him^telf, must certainly have dissatisfied 
those for whom his works were destined. 
While Cellini retained all the power of his 
genius, this enthusiasm was an additional 
quality, and every work of his hand was com- 
plete and irreproachable in its way ; but after 
he had been tried by persecution, dissipation, 
imprisonment, and misery, we perceive that 
his hand became less prompt, his inspiration 
less firm, and he produced works of marvel- 
ous finish in detail, but of inconceivable 
awkwardness in their general effect. The 
goblet, the ewer, the tripod, the crucifix, and 



the sword-hilt met in his brain, fought, agreed 
again, and at last found a place together in 
compositions devoid of form or usefulness, 
logic, or unity." 

But, if we concede the power of friendly 
influence on the progress of genius, we may 
be allowed to suppose that the friendship be- 
tween Mme. Sand and the distinguished Ital- 
ian artist, engraver, and designer, Calamatta, 
was not fruitless in artistic results to both 
parties. Calamatta had been requested by 
George Sand's publisher to execute a new 
portrait of the lady for a new edition of her 
romances, and a life-long intimacy between 
the artist and his sitter was the consequence 
of this incident. To Calamatta she accords 
the praise of having been the most thoroughly 
trustworthy of all her friends. A sort of 
revival of the art of etching was at that time 
taking place among French artists, Dela- 
croix and Daubigny foremost (though Jacques' 
earliest etching dates as far back as 1830), 
but no decline of interest in engraving had 
manifested itself. Calamatta lived in artist 
comradeship with another engraver, Mercuri, 
whose reproductions of Leopold Robert's de- 
lineations of the joy and beauty of Italian 
peasant life are so highly prized by ama- 
teurs. It would seem that little mental 
affinity existed between Mme. Sand and 
Mercuri ; but Calamatta, to whose art we 
owe several remarkable portraits, and mi- 
nute and patient reproductions of the crea- 
tions of the ancient masters, taught her the 
pnicesses of the art of engraving, and she, in 
return, aided him in various ways. One of 
her articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes, on 
Calamatta's copy (a masterpiece of engrav- 
ing) of Leonardo da Vinci's picture, ** La 
Joconde," — that type of mysterious beauty, 
with her fleeting smile of repressed emotion, 

— beginning, ^ Who is this woman, without 
eyebrows, with jaws heavily developed un- 
der their luxuriant roundness, with hair 
either very fine or very thin, with a some- 
what dull, yet superhumanly limpid eye ? " 
created a sensation in artistic Parisian cir- 
cles of that day. George Sand's fi*equent 
intercourse with Calamatta enabled her 
thoroughly to comprehend the difficulties 

— similar to those that confront the repro- 
ductive musician in his performance of the 
masterworks of composition — with which 
the engraver contends. She truly says : 
" The engraver knows only the timid joys 
of genius, for his pleasure is constantly 
troubled by the fear that he may be led into 
becoming a creative artist himself. I would 
not venture to decide the difficult question 
as to whether an engraver should faithfully 
copy the defects and qualities of his model, 
or copy freely, giving scope to his own gen- 
ius ; but I think we apply the same prin- 
ciple to the translation of foreign books. In 
such a task I should prefer masterworks, and 
take pleasure in rendering them as servilely 
as possible, for even the defects of masters 
are amiable and respectable. Were I obliged 
to translate a oiseful but obscure and ill- 
written work, I should be tempted to writo 
my best, in order to render its meaning as 
clear as possible. This accident of doing too 
well may happen to engravers who interpret 
rather than reproduce ; and perhaps only a 



Frbrdary 15, 1879.J 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



27 



genius aoiong painters would pai'don his 
copyist for having had more talent than him- 
self." The portrait of George Sand at the 
asje of thirty seven, designed and engraved 
by Calamatta, is perhaps the most satisfac- 
tory portrait of her that exists ; if somewhat 
idealized, according to the testimony of her 
friends, who have nevertheless pronounced 
the likeness astonishingly true, it presents 
her as those who never saw her imagine she 
must have looked at her best, with one of 
her most characteristic expressions, — rich, 
glowing, in the fullness of complete men- 
tal and physical development. The whole 
woman speaks to us from that face, or, in- 
deed, seems concentrated in the powerful 
yet soft, contemplative, almost ruminative, 
large, d<rk, deep eyes.^ 

Amid the supposed influences that, apart 
from the promptings and inspiration of her 
own genius, may or may not have actuated 
George Sand, we cannot forget the collabora- 
tion in the romances, ** The Prima Donna," 
and ^' Rose and Blanche," of George Sand 
and Jules Sandeau, the young author, whom, 
on his separation from his wife. Baron Dude- 
vnnt introduced to her as a possibly useful 
guide and adviser in literary atfairs. Theie 
is a fine page of narration in one of her 
" Lettres d'un Voyageur," in the concluding 
sentences of which we may fancy we trace 
an allusion to the days of her collaboration 
with Jules Sandeau. It refers, however, 
not to authorship, but to etching, that art 
in which the capacity for feeling and ex- 
pressing passionate emotion is so desirable, 
and the possession of which capacity perhaps 
rendered the lovers of whom George Sand 
writes, such fine etchers. I give the passage : 
*' I care little about growing old, but I care 
much about growing old in solitude ; yet 
either- 1 have never met the being with 
whom I could have been willing to live and 
die, or, if I have, I knew not how to retain 
bis affection. There was once a good artist 
named Watelet, better skilled in etching than 
any man of his time, who loved Marguerite 
Lecomte, and taught her to become as good 
an etcher as himself. For him she aban- 
doned husband, fortune, native land. The 
world condemned, and then, as they were 
poor and modest, forgot them. Forty years 
after, people discovered that in the neighbor- 
hood of Paris, in a little house called Moulin- 
Joly, there lived two artists, an old man and 
woman, who etched together, sitting at the 
same table. The first idler who found out 
this wonder announced it to others, and the 
fashionable world hastened to Moulin-Joly to 
behold the phenomenon. A grand passion 
of more than forty years' standing ! Two 
fine twin talents, ever assiduously employed 
at a beloved task ! Philemon and Baucis 
during the days of Mesdamcs Pompadour 
and Dubarry ! A new era ! This miracu- 
lous couple found friends, patrons, admirers, 
flatterers, poets. Fortunately old age car- 

1 In Lui et LIU, that vulgar book whieh Ptol do Mu«ei 
wrote with the luistakea lutention of defending his brother, 
bat between whote pages be has forever buried that broth- 
er's reputation as a man of honor, Edouard (Alfred de 
Musset) sajTS of Olympe (Mme. Dudevant): ^ Dark, and of 
a pale olive complexion, with bronse reflections, she has im- 
mense eyes, like an Indian. I have never been able to 
look on such Ikees without emotion. Her expression, not 
very mobile, jet assumes an air of pride and hidependence 
wheo she becooies animated, while talking." 



ried them off soon after, or the world would 
have spoiled everything. Their last etching 
was one of Moulin-JoIy, the little house of 
Marguerite, with this device, — 

<< Cur vulle permutcm Sabina 
Divitias operosk)res? *' 

(Horace, Odes.) 

It is framed and hung in my chnmber, above 
a portrait, the original of which no one here 
has seen. For an entire year the person 
who gave me that portrait lived by a similar 
labor to that which partly supported me. 
Every morning we consulted each other 
about our work ; every evening we supped 
at the same table, conversing on art, senti- 
ment, and plans, and the future. The future 
broke its promise to us. Pray for me, O 

Marguerite Lecomte ! " 

{To bewntinued.) 



THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE OPERA. 

BY W^ALTKR B. LAWSON, B. MU8. 
(ConUnned from page 20.) 

(4.) Notwithstanding the large number of 
operatic works which find favor with the public, it 
would be dilficult to select from amons:st them a 
dozen libretti whieh meet the requirements of a 
healthy and educated mind. Tliey are, for the 
most ])art, simply excrescences from the vigor- 
ous trunk of tlie drama, and typical of that 
which is puerile, abnormal, or horrid. The 
education of the people, which is obviously the 
primary object of every art, the drama not ex- 
ccpte<I, seems to have been almost wholly disre- 
garded by the librettist, and their entertainment, 
which we must regard as the secondary object, 
is so associated with depressing influences and 
morbid ideas as to become problematic. 

Let us regard a few opera texts. Here is a 
cheerful one by Wohlbriick : — 

The Vampyrcy to whieh Marschner has com- 
posed such exquisite and withal realistic music, 
illustrates a period in the existence of a disgust- 
ing and unreal creature, which (in the character 
of a nobleman), to save itself from the pangs of 
hell, is com|)clled within a limited time to suck 
the blood of three innocent maidens, which deed 
is actually perpetrated or attempted within the 
knowledge of the audience ; but, failing to carry 
out on a third victim the condition imposed by 
the Evil One, its consignment to the infernal 
regions naturally follows. Whatever may be 
good and virtuous in the remaining dramatin 
peraonce is swallowed up in the hideousness of 
this monster. 

We read that at a pertbrinance, at Athens, of 
^schylu8*8 tragedy of the Eumenides, the au- 
dience was so appalled, on the appearance of the 
Furies, that women lost tlie fruit of their womb, 
and children expired in convulsions of terror. 
The^e effects doubtless resulted from the terrible 
associations which such an apparition would have 
for the Greeks. With such a record before us, 
we may safely say, and this without urging the 
possibility of such extreme effects being produced 
upon a modern audience, that the act of witness- 
ing a performance of the Vampyre might lead to 
distressinjif mental and bodily effects upon per- 
sons superstitious enough to believe in the exist- 
ence of such creatures (and there are those who 
do), or even upon more enlightened spectators. 
I do not speak idly ; I myself have witnessed the 
result upon a person of peculiar temperament. 

The plot of La Juice, by Halevy, is even 
more revolting. A Jewish maiden is betrayed 
by a young noble, who afterwards causes her to 
be tortured and eventually to be cast into a 
caldron of burning pitch. There is not a verj' 
wide step from a fable of this kind to the reality 



of employing criminals as actors and causing 
them to be burned, crucified, or otherwi!«e done 
to death in tlie natural course of the drama, — a 
proceeding not unknown to history. 

In La Traviata, female deprovity is held up 
to the respect and pity of spectators, who, could 
they but see it in real life, would treat it with 
scorn and aversion. This sort of subject is 
somewhat freely run uppn by French roman- 
cisto, in whose particular province it seems that 
die Spitzbuben gind 'atle ehrlich, — all rogues are 
honorable. 

Mozart*s Zauherflote carries us to another ex- 
treme, for notwitlisunding all the endeavors which 
have been made to ascribe an importance to the 
libretto, it stands there an undeniable triviality. 
Even if there were any truth in the statement 
that it is illustrative of a certain period in the 
history of freemasonry, we should still fail to 
perceive its ravton d'etre, seeing that it is per- 
formed before others than freemasons, and that 
those of the brotherhood who witness its per- 
formance may be as ignorant of its meaning as 
those of tlie audience who have not been initi- 
ated into the mysteries. 

In liigoletto tJie dramatic action centres in a 
brutal murder and a body In a sack. La Son^ 
nambula is a very harmless story written upon 
the moral-pointing and tale-adorning principle. 
Dan Juan is stigmatized by Beethoven as a 
" scandalous subject," and so on. 

We will now consider a text which botJi 
Beethoven and Goethe held to be one of the best, 
namely, that of Cherubini's masterpiece, Der 
WasxertrHger, better known in this country, 
where it is so seldom performed, as Lea deux 
Joum^i, Here we have no brutal murders, no 
torturing deaths, no fiddle-faddle about free- 
masonry which no one can understand, but a 
simple story which, from beginning to end, offers 
nothing that is ignoble or offensive to good 
taste, while it lays bare before us, in a manner 
that we can appreciate, some of the higher emo- 
tions of humanity. It is divided into three acts, 
each of which is short and decisive and pregnant 
with action, and but little change of scene b 
necessary : it is therefore easy of comprehension. 
Nothing further seems wanting than the exqui- 
site music of Cherubini. As next in worth to 
this, Beethoven ranked the libretto of La VeaiaU 
of Spontini, and Goethe that of // Matrimonio 
Segreio, 

Simplicity of dramatic form is the first de- 
sideratum, and whatever may be said respecting 
the dramatic unities, as insisted on by Ai*i>^<>^o 
and carried out in the Grecian drama, one 
thing is certain, which is that the plot loses 
nothing in simplicity by their observance ; and 
since dramatists have thought proper to allow 
themselves every license in this respect, we find 
a corresponding intricacy of action in their pro- 
ductions. It will almost invariably be found 
that the greatest interest is excite<l in such plays 
as show a proximate preservation of the unities. 

In conclusion of this section a word on a well- 
worn topic. The subject-matter of the drama of 
Wagner has been ridiculed as " mythical rub- 
bish." It no more deserves the name than does 
Milton's *' Paradbe Lost." If accepted in the 
Wagnerian spirit as depicting, in a condensed 
fonn, the struggles of humanity, it is far from 
being rubbish. The difiUculty of regarding it in 
this light simply results from its want of associ- 
ation in our minds. 

(5.) The want of originality in recitative is a 
fact patent to every musician. This hapless 
branch of musical art has been in danger of be- 
coming little better tlian a means of perpetuat- 
ing worn-out phrases, of which we can assure* 
ourselves by referring to any opera or oratorio 
scores that may be at hand. But even well- 



28 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. -No. 987. 



seasoned recitatiTe is perhaps more endurable so to hear his opinions upon it as the libretto of 
than spoken dialogue, which causes a hill in the M. Gouno<l'8 well-known opera. 



performance, althougli phrases sucii as sol, do, 
sol, mi, mi, fa, sol, sol, do, are well calculated to 
cjreate ^ feelings unutterable " in the musician. 
After a lapse of nearly three hundred years, 
opera, although very different in its character, 
has again become continuous recitative, and 
while we .may decline to acknowledge the doc- 
trine of a composer who imagines the possibility 
of dispensing with form, we must still give 
Wasrner the credit for having introduced a little 
'variety in recitative, disregardful of the fact 
that musical critics decry Ids efforts as ^* awk- 
ward skips of fiilhs and sixths." In this and in 
many other respects opera will derive much good 
from -the efforts of tlie modem-school composers. 

(6.) If we may regard as the ideal of an 
opera overture one which, while being quite 
independent of the contents of the opera itself, 
is still so conceived that it prepares the au<U- 
ence for that which follows, paints the dramatis 
personas, and suggests the action, then we may 
refer to the overture to Mozart's Don Juan as 
being the nearest approach to this ideal, for it 
borrows nothing from the opera but the motive 
of the adagio, while it is pregnant with sugges- 
tion. Some of his other overtures, although 
more admired, and indeed of a higher degree of 
merit when regarde<l simply in the light of con- 
cert pieces (notably those to Fiqaro and Die 
Zauherfldle) lack thi« essential property. 

Weber*8 overture to Der Frevfchiitz, which is 
perhaps more favored than any otlier, is con- 
structed on the '* progranmie " principle. Tliat 
thu principle of construction is unjustifiable may 
be recognized in the fact that on a first- hearing 
the audience must necessarily be ignorant of the 
drift of pieces extracted from an opera which 
has not yet been heard. The requisite knowl- 
edge would, however, be brought to bear upon a 
second hearing, when the work receives some 
sort of justification. There are other kinds of 
overtures, amongst which may be mentioned a 
kind which, being originally intended to prelude 
an opera seria, is made to do duty for a comic 
opera, or vice vemd. At this we need in nowise 
feel offended, for we are well acquainted with 
the school from which auch ideas emanate. 

The reader will call to mind modern instances 
in which the overture is replaced by a short pre- 
lude of independent construction. 

(7.) On this head there is much to be com- 
plained of. The total want of justification in 
cutting and warping an epic or dramatic art- 
work for musical purposes does not require to be 
demonstrated ; and when we find that the very 
flower of artistic conception is involved, we are 
naturally struck with the enormity of the pro- 
ceeding. The argument that this is mainly 
owing to the scarcity of good libretti and libret- 
tists, offers no excuse for those purveyors of 
words who dare to lay their sacrilegious liands 
upon the classics. The only form of subject- 
matter justly suited to the opera ])roper is the 
libretto proper, and it must be reserved for 
some cunningly devised art-combination, perhaps 
afler the manner of Wagner's musical drama, 
to represent the classics in their entirety, — the 
only form in which dramatic works may reason- 
ably be re]5resented. 

For an illustration of my meaning, I turn to 



It is quite possible to attend a performance of 
this at Covent Garden (Nilsson as Martrherita), 
and bring away witli one an insight which in 
some particulars may be broader and deeper 
than that acquired in the studio. Witness the 
canzonetta, *' King of Thule,*' and the excpiisitc 
recitative jmssages which precede, interlard, and 
follow it, of the prison scene, and others ; l>ut for 
all this Faust ceases to be Faust, and Margherita 
is no longer Margherita. The wonde)*ful and 
ineffable apparent in the drama no longer ac- 
companies them ; they simply become characters, 
in contradistinction to the beings which Goethe 
conjured up from the heaven-lit depths of his in 
tellect. In fact we have a bare plot extracted 
from the work, and of course expressed in other 
language, and this language in a strange tongue ; 
further, to meet the requirements of persons of 
various nationalities, the Italian libretto has 
been translated into most . European languages. 
A libretto thus manufactured necessarily bears 
as much resemblance to Goethe's work as would 
a copy of the Apollo Belvedere, in which the 
muscular development had been roughly spoke- 
shaved, to the original sculpture. By the way, 
Gounod's opera offers the number of acts in- 
sisted on by the critical writers «f Greece, namely, 
five, the mystic number of Plato, superseded in 
the Middle Ages by the number three,^ and the 
result is tedium. Conqiosers have yet to learn 
that a composition may be too long. 
(CoBclttded In next number.) 



MASON'S PIANO-FORTE TECHNICS.* 

Thr only arts which lie within reach of the 
masses are poetry an<i music. It will be a long 
time before public art galleries will furnish means 
for contact with painting and sculpture in their 
highest and best forms. To the fountains of 
|>oetry all may go, and their draughts be meas- 
ured only by their capacity. 

In this music is at a disadvantage, since there 
must be a medium for expression, and thus the 
majority receive it at second hand. Undoubt- 
edly the piano combines the greatest number of 
qualifications as a medium for the interpretation of 
music to the masses, and hence a means for their 
musical culture. Any attempts, therefoi^e, to bet- 
ter the instrument itself, or render those who use 
it as a means for expression better able so to do, 
will be of benefit to music and the people. 

It is a most wofully abused instrument, and 
grievous charges have been laid at its door, but 
it is nevertheless growing steadily in popularity, 
and justly, for no single instrument can take its 
place in the home. But with all this in its favor, 
how few get any culture out of it I Tlie land is 
full of practicers on the piano, but where are the 
students? We have many players, but where 
are those who can make it speak to the souls of 
their listeners ? 

I speak advisedly in saying that the greatest 
reason for this lies in a defective technical de- 
velopment, or rather, a total lack of proper tech- 
nical development We are met at the out^et 
with this difficulty, that the technique of the in- 
strument must be mastered before it can be a 
medium for intelligent musical expression. The 
popular idea of this, however, is such that the 



Goethe's immortal masterpiece. Goethe looked [student revolts at the thought of technical work; 
to Beethoven for a setting of Faust, and he, of P^^*^ ^^ cannot blame him, for it presents no in- 



all musicians, was the one who might have at- 
tempted the colossal task ; but when spoken to 
on Uie subject he exclaimed, uplifting his hands, 
'* Das ware ein Stuck Arbeit" (''that would be 
a piece of work "), and he knew his weaknesses. 



tellectual or sesthetical allurements as ordinarily 



1 " AU« gttte Diiige sind drei ** is » comnion eipressioa 

Germany at th« present daj. The English " luck in 

numbers ** may have had a simiUr origm. 

A System of Technical Exefcisti /or the Piano-Font, 

etc., etc. By William BIason, Mas Doe. W. S. B. 



in 

odd 
S 



It would be instructive to know Goethe's ideas Matukws, Associate Editor. Boston : Oliver Ditson dk'Co., 
upoo Faust as an opera libretto, and still more 1878. 



brousht before his mind. It is related of a noted 
musician, that during his te<*hnical practice he 
always had a book or paper to read. This ex- 
presses the popular idea that a techni(]ue is to 
be acquired by going through so many exercises, 
tlie mird having nothing to do about it. Tlie 
majority of teachers (not including those who 
are musically illiterate) could give no clear 
definition of technique, and how can they know 
what technical development means ? Scores o( 
technical works have been written, and exercises 
innumerable, but one looks in vain for the prin- 
ciples upon which these have been fonned, or a 
hint as to the mental processes involved. Are 
there any principles ? What relation does the 
mind sustain to thb matter? Can new lifts be 
infused into the dry bones of technique ? I be- 
lieve it to be possible to make it, if not a real 
pleasure, at least a means for mental and, to a 
certain degree, sesthetical improvemenL It is 
the purpose of this paper to brinj; before the 
readers of the Journal work, from the ikuis of 
Wm. Mason and W. S. B. Mathews, bearing di- 
rectly upon these questions, it is a work based 
upon the physiology of mind and muscle, and 
their relations to one another, and is certainly a 
new departure in the right direction. One of 
the main objects of the work« and the key- note 
of the whole matter, is stated as follows : ^ The 
entire c-ourse of practice in this system is influ- 
enced very much by a de^ire to induce tlie men- 
tal habits on which good playing de^iends." 
Technique, in its essence, is tlie establishment 
of the proper relations l)etween the mind as the 
seat of thought, and the mechanism by which 
that thought is to be expressed. 

Technical development is therefore the growth 
of this relationship. This involves the idea of 
a mental and physical side, both of which, and 
their relations to one another must be understood 
by ei'ery teacher. These are the fundamental 
principles laid down in this work. 

It begins with the physical mechanism, and 
considers " the bony frame-work, the flexor and 
extensor muscles, the interosseous muscles, and 
the thumb." Everything is clearly illustrated 
and explained, with the exception of the extensor 
muscles, which are not illustrated, and referred 
to only in a vague manner. The importance of 
these muscles, and the necessity for a careful 
study of the upward stroke of the finger, wouhl 
have been impressed more fully upon the student's 
uund by illustrating and explaining them. 

The important point, however, is not what 
muscles are used, but what are their functions 
and action, and their relations to the mind, for 
upon these depends the question of exercises and 
their treatment. Hence it makes a difference 
whether the following statement is true : ** Eairh 
of these great flexor muscles (flexor digitorum 
profundus and flexor digitorum sublimis) acts 
on all the fingers, its action being determined 
into one finger or another by an act of wilL In 
consequence of tliis it happens tliat the fourth 
and fiflh fingers are able to strike as powerful 
a blow as the second or third, since all are acted 
upon by the same muscles." If this be true, why 
do we spend so much time trying to strengthen 
the fourth and filth finders ? 

Tlie answer wouM be, because " the diflicultv 
at first experienced in controlling these fingers 
arises almost entirely from their not having ^en 
previously accustomed to obey the wilL'* That 
is : we have not been accustomed to determining 
the action of these great flexor muscles into those 
fingers. 

But this does not suflice, because, afUsr only a 
few attempts, one can determine the independent 
action of the fourth and fifih fingers, and when 
this is done, as great an effect should follow, if 
the whole muscle acts, as when we will it into 



Fbbbdart 15, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



29 



the first or second fingers, siDce the fingers in 
that CK8% are simply so many points of contact, 
between the key and 'muscle. The facts are 
however, that but few ever secure the same re- 
sults absolutely, even afVer years of labor. But 
there is a still stronger argument derived from 
the physical structure of the muscle. 

It follows from the statement of the work that 
the muscle could have but one tendon, which di- 
vides into four, and in tliat case it would be difli- 
uult to sec how the muscle could act through one 
tendon upon one finger when the one tendon has 
four attachments. 

AccortUng to all anatomical plates, however 
(Gray, Wilson, Pancoast, and Encyclopse^lia Bri- 
tannica), these miuclcs are represented as divid- 
ing into ibnr tendons. Gray (Anat. page 307), 
af\er describing the origin of diffiforum sublimui, 
says : ** The fibres pass vertically downwards, 
forming a broad and thick muscle^ which divides 
into four tendons," etc. Of pro/uniJus tllgitorum 
he says (Anat. page 308) : ** Tlie fibres form 
ti fleshy belly of considerable size, which divides 
into four ten<lnns.'' (Emphasis is mine.) There 
is no mention hera of one tendon. Wilson 
says (Anat. page 236) : *' The Kublimis digitoium 

arises, etc It divides into four tendons." 

0{ prof undid diyitorum he says the same thing. 
If there be four tendons it follows that a certain 
part of each of these muscles acts independently 
upon one finger, and another part upon another 
finger, and equality of finger touch depends upon 
making each of these parts, by assiduous practice, 
equal to one another. 

Development of the whole muscle will not nec- 
essarily result in an equal development of all the 
parts, but an independent development of the 
parts will not only conduce to equality, but 
strengthen the whole. This will be referred to 
agidn. I cannot agree with the writers in pass- 
insT over the lumbricalis muscles with the sim- 
pie remark that they are unimportant. These 
muscles, from their conformation, and attachment 
at the base of the first phalanx, give evidence of 
being those most concerned in velocity, and for 
this reason anatomists have dubbed them the 
<* fiddlers' muscles.'* 

Tlie second chapter is devoted to the /' Re- 
lations of the Mind to the Art of Playing,'* " Men- 
tal Automatism," and *' Laws of Practice." It 
is a concise analysis of the physiology of the 
mind, so far as it refers to piano-playing and its 
relations to the muscles. Automatic or reflex 
action of the muscles is an established fact in 
physiological science. It is what every piauist 
strives or should strive to realize. He literally 
studies to forget about his fingers, as the mech- 
anism by which he expresses his thoughts. 

There is in the brain a centre for the cogni- 
tion of sound, which controls the motor cen- 
tres of the muscles of the voice. This has been 
termed the '* phono-motor " centre, and ** it is 
an unusual strength or activity of tliis centre 
that constitutes the physiological basis of 'an 
ear for music,* or the ability to spontaneously 
imitate sounds of a higher order than s{jeech." 
*' Piano-playing * by ear' arises from such an 
activity of the sound receiving and registering 
apparatus as enables the phono-motor centre to 
extend its operations beyond the vocal organs 
(as originally intended), and to seize upon and 
use the motor centre from which the arms, hands, 
and fingers are controlled in their usual em- 
ployments, and in tliis way to reproduce the 
sounds which gave delight." 

There is not only an automatism of muscle, 
but of mind. The centre of tone-thought can 
be taught to think for itself automatically, and 
leave the mind firee for other thoughts. ** Among 
the purely automatic parts of piano-playing 
tliought are the scales, aqjeggios on various | 



chords, and the disposition to complete the 
rhythm." Hence we ought to study to forget 
tones to a certain degree. The automatic ac 
tion of the fingers ought to depend upon the 
automatic action of this centre of tone-thought. 
I say ought, because the fingers may be trained, 
and in fact generally ait;, to respond to the vi:i- 
ual centre, while a tonal conception is totally 
wanting. Tliis is the central thought of the 
whole work, and cannot t)e too strongly im- 
pressed upon the student's mind. 

The laws of practice as deduced from these 
facts are : " First. The entire scries of motions 
which it is attempted to i*ender automatic — 
whether scale, arpeggio, cadenza, or what not 
— must be performed a considerable number of 
times without the slishtest variation from the 
correct onler or metliod." 

" Second. After a considerable number of 
these performances, a more rapid performance 
of them is to be attempted. 

" Thinl. When the passage can be played in 
tlie second degree of speed, then it is to be at- 
tempted in velocity.** 

'^Fourth. Pi*actice which includes mistakes 
is worthless, and worse than worthless, because in 
so far as it forms a habit, it is a habit of falsity." 

It would have been more in keeping with the 
central thought of this chapter to have coupled 
the idea of motions with ihat of tones, since one 
object of technical development, and the more 
important one, is the establishment of automatic 
tone-thought. The term ^* practice " is so asso- 
ciate<l with that which the author'* so much de- 
plore, namely, slovenly work, th/it I wish they 
had substitutt^d the term ** study," thus making 
it read. Laws of Study. It will be seen that 
this is the most important chapter, since it is the 
basis of all that follows. And if there wore 
nothing more in the work that is new and pro- 
gressive, this alone would rank it beyond any 
work of its character. C. B. Cady. 

{To be eontittued.) 

^tDtgl^t'jai 3!ournal of iHujaiic. 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1879. 



CONCERTS IN BOSTON. 

Harvard Musical Association. — The 
fourth symphony concert (January 80) could not 
fail to be interesdng with such a programme as 
here follows ; and the interest was shown both in 
the unusual number of the audience and in the 
close attention and delight manifested from be- 
ginning to end. 

Overture to " The Men of Prometbeas ** . . Beethoven. 
Concerto in D minor, for three pianos, with 

Slrini; Orcbcstn J. S, Bach. 

(Allegro niMstoeo Alia Siciliana. — 

AUejrro.) 
6. W. Sumner, J. A. Preston, and A. W. 

Foote. 
Second Symphony, In C, Op. 61 ... . Schumann. 
Introduction and Alleinx). — Scherzo. — 
Adagio — Allegro vivace. 

Overture to " Anacreon " ClierubinL 

Phaeton: Poeme Symphoiiique, Op. 39 . . Ssi\nt-SaiH$. 

Beethoven's Ballet Overture, of his youthful 
period, light, buoyant, Mozartish, yet with plenty 
of his own native fire in it, was played with 
crisp precision and great spirit. The triple piano- 
forte concerto of Bach, in D minor, was heard 
for the first time here in an orchestral concert. 
In a more private way, that is, in a chamber 
concert, it was played as long ago as 1853, and 
with all the string parts represented, by Otto 
Drcsel, Alfred Jaell, and William Scliarfenberg. 
Several times since then it has figured, in whole 
or in part, in a piano-forte concert, with a fourth 
piano to represent the string accompaniments. 
This time it made its first appearance in tlie | 



great Music Hall, accompanied by all the strings 
of the orchestra. The first Allegro, in which 
all the instruments btart off in unison, is perhaps 
not so exhilarating, nor so rich in interwoven 
independent melody of all the parts as that in 
C, which we heard last year ; but it is strong, 
hearty, wholesome music, like the quickening 
hand-grasp of a strong, wise, genial friend. Tlie 
Siciliana uiovement is a strain of heaven's own 
tenderest and sweetest melo<ly , even more ex- 
quisite than that aria in the suite, of which the 
violinists make a solo, llie finale has a sinewy 
syncopated motive, and rushes onward gatheiing 
force from all sides, like the mingling of many 
rills in the strong current of a brook. It was 
finely rendered by the three pianists, and such 
was the power and volume of the three noble 
grands, with all the string accompaniment, that 
the listener found him>elf fairly surrounded, — 
caught and ht* Id in the thousaud arms of a re- 
sistless maelstrom of harmony. The flying spray 
or scud of light embellishments, cadenzas, etc., 
which the heaving mass gives out in the first 
piano toward the end of the several movements, 
was very delicately and distinctly done by Mr. 
Preston. Objection has been maile to the plac- 
ing of the pianos so far apart It is true that 
they could not all be equally well heard, except 
from certain favored seats. On the other hand, 
if they had been brought together in the middle 
front of the stage, tke sounds of the orchestral 
parts would have been practically shut out from 
the hall. 

Schumann's great symphony in C has taken its' 
turn witli his three other symphonies, from year 
to year, since these concerts were begun. But 
never before has it made its mark so palpably 
as in this last performance. To many listeners 
it used to seem heavy, lengthy, morbid, and ob- 
scure. The biographers indeed refer the com- 
position of the first movement to a sick and de- 
pressed period in Schumann's life. But what a 
wealth of musical invention and deep life expe- 
rience there is in it ! The ruminating, groping 
introduction is pregnant with germs which are 
wonderfuUy and beautifully developed in the in- 
tense and most imaginative Allegro, which now 
and then, to be sure, modulates into a most 
drooping, melancholy mood, but never ceases to 
be fascinating, while the unity of the whole is 
perfect. The Scherzo, with its two trios, is a 
most original and exquisite play of fancy; its 
form and humor haunt you after hearing it. 
The Adagio is of the tenderest and deepest that 
Schumann ever wrote ; and the final Allegro has 
enough life and stir and vigor to sweep away all 
sickly vapors in the full career of manly deed 
and triumph. This symphony is extremely dif- 
ficult, and very fully scored ; yet it was remark- 
ably w.ell interpreted fiom first to last, and made 
a deep impression. We think there were very few 
persons in that audience who will hencefortli call 
it tedious or obscure, although repeated hearings 
will reveal new beauties and new meaning. Mr. 
Zerrahn had reason to feel proud of his orchestra 
afler that perfoniiance. 

The graceful Cherubini Overture was keenly 
relibhed. Tlie short introduction is somewhat 
formal and ohl-fashloned, but the Allegro is full 
of the delicate*, fine fire of a genial, healthy, and 
poetic nature. It is anything but *' programme 
music," yet the term Anacreontic may well de- 
scribe its quality. It offers a fine op|K>rtunity 
for the violins, which was signally improve<I, for 
the men played it con amore. Nothing could I e 
in greater contrast than the programme music 
which wound up the concert, the " Phaeton," by 
Saint-Saens. It was first brought out here two 
years ago in one of these concerts, and made 
quite a sensation then. But it was found to con- 
tain qualities of a somewhat higher order than 



30 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 987. 



what we commonly call sensational. With all 
that it has of startlinc;, it is not mere '^elfect." 
It is essentially musical, and shows the artist 
hand. Tlie pervading motive, the urging of the 
fiery steeds across the skies, though persistently 
kept up, never grows monotonous ; it is de- 
veloped, growing more and mure engrossing, 
pregnant with catastrophe. It is relieved, too, 
beautifully, by a sympathetic second subject, a 
strain of pity and condolence, as if the nymphs 
and goddesses were watching the doomed youth 
with fear and sorrow ; and as the chariot plunges 
from its course, how poweHully it is all worked 
up to the crashing climax, and how touchingly 
the whole orchestra subsides when all is over. 
It is decidedly the cleverest of all these modern 
French effect pieces that we have yet heard. 

Mr. William H. Siikrwood's Teii Piano-forte Re- 
citals at bis rooms, on Friday aflenioon« (each repeated on 
the following Monday evening), caine to a ckxe on the 24th 
and 27th ult. The last waa ujost reniariuible in programme 
and interpretation : — 

( Faiitaiiie, C minor Bach. 

\ Fugue, C m^ior(>*Well tempered Clavichord*'), 

No. 1 Back. 

Senate, Op. Ill (Last Piano Sonate), C Minor . Btatiwctn, 
Maestoso — Allegro con brio ed appa!«sionata 
— Arietta oon Variazioni. 
" Imlden's Liebes-Tod," from '' Tristan and 

Isolde** Litzt-Wngner. 

£tades Symphoniques, Op. 13 Schuuiann. 

We must go to the great pianists, to the Kubinsteins and 
Billows, to find another who can master and commit to 
memory, and clearly, satisfactorily perform — in fact inter- 
pret — in one concert two such great works, and so im- 
mensely difficult, as the last Sonata of Beethoven and the 
great Variations by Schumaim. 

'llie IJsEt- Wagner piece, too, was no trifle, one of the 
most impressive of transcriptions from that source; and Uie 
smaller things from Bach, with which, as usual, Mr. Sher- 
wood happily commenced the concert, showed the true art- 
ist in the rendering. Hardly once or twice, if ever, have 
we heard these important compositions so clearly and ex- 
pressi>'ely presented. 'l*he preceding recital (ninth), in which 
BIrs. Sherwood bore a large share of the burden, we were 
obliged to lose, and we can only give the programme: — 
Prelude and Fugue, B-flat major, No. 21 

(«' Well tempmd Clavichord '*) .... Bach. 

Sonata Appassionata, Op. 57 BetUtoven. 

Mrs. Shkrwood. 
Songs without Words, No. 1, £ miyor, No. 8 

(Hunting Song) Mtndekaohn. 

Moments Musicauz, No. 3, F min<A-, No. i, C 

•harp minor Schubert. 

" In the Country," Op. 2« J. K. Paine. 

No. 9, " Farewell." No. 10, «< Welcooie 
Home.** 
Bondo in C (" Perpetual Motion *'), arr. from 
Senate, Op. 24, by Johannes Brahms, 
as a study for tlie left hand . .CM. v, ITe&er. 
Mk. Shkrwood. 
j Two Novelletten, Op. 21, No. 1 and No. S . Schumnnn. 
I Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 2, £-flat . . • . SchuberL 

Mrs. Sherwood. 
«* Chorus of Dancing Dervishes,*' from Beet- 
hoven's » Ruins of Athens " (arranged 

for piano by) . . C. SaiiU-Saetu. 

Mr. Sherwood. 

A more rich and interesting series of Fiano-forte Concerts 
than theae by Mr. Sherwood it would be hard to recall. 
The maw, and the variety of compositions of the high- 
est order, important works of all the greatest roasters, was 
astonbhing; and all given in the course of twelve weeks. 
Of Bach, some Prelude and Fugue, or Fantaisie, etc , formed 
the wholesome introduction of almost every programme. A 
Beethoven Sonata was almost sure to follow. Schumann, 
Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, as well as Wagner, Lint, 
and othisr modems, were largely represented. And the in- 
terpretations, both by Mr. and by Mrs. Sherwood, were, with 
hardly an exception, of the most satisfactory kind. Such a 
draft upon the mental and physical resources of one man can 
hardly be i^preeiated. 

TiiK Cecilia, on Friday evenuig, February 7, gave at 
Tremont Temple the finest concert thus fiu- in the course of 
its three seasons. The crowd of associate memben and in- 
vited friends were all made happy by the excellent perform- 
ance of two cantatas, in extreme contrast to each otiier, but 
each admirable of ito kind. The first was the sacred eantaU 
by Bach; " Ich Iiatte viel BekUmmemiss,*' — or ratlier one 

half of it, which was given entire a few years since in 

one of the symphony concerts. The selections this time in- 
cluded tlie short orehestral symphony which introduces the 
whole work, and the four numben of the second and more 
joyous part. An exoellent orehestra was provkled, with Mr. 
J. A Preston at the organ, and the chorus of mixed voices 



was in fine condition. The beautirul recitative and duet, a 
dialogue l)etween the Soul and Jesus, was sun<( with tnie 
expresttion by Mrs. G. A. Adams and Dr. K. C. Ihilbrd. 
Ever}' one must have felt the tender heanty and iiathoe of 
this music. Next came the quartet with chorus, in whidi a 
chorale in unison is so wonderfully interwoven : *' O my 
soul, be content," etc., which grows and swells to a miMc;nifi- 
cent conclusion. Mrs. Jennie Noyes and D . Ijangniaid 
con)pleted the quartet. Dr. I^ngmaid, in excellent voice, 
sang the tenor Aria: *i llejoice, O my Soul,** to great ac- 
ceptance; and then came the sublime concluding chorus: 
*• l^ie Uuib that was Slain *' and •' Amen, Hallelujah," 
which, though much shorter and more concise, is even 
grander than the final chorus of the Mrennh, 

(Hde's romantic, highly colored " Crusaders ** formed the 
second part — given for the first time here with orehestra, 
which put an entirely new life into it. Indeed, instrumenta- 
tion is Gade's strong side alwn}-s, and to leave out tlie or- 
chestra in such a work is to leave out tlie soul of it. It was 
wonderfully descriptive and most fascinating in the enchant- 
ments of Uie middle part, entitled «• Amiida.** The young 
lady who sang the part of Armida, Miss Annie Ijouise 
Gage, surprised all by the beauty of her voice (in which 
many recognized a strong resenibUuiee in quality to that of 
Mrs. Harwood, who sang tills part so finely when the »' Cru- 
saders ** was firvt given by the Parker Club), and by her 
artistic and expressive style of singing. Dr. lAngmaid was 
the Uinaldo, and was fully equal to the heroic tenor strains; 
and Dr. Huliard made the appeals and exhortations of Peter 
the Hermit very impressive. Altogether it was a complete 
and signally successful performance. The concert was re- 
peated on Monday evening, but unfortunately without the 
orehestra, it being impossible to procure one on tliat even- 
ing; so that the accomiianiinents were represented on the 
piano-forte (Mr. Tucker) and the organ (.Mr. Preston), — 
very creditably, it must be said. 

Re- 



is com- 



We were unable to attend Mr. Eddy's Organ 
ciTAL several weeks ago, but a friend who did, and 
petent to judge, writes us as follows: — 

Mr. H. Clarence Eddy, director of tlie Hershey School of 
Musical Art, Chicago, 111., tlie leading organist of the West, 
gave an oipui recitid in this city, before an audience of our 
best musical people, on Friday, Jan. .3, at the South Con- 
greiratiotud Church, about which many of our best judges 
speak in unqualified terms of praise. It was certainly tlie 
most interesting organ recital given in Ikwton for years, both 
as to the quality of the selections and the manner of their 
presentation. )lr. Eddy's apparent ease, and absolute mas- 
tery of the work before him, no less tlian the dignified, 
strongly marked nobility of conception and the l«autitul, 
harmonious taste displayed in pbrHsing and registration, 
made the oi^^ speak with the eloquence of the human 
voice or violin, combined with the power and contrasts of a 
full orchestra, 'ilie Chopin £tnde, a strong, quick move- 
ment, calling for great dexterity of execution, was leas satis- 
fiftctory, owing, apparently, to a lack of timbre in the organ, 
or to imperfect light and to a slight stifibeas of mechanism 
in the instrument. The *' Allegretto,*' by Guilmant, and 
tlie " Elevation,*' by Saiiit-Saens, although characteristic of 
the modem French school, are hardly of sufficient musical 
value to stand beside tlie other numben of the programme, 
whereas the Concert-Satz, by Thiele, is one of the most 
brilliant and at the same time solid and substantial examples 
of modem music yet heard. Below is the programme : — 
1. Sonata in D minor. No. 6, op. 118 (new) . .■ Merhel. 
I. Allegro risoluto.— II. Andante. — IH. Al- 
legro risoluto. — Fuga. 
%. Allegretto in B minor Guiltnant. 

3. Grand Prelude and Fugue in C minor . , . Bnch. 

4. Sonata in G minor, No. S, op 77 Buck. 

I. Allegro moderato ma energico. — IT. Adagio 
molto espressivo. — III. Allegro vivace uon 
troppo. 

Dedicated to H. Ci^arence Eddt. 

Elevation in E minor Saint-Sagn*. 

Grand £tude in C sharp minor Chtpin. 

(Arranged by Haupt.) 

7. *• Marehe Funebre et Chant Seraphique '* . . Guilmnnt. 

8. Grand Fantasia in E minor (" The Storm **) Lemmtne. 

9. Concert-Satz in E flat minor Thirle. 

We have yet to notice the interesting concerts of the 

present week, including those of the Handel and Haydn So- 
ciety, the Euterpe, the Fifth Symphony Concert, etc. In 
the Sixth Harvard Concert (Febmary 26) the Brahms Sym- 
phony in D will be repeated, and Mme. Julia Riv^-King will 
pUy. 



5. 
6. 



LADY CONDUCTORS. 

A friend writes us from Worcester (Feb. 11) as follows: 
A wave of musical excitement passed over Brooklyn on the 
firet appearance of Bliss Selma Borg, at the head of the late 
Thomas Orchestra. A ripple has paued over Worcester, the 
occasuMi being the presentation of Haydn's Toy Symphony, by 
Miss Msbel Allen, daughter of Mr. B. D. Alien, who, wholly 
unaided, trained and brought ont an amateur orchestra, ex- 
hibiting musical skill and ability, and the steadiness and 
self-possession of a veteran. 'I*he perfomien were decked 
with gay-colored sashes and caps, and presented an aUract- 
ive picture aside from doing their work well. The perform- 



ance was satisfiictory in every respect. Miss Allni 
made the recipient of a beautiful silver baton and a basket 
of flowers. 

The young leader is barely out of her teens, and consider- 
ing the difl*erence of years and experience, it was as gieat a 
triumph for Miss Allen to lead these amateurs, to whom the 
experience was new, as for Bliss Borg to take the stand be- 
fore a band of artists, all of whom were an assistance to her. 

Both are to be congratulated on their successful position. 
TVuly, woman's sphere widens in this nineteenth century ! 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Nkw York, Feb. 8. — A concert given by Mr. O. B. 
Boise, at Chickering Hall, on Thursday e^-ening, January 30, 
commends itself to notice by the fact that the programme 
was entirely composed of the works of Blr. Boise. Every 
one knows that in these da}M, and particulariy in our own 
country, it is very diflScult for the composer of an oreheaUral 
work (unless he be already famous), to secure even a publie 
hearing of his music, to say nothing of a reoognltioii of any 
talent he may be fortunate enough to possess. Such being 
the case, the composer who imagines he has something to 
say must set aside all sensitiveness and boldly demand to be 
heard. 

llie action of Mr. Boise in tlios taking time by the fore- 
lock was certainly commendable, and the composer had the 
ear of a large and very intelligent audience. 

The concert liegan with a Symphony called " In Memo- 
ruim *' and closed with a Festival Overture for ordiestra and 
organ, 'llie other selections were : ** A Child's Jiequiem," 
for vocal quartet and oi^gan ; a Concerto fur piano-fort« 
and orchestra ; and three songs entitled : **■ Good-night," 
'' Cradle-Song," '« There is fallen a splendid Tear.'* 

'llie workmanship of the orchestral oompoaitiou gave 
evidence of hard study on the part of the composer ; and if 
his orcliestral eflects were not slways entirely new and 
startling, it may be remeniliered that very few comiiosers 
have reached greatness at a single bound, and that succeas ia 
usually the rnult of cumulative cfiRwts. 

llie liest feature of the concert waa "the piano forte Con- 
certo, which was chanuingly played by BIme. Nanette Falk- 
Auerbach. llie songs were eflTectively sung by Miss Emily 
Winant. Blr. S. P. Warren was the organist, and the 
vocal quartet consisted of Bliss Helen Cary, Miss Mary C. 
liuss, Mr. C. M. Plienon and Mr. Geo Blartin Hues. 

Dr. Damrosch gave his fourth Symphony Concert at 
Sleinway Hall, on Saturday evening, Feb. 1, with the fol- 
lowing selections : — 

Symphony, No. 3, A minor (new) . . C. Saint Saint. 
Concerto for violin (Allegro) ...... Beethoven. 

Herr August Wilhklmj. 

Overture to ^ Eur}-aiithe '* Weber. 

Serenade, No. 3, D minor .... Jiobl. V<Mmann. 

String Orcheatn. 

Chaoonne J. S. Bach. 

Hkrr August Wilhklmj. 
Les Preludes : Symphouie Poem LietL 

The symphony, by Saint-Saens, is a highly colored, imag- 
Inatire work, thoroughly French in style and abouuding in 
really beautiful efltets. The instrumentation is masterly, 
and the composition is characterized by elegance and refine- 
ment rather than by strength. It is pkMant to notice a 
gradual improvement in the orchestra with each concert. 
Dr. Damroech has his men well in hand ; much that was at 
first wanting in smoothness of tone and unity of purpose i» 
now supplied, and their playing, on this occasion, was nn- 
questbnably excellent. The symphony did not go quit« 
smootlily, in all parts, but the familiar and lovely JLutyanthe 
overture, the " Serenade " for string orehestra, with *ceUo- 
obligato by Blr. Fred. Berguer, and the splendid tone-picture 
by IJszt, were most vividly presented, llie nervous energy 
of the conductor seemed to be conveyed to the players, thus 
giving to the perfonnanoe of the music the life and character 
which are necessary to every good interpretation. 

The great violinist, Wilhelng, b now no stranger here, 
but the wonder and admiration which he excites seem to 
increase each thiie he appean in public. It is admimtioii 
compelled, not sought for. The man'dhras breadth, fullness, 
and purity of his intonation, the absolute accuracy of his 
stopping, the perfect ease with which all difficulties were 
overcome, and the noble spirit which animated the artist, 
were indeed enough to hold the audience breathless, during 
the performance of the concerto and the Bach Chaoonne. 
At the conclusion of each, the silence was profound for an 
instant, and then the hearers, many of them rishig, actually 
shouted with delight. As a consequence they had the pleas- 
ure of hearing Wilhehnj four times, instead of twice ; the 
two additional selections being a remarkably fine transcrip- 
tion of Walther's "Prize Song" from Die Mexater»n<fer^ 
for violin and orchestra (transcribed by Wilhelmj), and a 
Uomanza of his own composition. 

If anything is lacking in the pbijing of so fearless an art- 
ist as Wilhelmj, the want may be defined in one word, pat- 
tion. Given tliis, the result would be absolute perfection, 
— something not to be expected this side of Utopia. 

A,9 rfA* v/a 

Philadelphia, Jak. 26. — Blr. Jarvia^s fifth sou^ waa 
given hut night. His opening piece was a Suite, Op. 91, 
by Kafir, the one so firvquaitly played by Mad. Schiller. 



FXBBDABT 15, 1S79.] 



DWIQHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



31 



lU great difficulties Tanisbed berore the immense viftuoe- 
itj of the ezecatant, and afTorJed a fine contrast to the 
Chopin Nottumo, Op. 27, No 2, — the 8ao)e that the great 
violinist Wilheliq} has tranflcribed with such admirable 
eflect and taste. In this delicate and tender morctiiu Mr. 
Jarvis disphijed a neatness and clearness of execution truly 
admirable, and threw into it a degree of intelligent and re- 
fined expression to occupy our thoughts and feelings to the 
exclusion from memory of the remainder of this the most 
imposing programme he has yet performed in public. 

Mad. £. Seiler gives monthly private concerts of her 
pnpUs at her school, 1104 Walnut Street, which are attended 
mostly by the parents, guardians, and friends of the young 
ladies pursuing their studies there, thus affording an oppor- 
tunity of watching their progress and efficiency. 

Your correspondent " assisted ** at a recent pupils' enter- 
tunment, but was prevented by indisposition and the great 
beat of the room from hearing the whole programme; in 
£Mt he missed some of the more ambitious numbers. The 
company was large, and contained some of the elite of Phila- 
delphia society, who seemed, much pleased with the singing 
of the young ladies, and applauded heartily. The *• Amer- 
ican Lady's Quartette,*' a dose imitation of the ** Swedish 
Lady's Quartette '* in manner and style of music, even to 
minor details, sang with a delightful intelligence and expres- 
sion. They were recalled amidst great enthusiasm. The 
voices were well balanced, and showed the advantages of 
continuous singing together, wbich produces a sympathetic 
blending not to be heard under ordhiary circumstances. 

Feb. 7. — A short season of Italian Opera by Kellogg, 
Cary, Adams, l^auarini, Fantaleoni, Conly, Kaufman, and 
Gottsehalk, under the direction of ISehrens, and management 
of Strakosch, gives me no opportunity of saying an^'thing 
new, save to notice a new aspirant to public honors in the 
person of Miss von Klsler, from Springfield, Illinois, who 
is known on the stage as Maria Utta. As a vocalist she is 
very, very promising, and has made a most favurable im- 
pression upon our cognosienU. Her voice is pure soprano 
in Hmbrt and compass; her volume is not great, but suffi- 
cient; her execution b neat, clean, and brilliant; her trill 
is most frfccile and beautiful. The young Udy is not as yet 
entitled to praise as an actress, nor would she be likely to 
supplant Helen in tiie affections of any modern Paris, but 
she has rare musical intelligence in addition to the qualities 
already enumerated, and that is much more valuable in the 
estimation of Amukicus. 

CurciKMATi, Feb. 8. — To give your readers a more def- 
inite idea of the heightened musical activity of which Cin- 
cinnati can now be proud, it will be necessary to supple- 
ment the hasty letter in your last by a more deuiled account 
of the work of the College of Music, and of the oig^niza- 
tions connected with it. A simple, accurate statement of 
the present ikUut quo is all I now propose. The large out- 
lay needed to call into life at once an institution like the 
Cindunati College of Music naturally compelled the busi- 
ness managers to advertise very extensively. If now and 
then, \u doing this, good taste was made subservient to the 
policy coii8id«ed necessary in view of the tone to which the 
puUie has become accustomed in all such matters, the cir- 
cumstance that no complaints have been entered sufficientiy 
establishes the UneX that in no instance has the slightest de- 
ception or even exaggeration been practiced. 

Among tiie many discriminating friends whom Mr. 
Thomas made as an orchestral director, there were not a few 
who hesitated to form or express an opinion as to his fitness 
for the directorship of an educational institution. If all 
doubts in that regard have not yet been dispelled, they bid 
fiur suon to vanish altogether. Scarcely a week has passed 
in which a new feature has not been introduced, an addi- 
tional link inserted into the chain of uistnictlon, which it 
is intended shall become as complete as possible for diffiis- 
ing a broad and thorough knowledge of the art of music. 
As soon as emergencies peculiar to our ctiuntry, and es- 
peeially to our section, have arisen, they have been met, 
and thus far successfuUy and with the best judgment. 

In the instrumental and vocal departments the system 
in vogue in European conser^'atories is in general adhered 
to, with perhj^ the exception that class instruction is 
less liberally employed, and more attention given to the indi- 
vidual. The authority which an institution of such dimen- 
sions gives to the individual teacher enables him to pro- 
ceed rigidly, and without making any concessions, in em- 
ploying a thorough and strict methud, and, above all, in 
glvuig only the very best of music to the student. Not that 
for years this course has been indiffereutiy pursued by the 
prominent teachers of our city; but the large quota of stu 
dents furnished by the smaller towns of this and the neigh- 
bwing States makes it possible to reach circles heretofore be- 
ytmd the influence of conscientious instructors. One of the 
most noticeable and praiseworUiy features of the course <ii 
Instnietion, however, is the effort on the part of tiie musical 
director, as wdl as of the teachers, to impress on the mind 
of the student the necessity of obtaining a good general 
knowledge of music, and cultivating the taste for good mu- 
sic, all of which can be done by attending the chorus classes, 
the private and public orchestra rehearesls, and the organ 
concerts, facilities wiiicii are offered to the pupils without 
extra charge. 

The chorus chsses are deservuig of especial mention. The 
members of these are instructed in musical notation, sight 
singing, etc.; concise and dear defiuitiooa an given of 



time in music, measure, bar, the construction of scales, the 
system of intervals, etc., — sll this according to approved and 
thoroughly digested methods. Hand in hand with these the 
theory chtfses progress. It will be evident to every one tliat 
by thus distributing the subjects more thoroughness, with 
concessions to the less talented, U made possible. The at- 
tendance on these dasses is strictiy controlled by carefrilly 
kept registers. The influence of these phases of instruction 
can scarcely be overestimated. Even the College Chorus, of 
which mention was made in the but letter, is subjected to 
this course; failure to attend on the chorus dass arranged 
for the members brings with it forfdture of membership of 
tiie College Chorus. These few remarks may give an idea 
of the high aim which the musical director has in view. 
The fruits are beginning to af^pear. But it would not be 
wise to autidpate too much. 

As the programmes of the chamber and orehestra concerts 
given so fitr have been published in your journal, a few 
words conranjuig tiie organizations which execute them may 
not be amiss. S'or six years past we have had a sunding 
orchestra, which was under the direction of Mr. Michael 
Brand, a musician of unusual talent and ability. Mr. Bal- 
lenberg, who had undotaken the management of the or- 
ganization, found himsdf restricted during the first few years 
to drawing on the resident musicians only, as the orchestra, 
on account of want of permanent employment, was necessa- 
rily disbanded during the summer mouths. As soon as tiie 
hill-top resorts sprang into existence, however, he was en- 
aliled to keep the oi|^iization intact during the whole year, 
and immediatdy b^n to procure the services of the best 
musicians obtunable in other dties, ontil the orchestra dur- 
ing the last season, in its nucleus, consisted of very good 
musicians, some of them excelleut. Blr. Thomas, on his 
arrival, secured the members of the Cincinnati Orchestra, 
as it was called, and ■ supplemented it with such other mu- 
sicians as he deemed fit. The progress made by this new 
organization, as Conctrhneuter of which Mr. Jacobssohn 
exerts an excellent influence, t<^ether with his quartet asso- 
ciates, Messn. Baetens and Hartdegen, is really astonish- 
ing, and redounds to the credit of Mr. Thomas, who is 
proving himself more than ever before a most excellent di- 
rector, and no less successful a drill-master of orehestnl 
bodies. The string orchestra has improved remarkably in 
fullness of tone, precision, and intonation, while the unity 
and balance of the whole organization is becoming more and 
more satisfrustory with every public performance. The pecun- 
iary resources placed at the disposal of the director are 
such as enable him to have as many rehearsals as he thinks 
necessary, a decided advantage over similar bodies elsewhere. 
The programmes already published serve to prove that the 
works essayed at the different concerts are among the most 
difficult of orchestral scores. In the last concert a novdty 
was presented: Symphony No. 1, in D, of C Ph. Emanuel 
Uach, a work of remarkable freshness and originality when 
the date of its composition (1776) is considered. The other 
numbers of the programme were triple concerto, D minor, 
J. S. Bach, performed by Messrs. Andres, Schneider, and 
Singer; 0\'erture to Afayic FluU; and the Pastoral Sym- 
phony. 

In the bst chamber concert Mr. Thomas made his final 
appearance as member of the string quartet. His duties 
have become so manifold and so engrossing as to make it 
impossible for him to devote enough time to the rehearsals 
for a good ensemble. His place will be filled by Mr. £ich, 
who for years has been conddered one of the best of our red- 
dent violinists. Bfr. Jacobssohn's extraordinary abilities as 
a violinist and muddui are acknowledged throughout the 
country. Mr. Hartdegen, too, is so well known that he can 
forego any mention of his excellenoe as a 'cdlo pUyer. Mr. 
Ba^ens combines with a perfect mastery of his instrument, 
the viola, a very extensive experience in England and on the 
Continent as a quartet phtyer, while Mr. Thomas in former 
years gave the public frequent opportunity to judge of his 
qualifications as a violinist. With every succeeding concert 
the ensemble has impro^-ed noticeably; especially in the last 
two a warmth of tone color, produced by a mors perfect bal- 
ance of the diflerent instruments, was apparent^ giving promise 
of unusual excellence. The programme condsted of Quartet 
in E-flat, Mozart; Rondo Brilhinta, Op. 70, Schubert (Messrs. 
Andres and Jacobssohn); Quintet in C, Op. 29, Beethoven 
(with the assistance of Mr. Biockhoveo). In the last num- 
ber, espedally, Mr. Jacobssohn displayed his wonderful tech- 
nique, and, i^ve all, his excdlent musical taste and modera- 
tion in ensemble pbtying. The enthusiasm created was genu- 
ine aiid unaffected. — Mr. Whiting's activity continues with 
the most gratifying resulu, as is shoMni by the attendance on 
his organ redtals. The public is gradually coming to an 
appreciation of thdr artistic and pedagogical vdue. Among 
other numbers his programmes during the past week con- 
tained: Fugues, Bach; Prelude and Fugue in D minor, Men- 
delssohn ; Andante and Finale tnn\ Fourth Organ Symphony, 
C. M. Widor; Caiizona in A minor, Guilmant; Oigan Study 
on Pleyers Hymn, J. Bapst Calkin ; Four Interludes to the 
'*Bliignificat" (pbun chant), Whiting; Overture to "llie 
Siege of BocheUe," Balfe. Alpha Mu. 

Chicago, Jam. 24. — On Thursday m-ening, January 9, 
the " Abt Society " gave its first concert This society con- 
sists of a male chorus of twenty-four persons, embracing 
the IcMling voices of the city, and .is to devote itself to the 
performance of four-part mudc. While its aim is bat to 
piodnoe mode of a limited order (for all the part songs 



that are usually given by societies of this character have 
about them a certain sameness), it will fill a place in our 
concert season, and do much to interest a large class of per- 
sons who admire music of this kind. It is very fortu- 
nate in regard to its active memhership, for I have never 
heard better voices in a chorus of this kind. The balance 
of the parts is good, and tiie leading tenors are particularly 
strong, while the second basses possess voices of much 
power, voices which harmonize nicely, and furnish a good 
foundation of pure tone for the other parts to rest upon. 
Of course, as this was a first concert of a new society, after 
but some three months' practice, one can hardly expect mon 
than a suggestion of posdbilities. The pn^^nime con- 
sisted of the following numliers: — 

" The Village Blacksmith " Batten, 

<* Evening " Kuttze. 

" How came Love '* M. Freu 

« He 's the Man to know " Zdilner. 

"Serenade" Stordi. 

*t Blest Pur of Sirens " Mottnthal. 

" Good Night " Kinchntr. 

Pilgrim Chorus from Taimhauser .... Wagner. 

They were assisted by Mr. Max Pinner, of New York, 
pianist, who played the following pieces, 

{a.) Allegro SenrlaitL 

(6.) Nocturne Chopin. 

(c.) Polonaise, Op. 53 Chopin. 

and the Tarantelle from Venezia e Napoli of Liszt. Also 
by a home vocalist. Miss Fannie Whitney, who sang '* Nobil 
^'gnor ** from Tht Huyuenott of Bleyerbeer, and a song of 
Blumenthal's. Mr. Pinner was very well received, being 
twice recdled. He seems to be a truly intelligent player, 
possessing much refinement of taste, and is able to bring 
out a pure quality of tone from his instrument, without 
forchig it beyond its limit into the confines of noise. His 
interpretation of the genUe Nocturne of Chopin was particu- 
larly pleasini;, and indicated that be had made a cloee study 
of the poetical nature of this composer, and that he was 
able to reproduce the dreamy sentiment of longing (which 
seems to be the idea in this Nocturne) with so much fidelity 
that the Chopin spirit was at least made plain to us. Li tRe 
Liszt selection he was also very happy, and manifested the 
pleadng tsculty of producing beautiful tone effects from 
the piano. His effort seemed to be, in all his playing, to in- 
terpret the works of the composers, rather than to astonish 
by any brilliant efilbct; and hi thus placing self subordinate 
in the representation of the musical inientions of others, 
he manifested an honesty of purpose highly commendable 
in these days of superficial show. Miss Whitney is a }oung 
singer who has yet much to learn, particularly in regard to 
the formation of pure tone. IJke many young singers she 
forces her voice, hoping to gain volume, and loses thereby 
quality, which is surely a most necesssry element in all mu- 
sical tone. 

On Monday evening, January 13, Her Majesty's Opera 
Company b^an a season of two weeks at Ha\-erly's 
Theatre. As this company has been so receutiy in Boston it 
is hardly necessary to do more than record a few impressions. 
The first week we had Caiintn (twice), La Sonnambula^ 
(twice), Ntizzt di Figaro^ Luda cU Lawmtrmum'j and the 
old stand-by, // Truvntore. Indeed, taken as a whole, we 
have never had opera given as perfectly in the West, end for 
two weeks the enthusiasm of our musical people and the 
daily press has had very little limitation, llie most perfect 
performances have been StmnanUmlnt Lucia di Larnvm-mcor^ 
and Carmen. The Figaro of Mozart suffered very badly, 
owing to a foolish quarrel between Madame Boze and Miss 
Hank in regard to dresdng rooms; in consequence of this 
childish difficulty the lovely opera was so Imdly mutilated 
as to be hardly recognizable; and the whole performance 
just escaped being a complete frtdure. 

The ** Gerster nights" have called out Uie largest num- 
bers of people, and " standing room " has often been at a pre- 
mium at the operas in which tiiin gifted buiy has simg. In- 
deed, gallantry may excuse me for pasdng by the splendid 
chorus, and the fine band, and the most worthy support 
furnished this charming singer, to notice more particularly 
the talent of the lady herself. I can remember no operatic 
experience that was more interesting than the performance of 
Luda di Lamtnermoor^ in which Mme. Gerster took tite 
titie role. From the moment she sang her first aria, <• Keg- 
nava nd silenzio," until the clodng note of the *• mad 
scene " in the third act, she hdd the audience spellbound. 
As we remember the gentle presence of this charming 
dngor, and listen for the reecho of those pure, melting tones, 
it is difficult to recdl any vocalist who has made a more 
marked impression upon us than this lady. A number of 
singers have had as great flexibility and socal. technique, but 
no one has sung Lucia in my hearing who could so 
eompletdy represent the idea of the character, even amid 
all the brilliancy of the music In the ^ mad scene," where 
other singen have made the music a vocal dispUy of execu- 
tion, she undertakes the more difficult task of representing 
the heart-broken girl, maddened by her grief. The brilliant 
cadenzas with the flute seem to have a higher art in them 
than ever before- She renders the florid passages as if her st- 
tention had just been called to the music of the flute, and her 
madness took the form of mimicry; she imitated intui- 
tivdy. The wonderful sympathy of her high notes is r^ 
markable, for she is able to impress on them such coloring 
of tone tiiat nothing seems unfittini; the character she is rep- 
resenting- The very identity of the spirit is felt there, 



32 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 987. 



numifeatiii!; the pure emotions of a noble doiiI. Tbe careful 
manner in which she never allows a i.ote to increase in 
volume at the expense of puritj and sweetness is a lesson to 
all our }'0un;c singers. Her Amina in Sonn'imbula is 
also a very perfect creation. In the " Ah, uon eredea *' tbe 
delicate purity of her tones, breathing a simple sadness that 
was raost touching, ga\-e such a lovely picture of the simple 
and pure maiden that the audience was hushed to perfect 
silence through deep sympathy with the character, as well 
as calmed by delight 

There is somethuig greater in such singing than mere art. 
It is as if tbe spirit ^ song, mistress of all forma and powers, 
was manifesting her own pure thoughts in the most perfect 
and lovely manner. Splendid voices have sung to us beibre, 
bu^er and grander tones have been given, but for simplicity, 
purity, sweetness, and real feeling, Hme. Gerster stands 
alone. She makes a little home for henelf In every musical 
heart, and we shall love to remember her there with honest 
de\'otioa. 

In RigoleUo berpowen have not so fine an opportunity to 
manifest tbemadves. 

Miss Minnie Hauk bad little to do the first week except 
to Buig the part of Carmen and half of a part in Fiffoiv. 
Her acting of tbe Spanish Gypsy was very fine, and she lent 
to the character power and dramatic oonsbtency of which it 
is hardly worthy. We believe it is in no way a fkvorite role 
with her, and indeed it gives her but little opportmiity to 
disphiy her real ability and musical culture. In other parts 
she does herself much more justice. Madame Rose has been 
singing quite well, and had it not been for the " Gerster 
fever *' would have attracted much attention for her honest 
«ffi)rts. As it was sbe had a warm reception. She sang in 
Figaro and // Ti'ovntore. 

Sig. Campanhii comes back to na a fine artist, and has met 
with an enthusiastic recq>tion. Signori Galassi aiui FoU 
have made themselves favorites, and Slj^. FrapoUi has proved 
himself to be a careful singer; indeed tlie whole troupe have 
now a firm place bi our esteem. C- II. U. 

Milwaukee, Feb. 5. — Since I wrote you last there 
have been five local concerts worthy of record. Four werv 
chamber concerts by ftmr young people, two brothers and 
two sisters named, Heine. They range in age from four, 
teen to twenty-one years, and have been tntineii by their 
fisther to pUy the piano-forte, violin, viola, and 'cello. Their 
playing, if not that of mature artists, is interesting and 
musician-like, and worthy of tbe raune of genuine interpre- 
tation. They are thoroughly at home in the whole range 
of cliamber music, classical and modem, and read everything 
at sight. The programmes speak for tbemseh'«s. Tbe only 
mistake was in opening each with an overture. 

(1.) Beethovex. Overture: " Egmont; " String Qnar. 
tet Op. 18, No. 5; "Rreutzer" SonaU, Op. 47 (2d and 
3d movement) ; Quartet, for piano, violin, etc., Op. 16. 

(3.) Schubert. Overture: "Kosamunde;*' Duo for 
piano and violin, Op. 162, in (bur movements; String Quar- 
tet, poathuraoiui, in G ; Adagio and Rondo, posthumous, for 
piano, violin, alto, and *cello. 

(3.) Me.xuklhsohx. Overture: "Midsummer Night*s 
Dream:" Trio for piano, violin, and *oelk>. Op. 66 (last 
three movements); Violin Concerto (2d and 3d move- 
ment); String Quartet, in K flat. Op. 12. 

(4.) Overture: *' Preciosa,'* Weber; Trio for pUno, n- 
olin, and 'cello, (2d and dd movement), Op. 54, Fesca ; 
String Quartet, Op. 136, Allegro, Bifff Quartet, piano, 
violin, etc , Op. 47, Schumann. 

The fifth concert was the 260th of the Musical Society, 
under tbe leadership of Frof. Mickler. This was the pro- 
gramme: 

O^^erture: ** Midsummer Night's Dream.'* MtndeUtohn. 
Chorus, with Tenor Sok>, '< llie Young Cavalier.'* 

/'. MShring. 
J. Oestreicber and Maeimerehor. 

Aria from ** Jessonda." Spohr. 

Frans Remmertz. 
Songs for Mixed Chorus Aht. 

(a.) " I Must Sing Agahi." 

\b.) "Come Gang witb Me. 

(c.) " Wanderer's Joy." 
Unfinished Symphony (in B minor) .... Schubert. 

"Past!" F. AfShring, 

Maennerehor, with Baritone and Tenor Solos. 
Messrs. Frans Kemmeits and J. Oestreicher. 
Songs for Baritone: — 

(a.) "By the Sea" Schubert. 

(6.) " The Two Grenadiers." Schumann, 

Gypsy Life (Poem by Em. Geibd) for Mixed 

Chorus. S^umann, 

(With Oivhestral Accompaniment, by. . C. Gradener.) 

The orchestra seemed to be in rather better condition 
than at tbe previous concerts of this season. Tbe whole 
conceK was well done, the dioruses cspecudly showing im- 
provement in precision and shading. Mr. Kemniertz's no- 
ble baritone voice was' at its best in Schumann's " Two 
Grenadiers," as exciting and inspiring a song as he couM 
possibly have selected. We are to be so fortunate as to 
hear him again soon. 

Ptorhaps I ought to mention among our local concerts the 
Sunday concerts at Turner Hall by Chr. Bach's orchestra. 
These are primarily intended for amusement and recreation, 
rather than for culture; but tbe programmes not infre- 
quently include soeh overtures as MoKart*i Magic FluU, 



tt 



Weber's Freisehutz and Olttron^ movements from Haydn's 
and Beethoven's symphonies, Snint-Saens's Phaeton, etc. 
They are reasonably well done. 

Wilhelaij has been here again and played the Beethoven 
concerto in J) most superbly. He grew on us all tlie time 
as virtuoso and artist. He had with him this time Mr. 
Emil Liebiing as pianist. Mr. Liebling has a very sure and 
clear technique, and played Liszt's transcription of Bach's 
great G-mluor organ fugue in a way that left little to be de- 
sired. I was not so much inspired by his rendering of the 
Chopin Scbeno. 

I have fVirther to chronicle a concert by the Bf rs. H. M. 
Smith concert company, with a light but pleasing and cred- 
itable programme. Mrs. Smith herself seemed to be in 
her best voice, and sang with rare purity, precision, and 
beauty of expression. The whole company deserves &vorable 
mentkn. ■ J. 0. F. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

San Fka:cci8CO. — Good music is not withoot its faith- 
ful, able nspreseutatives in the fertbest Wcatcni city of this 
continent. One of the moet devoted and most influential 
for good, particulariy in the fields of organ and piano 
music, was the lamented Joseph lYenkle, whose spirit and 
whoee influence still live. He is well remembered and 
esteemed in Boston. Another Bostotiiaii, a more recent 
emigrant, is doing a good work there. An important 
member of our Apollo Club, he has carried the good seed 
with him to his new home, where he insplrss, teaches, and 
conducts the Loring Club, of which he is the lather. It is 
composed of some fifty male voices, and its tasteful minia- 
ture quarto bodes of words and programmes, which we occa- 
sionally receive, are much after the model of the Apollo 
books; while its repertoire includes very many of the best 
part-NongM given by tlie Boston dubs, oonfinuig itself thus 
he to this more iiiuiiest sphere, and not yet undertaking 
such grand tasks as the Antigone music of Mendelssohn. 
Mr. Loring is endeavoring to gather a chorus of ladies, so 
that tlie Club may bring out music for mixed voices, includ- 
ing now and then a chorale, or other short work, by Bach. 

IJettm* still, San Fraiftrisco lias its reguUr series of classi- 
cal chamber concerts, string quartets, quintets, eto., all 
from its own local resouroes. Thcae are given by the 
iSchmldt Quintette, ooinpoeed of Miss Alice Schmidt (Leip- 
zig pupil), piano-forte; l^ouis Schmidt, Jr. (do.), violui; 
Ctiflbrd Schmidt, violin; i^ouis Schmidt, vioU; Ernst 
Schmidt (Leipzig graduate), violoncello. All of the Schmidt 
fiunlly ! So the con»entu$ should be perfect. One of the local 
critics, honest and outspoken and a cultivated musician, 
writes of the fourth concert, December 6) : " Tbe keynote to 
the entire eveuhig was struck in the string quartet of 
Haydn, with which the concert opened — Mr. Cliflbrd 
Schmidt leading — of which the Menuetto was given with 
the most charming grace and humor. Mr. Cliflbrd also 
placed a new feather in his cap — and a still larger one, I 
think, in that of his teacher, his elder Itrotber, Louis, Jr. 

— by his really admirable playing of the Andante and 
Finale from Mendelssohn's Violhi Concerto; the Andante, 
although beautifully pUyed, suflend somewhat from the 
rather nfkd tempo in which it has become the fashion of 
late years to pUy it (entirely uncalled for and mistaken, I 
think), but tlie Finale was a delightful performance in many 
respects. So was also that of the Variations S^rieuses, by 
Miss Schmidt, who certainly showed great counge in at- 
tempting this nKMt diflicult and profound of Moidelssobn's 
piano-forte compositions, but who proved herself to lie as 
nearly equal to Uie task of pUyiiig it as it Is possible to be 
at ber age. Tbe aithusiasiu of youth Is rsiely tempered 
with artistic reticence; young blood must be penuitt«i its 
moments of gush. But I prefer it in mild doses, especbilly 
in Mendelssohn's music. I'be String Quarts of Schuliert 

— the posthumous Allegro molto in C minor — a work of 
indescribable beauty, and one that made a truly profound 
impression on the audience, was one of the most perfect 
quartet performances f ever heard anywhere. Aware, as I 
was, of the great difficulty of this movement, both for each 
individual player and in the ensemble j I had prepared my- 
sdf to be satisfied witb a moderately good peHbimiance of it, 
and, indeed, should have considered tbts quite an achieve- 
ment. But I was delightfully disappointed. &lrs. 'llppett, 
who did not seem to be in her best voice, sang witb 
the true musical intelligence and sympathetic styte that 
characterizes everything she does. Tlie first song, by Raff, 
was not well chosen, for her, since it should be given 
with a dramatic force fbr which her voice is entirely inade- 
quate; the aoiigs of Keinecke, with violin, he sings bean- 
UfuUy." 

The fifib and hst programme (December 29) included the 
piano-ibrte Quintet of Schumann, clarinet Quintet of Mozart, 
Gavotte ci Bazzini for strings. Aria for violin by Bach, a 
Ciaooniie for violin, by Yitali, Komanza for 'cello, by Bar- 
giel, and tlie brilliant Capriccio in B minor of Menddssohn 
(with quintet accompaniment) for piano-forte. Mrs. Mar- 
riiier-Campbell sang an Aria from " Pr^ auz dercs '* with 
obligato violin, and a " Slumber Song " by Oscar Weil. 

Tlien again, still more important, San Francisco has, and 
has had for a quarter of a century, its own orchestra, which 
pUys symphonies, etc., — a larger orchestra tban we can 
command just now in Boston, and a very good one, as Mr. 
Zanrahn wiU testify, who coiidueied in Uia fiestival thcic 



last Jjiite. Tbe silwr anniverBary of tlie presentation of a 
liaton to the conductor of this Philharmonic Society, Mr. 
Kudolph Herold, was to take place on tbe 22d ult. We 
ha\'e before us programmes of eight Orchestral Matinees 
given in two months (September 18 to November 20). 
hiey include, Beethoven: Levnore Overture, numbers 
I, 2, and 3; Eighth Symphony. Mozart: Concerto in E 
flat for two pianos; Concerto for French bom. Haydn: 
Symphony in D. Schubert: unfinished Symphony in B 
minor. Schumann: Symphony in D minor (twice). F. 
I^chner: Suite No. 2, in E minor. Gade: Fourth Sym- 
phony, B-flat Rubinstein: Ocean Symphony. Besldei 
nuuiy smaller pieces. 

Ci2ici2f2f ATI. — The PKsident of the College of Music, 
In his statement to the directors, decbuvs that tbe result io 
far exceeds bi^ nost sanguine expectations; that the school 
has already 283 pupils, witb ample accommodations for 
from 500 to 1,000. It is compbuned that the weekly organ 
concerts are too mrch of a draui upon the treasury of the 
Colk^ 

llie new College Choir will take up the following u- 
tcresting worlu for practice witb a view to public perform- 
ance: Uandd's "Hercules," composed in 1744, and orig- 
bially styled an Oratorio (never yet given in thu country) ; 
Schubert's Mass in £-flat; Verdi's *< Requiem;" selcctioaa 
from Beethoven's " Ruins of Athens," and Bach's CantaU, 
" Eiii feste Bui^g." 

" Tbe Musical Club" b the title of a Cincinnati institn- 
tkm of two or three years* standing, composed of most of 
the leading musicians of tbe city, who meet together in a 
friendly way on Sunday afternoons. They bare usually a 
printed programme, but sometimes any one who fSeeb like it 
plays. It has done much to promote a kindly fceliiig among 
the members. Occasionally a member submits a new com- 
position to the criticism of the Club, and we are told that 
some very creditable eflforts have been made in this direc- 
tion. This Club paid a graceful tribute to tbe memorj of 
Beethoven on the 108th anniversary of his birth (December 
17, 1878), when the following programme was presented : — 

(1.) TVio for (uano- forte, violin and 'eello. Op. 70. No. 1. 

Geo. Schneider, S. £. Jacoliesobn, A. Hartdegen. 
(2.) ScNiata, for piano-forte. C nugor. Op. 53. 

Amim Doenier. 

(3.) Elegiac Song, for four voices and accompaniment of 

strings. Op. 118. 
Misses Ruth Jones and Emma Cranch ; Messn. Geo. A. 

Fitch and Chas. J. Davis. 
(4.) Quartet, for two violuis, viola, and 'eello. Op. 95. 
Theodore I'homas, S. E. Jaoobesohn, C. Battens, A. Uaii- 

dcgen. 

It b tbe Board of Directors of the andnnati Mnsied 
Festival Association who offer the prize referred to in oor 
bst. We quote from their announcement : — 

" This a ssoci ati on was organized for the purpose of ele- 
vating tbe standard of music In the three fisstivab already 
given, it b believed that thb dyect has in good measure 
been attained. Tbe choral and orchestral works of the 
great masters have been worthily represented, and honest, 
healthy musical influences bai-e been exerted upon large 
numliers of peopb. New wOTks have been given upon these 
occaaioos. I'be directors of the association are, however, 
now convinced that with the resouroes of sokMsts, chorus, 
and orchestn availabJe for the festivals, tliere b tbe proper 
field In this country for the dbpby and encouragement of 
native muaical talent. 

'* I'be assocbtion, therefore, oflers a prize of one thousand 
doUars ($1,000) for the most mcritorions work for cbonis 
and orchestra, the competition for which is to be open only 
to natice-bofi^ citizens of tbe United States. Thb work 
will lie performed at the fourth festival in the month of May, 
1880. 

^ Five Judges will be appdnted to decide upon the merits 
of the compositions presented for competition. Three of 
these judges, one of whom will be Mr. Theodote I'bomsa, 
will be nominated by the Musical Festival Association, llie 
other two judges wiU he selected by tbe three whose appoint* 
ment is already provided fen*. BIr. lliomas will be president 
of tbe board of judgea. Tbe worics offered for oompetitiou 
must not occupy more tban sixty minutes in tbe perform- 
ance. 

" Tlie full score and a piano score of aU works must be 
placed in the hands of the president of tbe board of Judges 
in Cincinnati, on or bef<Me October ^ 1879. 

" Tbe author of the prize oomppsition shall own the cc^y- 
right of hb'work. ^ 

^ Tbe association will pay the oost of its publication, hav- 
ing direction over tbe same, making its own arrangement 
with the publisher for such numbers of the work ae it maj 
require, whidi shall be free from copyright. The association 
shall have the right of performance at any and all times." 

PiTTSFiKLD, Mass. — Mendebsohn's Elifah waa per- 
formed in the First Church January 27, by tbe Oratorio 
Cbss of Mr. Blodgett's Music School, assbted by Mia. H. 
M. Smith, soprano; Miss Fbrence E, Holmes, contralto; 
Mr. W. H. Feasenden, tenor; Mr. J. F. Which,^ basso, and 
an ordiestra from ^Boston ; conductor, B. C. Biodgett; or- 
ganist, £. B. Stoty. 



March 1, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



33 



BOSTON, MARCH i, 1879, 

CONTENTS. 

To POBUQB ViBfliLius H ABO. TntDsIatlon flrom Honee. C. P. 

Cranch 88 

Obobob Saito A5D Fbbdcbio CiiOPiir. A Study. Fannf 

Raymond Ritur 88 

Masoh's Piaho-Fobtb TcoHifics. C. B. Cody 85 

Thb SnoBTCOMiKOs or tqb Opbba. W, B. Lawton ... 86 

EsiTOBiAi.: BAca-Birino. W. F. A 86 

Cobcbbts 87 

Handel «id Ibydn Soetoty. — Buterpe. >-IIar¥Ard Hu« 
fioal Anociation. — Mr. Arthur W. Foote's Conoert. 

Musical CoBBKSPOifDBifCK 88 

M«w York. — Philadelphia. — Iteitlmora. — ChloBgo. 

NOTBS AHD GLBAXIXM 40 

Lelprig. — Paria. — London. — B«d«n- Baden. — Stutt- 
gart. — l^elleeley . — Oxford, O. — Chicago. 

PMis/ud fortnightly fry HouooToir, Omood ahd Compaitt, 
220 Devonskir* Strtet^ Boston. Price, JO c«nt$anumbtr; $2.50 
ptf yMr. 

AU the articles not credited to other jntUications were expressly 
written for this Journal, 



TO PUBLIUS VIRGILIUS MARO. 

TRAMSLATION FROM HORACE, RT a P. CRAMCII. 

What meaiure, what rettnUnt, to fond regret 
For one who was lo dear, can e'er be set? 
Melpomene, to whom thy father gave 
Thy liquid voice and harp, teach me thy grave, 
Sad Bontri ! Blust then perpetual sleep of death 
Fall on QuinctUiua? When, for modest worth, 

For unoomipted fiuth — 
Slater of Justice — truth unveiled and clear, 

Say when upon this earth 

Siiall we e'er find his peer? 
He is bemoaned by many good and true; 
Bemoaned by none, O Virgil, more than joa. 
You supplicate the gods, alas, in vain. 
To give Qninctilius back again ; 
Though sought by you with pious prayer, 
Not thus was be entrusted to their care. 

What though 3-011 touch the lyre with harnxinies 
Sweeter tlum Orpheus mid the listening trees. 
The life-blood never will retntce its course. 
That empty shade to penetrate. 
Which Mercury, relentless to enforce 
Against all prayers the stem decrees of fate, 
Drives with his dreadful wnnd along 
To join the dusky throng. 
Hafd lot! Tei ills we *re powerless to repair, 
Deoome through patience easier to bear. 



GEORGE SAND AND FRfiDfeRIC 

CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 

BY FANNY RAYMOND RITTER. 
(Continoed flrom page 27.) 

With almost as much apparent riglit as 
tlie friends of Chopin, the friends of Dela- 
croix might assert that George Sand wrote 
some of her finest pages under his ^^ inspira- 
tion." He was for years her intimate friend 
(their acquaintance dated from her first res- 
idence in Paris), and the instructor of her 
son Maurice, who afterwards displayed va- 
ried talent as an artist in his genial designs, 
and as a litterateur in romances of greater 
erudition than spontaneity. We should not, 
indeed, do her great injustice were we to 
term her, in a certain limited aesthetic sense, 
the pupil of Delacroix. But what a pupil ! 
How many painters, art-critics, or reviewers, 
among her contemporaries, could have held 
their own with such depth of thought, i^uch 
precision of expression, as she did, whether 
in agreement with, or in opposition to, the 
vidws of her distinguished friend ? — a friend, 
too, who, in addition to his remarkable gen- 
ius as a painter, displayed uncommon talent 
in criticism, to the literature of which he 
contributed many valuable articles, reviews, 
and letters, which were collected and pub- 



lished after his death. Mme. Dudevant has 
devoted as many appreciative pages to the 
genius and character of Delacroix as to those 
of Chopin, — two artists between whom there 
exisited many resemblances and points of con- 
tact, in respect to personality and character. 
Both were radical in artistic principle, orig- 
inal in artistic manifestation, elegant and 
fastidious in perirenal habits^ exclusive in so- 
ciety and in friendship, warmly enamored of 
the ideal. The chief tendency of each artist 
was the same: a patient ntudy and passionate 
revelation of the inmost mysteries of picto- 
rial or musical color. But Delacroix, though 
generous and disinterested as Chopin, was 
more combative ; equally indiffereut to pe- 
cuniary considerations, he was more so to 
those of fame and friendship, and he shrank 
from no trial that would enable him to carry 
out his artistic convictions. He was one of 
the most assiduous frequenters of Chopin^s 
salon, and delighted in his compositions, 
which, he said, in their involved, melting, 
chromatic harmonics, their soft unity or start- 
ling variety of tone, threw him into profound 
reveries that often suggested to him new 
combinations of color. It is sin(;ular to ob- 
serve how often Delacroix's admirers have 
written of the impression produced by his 
pictures as a ^* quasi-musical *' one, an ex- 
pression not inapplicable to works in which, 
from the perfect harmony that exists between 
subject and sombre yet luminous color, the 
painting ^eems magnetically to project its 
thought to a distance, and to involve us in 
its own atmosphere, as all great music does. 
We often find twenty or thirty different tones 
of color in a single head by Delacroix ; the 
same trait may be observed in the composi- 
tions of Chopin, who seems to have needed 
a musical .system more finely divided than 
our present European one, in order to ex- 
pre6H his infinitesimal shades of thought. 
One of Delacroix's contemporaries wrote of 
his " Sultan of Morocco : " " When has a 
finer piece of musical coquetry been dis- 
played on canvas ? What painter has sung 
such capricious melodies as this painter has 
done ? What a prodigious chord of novel, 
hitherto unused, yet delicate and charming 
tones!" And that admirable writer on art, 
Theophile Sylvestre, in writing of Delacroix, 
observes : ** This painter not only infinitely 
exalts the physiognomy of his heroes, but, 
by what magic I know not, he enables us to 
look at them through the medium of colore, 
each one of which recalls, at the same time, 
a natural featu*e, and an aspiration of the 
soul ; through blue and green he pursues the 
immensity of ocean and sky, causes red to 
sound like the clang of warlike trumpets, 
and draws sombre complaints from violeU 
Thus, in colors, he reinvents the melodies of 
Mozart, Beethoven, Weber." Still better has 
Charles Baudelaire described the haunting, 
indelible impression, the ideas, similar to 
those evoked by romantic music, which are 
awakened by Delacroix's pictured, in those 
lines that speak of the painter's woods and 
lakes, 

" Oil, sous un eiel chagrin, des &nfares ^trangcs 
Psssent, comme un soupir ^touff<S de Weber." 

The enemies of Delacroix complained that 
in order to sttirtle, he gave nothing but con- 



tinual successions of dissonances, like some 
great composer, predetermined to split his 
listeners' ears ; the same complaint that is 
uttered to-day by the opponents of Wagner. 
But, although Chopin and Delacroix dis- 
played more than one similar trait in their 
characters and works, there is another com- 
poser, between whom and Delacroix so many 
more points of resemblance exist, — accord- 
ing to my belief, at least, — that I wonder 
that the comparison has not yet been made. 
I mean Hector Berlioz. This composer has 
been compared to Rembrandt, yet that re- 
semblance is only a slight and superficial one. 
The likeness between Berlioz and Delacroix 
was in no way derived . from the influence of 
such intimate intercourse as existed between 
Chopin and the painter, and if in part owing 
to the same nationality, and to the spirit 
of the time, — the revolutionary intellectual 
movement that affected, more or less, all 
great minds at that epoch, no matter in what 
art they expressed themselves, — it arose prin- 
cipally from strikingly original, innate quali- 
ties. There was also some resemblance be- 
tween their artistic development and careers. 
Delacroix abandoned the antique theatrical 
style of his master, Gu^rin, to follow the dic- 
tates of his own bold genius ; Berlioz for- 
sook the teachings of the Conservatoire (hor- 
rifying the orthodox Cherubini by his radical 
tendencies), in order to carry out his own ar- 
tistic belief ; Delacroix's pictures, ^ Dante and 
Virgil crossing the Styx " (1822), and his 
** Massacre of Scio " (1824), were regarded 
as the confession of faith of the new scliool 
of French painting, and excited a war that 
is not yet, perhaps, at an end ; Berlioz's sym- 
phony, the fine ^ Episode de la Vie d'un Ar- 
tiste," played in public for the first time only 
a few years (four or five) after the first public 
exposition of Delacroix's great paintings, be- 
came the war-cry of the new romantic mu- 
sical school ; the same storm of derision, an- 
ger, envy, abuse, surprise, mingled with glow- 
ing admiration and enthusiasm, greeted both 
great artists from the outset, as it usually 
happens on those rare occasions when some 
novel and sublime creation shakes medioc- 
rity to its centre, strikes rapturous terror into 
the heart of the world of art, and gives the 
signal for another intellectual revolution ; un . 
less, indeed, such works are wholly misun- 
derstood, and for a time ignored, as it also 
happens occasionally. But originality invari- 
ably creates its own — a new — standard, and 
is therefore misunderstood at first, save by 
a few rare spirits, in exact proportion to its 
originality. Few people care to climb the 
novel, rugged paths instead of the smooth 
Hnd well-beaten ways they have been long 
accustomed to. They ask, Why will the 
new mind work in this new fashion ? Why 
not express itself in writing, painting, com- 
posing, in the same manner as its predeces- 
sors ? The new men found a few ardent ad- 
mirers, however, men of too much breadth 
and depth of mind themselves not to appre- 
ciate a different order of genius, and too no- 
ble and generous to fear to express that ap- 
preciation openly ; thus we know how bravely 
Robert Schumann took the field in defeu^^ 
of Berlioz (although Schumann somewhat 
modified his approbation subse<)uently), and 



34 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 988. 



among the defenders of Delacroix it is pleas- 
ant to find M. Thiers, — who, as an art critic, 
was much in advance of his time, — finely ex- 
pressing his admiration of the '* Dante and 
Virgil," in an article written for the Consti- 
tutionnel as early as 1822. The choice of 
subjects with Berlioz and Delacroix was often 
similar, sometimes identical. They have il- 
lustrated Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet; Faust, 
Ivanhoe, Waverley ; Sardanapalus, the Oda- 
lisques; the Captive, etc., etc But the 
most real resemblance lay deeper than any 
mere outside one. Both men were charac- 
terized by the pame determined striving to- 
wards the most unfettered expression of in- 
ward feeling ; a striving so resolute, that I 
will venture to assert that their aspiration 
was not so much towards pure beauty, or, 
" la grace, phis belle que la beaute" as to- 
wards expression, and that they regarded th's 
as more desirable than either beauty or grace. 
Both displayed the same apparent — but only 
apparent — audacious exaggeration of details, 
the same grandiose conception and explosive 
opulence of coloring, the same general tone 
of dramatic melancholy, the same occasional 
harshness, with tin occasional surprisingly 
exquisite, sylph-like, flower-like delicacy and 
fancifulness of idea and execution. But, as 
music is an artless generally understood than 
painting, Berlioz, though only three years 
younger than Delacroix, passed through a far 
longer and more painful ordeal in his strug- 
gle for recognition, than did the more imme- 
diately successful painter; indeed, Berlioz 
remained one of art's martyrs all his life, and 
is only now — too late, alas ! — beginning to 
be recognized as all he really was. Nor can 
we say that, strictly speaking, Berlioz has 
founded a school with numerous disciples, 
like Delacroix ; though his^ influence on sub- 
sequent composers, especially Liszt and Wag- 
ner, has been. great, it is somewhat occult 
Yet it cannot be said of any composer that 
he has founded a school, though he may have 
inaugurated a new stage of musical progress ; 
for music is so thoroughly subjective an art 
that the greatest composers, as soon as they 
have thrown off the fetters of conventionality, 
are always the most original and consequently 
the most inimitable. In Grermany,for twenty 
years, the muse of Berlioz was slandered as 
a Moenad, himself as a lunatic, his works as 
the result of hasheesh visions, the creations 
of a Hell-Breughel enlarged to the colossal 
dimensions of a Michael Angelo.^ Delacroix, 
too, was often made the object of comparisons 
drawn from the vocabulary of the Inferno ; 
the academical Ingres, on leaving the room 
where Delacroix's pictures were exhibited 
at the first universal Parisian exposition, 
80 far forgot himself as to exclaim aloud, 
" Bah ! it smells of sulphur ! " Even Ber- 
lioz's sharp^ut, noble face and his kindly 
blue eyes were described as tho.*e of an ogre ; 
the music-dealer Hofmann, in Prague, kept a 
plaster cast of the bust of Caracalla from the 
Capitoline Museum in his window, and coolly 
pointed it out to his customers as " the bust 

1 Pietar Breughel the younger, the Duieh painter, wm 
nicknamed «* Hell-Breughel/* from his fondness for subjecte 
treating of deviltry, witchcraft, robbery, etc., and pennitting 
sharp contrasts of light and shade and color. One of his 
most fambtts pictures, in the Florence gallery, is his *' Or- 
pheus playing to the Infernal Gods.'* 



of the famous Berlioz!" If a phenomenon, 
however, he was no monster, though blood 
seems more often to flow through his scores, 
— as across the canvases of Delacroix, — 
than any weak counterfeit of vitality. 

In endeavoring to judge of the influence 
which the circle of artists surrounding George 
Sand may or may not have exerted on the 
tendency of her works, it is agreeable to ob- 
serve that Charles Baudelaire, fine and subtle 
critic, though so imbued with the spirit of 
pessimism, believed, with George Sand, an 
optimist in her judgment of her friends, that 
the character of Delacroix was as entirely 
noble as his genius was sublime. In Baude- 
laire's study of the life and works of Eugene 
Delacroix, he speaks as follows : ^' At first 
sight Delacroix simply struck us as a court- 
eous gentleman, one of rare cultivation, un- 
prejudiced and unim passioned. He only per- 
mitted old acquaintHUces to penetrate the var- 
nish and to divine the abstruse recesses of his 
soul. Prosper Merim^e was the man with 
whom, outwardly, he could alone legitimately 
be compared ; both displayed the same some- 
what affected apparent coldness, the same icy 
cloak covering exquisite sensibility and ardent 
adoration of the good and beautiful ; the same 
deep devotion to a few friends and convic- 
tions, under the pretense of egotism. All in 
Delacroix was energy, but the energy of will 
and nervous vivacity ; for physically he was 
frail and delicate. The tiger on the watch 
for his prey displays less fire in his eyes, less 
spasmodic impatience of his muscles, than did 
our great painter when his whole soul was 
possessed by one idea, or striving to possess 
itself of a vision. The very character of 
his physiognomy, — his Peruvian complexion, 
and large black eyes, somewhat marred and 
sunken, indeed, by the continual ^ercise of 
their powers of observation, yet seeming al- 
most to swallow the light ; his lustrous, abun- 
dant black hair ; his fine, thin lips, which had 
acquired an expression almost bordering on 
cruelty from continued tension of the will, — 
his entire person, indeed, conveyed the idea 
of an exotic origin. He might have been 
compared to the crater of a volcano, artist- 
ically concealed by tufts of flowers. Dela- 
croix was warmly in love with passion, and 
coldly resolved to seek every means of ex- 
pressing passion in the most unmistakable 
manner. These are the two traits most ob- 
servable in all extreme genius, the genius that 
Heaven did not create jnerely to please cow- 
ardly and easily satisfied natures, those that 
find nourishment enough in mild, timid, im- 
perfect works. Immense passion, backed 
by formidable will, — such was Delacroix as 
au artist. In his eyes passionate imagination 
was the most precious of divine gifts, the 
most important of human faculties, but sterile 
and powerless unless sustained by sure and 
rapid technical ability, capable of seconding 
that imperial and despotic faculty in its most 
impatient caprices. He never found it nec- 
essary to excite the always incandescent fire 
of his own imagination, but he complained 
that the day was too short for the study and 
practice of every means of giving voice to 
that imagination. To this incessant preoc- 
cupation we must attribute his perpetual re- 
searches into the mysteries of color, his in- 



quiries into the science of chemistry, and his 
long interviews with color manufacturers. 
In these studies he resembled Leonardo da 
Vinci. Yet Delacroix, in spite of his love 
for all the brilliant, ardent phenomena of vi- 
tality, will never be confounded with the vul- 
gar crowd of artists and Utteratiy whose nar- 
row, near-sighted intelligence, and rough, 
rationalistic materialism strives to conceal it- 
self behind the vague and obscure name of 
realism." The manner in which George 
Sand has written of Delacroix, as of Chopin, 
and others of her friends, should be enough 
to convince us that she would be the last to 
conceal any source from which she might pos- 
sibly have drawn any of her supposed outside 
^ inspiration ; " had she been a practical plastie 
artist, she would certainly have shared the 
noble, reverent feeling of Washington Allston, 
who said, '' I would not be the first painter in 
the world, even if I could ; but, if possible, 
the second, for then I should still have some 
one to look up to." I extract a few passages 
from her remarks, so utterly opposed, in their 
critical spirit, to the satanic spirit, — that of 
cold, cynical denial, — on the character and 
genius of Delacroix : ^* Eiigene Delacroix 
was one of my first friends in the artist world, 
and I am also fortunate enough to x;ouiit him 
among my old friends now. Old, it must be 
understood, is the word that refers to the age 
of our relations toward each other, but not to 
the person. Delacroix is not, never can be 
old, for he is a genius, and therefore always 
young. To name him is to name one of 
those pure .men, of whom the world fancies 
it has said enough in declaring them to be 
honorable, since the world does not know 
how difiicult it is to be so for the laborer who 
bends under the weight of his task, or for the 
artist who wrestles with his own genius. The 
history of our intercourse may be related in 
these few words : friendship without a cloud. 
A history as rare as it is delightful ! but with 
us it ii the absolute truth. I do not know 
whether the character of Delacroix has its 
imperfections or not ; but while living near 
him, in continuous social relations, or in the 
country, I failed to discover even a small 
fault in it. And yet who can be more sim- 
ple, affectionate, trustful, confiding in friend- 
ship, than he is? I certainly owe to him, 
besides, the happiest hours of pure delight 
that I ever tasted as an artist. If other 
great minds have initiated me into their dis- 
coveries and delights in the sphere of an 
ideal common to us all, I can say that no ar- 
tistic individuality was ever more sympathetic 
to me than his, or more intelligible in its viv- 
ifying expansion. In music, and in poetic 
appreciation, too, Delacroix is equal to what 
we should expect from one whose standard 
in his own art is so exalted ; and in conver- 
sation, when he fully reveals himself, he is 
charming, or sublime, and both with perfect 
unconsciousness. He is great, too, not only 
in his art, but in his artistic life. I shall not 
speak of his private virtues, his tenderness 
toward his suffering friends, his devotion to 
his family, or of the solid qualities of his 
character, for these are npere individual merits 
which appertain to all honorable private life, 
and which friendship has no right to publish 
to the world, since they do not concern it ; 



March 1, 1879.] 



I) WIGHT'S JOUBNAL OF MUSIC. 



35 



but the integrity of his artistic conduct, his 
indifference to popularity, his disdain of 
money, his refusal to yield a single artistic 
principle, in spite of loss, and in the face of 
per.*(ecution, — all this, like every noble ex- 
ample of public life and character, belongs to 
the public^ and must be placed before the 
public, for its profit, admiration, and, if pos- 
sible, for imitation as well as appreciation. 
Many of his 'own admirable letters would 
paint him as he is better than I could do it ; 
but may we unveil the character of living 
friends in such a manner, even thoucrh we be- 
lieve the revelation may result in tlieir glori- 
fication ? No ; friendshij), like love, possesses 
its own modest discretion and timidity." ^ 

{To be cotUinued.) 



MASON'S PIANO-FORTE TECHNICS. 

(Coneladed from page 29.) 

FuoM this review of the two factors, mind and 
mnscle, it is at once plain that exercises iiiiist be 
chosen which have a twofold object : the train- 
ing of muscles as such from a gymnast's point of 
view, and the training of them for the expres- 
sion of thought. This is true of the exercises 
found in this work. Of course some of these 
exercises should have a moi*e direct bearing upon 
muscular development ; and tlic same, or others, 
because of the method of treatment, should fur- 
nish the most arduous mental discipline. Among 
the former should be classed the two-finser exer- 
cise, since it has for its main object the bringinf^ 
into action of all the muscles of the fingers, both 
singly and combined. Before this is presented 
** touch *' is explained (Chapter VL). (Owing to 
lack of space I must refer the reader to the work 
itself for illustrations and definitions.) 

In general it is divided into finger, hand, and 
arm touch. There are four forms of finger touch : 
(1) " Clinging touch ; " (2) *• Plain legato ; " (3) 
" Mild staccato/' and (4) *• Elastic touch." " In 
the clinging touch the pressure always exceeds the 
natural power of the fingers." "In the plain 
legato the pressure does not exceed the natural 
force of the finger." The two-finger exercise 
is applied to the diatonic and chromatic scale, 
broken major thirds, broken chromatic major and 
minor thirds, double thirds and sixths, diminished 
seventh chord and black keys. There are four 
forms or methods of practice depending upon the 
touches used: First. "Exercise for the ctiuging 
touch.*' In this the first key is struck with a free 
blow " from the wrist," and is held down with a 
heavy pressure till the " next key is struck by 
the next finger, which must be raised high for 
that purpose." This second key is held down 
with a heavy pressure, and the second finger is 
changed for the first, and " the thinl key is 
struck in the same manner as the second, and 
so on." 

Second. " Exercise for the elaxlic touch" In 
this the first key is struck down as in the former 
case, but the second tone is produced by extend- 
ing the finger, and then spitefully shutting the 
hand. 

Third. " Exercise for light and rapifi playing,** 
In this the " plain legato *' and tight ttaccato are 
used. 

Fourth. " Exercise for velocity, lightnenH, and 

1 Tbooe among my readen who cIo«ely follow the period- 
ical art-literatare of the day. will remember the article by 
Guiffivy, in L'Ai-t, vol. lii., 1877, entitled '* Lettres inedites 
d*Eugtoe DeUcroiz " (and containhig a feo-timile of Dela- 
eroix*! flmt sketch for his " Hamlet "), which article urged 
the publication of a more complete collection of Delacroix's 
letters than that previously given to the world. This wish 
has Ibaiid its realization in the collection that has recently 
appeared in Paris. (litres d'Eug^ne Delacioiz, leeuillte 
^ public par M. Burts. Paris: Quantin. 1878.) 



brilliancy.** This " is the summing up of the 
other three with something peculijir to itself," 
namely velocity, which has a more direct bewaring 
upon the mental si<lc. 

Because of its simplicity of form and bring- 
ing into action all the muscles of the fingers, this 
exercise is certainly the most effective means for 
muscular development. The novelty here is its 
application to so many dilferent tonal forms, dia- 
tonic scale, broken thirds, etc., and the methods 
of practice, as just explained. Valuing this ex- 
ercise as much as the authors, I still must, in 
part, dissent from the method of treatment. In 
the chapter on " How to use this System " (Chap- 
ter XIII.), it says, »* This (the two finger exer- 
cise) is the first technical exercise to be ffiven to 
beginners, since if they cannot play two tones 
suc<;cssively it is of no use to ask them to play 
more." And children are to " receive each one 
of tlie elementary forms," that is, the first and 
second methods of treatment. To give this ex- 
ercise in the manner described would be like re- 
quiring a beginner in vocal culture to sing as 
loudly as possible, in order to give flexibility and 
strength to the vocal chords. Mere gripping 
muscular strength is not what is first wanted. 
Each finger has its nerve centre or motor centre, 
and the great object of technical development, as 
regards the fingers, is to" teach each one of these 
motor centres to respond independently of all 
others, as far as possible, to the slightest volition 
and its reflex action. Hence, concentration of 
nerve force is the first essential, and generally 
this cannot be done at first in connection with 
the use of much muscular power. And right 
here the bearing of the criticism upon the action 
of the flexor muscles is plain. It is this ability 
to send the nervous current through the proper 
motor centre into any given muscle (which I 
have termed concentration of nervous force), which 
constitutes that ** independence " and " flexibil- 
ity " so much talked about by teachers, and as 
little understood as the way to the north pole. 
Concentration of nervous force and inner muscu 
lar power is as essential in piano as in vocal 
training ; and which, we ask, should come first, 
concentration or great strength ? Will not 
strength grow with the growth of concentrated^ 
effort ? This can have but one answer, and that 
in the aflSrmative. 

The application of the two-finger exercise to 
the diatonic scale is given as the simplest form.* 
It might be asked why the trill is not a simpler 
form, since it allows of a more quiet position of 
the hand, and avoids all that tendency to use the 
hnnd which arises in the attempt, on the part of 
a beginner, to strike the same tone with two suc- 
cessive fingers. It admits also of continuous 
treatment, and the application of all those devices 
suggested in this work for mental training. It is 
a matter of note that the trill finds no place in 
this system. Another two-finger exercise I should 
like to have seen incorporated with the others, and 
that is, an exercise for tlie development of the 
independent action of the adductor of the thumb. 
The under-stroke of the thumb is too important 
to be relegated to scale and arpeggio practice 
alone. 

Another important set of exercises, having a 
strong bearing upon muscular development, are 
those for the hand stroke. This is secured in 
this work by the octave exercises. A>i(le from 
the application of the velocity idea, there is noth- 
ing essentially novel. It is a concise and com- 
plete treatment of a subject that is generally let 
alone till met with in some composition, and then 
some awful octave etude is brought out to mend 

o 

matters. The early development of the hand 
stroke is not dwelt upon, not even mentioned. 
This should be one of the first, and rather pre- 
cede than follow finger exercises, since it con- 



duces to looseness of wrist in finger practice. 
No one need wait till he can reach an octave be- 
fore putting into practice all the principles laid 
down in this chapter. Any one can reach a 
sixth, and this admits of a great variety of treats 
ment for acquiring flexibility of wrist and scale 
movement. 

It remains for us to notice some points in this 
system which have a bearing upon the mental 
side. These are rhythm, as applied to technical 
exercises, and the velocity idea. In the chapter 
on rhythm there is some ambiguity in the mean- 
ing of that term. At least it is made to do duty 
for two distinct ideas. 

^* Any rhythmical succession becomes a rhythm 
when it -consists of a symmetrical number of 
measures and ends with an accent." " Thus it 
plainly appears that all musir^al rhythms consist 
finally of twos or threes, or combinations of both. 
In this book rhythms are distinguished as rhythms 
of threes, fours, sixes, eight):, nines, .... and 
so on, according to the number of tones in the 
measures of which the rhythm is compose<l." In 
the first quotation we have the idea of the union 
or grouping of measures as constituting rhythm. 
In the second quotation, this idea is again ex- 
pressed, and also the definition of rhythm as be- 
intr tlie subdivision of the units of the measure. 
With this exception this chapter is very complete 
and systematic. The tables and illustrations are 
all that could be desired. 

The importance of this is seen, however, in its 
application to technical exercises. The idea of 
using rhythm in this direction is not new, but its 
systematic application as here developed is cer- 
tainly novel and exhaustive, and leaves no room 
tor additions. The advantages as they are enum 
crated are : (1) discipline in time ; (2) accentua- 
tion conduces to discrimination in touch and em- 
phasis ; (3) the attempt to complete the rhythm 
cultivates endurance; and this latter requires 
(4) concentration of mind, and hence is an effect- 
ive means for mental discipline. If I were to give 
tlie order of these, — the discipline in concentra- 
tion of mind, and tone, — thought should come 
first, as this is essential to a comprehension of 
all the rest. There is another advantage which 
might be urged here, and that is that this con- 
duces to a study of tone and tone combinations 
from an sesthetical stand-point. 

The velocity idea, as applie<l to technics, is 
new, although found in the studies of Czerny, 
Bertini, and others. It is based upon the prin- 
ciple of automatic thought, and automatic rela- 
tions between the thinking centre and mechan- 
ism of cxprersion, as explained in the chapter on 
the mind. When one reads a sentence rapidly, 
but little of the tonal elements enters into the con- 
scious thought. So in playing rapidly the mind 
cannot consciously take cognizance of all the 
tones, but thinks from point to point, ordering the 
performance of large groups of tones. This 
^' velocity exercise " thus consists, in general, of 
any passage (rendered familiar by previous prac- 
tice) played in the manner following : Taking its 
first tone firmly, we hold it for a little over two 
counts ; thus fixing the mind on the final tone of 
the passage, we pass lightly over the intervening 
tones, alighting on the final key at the third count. 
This exercise is at first taken in short dis- 
tances, which are progressively enlarged, the rate 
of counting remaining unchanged, whereby the 
speed of tlie velocity passage is augmented by 
degrees. It will be seen that velocity is nar- 
rowed down to the idea of a " spurt ; " but mu- 
sicians who have written ^tudet for velocity had 
tliat idea of velocity which is illustrated by 
Weber's " Perpetual Motion," as well as this, 
which is illustrated by the embellishments of 
some adagio movements and in Chopin's works ; 
and they wrote for both, so that while '* it may 



36 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[you XXXIX. —No. 988. 



be noticed that tins manner of attaining velocity 
is diiferent from that advocated in the principal 
velocity etudes in common use " may be true in 
a certain sense, because more systematically 
worked up, it is not true in this most important 
sense that the velocity etudes refeiTed to were 
written to cultivate a different kind of velocity, 
one which involves the idea of endurance. I do 
not wifrh to undervalue this exercise in the least ; 
on the contrary, I think it a very important one ; 
but I do wish to guard against the idea that this 
can take the place of tliat velocity which re- 
quires clearness and conscious control of thought 
and muscle (nerve force), or that it will Uad 
to it. 

The work as a whole is one of great impor- 
tance, and marks, I hope, a new era in technical 
development. I cannot do better, in summing up 
the good quahties of the work, than to quote fram 
the pi*eface the novelties and the claims made for 
the work, simply stating that tliey are modestly 
mad« and fully realized. 

" The points of novelty in this system are : 
(1) The direction in regard to touch and the two- 
finger exercise ; (2) The systematic application 
of rhythm ; (3) The full and complete scale and 
arpeggio treatment ; (4) The method of velocity ; 
and (5) The school of octaves." 

« We do not olfer this system as the only com- 
bination of exercises adopted to make players. 
But what we do claim is : First. That the exer- 
cises in this system have a more direct relation to 
the wants of players, and a more systematic and 
exhaustive application to the musc]es of the hand 
than any other collection of exercises known to 
us. Second. That tlie application of rhythmic 
treatment familiarizes the pupil with all kinds of 
time, and a habit of mental concentration indis- 
pensable to good playing. And third. That the 
practice of mechanical exercises in rhythmical 
forms with accentuation, and without notes, brings 
the fingers more quickly into the habit of obedi- 
ence to the phono-motor centre, and so cultivates 
the ear and renders the playing more musical." 
There is a novelty not mentioned here and which 
is too important to pass over, and that is the 
chapter on the mental physiology and mental 
operations in playing. It seems to me that the 
authors would confer a favor and render the book 
of more value, because of a readier sale, if they 
would get out a cheap pocket edition, a practi- 
cable thing, since it is but a work of reference. 

C. B. Cady. 
Oberlin, O., Jan. 28, 1879. 



THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE OPERA. 

BT WALTER B. LAW80N, B. MU8. 
(Concluded from pag* 28.) 

So much for the treatment of dramatic works ; 
it would appear inconsistent to expect better for 
the epic. 

It is well known that Lord Byron experienced 
a considerable dread of having his works drama- 
tized, and the difiiculties which would beset any 
attempt at a stage representation of his ^* Man- 
fred " afforded him no little consolation. At thf 
present day, some My years alter the death of 
tlie author, this work is thoroughly well known 
to theatre habitues. 

Aspiring composers may still look to the legacy 
of Byron's genius for several opera libretti. For 
instance, what might not be expected in the 
wapr of effect from the " Corsair," torn from its 
sequel, " Lara," and cut up into acts and scenes 
lomewhat after the following manner ? — 

Act I. Pirates' Isle —r Apartments of Conrad 
and Medora. 

Act II. Bay of Ooron — Palace of Pacha — 
Burning Fleet, and Conflict. 



Act III. Dungeon Scene, Gulnare and Con- 
rad — Assassination of Pacha. 

Act IV. Pirates' Isle — Death of Medora, etc. 

Provided with a proper proportion of ai'ie, 
ensembles, and choruses, for which the poem 
offers such charming opportunities, it might 
worthily succeed the grand opera of Meyerbeer. 
Alas, poor Byron ! * 

A iew words on an allied topic. We have, 
we will assume, an opera before us, in which the 
musical setting vies with the libretto in realizing 
that perfection of the whole which is the acme 
of artistic endeavor. Suddenly there appears 
upon the scene a so-called "adapter," who — 
ever on the qui vive for opportunities of earning 
honest pence — undertakes a translation of the 
text, which he ultimately effects by mangling 
the sense, altering the accentuation — gram- 
matic, oratorio, and pathetic — inserting sylla- 
bles where none are necessary, and removing 
them where they are, causing roulades to fall 
upon unimportant syllables, etc., etc., and the re- 
sult is offered to the public as an artistic ren- 
derinrr of the libretto in the familiar tontrue. 

It is only when a translation is undertaken by 
responsible and conscientious men, such as the 
German*, Bernliard von Gugler, Dr. W. Viol, 
and others, that any benefit accrues to art. In 
most cases, tlie translations are of no value, be- 
yond that of mere reference, to the opera-going 
mass. 

Music cannot fully exist but as an independ- 
ent art, and the only possible combination of ver- 
bal and tone language which shall be truly sug- 
gestive is, perhaps, that known as programme 
music. We must either content ourselves with 
this, or with opera proper, whatever its faults. 
It cannot be expected that an art which admits 
of beautiful form in addition to exquisite mel- 
ody should be made to sacrifice both, even when 
the form and substance of the drama, and dis- 
tinct enunciation of words, is involved. The 
clear comprehension of the drama, which is sup- 
posed (o result from a truthful association a la 
Wagner, is partly lost by the non-observance 
of form, which divides a plot into appreciable 
episodes and portions of episodes. In pro- 
gramme music, which many hold to be unworihy 
of the arti»t, mav be associated the hidiest 
poetical with the highest musical form. This 
we can instance with symphonic works of modern 
date. Why this should be regarde<l as a lower 
branch of musical art is a matter for the reader's 
consideration. It may, however, be mentioned 
that J. C. Lobe, who is conservative in principle, 
advises young composers to imagine their various 
and contrasting ideas (in pure instrumental 
music) as representing personalities, which in 
itself is the germ of programme music. 

Liszt, one of the greatest modern writers in 
this style, i-ecognizes the extraordinary suggest- 
iveness of music. It is with him a tone lan- 
guage : the orchestra is the passionate human 
heart, the instruments individually are the 
chords within it which vibrate to the yearnings, 
the fears, to all the secrat feelings of humanity. 
Timbre, which* is beautifully described as the 
color of tone, yields to him an unlimited source 
for tlie development of these feelings. But 
form, such as we are wont to expect, is wanting 
in his works. Form does not exist for the 
heart. It is the soul which yearns for form, and 
for the reason that we are not angels we love his 
music. In the *' Lament of Tasso," a so-called 
poeme symphonique, programme music has at- 
tained to an elevation previously unconceived. 
On hearing it we are constrained to observe, 

1 At the time when the above wms written, Mr. Fnm- 
ciUon's adaptetion of Byron'i poem (lately set by Mr. 
Coweu) had uot been made public, and was quite unknown 
to me. 



" Tasso I Tasso I thy woes are ours, and in thy 
triumph we exult ! " 

A short summary, written af\er a manner 
much approved of, of late years, by musicians of 
the ^ higher development " species, will read 
thus : — 

Beethoven gave too great prominence to in- 
strumental parts. 

MoZiirt, in the Zauherjldte and elsewhere, ap- 
proached tlie ridiculous in his roulades for the 
prime donne. 

Meyerbeer committed two faults : his prime 
donne scream, and his orchestra raves. 

Rossini's aim was to please the public. 

Verdi, Donizetti, and other Italians, wrote 
vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniments. 

Balfe the same. 

Offenbach is a composer of can cans. 

Wagner is ? 

A friend of mine, who informs me that he 
belongs to the ** new school," bids me add : — 

Italian opera is fudge. 

English opera would be fudge if it existed. 

French opera is almost fudge. 

German opera is becoming fudge, through the 
birth of musicral drama, of which Wagner is 
the exponent. 

It may be as well to meution that this gen- 
tleman has very prominent eyes, and a conical 
head. — Lond. Mus. Siawlard, 

ji^tDiS^t'0 %nitml of fisiussic* 

SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1879. 

BACH-BITING. 

Certain expressions of public sentiment 
through the medium of the daily and weekly 
press have greatly astonished me of late, and 
the more so that jhey seem to show an unfortu- 
nate and entirely unnecessary phase of what must 
otherwise be hailed as a decided change for the 
better in the attitude of our pre^s and public 
toward the art of music. We are plainly out- 
growing the servile respect for hearsay authority 
in musical matters which, some years ago, might 
have been thrown in our teeth as a reproach, 
with considerable justice. We are beginning to 
listen with our own ears, to think for ourselves, 
and to establish our own standards of criti- 
cism. Yet in thus freeing ourselves from what 
was, afler all, a self-imposed intellectual bondage, 
it seems to me that we often exhibit a too child- 
ifh recklessness, and, worst of all, a too flippant 
disrespect for that which is eternally venerable 
in art. Some of us, anxious to assure ourselves 
of our perfect intellectual independence, are a 
little too prone to indulge in petulant or frivo- 
lously sarcastic flings at august names which 
have hitherto been thought to have earned the 
right of claiming reverent treatment. Johann 
Sebastian Bach is the one who is at present most 
frequently made the butt of what some persons 
call wit, but which seems to others (in this con- 
nection, at least), far more akin to something to 
which dictionaries give a less honorable name. 

It is by no means surprising that Bach's 
music in general should be slow in working its 
way into popular favor. One may even reason- 
ably doubt whether it have the elements of pop- 
ularity in it, or at least whether certain profound 
qualities in it do not so veil its (so-called) *' pop- 
ular " characteristics that it can never appeal to 
the uncultivated masses of music-lovers. Certain 
it is that Bach has never been a popular man in 
the concert;going sense of the term, even in his 
own country. Indeed, the average Bostonian or 
New Yorker, with no marked predilection for 
Bach's music, would probably be somewhat sur- 
prised to find how much the average Berliner, 



March 1, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



37 



Dresdener, or Viennese, sympathized with him, if 
their respective tastes could but be put to the 
test. Yet one would think that the attitude 
which eminent composers and musical thinkers 
since Bach's time have almost without exception 
maintained toward that great master must have 
some power to convince any person who takes 
music in earnest that, even if he cannot person- 
ally enjoy Bach's music in an sesthetic way, tlicre 
is somethin<; in it which eludes his comprehen- 
sion, and which is entitled to respect rather than 
easy-going contempt. 

Passing over those music- lovers who arc pre- 
vented from feeling the essential beauty of 
Bach's works by an unconquerable repugnance 
to the musical forms of his day, and who cannot 
recognize a master in a man who happens to 
wear a pigrtail, I would like to say a word or 
two concerning those who take upon themselves 
to deny, implicitly or explicitly, that there is in 
Bach the perennial beauty of form, charm of 
melody, and sentimental or passionate quality 
of expression which can meet the aesthetic de- 
mands of a musician of the present time. Let us 
cast a glance over tlie composers whose music 
they do admire and enjoy without stint. Take 
men like Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, 
Raff, Rubinstein, Saint- Sacns, Liszt, Wagner, or 
Verdi. Which one of those men — composers 
of very various schools — looks upon Bach other- 
wise than with the most enthusiastic and passion- 
ate admiration ? Nay, more than this, many of 
theui have been ardent fightejrs in the cause of 
his muMc. Mendflssohn devoted a larjra share 
of the labor of his life to what was no more nor 
less than a Bach-propaganda ; Schumann wrote 
a piano-forte accompaniment to the violin cha- 
conne ; Raff* has arranged the same work for full 
orchestra ; Saint-Saens has made piano-forte 
transcriptions of many movements in his canta- 
tas ; Liszt has done the same for his great or- 
gan fugues and toccatas. ** The Well-Tempered 
Clavichord " has as honored a place on Verdi's 
study-table as any work by a more recent com- 
poser. Remember, I am mentioning no timid ec- 
lectics, no simply rcs|)ectable musical scribblers 
whose reputation has the taint of pedantry, no 
easy-going pedagogues with antiquarian procliv- 
ities, but the veriest modern come-outers among 
composers, men who in their writings do and 
dare all that the most intense passion, the most 
extravagant aiming afler brilliant effects, can 
prompt them to. Can any one imagine tliat 
these men are willing to waste their precious 
enthusiasm upon an old composer whom they 
merely look upon as a model contrapuntist, or a 
skillful expert in the crall of stringing notes 
together? No; artists and men of genius may 
have a certain respect for such an one, but they 
keep their admiration and tlieir enthusiasm for 
a man of nobler stamp. What, then, can ex- 
plain the singular unanimity with which these 
men almost adore Bach, if it is not that they 
descry in him a quality of genius that is as 
perennial as it is mighty ? Think you that these 
composers are not as fully imbued with the spirit 
of their own compositions as their most ardent 
and exclusive admirers can be ? It seems hardly 
likely. Yet, penetrated as they are with the 
musical spirit of tlieir time, — and as tliey must 
be to write as they do, — this fact has not les- 
sened their love and admiration for Bach's music 
one jot. You see I am not putting forth my 
own personal opinions of Bach; I am merely 
showing the opinions of others, and of such 
others as must have most weight — if any opin- 
ions have weight — with the class of nnti- 
Bachites for whose bcneHt this article is specially 
written. Remember th:it I am very far from 
saying, as I am very far from believing, that any 
man is bound to like, enjoy, or love Bach's music 



merely because Raff, Brahms, Verdi, or any other 
of hiB musical gods or heroes admires and loves 
it. But quod non licet Jovi most assuredly non 
licet bovif and when we see the leading minds in 
the world of music in our present era unite in 
regarding Bach with the most profound admira- 
tion and heart-felt veneration, it seems as if the 
merely every-day person who takes upon himself 
the responsibility of decrying his compositions, 
and of standing in the way of their public ap- 
preciation, assumes a responsibility for which he 
is in no way fitted. When it comes to such 
utterly childish side-flings as calling a Bach 
concerto a " series of ditiicult piano-forte exer- 
cises," or saying that such and such a work* has 
about as much sentiment in it as *' the least in- 
spired " of the pieces in " The Well-Tempered 
Clavichord," what can we do but blush in sheer 
shame ? When Mark Twain, in his ** innocents 
Abroad," wi*ote his little pooh-poohing quips 
about the frescoes of the old Italian painters, 
he was exuberantly and legitimately funny. He 
avowedly assumed the position of a perfect sav- 
age in art matters, and his buffoonery was su- 
premely good. But one can hardly assume that 
those persons who write in very much the same 
vein about Bach's music would be will in jt to 
claim the immunities of Mark Twain's position. 
— W. F. A. 



CONCERTS. 

Handel AND Haydn Society. — The pro- 
gramme of Sunday evening, February 9, in- 
stead of a single oratorio, was made up of an 
attractive variety of shorter works. The Music 
Hall was crowded, and few left their places until 
the end. First came Luther's Chorale : " £in' 
feste Burg," harmonized, and coarsely too, by 
Otto Niculai, — as if Bach had not done it 
better I But it was grandly sung by the great 
solid mass of chorus. Next, Mr. J. C. D. Par- 
ker's " Redemption Hymn " confirmed the good 
impression which it made at the last Festival, as 
a graceful and expressive piece of contrapuntal 
writing ; the fugue, ** Art thou not it that hast 
cut Rahab," being both clear and interesting, 
and really maAterly in treatment. The only 
fault we have to find is with the text, which 
brings the chief accent of the oil recurring theme 
so awkwardly upon the little pronoun ** it," which 
might easily be changed with no harm to the 
meaning. The contralto solo was beautifully 
sung by Miss Annie Cary, and both the chorus 
portions and the fine instrumentation were ad- 
mirably rendered. Mr. Parker's work wears 
well. 

The principal novelty of the concert yras the 
"Flight into Egypt" from the trilogy VEn- 
fance du Christ by Hector Berlioz, whose com- 
positions are much more highly appreciated now 
in Paris than they were while tlie eccentric com- 
poser was alive. We might have enjoyed this 
quaint and curious music more, could we have 
heard it in its connection with the whole work. 
It opens with a little pastoral, one might say 
rubtic, and antique sounding overture, mainly of 
reed instruments, the Corno IntjUse predominat- 
ing, — a vague and idle sort of warbling, inno- 
cent and pretty enough in its intention, but to 
our feeling rather artificial. Then comes a 
chorus : " Farewell of the Shepherds," very naive 
and melodious, but for a certain ugly turn which 
disturbs the smooth flow of the harmony several 
times. It is said that Berlioz " originally wrote 
it tor organ on a loose slip of paper at the corner 
of an dcarte table at the house of Due the archi- 
tect, and then fooled all musical Paris by intro- 
ducing it on a concert programme as composed 
by Pierre Ducr^, a chapel master of the seven- 
teenth century." There is also a narrative tenor 



solo, sweet and simple, which was sung by Mr. C. 
R Adams, not in his best voice, and not too fa- 
miliar with the music. On the whole, we doubt 
whether we were in the right mood, or suffi- 
ciently en rapport with Berlioz that evening, 
fairly to appreciate this singrular, though delicate 
and quiet, fragment of his music. Thinking of 
the far more spontaneous and natural pastorale, 
etc., of Bach, we could not overcome the feeling 
that there was something artificial and affected, 
at least dilettanteish about it The Sanctus from 
Gounod's ^ St. Cecilia Mass " was of the grand- 
iose kind, an immense piece of sensational effect, 
overwhelming by its massive weight of harmony, 
with all of brilliancy that brass could add, and 
with the bass drum imitating cannon. Mr. 
Adams led off* impressively in the tenor solo, 
and the great chorus, orchestra, and organ an- 
swered, swelling to a climax of most irresistible 
sonority. It created such enthusiasm that it^ had 
to be repeated, yet we suspect its charm would 
wear out with familiarity. 

Mendelssohn's ever welcome " Hymn of 
Praise " formed the second part of the concert. 
The three movements of the introductory orches- 
tral symphony, and the accompaniments through- 
out, were played with remarkable spirit by a more 
complete and capable orchestra than we oflen 
have for oratorio performances. Mr. Zerrahn 
conducted witli inspiring energy, and all the 
choruses, went finely. Miss Clara Louise Kellogg 
sang the soprano solos like an artist, though she 
seemed fatigued and out of health. Miss Cary 
was altogether admirable ; and Mr. Adams sang 
the tenor solos very finely ; his rich manly voice, 
though somewhat husky, served him well in parts ; 
and his artistic method, his intelligent concep- 
tion, and admirably distinct enunciation and dec- 
lamation, are always to be watched with profit 
by those who seek a model. 

And now, in preparation for the two per- 
formances of Good Friday (April 11), the Society 
devotes itself to the study of a great work, every 
moment spent in learning which is a step of mu- 
sical progress in the truest sense: we mean the 
St, Matthew Passion Music of Bach, which this 
time will be given entire, the first part in the 
afternoon, the second in the evening. On Easter 
Sunday Judas Maccabceus, 

Euterpe. — Tlie second chamber concert of 
the new club was given at Mechanics' Hall on 
Wednesday evening, February 12. The matter 
for interpretation and discussion consisted of a 
Sestet, Op. 18, by Brahms, entirely new here, 
and the delightful old B-fiat Quintet, Op. 87, by 
Mendelssohn, which carries us back to the very 
first days of the Quintette Club which still bears 
his name in Boston, — and throughout the land, 
lliere could not be a greater contrast in the two 
halves of a concert. The Sestet, in the first 
place, is for a strange combination of instru- 
ments, — first and second violin (Messrs. Arnold 
and Gautzberg), first and second viola (Grauim 
and Hermann), first and sectond violoncello (Carl 
Werner and W. Reineccius), — an unpromis- 
ing experiment, plainly prompted more by the 
conceit of orij;inality than bv nnv inward musical 
necessity, llie violins were overborne and the 
ensemble rendered dull and opaque by such 
thickness of the bass and middle parts. All 
were early in their seats, mindful of the rule 
which bars out late comers until the end of the 
first part. And so all ears were on the alert, 
and all listened intently, with patience to the 
end. But very few, we fjincy, felt rewarded, but 
rather glad when the Sestet was over. The Al- 
legro was a puzzler from the beginning, — the 
same vagueness and intangibleness of theme, 
that was experienced in the same composer's 
C-minor symphony, a sense all through of some- 



38 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIQ. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 988. 



thing labored, learned, oyerstrained and lacking 
inspiration, lacking any rauon d'etre. Now and 
then a few charming measures, a striking effect, 
a promise of something genuine at last, but every 
promise unfulfilled I Then too there were cruel 
discords, passages which it is no slander to call 
ugly. The Andante moderato began in an im- 
pressive hymn-like style, and proceeded — hard- 
ly can we say developed — through a great 
variety of phases, some of them charming, others 
startling ; certainly there were captivating ideas 
started in the course of it, and much that seemed 
original ; yet we could not feel it a consistent 
whole, nor did we find it edifying ; but we have 
met one or two who have studied it and who 
think otherwise. The Scherzo, and the Rondo 
(poco allegretto e grazioso) brought little that 
we care to recall, even were we able ; the most 
that we remember is the constraint and fatigue. 
The' performance was hardly more than respect- 
able, and here and there decidedly rough. 

After this nightmare what " a change came 
o'er the spirit of our dream," and over the faces 
of the audience! The Mendelssohn Quintet 
was welcomed with sincere delight ; and not be- 
cause it was familiar merely, but because it 
is intrinsically musical and there is no resisting 
its enchantment. The Allegro, soaring like a 
lark, with motive irrepressible and full of- fire, 
both in the main theme and in tlie persistent 
triplets which offset it and seem to fan it into 
flame ; the Andante scherzando, quaint and bal- 
lad-like, an exquisite fancy; the Adagio, pro- 
foundly tender and pathetic, out of the inmost 
heart and jrenius of the master, one of his truest 
inspirations ; and the Finale, answering the chal- 
lenge 'of the first Allegro, and even exceeding it 
in brilliancy and power, — all these had not to be 
listened to by virtue of the will ; they took pos- 
session of you and kept you happy to the end. 
We think the artists of the New York Philhar- 
monic Club, on their part too, felt happier, and 
certainly were more successful in this last half 
of the evening's task. And so the concert, by its 
contrast, taught a lesson. 

The next programme (for March 12), is of 
the choicest : Mozart's G-minor Quintet, and the 
second of Beethoven's Rasouniofsky Quartets, 
in £-minor. 

Harvard Musical Association. — The 
fif\h Symphony Concert (Feb. 13) had the larg- 
est audience of the season. The programme, 
while offering nothing out of the common, was 
all of sterling excellence, composed of genial, 
graceful, ever fresh and charming music, — com- 
positions with which nearly every listener has 
agreeable associations. 

Overture " Reminiacences of Ossian ** Gade. 

Cndle Soug, from the Christmas Oratorio Bach. 

Second Symphony, in D, Op. 36 . . . Betlhoven. 

Nocturne and Scherzo, from " A Midsum- 
mer Night^s Dream " M&ndelssuhn. 

Songs, with Piano-forte : — 

{(t) Ave Maria Hauptmann. 

(6) The Fisher Maiden Meyeritetr, 

Overture to " Egroont " Betthoven. 

Gade's romantic "Ossian" Overture was so 
well played as to prove highly enjoyable, and 
almost as good as new. The same may be said 
of the early Beethoven Symphony in D, which is 
too seldom heard ; a work full of fresh, buoyant 
life and cheerfulness, tliough the introductory 
Adagio is majestic enough to be the prelude to a 
sreat solemn festival. What a stride from this 
to the next Symphony, the "Eroica," which, by 
the way, will be given in the eighth and last con- 
cert of the season 1 Tlie lovely Nocturne and 
Scherzo from the ** Midsummer Nighfs Dream" 
music have lost nothing of their enchantment : 
the delicious strains were drunk in with delight, 
and the fairy Scherzo was so finely played that 



the call for a repetition was imperative. All was 
most clearly, delicately outlined; and the long 
flute passage near the end, — the very hum and 
flutter of light fairy wings, — was so neatly done, 
so well sustained, by Mr. Rictzel, as to merit 
special notice. — The strongest feature of the 
programme was the Egmont Overture. It never 
can grow too familiar. What other master could 
compress so much of meaning and dramatic fire, 
.so much of musical marrow, and the very poetry 
of music, into the short space of seven minutes ! 
Miss Ita Welsh was the vocalist. Her fresh, 
sympathetic, maidenly quality of voice is well 
suited to the " Cradle Song " of Bach, in which, 
though not the kind of music in which she is 
most at home, she made a very good impression. 
The two songs, in which she had the advantage 
of Mr. Lang's tasteful accompaniment, were given 
with more freedom, and indeed with fine expres- 
sion. Meyerbeer's " Fischer-Madchen " was the 
most oriirinal and interestint; of the two. 

Mr. Arthur W. Foote's Concert in Me- 
chanics' Hall, on Saturday evening, Feb. 1, of- 
fered so thoroughly musical a programme that 
we were particularly disappointed to be com- 
pelled (by illness) to lose it. Moreover we know 
the earnestness, the well directed and persistent 
study, and the solid progress of the young musi- 
cian, — one of the few who have taken a Mas- 
ter's degree at Harvard on the strengtli of special 
studies in music. As we wish these columns to 
preserve a record of the concert, we borrow from 
the Traveller a notice we can trust, from the pen 
of one of our own coUaborateurs. — But first the 
programme : — 

Suite in D minor ......*... Handel. 

Prelude — Fugue — Air and variations — Capricdo. 
Aria. — **■ Love sounds the Alarm *' (** Acis and 

Galatea") Handel. 

Sonata in A-flat mi^or WeOer. 

Variations S^rieuses. (Op. 54) ... MendtUtohn. 
f. j " Gold rolls here beneath me." (Op. 34) Rubinstein. 

»ongs. ^ ^ ^^^^ .jj^ Lieben Aeuglein." (Op. 21) Jtnten. 

Prelude in B-flat major Mendelssohn. 

Overture to the 2dth Cantata . . Bach — Saint Saens. 

To begin with a Handel suite, or some composition of its 
period, is usual enough, but we think it is sometliing new to 
our public to see Sebastian Bach brought in as the climax of a 
programme. And Saint-Saens' transcription of Uie over- 
ture to Bach's ^th Cantata was in every sense of the word 
a climax. Tlie sterling vigor, the joyous strength of the 
music, made the more palpable to the physical sense by the 
arranger's larger treatment of the piano-forte, sent the audi- 
ence home in a more jubilant frame of mind than the most 
tearinic piece of modem virtuosity could. Another novelty 
was Vun Weber's Sonata in A-flat nu|jor. We have de- 
cidedly heard too little of Von Weber's piano-forte music. 
Time was when we could aflbrd to lay more stress upon this 
writer's want of sustuned power in developing a motive into 
a stoutly-built composition in the sonata form, than upon 
the spontaneity of his invention and the brilliancy of his gen- 
ius. But now that we have heard so much music in which 
striving after dramatic effect and furious intensity of passion 
almost blinds the aesthetic sttise to purity of form, so genial 
and withal so unique a personality as Von Weber's comes to 
us like a rafreshing breeze ui the dog-days. True, Von 
Weber was a sort of musical spendthrift; it often seems as 
if his inexhaustible wealth of invention made him laxy and 
luxurious, 'llie way in which he sometimes approaches a 
point in his more serious compositions where an elaborate 
and skillful working out of the themes seems an artistic ne- 
cessity, and then coolly shirks the hard work and merely calls 
upon his fertile invention for anotlier entrancing melody to 
take its place, is rather like that of a lecturer who should call 
together an audience, read them half his lecture, and then 
say to them, " Ladies and geutlemoi, I find that the effort 
of delivering this discourse fatigues me too much ; but I have 
a very large bank account, and will give every one of you 
a hundred dolUuv to let me off now." Thus if Von Weber's 
piano-forte music often balks the expectations that it raises 
in us, we can lie pretty sure that the composer will put his 
hand In his melodic pocket and pay us for our disappoint- 
ment in some pleasant way. 

Mr. Foote's performanre was good throughout. In the 
opening numbers of the Handel suite in D minor a touch of 
excusable nen'ousness somewhat shackled him, but this soon 
wore off, and his playing of the sonata and of Mendelssohn's 
Variations S^rieuses was tliat of a true artist, and an artist 
with brains, too. His technique showed itself to be equal to 
the of^en severe demands of the music: yet it was by his 
musical feeluig, intelligent comprehennou, and sustained 



power of vigorously carrying through long rhythmic periods 
without danger of an anti-climax and with noble breadth of 
phrasing that he shone most brilliantly. He pLays the most 
trying phrases with a security that prevents all fear of col- 
lapse. This does not sound like very high praise as every, 
day criticism goes; yet, when we say of a man that he has 
crossed Niagara on a tight rope without any trembling in 
his knees and with stradily easy grace of movement, we 
think that praise enough has been given him. This is a 
coarse simile, but let it pass. 

Mr. W. H. Fesaenden sang Handel's >* Love sounds the 
Alarm " and a brace of songs by Rubinstein and Jensen in 
his accustomed refined and finished style; perhaps a thought 
too delicately and with a too great fondness for pianissimo 
effects. If he could only appreciate how absolutely and en- 
trancingly beautiful his stronger tones are, he might use 
them more frequently and to excellent advantage. 

Several concerts of peculiar interest have ooenrred here 
during the past ten days, including remarkalily fine ones by 
tlie Apollo and the Boylston Clubs, that of Mme. Cappiani 
and her pupils, the Harvard Symphony on Thursday of Uiis 
week, and Mr. John A. Preston's piano-forte concert on 
Wednesday. Of all Uieae further notice must be deferred 
until our next number. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, Feb. 24. — Mr. William Courtney gave a 
concert of English ballads and glees, Feb. 11, at Chickering 
Hall, with tlie assistance of Miss Beebe, Mrs. Courtney, 
Mrs. Kobertson, and ^r. Jameson. Mrs. Howard was the 
pianisL I'be writer of this notice was prevented from at- 
tending the concert, but is informed that the audience was 
large and appreciative. 

For the same reason he can give no detailed accomit of 
the third concert of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, 
which took place on Saturday evening, Feb. 15, with the fol- 
lowing programme : — 

Symphony in C minor, ^Op. 6 Gade 

" mio Fernando " DonizettL 

Aliss DrasdiL 

Violoncello Solo — Serenade VoUanmm. 

Mr. Bergner. 

" Bilder ans Oesten." Op. 66 Schumann. 

Cavatina, '« Di tauU palpiti " Boisini. 

Miss Dnwdil. 
"Bacchanelle" ) Wmm^ 

" HuUigung's March " f watfner. 

The " Violoncello Solo " was neither more nor less than 
tlie Serenade No. 3, in D minor, for string orchestra with 
'cello obligato. The concert is generally regarded as the 
weakest of the series. 

The Oratorio Society gave a performance of Mendelssobn^s 
Si. Paul, at Steujway Hall, on Wednesday evening, Feb. 
19, under the direction of Dr. Damrasch. I'be sobists were 
Mrs. Mary L. Swift, soprano; Miss Ann^ Drasdil, con- 
tralto; Mr. M. W. Whitney, bass; and Mr. Geo. Simpson, 
tenor. This noble work is too seklom heard in New York. 
The chorus is uniformly spirited and literally radiant with 
genius, while its effect is heightened by tlie frequent intro- 
duction of choral passages, and many of the solos are of won- 
derful pathos and beauty. The chorus singing, without lie- 
ing remarkable for absolute precision of attack or iierfection 
in crescendo and diminuendo, was uniformly excellent, and 
could only result from k)ng and careful drilling by a compe- 
tent conductor, such as we have in the person of Dr. Dam- 
rasch. Mrs. Swift has a sweet but not a powerful voice : her 
upper notes are not entirely agreealtle, being thin and reedy. 
She sang with feeling and go<^ taste. Miss Drasdil, whose 
voice is like a violoncello, won the first encore in the Arioso: 
" But the Lord is mindful of his own." Mr. Whibiey, al- 
though suflfering fiiom hoarseness, sang magnificently, — as, 
indewi, he always does. Mr. Simpson fidled to make any 
marked imprenion until lie sang the Aria: '' Be tliou faith- 
ful unto death," which be rendered with so much feeling 
that a well deserved encore followed. 

Mr. G. Carlbeig gave bis fourth Symphony Concert, at 
Chickering Hall, on Satunlay evening, February 22, with 
the following programme: — 

Symphony im Walde, No. 3, Op. 153 Ruff. 

Cionoerto for Piano, Op. 54 Si^umann. 

Mr. Franz RnmqieL 

Overture, " Egmont " Beethoven. 

Hungarian Fantasie for Piano (with Orchestra) . Lis^. 

Mr. Franz Kummel. 
Norwegian Rhapsody, No. 4. Op. 22 (new) . Svtndsen. 

Nothing could be more welcome than the **■ Im Walde '* 
Symphony, as fresh and spontaneous in its loveliness as sun- 
shine after rain, and filled with tlie mysterious sounds heard 
ill the heart of the forest It is descriptive music in the 
best sense, but not ** programme music." The performance 
of the Orchestra was the liest I have beard at any of Mr. 
Carlberg's Concerts, and calls for nothhig but praise. 

Mr. Franz Rummel, whose public appearances have been 
frequent of late, and whose praise the newspapers " loudly 
chant," is, in many respecta, an extraordinary pianist. He 
has great power of execution : his runs, trills, and chords are 
marvels of rapidity, evenness, and force, — and joined to a 



Mabch 1, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



39 



really niAgnificeut tcchniqae, there ii a certain vtm and dash 
in his performance which excites wonder as well as admira^ 
tiou. Now for the other side of the medal. His touch is 
hard, — misjmpatlietic. It has not the singing quality in- 
separable from true legato phiying. As to his reading of 
Schumann's Concerto, it seemed to the writer that in cer- 
tain passages the sentiment was forced or exaggerated rather 
than spontaneous; a subjective style of playing, which is 
never entirely agreeable, and which only a great artist can 
malce even tolerable. 

The Hungarian Dances were performed with much skill 
and delicacy. In these the performer was in his element, and 
his superb finger- power was manifested to such an extent 
that the audience was electrified. For encore he played the 
bst movement of Weber's Canceri-St&ck. A. A. C. 

Philadelphia, Feb. 23.— Her Migesty's Opera, rep- 
resented by Col. Maplesoii's fine company, has monopolized 
the attention of tlie musical public for the past two weeks, 
llie nine performances were highly successfiil, the Academy 
of Blusic on the Genter nights being crowded to suffocation, 
— no figure of speech, I can assure you, and many being 
turned away (torn tlie doors, for there was not e^'en stand> 
ing room. Our best people came out in force, and the dress 
and show contradicted the existence of hard times. 

AfUr the exhaustive critiques in the Journal it would be 
superfluous to attempt anjthing in that line, but the expe- 
rience of a properly a[^inted orchestra and chorus has given 
confirmation to the oft-repeated advocacy in oar local papers 
of the policy of permanently establishing a large and effi- 
cient chorus and (M^hcstra to be attached to our (niLscalled) 
Academy of Music. The obser>-ation and experience of 
every traveler in Europe have shown that a single great art- 
ist, or e^'eii a quartet of superior vocalists, cannot satisfy 
the demands of an educated public in tlie performance of 
modem opera. The orchestra u a potent iactor, and scarcely 
less so is the chorus; in the writing of the present day they 
are indispensable. We would not depreciate the value of 
the artists ; far firom it. We certainly could not be satisfied 
with the mediocre talent so often heuti in the theatres of 
Germany. There they have perhaps gone to the other ex ■ 
treme. There is little danger of that happening in our 
country, when the star system will probably flourish for 
many years to come. But tlie spirit of speculation in which 
opera is given in America is disposed to take advantage of 
the want of culture in the general public rather than to sup- 
ply means of educating it to a proper estimate of what a 
musical drama should be. The late William K. Fry tried 
to show us the way many years ago, and his efibrts have not 
been excelled even by Col. Mapleson's troupe, but the spec- 
ulators — the old-clothes men of art ^ threw every obstacle 
in his way. when liring, and have not imitated his example 
since his death, llie chonu and orchestra of the present 
company have preached a powerful sermon in their own de- 
fense, and, we trust, have opaied the way for a permanent 
establisliment to be attached to our beautiful opera-house, — 
a consummation for which your correspondent has labored 
long but in vain. 

llie Ceciliaii Society gave a omicert on the 19th in Mu- 
sical Fund Hall, assisted by Miss Fanny Kellogg, of your 
city, and Mad. Auerbach. Mr. S. T. Strang continues his 
iiiteresting organ recitals iu Grace Chiut;h. Mr. C H. 
Jarvis will give the seventh of his series of ten concerts this 
evening. The Mendelssohn Club, under Mr. W. Gilchrist, 
gave Gade's ^ Erl- King's Daughter," in Germantown last 
week. Mad. Seller's pupils are studying Kreutzer's <• Night 
in Granada." The Cecilian has abandoned the project of 
giving the *' Creation," which is to be regretted. SuUivan's 
little opera, if. J/. S, Pinnft/re^ is lieing sung (?) in five 
difierent theatres. Sullivan and Gilbert are said to be on 
their way to this country to arrange for the production of 
a new opera. Amebicus. 

Baltimore, Feb. 24. ^ The first three Peabody Sym- 
phony Concerts this winter have all been so well attended that 
one is justified in looking for full houses during the remaui- 
der of the season. As an evidence of progress this speaks 
well for our musical public. It is gratifying to note the 
uuusiuil number of new faces this year: people who have 
seldom, if ever before, sat through a Symphony Concert, 
listening with marked attention, and with a certain amount 
of correct appreciation. 

The programmes of the hst two concerts were as fol- 
lows: — 

Second Concert, February 8: — 

Overture to ^'Alocste" Gluck. 

Symphony in G, No. 13 Haydn. 

Cavatina from *' Semlramis " RossinL 

Miss Elisa Baraldi. 

Piano-Concerto, G minor 0. B. Boite. 

Allegro — Andante con moto — Allegro. 
Mme. Nannette Fslk- Auerbach. 
Songs, with piano,' » The Valley " — Sere- 
nade Ocunod. 

Overture to "l^ncess Use'* . . Max ErdmannidQrftr, 
A legend of the Harz Mountains. 
Third Concert, February 15: — 

Third Symphony, " Eroica " Beethoven. 

Cavatina from ** The Martyrs " Donizetti. 

Miss H. A. Hunt. 
Nocturne E minor. Work 34 . . . . C. C. Mueller. 



Scotch Folk-Songs, with piano. 

"Dinna ye forget. Laddie" — "Down the bum, Davie 

Love." 
(fl.) Overture to " My Life for the Cxar " . M. J. Glinka. 
(6.( Komarinskaja. Russian Scherzo — Wedding song — 

Dance song. 

None of the above selections were new to the orchestra 
except the difiicult Erdmannsdorfer Overture, and Beet- 
hovtti's Eroica. We can hardly mention in the same cate- 
gory with these the Nocturne by Mr. C. C. Mueller, of New 
York. Tliis was also new to the orchestra and to your 
correspondent, and is likely to remain so. 

The Eroica^ though never before performed at the Pea- 
body, and with fewer rehearsals than might have been 
wished, was very acceptably interpreted by the orchestra. 
Just in this connection I would call attention to the ad- 
verse criticisms on the Peabody Orchestra which have ap- 
peared this season in two of our daily papers, — the Ametican 
and the Gozette. It gives your correspondent pleasure to 
say that the ideas of that portion of our musical community 
which takes the more intelligent interest in the Symphony 
Concerts, and in music of a higher order generally, are not 
represented by the remarks of the two learned gentlemen 
who perpetrate the musical criticisms for the above-named 
papers. Moreover, the more these two critics exercise 
themselves about UmJc of instruments, false seathig of the 
orchestra, peculiarities of the director, and what not, the 
larger the attendance becomes. The only evil that may re- 
sult is that some influential paper elsewhere may publish 
one of these articles (unconscious that they are the result 
solely of personal pr^udice, an undisputed fact in musical 
circles here) as affording a correct idea of our Symphony 
performances ; for the garb of profound musical erudition in 
which they are clothed is calculated to deceive. 

Miss Hunt, whose name appears on the programme of 
the third concert, was greeted as an old acquaintance. Her 
appearance awakened in many of the audience agreeable 
recollections of the days of Mr. L. H. Southard, well known 
in your city, formerly director of our Peabody Conservatory. 

Her Majesty's ( ! ) Opera closed here on Saturday after- 
noon with Lucittj to a house the like of which for numbers 
has not been seen here for many a day. At the performance 
of Sonnamimla^ also, there was not an empty seat in the 
house. Cai'men and Figaro were not quite so largely at- 
tended, — a decided tribute to (jerster. At the performance 
of Sonnambula and iMda the audience actually rose and 
shouted, so great was the enthusiasm called forth by the 
" Hungarian Nightingale.** 

The Peabody Orchestra gave an afternoon and an even- 
ing concert on the 22d, at Lincoln Hall, Washington, under 
the auspices of the Athenaeum Club of that city, which 
turned out so satisfactorily from a musical point of view 
that the club has expressed its intention to repeat the ex- 
periment. The programmes were as follows: — 

matinee. 
Overture to ^^ BIy Life for the Czar '* . . . . Glinko. 

Symphony in G, No. 13 Haydn. 

Kec. and Air from the ** Magic Flute "... Mozart. 

Miss Jenny Busk. 
Prelude to the 4th act of the Opera Tovelille. 
Work 12. (Summer Night in the Woods. 

Love scene ) Asger Hamerik. 

(a.) Barcarolle, F-sharp mi^. Work 60. 

(6.) Fantasie-Impromptu, C-sharp minor. WorkG6. 

(c.) Valse, A-flat major. Work 42 .../*. Chopin. 

Mme. Nannette Falk- Auerbach. 
Air with Variations. 

Miss Jenny Busk. 
Norse Folk Songs and Folk-Dances . August Sdderman. 

evemino. 

Eighth Symphony Beethoven. 

Kec. and Air from '* Magic Flute ** .... Mozart. 

Miss Jenny Busk. 
Prelude to 4th act of Tovelille . . . Asger Hamerik. 
Piano-Concerto, G minor. No. 1. Work 25. 

Mendelssohn. 
Mme. Nannette Falk- Auerbach. 
Air with Variations. 

Miss Jenny Busk. 
Norse Folk-Songs and Folk-Dances . . . A. Sdderman. 

MusiK u. 

CniCAOO, Feb. 19. — On Thursday evening, February 
13, the " Apollo Musical Club," assisted by the " Arion 
Club " of Milwaukee, ga^'e a concert iu this city, witli the 
following programme: 

( a " Cavalry Song ** MShring 

\b ** llie Forsaken ** KoschaL 

Chorus. 

( a Night Song Lews. 

}b Night Song Abt. 

Arion Society. 

" Revenge, Timotheus cries " .... Handel. 
Mr. Franz Remmertz. 

(a» Calm Sea ** Bubinstein. 

? 6 " Spring Song " Franke. 

^c "Three Fishers" Goldbeck. 

Apollo Club. 

Overture to " Aladdin " Homemann. 

Double chorus, from " (Edipns "... Mendelssohn, 

CantaU of " Fridtl^f " Max Bruch. 



The union of the two societies made a male chorus of nearly 
160 voices, the Uigest Maennerchor we have ever had here. 
In the first part, the most noiable numbers were Gold- 
beck's " Three Fishers *' and the Mendelssohn double chorus. 
These were splendidly sung. The most important feature of 
the concert was the performance, by both clubs, of Max 
Bruch 's ^* Scenes from the Fridthjof's Saga" of Bishop 
Tegnto, vrith Mrs. Emma Thurston and Mr. Franz Rem- 
mertz as soloists, and a full orchestra. Dramatically, the 
work lacks consistency, for from the scenes used as a text for 
the music but little idea of this celebrated poem could be 
obtained. The work only embraces parts of Ontos XII., 
XIII., XIV., and XV. of the poem, or ''Fridtl^of's Re- 
turn," 'Singeborg's Bridal," ** Balder's Funeral Pile,** 
"FridUijof's Exile,*' and "The Viking Code.** Between 
these last two scenes comes ** Ingeborg's Lament,*' whic|) 
in the poem is directly after the parting of the lovers in the 
earlier part of the Saga, and is not quite logically consistent 
here. Musically the work is very strong; the interest never 
weakens, and there is a rich climax at the close which is very 
satisfactory. Yet one can but wish that the composer had 
taken a Wger portion of the poem, which is so dramatic, of 
such beauty and strength, that it should be made the text 
for a more extended musical work. Max Bruch would have 
been able to accomplish this in a most satisfiewtory manner; 
for the musical setting to the few scenes forming his Can> 
tata is dramatic in form, rich iu harmonic design, and man- 
ifests a sympathy with the characters and incidents of the 
poem, iu keeping with the mystical embodiments of the Norse 
mythology. 

" Fridthjof's Farewell to the North ** was grandly given 
by Mr. Uemmertz, who took the title role. His powerful 
voice and his interpretation were in keeping with the idea 
of the character, and in this number with the chorus reached 
a dramatic climax of power and intensity of feeling that is 
pleasing to remember. ^* Ingeborg's Lament " is a sweet 
and tender piece of melodic writing; and her pleading to 
the Falcon to stay with her, e\'en while " Fridthjof is far o'er 
the seas,*' is quite touching in its phuntive character. It 
was sung with feeling and taste by Mrs. Thurston. The last 
scene in the Cantata, " The Viking's Code," is a number of 
great power, and is trying in its demands upon the singers, 
being fortissimo all through ; yet there is a fascination in 
the dramatic character of the music, so that the chorus is 
led up to the climax at the end impelled both by the won- 
derful spirit of the words and by the grandeur of the composi- 
tion. It is a work that a Maennerchor may well he proud 
to produce. 'Ilie whole performance reflected credit upon 
the two clubs ; the few shortcomings were not of any great 
magnitude ; and the chorus, orchestra, and conductor should 
be congratulated upon the success of their labor in brihgiug 
out the work. 

On the 18th, the Beethoven Society gave the " Odysseus ** 
or " Scenes from the Odyssey," a cantata for solo voices, 
chorus, and orchestra, by Max Bnicb, thus giving us Uie 
pleasure of hearing two important works by the same com- 
poser within a wedc. The soloists were: Penelope, Mrs. 0. 
K. Johnson; Nausikaa, Miss Kittle £. J. Ward; Pallas 
Athena, Miss Lizzie Hoyne; Antikleio, Arete, Mrs. Frank T. 
Hall; Odysseus, Mr. (jeoige Werrenrath; Hermes, Mr. Ed- 
ward Dexter; Teiresias, Alcinous, Helmsman, Mr. F. L. 
Koss; Conductor and Musical Director, Carl Wolfsohn. 

In the treatment of this old Grecian story, the composer 
manifested a greater consistency of dramatic design, than in 
his Fi-idthjof. The cantata follows the adventures of Ulys- 
ses with a quite faithful consideration of the Homeiic idea; 
and thus we have a unity of purpose that becomes at once 
interesting. The ten scenes of the work are as follows: 
1. <* Odysseus on the island of Calypso," which introduces 
a chorus — of Nymphs — and solos for Odysseus and Her- 
mes. 2. ** Od3'sseu8 in Hades,'* with solo and chorus, both 
of a most varied character. 3. ** Odysseus and the Sirens," 
a number of great beauty, containing lovely music, vocal and 
orchestral. 4. <<The Tempest at Sea." 5. **Penek>pe 
Mourning.** 6. '< Nausikaa, and chorus of maidens." 7. 
" The Bfluiquet with the Phaiakes.'* 8. « Penelope weaving 
a garment.*' 9. ** The Return." 10. << Feast in Ithaca,** 
closing with a grand chorus of the people. 

The work hM miity of design, but unfortunately for a 
public performance in one evening, it is too long. Some of 
the choruses, as well as many of the recitatives, are so long 
as to be a little monotonous, and a slight cutting in a few 
pUces in the first part of the cantata would add to its efi*ect- 
iveness. The instrumental score contains many striking 
beauties. The accompaniments are generally pure and 
graceful in style, llie second part was performed much 
better than the beginning. The chorus did some splendid 
work. The orchestra was uneven at times, owing to excess 
of enthusiasm on the part of the brass instruments, who 
seemed to consider themselves the whole band. The most 
successful of 'the soloists was Mrs. Johnson, our &vorite con- 
tralto, who sang the trying music of her part with a beauty 
oH delivery and an intensity of dramatic passion that were 
very gratifying. Her success was universally recognized by 
the large audience. Mr. Werrenrath, who came to us from 
New Y'ork, was sufl*ering from the efiect of a recent severe 
illness, and while his style was that of a cultivated singer, 
be was unable to meet the requirements of his part; we le- 
gret that he was forced to make his d^but in this city under 
such distressing circumstances. Miss Ward and Miss Hoyne 
deser\-e praise for the highly creditable manner in which 
they sang the music of their respective solo*. BIr. Carl 



40 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vor.. XXXJX. — No. 988. 



Wolfsohn and the Beethoven Soeletj richly merit the com- 
mendation of oar musical public, for their earnest devotion 
to the cause of good music. We have much to thank: Uiem 

for. C* H' "* 

♦ 

NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Leipzig. — The programme of the fourteenth Gewand- 
haus 6onoert, Jan. 23, included: the CorioUanu overture of 
Beethoven; Aria from *« Acis and Galatea," sung by Joseph 
Standigl; Concerto for violoncello, by Schumann, played by 
Robert Uausmann, of Berlin; songs by Schubert (" Fuhrt 
sum Hade«," and «*Aufentbalt"); Arioso, Gavotte, and 
Scherao for *ceUo, by Carl Reineeke; and the Symphomt 
Dramatique by Rubinstein. 

• Paris. — From letters of Mr. James Huneker (Jan. 17 
and 3t) to the Philadelphia BulUtin, we glean the following 

items: — 

— A good concert was that given by Mr, Frederic Bosco- 
vitz, at the Salle Erard, that perfection of a miuic ball. 
The programme was made up almost enUrely of 'the new 
works of Mr. Boscovits, with the exception of some Chopin 
numbers and a Lisst-Sohubert Valse. For his own compo- 
sitions I can only say they are decidedly original, recalling 
at times, though faintly, Chopin, in an exquisite Berceuse 
and an odd Minuet, for which Mr. Bosoovits has taken the 
old Monut form and filled it vrith new life. In a Danse 
Hongroise of his own, Mr. BoscoviU displayed that immense 
technique which justly places him foremost [?] among our 
living pianists. 

— On Sunday I also heard another fine concert at the 
Th^tre du ChAtelei. Tliese concerts are t^ven once a week 
tinder the auspices of the Association Artistique, whose roll 
of members includes, among others, the distinguished names 
of St-Saens, De Beriot, Duvemoy, Gounod, JHell, Massenet, 
and Vieuxtemps They phyed at this concert the Italian 
Symphony of Mendelssohn, Schumann's Mcmfred^ the Leo- 
nore Overture of Beethoven, and a Funeral March of Ham- 
let, by Faocio, the leader of the orchestra in La Scala, Milan. 
It was nothing but Wagner from beginning to end. Mme. 
Marie Jtiell, the wife of the celebrat^ pianist, played a con- 
certo of St.-Saens for piano, in her usual frigid style, for, 
while she showed great skill in fingering, she has not a par- 
ticle of expression. A decided novelty, and one worth hear- 
ing, was a trio, by Beriios, for two flutes and a harp. It is 
a dlfge, and abounds in beautiful passages. These concerts 
are very satisfactory. The orobestra, if it is smaller, pbys 
as wdl as the Paisdelonp, while I think the acoustics are 
better than in the vast winter circus. 

I1ie Opfera Comique, this week, revived Gounod's 

charming opera, Romto and Juliet. While the cast is not 
so well filled as at the first representation in 1867, with 
Miolan-Csrvalho and Duchesne in the principal roles, still it 
Is excellent Talazao has a fine tenor, and if Mile. Isaac is 
not the ideal of Juliet, yet she possesses a vibrating, well-cul- 
tivated voice, that tells. The opera is well mounted, with a 
capital chorus 

Although it was generally supposed that Sivori, the great 
violinist, would not pbiy this season in Paris, be nevertheless 
delighted a large audience, last Sunday, at the Concert Po- 
polairPy with his lovely music He is no longer a young man, 
but the vigor and fire of his plsying are immense. He gave 
with orchestral accompaniment a Berceuse, of his own com- 
position, with a delicacy unapproachable. It was pUyed 
with Uie mute, and tlie bow never left the strings once. It 
was so piano that many of the audience were, I am sure, 
unable to hear it. In stnrtUng contrast came a Moiivement 
Perpetuel, also with orchestra, and by the same composer. 
This was as presto and forte as possible. Sivori's tone is 
not so masculine as tliat of his great rivals, Joachim and 
Wilheln^. but it is exquisitely sweet ; he lacks the generous 
breadth of the German school He plays nearer to the 
bridge than any one I have ever beard, without the snspicion 
of a screech. It reminds one of gold being drawn to cob- 
web fineness. He pli) ed for an encore the well-known, aUs, 
too well known, '* (Janiival of Venice." Whether it was 
given us in the style of his illustrious master, Paganini, I 
cannot say; only that it was amazing, painful, and finally 
tiresome. It was a most astonishing tour de force, and I 
believe would drive most violin players cnuy. Sivori is a 
great violinist, though I think that there are others equally 
as great; but comparisons nre odious, and I will make none. 

— Mr. Frederic Boscovitz gave a second piano recital at 
the Saik) Erard, which was as siicces.sful as the former one. 
BIr. Boscovitz, after pUying among other things some new 
works of his own, gave a sonata by Nichelman, a coniiMser 
who flourished about 1740. It was extremely interesting, 
and reminds one of Bach or Handel Mr. Boscovitz also 
pbtyed some sirlections ttoxa. Field, Handel, and Chopin. 
Tlie color and life he infuses into everything he touches 
make one frel that the Hungarians are liom pianists. His 
playing is never tame, and while always giving the composer 
as be is, he nevertheless pkys with an individuality that 
nuses him above the level of most pianists. A Madame 
White gave some selections from De Beriot und Lalo for the 
violin in ^ood style, but with rather a thin tone. I could 
not help thinking of the number of female violinists who 
appear before the public now. A short time ago the idea 
of a woman plAyiiii; on that instrument was laughei at, 
pronounced un«rraoeful, etc. Now not a season passes but 
a half dozen violinists of the gentler sex prove to ns that the 
true iostrument for woman Is, par excellence^ the violin. 



London. — The Musical Directory for 1879 contains 
some remarkable statistics of the present condition of musi- 
cal art in Engkud. . In London during the jiast year there 
were not fewer than four hundred grand orohestral and 
oratorio concerts, besides some two hundred and fifty 
piano-forte matindes, benefit and miscellaneous concerts. 
Add to this over two huiidred performances of Italian and 
English Operas, and we have, without including operettas 
and musical farces, a sum totiil of eight hundred and fitly 
important musical performances, an average of alK>ut tliree 
per day. London counts alwut forty amateur societies, 
which give private concerts; twenty-nine Protestant and 
fifteen Catholic churehes in which sacred musical perform- 
ances take place ; and one hundred and seven concert halls (ex- 
clusive of the Cnfee-Ckantttnts and "music halls*';. On 
a superficial estimate there are in the British metropolu two 
thousand music teachers, who earn their bread by giving les- 
sons, and about five thousand in the prorinces; while one 
hundred and twenty provincial towns possess one or more 
(often six or seven) musical societies. In London during tlie 
past year there appeared thirty-five hundred new composi- 
tions, among them about one tliousaud songs and ballads, 
two hundred vocal duets, etc., twelve bundled piano pieces, 
two hundred and fifty dance pieces, one hundred sacred 
pieces, one hundred sacred duets. The rest consists of 
pieces for organ, orchestra, harp, harmonium, guitar, violin, 
flute, etc. 

— Cad Rosa, with his English Opera Company, at Her 
Mi^esty*s Theatre (he having formed an alliance with Ma- 
pleaon) seems chiefly to occupy musical attaition in London 
just now. Recently they have brought out Wagner's Rienzi 
and Ernest Guiraud's Piccolino with very great success. 

— llie chamber compositions of the lamented Hermann 
Goetz, composer of the admired opera " The Taming of the 
Shrew," and of the Symphony in F, which bitely made a 
mark in London, are now exciting hiterest. At tbe popular 
concert of Saturday, Feb. 8, his piano trio in G minor was to 
be performed by Mile. Marie Krebs, Mme. Nonnan-Neruda, 
and Sig. Piatti; the programme also including: Quartet in 
C minor, Op 18, Beethoven; Sonata in D, Mozart (Mile. 
Krebs); and " liebeslieder Wiilzer,'' Op. 52, for four hands, 
with voice parts ad lib.(\\hj Brahms. — On Monday 
(10th), Joachim ^'the magnificent " was to make his first 
appearance for the season, to play (with Mile. Rica, Zerbini, 
and Piatti) Mendelssohn's Quartet in D, and Haydn's in 
G ma^or, Op. 64; also, as solo, the Adagio from a concerto 
by ViotU. Mile. Krebs was down for a sonata, in C minor, 
by Schubert; and Herr Henschel for an Aria from Handel's 
Siroe, and Sehubat's song " An die Leyer. 



fi 



Baden-Badkn Adolf. Jensen, a gifted composer, who 

has lived here for several years in still retirement, died on 
the 23d of January. His songs and piano-forte pieces (not 
a few of which have been made known here in Boston in 
the concerts of Ernst Perabo and others) are highly es- 
teemed in (jermany. He was bom at Kunigsbei^, and had 
but recently completed his forty-second year. His produc- 
tive activity continued to the last days of his life. The 
Siffnale says : ** Jensen ranks among the most graceful and 
most finely sensitive of the romantic tone-poets who have 
proceeded from the Schumann school, and yet have developed 
into an independent artlatic individuality.'* 

Stitttoart. — A new four-act opera, Conradin von 
Schwnben, has been produced at the Tlieatre Koyal, with- 
signs of more than ordinary success. The plot was sug- 
gested by the Grand Princess Vera of Russia, the young 
widow of Duke Eugen of Wurtemberg, and the libretto 
written on tliis plot hj Herr Ernst Pasqu^. The music is 
by Herr Gottfried Under, a master in the (Jonservatory, 
who was called on at the end of r%rh act, and several times 
after the foil of the curtain, on the first night. Last au- 
tumn. 162 pupils wrre^dmitted into the Conservatory, where 
the whole number now amounts to 676, showing an increase 
of 13 on last year. Of these 676, 224 (4 more than hut 
year), intend devoting theraselvea to music profirssionally, 
namely : 82 males and 140 females, 166 not being natives of 
Wurtemberg. Stuttgart furnishes 365 pupils ; the remain- 
der of Wurtembei^g, 42; Baden, 25; Ba^-aria, 4; Hesse, 4; 
Prussia, 26; the Reichslande, 2; Bremen, 1; Hamburg, 2; 
Mecklenburg, 1; Oldenburg, 1; Austria, 4; Koumania, 2; 
Switzerbnd, 23; France, 1; Great Britain, 84; Russia, 13; 
Norway, 1; Greece, 1; Si>ain, 1; North America, 64; Aus- 
tralia, 2; and India, 7. During the winter session of six 
months, 863 lessons are given every week, by 35 regukr 
masters, 2 assistant masters, and 4 female teachers. 

Well Takkk Ix. — Most of our newspapers have in- 
nocently swallowed the canird aliout Robert Franz's won- 
derful recovery of lost scores of Bach, — «^ 120 violin so. 
natas ! ** Ye gods ! The hundred or more American 
musical journals are yet ringing with the stupendous news, 
not having seen Franz's public statement that there is not 
one word of truth in the story. But it is a very 'pretty 
story for all that, and doubtless the invention of some wag- 
gish Wagnerite or envious " Bach-biter; " here it is as told 
in the Pail Mall GnzetU : — 

** German papers announce a discovery of nmch interest 
to tlie musical world. The treasure-trove consists of a large 
portion of the missing works of Johann Sebastian Bach. 
'Ilie discovery was made by Herr Robert Fiunz. Convinced 
that the k>ng-h)st Puaion Music and ChnstuuM oratorios 



might yet be brought to li^bt, uirr Franz commenced a 
systematic research in every place where the great master liad 
been known to reside. After much fruitless labor he arrived 
at the seat of the Witzhun family, and passing one day down 
an alley hi the garden, noticed that the young trees where 
they were tied to their supports were bound round with 
strips of paper to prevent the bark from being scored. A 
closer inspection showed that the paper bore the beautiful 
handwriting of Bach, and, turning to the gardener, Herr 
Franz besought him to say whence the precious MS. had 
come. The reply was to the eflect that in tlie loa there had 
been several chesU full of the paper covered with old notes, 
and as it was of no use to any one he had made it serve in- 
stead of leather for bfanding up the saplings, adding that he 
had done so for some time and found the result higiily sat- 
isfactory. Herr Franz hastened to the k>ft, when he was re- 
warded by finding a chest yet untouched and filled to the 
brim with MSS., which on inspection proved to contain no 
fewer tlian 120 violin sonatas. His joy was daslied, how- 
ever, by the certainty that the precious music had long ago 
gone to bind up the trees and had irrecoverably perished 
through exposure to tlie weather. It is probable that the 
works now discovered will not be received with such favor 
by the general musical public as was accorded to the sym- 
phonies of Schubert uneartlied by Mr. Grove and produced 
at the Cr}-stal Palace Owicerta by Mr. Manns. Herr Joa- 
chim, however, will find in them * fresh fiekis and pastures 
new; ' while every one who has the least pretense to a lo«-e 
of music must admit the discovery to be one of exceeding 
interest.'* 

Weixebuet College, Mass. — The liorty-first concert 
(fourth series) was given at this institution on the hist ei'en- 
ing of January. The performers were C N. Allen, Wulf 
Fries, C. H Morse (musical professor of the college), pian- 
ist, and the junior dass '• Glee Club." The programme was 
as follows : — * 

Trio in O JIaffdn, 

(a.) Andante, (b.) Poco Adagio, (e.) Rondo all' Ongarese. 

Vocal Trio, "Evening" GMbeck. 

Variations Concertaute in D. Op. 17. (Pi- 
ano and 'cello ) MendeUaohn. 

Vocal Duet, " The Angel *' BubiHeUiu, 

Suite in E. Op. 11. (Piano and violin) . C. Goldmark, 
(First time in this country.) 

Vocal Trio, " Sweet May " Bamby, 

Trio hi C minor. Op. 1. No. 3 . . . . Beeihooen, 

Oxford (O.) Female College — A Beethoven en- 
tertainment was given in the chapel, Jan. 31, with the fbl- 
lowhig programme: — 

1. Lecture: Subject, *• Beethoven ** . . . Karl Mert, 

2. Andante con moto, firom Symphony Op. 67. 

Beethoven. 
Misses Susie Ritteubouse, Rboda Gray, Jennie Hairison, 

Anna Dumont. 

3. In questa Tomba. Vocal Sofe .... Beetkoten. 

Miss Sadie Elliott. 

4 Adehude. Vocal Solo Beethoven. 

Miss Mary Colmeiy. 

5. S}-mphony, Op. 36 Beethoven. 

Misses Mary Colmery, Fannie McCleUao, Leila Cox, Alice 

Ballenger. 

Chicago. — Mr. Charles H. Brittan delivered a lectors 
on '* The Development of Vocal Music from the 16th Cent- 
ury," at Park Institute, Feb. 7, with musical illustrations 
by Mrs. Oliver K. Johnson. These were the musical num- 
bers: — 

(rt.) Aria — " PieU Signore " . . . . StradeUa. 

{b.) Song — »«Nina" Pvrffole*e, 

la.) Aria — »»Mv Heart ever Faithful" . J. S. Bach. 
\b.) Aria — *' He was Despised " (Messiah) . HandtL 
(a.) Song — »♦ In questa Tomba " . . Beethoven. 
(6.) Song — »» Thine is my Heart" . . Schubert. 

(a.) Duet — Abenlied Mtndeta$ohn. 

Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Urittan. 
(6.) Song — '*Thou Art Like unto a Flower." 

Sdiunumn, 



4 . 



5 



(a.) Song — Hungarian Song . 
Ik-) Song — " Bliukt der Thau 



*> 



. Fra$u. 
RubintteiM. 



— Sel)astian Hensersbook upon the Mendelssohn fiually, 
of which he is a member, is rich in anecdotes. One of the 
best is the story of the original courtship of Moses Men- 
delssohn,— an episode which will be new to Fjiglish readers. 
In Prussia, during the last century, every Jew was com- 
pelled at his marriage to purchase a fixed quantity of goods 
from the newly-founded Royal Porcelain Manufactory at 
Berlin. This was certainly an odd way of encouraging art 
and manufacture; but, wont of all, the Jew, not allowed to 
choose what he liked, must be content with the '* recom- 
mendation ** of the authorities of the royal factory, who 
thought Prussbi ought to be rewarded for her tolerance by a 
considerable subsidy from the pm'ses of rich Jews. Moses 
^lendelssohn, on his wedding-day, had to purohase twenty 
massive porcebiin apes as hrge as life, some of which are still 
preserved by \-aricus branches of tlie family. This was under 
the rule of Mr. CJarlyle's hero,— Frederick the Great,— and 
at a time, too, when Moses Mendelssohn had attained wide 
renown as a philosophical thinker. 



March 15, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



41 



BOSTON, MARCH 15, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 

SonrsT. SUuart Sttme 41 

Oiosoi Sam» and Vrsdcric Cuopih. a Study. Fannf 

Raftnond Ritter 41 

1^1 PAmxTic Vallact. T. G.A 43 

IIi:«ET Jamu'js Nkit Book. C. P. C 44 

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SONNET. 

Lovx, when thou com'si — too rare and far between ! — 
Id dreams to me tliat with night's stars must set, 
Canst thou, like him who finds at morn not yet 

His friend awake, and should not call, but lean 

Tenderly o'er liim, then steal out unseen, 
But leave for greetinjv on the coverlet 
A starry branch of fragrant bk)s«oins, wet 

With early dew, — thou too not let me glean 
A brief, bright joy from thy fleet visiting ? 

And not for my sole portion leave the slow. 
Undying throb of grief, sharp as the sting 

Of pricking thorns? I^o^'e, yet be it so, — 

Come even tliua ! Tliat bittenieas untold 

Is sweeter than all else the earth may hold ! 

Stuart Stebxe. 



GEORGE SAND AND FRfiDfiRIC 

CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 

BY FANNY RAYMOND RITTER. 
(Contianed fh>m page 86.) 

There is a passage in the *' Impressions 
et Soavenirs *' which places these three great 
artists, Chopin, Sand, and Delacroix, in an 
interesting light before us. Delacroix, fine 
conversationalist as he conld be, and expan- 
sive as he appears in the passage I allude to, 
was only so among those few intimate and 
proven friends who had a right to be consid- 
ered his intellectual equals. Exclusive and 
fastidious ; believing, if ever artist did, that 
*' the painter who courts popularity closes 
the door on his own genius ; " averse to so- 
ciety, save in those elegant circles where 
feminine tact exercises its divine right of 
melting all rebellious and discordant elements 
into an atmosphere of harmony and grace, 
or among his compeers in the artist world, 
Delacroix, in ordinary general society, ap- 
peared, when he did appear there at all, taci- 
turn and reserved. He discouraged conver- 
sation in the studio, apart from that necessary 
to instruction, as a species of dissipation. 
*' Conversation on art, or on subjects that 
most seriously concern artists," said he, ^' save 
among equals, when mind kindles mind with 
electric friction, is a giving away of one's self 
to unworthy receivers, or an exhaustive men- 
tal debauchery and loss of concentration, lead- 
ing to nothing ; to shake hands too often low- 
ers the character." This exclusionist was evi- 
dently of Robert Schumann's opinion: ^<The 
artist should be cheerful as a Grecian god, in 
his intercourse with life and men ; but when 
these dare to approach too near, he should 
disappear, leaving nothing but clouds behind 
liim." Chopin, charming, fanciful, witty as 
he could be at times, was by nature little 



of a conversationalist ; few composers are. 
Why should they bo so? Does not their 
speech begin where ordinary language ends ? 
On the occasion described by Madame Du- 
de van t, she and Delacroix had previously 
discussed the teachings of M. Ingres and the 
opinions of his disciples, repeated in our day 
by the Cabanellists and the Academic, the 
eternal subject of rule and exception, classic 
and romantic, tradition and originality ; both 
friends, however, being on one side of the 
question, as we might expect from their char- 
acters. 

** Delacroix said : ' M. Ingres thinks that 
light was made to embellish ; he does not 
perceive that it was intended to animate. He 
has studied, with very delicate precision, the 
smallest effects of light on marbles, gold, 
drapery ; he has only forgotten one thing, — 
reflection. He does not seem to suspect that 
everything in nature is reflection, and that all 
color is an exchange of this. He has scat- 
tered over all the objects that have posed 
before him little compartments of sunshine 
that seem to have boon daguerreotyped, but 
there is neither sun, light, nor air in any of 
them. The livid and tarnished tones of an 
old wall by Rembrandt are rich in a very 
different manner from this prodigality of 
tones, pasted on objects that be never suc- 
ceeds in uniting by means of the necessary 
reflections, and which consequently remain 
cold, isolated, and harsh. Observe that what 
is harsh is always cold ! ' Chopin joined us 
at my door, and we ascended the stairs dis- 
puting about the * Stratonice ' of Ingres. 
Chopin does not like that picture, because its 
figures are affected and devoid of genuine 
emotion ; but the finish of the painting pleases 
him. Chopin and Delacroix love each, 
other, I may say, tenderly. They possess 
many affinities of character and the same 
grand qualities of mind and heart. But in 
their respective arts, Delacroix understands 
and adores Chopin, but Chopin does not un- 
derstand Delacroix. He respects, esteems, 
cherishes, the man, but detests him as a 
painter. Delacroix, whose faculties are more 
varied, appreciates and understands music, in 
which art liis taste is just and exquisite. He 
is never tired of listening to Chopin ; he en- 
joys him, knows him by heart. Chopin ac- 
cepts and is touched by this homage, but 
when he looks at one of his friend's picture.^ 
he suffers, and has not a word to say. In- 
finite are his wit, finesse, sarcasm, yet he cares 
not for painting or sculpture ; Michael An- 
gelo frightens him, Rubens makes his flej^h 
craep. All that is eccentric scandalizes him, 
find he shuts himself up in the narrowest 
proprieties. Strange anomaly I for his own 
genius is the most original and individual ex- 
isting. But he does not like to be told so. 
It is true that the revolutionary Delacroix's 
literary tHSte is also as classic and formal as 
can be imagined ! It is useless to dispute 
with them ; I listen ; but at dessert Maurice 
breaks the ice. He begs Delacroix to ex- 
plain the mysteries of reflection, and Chopin 
listens, his eyes enlarged by surprise. The 
master establishes a comparison between the 
tones of painting and those of music. ' Har- 
mony in music, we know, does not merely 
consist of the existence of chords, but in their 
relations, connections, logical successions, all 



that I may be allowed to term their auditory 
reflections. Painting cannot proceed other- 
wise. Let us take this blue cushion and this 
red cover. Place them side by side. You 
see that where the two tones touch, they bor- 
row from each other ; red is tinted with blue, 
blue is flushed with red, and between them 
they produce violet Crowd the most violent 
tones into a picture, but if you give them 
the reflections that unite them, you will never 
appear loud. Is Nature sober in color ? Does 
she not overflow with glaring, audacious, fe- 
rocious oppositions, that yet never destroy 
her harmony? It is because she enchains 
everything by means of reflections. You 
may pretend to suppress these in painting, 
but the result is somewhat inconvenient ; you 
suppress painting itself.' Maurice observes 
that the science of reflections is the most 
difficult in the world. *No,' replies the 
master, ' it is as simple as good-day, and can 
be explained like two and two make four. 
The reflection of one given color on another 
invariably produces a third.* < But how 
about the re-reflection ?' demands the scholar. 
^ Diable, Maurice, how you run on ! You ask 
too much for one day ! ' The re-reflection 
launches us into infinity, as Delacroix knows, 
yet he cannot explain what he is still in search 
of, and which he has owned to me he has 
sometimes found rather through inspiration 
than by means of science. He can teach the 
grammar of his art, but genius is not to be 
communicated to others, and there are un- 
sounded mysteries in color, tones produced by 
relation, which are nameless, and do not exist 
on any palette. Chopin has ceased to listen, 
has seated himself at the piano-forte, and now 
does not perceive that we are listening to him. 
He improvises at random, and then pauses. 
* Well,' asks Delacroix, < surely you have 
not fluished ? ' < I had not yet commenced. 
Nothing will come, — nothing but shadows, 
reliefs, reflections that I cannot fix. I seek 
the color; I cannot even And the design.' 
Delacroix replies, ' You cannot find one with- 
out the other, consequently you will find them 
together.' < But suppose I should find noth- 
ing but moonlight?' 'Ah, then,' exclaims 
Maurice, * you will have found the re-reflec- 
tion ! ' This fancy pleases our divine com- 
poser. He takes up his idea again without 
appearing to recommence, so uncertain and 
vague is his first sketch. Our eyes seem to 
behold the soft tints corresponding to the 
bland modulations which are received by 
our ears. Blue! we fioat in the transpar- 
ent azure of night. Light clouds assume 
every form of fancy ; they fill the sky ; they 
close round the moon ; she throws out great 
opaline disks, and awakens the softly sleeping 
colors. We dream of a summer night ; we 
await the nightingale." 

But the lady of M. Karasowski's biogra- 
phy certainly meant to say that the spirit of 
music, rather than that ^ the spirit of Chopin, 
breathes from the best of George Sand's ro- 
mances." For it would be difficult to dis- 
cover anything of Chopin's peculiar charac- 
teristics in the works of George Sand, so 
different, so opposite, appear the natures of 
these two artists as displayed in the tendency 
and effect of their works. The question. 
Which of George Sand's romances may be 
considered her best in a purely literary sense ? 



42 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 989. 



18 one foreign to our present inquiry ; let us, 
then, endeavor to ascertain how much of 'the 
musical spirit may be found in her works, 
and what share of that may reasonably be 
attribut'ed to the ^' inspiration ** of Chopin. 

Unfortunately for thi^ latter assumption, 
however, it is known that George Sand's love 
and taste for music dated from childhood, 
and her musical talent was more an inherited 
than an acquired one. The father, whom in 
her filial pride she has characterized as, in 
accomplishments and courage, '^ a personifica- 
tion of the chivalrous phase of the last wars 
of the republic and the first wars of the em- 
pire," possessed the temperament of an artist 
as well as the valor of a soldier. He was 
well versed in literature, languages, and de- 
sign, but above all in music ; his voice was a 
fine one, and his violin playing must have 
been superior to that of many amateurs, for 
he was able to perform a part at sight in 
symphonies and quartets. He attempted, 
rather late in life, to acquire the knowledge 
of composition which he needed in order to 
carry out his talent for that science. Madame 
Sand says : '* M. de Vitrolles has related to 
me the odd result of this tardy scientific study. 
Previous to it, my father's imagination had 
appeared to overflow with charming melodies 
and musical ideas. But, after acquiring the 
science necessary to express these, his imag- 
ination became cold, and his natural genius 
for musical creativeness deserted him without 
his becoming aware of it himself.'' Po&sibly 
the creative musical talent of Captain Dupin 
was not strong enough to survive the robust 
discipline of scientific training, — an experi- 
ence not infrequently that of students of com- 
position ! When engaged in the campaigns 
of Napoleon, the first thought of the young 
officer, on arriving in a city new to him, was 
to visit the musical celebrities of the place ; 
he wrote letters, evincing much taste, judg- 
ment, and enthusiasm, to his mother about 
these visits and his attendance at great mu- 
sical and operatic performances, from which 
his daughter quotes in her autobiography. 
Throughout her childhood and convent life 
Madame Sand was deeply impressed by music ; 
the singing of Tyrolese national songs by 
the prisoners of war who passed through 
Berry, the chapel music, the voice of her 
grandmother, all delighted her. Her general 
musical education would have been do better 
and no worse than that of most ladies of her 
social position, but for the fact that her grand- 
mother was a lady 6i uncommon musical tal- 
ent and knowledge. She taught the princi- 
l^es of music to little Aurora Dupin with 
such soundness and completeness that every- 
thing seemed easy to her ; much more so than 
when, in after years, masters of greater 
pretensions only succeeded in disgusting the 
young student with her own eindeavors. At 
the age of sixty-five Madame Dudevant's 
grandmother remained, in spite of years and 
infirmities, so accomplished a singer that she 
was able to move her hearers to tears by her 
noble style and expression when performing 
the masterpieces of the old Italian school, list- 
ening to which^ seated under the old spinet, 
in company with her favorite dog, Madame 
Sand then thought she would gladly have 
spent her whole life. Her grandmother had 
knewa Glock and Piocinni, and loved the 



music of both, saying that comparison was a 
bad rule in art, as it was better to appreci- 
ate than to compare different individualities. 
Madame Sand says : ^^ I have heanl much 
sinking since those days, many magnificent 
voices ; but if I have heard more, I cannot 
say that I have heard anything better." May 
not the recollection of her grandmother's 
noble style of ringing noble music have had 
its share in '* inspiring " George Sand in her 
invention of the character of Consuclo, the 
high-minded pupil of the old Italian master 
Porpora, — as gieat a share as the large, ex- 
pressive singing of her friend, Madame Pau- 
line Garcia, the great artiste who is said to 
have been depicted in the heroine of '* Con- 
suelo " and " The Countess of Rudolstadt " ? 
Although these novels were written at the 
time when Chopin was an inmate of Madame 
Sand's house, they are two of her most object- 
ive books; and although many of the char- 
acters are musicians, the aim and tendency of 
the works are more religious and revolution- 
ary than musical. And the musical subjects 
chiefly treated of are Italian vocal music and 
lives of opera singers, branches of the art in 
which Chopin was comparatively uninterested, 
though Bellini was one of his intimate friends. 
But George Sand wrote as beautifully of 
music (more eloquently than any other wom- 
an) before her acquaintance with Chopin as 
during the continuance of their friendship. 
Exquisite passages on the subject of music 
abound in her letters to Li^zt, Meyerbeer, 
Gerard, Rollinat, and others, written from 
Italy and Switzerland in 1834, 1835, and 
1836. Some of these are finer than anything 
she wrote on the same theme afterwards, in 
their rare combination of warm feeling for nat- 
ure and appreciation of art. If George Sand 
ever errs in writing of music, it is not when 
she depicts the inmost meaning, the aesthetic 
significance, the soul-moving effect, of that art, 
but when she dilates on technicalities, schools, 
methods, and compositions, where her incom- 
plete training for the task becomes occasion- 
ally apparent ; and we rather wonder that she, 
far from seeking the ^* inspiration " of the 
musicians who sun*ounded her, did not take 
more advantage of their superior knowledge, 
in order to render her delineations of musical 
art blamelessly correct from a scientific point 
of view. How fine is that eulogy of music 
to be found in the opening of one of her let- 
ters to Liszt ! as true, too, as it is poetical, 
for the modern art of music almost originated 
in the chants of the first Christians. ** Music 
is the art of association, friendship, prayer, 
and faith. Christ told his apostles, at part- 
ing, that He would be with them where only 
one or two were gathered together in his 
name. The apostles, condemned to wander, 
labor, and suffer, soon dispersed. But when 
the disciples met, between imprisonment and 
martyrdom, the chains of Caiaphas and the 
stones of the synagogue, if they knelt to- 
gether, no matter whether on the roadside, 
in some olive wood, or in the neighborhood 
of towns in a * high chamber, ' when they 
had conversed about their master and friend, 
the desire each felt of invoking his spiritual 
presence inspired them with the power of 
song, and the Holy Spirit, whose fiery tongues 
had invested them with the gift of language, 
also shed upon them the gift of the sacred 



voice of music, which Ciin only be worthily 
spoken or understood by the purest and most 
elect of all human organizations." And here 
is one sentence descriptive of Beethoven's 
Pastoral Symphony, which is moi*e to the 
point than long pages of mere analytical 
criticism : " Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony 
opens enchanted perspectives to the imagina- 
tion, a valley of £ngadine or Mismia, a ter- 
restrial paradise, through which the soul takes 
flight, leaving limitless horizons behind her, 
and ceaselessly fi3'ing towards new ones, in 
which the bruised heart heals, the oppressed 
bosom expands, the mind and brain become 
renewed, and, identifying ourselves with nat- 
ure, we sink into a delicious repose." Beau- 
tiful is her account gf the effect of music on 
the water, where, after describing a moon- 
light night in Venice, she speaks of meeting 
a gondola conveying the orchestra that had 
been engaged by some English nobleman to 
perform a serenade : " Unexpected pleasures 
are the only genuine ones in the world. Yes.- 
terday I went to see the moon rise over the 
Adriatic, and opposite La Salute I met a boat 
slowly moving towards the Grand Canal, scat- 
tering round her, like fragrance, the sound of 
a delicious serenade. *Turu the prow,' said 
I to old Catullo. Another boat followed 
my example, then a second, then another, 
then all on the canallazzo ; even several empty 
ones, whose gondoliers rowed towards us, cry- 
ing, < Musica, musica ! ' with the hungry tone 
of Israelites calling for manna in the desert. 
In ten minutes the dilettanti were surrounded 
by a flotilla ; all oars were silent, and the 
boats floated at the will of the water. Har- 
mony glided softly on the breeze as the oboe 
gently sighed, and we held our breath lest 
that should interrupt its complaint of love. 
Two or three harmonious harp passages fell 
as if from heaven, a promise of angelic conso- 
lation to suffering souls. Then the horn rang 
as if from the depth of the woods, and the 
lover fancied he beheld his first love advanc- 
ing towards him from the forest of Frioul. 
The violin exhaled a thrill of melodious joy ; 
the four instruments united their voices as 
happy souls might do, embracing ere they de- 
part for Paradise. Even when their accents 
ceased, my imagination still heard them, for 
their passage had left a magical warmth in 
the atmosphere, as though Love had waved 
his wings through it. There was a moment 
of silence which no one dared to break. The 
melodious bark began to hasten as though she 
would escape us, hut we sprang upon her 
wake like a flock of petrels disputing for the 
possession of a dorado. The fugitive escaped 
as Orpheus might have done ; a few chonis 
from the harp restored silence and order. It 
was like the realization of some beautiful 
dream: the file of silent gondolas wafted by 
the wind along the magnificent Canal of Ven- 
ice, while, to the sound of suave motivos 
from Oberon and William Tell, every undula- 
tion of the waves, every light bound of the 
oars, seemed to respond to the sentiment of 
every musical phrase. The gondoliers, in bold 
attitudes on tlieir poops, stood out against the 
deep blue air like thin, black spectres, behind 
the groups of friends and lovers whom they 
were conducting. The slowly rising moon 
.seemed to listen to and love the music." 
'^ Spiridion," one of the most mjstic ol 



March 15, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



43 



romances, a novel without a woman, was 
written during the sojourn of the friends at 
Valderaosa, in the ruinetl cloisters of that 
chartreuse^ under the influence of the ro- 
mantic, picturesque, natural scenes and sounds 
of the island of Majorca. But though, in 
that tht^ological novel, we may fancy we de- 
tect the echoes of the stormy winds, clamor- 
ous seas, and rushing torrents tliat echoed 
through sonorous galleries and broke upon 
the ear of its writer while fashioning her 
large and fluent pages, where shall we And 
the traces of Chopin's '* inspiration " ? If I 
remember rightly, she makes only one men- 
tion of music in the entire book. It is the 
passage in which Alexis describes how he 
first became aware of the meaning of music, 
when listening to a fisherman singing to the 
stars of the mystery of night and the softness 
of the breeze, in a melody as large, sad, and 
monotonous as the music of the sea, with a 
deep, powerful, melancholy voice. 

But of all George Sand's writings on mu- 
sic, the most interesting, to those of us who 
are musicians, at least, are her references to 
Chopin*s manner of composing and playing 
when at Majorca, where, inspired by the sea, 
the wind, the complaints of sea-birds borne 
away by the tempest, but inspired above all 
by his own genius, love, and grief, he wrote 
many of his exquisite *' Preludes," whose 
vague or restless rhythms respond to the most 
despondent, capricious, or passionate of our 
dreams, while he was suffering from the depres- 
sion of gloomy superstition or tragic spleen, or 
agitated by the exaltation of noble, tempest- 
uous, tender, imaginative, emotion. I need 
not apologize to the music lover for the 
length of the following extracts, translated 
from her observations on this subject : — 

^ To the imagination of Chopin, even 
when he felt comparatively well, the cloisters 
seemed peopled with terrors and phantoms. 
He did not say so, but I saw it. On return- 
ing from my nocturnal' explorations among 
the ruins with my children, I often found 
him, as late as ten o'clock at night, still study- 
ing at the piano-forte, pale, his eyes sunken, 
his hair disordered. He would scarcely rec- 
ognize us for several minutes, and then, mak- 
ing an efforC to smile at himself, would play 
to us the sublime works he had just been 
composing, — or rather, I should say, the 
terrible, or beautiful, or harrowing ideas that 
had taken possession of his mind in this hour 
of solitude. It was at such times that he 
composed those brief and beautiful pages so 
modestly entitled ' Preludes ' by him. Some 
of these master- works present to us a vision of 
deceased monks and funereal chants ; others, 
more soft and melancholy, suggested them- 
selves to him in hours of sunshine and com- 
parative health, amid the laughter of chil- 
dren under his windows, the distant sound of 
guitars, the singing of birds amid the dewy 
leaves and the small, pale roses that budded 
under the light snow ; and some are filled 
with a gloomy sadness that pierces the heart 
while it charms the ear. There is one that 
he wrote on a lowering, rainy evening, — one 
that plunges the soul in frightful depression. 
My son Maurice and I had left him almost 
well, on one of those mornings when we were 
accustomed to visit Palma in order to pur- 
chase art'icleB necessary for our housekeeping. 



Heavy rains came on while we were away ; 
the torrents overflowed. We had traveled 
three leagues in six hours, only to get back in 
the midst of an inundation ; we arrived late 
at night, through many dangers, having been 
deserted by our driver and having lost our 
shoes. We hurried at once to our invalid, 
foreseeing his anxiety. It had been excess- 
ive, indeed, but it .had frozen into a sort of 
tranquil despair, and we found him playing 
an admirable prelude, while tears ran down 
his cheeks. He rose with a loud cry on see- 
ing us enter, and exclaimed in a strange tone, 
with an absent-minded manner, ' Ah, I was 
sure you were dead ! ' When he recovered 
himself and saw the condition in which we 
were, the retrospective idea of our danger 
again made him almost ill ; he afterwards told 
me that he had seen our adventures as one 
in a somnambulistic trance might have done, 
and, unable to assist us, or, indeed, to distin- 
guish the vision from the reality, he had 
lulled his anxiety by the effort of composi- 
tion, until it had seemed to him that he was 
dead, as he fancied that we also were. He 
beheld himself as though drowned in a lake ; 
heavy, icy drops of water fell rhythmically on 
his heart ; and when I called his attention to 
the rain-drops that were then falling rhythmic- 
ally on the roof, he, protesting against the 
puerility of audible imitation, and opposing 
what I termed imitative harmony, insisted 
that he had not been aware of the sound. He 
was right, for his genius overflowed with 
the mysterious harmony of nature, which he 
translated into musical thought by means of 
sublime equivalents, not by a servile repeti- 
tion of outward sounds. His composition of 
that evening was really filled with the rain- 
drops that rang on the sonorous tiles of the 
chartreuse, but in its melody, as in his imag- 
ination, these took the form of tears, falling 
from heaven on his heart. ... In regard 
to inward sentiment and emotion, I consider 
the musical genius of Chopin to have been 
the most sublime that ever existed. He has 
caused one instrument to speak the language 
of the infinite ; in ten lines, easy enough for 
a child to play, he has often condensed po- 
ems of immense elevation, dramas of tremen- 
dous energy. And he understood his own 
weakness perfectly. This consisted in an un- 
controllable excess of power. Therefore he 
could not, like Mozart, create a masterpiece 
of art in one uniform tint. His music is full 
of shadows and surprises ; sometimes, though 
seldom, it is mysterious, eccentric, tormented. 
Though he had a perfect horror of formless 
obscurity in* art, the exaltation of extreme 
emotion often carried him into regions un- 
known to any but himself. A friend and 
judge less able than I was to understand his 
character, or to become identified with every 
fibre of his intellect, one less familiar with 
his modes of feeling, thinking, and working, 
would have forced him to render himself more 
intelligible to the world in general. Yet, in 
early youth, as well as in some of his later 
compositions, he embodied a few cloudlessly 
happy ideas, crysttil springs in which an un- 
dimmed sun is shining, while some of his 
unpublished romances and Polish songs are 
charming in their simplicity, and adorable in 
their sweetness. But how brief, how few, 
are these tranquil ecstasies of poetic contem- 



plation ! The song of the lark in heaven, 
the floating movement of the swan on stirless 
waters, are, with him, but momentary flashes 
of serene beauty. He was more deeply sad- 
dened, and for a longer time, by the plaintive 
cry of the hungry eagle on the rocks of Ma- 
jorca, the bitter hiss of the north wind, and the 
gloomy desolation of the snow-covered yew- 
trees, than he was delighted by the perfume 
of the orange-blossoms, the capricious grace 
of the wild vines, or the original beauty of 
the Moorish melodies which he heard the 
field laborers singing at their work." 

George Sand did not abandon music as a 
subject after her parting from, or after the 
death of, Chopin ; then, as before her ac- 
quaintance with him, many beautiful pas- 
sages on musical themes may be found in her 
novels or letters. For instance, in one of 
her later stories of country life, ** Les Mattres 
Sonneurs," full of pleasing descriptions of 
rural music, and of music's effect on unculti- 
vated minds, an exquisite passage occurs, un- 
rivaled in a certain thrilling supernatural 
charm, where Tiennet is described as trem- 
bling at the sound of the mysterious concert 
of bells and comemuse in the forest at night ; 
and how poetically Brulette relates her rev- 
erie while listening to Joset's playing ! Ma- 
dame Sand retained her love of music to the 
last; she has been described as a grand- 
mother of sixty, playing — at her daughter's 
request, for the gratification of some visitor 
who had been admitted to the intimacy of 
family life at the Chateau of Ndhant for the 
first time that evening — some of Chopin's 
nocturnes by heart, with a power and ex- 
pression seldom met with among young ama- 
teurs, but scarcely ever in a lady of her age. 

On examining those of her works in which 
she has written of music, with the hope of 
discovering how much of " the spirit of Cho- 
pin " is to be found in them, it is difiicult to 
arrive at any other conclusion than the be- 
lief that, though Chopin, her musical friends, 
and music undoubtedly suggested many ideas 
to Greorge Sand, as other persons and sub- 
jects probably also did, yet, as her genius 
was of spontaneous growth, a flame springing 
from an inward source, that of a nature ex- 
traordinarily gifted in itself, her works were 
of course almost entirely nourished and vivi- 
fied by the same interior fire. That this 
power was very little dependent on outward 
infiuences is sufficiently proven by the fact 
that she preserved the grace and force of 
her faculties throughout a literary career of 
nearly fifty years to the end ; her last works 
convince us of the truth of what Ch. de 
Mazade has said, that "she underwent no 
decline, but age only brought to her a pacifica- 
tion of her remarkable genius that was not 
unfavorable to its effect on her readers." 

{To be continued.) 



THE PATHETIC FALLACY. 

Mr. Ru8KiN,in one of his books, uses the term 
" pathetic fallacy " to express in Art the mis- 
take of transferring the habits of thought and 
feeling of our day to an anterior age. In one 
sense this mistake is universal, and almost in- 
evitable. The religious painter of the time of 
Titian, or the Dutch painter of the time of Rem- 
brandt, imagined for their sacred pieces that the 
people about them were sufficiently suitable fixr 



44 



B WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 989. 



apostles and martyrs. So little was known, then, 
of the manners of the East, even of its costumes, 
that tliere were few critics to object to seeing 
Abraham as a Rotterdam burgomaster, or Saint 
John as a handsome Florentine. Oddly enough, 
almost the first Bible picture that had the real 
flavor of the East was painted by Horace Yer- 
net, who, making, at the well, Rebecca support 
on her arm the jar of water, gave to the ex- 
tended neck and the impatient lips of Jacob 
something of that thirst which only the East 
knows. Since then, however, Holman Hunt has 
studied on the spot the venerable hea<l8 of Ju- 
dea and its landscape ; and, in his '' Shadow of 
the Cross," copies the ancientest tools he could 
find of the carpenter's trade. And Jerome and 
Alma Tadema instruct while they please us by 
a familiarity, half imaginative and half realistic, 
with ancient expression and costume. Tlieir 
learning sits easily upon them, and by tlieir help 
the world takes long strides towards the realiza- 
tion of the perished past. 

In our history, our two hundred years cannot 
go back so far as they carry us ; but how com- 
mon is it for critics, not of New England, to re- 
peat one cuckoo cry of criticism when the brave 
Puritans are mentioned. They indulge in the 
" pathetic fallacy " to shield themselves from an 
honest admiration which is their due. We hear 
forever of their burning of the witches (which 
they did not do) and of their persecution of the 
Quakers. These critics seem wholly to forget 
that the Puritan fathers did not come here either 
with a sentimental liberality towanl those opin- 
ions which were repugnant to them, or with those 
modern ideas of liberty and the rights of man 
by which they are now condemned. If they 
had been people of that sort, they could have 
stayed at home and temporized with the powers 
that were. It was the very bitter energy of their 
belief which forced them from home ties into a 
solitude they hoped to make their own. And 
when they found that solitude invaded by secta- 
rians, however honest, repugnant to their con- 
science and belief, they felt cruelly that their 
desert was a divided one, and that they must 
share with others its mastery. 

We are judging them by the sofler convictions 
of our time, if so strong a word suits the emas- 
culated indifference which we call liberality. 

And, as to the treatment of the witches, the 
blunder of the Puritans was an epidemic of the 
time, which ran the world over, and by chance 
only was it at Salem that the last flicker showed 
itself before expiring. The decision of Sir Mat- 
thew Hale is said to have cut short, as with a 
blow, what certainly good sense should never 
have protracted so long. But these epidemics 
of the human race are never guided by good 
sense. From the mad Neapolitan dance, surviv- 
ing in the Tarantella, to die religious maniacs 
of the French mountains and at the tomb of the 
Abb^ de Paris, good sense is the one thing abso- 
lutely not there. It is a pity, indeed, that good 
sense is not as catching as these follies and hoi^ 
ron. And have we not had in our own time Uie 
foolish crowd of Milleritcs, with whom reason ab- 
dicated as the childish whim ran like wild-fire ! 
We have said that these cuckoo notes of criticism 
usually come from beyond New England. Its 
headquarters is at New York ; and we do not like 
to believe that it is any envy of so noble an an- 
cestry as the Puritan fathers that prompts it. It 
is true that the worthy burghers of Holland who 
founded New York were not liable to any such 
severity of judgment. We thinir that fanaticism 
was neither their strength nor their weakness, 
and still less should we like to believe that the 
partinlity of that established English church 
which drove the Puritans to exile still prompted 
in its American representative any injustice of 



opinion towards a body of men whom all should 
revere. And if they must be disliked, let us hear 
no more of the misuse of tliat pathetic fallacy, 
which, incapable of sympathy with their loHy 
endurance, judges them by the judgment of our 
day, and measures their iron souls by a weak- 
ness no longer capable of such a strain of hero- 
ism. T. G. A. 



HENRY JAMES'S NEW BOOK.^ 

Mr. Editor, — You have been reading, I 
see, Henry James's last book (*' Society the Re- 
deemed Form of Man "), as I have ; and I doubt 
not with great interest. To roe it seems a re- 
markable work for its elevated thought and its 
earnest and profound convictions, and is the 
most satisfactory statement the author has given 
to the public of his readings of Swedenborg 
passed through the alembic of his mind. At any 
rate, it is his spiciest work. Being in the fonn 
of letters to a friend, he allows himself a freer 
swing ; and while he is very earnest in endeavor- 
ing to state his ideas clearly and concisely, and 
to this end states and restates and recapitulates, 
he is always fresh and without monotony. True, 
he oflen writes from deep feeling, which mani- 
fests itself in unlooked-for sarcasms and homely 
phrases and epithets. But these flashes show at 
what a white heat and with what a depth and 
intensity of conviction his thoughts run. 

To me his book has been very stimulating and 
suggestive in the region of those profound trutlis 
he discusses, and I think must be so to all who 
are seeking for solid ground for their faith in the 
unseen. And this, however we may difler from, 
him in many of his alfirmations. 

But I did not set out to write a review of this 
book (for it would be hardly in tlic line of your 
journid), but intended to ask if it did not strike 
you as having a resemblance in its style (includ- 
ing matter and manner) to certain forms in 
music. To be sure, there is nothing exactly 
poetical or designedly artistic in the form or 
spirit of it. Yet one can't help admiring his 
sonorously rhetorical style, and might not bo 
over-fanciful in calling the book a grand sym- 
phonic poem with endless modem and original 
variations, sometimes with most unexpected har- 
monies, upon tlie severely simple and archaic 
themes of Swedenborg. Or, better still, call it 
a long, full fugue, like one of Bach's, teeming 
with those never-ending, still-beginning thoughts, 
— the same thought never repeated in exactly 
the same phrase, but always fresh in its repeti- 
tion ; running into majors and minors, now drop- 
ping an idea and now taking it up, now min- 
gling in others; and then all spinning their 
course along in one braided and interwoven yam^ 
I might say, if it were one of his gifled son's 
stories ; call it rather theologic strand of many 
harmonious colors and gradations of light and 
dark. 

Somehow I am reminded of old Bach's full- 
ness and earnestness when Mr. James tells us 
that he began with intending to write ten letters, 
or about 100 pages, but finds he can't possibly 
finish under twenty-eight letters, of 480 pages. 

I don't know how it is with professed musi- 
cians, but I know we outsiders often think Bach 
is about making an end on 't, when he has n't 
the least idea of so doing. Not that I, for one, 
want him to end, for I revel in him ; but the 
hunt does sometimes seem to be about up, when 
lo and behold, the fox is hardly in sight, and the 
view-halloo just beginning. •Such are the mis- 
takes of outsiders. How is it possible for them 
to predict just where and when the riders come 

1 Society the Redeemed Form of Man^ etc, AlBrmed 
in Letters to a Friend. By Hknby Jamss. Boston : 
Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1879. 



in at the death, and whether there may not 
be, after all, a da capo for the whole perform- 
ance ? 

I have a great a^lmiration for those men who 
arc so full of their subject that Xlu-y don't know 
when to stop. Only, let it be seen that they are 
so full (and of something worth telling) that 
they must overflow and keep running. What a 
perennially fresh-running brook is Bach, down 
to his very ultimately as Swedenborg might say, 
that is, to his very name I But Heaven preserve 
us from men or women who think they have a 
mission to talk, or preach, or make poetry or 
music, ad infinitum, when all but they themselves 
know them to be unmitigated bores I c. P. c. 

Cambbidge, Mass. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

FAOM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

I. 

All that makes anything live is expression. 
Look through form for expression. The essence 
of form is a great deal finer than form. Look 
at some of the French figure-painters of to-day ( 
Bouguereau, for instance. We find knowledge 
of form and skill in representing it ; but in order 
to work like that you 've got to flatten out every 
impressionable form in your constitution. 

You work to express what you feel ; and some 
one who never feels anything says, " When that 
is done it will be beautiful I " " When it is as 
bad as my things," they ought to say. 

The thing, and the appearance of the thing, 
are two diflerent afiairs. If you are looking 
with the eye you are taking down facts; and a 
million of them won*t make a conundrum. Your 
eyes are windows through which you receive im- 
pressions, keeping yourself as passive as warm 
wax, instead of being active. The talk of your 
friends makes you savagely active to get hold of 
things and to do them. You have more than you 
need of that. If I am looking I don't see I You 
must be lazy, and say, *' Let me see a thing, and 
I Ml paint it.** Pretty soon you '11 see something 
that will be reflected on your perception. Thai 
is a jewel I 

For this reason I want you to make memory- 
sketches. They are the only essence ; the only 
things you really feel. They won't say much to 
you. No matter. You work for the pleasure of 
doing. People say, ** Don't you get attached to 
your sketches ? " Attached 1 I should think 
not. after they 're done. You might as well be 
attached to the dinner tliat you 've eaten. 

It was meant that everybo<ly should express 
some plan in creation. A mosquito means some- 
thing ; an idiot means something. But if the 
mosquito tries to be a gnat, or the idiot a Daniel 
Webster, they hare a hard time. 

People are too much given to swapping them- 
selves off for something better than themselves. 
The minute you give the reins to your ambition 
to excel, to get the start of Jimmy, to go to the 
head of the class, you fail into those mean mo- 
tives which arc the aim of our Christian com- 
munity, whose prayer is, ** O Lord, let me go to 
the head of the class, and let all the other boys 
go down ! " We 're always trying to get ahead 
of somebody else. 

Here you all are together. You ought to help 
one another, ought to be delighted when another 
excels, for you can learn something of that one. 
We go to church on Sunday and talk about do- 
ing to others as we would be done by, and on 
Monday we do nothing of the kind. I don't be- 
lieve that the men who joined Moody and San- 
key's church are any more honest than they were 
the day before they joined. They don't confess 
1 Copyright^ 1879, by Helen M. Knowlton. 



Maboh 15, 1879.] 



DWIQHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC 



46 



that they've been in the habit of doing mean 
things. 'Fhcy say, " Have you joined Moody and 
Sankcy's church ? If you liail you 'd be a great 
deal better man than you arc.'* If they would 
say less and do more I If they M come down 
town and say, " Ixst *s put our religion on onr 
counters ! Let 's use no poor cotton instead of 
good I " Tlicy don't learn something in oi*dcr 
to use it. Wliatcver you put into your pocket 
and don't use is worse tlian useless. Tlie pirate 
who runs up a bhvck flag is honest in comparison 
with pretenders. Don't misunderstand me 1 I 
exaggerate, and I intend to. In painting you 
have to exa^rrcrate. 

It has been said tliat *< genius consists in the 
power of taking a hint." Grcnius is nothing but 
love. If you love to paint, if you love to sing, 
if you love to black boots, you are a genius. The 
reverse is hatred. 

Genius is like a seed in the florist's drawer. 
It longs to get out It says, '* For God'fe sake let 
me get out ; let me be planted 1 Let mo go some- 
where 1 Let mo grow 1 Let mo decay, even I " If 
we would only let ourselves swing along, and not 
take so much trouble I I say that; and yet no- 
body takes more trouble and gets more dis- 
couraged. 

You can't grow if you look at a thing so high 
that it makes your stomach go down, — injures 
your diaphragm. You hear EssipofT, and go home 
to try to play Chopin as she does. It makes you 
sick to remember her runs as you try your own. 
You forget the tremendous training she has had. 

People like Essipoff arc not spoiled by some 
fond parent who thinks her child the wonder of 
the world. No, such an artist was early taught 
to try, try a little more each day, always with an 
ideal a little ahead, and by and by she opens the 
window and sees the whole world. The sicken- 
ing part of it all is when she must meet the 
world. '*I don't think she is this; and I don't 
think she 's that I " Nothing of what she vt. 
Let her make a mistake in a Chopin nocturne, 
and the critics howl with delight 

The world can't see good things. The oak 
does n't have to yield to the beech, nor does it 
say, ^ I am greater than the beech 1 " It 's all 
narrowness. It 's the way we are taught A 
parent would give a half-a-dozen pair of gloves if 
her young one could paint better than anybody 
else. A gi^eater love would be to have you pass 
for what vou are. 

Children don't learn from love of what they 
are learning. They love to beat some one. 

To return to Form. You must know form to 
get expression. People think that the rapresen- 
tation of form is reached by correct drawing. 
Look at Rembrandt's figures; some of them five 
heads high 1 The fact is, we are all too smart 
We try too much. / do ; and I know the world 
is about alike. 

Oh, it 's no joke — painting 1 But it 's awfully 
amusing. You 'd rather cry over painting than 
laugh over anything else, except perhaps music. 
An art is no joke. Just tliink ! You may put 
your hand down on paper, and you may do some- 
thing that will be as lasting as the Parthenon. 
Art is all that remains. Tlie fellows who are 
only filling their pockets with dollars, what are 
they going to leave ? 



CfiiTics generally find fault with the artist or 
the composer. The fact that audiences also de- 
serve blame seems not to enter into their minds. 
The public often forces artists to yield to their 
corrupt taste, and there are few who can effectu- 
ally resist this pressure. Many yield. Some do 
so reluctantly, others give way readily. In such 
a struggle it is the solemn duty of the press to 
stand by the man who aims at pure taste. — 
BtUtnard^s MuiUal World* 



SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1879. 

CONCERTS. 

SixcR March came in, the public musical per- 
formances in Boston have been comparatively few ; 
but to complete our record we have to go back 
and pick up half a dozen concerts which occurred 
in the last ten days of February. We begin 
with the vocal clubs : — 

The concert of the Apollo Club (February 
19, and again with the ssvme programme Febru- 
ary 24) was one of the mot interesting it has 
ever given. The singing was in all respects' 
most admirable, — an improvement even on the 
best efforts of the past The pure, sweet, manly 
quality of voices ; the sonorous, perfectly musical 
ensemble ; the prompt and sure attack ; the pre- 
cision ; the fine phrasing, delicate light and shade, 
distinct enunciation ; and the pervading fire and 
spirit, seemed to leave nothing to be desired in 
respect to execution and interpretation. The 
selections, too, though mainly part-songs, were 
uncoiuuionly interesting. The least so, perhaps, 
was the opening piece, of more pretension than 
the rest, the *' Hymn to Music," by Lachner, 
although that is musicianly and has its beauties. 
The most important was Schubert's wonderful 
setting of Goethe's emblematical poem, <* Song 
of the Spirits over the Watera," with the low, 
mysterious murmur of its rich accompaniment 
of two violas, two violoncellos, and bass (Messrs. 
C. and J. Eichler, Wulf Fries, Carl Behr, and 
Aug. Stein). Only a composer of Schubert's 
imaginative genius could keep up the interest of 
so long a work, all in so low a tone of color. 
The poetic images are musically reproduced with 
an exquisite truth to nature: the brooding si- 
lence over the still water, the rush and roar of 
the torrent, the creeping over level meadows, 
the planets "gazing at their fair flices in the 
glassy sea," — ever a new phase of enchantment 1 
Rheinberger's playfully romantic ballad, *^ Sa- 
lentin von Isenberg," was singularly original and 
charming. The " Drinking Song " by Lux and 
llatton's very sweet and tranquil "Evening's Twi- 
light " were as welcome as ever, and justly so. 

The monotony of strict male part-song was 
agreeably relieved by a masterly English prize 
glee, by Evans (1811), for five voices, "Beau 
ties, have you seen a toy called Love ? " by the 
duet "Non fuggir," from William TeU, finely 
sung by Mr. Wiikie and Dr. Bullard, ^he former 
showing great improvement both in the sweet- 
ness and purity of his high tenor voice and in 
graceful ease of execution ; and finally by closing 
the concert with Bishop's good old glee of" Mein- 
heer van Dunck," which it was a pleasure to 
hear revived by so fine a chorus. But for a still 
greater element of variety three of the move- 
ments (Allegro, Andante witli variations, and 
Scherzo) from Hummel's master-work, the Septet, 
were interspersed between the vocal numbers, 
and very artistically played by Messrs. Sumner, 
pianist, Carl Eichler, viola, Wulf Fries, 'cello, A. 
Stein, bass, Wm. Rietzel, flute, C. Faulwasser, 
oboe, and Edw. Schumann, horn. The hall was 
too large for the fiiU intensity of efifect from these 
few instruments, yet the perforniance gave great 
pleasure, and the Scherzo had to be repeated. 
Mr. Lang has certainly the choicest of materials 
for a male chorus under his control, and he has 
trained tliem to a rare perfection of ensemble. 
There is no need of saying that the Music Hall 
was crowded. 

BoYLSTON Club. — Right upon tlie heels of 
the Apollo (the next evening, Tuesday, Febru- 
nry 25), came the second concert of this younger 



and very vigorous, enthusiastic club, with the ad- 
vantage of having united with itself a choir of fe- 
male voices. Its conductor, Mr. George L. Osgood, 
full of zeal and fondness for high tasks in music, 
familial* with what is best in music, old and new, 
and continually growing in his mastery of all tlie 
resources of his art, has wonderfully succeeded in 
inspiring his large body of singers with his own 
tastes and ideals. They take up an elaborate 
old work, which at first seems strange, repulsive, 
and impracticable to them, but he makes them 
learn it till they sing it con amore. Such was 
tlie case that evening with the opening piece 
de reioistance of the programme, the singularly 
beautiful, expressive, and uplifting, as well as 
wonderfully learned and ingenious, Motet in B- 
flat, by Bach, " Sing to the Lord a new-made 
song." It is for double chorus (eight real parts), 
and seems to exhaust all the resouroes of coun- 
terpoint, yet all is naturally flowing and melo- 
dious ; each part follows its own melody, as if it 
had nothing else to think of, and yet all com- 
bines in one expressive whole. Ohen the two 
choruses are strongly contrasted : while one sings 
on in running figurative phrases, the otlier ex- 
cluims, " Sing ye," etc. ; then they alternate ; 
then all the eight parts become involved in most 
melodious complication, yet each part so marked 
that you lose nothing of it ; there is a continual 
crescendo of mutually exciting ardor and activ- 
ity, till the commingling phrases seem like a 
busy swarm of bees, all growing to a climax in a 
splendid, glonous song of praise. This is Allegro 
moderato. Then comes a second movement, 
Andante sostenuto. Here we meet our most 
familiar chorale (essentially that), " Old Hun- 
dred," given out by single lines by one chorus, 
with Bach's inimitable harmony, the other chorus 
filling the intervals between the lines with a 
moro contrapuntal four-part subject of its own. 
'Iliis is a form to which Bach is partial (witness 
the Passion Music), one chorus representing, as 
it were, the prayer of humanity, Uie other the 
consoling church, with the serene and peaceful 
harmony of the chorale. Omitting a few pages, 
the performance passed on to the rapid and ex- 
citing Hallelujah fugue, with which the Motet 
ends, and in which the two choruses are consoli- 
dated into one. The work was remarkably well 
sung, considering its great difficulty, and the 
utterly unusual character of the music for nearly 
all the singers. It was all clear, well sustained, 
and rendered with fair light and shade and good 
general expression. It would be a wonder in- 
deed if such a work pleased all the critics, some 
of whom were doubUess strangely out of their 
proper element in it ; or if it took hold of half 
the audience with a titlie of the power it might 
do. upon frequent repetition; or even if the 
careful and industrious rehearsal of it had quite 
converted all the singers to a realizing sense of 
its intrinsic power and beauty. Tliere are in- 
nate differences in the musical natures of people, 
in their depth and sensitiveness, in their capac- 
ity of sympathizing with what is deepest, best, 
and holiest in art Perhaps the popular sort of 
admiration which clings to Trovatores, Carmen»f 
and the like, might, if it only could get hold of 
one of these great works of Bach, prove fatal to 
its treshness, dim its celestial purity, and drag it 
down into the category of things commonplace 
and hackneyed. Such things demand real, inte- 
rior, sincere appreciation, and not the furore and 
clapping of hands of each new nine-days' won- 
der. Wc are tempted here to apply to Bach's 
music what the philosophic Henry James, in his 
last book (" Society the Redeemed Form of 
Man "), says of the unattractive style to common 
readers of the writings of Swedenborg : " They 
would seem to have been mercifully constructed 
on the plan of barring out idle acquaintance. 



46 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 989. 



and disgusting a voluptuous literary curiosity ; '* 
but to deep religious natures, "to the acliing 
heart, they will be sure to bring," he thinks, '* in- 
finite balm and contentment." To enter truly 
into the spirit, into the divine rest and beauty, of 
Bach*s music, one must have known some deep 
experience. It would be well to repeat tlie 
Motet once or twice ; then more people would 
begin to appreciate it. But if Bach's uiusic bars 
out idle acquaintance, and disgusts voluptuous, 
pampered, artificial taste and curiosity, it often 
wins the simple listener. Many such, without un- 
derstanding, love it; so that it may be said, 
" Except ye become as little children, ye cannot 
enter [this] kingdom of heaven." How many 
musical amateurs, professors, critics, curioRity 
hunters, are simple enough to respond to the 
child-like spirit that pervades and sanctifies the 
learned harmony of Bach, of which they see only 
the outward form ? 

The Motet was followed by a Clioral Hymn, 
by Brahms, for mixed chorus, with organ accom- 
paniment. This seemed to us the clearest, least 
sophisticated, least overwrought, and most express- 
ive composition we have yet "heard from Brahms. 
It is noble and uplifting music, growing to a 
climax which 'we may almost call sublime ; and 
it was sung superbly. 

In the second part we had " King Eric,** a 
sweet and graceful setting by Reinberger of 
Keinick's sentimental and romantic ballad, beau- 
tifully sung ; " The Little Bird," from the Swed- 
ish, for tenor solo, tenderly and sweetly sung by 
Mr. Osgood, with exquisite accompaniment of 
female chorus ; Mr. Osgood's beautiful male part- 
song, "Thou'rt like unto a flower;" ** Sunset/' 
by Gade ; " O world, thou art so wondrous fair ** 
(male chorus), by Storch ; the " Presage of 
Spring," by Hollander, in which the fresh, pure 
female voices were quite in harmony with the 
•* balmy air " and " violets " of which they sang ; 
a lovely ** Slumber Song," by KUcken ; Schu- 
bert's beautiful "Forest Hymn" {Nachtgesang 
im Walde), full of fine effects of echo, sounds ap- 
proaching and receding, which suffered from the 
impossibility of procuring the four horns so essen- 
tial as accompaniment ; and, finally, the hearty, 
delightful old Italian madrigal, composed by Con- 
stantius Festa, in 1541, for mixed chorus. All 
the singing showed most thorough and judicious 
training. The piano-forte accompaniments were 
effectively and tastefully played by Mr. Peter- 
silea. The third concert will be on Wednesday 
evening, April 16. 



Mme. C affiant's second annual benefit con- 
cert was remarkably good for a concert mostly of 
singing pupils. The chief fault was its too great 
length. But the programme was far from mo- 
notonous. This accomplished prima donna of 
Italian and German opera has been doing a good 
work in our city as a teacher ; her pupils of both 
sexes are numerous, and quite a number of them 
bore striking testimony on this occasion to the 
excellence of her instruction. Some of them were 
a little nervous, to be sure, and won all the more 
sympathy for th<»v , uut for the mo^t part they 
had pleasing voices, well developed, gave their 
tones out in frank, honest style, and sang with 
good tast« and expression. The teacher sang 
an Ave Maria of her own composition ; a recita- 
tive and aria, with unseen female chorus, from 
L'Africaine^ and in Costa's Quartet (canon), 
** Ecco quel fiero istante," — all in excellent 
voice, and in the large and noble style of an 
artist. Of the young lady pupils, Miss Annie 
Wentz appeared the most advanced, and sang a 
recitative and aria from Spohr's Jessonda in tones 
of great beauty and with good dramatic style 
and fervor. Miss Ida Kleber showed rare fa- 
^ty a^d. ittiuiy briUIaocy in a florid ** Walts 



per Sempre," composed for Mme. di Murska, 
and had to repeat it. Mendelssohn's ** Zulcika," 
by Miss Alice Potter, and Thomas's " Mignon " 
air, by Mrs. T. Buxton, wci-e sung with feeling 
and expression. The Trio of maskers from Don 
Giovanni was fairly sung by Miss Sybilla Bailey, 
Dr. Albion Dudley, and Mme. Cappiani. Mr. 
Martial Wood gave a refined rendering of Ad- 
am's Notl and Gounod's " Salve dimora ; " and 
Mr. Theodore Castelhuhn made a fiivorable im- 
pression with Schuberi'd " Wanderer." 

The aid from without was furnished partly 
by Mr. M. W. Whitney, who htis found a fine aildi- 
tion to his concert repertoire in an Aria from 
Righini's " Selva incantata," which he sang in 
his best style to general admiration, and who 
also gave " A mariner's home *s the sea " by 
Randegger ; partly by Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood, 
who gave a superb rendering (Mrs. S. taking the 
orchestral accompaniments on a second piano) of 
Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasia, Op. 15, Mr. 
S. having already played tlie Concert Toccata by 
Dupont ; besides an Ofiertoire upon the organ by 
Mr. J. Frank Donahoe, and a successful render- 
ing of Ernst's OtelLo Fantaisie for violin by Mr. 
Van Raalte. 



Mr. John A. Preston, one of the most tal- 
ented of our young pianists who have come for- 
ward under the tuition of Mr. Lang, gave a 
concert at Mechanics' Hall on Wednesday even- 
ing, February 26, which was alike remarkable 
for the ambitious tasks which he essayed and for 
the success witli which he acquitted himself in 
them. Here is his programme : — 

Prelude and Fugue (Op. 35), Mendelssohn ; 
Aria, " Dove Sono " (Figaro), Mozart ; Sonata 
in F minor (Op. 14), Schumann (Allegro — 
Scherzo — Quasi Yariazioni — Prestissimo pos- 
sibile). Four Preludes (from Op. 28) : A ma- 
jor, F major, A-flat major, G-sharp minor, Chopin. 
Songs : " Marie at the Lattice," Franz ; " Der 
LindenbaiiTh," Schubert. Fantasie in F minor 
(Op. 49), Chopin. 

It was ^Ir. Preston's second public appear- 
ance only before a Boston audience as solo pi- 
anist ; his first was in a Symphony Concert last 
year, when he made his mark in a Concerto by 
Saint-Saens. Schumann's F minor Sonata (first 
published under the title of ** Concerto without 
Orchestra "), was a bold undertaking for the most 
accomplished virtuoso ; Yon BUlow is the only 
one who has ever played it here in public, and 
it is said that even he did it not without some 
misgiving. Its various movements combine all 
tlie peculiarities and all the difficulties of Schu- 
mann's young, original, audacious style. It is full 
of his breath-catching, nervous syncopations, his 
bold modulations, his intricate and finger-twist- 
ing figures and phrases, as it is full of fire and 
passion, original conceptions and ideal strivings. 
We can hardly imagine anything more difficult 
to bring out evenly and clearly than the first and 
last movements, the last at a rate of speed indi- 
cated by prestissimo possibile ! The Scherzo is an 
exciting, fascinating movement, with a grand broad 
sweep carrying all before it. The dirge-like theme 
of the third movement was the invention of Clara 
Wieck, who became Schumann's wife, and some 
of the Yariations are very striking. The young 
interpreter proved himself equal to all the tech- 
nical exactions of his task, and accomplished 
every difficulty not only with a firm, sure mas- 
tery, but with an ease that left him free to think 
and feel the music, and throw a gi'eat deal of his 
own native fire into it. His look and manner 
are those of a very serious artist ; he takes all in 
earnest, and never trifies witli his work. 

After this exceptional and trying composition, 
none of the easiest to appreciate without several 
b^arittgs^ it was a aaw sort of ploasura-'and a re- 



lief to hear his graceful, refined and poetic ren- 
derings of the four Chopin Preludes; and it was 
a happy thought in him, an instinct of artistic 
symmetry, which led him to repeat tlie short and 
f>erfect little one in A major at the end of the 
four, making tliat the key-not«>, as it were, of tlie 
whole group. The Chopin Fantaisie was an- 
other anluous undertaking, which he mastered 
with all ease. The singing by Miss Annie Louise 
Gage made a most pleasing feature of the con- 
cert ; her voice and style are full of sensibility, 
and she did justice to the Mozart and the charm- 
ing songs. ^__^ 

Sixth Symfhony Conckrt. — A large audi- 
ence listened, at Boston Music Hall, on Thursday 
afternoon, February 27, to a very satisfactory 
rendering of an interesting programme, which 
included: Parti. Overture to " The Return from 
Abroad," Mendelssohn ; Romance (larghetto) 
and Rondo vivace from the Concerto in £ minor, 
Chopin ; Incantation of tlie Witch of the Alps, 
and Entr'acte, from music to Byron's ** Manfred," 
Schumann. Part II. Piano solos : a. Prelude 
and Fugue, Haberbier-Guilmant ; h. Tarantella 
from " Yenezia e Napoli," Liszt ; Symphony No. 
2, in D, Op. 73 (second time), Brahms. 

The pianist was Mme. Julia Rive-King, who haa 
wonderfully improved in power, finish, and eX' 
pression since she first appeared in Boston, in the 
twelfth season of these concerts. Her technique 
is consummnte. The Chopin Romance was 
given with the utmost delicacy and refinement of 
phrasing and of light and shade; and all the 
piquancy and brilliancy of the Rondo finale were 
exhibited in a manner that showed a plenty of 
reserved power. She understands remarkably 
well how to bring out the full tone of the instru- 
ment, and in an easy way. Her touch is ex- 
quisite, and there is no affectation about it at all. 
Yet we should not say that fine poetic feeling 
was her strong point. The Prelude by Haber- 
bier, and the Fugue by Guilmant, originally 
written for the organ, were transcribed by her- 
self, and with true conception of their meaning 
and eflfect. The Prelude, a melody with airy 
arpeggio accompaniment, had a rich and full so- 
nority ; the Fugue is a clear and strong one, and 
was made very effective in the rendering, al- 
though we should think the lady less domesti- 
cated in fugue music than in other freer forms. 
The Tarantella by Liszt was admirably done. 
The impression which she made throughout was 
very positive, and held the general attention 
closely to the end of each interpretation. 

The orchestra won new recognition by the 
precision and the delicacy and the fine spirit 
with which they played Mendelssohn's youthful 
overture, which seemed to us more fresh and 
buoyant, as well as having more artistic substance, 
than it ever did before, when we have heard it 
only outlined as it were by less complete orches- 
tras. So, too, the daintily imaginative morceaux 
from the ** Manfred " music were delightfully 
presented. 

We do not find ourselves at all alone in saying 
that the second Symphony of Brahms does not 
improve upon acquaintance. Indeed, to our feel- 
ing, it is a less successful effort than his first one, 
in C minor. And we even make bold to suggest, 
at the risk of shocking some of the admirers, that 
we can conceive of a Sterndale Bennett writing 
a much better symphony than this of Brahms 
in D. In spite of a certain pastoral softness and 
repose with which it opens, and the sweet infusion 
of horn tones continually, you soon feel a cloying 
fulln«>ss in the Allegro non troppo. There is a 
certain feebleness, a sugar-and-water character, 
in the subject matter of the themes ; and when 
it comes to the working up after the repeat, it is 
done with an unstinted use of c»Atrapuntal means, 



Mabch 15, 1879.] 



D WIGHT* 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



47 



such as the real matter of the movement does not 
stfcm to call for. And near the end of llic niovu- 
nivint thci*c are some obscure, unsatisfnctory |Hjri- 
ods which sug;;est tlie fancy whether all this su- 
per-refined contrapuntal distilluicnt has produced 
anything better tlian a bad quality of spirit, 
which shows its effects upon the brain in the un- 
comfortable, distracting headache (\VelUchmtrz. 
— Katzeujammerf — what you will) of the Ada- 
gio which follows. For verily that Adagio, after 
several hearings in concert and rehearsal, still re- 
fuses to reveal its meaning, and leaves us with the 
sense of having listened to something ugly and 
nngenial, which we would fain avoid hereafter. 
Yet there is no denying the earnestness of all, so 
f^r, which makes us half ashamed of speaking so 
lightly of it as wo have done. 

In the third movement (Allegretto grazioso) 
our tone-poet seems to have slept off the be- 
clouding influence, and to go forth with buoyant 
sttjp and feeling into the wholesome air r.nd light 
of nature ; for its principal tlieme is cheerful and 
graceful, indeed fascinating ; but even this, taking 
die whole piece together, is fragmentary and dis- 
jointed; the rhythm and the tempo and the 
thoughts themselves are continually changing 
without warning and apparently without reason ; 
there is nothing like development or continuity. 
Thus the first graceful Allegretto subject, in 8-4 
measure, suddenly changes to Presto, in 2-4 ; 
then, as suddenly, you have a reminder of tlie 
" Orgy '* motive in the Hufjuenots for a few bars ; 
then a few bars pianissimo for the violins, which 
recall the rain-drops in the storm scene of the 
Pastoral Symphony, and so on. It is all pretty, 
but it hardly seems to hohl together, — the giddy 
fancies of a wayward humor. The Finale (Al- 
legro con spirito) is all rush and brilliancy, and 
its strong impulse is so well sustained to the end 
that we think it on the whole the best part of 
the symphony. In spite of its earnestness, of 
the contrapuntal skill and learning displayed in it, 
of the remarkable instrumentation, and the many 
single passages of power and beauty (including 
one or two reminders of Beethoven), we feel, as 
most have felt, the lack of genuine creative in- 
spiration in tliis large and labored work. All 
agree that Mr. Zerrahn had brought his orches- 
tra up to a high mark of excellence in the exe- 
cution. 

The concert of this week is entirely orohestral. 
Of Uie eighth and last (March 27) the pro- 
gramme will be found among our advertise- 
ments. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Paris, Feb. 21, 1879 — The musical season is at ite 
height. Concerts, opens, chamber recitals, and benefit toir^ 
■re being given so rapidly that I find it impossible to report 
even one third of them, although, entre novtf a glance at 
some of their pr(^;nininies is sufficient and one prudently 
stays away. A mutual admiration society for the audition 
of the works of the members is in openiUon now, and though 
it may be interesting to the friends of the composers, a 
stranger will hardly find it the same. A notable exception 
to this class of things was the second concert given at the 
Salle Erard by Mr. Frederick Boseovitz, previous to his de- 
parture for the United States. The programme was excel- 
lent, Mr. Boseovitz playing first a sonata by Nichelmann, 
whose name is unfortunately disappearing from our concert 
programmes. A descriptive tone-piece in three movenjenU 
followed next, entitled ^'Contes de Foret Noire; " it brought 
Mr. Boseovitz before us as a composer with a strongly 
marked individuality; leaning decidedly toward the roman- 
tic, although he showed in a bright menuet, reminding; one 
of Mozart, that he is not a bigot in any school. A Field 
Nocturne, an air from Handel, and a Chopin Valse, proved 
his varied talents. As a Chopin player he certainly ranks 
high; that divine eoquetry which is the life and soul of the 
vaises by that composer was visible in Mr. Boscovitz's inter- 
pieUtion. Tlie reciul closed with the Tannlmuser Marche, 
rendered in his usual vigorous style. 

Another exceptional concert was given by liliss Annv 
Bock of New York, who is a pupil of Lebert of Stutt- 



gart. Miss Bock, though young, is on the high road to 
thine, and is developing rapidly into an artiste of the first 
order. She is distinguished not alone by her nrtuosity 
(which is rem.irkal)le), but by her poetic touch and deep feel- 
ing, as exemplified in her rendering of seteml l^thoven, 
Schumaim, and Chopin numliers; and what music is a better 
test for those qualities ? Liszt has said some very flattering 
things aliout Miss Bock*s phtying, and I doQ*t think his 
Loi-ditfiip has erred. 

We have been regaled the past three weeks by Berlioz's 
" Romeo and Juliet " at the Concert du Chatelet. A fair 
chorus and good soloists have made the perfbrmances a suc- 
cess. If Germany has her Wagner, France proudly points 
to the great Hector; although some one wittily says: *' The 
music of the future is the natural daughter of Berlioz," to 
which remark I take no exceptions. The Pasdeloup concert 
on Sunday last was capital. Beginning with the sublime C- 
minor symphony of Beethoven, it ran down the gamut with 
tlie names of Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Pt^;anini, Glinka, Siunt- 
Saens, and Rossini, — a nnisical rftgout, without doubt. The 
symphony was played well. The " Marche Hongroise " by 
Berlioz, with its strong national coloring, could not be found 
fault with. Pagan ini 's '^Mouvenient Ferpetuel," arranged 
for all the first violins, was a piece of virtuosity; they 
played as one man. An aria from Saint-Sagns's new opera, 
'* Etienne Marcel," was a failure. It was sweet, pretty, 
feeble, etc. ; and that leads me to remark tliat Saiot-Saens is 
too prolific a composer to do anything great. The quantity 
of notes he turns out every year must be immense ; but 1 
am afraid these influences are hardening me into a musical- 
Philistine, and I will stop. J. H. 

New York, March 8 The fifth concert of the Sym- 
phony Society took place at Steinway Hall, on Satunday 
evening, Maroh UU The list began with Cherubini*s stately 
Anacrton oi'erture, which was very finely performed. This 
was followed by a concerto. Op. 32, for piano-forte and orohes- 
tra, by Xavier Scharwenka, a brilliant and eflfective work, al- 
though not strikingly original. Air. Bemhard Bockelmaun, 
who undertook to play the concerto, enjoys the reputation of 
an excellent musician and a successful teacher of piano-forte 
music; but he han few qualifications for » concert- player, his 
performance being labored and monotonous. 

Next came Grieg*s mournful and rather dull cantata, 
*^ At the Cloister Gate,*' with Miss Henne (soprano), and 
Miss Winant (alto), as sokiists, and chorus by singers from 
the Oratorio Society. Tlie singers, chorus, and orchestra did 
full Justice to the music, and it was probably their excellent 
work which gained the lienor of an encore, to which Dr. 
Damrosch promptly but not wisely responded by repeating 
the entire piece. 

The "Symphonic Fantastique,** by H. Beriioz, which 
brought the concert to a close, was heard, complete, for tlie 
first time in New Vork, although parts of it have been 
played here before. It may be called a study of Instrumen- 
tation, and as such it is a work of unusual interest. No one 
knew better than Beriioz the requirements and the capabili- | 
ties of each instrument of the orchestra, and, given certiun | 
efifects, no one could produce them more skillfully than he. i 
Every one who hears the '' Synipliouie Fantastique *' must 
acknowledge this to be true. Add to the knowledge and 
talent of Berlioz melodic in%-ention, which he lacked, and 
the result is a great composer (which we now have hi Joachim 
Raff). 

In the " Symphonic Fantastique,*' as in the " Harold Sym- 
phony,** there is a *< fixed idea,*' but it is a m«lody, not an 
instrument, as in the work last named. Tliis melody (being 
almost the only one which the symphony contains) repre- 
sents the "beloved one" as she appears to the artist in a 
delirious dream, the result of an overdose of — opium, sa^-s 
the programme, whiskey, it is to be suspected, — and runs 
through the five movements, changing in character somewhat 
with each. In the ** Ballroom " it is adapted to the meas- 
ures of the dance and one thinks of <* Maud ** set to music. 
The third movement is a pastoral, beginning with the " Ranz 
des Vacbes,*' and ending with some terribly realistic thun- 
der. 

Tlie fourth movement is a triumph of the art of scoring. 
The maroh to execution, the steady tramp, tramp of the 
guards, the tolling of bells, the reappearance of the melody 
at the fatal moment when it is cut short by the headsman's 
stroke (another terribly reaUstic piece of busuiess), all is 
magnificently worked up. 

In the fifth movement the composer has cast all convention 
to the winds. Thanks to the kind offices of Alonsieur de 
Paris, the arUst in his dream has reached the pUce not to 
be mentioned to ears polite. He is greetetl with demoniac 
yells by all the fiends therein assembled. Suddenly the be- 
loved one appears limping and jumping ! — a melody on 
crutches ! It is the same, but oh, how changed ! From a 
noble, dignified, and altogether well-conducted mekxly it is 
iK>w degraded to a trivial and inexpressibly vulgar jig. 

" Shrine of the mighty ! can It be 
That this is all remains of thee.** 

Grand finale. Buriesque uf the " Dies Ir» " by demons 
in chorus. Jim-jams! 

If any one is in the least shocked by the foregoing para^ 
graph, let him lie assured that it is no worse than the pro- 
gramme. In fiMt I think I have toned it down considera- 
bly. 



I fieel boimd to say that the performance of the symphony, 
which is as difficult as it is grotesque, was highly credit- 
able to Dr. Damrosch and his orehestra. The men are 
thoroughly in sympathy with their conductor, and his uiter^ 
pretation of the music was both vigorous and clear. 

At the fifUi concert of the New York Philharmonie Soci- 
ety (Maroh 8th), Mozart's " Jupiter ** Symphony, Fuchs's 
Serenade in D, for string orehestra, and Liszt's »* Tasso '* 
were performed. Mr. Richard Hoflhian played BriUl's 
Concerto, Op. 10, for piano and orehestra (the same which 
he recently performed at one of Mr. Carlberg's symphony 
concerts, at Chickering lioU). 

Mr. Carlbeig has in rehesnal a Noeturoo for orehestra 
(new) by C. F. Daniels, one of our rising composers. It 
will be pUyed at the next symphony concert, Msjrch 22. 

A.t A. N^. 

Chicago, March 5 — The Chicago Orehestra, noder 
the direction of Mr. A. Koseubecker, gave its second concert 
on the evening of February 21, oflferiug the following pro- 
grammer- 
Overture, " Midsummer Night's Dream." . Mendelssohn 

Concerto, Op. 16, with orehestra HenselL 

Mr. Emit Liebling. 

Aria, From opera ** Sosarme " BanieL 

Mr. George Werrenrath. 

Symphony, Op> 11 NoHttrt BwrgmSUtr, 

AU^ro Moderate; Andante; Scherzo. 

" The Two Grenadiers ** Sckumann» 

Mr. George Werrenrath. 

Serenade • . . Fo/imaim. 

String Orehestra. 
'Cello Solo by Mr. Eichheim. 

Rhapsodie, Hongroise, No. 3 XtW. 

Orchestra. 

We were prevented from attending the erening perform- 
ance, but listened to the *' public reheaml *' in the morning, 
and heard the programme simply pUyed through without in- 
terruption. In our '* symphony concerts,** we are unfortu- 
nately laboring under many disadvantages, and there are 
drawbacks that seem to prevent, at least for the present, an 
adequate performance of large orehestral works. l*he fint 
great difficulty is that our orehestra is not careful enough in 
the matter of tuning, and tliere is often a sail disregard of a 
positive pitch on the part of the instrumentalists who compose 
the band. For this surely the conductor is rcsponuble. An- 
other drawback to a good performance is too few rehearsals. 
It is hardly supposable that a number of men can come to. 
gether and, after from two to three short rehearsals, interpret 
difficult classical works with even, a moderate degree of fin- 
ish. For this the public is in part to blame. They do not 
give the management sufficient financial support to enable 
them to hire tlie musicians for a greater number of rehearsals. 
To expect the members of the band, who are forced to resort 
to all kinds of measures to obtain a simple livelihood, to give 
their time (which to them means money, at least in a limited 
degree), without payment, to rehearsals of mnsic for the pub- 
Uc*B pleasure is to ask the weak and struggling to support 
the rich and powerful. There mutt be a better realization 
of the duty of the public in this regard before our orehestra 
can even have the opportunity for improvement. 

In interpretation, tone-coloring, tlie phrasing of the small 
figures of a composition, the proper control of the instruments 
ui a long crescendo that a climax of pure tone may be 
reached, histead of an intricate noise, in the sul jection of the 
accompanying JMUls to tlie theme, our orehestra has much 
to learn. Before these, however, tune and a correct read- 
ing seem primarily necessaiy. Yet our material in individ- 
ual id)ility is good, and we are not without the hope of a 
de\'ebpraent to better things. Let the uiuslcian learn that 
the cultivation of the public's musical taste by the means of 
truly good performance will bring him a AiUer return in a 
more adequate support 

Mr. Eiiiil Liebling pUyed two movements of the Henselt 
Concerto with much power and brilliancy. The composi- 
tion, bowe^'er, seems hardly worthy of the practice it takes 
to master its difficulties. It seems to us that the study of 
a Beethoven, a Chopin, or the Schumann Concerto would be 
more compensating, and would give greater pleasure to a 
really musical listener Our young pianists have yet to 
learn that true music is above the common plane of mere 
display. To manifest dexterity of fingering, or to master 
all thie difficulties of technique in octave phtying, scales, 
broken and extended chords, until all the possible feats of 
mechanical agility are accomplished, will not in itself make 
a pbtyer. These are but the- externals. When the master- 
spirit shall touch the keys, a sweet melody will sing to us 
in beautiful tones, our natures will awaken to the reali- 
zation of a pure and gentle influence, and we shall be hushed 
to silence and made willing captives to the wonderful power 
of real music. There is much need of a singing {legato) style 
with many of our new school of pianists. 

We have in muid, as we write, the delicate and most ar- 
tistic playing of Mr. Otto Dresel, as an example of this. 
The words of Bach, from his autobiography, come like holy 
counsels from the past, and should be regarded as ** golden 
words" by our young pianists. We transcribe them: *'I 
have taken the trouble,'* he says, ** to compose singing music 
for the piano-forte, for I think such music ought to touch 
the heart. The piano player who merely thrums and drums, 
with no regard to feelwg, cannot succeed in this, aooording 



48 



DWIOHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol.- XXXIX. — No. 989. 



to my id«i8." And Uie cultivated moaical miDd of to-d*7 
thinkji, "Amen." 

Witkiii the bit week Mr. G«or;ge Werrenratli has f^^tti 
four Song KecitaU, sinsing wnga by Beethoven, Schubert, 
Schumann, Gounod, Robert Franz, Liszt, Jensen, Uubin- 
tteitt, Bcahins, Wagner, etc., Mr. Csrl Wolbobn actiog as 
pianist and accompanist. 

Monday e\-ening, the Hershey Uall Monthly Concert, un- 
der the direction of Mr. H. CUrence Eddy, tooic place. The 
proijnimme was excellent. Miss Minnie Sherwood, Mr. Lieb- 
fiog, and Mr. Gill assisted. 

Mr. Eddy gave his eighty-fourth organ recital on Saturday 
last. He has pbiyed niuety-seren selections from Bach alone 
at these concerts, and greatly aided in making more general 
the appreciation of Uiis master. C. U. B. 

MiLWAUKER, Wis., Feb. 22. — We have heard Re- 
menyi. I shall not attempt to give a comprehensive or de- 
tailed eatliuate of him, nor a comparison of him with Wil- 
helu^, but only to reocwd the impressions of one evening's 
performance. And I will aay first of all, that before he was 
through with his first piece, Ernst's *' Othello Fantaisie," I 
found myself wondering why none of his critics had men- 
tioned the humorout element in his character, behavior, and 
performance. Remenyi is not ridiculous; on the contrary 
he is self-possessed, dignified, and plays with perfect poise 
and as groit a mastery of himself as of his instrument; but 
his first appearance provoked a smile on every fuce, which 
broadened and broadeoed continually with every phrase un- 
til it grew into a mild ripple of delighted hiughter. lliu 
mirth, which nmy seem somewliat disrespectful iu the writ- 
ing, had in it no element of contempt. We did not laugh 
at Remenyi, but with him; for it was impossible not to feel 
that, however serious, pathetic, or sentimental tlie composi- 
tion he might be playing, it was in\-ariab]y colored by tlie 
fun-loving, oouiical side of a strongly-marked individuality. 
Besides the ** Othello Fantaisie," he played some of his own 
Chopin transcriptions, some origiiud compositions of his 
own, one by M. Dulcken, and Capriccios, Nos. 21 and 24, 
by Paganini. In all these there was the same genuine Re- 
menyi flavor, and the same mirth-pro\'oking vein which I 
have described. 

It was extremely interesting, certainly, to see how he had 
takm up the exquisite Chopin Maxurkas and Nocturnes for 
the piano and made them over into violin pieces, adding 
embellishments and cadenzas enough to double their lengtli. 
Whatever one may thhik about this perfonnance beuig 
duly reverent to Chopin, the result is very difficult to be 
displeased with. In lact, though disposed to be a purist in 
such niAtten, I found these transcriptions as phi^'ed by M. 
Remenyi very charming and delightful. 

But how would Remenyi play Bach or Beethoven ? Would 
be bring himself to be a real interpreter of a great author? 
Could he possibly merge his own individuality in that of 
even the greatest of composers, and give liimself up to inter- 
preting his conceptions with conscientious fidelity? The 
impressions left by this evening's performance point toward 
a negative answer. But however that may be, Remenyi's 
playing of his own compositions, and of other works which 
are or may be adapted to the {wculiarities of his genius, )m so 
charming, so masterly iu its way, so productive of real de- 
light, tliat we can pardon him if be leaves interpretation to 
other, if perhaps greater men. We are ghul to accept and 
enjoy him as he is. 

Mme. Riv6-King, who was to ha\ie filled an important 
part in this programme, was ill, and only attempted a single 
piece, a prelude by Uaberbier, followed liy an organ fugue 
by Guilmant, transcribed by herself. Her work in this 
transcription is thoroughly musician-like, and has resulted 
in making a very interesting and desirable addition to her 
repertoire. As regards her playing, it was, in spite of her 
illness, so full of fire and vigor, so conscientious in interpre- 
tation, so dear, and sure, and repowful, tliat it caimot be 
thought of with anything but pofect satisfactbn. She is 
by fiu* tlie finest American pianist it has lieen my fortune to 
hear. 

The vocalists were Mr. Remmertz and Miss Gertmde 
Franklin. Of the former I spoke in my last letter, and have 
nothing to add to the praise therein expressed. He is every 
way a noble and praiseworthy singer. Miss Franklin has a 
light, but sweet and pure voioe, well suited to balUd sing- 
ing, and sufficiently flexible and well-trained to make her 
perfomuuice of florid Italuui^onVci/'e very eqjoyable. 

I think I mentioned in my bst the Turner Hall concerts 
of Chr. Bach's orcheatia. I ought to mention two of its 
wind instrument phiyers, Mr. Allner, an excellent oboist, a 
new-comer here, and Air. H. N. llutchins, a comet^player, 
who seenu to me to be surely on his way to distinction. 

The Arion Club has given its second concert, with the 
assistance of the Apollo Club of Chicago. Both clube are 
directed by Mr. Wni. L. Tomlina, of whose excellent qu.ili- 
ties as a director I have written before. I hardly know 
where to kwk for his equal in efficiency. He has the fiiculty 
of inspiring his men witli the utmost enthusiasm, and gets 
out of them all they are capable of. This resulted in a per- 
formance which I have nothing but praise. 

The first part of the concert was filled up with four-^rt 
song<, sung partly by the two cluba combined, and partly 
by eiich separately, witli one aria, ** Revenge, Timotheus 
cries,'* from Handers AUxander't Ftati, sung by Mr. 
Remmertz, and cloeed with a double chorus from Mendels- 
•ohn*i (Ed''pu$ mi CoUmoi, 



The second part was occupied with Max Bruch*s '* Six 
Soenea from the Fritbjof Saga,*' Mr. Franz Remmertz and 
Mm. Emma Tlinrston lieing the soloists. 

Scene I. describes Fritlijof *s return from a successful en- 
terprise, full of joyful anticipations of meeting Ingeborg, 
hia betrothed, and his own family. But during his absence 
Ingeborg's brother, llelge, Fritlijofs enemy, had destroyed 
the btter's family, burned bis house, and forced Ingeliorg 
to wed King Hring. Scene II. is devoted to Ingirborg's 
sorrowful bridal procession, her terrible grief, and pruud 
resignation, disdaining pity. Scene III. depicts IVitlijof's 
rewnge on Helge, his desecration of tlie temple of Balder, 
his curie and exile. He finds Ingeboi^g's ring on the arm 
of the god, and pulls it forcibly off. The god fiUls into the 
flames, tlie temple blazes up, the priests pronounce maledic- 
tions and sentence of banishment upon him. Iu Scene lY. 
he takes his farewell of the mighty NorthUnd in a noble 
solo, responded to by the chorus of his folkiwera. Scene 
V. is devoted to Ingeboi^^'s Lament; and kstly. Scene VI. 
shows Fritbjof and his men at sea, on their way southward. 

It will be seen that the situatkms are admirably adapted 
for musical treatment, and a pretty thorough study of the 
work has given me a very high opinion of its excellence. It 
is difficult to deny genius to a composer who has succeeded 
so well in depicting emotions of such depth and intensity 
as those suggested in tlie text. Certainly we must admit 
talent and musicianship of a very high order. 

I am happy to record that the public received the work 
most enthusiastically, and seemed to enjoy it more than Uie 
lighter first part of the programme, 'fhis goes to show, 
what I have often asserted as my belief, that the best music 
makes its way, e\-en with the general public, whenever it is 
worthily presented. J. C. F. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Cambridge, Mass — Old Harvaid and its neighborhood 
have been ei\joying some good music lately. Under the man- 
agement of Professor Paine a series of Chamber Concerts 
by the New York Philluumonic Club is in progress at 
Bo}lston Hall. The programmes, as well as the performing 
artists, are for the most part the same as those of the Eu- 
terpe in this city. The second concert was on Thursday 
evening of this week. 

Then, too, there have been in the latter half of February 
four amateur performances of an original and very pleasing; 
operetU called *» The Goblet of Salobreila," — the plot, the 
poetry of the airs and concerted pieces, the spoken dialogue 
and the music, all composed by a citizen of Cambridge, a 
graduate of Harvard, Mr. William AbboU Everett, who for 
many years has been too deaf to be able to hear e\tn his 
own music. Musically it is not a work of much pretension, 
— the occupation and the sohux of his enforced leisure. Vet 
all who have heard it — four crowded houses of the best 
Cambridge society, in the little ArMnal Theatre of the 
Cambridge Dramatic Club — have pronounced it clever and 
enjoyable. Certainly the mekxliea are fresh and graceful, 
and do not sound flat or hackneyed ; they are no mere echoes 
of tunes floating about in the common air. The duets, trios, 
quartets, and male choruses, too, are musical and well con- 
structed. The aooonipaniments are for piano-forte only, 
mostly expressive and efiectire in design, though sometimes 
a little lame in composition, showing Uie want of a profes- 
sional training. But the music had undergone the critical 
revision of the gentleman who so happily phiyed the accom- 
paniment and conducted the rehearnds and performance 
with so much gavoir fuire, — Mr. W. A. Locke, who after 
graduating at the college, has been studying music for a 
number of years in Germany, and has settled down as a 
teacher in Cambridge. Both the singing and the actui;^ of 
the hidics and gentlemen who took part won great favmr. 
The scenery, costumes, and stage appointments, too, all pro- 
duced out of the club's own resources, were excellent The 
plot, purely fiuiciful, even to the names, is a romantic ex- 
travaganza, half humorous, half sentimental, about ** Castle 
in Spain,'* of which this was printed as the argument : 

*' Duke Almanzor and his daughter Inez are driven by a 
storm into a haunted and deserted castle. His retinue brmg 
in a prisoner, the Lady Cristina. Inez, with the aid of 
UiegOt her lover, diaguined as steward, takes advantage of 
the duke's belief ui an old legend, and by personating a 
ghost decoys him away in seareh of a magic goblet, by rub- 
bing which spirits are forced to restore a lutt ti'tasure, 
Rohmdo, in an attempt to rescue his captive bride, is taken 
prisoner. He promises Almanzor that the ghost, Berenguehi, 
shall restore his daughter and the k>st treasure on condition 
of a general pardon. Inez, the lost treasure, reveals herself!'* 

The Cincinnati Musical Festival Assocution announces 
the following programme of tlie principal works to be per- 
formed at the festival in May, 1880 : First night: Cantata, 
" Ein' feste Uurg,'' Bach, sok) quartet, chorus, orehestra, 
and oigan ; symphony, C migor (Jupiter), Mozart ; Utrecht 
Te Deum and Jubikte, Handel, solo quartet, chorus, orehes- 
tra, and organ. Second night: *' Missa Solennis," D major. 
Op. 133. Beethoven, sok> quartet, chorus, orehestra, and or- 
gan ; symphony, D mii.or, Op. 120, Schumann. Tbiid 
night : Overture, "The Water-carrier," Cherubinl ; SUbat 
Mater, Palestrina (motet for two choirs a capeUa) ; sym- 
phony, No. «, F major, Op. 03, Beethoven ; *• Tlie Tower of 
babel,'* Rubinstein (Mcred opera in one act, Op. 80), lolo- 



ists — tenor, baritone, faaai, — three chours, orchestra, etc. 
Fourth night: IMze compoaiUon. Tliis will iie the work 
which will receive tlie prize of one thousand dollars offiered 
by the association for the most meritorious work lor chorus 
and orehestra, the competition for which is to be open only 
to native-boni citizens of the United States. A Faust 
overture, Wagner; " Song of Spirits over the Watere," Op. 
167, Schubert, eight-part chorus for male voices and string 
ordieatra ; symphonic poem {^ Mazeppa "), Liszt ; " Zadok 
the Priest,'* corouatlou anthem, Haiidel, ehonia, orchestra, 
and organ. 

T^LoNDOx. — Figaro (Mareh 1) is diaappolnted with the 
new Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms, which was per- 
formed at the Crystal PaUce by Joachim. It says: ** Since 
the production of the new concerto, with Joachim at the 
fiddle, and Brahms himself at the oooductor's desk, at the 
Gewandhaus concert on New Year's Eve, we have been kept 
ill a state of excitement about the new work. . . . Ttie 
first movement of the new concerto is not of that complex 
sort which foreign critics led us to expect. The balance be- 
tween the orcliestra and the solo violin is well preserved, and 
here alone in the work oui it be said that Herr Bndima has 
sought the basis of his violin concerto in the symphony. 
But tliere is little that is new and a good deal which is de- 
cidedly weak in this mo\^enient; a respectable piece of mu- 
sical workmanship, but devoid of all hidividuality. Herr 
Joachim's cadenza, too, though a nianrd of executive dif- 
ficulty, did not strike the audience as being particuhurly 
appropriate. It is, however, in tlie second or slow movement 
that Brahms is heard at his best, llie first tlienie given 
out by the hautboys is truly beautiful, and its simplicity 
and delicacy of treatment are maintauied througliottt. The 
last movement in the rondo form is a mere piece U ad eap- 
Utndum dispUy, calculated to tickle the ear of the popiUace 
by the brilliancy and difficulty of the s<^ violin part, but 
that is all. 'Ilua Brahms could have written such stuflT to not 
a little asUmishiug, and when we are tokl that, being composed 
by a man who was uimcquainted with the technicalitica of 
the violin, it had to be considerably modified by Herr Joa* 
chiin, we are forced to confess it is not at all Uke Brahma. 
The but movement fell flat, and although there was a necall, 
the honor was Indisptttably intended far the violiiiist rather 
than the work." 

Leipzig. — Mr. J. F. Himmelsbaeh writes (Feb. 4) to 
the Philadelphia Bulletin: The fourteenth Gewandhaus 
Concert witnessed the successful performance of an exceed- 
ingly interesting orehestral novelty, namely, a " Symphonie 
Dramatique *' written by Anton Rubinstein. This com- 
poser is perhaps one of the most prolific writera of the 
present day, but not all <^ his creations, by far, are so de- 
veloped and finished as could justly be expected from one 
so bountifully gifted ; some of them are not worthy of a 
very Inferiw talent, and othen wholly unenjoyable, particu- 
hnly those of a larger form, in which his wild fisncy, getting 
the better of his muskad judgment, would necessarily lead 
him into chaos and confusion. Were he more discriminat* 
ing in the choice of his ideas, and did he take more care to 
use these in accordance with certain hiws, — not arbitrary 
laws, but such as wtn a Schumann coidd not disregard 
with impunity, — he would certainly rank very mneh higher 
as a composer. In point of talent hie is equal to the best, — 
a talent from which wonderful things may yet spring, and 
will, the moment be concludes to be more conscientious and 
less careless and negligent. Measuring the symphony by 
the very highest stai^ud, it falls short, and for reasons just 
alluded to. It has many advantages, however, and not tho 
least of these is the fiict that, notwithstanding its propor- 
tions and extreme length, it is never tedious. With mo- 
ments of great force and singular beauty, and others that 
must have originated when iu a whimsical mood, it is al- 
ways striking and original. He is a thorough master of 
the modem orchestra, in itself an advantage that will never 
fail to make hb orehestral mnue at least interesting. If 
the applause that followed the performance of the sym- 
phony is an indication of its success, it was successful be- 
yond a doubt; but possibly, and not improbably, it was 
more in appreciation of the distinguished efibrts on the 
part of the orehestra and its conductor, Carl Retnecke. 

The " Coriolan " Overture was the other orchettral num- 
ber on tlie programme. The remaining numben were the 
Vkiloncdlo Concerto of Schumann and solos of Reiueekc, 
admirably pbyed by the viokinodlist, Hausmanu, firom Ber- 
lin. Schubert's " Fahrt sum Hades," and " Aufenthalt," 
and an Aria of Handel, jen ei\joyabIy sung by Jowf 
Standigl, firom Carlsruhe. 

4 Robert Schumann's <<Das Paradies und die Peri,'* so 
seldom heard, was certainly appreciated by all fortunate 
enough to be present on this occasion of the fifteenth Ge- 
wandhaus Concert. 

Only Mozart operas haye been sung during the last week: 
Zaubti'fdie^ Don Juan^ Figaro't Mnrriaye, and EntfiA- 
rwng atu dtm Semil. The revival of the hitter was,* mu- 
sically, a very happy and successful experiment. 'Hie text- 
book, to be sure, is ridiculously absurd, but one can well 
afford to accept it in company with music possessing all 
those beautiful qualities so characteristic of the immortal 
iLnster. 

A bit of news, that will also cause some surprise among 
your resdera, is going the rounds in this dty, to the effect 
that Richard Wagner has become hopelessly insane. 



Mabch 29, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



49 



BOSTON, MARCH 29, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 

FoOMD. From Qoeth*. M. E. Harmon 49 

MosART AS A Dbamatio Composib. Fridtric Lou's Bitter . 49 

IIsuiASN GORX : lli3 SniPUo:fT ix F 49 

CflAMBBii Music im Provisxzios, R. I. A. O. L 60 

Tiu Opssa IK Bbbus 51 

Talks ox Abt. Sscoxd Sutus. From Instruotloiis of 

Mr. >VinUm M. Uunt to bis Pupils. II fi2 

SOMI PSCOUAB PlIASSS OP VlftTUOSITT. W. F. A 68 

GOMCBBTS 68 

TlM llarfutl Uusloal Association. — Mr. J. B. Lang's 
two CoBoerts. — Ttio Kuterpe Concert in Boston and 
In CambciUso. — Announceweots of Couooris to bo 
giTvn. 
A CoaaxcTXOH pbom tub MBin>Bi.8S0UM Quimtbttb Club . . 66 

Musical CoBBBSPOHDBMCB 66 

Philadrlphia. — Cincinnati — Cbicago. — Baltimore. — 
Milwauicoe.* 

PMithed fortnigktljf by Uouohtor, Osaoo» amd Company 
2Z0 DevQtuhirt Strut, Bottom. Prut, 10 enUt a number; $2.60 
psrycor. 

AH tkt artide* not credited to oUur puUieation* were expresaly 
written for this Jonrnat. 



OSBKOeH, Wis. 



JjOU ND. 

FBOM GOETIIK: DT II. E. HABMOn. 

I21T0 the wood 

Alone I weut, 
lliough naught to seek 

Was mj intent. 

But in the shade 

A flow'ret stood : 
It seemed to light 

The dusky wood, 

Ab stars illume 

A murky sky: 
Or like the beam 

Of Beauty's eye. 

To break its stem 

Was my desire: 
So down I stooped, 

And, bending uigher, 

I seemed to hear 
A gentle sigh : 
*< Must I be plucked 
To pine and die?" 

" No, no," I cried, 

"That shall not be! 

Thy roots, dear flow'r, 

I'll toke with thee." 

Thus I took home 

The loTely flow'r, 
And bore it to 

My garden-bow'r. 

There, pUnted new 

In quiet place, 
Onoe more it bbomi 

With wUdwood gnwe. 



Chicago Tribune. 



MOZART AS A DRAMATIC COMPOSER. 

To set Mozart down as a mere instlnctiye 
musical genius, lacking intellectual conscious- 
ness of his artistic intentions, as so many 
have done, is to do him an unpardonable 
wrong. Any one who will take the trouble 
of looking a little deeper into Mozart's work- 
shop will certainly not fail to admire the 
Wonderful harmony and the logical proceed- 
ings that reign within its walls. Tet in spite 
of all our admiration for the great composer, 
it cannot be denied that in some of his op- 
era arias portions find a place which, consid- 
ered from a strictly dramatic point of view, 
are merely a tribute paid to the taste of his 
time. He could not always resist the temp- 
tation of giving to a great singer a favorable 
opportunity to exhibit his or her powers as a 
voc:ilist, though such kind consideration was 
sometimes bought too dearly, and at the ex- 
pense of dramatic truth. But we know also 
what intrigues and neglect the great man had 



all his life long to contend with; kind and 
genial as he was, he readily sympathized with 
his artists, and often gave way to their wishes 
when the imperative duties of the dramatic 
composer should have taught him to be less 
accommodating in what he must have known 
to be contrary to the requirements of truthful 
scenic action. 

He was not egotistic enough to put his 
views forward as the only true ones, which, 
from his stand-point, he would have been per- 
fectly justified in doing. But as his musical 
genius knew no bounds, he ventured willingly 
into all regions, and oden gave lavishly where 
a wise economy of musical means would have 
served tlie dramatic purpose better. Such 
moments are, however, few and far between. 
The less musically gifted, philosophizing 
Gluck avoided those breakers. When he 
composed an opera, he endeavored to forget 
^* that he was a musician," while Mozart was 
so much of a musician that the dramatbt 
came sometimes in danger of being lost to 
sight. One of these purely musical freaks is 
to be found in the Allegro movement of 
Donna Anna's aria, " Non mi dir, bell * idol." 
Upon the syllable a of the word " sentiro," 
roulades occur, filling eight measures. In a 
merely musical sense, and when executed by 
a great artist, this passage is a very effective 
vocalization. It is absolute music, and be- 
ing absolute music it is here entirely out of 
keeping with dramatic expression and truth ; 
it should not have found a place* here. It 
was, on the part of the immortal master, a 
moment of weakness that led him to make a 
concession to a pleasant singer. 

Now let us turn our attention to another 
number of the same opera. I mean Lepo- 
rello*s ^* Catalogo " Aria ; and here we shall 
find the master in one of his best moods. Don 
Giovanni, seeing himself suddenly brought 
face to face with Donna Elvira, whom he 
had shamefully deserted, effects his retreat 
^urreptitiously, and leaves Elvira with his 
valet. Leporello, though the type of a cow- 
ai*dly buffoon, is, however, always ready to 
indulge con amove in auy tricks of his mas- 
ter's, if the occasion proves safe from imme- 
diate danger. To console Donna Elvira for 
Don Giovanni's desertion, he ironically pro- 
duces a long register or ^ catalogo " of his 
master's amorous adventures. Mozart divid- 
ed the aria into two parts : the first part 
(Allegro) is composed in a mere parlondo 
style, in which the composer endeavored to 
do justice not alone to the declamatory mean- 
ing of the different words, but also to the dra- 
matic expression of the talkative valet. Lepo- 
rello, watcliing the effect of his barefaced im- 
position and impertinence on poor Donna El- 
vira, is now and then on the point of burst- 
ing out into malicious laughter. (Listen to the 
orchestra 1 it tells us all the humorous mood 
Leporello feels within liimself ; how it chat- 
ters, how it chuckles, how it laughs I) Lepo- 
rello, the rogue, after all this braggadocio, 
finally affects (Andante) to enter into a more 
touching sympathy with his victim, and strikes 
a. tender strain; he cannot remain, however, 
ip that affected temper ; he soon forgets him- 
self. In an imposing manner he mentions '' e 
la grande maestosa " to break out, immedi- 
ately afterwards, into " la piccina, la piccina, 
la piccina," etc, chattering away according I 



to his humorous nature, which is at once 
stronger than himself. He takes up the 
first sentimental period, and at last finishes 
by making downright fun of the poor de- 
luded lady ; he sings the ^ voi sapete quel 
cbe fk" with such a sneering, satirical leer 
as to leave not the least doubt that his ten- 
der sentiments were all affected -for mischiefs 
sake. This aria ha-t no logical musical mean- 
ing without the words and the action ; it can- 
not even be translated without becoming dis- 
torted in its general dramatic effect. To praise 
it as a fine musical composition is to utter a 
platitude. But it is unsurpassed as a psy- 
chological delineation of the characteristics of 
a certain kind of dramatic expression, — here 
done, by the composer, by means of the in- 
separable union of poetry, mu^ic, and mimic 
art. Let any actor declaim the words, and 
however experienced and talented he may be, 
he will fall far behind the lyrico-dramatic in- 
terpreter of the impersonation Mozart had in 
view when he created the incomparable scene. 
Thus every page of Mozart's operas gives 
ample proof of his deep knowledge of the hu- 
man heart, and of the means which lay within 
his art for reaching his ideal aim ; for he too 
was under the faithful belief that the com- 
poser was able to express decided emotions 
by means of nmsic intimately connected with 
words, both arts, poetry and music, concurring 
to express thought, sentiment, and feeling at 
the same time. Nay, we even find, as in Le- 
porello's aria, that this union of the two arts is 
often so close that either will lose when sepa- 
rated from the other. I will quote here a pas- 
sage from one of Mozart's letters to fortify the 
central point of my position regarding the 
great composer's consummate knowledge of 
the dramatic means he had to make use of in 
order to do justice to his impersonations. At 
the time of his composing ^' Die Entfuhrung 
aus dem Serail," he writes to his father, giv- 
ing him an account of the opera, and says 
with regard to Osmin's aria: "The *Drum 
beim Barte des Propheten' is still in the 
same tempo (that of the first part of the aria), 
but in quicker notes ; and as his [Osmin's] 
anger is increasing, this Allegro assai, taken 
in a different key and more accelerated tem- 
po, must produce the finest effect, especially 
as one is under the impression that the aria 
is finished. A man who is in a violent fit of 
anger exceeds all order, measure, and aim ; 
he loses all control over himself, and so music 
must lose all control over itself." 

Fr]^d£bio Louis Bitteb. 



HERMANN GOETZ: HIS SYMPHONY 

INF. 

Mr. Geobgb Grove, in his ** Dictionary 
of Musicians," gives the following brief bio- 
graphical sketch of the lamented young com- 
poser whose Shakespeare opera has excited 
so much attention in Germany, and whose 
Symphony, twice performed during the past 
season in Mme. Yiardot Louis's concerts in 
London, excited general admiration : — 

" Groetz, Hermann, bom at K(5nigsberg 
Dec 17, 1840, died at Hottingen, ZUrich, 
Dec. 3, 1876, a composer of some perform- 
ance and of greater promise. Though evi- 
dencing great musical ability at an early age, 
he did not receive any regular instruction 



50 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXxiX. — No. 990. 



till he was seventeen. After passing some 
time at the University of Konigsberg, he at 
length decided on a musical career, and placed 
himself at the school of Stein, at Berlin, where 
he was the pupil of Bttlow in playing and 
Ulrich in composition. In 1863 he succeeded 
Kirchner as organist at Winterthur, supports 
ing himself also by teaching, and embracing 
any musical work that fell in his way. Mean- 
time he was engaged in the composition of an 
opera adapted by J. V. Widmann from *' The 
Taming of the Shrew," and entitled Der 
Widerspdnstigen Zdhmung, It was, after 
much delay and many disappointments (not 
unnatural with the first work of an unknown 
composer), produced at Mannheim Oct. 11, 
1874. Its success, however, was great and 
rapid; it was played at Vienna (Feb. 1875), 
Leipzig, Berlin, and a dozen other towns in 
Germany, and has recently (1878) been pub- 
lished in English (Augener. For a full an- 
alysis of the work see the Mus, Record for 
1878). It was followed by a Symphony in 
F, also successful, and by a second opera, 
Francesca d% Rimini (Mannheim, Sept 30, 
1877). This, however, was not finished when 
its author, long a prey to ill health, died, as 
already stated. The first two acts were fin- 
ished, and the third fully sketched ; it has 
been completed, in compliance with Goetz*s 
last request, by his friend Franck, and pro- 
duced at Mannheim, Sept. 30, 1877. Besides 
the above works Goetz has published a P. F. 
trio, a quartet, and various piano-forte pieces." 

Speaking of the Symphony in F, a writer 
in the London Musical World says : — 

** Fancy this great artist and true poet — 
for such we now know him to have been — 
actually unable, when starting on his career, 
to find the means of earning bread ; glad to 
compete for, and delighted to win, a poor 
organist's place at Winterthur ; and doomed 
to spend the last and best years of his short 
life drudging as a teacher in Zurich. No 
wonder that, albeit he flashed into fame when 
surprised Germany heard the ** Taming of the 
Shrew," Goetz died at thirty-six or that, like 
Schubert, he infused into all his utterances 
more or less of a melancholy that appeals to 
us 83 a lament. Justice, however, has been 
quick to avenge him. Unlike Schubert, his 
genius had not to wait through weary years for 
full recognition, nor, even in this country, to 
slowly force its way, as besiegers, by sap and 
trench, creep up to the ramparts of a fortress. 
It may be said that Groetz's early fame in 
England is due to the chance production of 
his opera at Drury Lane by Herr Carl Mey- 
der. Let us call the fact an accident if we 
will, and what then? Accident plays as 
brilliant a part in the world's history as de- 
sign, and if, in the drama of English music, 
Goetz became known through Herr Meyder's 
< aside,' so much the more credit to us that 
his name fell upon acute ears and stirred 
inquiring minds. This is certain, at any rate, 
— we have added him to our list of mas- 
ters, and mean to keep him there. For our 
resolve we have ample reason, not found 
solely in his opera and his symphony. 
Looking at the posthumous works of Goetz, 
now in course of publication, it is impossible 
to deny the man's surpassing genius. His 
psalm, * By the waters of Babylon ; ' his 



piano-forte quintet, in C minor ; his Friihling's 
overture, in A ; and his piano-forte sonata, in 
G minor, for four hands, are all hors ligrte, 
bearing the sign-manual of one who wears 
the crown of artistic royalty. Upon this, 
however, we need not at present insist. The 
symphony played last Tuesday, in London, 
under the direction of Mr. Weist Hill, and in 
Liverpool under that of Signor Randegger 
(in the absence of Sir Julius Benedict), more 
than suffices for the purpose of vindicating 
the claims of the composer, and to it our re- 
marks may be limited. We have already 
characterized it as the noblest, most beautiful, 
and most artistic work of recent years, and 
we deliberately claim this high award on the 
ground that all the conditions are fully satis- 
fied. What, in the case of an orchestral 
symphony, are those conditions ? The an- 
swer is, melodic beauty, lively and pleasing 
fancy, constructive skill, and wealth of varied 
color, each and all of which are found in the 
work under notice. But, looking at the 
motto from Schiller, which prefaces it, * In des 
Herzens heilig stille Raume musst du fliehen 
aus des Lebens Drang,' some one may ask 
how far it justifies this avowed poetic basis. 
Such a question must always be difiicult 
when the composer has given no key to his 
meaning in detail, and here we can put for- 
ward nothing but conjecture. That, how- 
ever, is easy, and we do not hesitate to say 
that the application of the motto should be 
limited to the slow movement. But we go 
further, and assume that the Adagio was 
originally a separate piece, written to illus- 
trate Schiller's lines. Goetz was fond of thus 
preaching from a text, and wonderfully hap- 
py in his sermons, as those are able to assert 
who know his six charming and poetical 
" Grenrebilder " for the piano-forte. On the 
assumption put forward the relevancy of the 
motto is undeniable, for if ever music declared 
that men should take refuge from the storms 
of the world in the holy quietude of their own 
hearts, the strains of Groetz*s Adngio, now 
passionate, now reposeful, do so * with most 
miraculous organ.' But we can afford to ig- 
nore the question of poetic basis in presence 
of the more positive quHlities asserted by this 
chef'd'ceuvre. As to melody, the symphony 
is one continuous stream. We may not, per- 
haps, speak of it as Den ham did of the 
Thames, * strong without rage, without o'er- 
flowing full,' for here and there Goetz be- 
comes a little obscure through the very 
wealth of his ideas. But this is a fault on 
the right side, and one the blame of which 
the composer shares with many an illustrious 
master. As to fancy, we need only cite the 
Intermezzo, — a dainty and suggestive piece 
of work, worthy of Mendelssohn in his most 
imaginative mood, while in point of construct- 
ive skill it would be hard to find anything 
outside the productions of the greatest musi- 
cians equal to the opening Allegro. Here 
Goetz manifests a power of developing his 
ideas not unworthy to be compared with that 
of Beethoven. Every scrap of his chief 
themes is utilized and made the source from 
which spring beautiful and varied sprays of 
fancy subordinated to a rigid sense of ortho- 
dox form. £iest of all, the symphony, espe- 
cially the Adagio, comes to us as a genuine 



utterance of feeling rather than a mere scho- 
lastic exercise. We know that the composer 
speaks to us through it from the depths of 
his nature, impelled by the 'unconscious ne- 
cessity ' of which Wagner makes so great a 
parade. Hence arises the originality of the 
music. Any man so moved must needs bo 
distinctive, for minds and souls differ as 
greatly as faces, and no two are exactly alike. 
This may account, ^rhaps, for the occasional 
strangeness of the master's harmonic progres- 
sions, some of which we should not care to 
defend from an orthodox point of view. 
But here, also, Goetz is supported by illus- 
trious precedents, and we well know that the 
heterodoxy of genius in one generation be- 
comes a common standard of faith in the 
next. To sum up, this symphony is a great 
work and a rich possession. Adding it to our 
artistic treasures, let us not forget the obli- 
gation to be just to its dead composer, and to 
raise to his memory whatever monument a 
knowledge of all his music may decide upon 
as worthy." 



CHAMBER MUSIC IN PROVIDENCE, R. I. 

As it may interest your readers to know what 
is doing musically in Providence, I send you a 
notice of the first two of a series of four concerts 
given by the '* Cecilia " of that city, an organi- 
zation similar to the " Euterpe " of Boston. The 
aims and standard of the society are indicated by 
the following programmes : — 

I. February 14. Artists: Miss Fanny Kel- 
logg, and the New York Philharmonic Club 
(Messrs. Richard Arnold, first violin; Julius 
Gantzberg, second violin ; Emil Gramm, viola ; 
Charles Werner, violoncello). Programme : — 

Qautet in D miuor (Potthamoos), Schubert ; Aria, 
" Ai when the Dove," from " Acii and Galatea, *' Handel ; 
Selections from Quartet in D, No. 7 (*' llie Miller's Beau- 
Uful Daughter " ), Raff, llie Proposal ; The Mill. Songs : 
a. Widmung, Schumann; 6 Im Herbst, Op. 17, No. 6, 
Frani; Trio for violin, viola and 'cello, Serenade, Op. 8, 
Beethoven; Song, "Bnde Bdls," Koeckel ; Violin Solo, 
Gypsy Melodies. Sarasate; Mr. Kichard Arnold; Selections 
from Quartet in G minor, No. 2, Adagio, Gavotte, BaninL 

II. February 25. Artists : Mrs. W. H. Sher- 
wood, pianist; Mr. W. H. Fessenden, tenor, 
and the new Beethoyen Quartette Club (Messrs. 
Charles N. Allen, violin ; Julius Ackeroyd, sec- 
ond violin ; Henry Heindl, viola; and Wulf Fries, 
'cello. Programme : — 

Piano Quintet. Op. 44, E flat, Schumann; Song, "Ade- 
laide," Op. 46, Beethoven; Piano Solo, Hiibroben, Op. 162, 
Raff; Songs : Rubinstein, a. *' Yearnings,*' Op. 8, No. 5 ; b. 
" Gold rolls here beneath me," Op. 84, No. 9; Quartet, Op. 
12, E-flat, Mendelssohn; Song, "The Rhine Maiden/' 
Smart; Pobnaise, piano and 'cello, Op. 8, Chopin; Seleo- 
tioQ from ** Hornpipe" Quartet (Haydn), AUegro vivaoe. 

The society deserve great praise for the spirit 
manifested in the selection of the Schubert D mi- 
nor Quartet as the opening piece in their series 
of concerts. It was an auspicious beginning, a 
true harbinger of what was to follow. The 
quartet is one of the finest compositions of its 
class. The first movement needs study for ^ts 
fifU appreciation, though there are charming bits 
of melody scattered here and there which must 
appeal to any sympathetic listener. Of the 
Theme and Variations (Andante) nothing need 
be said. It is well knoTn as one of the most 
masterly pieces of writing in all musical litera- 
ture. You will hardly find a more perfect set of 
variations on any theme. It is the gem of the 
work. The Scherzo is very decided and effect- 
ive, and the Trio simply exquisite, — just such 
as Schubert only could write. The Finale presto 
is full of suppressed fire, and carries you on 
irre^tibly in its rapid movement. In the main 



Haboh 29, 1879.] 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



51 



the quartet was well played, the Tema con Vari- 
azioni and Scherzo especially well. The work is 
long and difBcult, and was prepared at very 
short notice. This probably accounts for what- 
ever short-comings were apparent in the render- 
ing, and may also account, alas, for the fact 
that about one third of the last movement was 
cut out bodily. This proceeding is to be ear^ 
nestly deprecated as unwarrantable for any rea- 
son. The extreme length of tlie quartet cannot 
be -pleaded as an excuse, for, at tlie rate it goes, 
it would not have taken two minutes more to 
have played the omitted portion. Nay, more, it 
shows a want of respect for the composer, who, 
in this case, revised his work with great care, 
and is entitled to have it played intact as he 
finally left it. In the << Life of Schubert," by 
Kreissle Hellborn, translated by A. D. Cole- 
ridge (vol. ii. p. 77), I find the following : The 
D minor quartet ** was given under the direction 
of Schubert himself, who ma<le the alterations 
and curtailments he judged necessary on the 
fireshly copied parts." This was on January 29, 
1826. On February 1, "it was rehearsed ag(^in, 
and played as a new work." 

The Quartet by Raff belongs to the romantic 
school, and, judging from the two movements 
given, seems to be a fine composition, llie 
** Proposal " — a dialogue between the 'cello and 
first violin, — is happily conceived and finely writ- 
ten; and "The Mill" is intens<^ly expressive of 
the reality. The movements were beautifully 
rendered and heartily enjoyed. 

The Trio by Beethoven was a rare treat and 
a great success. The playing was altogether as 
fine as any during the evening. 

The selections from the quartet by Bazzini, of 
Milan, were also interesting. The entire work 
was given at a recent concert of the Philharmonic 
Club in New York, and the Tribune critic wrote : 
" It is an excellent work, classical in fonn as in 
spirit, ^d treated in a thoroughly masterly man- 
ner. Two of the movements were peculiarly 
attractive: an Andante, and a dainty Gavotte 
(these were the two given here), the latter of 
which might have been written by Padre Mar- 
tini, or Gluck himself." And his remarks seem 
just. Whether the work will live and take its 
place among what the musical world is pleased 
to call " the classics " is doubtful, but it cer- 
tainly is a fine composition. 

The songs were splendidly given. We like 
Miss Kellogg's singing very much. She seems 
to enter so thoroughly and heartily into the spirit 
of the composer. Her rendering of Sichumann's 
" Widmung " could hardly be improved, and 
.the meaning of the Franz " Im Herbst " was 
made very palpable to all who heard it. Mr. 
Bonner accompanied, to the great satisfaction 
of all. 

The violin solo was interesting as an exhibi- 
tion of Mr. Arnold's really fine playing, but in 
itself not exceptionally enjoyable. 

The second concert was even finer than the first. 
Of the brilliant Piano Quintet of Schumann lit- 
tle need be said. It is well known, and is one of 
the really great works that will never die. Its 
meaning and beauty grow upon one with every 
hearing. We cannot hear it too often. There 
is no work of its kind of su2)erior merit in the 
range of musical composition. 

As a whole, the rendering was spirited and 
musical. The difiicult Agitato in the Marcia was 
given with splendid effect by all the artists. 
Mrs. Sherwood's staccato playing in this portion 
of the quintet was superb. She failed, however, 
to consult her fellow-artists in beginning one of 
the trios in the Scherzo, thus causing a slight 
confusion for a bar or two ; but this was immedi- 
ately remedied. This very difi&cult movement 



was otherwise splendidly given. Jndecd, the 
artists in general seem to have caught the 
composer's idea, and to have satisfactorily inter- 
preted it to the hearers. When there were so 
few blemishes, one hardly likes to mention them. 

I beg leave to differ, in the artists' favor, with 
the critic of the Providence Journal of February 
26, who says : " The rhythm," in the slow move- 
ment, " was not always kept perfectly distinct, as 
it sometimes seemed like a 6-8 movement instead 
of a 4-4." This is a criticism often made, — pos- 
sibly sometimes with justice, but not in this 
case. Having the score before me, and giving 
special attention to this point, I was particularly 
impressed with the distinctness with which the 
4-4 rhythm was marked, and this, too, without in- 
terfering with the needed delicacy in the render- 
ing. It surely must be difficult to play this 
movement without giving the effect of a 6-8 
rhythm; but in the present instance the 4-4 
rhythm was certainly most successfully main- 
tained. 

Mrs. Sherwood's solo was beautifully done. 
In response to a hearty encore, she gave an 
Etude of Thalberg's. In her performance of 
the Chopin Polonaise with Mr. Fries she was 
also very successful. Mr. Fries played, as he 
always does, delightfully , and both artists 
seemed to have caught the spirit of the work. 

The songs were in perfect harmony with the 
rest of the programme. Of course Beethoven's 
" Adelaide " was the greatest of all, and Mr. 
Fessenden sang it with, much fervor and expres- 
sion. As an encore, he sang " Nina," by Per- 
golese. We must thank him for the two delight- 
ful songs of Rubinstein, — a selection, we believe, 
made b^ himself. The words and music in each 
are fitly joined the one to the other, making a 
complete unit, — an absolute necessity in every 
true sonor. 

A critic in the last number of the Journal 
(March 1) spoke of Mr. Fessenden's style as 
very " refined and finished," perhaps a trifle too 
delicate, " and with a too great fondness for pta- 
niMimo effects ; " adding, ** If he could only ap- 
preciate how absolutely and entrancingly beauti- 
ful his stronger tones are, he might use them 
more frequently and to excellent advantage." 
With this we agree, and would say he did use 
them with splendid effect at the words, " Oh, 
would thi^ were ever abiding 1 " in the second 
song. To a persistent encore of Smart's ^* Rhine 
Maiden," he responded with a " Volkslied," by 
Heller. The accompaniments were played by 
Mr. Kelly. 

The Mendelssohn Quartet at the time of its 
composition appeared as the first for stringed in- 
struments. It was written in 1828, in Berlin, 
(Rietz : Catalogue of Mendelssohn's works). It is 
a very fine work, thoroughly characteristic of its 
author, full of charming and delicious melody, 
and is worked up with great skill and effect. 
The several movements are integral parts of one 
whole ; near the close of the last movement a 
portion of the first is introduced. The same theme 
binds the whole into an organic unity. 

The rendering was generally very good ; once 
or twice a slight confusion, quickly remedied and 
hardly noticeable, unless one had the score and 
was following very closely. We think the en- 
semble playing was rather better than that of the 
New York Club, though the playing, as a whole, 
was not so delicate. There was more breadth 
and body of tone in the Beethoven Club, and in 
many respects this is to be preferred. It was a 
truthful slip of the printer when in the announce- 
ment of the formation of the club, he said, " Mr. 
Allen has organized a strong quartette,'' instead 
of a ^^ string quartette." 

The happy music of Father Haydn sent us 
home in a thoroughly satisfied mood. 



Altogether, the two concerts were about as fine 
as we hear nowadays. We only wish we could 
hear one like them every week, and that every 
city and town in the country could have a like 
privilege. What an elevating and refining in- 
fluence such music has; how inspiring in the 
sometimes hard and wearisome struggle of life ; 
how constantly it brings new gifts of rest, peace, 
and joy I A. o. l. 

Newpokt, R. I., March 14. 



THE OPERA IN BERLIN. 

A WRITES in the London PeUl Mall Gazette 
says : — 

Most students of history are aware that Napo- 
leon drew up the regulations for carrying on the 
Thefttre Fran9ais amid the flames of Moscow. 
History in this instance but repeated itself, 
Frederick the Great having supervised firom afar 
the planning and building of the Berlin Opera 
House during the turmoil of the first Silesian 
campaign ; and within five months of the signing 
of the Treaty of Berlin he was present on its for- 
mal opening on the 7th of December, 1742, on 
which occasion Graun's Couar and Cleopatra 
was produced. Voltaire, the following year, saw 
Titu$ written by Frederick himself, — " with the 
important aid of Graun," notes Mr. Carlyle, who, 
whilst mentioning that this operatic hobby cost 
the monarch heavy sums, and that ^^ a select pub- 
lic, and that only," was admitted to the perform- 
ances gratuitously, does not mention that the 
Potsdam grenadiers formed part of the public in 
question, standing as stiff as if on parade, at the 
back of the pit. The ballet also engrossed much 
of Frederick's attention, and we find him pru- 
dently noting down that he wanted " something 
that would amuse and at the same time would 
not cost much ; " protesting, .too, that he would 
spend nothing on the ballets, and ordering a dan- 
cer and his wife, " not worth six sous," to be sent 
off at once. Frederick ruled singers and dancers 
with a rod bf iron, routing one out of bed with 
his crutch ; and, after having brought her to the 
theatro by an escort of hussars, placed a couple 
of sentries behind the scenes, till she opened her 
mouth and sang in tears, which moved the house 
to raptures. He paid them fairly, but regulated 
their applause like a fugleman ; and he, the hero 
of Rosbach, descended into such detail as to de- 
cide that ** Thisbe should be dressed as a pastor- 
al nymph, in flesh-colored satin and silver gauze 
with flowers." 

The Opera House was erected under Fred- 
erick's special directions by Baron von Knobels- 
dorf, after the model of the Pantheon at- Athens ; 
the inscription ** Fredericus Rex Apollini et Mu- 
sis," on the main front, revealing the idea that 
had inspired the king. On the stage of this 
somewhat gloomy building all the celebrities of 
their day were seen and heard in turn. From 
it the victories of Frederick II. and the birth 
of Frederick William II. were announced. Here 
was celebrated tlie splendid festival instituted in 
honor of Queen Louisa by Prince Ferdinand and 
Prince Augustus. From this stage the Russians 
were welcomed as the deliverers of Berlin, and 
the victories of the Allies were read out to the 
audience ; and here a brilliant f^te was held after 
the ceremony of homage on the accession of Fred- 
erick William IV., in 1840. The first Opera 
House was burned down on the 19th of August, 
1843, after the ballet '< The Deserter through 
Love " had been given. A new edifice rose from 
its ashes within fourteen months ; for the old 
walls, within which the great captain of his age, 
wearied with work and victory, was wont to take 
his pleasure, now listening with ravished ears to 
the notes of a Mara, now watching the twinkling 
feet of the charming Barberina, and now jesting 



52 



DWIOHT'S JOUENAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 990. 



beneath his mask and domino at one of the mas- 
querades, were still left stondtng. It is true that 
the old solid internal magnificence of marble, 
bronze, and Gobelins tapestry was replaced by 
pasteboard and canvas ; vet for all this the inter- 
nal aspect of the house is far gayer and brighter 
than it was of old. Although the decorations of 
the building are tasteful and rich, and the inte- 
rior arrangements admirable, the seats arc uncom- 
fortably narrow; the temperature, too, by the 
time the first act is over, is very l>ke that of the 
heated chamber of a Turkish bath, and oflors by 
no means those of Araby the Blest are apt to 
prevail. As the native portion of the audience 
do not go 80 much for enjoyment as to be ad- 
vanced in the cultivation of a musical taste, any 
such considerations as personal comfort are not 
allowed to prevail. The ladies, it may be noted, 
appear indifferently in evening or walking dress ; 
while with the gentlemen white ties and swallow- 
tails are altogether in the minority. Despite the 
presence of royalty and the court, of the foreign 
ambassadors and numerous other dignitaries, for 
the most part in uniform, the scene in front of the 
stage is scarcely brilliant. It may be mentioned 
that at the Berlin royal theatres officers are not 
allowed to show themselves in the pit, but are 
relegated to the second tier of boxes; the pit 
being mostly abandoned to the richer middle 
classes, the representatives of commerce and 
finance. 

THB PERSONNEL OF THE BERLIN OPERA HOUSE 

is open to serious criticism. The companies of 
the court theatres are regular state officials, 
having titular prefixes, rights to retiring pensions, 
and all sorts of privileges that induce them to 
cling to their profession to extreme old age. The 
Opera House is provided with plenty of singers, 
some of whom do nothing for half the year. 
Whether they have any voice lefl is not much 
considered : they have been at one time first-rate 
singers ; but usually just as they have lost the 
last remnant of their voices they get engaged for 
life at the Opera House, and have no need to 
trouble themselves about the future. Tlie au- 
dience, musically speaking, is a highly educated 
one ; yet, possibly on the presumption that it is 
powerless to effect any change for the better, it 
shows itself philosophically indulgent not alone 
to singers with impaired voices, but to artistes 
whose voices are perfect enough, but who sing 
systematically out of tune. At the Berlin Opera 
the orchestration is, with occasional exceptions, 
perfect, the costumes good, and the mUe en scene 
irreproachable ; so that the strongest possible 
contrast is afforded by the singing. Wagner is 
an especial favorite with the Berlinese ; and his 
Lohengrin is generally given on state occa- 
sions, while Tannhduser, Rienzi, and the other 
compositions of the author of Deu Judenthum in 
der Musik are so many stock operas. The other 
composers for whose works a predilection exists 
are likewise Grerman, and include Meyerbeer, 
Weber, Mozart, and Beethoven with his solitary 
opera. Cherubini is also an especial favorite 
with the Berlinese, with whom Der WassertrSger 
is the most popular of his productions. Verdi's 
operas are occasionally performed on off nights, 
but Donizetti's are scarcely ever heard. 

Despite all drawbacks, the opera at Berlin en- 
joys a popularity that is fully exemplified by the 
great difficulty in obtaining tickets without be- 
speaking them some time before, even under 
ordinary Circumstances. When a favorite opera 
is announued, and a favorite singer is cast for a 
good part, all the tickets are snapped up by 
speculators, and retailed at two or three times 
their original cost. Under such circumstances, 
a decent place for any opera worth hearing can- 
not be had for less than four or five thalers. 



Passing down the Linden, on a summer evening, 
you are often assailed by eager Israelites prof- 
fering opera tickets at «^00 per cent, premium. 
Tliere are, in fact, a number of " seedy " men 
always hanging about the building, who make a 
living by buying up these tickets and^disposing 
of them at an enhanced price. The office for the 
sale of tickets opens at eight in tlie morning, and 
the strictest impartiality is observed in the dis- 
posal of places. First come first served is the 
rule. He who arrives earliest gets the pick of 
the places; for, as tlie entry to the office is 
through a long passage so narrow that two peo- 
ple cannot stand in it abreast, positions are se- 
cured according to the order of arrival. When 
Lohengrin and other popular operas are per- 
formed, people commence to gather round the 
office door at tliree o'clock in the morning ; and 
by the time reasonable men are thinking of get- 
ting up all the best places are gone, and fabulous 
prices have to be paid by those who require 
them. A six- shilling ticket for a representation 
of Lohengrin has been known to fetch as much 
as thirty-six shillings. This was something ex- 
ceptional ; hut it is a common thing for tickets 
to fetch thrice tlieir original cost The practice 
is not only connived at by the authorities, but 
the men are licensed, it being otherwise illegal 
to buy and sell opera tickets at Berlin. Tlie 
ranks of the agents are mainly recruited from 
old actors, valets out of place, guides, etc. Since 
the Borse *^ crash " opera tickets have been ob- 
tainable at less exorbitant prices tlian they for- 
merly commanded. 

THE BALLET. 

If the lyrical performances at the Opera are 
oflen mediocre, they are more than com{)ensated 
(in the eyes of the Berlinese) by the perfection 
and splendor of tlie ballets. What is lacking in 
lungs is made up in legs, and a large stage and 
superb mounting enable the finest ballets in Eu- 
rope to be here produced. Yet in this branch 
of art there is the same general complaint that 
veterans lag superfluous on the stage ; for, like 
tlie singers, the figurantes are also engaged for 
life. Listen to a Berliner's lament upon this 
subject : " Twenty years ago," observes he, 
"when I was still going to the gymnasium, these 
houris had just the same bewitching smile, just 
the same pearly teeth (perhaps they hav^ recent- 
ly got a new set), just the same black, sunken 
eyes, and just the same fairy legs. They had 
the same names they liear now ; and it is my 
fault, not theirs, if I have grown older mean- 
while. I will engage to present a quartet whose 
combined ages amount to over two hundred 
years. Whole generations may pass away with- 
out our ballet suffering any change in its immor- 
tal sylphs. There are jtremilres danseuses who 
have seen three managers depart ; and if I com- 
pare a play-bill fifteen or twenty years old with 
one of to-day, I find in both the names of those 
who were all in the bloom of youth and beauty 
when the old Opera House was burned down. 
We have a new ballet every year, with new dec- 
orations and costumes; but the old groups never 
vary. Pity always rises in my breast when I 
see how some of these ladies try to call attention 
from the stifiness of their limbs ; I seem to hear 
rheumatism crying out for mercy. Poor creat- 
ures 1 necessity forces tliem to go on charming 
us ; for some of tbem possess nothing beyond 
fifty or a hundred thousand thalers, on which, of 
course, they cannot live. They have been as- 
sured of the right to die in this place by a for- 
mer love passage with a whilom cadet, who now 
sits unmoved in his box, with a gray moustache 
and covered with orders." The old opera habi- 
tues are called ** ballet uncles." The Berlin 
corps de ballet are known colloquially as the 



** Old Guard," and tlie military precision of their 
steps justifies the appellation from a technical 
point of view. But though its members may 
sometimes surrender, they appear never to make 
up their minds to die. 



TALKS ON art! -SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM IM8TRUCTIOK8 OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

II. 

Tub Chinese say, " Economy is saving and 
spending at the same time.'* The Yankee thinks 
that economy is saving. If I don't tell what I 
know, what a pig I am ! I mi^ht easily hide my 

knowledge from you, lest you 

** Flood the market with pictures ? " 
Yes, or I might selfislily fear that yon would 
do something better than I; when you know 
that I 've always said that I would n*t teach if I 
did n't tliink that some of you were going some 
day to do better work than I can do. How 
many men are there down town who are hoping 
that 'some clerk is going to l>o smarter than they 
are? It is only in art that the worker help 
each other. 

** But all artists would not do it." 

Tlien they are not true artists. If a man is so 
selfi>h as to wish to keep what he knows to him- 
self, that man has n't any soul to put on can- 
vas. 

But we easily see where .others don't do right. 
When I go about, growling about Boston and 
her ideas of art, it is because I am not painting. 
When 1 'm hard at work, I 'm helping Boston to 
love art. 

" Emerson says, * It is better to write a poor 
poem than a good criticism.' " 

True. And I had rather paint a poor pict- 
ure than write a good criticism. It is the critics 
that make us so timid. You don't quite dare to 
paint as you see and feel. Yon can't get rid of 
tlie thought of what people will say of your 
work, lliat 's why you struggle so hard for 
form. But you must not work for that alone. 
That is what the academies, the world over, are 
striving for; and when they get it, what is it 
worth? 

Do what yon can do without fear. There 'a 
fear enough in love. Let yourself eo^^ress yotir- 
self! Tliundcr ! You *d wake up some morn- 
ing and paint the whole thing in at once. 
What does Flandrin say ? *' He who does n't 
receive from his m^ jel an impression can never 
hope, in imitating that model, to give to those 
seeing his work any impression but that of a 
thins dumb and dead. But he who renders 
what he sees will, in spite of all its faults, make 
something interesting." 

Don't take advice unless you know where it 
comes from. If a person comes into } our studio, 
it is n't best to turn round too many canvases. 
You don't see what he does. Why show your 
work ? ]f he says, " I 'd do so and so to that 
picture," you might reply, " So you would 1 " If 
any one can improve on Rubinstein or Michael 
Angelo, let him do it, and we '11 respect his 
work. 

** Judges of art in Boston 1 " What is their 
judgment worth? Not fifty cents. *' Essipoff 
does n't touch me ! " No, but spruce gum might I 

Once in a while look into my little book, and 
read on until you come to something that meets 
your case. Keep a little book for your oyn 
" symptoms," so to speak. Whenever you see 
anything that hits your case, write it down. 
Don't (Ake what you don't need. Don't lug 
along things that you can't use. Neglect of that 
rule has caused the French army to be always 

1 Copyright, 1879, by Helen M. Knowltoo. 



Haboh 29, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



53 



lickcil to death. The miser gets drowned at sea 
with tlie weight of liis dollars. Having ! It has 
tied up more souls than we 've any idea of. If 
the thing is what you need, take it, and say, *' I 
thank you." 

Wm&^t'fi Slournal of inuiaitc. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1879. 

SOME PECULIAR PHASES OP VIRTU- 
OSITY. 

Whether it is true or not that we now live 
in a musical age which may be justly termed 
an age of virtuosity, we will by no means take 
upon ourselves to determine. Virtuosity, in a 
good sense, is a purely relative term, and the 
fact Uiat most of the higher class of new mu- 
sic published to-day makes very exorbitant 
demands upon the executive ability of even 
the most brilliant performers is no proof that 
compositions of previous periods did not make 
relatively as great demands upon the execu- 
tive technique of contemporary players. The 
progress in technical executive power that 
artists have made in tlie last seventy-five or 
one hundred years is something immense. 
Even those persons who regard the peculiar 
developments of modern music as belonging 
wholly to the domain of progress must ad- 
mit that, whatever advance the art of compo- 
sition has made, it sinks into insignificance 
when compared with the huge strides that 
have been mode in the art of performing. 

One of the most noteworthy characteristics 
of this advance in technique has been that its 
most prominent promoters have been unable 
to hold anything like a monopoly of their in- 
novations. The rule that ^ what man has 
done, that can man do," holds especially good 
here. Such and such a player may astonish 
the world with some unprecedented flight of 
virtuosity ; the key-board is still warm from 
his touch when his new feat is echoed back 
by the hands of an army of other players, 
who are already able to perform it as well as 
he, and in five or ten years he has brought 
nearly the whole performing world up to his 
own level. Paganini is hailed as a magician 
for hb left-hand pizzicatos and his double- 
stopping in artificial harmonics. But what 
violinist of any eminence to-day cannot do 
the same ? Liszt's whilom ** impossibilities " 
are very possible now, and have taken a po- 
sition among the commonplaces of the con- 
certproom. It is Columbus's Qgg over again. 
Every man who mokes important discoveries 
in the technical part of the art of performing 
(for such things belong more properly to the 
domain of discovery than to that of original 
invention) does the world unspeakable serv- 
ice ; but the sole supremacy he wins thereby 
over his fellows is very short-lived. 

The imitable nature of innovations in tech- 
nique is a thing of which we rarely find a 
counterpart in the art of composition. Even 
such tricks in writing as are commonly called 
<• effects " are- not always easy of imitation. 
To be sure, when Rossini astounded all thea- 
tre-going Europe with his famous crescendos 
on two chords, it was soon found that other 
men could reproduce the effect to very good 
purpose. But such successful taking a leaf 
out of another composer*s book is, upon the 
whole, rare. What a composer does remains. 



in general, his own property, and his right to 
it is hardly to be invaded, save by direct 
plagiarism ; but what a performer does soon 
becomes the common property of the world, 
and the ease and rapidity with which it is 
transferred are at times surprising. 

Were the mere mastery over the technique 
of this or that instrument the only element 
constituting a fine performance, the number 
of great artists would be immense ; but every, 
one knows that this is not so, and that, al- 
though the most brilliant player cannot long 
hold his head above his fellows by dint of his 
technical prowess, there are other qualities 
by virtue of which he can shine forth uuap- 
proached and unrivaled. It seems to us to 
be a mistake to rank all these finer qualities 
in the performer under the general head 
of inspiration and esthetic genius. There 
is a certain element in the art of playing, 
which, albeit of transcendent importance, is 
of no higher nature than what we call clever- 
ness, or savoir faire. The prominent place 
this quality holds in piano-forte playing is 
especially noteworthy, and as the piano-forte 
may be fairly considered to be the concert 
instrument, par excellence^ of our day, we 
shall allow ourselves to consider the proper 
application of this peculiar savoir faire to 
piano-forte playing in particular, without re- 
gard for its applicability to other instruments. 

It is a singular circumstance that, while 
the piano-forte now enjoys a popularity 
greater than ever before, the general tend- 
ency of the musical spirit of our time is rath- 
er away from it than towards it. Com- 
posers are, in general, more or less influenced 
by the executive material they employ in 
their compositions, by the nature and capa- 
bilities of the instruments they write for. An 
orchestral writer who has all the modern in- 
strumental means at command will not hesi- 
tate long as to whether he shall give a solo 
phrase to the oboe or to the clarinet ; the nat- 
ure of the phrase itself will indicate the 
proper instrument easily enough. But when 
composers write for the piano-forte, nowadays, 
they often seem to consider it an instrument 
capable of doing anything. It is sufficiently 
well known that the tendency of our day is 
in the direction of intense dynamic musical 
effects. This tendency, whether deplorable 
or not, is assuredly natural and rational ; the 
overwhelming volume of tone which modem 
orchestral works give us is not a purely con- 
ventional or merely adventitious circumstance 
in the music of the period. It is absolutely 
functional ; the very intrinsic character of the 
compositions themselves, of their fundamental 
themes, of their methods of development, 
demands it. 

The time has gone by when instrumenta- 
tion was an element of secondary importance 
in the art of composition, a mere flavoring 
ingredient in music. To-day instrumenta- 
tion goes hand in hand with the other parts 
of the art. You can play a Haydn sympho- 
ny on a piano-forte, or arrange it for four or 
five stringed instruments, and it will not lose 
so very much of its zest. Try to do the 
same thing with a Liszt symphonic poem, a 
Wugner march, or even with a Raff or a 
Brahms symphony, and you well nigh pierce 
the composition to the very heart. Now the 



difference between the modem piano-forte 
and the modern orchestra is vastly greater 
than that between the piano-forte and orches- 
tra of Mozart's time. And yet, when modern 
composers write for the piano-forte, they 
often treat it as if it were an orchestra. 
When they do keep themselves within the 
natural limits of the instrument^ one cannot 
at times help feeling that they are laboring 
under an irksome restraint ; one can almost 
hear them saying to themselves ^ Que diable 
aussi viens je faire dans cette maudite golere ? " 
For be it remembered that the piano-forte 
is hardly worthy the name of musical instru- 
ment ; it has no real tone, or, at most, only 
the beginning of a tone. A pianist is to a 
great extent an illusionist ; his business is to 
make his listeners belih^e they hear what they 
do not really hear. When we speak of legato- 
playing on the piano-forte, we use a conven- 
tional term for something that does not really 
exist ; a melody — especially a slow melody 
— played on tlie piano-forte is not a series 
of smoothly flowing, connected notes, but a 
series t>f more or less distinctly marked sfor- 
zandos. The pianist, by a species of clever 
jugglery with accents and rhythmic devices, 
can cheat us into thinking that we hear a 
sustained melody, but it is nothing but a make- 
believe, after all. This power of illusion is, 
to be sure, inborn in some pianists, yet it is 
to a great extent susceptible of being ac- 
quired by study and practice, and its presence 
is more a sign of savoir faire than of any- 
thing else. Its complete acquirement is the 
most difficult feat that is open to modern vir- 
tuosity. The piano-forte music of our day 
bristles with passages in which this illusion 
is physically impossible. Take, for example, 
Liszt's formidable transcription of the march 
in Tannhauser ; the rightrhand passages at 
the third recurrence of the leading theme 
cannot possibly be played. They can be 
hinted at, so that the listener can, witli a pow- 
erful effort, hear them in his mind's ear, but 
really hear them he cannot. Such passages 
are common in the piano-forte compositions 
of our time, and are the rock on which the 
pianist inevitably comes to grief; for he is 
always, as I have said, nn illusionist, and they 
unmask him with pitiless brutality. In this 
phase of piano-forte playing, virtuosity has 
long since reached its limit. In attacking 
much of our contemporary music, the virtu- 
oso is but toying with the impossible, and the 
best he can do is to make his failure less 
glaring than that of his rivals. And yet pi- 
anists (for most of the prominent composers 
are pianists) continue writing such things, 
and expect them to have a musical effect 
upon the human ear. If this state of things 
goes on as it has been going on for some 
time past, the pianist- virtuoso will soon be- 
come little else than a living musical solecism. 

W. F. A* 

CONCERTS. 
Harvard Musical Association. — The 
seventh Symphony Concert (Tlmrsday aflcrnoon, 
March 13) had for once a programme of orches- 
tral pieces only ; yet the large attendance and 
the general pleasure manifested showed that such 
an audience does not always need the personal 
attraction of a solo Ortist to make good music 
palatable. The selections were the following : — 



64 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX — No. 990. 



Overture to ** The Magic Flute *' .... Moxart. 

Siegfried Idyl (second time) Wagner. 

Symphouy, in D (Breltkopf and Hartel, No. 14). Haydn, 

Adagio; Allegro. — Andante. — Menuetto. 
— Yivaoe. 
Adai^o and Andante (Noe. 4 and 5), from the 

BaUet: *< The Men of Prometheiu/* Op. 4-3 . Buthocen. 
Suite, for Orchestic, in C, Op. 101 (second 

time) Raff. 

Introd. and Fugue. — Minuet. — Adagietto. 
— Scherzo. — March. 

Mozart's Zavberflote Overture, a perfect mod- 
el of its kind, and a fit initiation into any feast 
of the ideal, was played with spirit, delicacy, and 
precision, the quick fugue theme being taken at 
just the right tempo for clearness and facility of 
execution, without awkward hurry, and with no 
loss of verve. Wagner's " Siegfried Idyl " — a 
very gentle specimen of tone-color for him — 
was enjoyable in just that way, as an agreeable 
commingling and flow of pounds, pervaded by a 
certiuu mildly melancholy, longing sentiment, and 
suggestive of the voices of the woods and winds ; 
pleasing, but vague, and moving in a circle, 
giving you no sense of progress, like a sweet 
sort of nightmare. The second hearing only 
confirmed this impression of the first, though it 
was delicafely rendered by the instruments. The 
happy little Symphony by Haydn, whicb may 
have been heard in Boston by an older genera- 
tion, but not within our memory, was sure to 
please by its spontaneous beauty and simplicity, 
the cheerfulness and brightness of its theme, 
and that consummate grace and symmetry of 
form which make the art of Haydn like a sec- 
ond nature. The movements are all light and 
pretty, to be sure, and quite unpretentious ; but 
the magic of the Haydn genius is in them, and 
this is more and more refreshing nowadays to 
many whose curiosity about the newest composi- 
tions is already somewhat sated. The Andante 
has a light-hearted, airy, careless, almost sketchy 
character ; but there is a vigorous fortissimo of 
basses in the middle of it, which lends it deeper 
background and bold contrast. The Minuet is 
charming, especially the Trio, in which the oboe 
stands out in a captivating- solo, very nicely 
played by Mr. de Ribas. The Finale seems to 
end too soon, — one evidence that it is good. 

The pieces from Beethoven's Ballet Music — 
his earliest extensive work for orchestra, with the 
exception of the First Symphony, composed in 
1800, at the age of thirty, when, as Thayer says, 
all his work tells of the " sound mind in sound 
body " — were very popular here some six or 
seven years ago, both in the Thomas and the 
Harvard concerts. It is sweet, melodious music, 
needing the tableaux of the ballet, of course, for 
its full interpretation, particularly the rather 
ceremonious monotony of the slow and stately 
introduction. But with the sudden flood of harp 
tones you seem to see a statue waking into life ; 
and the bright flute passages which follow, with 
the exquisite violoncello melody, are ever welcome. 
The Suite, by Rafl*, had been played twice be- 
fore in Boston, — first by Theodore Thomas, and 
then in the sixth season of these concerts. We 
think it made a much better impression this time 
than it did then. We must confess to finding it 
more fresh and genial, more felicitous in its ideas, 
and with less that is overstrained and far-fetched 
than many of Raff's more recent works. The 
Introduction is stately, and ornate, afler the 
older models, and it is a good, sound, well-rounded 
Futnie that springs from it. The three middle 
movements are quite original and graceful, par- 
ticularly the Scherzo (Presto), a dainty, fairy bit 
of fancy. The Adagietto, too, with its tender 
cantabile, was warmly appreciated. The March 
is bold and strong, but somewhat coarse ; marches 
are a hobby with this voluminous composer, — 
an easy habit he falls back upon, apparently, 
when other invention flags. 



The eiffhth and last concert of this fourteenth 
series took place last Thursday, beginning and 
ending witli a great work of Beethoven, — the 
Eroica and the third Leonore Overture. The 
special attraction was the piano-forte playing of 
M.Franz Rummel (Schumann Concerto, and 
Liszt's Fantasia on Hungarian Airs, with orches- 
tra) ; between these, Weber's Preciosa Overture. 
Comments hereafter. 



' Mr. B. J. Lang's two concerts at Mechanics' 
Hall, on Thursday afternoons, March 6 and 20, 
were choice and somewhat unique in character. 
Both were very fully attended, especially the 
last, and by the most refined, appreciative sort 
of audience. The programme of the first con- 
cert was as follows : — 

Sonata, Op 81 Beethoven, 

Adagio (Das Lebewohl), Allegro. 
Andante eepresaivo (Die Abwesenheit). 
YivBciuimamente (Das Wiedenehn). 
Miss Jessie Cochrane. 
Songs: " Si, t'amo, o cara." (Arranged by Bob- 

ert Franz) Handel, 

" Unter bliih'nden Mandel-baumen '' . . . Weber. 
** Das ist ein Brausen und Heukn ** . . . Franz, 
** Treibt der Sommer seinen Uosen " ... Fra$u. 

" The Erl-King " Schnbert. 

" Ach wenu ich doeh em Lamchen war '* . . Fram, 

" The Two Roees " Lang. 

«* Would it were ever abiding " . . . . Rubimtein. 
Mr. W. J. Winch. 

0>ncerto No. 3, Op. 45 Rubinstein. 

Allegro moderato. — Andante. — Allegro risoluto. 
Mr. B. J. Lang. 

The glowing, half love-sick, half rapturous, 
impetuous Beethoven Sonata in E-flat, commonly 
named " Les Adieux, L'Absence, et La Retour," 
is one all steeped in finest sentiment and burning 
fire ; it is as poetic and imaginative as it is heart- 
felt, — a most exquisite creation. The interpret- 
er. Miss Cochrane, a young lady of evident mu- 
sical feeling and enthusiasm, is a pupil of Mr. 
Lang, and has also studied in Europe with Von 
Btilow. She has a sensitive, clear, brilliant 
touch, a well-developed technique, phrases intel- 
ligently and carefully, and shows a true respect 
for the composer and his work. All that was 
wanting was more fire and intensity, and some- 
what greater breadth of style for concert playing. 
For the rather quiet, unpresuming manner of a 
maiden efibrt we liked it all the better. The 
tempi were all such as we have long been accus- 
tomed to feel to be the right ones ; and all the 
intentions of the work, as well as its spirit as a 
whole, seemed to us rightly conceived and Intel- 
ligently, expressively reproduced. 

The Rubinstein Concerto in G is the one 
which Mr. Lang played with orchestra in a sym- 
phony concert seven years ago. This time the ac- 
companiment was ably supplied at a second piano- 
forte by Mr. W. S. Fenollosa. It gave full scope 
for all the vigor, fire, and finished, brilliant virtu-, 
osity of Mr. Lang, who, we are sure, brought out 
all the soul and all the interesting detail of it. 
The work is impetuous and somewhat willful and 
eccentric, as one might expect of Rubinstein. 
We liked the first Allegro rather better than we 
did before, and the Andante, by its pensive 
fragments of recitative, suggesting distantly the 
Adagio in Beethoven's 6 major Concerto, has 
depth and beauty. There is a wondeiful impetus 
and verve in the Finale (Allegro risoluto), which 
is kept up to too great a length, though it is ex- 
tremely exciting ; Mr. Lang's mastery of its ex- 
acting difficulties was supreme. 

The half hour of songs, finely chosen and 
grouped, and exquisitely sung, made a refreshing 
flowery interval, between the two serious instru- 
mental works. Mr. Winch has marvelously 
gained in the sweetness and the delicate modula- 
tion of his voice, and in the fine, poetic, varied 
quality of his interpretation, rendering the indi- 
viduality, the spirit, of each song feelingly and 



truly. That by Handel, which has hitherto been 
heard here as a soprano aria, suited him well, and 
was given in all tlie charm of its quaintness. 
This and the beautiful Romanza from Weber's 
Euryanthey simple, yet sustained and ever grow- 
ing to a climax, were among his happiest repro- 
ductions. The " Erl King " was admirably sung, 
as well as accompanied, and the songs of Franz 
were altogether satisfactory. Mr. Lang's " Two 
Roses," a graceful, dainty fancy, was heartily ap- 
preciated ; and the song by Rubinstein, com- 
monly called by its first line " Gold rolls here 
beneath me " (from a Persian poem, we believe), 
is something quite original and charming, though 
not without a certain Schumann mannerism. 
Every song owed much of its charm to Mr. 
Lang's fine rendering of the accompaniment. 

Here is the second programme : — 
Grand Trio in 6 minor .... Uaaie wm Brontart. 
Allegro molto. — Viraoe. 
Ada^o ma non troppo. — Allegro agitato. 

Mr. Lang, Mr. Allen, and Bf r. Fries. 
Songs: ^ Mio caro bene." (Arranged by Robert 

Fraux) Handel^ 

*<ReiseUed'* Mendeltaokn, 

*< Die Lotosblume '* Frtatz, 

" I arise from dreams of thee *' .... J. Bradlee, 

t< Adelaide" *. * * -A^c^oveit. 

<<Ich frage keine Bluaie** . . . .* . . SckvberL 

** Absence" Lang. 

» Hetrs I love " Lang, 

Mr. W. J. Winch. 
Grand Trio. Op. 97, in B-flat m^or . . . Beethoven. 

The Trio by Von Bronsart — conductor of the 
Euterpe concerts in Leipzig, which represent the 
newer tendencies in contrast to the more conserv- 
ative Grewandhaus institution — was a novelty of 
note. The work and the composer were en- 
tirely new to Boston. It is full of dramatic fire 
and passion, while its movements are kept in the 
usual form. It is also full of beauty and origi- 
nality. The opening Allegro b intense and stormy, 
and gives a sense of power. The Adagio is deep 
and sombre, almost too suggestive of Chopin's 
funeral march, but grand and noble. The Finale 
is strong, but rather more conventional. The 
Vivace, a sort of Scherzo, though not in triple 
time, pleased more than any portion of the work, 
both by its quaint and frolic humor and by its 
two melodious trios; yet it seemed to us that 
twenty other composers might have written it. 
As a whole, however, no work of the kind by any 
of the newer composers has impressed us more 
favorably than this Trio by Von Bronsart. Mr. 
Lang was at his best in it, and it was admirably 
played by all three artists. 

Mr. Winch offered another very choice bouquet 
of songs, and sang each one of them to a charm. 
Instead of the one set down for Schubert, he irug 
a beautiful song by Jensen, '< Murmelndes Liif^- 
chen " (Murmuring Breeze). The setting of 
Shelley's " 1 arise from dreams of thee,** by Mr. 
Bradlee, sliowed decided musical sense and fiftc- 
ulty for an amateur. It is intensely dramatic, re- 
citative-like, in its style, and contrasts to good 
advantage with the well-known setting of the 
same words by Saloman. 

The great Beethoven Trio — greatest of trios 
— was superbly played, and made the noblest 
sort of ending to the concert. 



Euterpe. — The third concert (Wednesday 
evening, March 12) was an altogether delightful 
one. The • two selections were such as every 
hearer could at once appreciate, and such as 
never lose their charm. Beethove<i% Quartet in 
A, from the six of Op. 18, a fresh, spontaneous, 
bright creation of his healthiest period, though 
once so familiar, seemed like a thing that had 
just sprung into life. Those well-worn varia- 
tions of the Andante brought each its fresh sur- 
prise. And it was all remarkably well played, — 
by the New York Philharmonic Club, as before. 
The variation in which the bass part becomes 



Maboh 29, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



65 



80 excited and eo active, caused a general smile 
of sympathy. 

Then that perfect model of its kind, the 6 mi- 
nor Quintet by Mozart, as perfect a model, — in 
pregnant themes, easy, natural development, 
strictest symmetry of form, and yet the happiest 
spontaneous flow from first to last, as well as in 
every grace and eloquent enforcement of expres- 
sion, — as his Symphony in the same key. The 
Minuet is simply exquisite, and the Adagio won- 
derful in its depth of feeling and its reach of 
imaginative conception. The Quintet, also, wjis 
very clearly, very finely played. Indeed, Mr. 
Arnold and his brother ai'tists gave us the best 
evidences of their skill in quartet and quintet 
playing that evening. 

• 

Cambridge. — On the following evening the 
the same artists gave a similar Chamber Concert 
in Bcylston Hall, — a small amphitheatrical lect- 
ure room, but excellent for sound. It was well 
filled with a most intelligent audience, who list- 
ened with sincere interest to the Mozart Quintet, 
of which we have just spoken, and to Schumann's 
Quartet in A minor, which was given in the first 
Euterpe concert. Between the instrumental pieces 
an agreeable variety was introduced by Mr. 
George L. Osgood's beautiful singing of several 
songs, accompanied by Professor Paine. These 
were: '^Im Mai," by Franz; **Ndhe des Gelieb- 
ten," and the " Friihlingsglaube," both by Schu- 
bert. Being warmly recalled, Mr. Osgood also 
sang the beautiful Siciliano from Handel's L' Al- 
legro, 

We have aevorml other intflrestiag oonoerU on our list 
awaiting room for noUoe, — notably thoM of Mr. Liebling, 
and of Bliss Josephine E. Ware, a Ter^ joung and gifted 
pupil of Mr. Sherwood. 

The great musical event of the year will be the perform- 
manoe bj the Handel and Haydn Society of Bach's St. 
Matthlto Fassiod Musk on Good Friday, April 11. For 
the first time in this country the great work will be given 
tntiref (he first part in the afternoon and the second part in 
the evening; with this division it was originally intended to 
be given. In many a church in Germany, and probably in 
Westminster Abbey and other London churches or cathe- 
drab, it will be hautl that day. Here the solo singers will 
be: Miss HenrietU Beebe, Miss Edith AbeU (her first ap- 
pearance since her return from Europe), Mr. W. Courtney, 
the English tenor, who is said to have recovered the clear- 
ness of hU voice, Mr. J. F. Winch, and Mr. M. W. Whit- 
ney. Mr. Edward Remeuyi has been engsged as leadhig and 
sob rioUuist. 

This will be fitly followed on Easter Sunday (Idth), by 
Handel's Judat Maccnbcem^ the solos by Miss Fanny Kel- 
logiC, Mr. Courtney, and others. 

Then, to crown die season's work, — or rather to crown 
the able and ikithful conductor, CarL Zbbrahn, on the 
twenty-fifth anniversary (May 2) of his first assuming the 
baton in the old Society, Mendelssohn's Elijah will be given 
as it was then, — only better, — in compliment to this bug- 
tried and successful Imder. 

Mr. a. p. Pick's annual benefit concert is announced 
for April 28. The list of artists is imposing, including Miss 
Clara Louise Kellogg, Miss Anna Drasdil, Mrs. Louise 
Grace Courtney, Herr August Wihelmj, Mrs. L. S. Fro- 
hock, Signor Tagliapietri, Mr. A. NeuendorfT, and a grand 
orchestra. 

Mbssra. W. H. Sherwood. C. N. Allen, and Wulf 
Fries, will give a series of three classical concerts in Mechan- 
ics' Hall, on Tuesday evenings, April 15, 22, and 29. They 
will have the assistance of Messrs Julius Akeroyd and 
Henry Heindl (who, with Messrs. Allen and Fries, consti- 
tute the Beethoven Quartette), Mrk W. H. Sherwood, Blessrs. 
£. B. Story, and Henry G. Hanchett, pianists ; Blessrs. 
Alexander Heindl, contra basio; Ernest Weber, clarinet; 
Paul Eltz, bassoon; Edward Schorman, horn Also, 
Mme Louisa Cappiani, Miss Mary Turner, K. Y., Mrs. 
E. Humphrey-Allen, and BIr. W. H. Fessenden, vocalists. 

Among the important works presented will be Beethoven*s 
Septet; a Concerto in C minor for two pianos and string 
quartet, Bach; Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, for piano and 
strings, Schumann; Clarinet Quintet, Mozart; String Qnar- 
tot by Mendelssohn (in E-flat), and Rubinstein (in F); So- 
mUa for violin and piano (in E-flat), Beethoven ; Polonaiae for 
*oello and piano, Chopin ; Rondo for two pianos, Chopin ; 
Piano Sokw by Moszkowski, Chopin, and Schumann. 

Such a series will be welcome, surely, to all true bvers of 

good DIQSI0* 



A CORRECTION FROM THE MENDELS- 
SOHN QUINTETTE CLUB. 

Mr. Editor, >- 1 trust you will kindly allow me space in 
your columns to make correction of the statement that tlie 
Sextet, Op. 18, by Brahms '* was entirely new to Boston " 
when pkyed at the second Euterpe concert, Feb. 12. If you 
will examine your files of programmes, you will find that our 
[Mendelsiohn C^nintette] dub played both Sextets by Brahms 
six or seven years ago, m the series of concerts given in the 
Meionaon, when the programmes, you will remember, were 
made up mostly of music new to Boston, including the two 
hat Quartets of Beethoven. If I were at my home, I oouki 
readify indicate both day and date. Now, whilst I do not 
think it a matter of rital importance to the world to know 
who brings out works of this character, statements like the 
above, and others which have appeared in the dailies within 
a couple of years, giving to other artists the meed of praise 
which was justly due us, have, in the words of Mark Twain, 
become '* slightly monotonous." 

For instance, a reporter for one of Boston's respectable 
daily papers hears for the first time at a Cambridge con- 
cert Beethoven's Septet, Op. 20; diacovers charms, etc.; 
hopes Boston will soon have the opportunity, and m> on. 
Shortly following this, another reporter of another daily 
hears Spohr's Nonet, C>p. 84, discovers beauties, and hopes 
that Boston may soon have the pleasure of hearing this 
charming work ; returns thanks to the artists, etc. These 
reports are made, of course, by gentlemen who mean well, but 
are in bUssful ignorance of what has been done in tbts line 
twenty or even thirty years ago. Our club have certainly 
played both works often enough to have worn them thread- 
bare, if works of that calibre will ever reach that condition. 

For many years I kept a record of the number of times 
we pktyed all important concerted works, until increase of 
business cares caused me to give up such detail, but I r»> 
member that all the best works i^eached into the " twenties." 

I would like, therefore, to make this statement for the 
guidance of all Aiture reporters: that there is scarcely a 
work worth playing within the province of chamber music, 
embracing compositions for three up to nhie instruments, 
which we ha^-e not many times played. I will mention two 
woriis, however, of sterling merit, whidi we have not phiyed, 
naniely, the Octet by Gade, and the Quintet for piano and 
wind instruments by Mozart. This record covers the works 
by the acknowledged masters up to and includhig those of 
Robert Schumann. We have also dipped bravely and perhaps 
rashly into the newer styles in the works of firalims, Rubin- 
stein, Raff, Goldmark, Max Bruch, Fuchs, and a few others 
needless to mention. 

There is this very discouraging remark to be made about 
the bringing out of new music by new masters, — and I 
think all srttsts have passed through the same experience, — 
namely: We take up a new work, study it thoroughly and 
with enthusiasm, perhkps, play it to an audience, the best 
we can collect, and the work generally falls dead the first 
time, because the listeners are not injsympathy with it. It 
does not even sound the same when played to a few hundred 
pain of ears that it did when played to four or five pairs. 
I suppose many reasons can be given. Now r^arding the 
Brahms Sexteta, we were so much pleased with the music 
that throughout one entire Western tour, when we wished to 
give a treat of new music, we played the Andante with vari- 
ations fh>m one of these works, or the Scherxo from the other. 
Thai is what we thought of Brahms. We have done the 
same for Rubinstein, playing frequently that exceedingly in- 
teresting movement in five-eight time from one of his quar- 
tets. Allow me to add here that whenever an opportunity 
presents itself, where we think we have an audience who wiU 
enjoy the best, we always pUy some of it, although it may 
not be on the programme, and certainly is at the risk al- 
ways of being cavinrt to many of the listeners. I do 
not think that the new music at 'first hearing is calculated 
to please, but peofde say they hear so much about it they 
would like to hear some of it; we therefore play it. 

AUow me, in conclusion, to express my delight at the in- 
terest reawakened for cluunber music in Boston; I give 
my heartfelt thanks to the promoters of the Euterpe or^an- 
ization. Long may it live in active operation ! It has been 
to those of our dub who worked U^ther with me so many 
years in this choice vein of musical wealth a most discour- 
aging matter to bdleve that the love for chamber music 
had entirely died out in our people. It is now, therefore, 
a fit subject for rqoicing that the reflux of taste has in 
Boston brought people back again to their first love. That 
musical person, so called, who does not get ei\joyment from 
a string quartet is pooriy prepared to enjoy a symphony. 

Respectfully, Thomas Ryan. 

Grahd Rapids, Mich., March 15, 1879. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Priladelfhia, Mabch 22. — Yesterday was the an- 
niversary of the birthday of the great and glorious com- 
poser, JoHK Sebastian Bach, and was duly celebrated by 
Mr. S. T. Strang's closing Organ Recital, the programme 
of which I submit for your readers* examination : — 

Prelude and Fugue, in B minor. 

Peters* Ed., Book 2, No. 10. 
Choral Prelude. 
I' WeaU believe in one true God " (5 voci.). Book 7, No. 62. 



Chaomne, D mmor, for Violin Solo. 

Mr. William StoU. 
Pastorale, in F. 
" My lieart, ever faithful.'* 

Miss Edith Lane. 
Violin obligate, by Mr. StoU. 
Toccata, in F. 

As you may see, the works of the great contn^untlst 
alone occupied the attention of the public which, despite the 
very bad weather, turned out in goodly numbers. The per- 
formance gave general satisfaction. Miss Lane is always 
heard with pleasure, and sang the flowing mekxly of the 
"Heart ever foithful," with excellent expression. This 
young lady, having recovered from ho* throat ailment, re- 
turns to her former positicm as Soprano in the chou* of St. 
Stephen*s P. E. chiupch to-morrow. Mr. William StoU gave 
the Chaconne with a wuming grace of execution and 
expression, which exhibited some fomiliarity with Bach*s 
music; the bowing and intonation showed the master's com- 
mand of his instrumeoL Blr. Strang devefoped the qual- 
ities of a bold executant and hard sUident His registra- 
tion in the Pastorale was particularly effective by the happy 
oontrssts of timbre and his pedaling throughout was exact, 
neat, and clean. 

Among the many " Pinafore " companies, now and then, 
there is brought to light some new star whose twinkling 
was evidently for a lar^ and api»eciative pubUc, other than 
that of the drtwlng-room circle of friends, or even of the 
church choir. At the North Broad Street Theatre, a cosy 
Uttle box of a place up town, a soprano, weU known in mu- 
sical and church circles, has developed into a successful prima 
donna, in a smaU work, it is true, but she promises to rise 
in her profession, and will, without doubt, with her fine 
presence and excellent voice, if studious and careful, ulti- 
mately reach a high position. I aUude to MUe. Ella Monti^jo, 
who, although with some minor shortcomings, such as might 
be expected in a novice to the stage, is nightly crowding this 
little theatre with her admirers. Amekicus. 

CiNCiKif ATI, O., March 14. — On Feb. 27 the Sev- 
enth Orchestra Concert took place after the fottowing pro- 
gramme: — 

Symphony, C miyor Schubert. 

Scena and Aria, •* Non temer, amato bene! " . Mozart. 
(Violin Obligate, Mr. E. Jaeobssohn). 

Miss l^Iaria Van. 
Overture, ^ Coriohmns," Op. 62 ... . Beethott», 
Scena and Aria, »Tu che le vaniU*' (Don Carios) VerdL 

Miss Marie Van. 
Ride of the Valkyries Wagner. 

The symphony was very finely interpreted. Everywhere 
the caref^ and Uiorough-going faiuning of the director was 
evident, and a more perfect rendering was only prevented by 
the want of greater virtuosity on the part of the individual 
players. The rhythmic as weU as harmonic transparency of 
this beautiful work demand the most complete unity in ac- 
cent and phrasiug, and the constant thematic imitations 
which are given to almost every instrument, without regard 
to the difficulties which they often present, make any uneven, 
ness or want of predsion very plain. In these particulars the 
rendering of the symphony was frequently deficient, es- 
pecisUy in the Andante con moto and Scherzo, which latter 
is a roost difficult task for any orchestra to essay, especiaUy 
when a very rapid tempo is chosen. The scena and aria by 
Mozart gave Miss Van an opportimity to show her capabil- 
ities in the sphere of dassic opera music, (the aria was 
composed as an interpolation for the opera Idomeneo). 
Since her first appearance in concert. Miss Van has been a 
favorite with the public on account of the evident earnest- 
ness and conscientiousness which mark everything she under- 
takes. Her successful d^but in opera, as Gilda, in Riyohito^ 
with the Strakosch Company, brought her into still greater 
prominence. She possesses a voice of pleasing timbre and 
considerable volume, with fair training and focile vocalization. 
The Mozart aria, however, demands a style totaUy difiTerent 
ih>m that of the Italian opera, and it was erident that while 
a conscientious efibrt to do justice to the technical and les- 
thetical requirements of the composition was not wanting, 
the means to meet them wera not adequate. In the aria 
from Don Carlot she was quite at home, and created great 
enthusiasm. The pompous CorioUinui overture and the 
Ride of the Valkyries formed a most interesting contrsst. 
To theSatter Beethoven's words: ** mehr* Auadruck der 
Empfindung als Malerei " are certainly not appUcable. 

In the Sixth Chamber Concest the foUowing programme 
was followed: — 

(Quartet No. 3 in D, Op. 18 Beethoten. 

Maerehenbilder, Op. 113, for Piano and Vi- 
ola Schunuum, 

Mr. Mees, pianist. 
Quartet No. 2, A minor. Op. 13 ... Mendelttohn. 

In this concert, Mr. Kch, of whom I made mention in my 
Isst letter^ temporarily supplied tlie phice of Mr Thomas. 
There was a certun restlessness and frequently a hck of 
purity in intonation noticeable in the quartets, owing doubt- 
less to the want of more perfect acquaintance of the players 
with each other A good ensemble cannot be secured with- 
out prolonged and constaiit practice. In the " Maerehen- 
bUder," Mr. Baetens had opportunity to display his nooom- 
mon virtuosity and exoeUent taste as a viok player. 



56 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[you XXXIX. — No. 990. 



Hie programme of the SeFenth Chamber Goneert was: — 
TVio for Strings, C minor, Op. 9 .... Beethoven, 

Sonata, D m%jor, Op. 18 Ri^ifi^in. 

Mr. Schneider, pianist. 
Quartet No. 1, A minor, Op. 41 .... Schtunann. 

The trio for etringt (No. 8 of Op. 9} was rendered in a 
most perfect manner, and it is safe to sajr that in unitjr, as 
well as in bringing out the details of this beautiful oompo- 
.sitioD, the performauee was the most finished of any so fer 
given in the Chamber Concerts. The Kubinstein Sonata re- 
ceived a most .excellent interpretation at the hands of Mr. 
Schneider and Mr. Hartdegen. The themes, some of which 
axe a little commonpbuse, are so cleverly and beautifully ia- 
truduced that they gain a dignity and interest during the 
(NPOgreis of the sonata. In the Schumann Quartet Mr. 
Thomas again made his appearance, playing the first violin. 
The first two movements, by fer the most transparent and 
fresh of the four, were finely rendered. The Scherao and 
Presto were too much hurried and somewhat nervously 
pbyed. At the next orchestra concert the college choir will 
be heard for the fint time in public in Koesini's Stabat 
Mater and Schubert*s Twenty-third Psalm for female voices. 

A new department has recently been added to the curric- 
ulum of the college, under the direction of Mr. Whiting. 
It is to furnish means for instruction in church music, both 
instrumental and vocal. A reform in church music is cer- 
tainly needed, and probably more in our city than anywhere 
dse, for not at any time has this branch of the art been so 
completely neglected as it is now. The literature which our 
church choirs and quartets cultivate is of the very poorest 
and most unfitting kind. Opera melodies which have been 
put into metrical straight-jackets to suit certain words, the 
attempts at composition of book-makers who have an eye 
only to the ^fits they realize from their ** collection,** even 
DMfodics which are heard at every street comer, are empbyed 
to serve at divine service. In the new departuiait instnic- 
Uon is to be given in the elementary principles ot* church 
music; the Gregorian tones and their influence on the true 
church style; the various methods of performing divine 
service in difierent countries; analyses of the best known 
works of the Latin, English, and Lutheran churches; in 
short, a complete historical and theoretical exposition of 
churdi music, together with practical instruction in chorus 
singing and accompanying. The task is one which cer- 
tainly requires a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of 
the subject, togetlier with extenuve experience, — demands 
which Mr. Whiting will doubtless be able to satisfy fully. 
It is sincerely to to hoped that the advantages offered in 
this department will be extensively made use of. An an- 
nouncement which is added to the prospectus has caused 
considerable comment amongst resident musicians and sing- 
ers. It reads as follows : ** The extensive resources of the 
college afiUrd the opportmiity to furnish to churches choir 
leados, organ and otlier instrument performen, with solo 
and chorus singers. It is able to anist in this way both 
churches and singers." In accordance with this notice, two 
churches which have until now engaged quartet choirs of 
prominent local singers, have decided to disband them after 
£kster, and to substitute in tiieir stead chorus singers from 
the college. The semi-weekly organ concerts given by Mr. 
Whiting continue, bringing new and varied programmes, in 
which the strictly classic as well as the modem schools of 
(MTgan playing are represented. The influence of these 
recitals cannot be overestimated. It is noticeable that the 
audiences consist in a great measure of persons directly in- 
terested in church music, and connected with the organist 
and choir positions in the diflerent chtuiehes. 

A complimentary benefit tendered tu Mr. liallenbeig, the 
organizer of the Cincinnati Orchestra, to whoso energy is 
due hurgely the possibility of obtaining such material as now 
composes the Tliomas Orchestra, was well attended. The 
Thomas Orchestra took part, and as sofoists, Miss Emma 
Cranch, Miss Marie Van, Mr. Jacobsaohu, and Mr. Urand, 
the former director of the orchestra. 

Baltxmobe, March 22. — Selections at the fourth and 
fifth Peabody concerts of tlie season, both of which were 
largely attended, despite inclemency of weather and other 
adverse circumstances, were : — > 



IV. 



. Moznrt, 
. Romni, 



Jupiter Symphony C niigor. No. 4 . . . 
Cavatina from llie Barber of Seville . . . 

Miss EUsa Barakli. 
Mek)drama from 3d act of tlie French drama, 

The Maid of Aries 

Italian songs with piano: — 

(m) Santissima viiigine. (6) Mandolinata. 

Miss Elisa Bai^ldi. 
(a) Piano-concerto in E-flat. No. 5 . . 
Mme. Nannette Falk-Auerbaeh. 
(&) Overture to Egmont. 

V. 
Symphony in B-flat (" Queen of France ") . 
A Sdfoveroent from a Symphony. Work 12. B. 

Adagio con passions. 
Air and Variations with piano. 

Miss Jenny Busk, 
(a) Symphony, D mhior. No. 2. Work 49. L. Spohr. 
(6) Kouiance from the opera Zemire and Axor. 

Miss Jenny Dusk, 
(c) Overture to the opera Jessonda. Work 63. 



G. Biut 



Beethoven. 



. Haydn, 
W. NicholL 



Since my Ust there have been several aooessions to the 
orchestra, which now numbers thirty- six performers. The 
manner In which the above programmes were received is an- 
other evidence of the feet that pure old classical music al- 
ways calls forth decided appreciation on the part of general 
audiences, and that a limited orchestra can in most cases 
efltet more good in the way of musical culture by a careful 
performance of Moaart, Beethoven, Haydn, Spohr, etc., than 
can a laige orchestra of some sixty or more performers with 
Ubored interpretation of the music of the new school. Our 
general audiences are not ready for the music of the future, 
sod it is very doubtful when they will be. What they need 
now is the good old music of the past 

Wilheln^ visited us again for one Aight only, supported 
by Mme. Carrefio and Walter Damroech. Wilhebvj, Car- 
reiio, and Walter Damrosch I It was like a delightlul cham- 
ber concert. 

Ofe Bull called on us the evening previous to Wil- 
helmj with another ** ferewell " concert. He was accom- 
panied, by a prodigious array of talent : a prima donnsL, 
a tenor, a basso (who could n't sing because ** my voice to 
very tick "), a cometist, and accompanist. The tenor and 
the accompanist were the only ones who appeared to know 
much aliout their business. 

Something unusual happened to us about three weeks 
ago. We have had some public lectures on music! Dr. J. 
Austen Pearoe, of Columbia Colkf^ and musical critic of 
the New York Evening Poet, I believe, delivered five short 
lectures : four on music in general, and one an exegetical 
lecture on the orchestral selections of our fourth Peabody 
concert. 

Tour correspondent hopes the rather meagre attendance 
will not discourage the doctor, and prevent him or other able 
musical schoUrs from repeating the experiment I am sure 
that, if persisted in, the attendance at such lectures would 
increase, slowly but surely. Their benefit in pointing out the 
way to a better understanding of orchestral music is evi- 
dent MUSIKUS. 

Chicago, March 19 — The little lull in our concert 
season was most pleasantly interrupted on Saturday evening 
by one of the "Blusical Reunions" of the Beethoven So- 
ciety. The programme was one of interest : — 

Sonata in D (PUiio and *Cello) Bubenttein, 

Messrs. Wdfeohn and Eichheim. 

Aria, from the •* Prophet '' Meyerbeer, 

Mrs. Scheppers. 
Piano-Forte: *<Ricordanza," Etude .... Litzt, 

Mr. Eiuil IJeblmg. 

Romance: <* Absence" Berlioz. 

Mrs. C. D. Stacy. 

Violin Sob: "Legende" Wieniavtld. 

Miss Zelina Mantes. 



Duets: 



. ((a.)«Schilferlied,") _ . 

• } (6.) " Uebeslied," ] *'<=**• 

Miss Hoyne and Mrs. HalL 

Trio in C minor (Piano, Vfolin, and *CeUo) . Roff. 

Messrs. Wolfsohn, Rosenbecker, and Eichheim. 

The Beethoven Society, by these monthly leunions, does 
a good work in promoting Uie growth of our musical cult- 
ure, for it furnishes to its members the opportunity of hear- 
ing a bu^e number of important compositioiis during the 
year. . For this our thanks are largely due to Mr. WoUaohn, 
its eonductor. 

On Monday evening, March 17, the Stnkosch Operm 
Company began a season of one week, opening witli Let 
HuguenoU ot Meyerbeer. The east presented Bliss Kelfogg 
as Valentine, Miss Litta as the Queen, Miss C^ as Urbano 
(the page), Mr. Charles Adams as Raoul, Mr. Only as 
MarceL That our musical people were hungry for the 
opera, was evident from the overifowiiig house. After so 
numy fine represeiitatfoiis from *• Her Mi^csty's I^ope," it 
was with some curiosity that we observed the effect pro- 
duced by this company. Admitting that the Maplcson 
Troupe won its greatest success in the strictly Italian operas, 
particidariy those of a light character, yet in regard to the 
orchestra, chorus, and general unity of the representation a 
comparison would present itself to the mind, in spite of the 
eflbrt to meet the subject upon its own merits. To begin 
with, the band was badly bahinced, and gave eridence of a 
want of adequate rehearsals. There caimot be much ex- 
pected of an orchestra that is mostly composed of members 
who are simply engaged for a limited number of nights; yet 
such a procedure does interfere seriously with a finished per- 
formance, and the public will hokl the manas^ement respon- 
sible for it. We can but think a more careful rehearsal of 
thechonis would have enabled them to sing their music with 
more precision and idea, and with some suggestion of light 
and shade, even if it was composed of a small number of 
singers. The fest act was oxitted, and Uie perfoniiance 
closed with the grand duet between Valentine and liaoul, 
and thus the dramatic unity was destroyed, and a gnat in- 
justice done to Meyerbeer's work. 

We can but deprecate the attempt of Bliss Kellogg to 
transform herself into a singer of intensely dramatic roks. 
Her greatest success hss been in characters of a light order, 
like Filina in Migmm ; and we question if she has the 
power of voice, or the fitiien of organization ever to enable 
her to win any extended feme in such o})enis ss the Hugue- 
nott and lAthevgrin, Her want of power was notably felt 
in the trying duet hi the tliinl act; for, in her efiurt to lend 



dramatic force to the high uotes, she strained her voice be- 
yond its limit, and the result was the loss of musical qual- 
ity, while at times the middle and close of the note would 
be too sharp to be in tmie. Tiien, too, her lower notes srs 
too weak to cope with dramatic qiusic of this trying kind. 
In every composition that a singer interprets, slie must re- 
member that the idea of music is to delight the esr, and 
give gratification to the musical mind; and when a pas- 
sion is forced beyond the limit of pure and sweet tone, it 
becomes a something so unmuacal as to pass into the con- 
fines of noise. A voice, when supported by a right con- 
ception and a reasoning control, can coIot each note of • 
song, until it adequately represents the emotion which the 
compoeer intended to illustrate musically and that, too, with, 
out robbing the tone of its beauty and purity. We can 
think of Parepa, Lucca, and more Utely Gerster, as singers 
who never forgot to temper passkm by judgment, and who 
realized that their art was one that was always to delight 
even the most sensitive and delicate musical organization. 
Miss (Jary sang the music of the page with her usual hon- 
esty of purpose, and her rich voice gave mtense satisfaction. 
We are gbd to do this artbte honor, and New Engfend 
shouhl be proud of her own daughter. Miss Litta was 
called to fill the ungracious part of the Queen, and while she 
sang the music feirly, was ssdly awkward in her acting. 
Mr. Adams, accomplished singer and actor that he Is, gave 
the music of his role with much finish sad In the ** grand 
duet," ssng with an intensity of power and dramatic design 
that was most gratifying. It is unfortunate that his voice 
will not always serve him as ftilly as on Monday evening, for 
he is a true artist Mr. (>>nly*s Marcel was not an ideal lep- 
resentation by any means. The rest of the parts were very 
weak. 

Tuesday evening gave us Fantt^ or at least, portions of it, 
for a number of scenes were cut Bliss Litta was the Mar- 
gherita, and it is no great discredit to the young singer to 
say she did not fill out the picture that (joethe so wonder- 
fully painted. We have had few singers who could do jus- 
tice to this part No one who so adequately filled m the 
delicate shades of feeling, and brought the listener so near 
to the suflMng, heart-broken, yet loring maiden, as Lneea! 
The innocent delight of her joyous tones, as she slmost 
Uttghed out her pleasure, in the jewel song, while she rsn 
up the opening notes of the number, reechoes through the 
mmd still, as a cherished memory. Litta was not even the 
suggestfon of that Margherita. WiO she a-er be? We fear 
not. She does not show the intensity of feeling, or manUBest 
the demenU of greatness necessary to reach the height of 
the ideal hi art. Miss Cary sang Siebd's music splendidly. 
Hie rest of the cast were so weak as not e\-en to merit a 
record. In the Mephisto of Mr. Gotts^alk we bad direct 
eridence that '*the Devil is dead," and that there was no 
one left to even take his pari. 

The remainder of the week will give us Bigoletto, Mig- 
fMm, Martha^ and Carmen, Then to Miss Kdkigg adieu 
for some years! 

Sometimes the spuit of invention will step into the realm 
of art and do it a great service. It is so, we think, in the 
present case. Mr. George W. Lyon, of the firm of Lyon 
A Healy, has invented a music rack for upright piano-fortes, 
which will be of practical benefit to aU musicians who play 
this instrument It lifts the music mto a position comfort- 
able for the eye, and beaidea is an ornament to the pUno. 
forte. a H. B. 

Milwaukxb, Wis., BIarch 20. — The folfowing was 
the programme of the 261st concert of the Mnsicsl Society, 
Msrch 10: — 

Symphony (C major) Franz Schubert 

** Becalmed at Sea, and Prosperous Voy- 
age *' (Goethe) A, BvMnttein. 

Maennerchor. 
Redtative and Aria for Soprano, from ^ The 

Seasons *' Jot. Haydn, 

Miss Lizas Murphy. 
" The Storm," CantaU for mixed chorus, 

with orchestra Jot, Haudn, 

** Impatience," Song for Soprano . . . Franz Schubert. 

Miss Lizzie Bfurphy. 

'*God, Fatherland, Love*' .... Wm, Ttchirch, 

Maennerchor, with Orchestra. 

The orchestra had only six first violins this time, and 
other strings In proporUon, — somewhat weaker than usual. 
The result of this was that, in the fortitnmo passsges, the 
blare of the trombones and of the comets, which do duty 
as tnimpeta, completely drowned out the strings. It seems 
to me that it must be entirely poesible to tone down this 
brass, evrn with the few rehearsals which the finances of the 
society allow. It ought to be possible also to secure better 
shading and a much better piano and piammmo. But in 
spite of these defects, I found the symphony very inspiring. 

The choruses were very well sung, perhaps quite as well as 
this chorus ustudly sings; hut I noticed no improvement. 
There is great need of an influx of good material. 

Bliss Murphy, a young pufMl of I^rofessor Midler, the 
conductor, has a moderatdy powerful soprano voice, and 
training enough to do the tasks laid upon her on this occa- 
sion very creditably. She was well received, and recalled. 

The concert, on the whole, was up to the mark of the 
society ; but it k)oks as if the old oi^ganizatioii were bardy 
holding its ground, without making much, if any, progress. 

J. C. F. 



Apbil 12, 1879^] 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



57 



BOSTON, APRIL 12, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 
i^RpBni Hbub OR HBcro« Bnuioi 67 

JOBKTH JOAOHOI. MoX SckHUx •..,... 60 

LoBSNBO Salti i ... 60 

Tales oh Akt. Bkohd Bzrus. From Inatnietloiif of 

Mr. WIlttuB M. Hont to hli Pupils. IH .00 

k^won KmnsniAiiH: OBiruARr . . '61 

Palistuha : MoiruiiniTAL Eomow of his Woaks ... 61 

OoxciBTa nr Bosroii .61 

Ifafsn. Ortb, AUm, tod ViIm.— Mr. S. UtbUof.^ 
Mias JosepbliM B. Wsi«. — Mr. U. 0. HftoohoU.— 
Hanrsid Symphony Ooocerts : Bnd of Sbmod. 

Pabsiox Wn : Bach nr Bosrov . . ^. . . . .68 

Mutio Nkxt Wm 68 

Musical CoB&upoin>iiiOB 68 

NowTork.— Cbleaco — MUwankoo. 
NOTIS AHD OLBAHnras 64 

Att tliM artUks not endiud to otkir fubUcationt tMr# txprtd^ 
foriUtmfoT tkis Jownml, 

■ PMuhtd fortmigMjf fty Hoooarov, 6sooo» a» COMPAmr, 
220 Dnotukin Strut, Bottom. Prim, 10 eotOtanmnbtr; $2.00 

For $ok in Bo$ton by Gakl Pburb, 30 Wut Strut, A. Wnx- 
UeU ft Co., 283 Wtukington Streot, A. K. toanro, 369 Watk- 
imgton Strut, mnd bf tk$ P Muh t r s; l» Nuo York ky A. Bftn- 
XAKO, Jk., 39 UMon Squart^ mnd HominoH, Osgood A Co., 
22 Astor Bau; m Pluiad*lpkia bf W, H. Boirn A Co., 1102 
Okutmmt J^ott; 4n Chicago by tho Cinueo Music Gompaht, 
162 Stmto Strut. 



STEPHEN HELLER ON HECTOR BER- 

LI0Z.1 

I CANNOT resist the pleasure of having a 
chat with you about Berlioz. Tou have been 
wridug on the Paris Exhibition, and an ar- 
ticle in which you speak a great deal of this 
^gbly gifted man has caused me to take the 
step I do. People in Germany appear to 
believe that in Paris Berlioz's music was 
everywhere misunderstood, misappreciated, 
and actually laughed to scorn. The majority 
of the public, many artists, and a portion of 
the press were, I certainly must admit, rather 
adverse than favorable. Still more frigid and 
repellent was naturally the demeanor adopt- 
ed by the official guardians intrusted with 
the safe-keeping of the great seals of good 
tastd : the sworn connoisseurs, the privy coun- 
cilors of music, and all possessing a seat and 
vote in the sacre college of the Conservatory 
and of the Institute. And they were not sa 
wrong, after all, in making things rather un- 
comfortable for this Terrorist and his pro- 
gramme, which now and then was somewhat 
wild. I believe these more or less violent 
opponents of his to have been perfectly sin- 
cere, and I can very well understand how the 
composer of Le Postilion de LongfumeaUy a 
man deficient neither in talent nor wit, must 
necessarily regard Berlioz's first Symphony 
as the music of a lunatic asylufn. But Ber- 
lioz's sternest critics were the ^connoisseurs " 
of the educated higher classes. Reared in 
the religion of a certain music, they could 
see in Berlioz only a hateful and heretical 
reformer. A portion of these dilettantes ac- 
knowledged nothing save the simple moving 
or sparkling tunes of the old French music 
(Ddayrac, M^hul, Monsigny, Grdtry, etc.) ; 
the graceful, piquant, wittily-animated, pleas- 
ing, and theatrical strains of comic opera ; or, 
lastly, the magnificent, brilliant, and dramat- 
ically-colored productions of the Meyerbeer- 
ian muse. By far the most respectable part 
of these dilettantes had attained in the Con- 
servatory concerts and the numerous quar- 
tet associations a not insignificant amount of 

1 Addraned to Dr. HaniUek, ud poblisbed by him in 
HhnNowfieiePrme. 'Awubtttl in the LondoD JTtifieai 
World. 



musical education, in about the same way as 
by frequent and observant visits to museums 
and galleries a man may gain an eye for 
painting and sculpture. Now, when all these 
various classes of persons fond of music, es- 
pecially the last named, turned with dissatis- 
faction from Berlioz's compositions, it must be 
granted that they did not do so out of blind 
hostility, and could be at no loss to justify 
their blan^e and their taste. His weaker op- 
ponents objected to him because they could 
not at once retain in their heads his melodies 
(supposing any were to be found in what he 
wrote), and that to understand such complicat- 
ed architecture required a very learned musi- 
cian. Others laughed at his ultra-roinantic pro- 
grammes, at the masses of instruments, and 
at the mad demands he made upon tlie per- 
formers. His strongest opponents, however, 
had very weighty grounds for their strictures 
on the new music. They relied on Haydn, 
Mozart, and Beethoven. The works of these 
great benefactors were forcing their way every 
day more deeply and more convincingly into 
the souls of mankind as represented in Paris. 
When these lofty names were pronounced, 
Berlioz's boldest adherents were silent. .... 
I have employed the word adherents; I 
wanted to make you understand that, while 
this very eminent man certainly had, and even 
still has, numerous adversaries, he had at a 
very early date attracted round him a con- 
stantly increasing circle of friends, partisans, 
and even unbounded admirers. 

As far back as 1838, when I first came 
to Paris, Berlioz stood quite apart from all 
other artists there. Even then it was impos- 
sible any longer to dispute his right to the 
name of a daring seeker after the great in 
art His works, his words, and his whole 
bearing gave him the air of a revolutionist as 
regards the old musical regime, which he was 
fond of supposing had lived itself out. I do 
not know whether he was a Girondin or a 
Terrorist, but I believe he was not unwilling 
to declare Rossini, Cherubini, Auber, Harold, 
Boieldieu, etc., those '* Pitts " and ** Coburgs' 
of the corrupt state of music, guilty of high 
treason, and to put them on their trial. The 
horrible aristocrats of music were played 
every day, and, in receiving the regulated 
percentage on the receipts, were sucking the 
marrow of their subjects, the public. 

But Paris is the only place in the world 
where people understand all situations, and 
like to search out the strangest among them, 
for the purpose, to a certain degree, of en- 
couraging and supporting them. Only the 
situation must possess some especial features ; 
it must have a physiognomy of its own, or 
be characterized by something pathetic In 
a word, a man must have a legend circulated 
around him. Berlioz had several legends. 
There was his invincible passion for music, : — 
a passion which neither threats nor poverty 
could diminish,^ he, the son of a well-to- 
do physician in high repute at Grenoble, 
being compelled to become a chorus-singer at 
one of the smallest theatres ; there was his 
fantastic love for Miss Smithson, who, as 
Ophelia and Juliet, had carried him away, 
though he did not understand a word of En- 
glish ; and, lastly, there was his Symphonie 
Fantattiquey depicting his feelings, and, when 
heard by her, causing the English actress, who, 



on^her part, understood nothing about mu- 
sic, to reciprocate his love, — all these things 
furnished Berlioz with the situation here nec- 
essary for exciting the sympathies of certain 
enthusiasts. Men of this kind, intelligent, 
partial, ready for any service and frequently 
capable of any sacrifice, are to be found in 
Paris by every man of genuine talent, pro- 
vided that talent be exhibited in a certain 
light. Thus, a few months after I first made 
his acquaintance, I saw that* Berlioz was be- 
ginning to be accepted as the head and chief 
of the unappreciated geniuses of Paris. He 
was unappreciated, it is true. But like a 
man who might easily be so. Berlioz raised 
the non-appreciation of talent to a dignity, 
for the appreciation, nay, the profound ad- 
niiration, of a large circle caused the want of 
appreciation to appear so glaring and so un- 
lovable that it obtained for its object new 
friends every day. This compensation would 
have sufficed to make a man of a moi'e phil- 
osophical disposition feel happier. The deli- 
cate sense of the Pansians (I mean of a cer- 
tain class among them) was hurt and insulted 
at seeing an artist, who had at any rate given 
proof of eminent talent, glowing zeal, and 
high courage, persecuted, blamed, and plunged 
in poverty. And Frenchmen are not con- 
tented with merely loving quietly and pla- 
tonically ; with wishing a friend every pos- 
sible kind of good fortune, and then leaving 
matters to take their own course. They are 
active, set about a thing in good earnest, and 
do not require to be adjured in the name of 
everything that is holy to open their lips for 
the purpose of uttering a few enthusiastic 
words for ah unappreciated artist needful of 
praise. The French government, in the per- 
son of Count Gasparin, one of the ministers, 
made a beginning, and ordered of Berlioz a 
Requiem (a work, by the way, full of mag- 
nificent things), and subsequently the funereal 
music for the interment of those who fell ii^ 
July, — also, of its kind, an admirable tone- 
painting, only not so well known. Mean- 
while, all more or less gifted, more or less 
unappreciated, art disciples and apprentices 
ranged themselves around their honored chief. 
They were apostles, clients, and business men 
given to Berlioz by nature. It was especially 
members of other professions who were at- 
tracted towards him, — when not by his muuc, 
by his poetic intentions and picturesque pro- 
gnunmes. Nearly all the painters (who as a 
rule have a taste for music), engravers, sculp- 
tors, and architects were numbered among 
his adherents. To these must be added many 
of the best poets and romance writers, such as 
Victor Hugo, Lamartine, Dumas, De Yigny, 
Balzac; the painters Delacroix, Ary Schef- 
fer, etc., who saw in him, and very justly, an 
adept of the romantic school. All these great 
writers, who had not a spark of music in 
themselves, and who, in the most solemn 
scenes of their dramas, had a waltz by Strauss 
played to heighten the emotion or terror, — ft 
is true the waltz was played in a slow sihd 
solemn nmnner, with mutes and a certain 
amount of tremolo, — all these men raved 
about Berlioz, and demonstrated their sym- 
pathy by their words and their writings. 
Lastly, with all these active propagandists bf 
the ^ucMt-unappreciated Berlioz was allied a 
section — small, indeed, but influential — of 



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[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 991.. 



the fashionable and elegant world, people who 
desired to obtain at a cheap rate the reputa- 
tion of freethinkers. They were not capa- 
ble of distinguishing a sonata of Wanhars or 
Diabelli's from one of Beethoven's, but they 
cried out against the criminal sensuousness of 
modem music ; they ridiculed those of their 
own station who reveled in Meyerbeer, Ros- 
sini, and Auber, and prophesied the destruc- 
tion of such vicious, short-skirted melodies, 
and the victory of a new, world-moving, sub- 
lime, and eternally virile art. 

If now you add the not inconsiderable 
number of good and genuine musicians capa- 
ble of understanding the really bold and 
grandiose, the frequently wonderful origi- 
nality and the magical orchestration of his 
scores, you will allow that Berlioz did not 
live and work in such isolation as he was fond 
of asserting. From 1838, the instances grow- 
ing more frequent with the course of time, 
detached pieces of his symphonies found 
brilliant, nay general, recognition. They 
were encored and tumultuously applauded. 
I will mention merely the ^ Marche au Sup- 
pi ice" in the Symphanie FarUastique^ the 
*' Marche des P^lerins " and the ^ S^r^nade 
dans les Abruzzes " in Harold en ItcUte^ the 
party at Capulet's in Borneo et Juliette^ sev- 
eral things from La Faite en Egypte, the 
overture to the Carnival Romain, etc. That 
much of high significance in his works was 
only slightly successful cannot be denied. 
But to how many equally great, nay greater, 
artists has this not happened? There was 
scarcely ever an artist so much a stranger to 
anything like resignation, that German vir- 
tue, as Berlioz, and it was in vain that I 
played the part of a German Plutarch, re- 
lating to him traits from the lives of such 
men as Weber, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, 
Schiller (whom he liked very much), etc. 

He often complained bitterly jtnd com- 
pared his own successes with those of the 
then popular composers for the stage; but 
whenever he did so, I used to say to him : 
** My good friend, you want too much ; you 
want everything. You despbe the general 
public, and yet want them to admire you. 
You despise, in virtue of your right as a 
noble-minded and original artist, the appro- 
bation of the majority, and yet you bitterly 
experience the want of it. Yon wish to be 
a bold innovator, an opener-up of new paths ; 
but, at the same time, you desire to be under- 
stood and valued by all. You desire to please 
only the noblest and the strongest, and yet 
you are angry at the coldness of the indiffer- 
ent — at the insufficiency of the weak. Do 
you not desire to be soKtary, inaccessible, 
and poor, like Beethoven, and yet surrounded 
by the great and the little ones of this world 
*— loaded with all the gifts of fortune, with 
honors, with titles, and with offices? You 
have attained what the nature of your talent 
and of your whole being can attain. You 
have not the majority on your side, but an 
intellectual minority exerts itself to uphold 
and encourage you. You have achieved for 
yourself a thoroughly special place in the 
world of art ; you possess many enthusiastic 
friends — nor are you, thank God, without 
redoubtable foes, who keep your friends vig- 
ilant. Your material means of existence 
have, thank goodness, been assured for sev- 



eral years ; and, finally, you may with cer- 
tainty reckon on something hitherto valued 
by all men of mind and heart — the more 
thorough recognition which posterity has in 
store for you." I often succeeded in reviv- 
ing his spirits, a fact he always admitted with 
friendly and touching words. I remember 
with especial pleasure one particular instance. 
We were spending the evening as the guests 
of B. Damcke — also one of those now no 
more — and of his wife, whose goodness of 
heart and kind hospitality Berlioz gratefully 
mentions in his Memoirs. We were in the 
habit of meeting there nearly every evening, 
Berlioz, J. d'Ortigue (a learned writer on 
musical and literary history), L^on Kreut- 
zer, and others. We used to chat, criticise, 
and play music, freely and without constraint. 
This little circle, also, has been thinned by 
death ; latterly Berlioz and myself were the 
only members of it left. Well, one evening 
that Berlioz again began his old lament, I 
answered him in the manner described above. 
I finished my sermon ; it was eleven o'clock, 
and the cold December night outside was dark 
and dreary. Tired and out of sorts, I lighted 
a cigar. Suddenly, Berlioz started up with 
youthful alacrity from the sofa on which he 
was accustomed to stretch himself in his 
muddy boots, to the secret anguish of the 
cleanly and order-loving Damcke. ** Ha ! *' 
he cried, ** Heller is right — is not he ? He 
is always right. He is good, he is clever, he 
is just and wise ; I will embrace him," he 
continued, kissing me on both cheeks, ** and 
propose to the sage a piece of folly." — "* I 
am ready for any such act," I replied. 
** What do you propose ? " — Let us go and 
sup together at Bignon's " (a celebrated res- 
taurateur's at the corner of the Chauss^e 
d'Antin). " I did not make a very good din- 
ner, and your sermon has inspired me with a 
desire for immortality and a few dozen oys- 
ters."— ♦'All right," I repKed, "we will 
drink the health of Beethoven, and that of 
Lucullus too ; we will drown and forget in 
the noblest wines of France, with pdtes de 
foie gra» to match, the sorrows which vex our 
souls." — " Our host," said Berlioz, " can 
stop at home, for he has a charming wife. 
We, however, who are not so blessed, will be 
off to the wine-shop — I will hear no objec- 
tion ! The matter is settled." The old, fiery 
Berlioz was once more awakened within him. 
So we sauntered, arm in arm, joking and 
laughing, down the long Rue Blanche and 
the equally long Chauss^e d'Antin, and en- 
tered the brilliantly-lighted restaurant. It 
struck half-past eleven, and there were very 
few customers in the place, a ^act at which 
we were well pleased. We ordered oysters, 
pMs de foie gras, a cold fowl, salad, fruit, 
and some of the best champagne and most 
genuine Bordeaux. 

Berlioz, as well as myself, was the more in- 
clined to do all honor to this admirable re- 
past because, like me, he was usually very 
moderate and simple in his mode of living. 
At one o*cIock the gas was extinguished, and 
the waiters glided gapingly about us (we were 
quite alone ; the other customers had left) as 
if to remind us that we ought to go. The 
doors were closed and wax candles brought. 
" Waiter ! " exclaimed Berlioz, " you are 
trying by all kinds of pantomimic action to 



make us believe it is late. Let me beg yon, 
however, to bring us two demi-tasses of cof- 
fee and some real Havana cigar»." So we 
went on till two o'clock. " At present," 
said Berlioz, ^ we will be ofiT, for my mother- 
in-law is now in her best sleep and I have 
well-founded hopes that I shall wake her 
up." During supper we spoke of our favor- 
ites, Beethoven, Shakspeare, Loi-d Byron, 
Heine, and Gluck, and continued to do so as 
we slowly walked the long distance to his 
house, which was not far from mine. This 
was the last merry, lively social evening I 
spent with him. Unless I am mistaken, it 
was in 1867 or 1868. 

It was in the same year that he was seized 
with a sort of passion for reading Shakspeare, 
in the French translation, to some few friends. 
We used to meet at his lod^ngs at eight 
o'clock in the evening, and he would read us 
some seven or eight pieces. 

He read well, but was frequently very 
greatly moved; in especially fine passages 
the tears used to course down his cheeks. 
He would, however, still go on and hastily 
wipe away his tears so as not to interfere with 
the reading. The only persons present on 
such occasions were the Damckes and two or 
three other friends. One of the latter, an old 
and well-tried comrade of Berlioz's, but with 
no great literary culture, undertook of his own 
accord the office of a claqueur. He listened 
with profound attention and endeavored to 
discover in the countenances of the other 
members of the audience and of the reader 
the right moment for manifesting his enthu- 
siasm. As he did not venture to applaud, he 
invented an original method for expressing 
his approval. Every extraordinarily fine 
passage, delivered and received with deep 
emotion, was accompanied on his part by the 
half audible emission of some oath or other 
usually heard among the lower classes and 
in the workshops. Thus, after the poet's 
most touching scenes we were greeted with : 
" Nom d'un nom ! Nom d'une pipe ! S . • . 
m&tin ! " After this had been repeated some 
dozen times, Berlioz, suddenly bursting out 
angrily, and breaking off in the middle of a 
verse, thundered forth : " Ah 9a, voulez-vous 
bien f . . . . le camp avec vos nom d'une 
pipe ! " Hereupon the offender, pale with 
dismay, took to flight, and Berlioz with per- 
fect composure resumed the balcony scene in 
Romeo and Juliet. — What I once told yon 
touching Berlioz's short musical memory re- 
ferred to modern music, with which he was 
not very familiar. But he retained well the 
music he had studied. Such music included 
more especially Beethoven's orchestral works 
(he was not so well up . in the quartets and 
piano-forte pieces) ; then the operas of Gluck 
and Spontiui, as likewise those of Gr^try, 
Mehul, Dalayrac, and Monsigny. Despite 
his marvelous hatred of Rossini, he was a 
warm admirer of two of that master's scores : 
Le Conite Ory and // Barhiere di Siviglia. 
Berlioz was one of those genuine artists who 
are carried away and moved to tears by every 
production which is in its way perfect. I 
was with him at Adelina Patti's first appear- 
ance here in 11 Barhiere. You will believe 
me when I assure you that, in the most joy- 
ous and most charming passn^s of the work, 
his eyes were suffused with tears. But what 



Apbil 12, 1879.] 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



69 



shall I saj about Die Zauberflote, which also 
I heard in company with him! He enter- 
tained a sort of childish indignation for what 
he termed Mozart*8 culpable concessions. By 
these he meant Don Ottavio's air, Donna 
Anna's air in F, and the famous bravura airs 
of the Queen of Night. Nothing could in- 
duce him to acknowledge the excellence of 
these pieces, apart from their dramatic value, 
which is certainly not as great as that of 
many others. But how truly delighted was 
I to see the deep and powerful impression 
Uie opera produced on him. He had often 
heard it before, but whether he was in a bet- 
ter frame of mind, or whether the work was 
better represented, he said the music had 
never previously penetrated so profoundly 
into his heart. Nay, his exaltation in two or 
three instances became so loud that our neigh- 
bors in the stalls, who were picking their teeth 
and wanted quietly to digest their dinner, com- 
plained of such "indiscreet" enthusiasm. 

One evening at a quartet concert we heard 
Beethoven's Quartet in E minor. We were 
seated in a distant corner of the room. 
While I was listening to this wonderful work, 
my feelings were those of a devout Roman 
Catholic who hears mass with deep piety and 
fervor, but, at the same time, with calmness 
and clear consciousness ; the sublime feeling 
he experiences has been long familiar to him. 
Berlioz, on the other hand, resembled a neo- 
phyte ; a kind of joyous dread at the sacred 
and sweet secret revealed to him was mixed 
up with his devotion. His countenance 
beamed with transport during the Adagio — 
he was, so to speak, transfigured. Some 
other fine works were set down for perform- 
ance, but we left, and I accompanied him to 
his house. The Adagio still reechoed prayer- 
like in our souls. Not a word was exchanged 
between us. On my taking leave of him, 
he grasped my hand and said : ** Get homme 
avait tout . . . . et nous n'avons rien." 

At that moment he was crushed, annihi- 
lated, by the gigantic grandeur of " cet 
homme.** — One more short anecdote : Near 
the house where Damcke resided, in the Rue 
Mansard, there was an especially large white 
stone laid down in the pavement. Every 
evening that we returned from the Rue Man- 
sard, Berlioz used to place himself on this 
stone as he wished me good-night. One 
evening (a few months before his last illness) 
we bade each other good-by in a hurried 
fashion, for it was cold, and a thick, yellow 
fog hung over the streets. We were already 
ten paces' distance from each other, when 1 
heard Berlioz crying out : " Heller ! Heller! 
Where are you ? Gome back ! I did not 
bid you good-night on the white stone." We 
came together again and began looking about 
in the pitch-dark night for the indispensable 
stone, which, by the way, had among other 
characteristics a peculiar shape. I took out 
my matches, but they would not light in the 
damp air. We both groped about the pave- 
ment until at last the weather-beaten stone 
gleamed on ns. Placing his foot with the 
greatest seriousness on it, Berlioz said : 
«< Thank Grod ! I am standmg on it. Now, 
then, good-night I " And sq say 1 to you, 
my dear sir. My pen ran away with me — 
I could not pull it up. Stephen Heller. 



JOSEPH JOACHIM. 

{Frwn iht Pettker Lloyd,) 



The eminent master of the violin is once again 
stopping in our midst, and great is the feeling of 
pleasure and delight among the friends of art in 
the Hungarian capital, to whoso lot it has fallen 
once more to enjoy the rarely occurring treat of 
hearing, after a long, a too long interval, Joseph 
Joachim, the celebrated son of our native land. 
A decennium has elapsed since he last entranced 
us with the display of his artistic power. How 
often have we since then yearned to hear him 1 
A few years ago he was in Vienna, and we 
thought we might hope that, remembering his 
home, at so short a distance off, and his faithful, 
devoted admirers, he would gladden us with a 
visit, — but our hopes were vain! Let us, how- 
ever, leave the past and rejoice in the present, 
which has at length so generously favored us by 
fulfilling our long-cherished wish. Lot us con- 
gratulate ourselves on seeing the well-loved mas- 
ter, fresh in mind and body, among us, surround- 
ed by his old admirers, and received with feel- 
ings of pleased expectation by all those who will 
now become acquainted with and hear him for 
the first time. Th'e former do not need to be 
informed what Joachim is and of what kind is 
his artistic significance. A conviction of the 
great artist's extraordinary worth must sponta- 
neously have forced, and forever impressed, itself 
on all who at any period in their lives heard him. 
But, at the present time, when men live so 
quickly and forget so quickly, it will not be su- 
perfluous shortly to characterize Joachim's sig- 
nificance, fully and completely to realize the 
value of him whose appearance to-day is an event 
in the musical existence of our capital. We do 
not possess among our contemporari^ so many 
heroes in the world of art that, in the case of 
this great one among the great, we should not 
like to dwell awhile on the thankful remembrance 
of what we have received from him. 

What is it, then, which raises Joachim above 
all his predecessors, the most celebrated violinists 
of the century, — which precludes all comparison 
between his artistdom and the virtuosity of Paga- 
nini, Ernst, Lipinski, Beriot, and even Vieux- 
temps, and which stamps him as undoubtedly 
superior to the most eminent living masters of the 
violin ? Joachim is greater than all these be- 
cause, to express the matter briefly, he possesses 
a style of his own. It is significative that, in 
Joachim's case, we never think of the virtuoso. 
Are his technical capability and development 
inferior, then, to those of any among the artiste 
above named ? Not at all. If the sign of per- 
fect virtuosity consiste in playful facility and un- 
erring certainty, Joachim is surpassed by no one. 
But it is not this, or at least not this alone, 
which renders him the first among the great 
ones in his art. His high musical significance is 
rooted in the depth and grandeur of his concep- 
tion and execution, both of which together cause 
the act of the executive artist, reproduction, as 
an independent product of no small artistic value, 
to appear like an important musical creation. 
As the interpreter of the musical classical writers 
for the violin, Joachim is more than a mwe 
player, he is a plastic artist; he fitshions, while 
others are satisfied with reproducing what al- 
ready existe. 

It is here plainly perceptible how eminent art 
individualities contain in themselves the incen- 
tive for the clearing up of complicated artistic 
problems. Joachim's artistic peculiarity is con- 
nected with one of the Innermost questions of 
murical esthetics, the much disputed difference 
between executive and creative art In an essay 
written with considerable cleverness, Franz Liszt 
once refused to recognize this difference. Some 



persons may feel inclined to explain this view, 
for which, be it observed, there are weighty rea- 
sons, by the well-known variance between Liszt 
the virtuoso and Liszt the composer ; but, even 
when it may not be so glaringly apparent, we 
agree with Hegel's clear definition of virtuosity 
(in his jEsthetik), and concede the possibility of 
creatively fashioning, independent, reproduction. 
This may be characterized as the acme of ar- 
tistic perfection, as the privilege of genius, for 
whom the secret of the inmost sanctuary of art 
has been thrown open. Such reproduction ap- 
propriates the musical material as the mere back- 
(nt)und on which to execute its own intellectual 
work. It is this which breathes into the com- 
poser's tone-outline glowing life, which bestows 
shape on the composer's creations, and perme- 
ates them with its own individuality. In such a 
sense we may certainly speak of an independently 
active power of reproduction, which gives forth 
nothing on which it has not impressed the intel- 
lectual stamp of its artistic self. 

This is what most popular virtuosos on the 
violin have been unable to do ! They have been 
able to dazzle and to fascinate ; with daring feato 
of enormous executive skill to throw the great 
mass of concert-goers into transporU and ecstasy. 
Even they, despite their want of true intensity 
and of artistic intention, have rendered indispu- 
table service ; they have brought to perfection 
the technical means of expression, and contributed 
powerfully towards popularizing art. But for 
intellectual deeds, which have advanced the in- 
tereste of art itself, we look to them in vain. In 
their case, the artist's individuality is still iden- 
tified with his performance ; this is the condition 
of merely interesting subjectivity. It was re- 
served for Joachim to create, on an essentially 
different and ever enduring basis, a new kind of 
virtuosity, and to bring out in the latter that ob- 
jectivity which bears in iteelf the mark of the 
classical, that objectivity which, in plastic art, 
we admire in the model works of Greek sculptors. 
There are players who play in a subjectively 
fine manner. Every note speaks and every 
phrase is intelligible. But the expression of the 
whole picture strikes us as changed, as strange. 
And there are pUyers who play in an objectively 
fine manner; with whom all is harmony (in the 
highest sense), calm, clear, and distinguished ; 
with whom all is finished and complete in itself, 
and these are the true artists. 

Perfection of form, steady, calm completeness, 
plasticity of expression, such are the classical 
elements in the art of execution. All technical 
mastery is a mere means for the expression of 
truth, that is, of something very different from 
mere brilliant virtuosity. Intellectual penetra- 
tion for the details of a whole constitutes the 
genius of execution. But genius requires high 
fntelligence as much as it requires stem artistic 
training. "Every one who thinks that genius 
can be without undersUnding," says Jean Paul, 
" thinks without understanding himself." 

The purity and nobleness of his artistic senti- 
ment are the most admirable traits in Joachim's 
character. Whatever he plays is pure truth, 
clear and steriing, like his whole nature, his ap- 
pearance, and the entire course of his long, 
glorious, and beneficial effbrte in the service of 
art. Joachim never plays for effect ; he plays 
for the piece. His absolute calm and impertur- 
bability, together with his classical demeanor, set 
the finishing touch on his virtuosity. The 
masses do not always know how to appreciate 
this objectivity. It does not excite and carry 
them away, as do the inspiration and lightning- 
like manifestation of genial fancy. But the mild 
light of this vestal fire on the altar of art is 
none the less brilliant. 

The task of the instrumental virtuoso consists in 



60 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Voi. XXXIX. - No. 991. 



tendering a composition intelligible to the hearer ; 
more intelligible than as a rule it can possibly 
be. This means a great deaL *< A man cannot 
write everything down," said Meyerbeer once 
regretfully, when asked for directions, affecting 
even the slightest details, as to the gradations of 
light and shade which he desired. Of Bach's 
works we possess nothing authentic but the notes ; 
none of the usual signs ; not even the specifica- 
tion of the time, which would come from himself. 
Everything relating to the style of execution, the 
degree of force, the tempo, Uie rhythm, and the 
CSDsura, the performer must obtain from the com- 
mentaries, if he is so inclined, or from himself! 
The decisive part of this process is always the 
grasping of the musical purport of the idea. 
This is something which concerns the intelli- 
gence, an intellectual process. In this again 
lies Joachim's greatness. The psychological con- 
ci^.ption of a musical composition, the congenial 
insight into the composer's intentions, though 
buried far below the surface, — this is what marks 
Joachim as destined to be the interpreter of the 
musical classics, of the Bachs and the Beethovens. 
That artist more than any other will always be 
the classical Bach-performer who masters with 
calm certainty the mighty forms of musical archi- 
tectonics. Bach's music is an intellectual cha- 
lybeate spring which comforts, strengthens, and 
preserves us from being enervated by the luscious 
music of the present Before many days have 
passed we shall once again hear it performed by 
Joachim, though we shall, it is true, hear only ohe 
piece, the world-renowned Chaconne, but we 
shall have an opportunity of admiring in it his 
grandiose conception, the plasticity of Ms ezpres- 
aion, the nobleness and volume of his tone. Un- 
fortunately we are not fated, during his present 
visit, to hear the gem of all his efforts, his per- 
formance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, a loss 
for which nothing can indemnify us. A clever 
writer on music, Otto Gumprecht, of Berlin, the 
musical critic of the Nati&ncU ZeUung^ says in 
reference to this : " For the first time I have 
brought away with me from a performance an 
impression of absolute perfection. Even in the 
very smallest details we had a most true and 
inspired reproduction of Uie work, a reproduction 
in which every component part, including the 
grand interpolated cadence in the first move- 
ment, seemed a factor necessitated by the inward 
nature of the production. There was nothing 
superfluous, no empty virtuoso-like ornamenta- 
tion, but everything, every staccato, crescendo, 
sforzato, was justified by the work as a whole. 
After the concert it struck me that the greatest 
wonders of bravura had passed by unheeded : 
double-stopping, chromatic runs in octavesj and I 
know not what else ; but during the performance 
I scarcely noticed all this, for the virtuoso is here 
merged completely in the artist ; the former is 
utterly concealed by the latter. Our city must 
not allow this master of the violin to leave us, 
but secure him permanently, no matter at what 
price." 

The wish has been fulfilled. Joachim resides 
in Berlin, where, both in the concert-room and 
in the High School of Music under his direction, 
there is the grandest field for his exertions. An 
imposing array of gifted and accomplished young 
artists honor in him their master, who has brought 
them up in the traditions of the classical school. 

It need scarcely be mentioned that Joachim, 
who above all things values with unshakable 
fidelity and truthfulness the purity of music, is 
opposed to the destructive tendencies of the New 
German SchooL Just as he is the most charac- 
teristic among the virtuosos of the present, just 
as during the whole of his long professional ca- 
reer he has preserved immaculate the purity of a 
true priest of art, his place in the musical life of 



the present day is not amid the turmoil of those 
engaged in struggling with each other, but in 
that sanctuary whither the noise of the every-day 
world and the strife of party do not penetrate, 
and before which the mighty names of musical 
history. Bach and Beethoven^ keep guard like 
the cherubim with swords of flame. 

Max SchUtz. 



LORENZO SALVI. 

Thb death of Lorenzo Salvi, the once fiunous 
tenor, is announced. It is now nearly thirty 
years ago that the lovers of music in this city 
became enthusiastic over the singing of Salvi, but 
there are doubtless many who retain affectionate 
recollections of him, and who will learn of his 
death with a feeling almost of personal loss. 

Lorenzo Salvi was born at Bergamo, Italy, in 
1812. His first appearance as a public singer 
was at Rome, in 1832, and during Uio next few 
years he sang in Naples, Venice, and Vienna 
with great success. In 1846 he visited Moscow 
and St. Petersburg, and two years later he ap- 
peared in London. In 1849 he was induced to 
visit Havana by Signer Marti, a well-known 
theatrical manager of that day, and the following 
year he was brought to New York by Max 
Maretzek. His first appearance here was at the 
Astor Place Opera House. Afterward he was 
engaged at Castle Garden and at- Niblo's. He 
remained here for several months and then went 
to Mexico with his manager. In 1851 he re- 
turned to Italy by way of New York. He con- 
tinued to sing for several years, and visited Spain 
and other countries ; but about ten years ago he 
retired from the stage and has since resided at 
Bologna. ^ 

As a singer, Salvi was regarded as the best 
tenor of his time ; and by those who knew him 
most intimately, it is claimed that, with the ex- 
ception of Mario, he was the best tenor upon the 
American stage. His voice was not very strong, 
but it was clear and sweet, and was cultivated 
in a rare degree. He was a tall, finely formed 
and very handsome man ; and his personal attrac- 
tions, united with the magic of his voice, were 
sufficient to captivate any audience. He made 
his d^but here in La Favoriia, and from the first 
his success was marvelous. In other operas he 
was equally as popular as in Xa Favorita. He 
was the first to give Meyerbeer's Pricket in this 
country. He also sang here in Maria di Ro- 
lion^ by Donizetti, which was written expressly 
for him. When Jenny Lind came to this coun- 
try, Mr. Bamum secured Salvi as the tenor of 
the company, although it required an almost fab- 
ulous sum to induce him to abandon his engage- 
ment with Maretzek. His success in New York 
and his engagement withJ3amum soon filled his 
purse, but the money was spent as easily and al- 
most as soon 'as it was obtained. 

The condition of his countrymen in this city 
aroused Salvi's warmest sympathy, and he did 
what be could to relieve their distress, and to 
put them on the road to prosperity. Among his 
many plans for their benefit, the attempt to es- 
tablish a number of them in business on Stateh 
Island was characteristic of the man, and event- 
ually cost htm all that he was worth. It was 
during his most prosperous days (hat he pur^ 
chased or leased an estate on Staten Island and 
started a large candle manufactory, the business 
being conducted by several of his countrymen. 
He also fitted up in the house rooms for himself 
and some of his intimate friends. One room was 
prepared especially for Garibaldi, who was then 
here, and for whom Salvi entertained warm affec- 
tion. These rooms were the scene of many meet- 
ings of Italian patriots as also of many a conviv- 
ial party. 



In the winter of 1850, Salvi went to' Mexico 
with Max Maretzek, but the venture did not 
prove a profitable one. After a few months her 
returned to New York without funds. He found 
that the factory had not been successfully con- 
ducted, and the men to whom he had confided H 
had sold or mortgaged the entire property. Hii. 
bad fortune had a depressing effect upon his 
spirits, and he determined to return to Italy. 
He refused all proffered engagements here, and 
no persuasion of his friends could turn iiim from] 
his purpose to seek his native land. The mone^i 
for the voyage was furnished by one of his fKends, 
who is still a resident of this city, and in the fiUt 
of 1851 Salvi left this country never to return. 

To the general American pnblic Salvi was not 
io well known as many foreign singers who have 
visited the country since his departure. His stay 
here was comparatively short, and, except in New 
York, he sang mostly in company with Jenny 
Lind» whose fame overshadowed his own. — 
N. K Tribune, March 15. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

FBOM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

m. 

Thb lines of action in that boy's head and 
shoulders are .not right. See how comfortably 
the shoulder comes up to meet the face, and how 
easy the action bl An easy thiiig like that 
ought to be done easily. You can't do it by 
getting frightened and worried .about it. And 
see how little difficulty there is in setting it 
right t Get the action right before you finish it 
at alL The action is the truly important thing, 
and you can't add it to your finish if you get 
that first. 

It is not that I don't want you to finish things. 
Carry them just as far as you like, but do have 
something right to start upon. Hardly anybody 
can change the action afler a picture is carried 
far. It is sometimes done, but is hardly ever 
possible. Bftndes, in a figure like that boy's, 
the slouch and ease with which he sits are the 
native things about him. 

I 'm dreadfully afi*aid that they 11 beat yon at 
the Art Museum School. There they are made 
to be as careful as can be about «11 their draw<J 
ing. Perhaps I should have done better to have 
begun so witii you. I preferred to show you how 
to make pictures, and to wUl you to learn, and to 
give you as much of my own life as I could. And 
Uiat 's a good way, if you 11 take pains about the 
important things. But not one in a dozen of you 
ever uses a vertical line. You dont know what 
it is to dig. 

Look at that boy now I See the ease of that 
slouch ! It 's as royal as Henry the Eighth. ' And 
see how his arms make a wreath together, and 
bow his body is like part of another wreath ! It 
would be very hard to draw that. Knowledge of 
the figure would not do it, and yet it could ^ not 
be done without it. Prudhon could do little 
fellows like him. If you can't see the humanity 
in such a thing, and feel it too, it is n*t worth 
while to draw it. 

You must find something that you really care 
for, and do it. I remember that little dead bird 
of yours. That had a meaning of its own, and 
that 's what I want you to try to express. Others 
wise there 's no use in learning. I remember 
men in Paris who used to woric in the ctdien for 
nine or ten years, and produce nothing of their 
own. They could draw the figure well enough, 
— worse, perhaps, as they went on ; but nothing 
would come of it. 

I want you to apply what I 've said to your- 

1 Oopyright^ 1879, by Hdon 11. Knowlton. 



Apbil 12, 1879.'] 



B WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC: 



61 



flelres individually, and find what you Have to ex- 
press. I don't want you to think that continual 
instruction is all that you need ; that you are to 
eo on for years having things told you, and accom- 
plishing next to nothing. You ought to have 
Something of your own to express ; to work pa- 
tiently on it, and do with it as well as you can. 
Rememher why you are studying. Our plan is 
right, but you must accomplish something with it 

Whistler was quite right in prosecuting Rui- 
kin. Such critidsm should not be allowed — 
endangering a* man's chance of earning h!s 
bread — for all the English follow Ruskin 
like sheep. Whistler is an excellent painter. 
When he works, he works like a tiger. I saw at 
Sossetti's house a picture of his, a beach, and 
supposed that it was done in a day, it was 
painted so simply and freshly ; but Rossetti told 
me that he had worked over parts of it again 
and again before he was satisfied with it 

Whistler's pamphlet calls out a lot of silly 
replies ; but not one that is a real answer. He 
^nts his pictures, and is called a conceited 
puppy and a coxcomb. He publishes a ten-cent 
pamphlet in order to defend himself, and now 
the critics fall upon him and call his talk " non- 
sense, — worse than his pictures," etc. But not 
one of them can answer him, nor can they write 
a pamphlet for which anybody would pay ten 
cents. 

The way to criticise is to do something better 
yourself; to show what you mean. It 's the pro- 
ducers we care for, not for the men who go 
about abusing other people. 

All the world laughs at chromos, but each of 
those very people has a chromo enshrined in his 
Very heart as a standard by which to run down 
|nctnres. Talk about a skeleton in a closet ! It 
is n't anything to a chromo. 

When you want to catch a lion you must go 
at night and alone. 

*'Is there any good book about drawing 
oxen ? " 

No, there is n't any book but out-of-doors. 

— - ■ ^ 

Wm^tfi iouvnal of Quisle* 

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1879. 

AUGUST KREISSMANN. 

Thv sad news comes from Germany to many 
friends in Boston of the death of this excellent 
artist, this long-sufiering, generous, noble man ; 
the founder and for many years conductor of the 
Orpheus Society, the oldest of our part-song, 
clubs ; for a long time our best vocal exponent of 
the songs of Franz, as well as of Schu1)ert, Schu- 
mann, Mendelssohn and others; an inspiring 
teacher of singing, who initiated his pupils into 
the love of what is best in music; distinguished 
for his warm and faithful friendships, his benevo- 
lence, his public spirit, his frank and manly inde- 
pendence, and beloved through many winning 
social qualities. He died on d^e 12th ult at the 
age of fifty-six years, at Gera, in the principality 
of Reuss, where he has for several years been 
forced to reside by his terrible rheumatic suffer- 
ings, in the vain hope of cure. Only brief, illu- 
sive periods of comparative health and strength 
caoie to him ; and at such moments his fine 
voice returned, so that he made a marked impres- 
sion hj his songs in several concerts, once win- 
ning the admiration of Lisxt by his singing of the 
Franx songs in one of his private mornings at 
Wdmar. — At a meeting of the Orpheus Society 
im the receipt of the news of his death, the follow- 
ing resolutions were adopted : — 

Ruciwid^ That by the desth of August Kraisimsan the 
sseiety losae one of ill most lovsd and honond membeis; 



one whose senriOM m oondiietor wen fttely given fixr nauij 
yesri'; oiie whoee infloenee wu powerful In the esily dayi, 
when etrong men were needed; one whoee mnaical knowl- 
edge aided in placing the society on the firm baeis of art, 
and one whoee generous and manly character endeared him 
to every membw. 

lUtolvedf Tbal the pngren of music in this city, and 
throughout the country, is laigdy indebted to hit energetic 
eflforts, and to the enthueiaetie spirit which he inf^iaed into 
the drill of the male chorus, and that every existing mu- 
sical organisatiolk hae fbund its pathway smoothed by the 
•tcady and uneelfish khots of the first eonduetop of the Or- 
pheus. 

JUsolvedf That in recalling his natural gifts and his 
culture as a linger in connection with his leuving and ex- 
perience in the edence of music, we appraeiate the power of 
the fBrtnoate combination, and acknowledge the great senr- 
ices he was able to render. 

RttUted^ That we lender our profound sympathy to his 
widow and his son in their greal and irrepanhle Iocs. 

M«9ohedy That the ofltoers of the Orpheus be requeeted 
to eonvpne tlie singing members on some evening to be 
named for the purpoee of joining in a simple memorial mu- 
sical service in tlie preeence of &e wliole society. 



ttvety, ste.; 1o ueo-subeoriberB $4.76, so that subscribers 
save $1.S6 on each volume, or $46.00 on the enters work. 

J. diKOKMBKROEB, 

Froftesor of Music and President of the American St Co- 
eflb Society, St. Frsncis Station, BClwankee Co., Wis. 



THE WORKS OF PALESTRINA. 

Thb indefatigable choir-master of Batisbon 
(Regensbut^) Cathedral, Rev. F. X. Haberl, is 
engaged on a work of truly colossal dimensions, 
being nodiing less than the publication, by sub- 
scription, of a complete edition of the works of 
Giovanni Fierluigi da Falestrina. An extract 
from his Prospectus will explain the plan, which 
surely needs no commendation : — 

"Hie renowned publishing firm of Breitkopf A Haertd, 
in Leipeic, has for some years past been elaborating a plan 
for giving to the world a splendid monumental edition of all 
the works of the immortal master and Princtpt Mttdcet, 
the eo-called Palcstrina. Six volutees are now ready, beau- 
tiiully brought out, in exactly the same style as the world- 
renowned ^itions of the works of J. S. Bach, G. F. Han- 
del, L. van Beethoven, etc. By a contraei entered into with 
the undersigned, Breitkopf A Haertd undertake to publish 
all the works of Paleetrina, about thirty-dx volumes, by the 
yeer 1884, the teraenteoary eelebntioo of Pierlulgi's death, 
provided three hundred subscribers can be found to con- 
stitute a Paleetrina society. I thereforo earnestly hope that 
you and friends may join in this undertaking. Tlie only 
condition stipulated is that as soon ss the requisite num- 
ber of subseriben shaU have been found, each shall pay a 
yearly subseription of twenty marks ($6.00). In return the 
subsCTiben shall receive each yeer two volume* of from 
160 to 170 pages^ large /olio gize^ and can have eventually 
through me the dx volumes already published at ten marks, 
($2.60) each. This subscription is not enforoed until the 
fliU number of tlunse hundred suhecribers is completed. 
Payment beforehand will not be reoeiTed." 

Further information, for the benefit of any 
who may be interested in the publication on our 
side of the Atlantic, comes to ns in the following 
circular appended to Father Haberl'i Prospec- 
tus : — 

Hie modest manifiHto givee a very inadequate Idea of the 
work undertaken. The &irty-cix rolumee will eompriee all 
the massee of Palsstrina, ninety-three in number, of which 
only sixteen have ever been published In modem form. 
Tbeee will occupy fourteen to sixteen volumes. There will 
be six or dght volumce of motets, over four hundred in num. 
her; one volume of Hymns for four voices; two volumes of 
Lamentations, for four, five, and six vdeee; one volume of 
Magnificats, for four, five, six, and eight voices; one volume of 
Litanies for four, six, and eight voices; and finally, two to 
three volumes of Madrigals, for four and five voices. These 
volumes, moreover, are brought out in Breitkopf A Hacrtel*s 
best style, hrge folio else, splendid paper, and clear, distinct 
musical type. Again, the privilsge accorded by our late Holy 
Father to Father Haberl of examining and copying the 
archives of the Sistine (Thapel — a privilege denied to all 
previous petitioners — givee the advantage of behig able to 
guarantee the authenticity of the genuine woriu of Palss- 
trina, as wdl as to eliminate all that might be doubtful or 
spurious. The Reverend Editor has authorised the under- 
rigned to receive subscripUons from Korth America. In- 
tradinff subscribers will thereforo kindly send their names 
and addresses to me, and I shall forward them to the Father 
Haberl without deUy. Should any wish to have the six 
volumes already published, I will undertake to order them. 

Ecclesiastical collsgee and semhiariee and musical Ubra- 
riee ehoukl not be unprovided with this splendid work, and 
the smallnees of the subscription spread over such a long 
period — fifteen years — will, I doubt not, complete the list 
of three hundred In a very short time. 

The net price of each volume to subscribers of the United 
StMss is $3.60, bduding the expensjBs for eairiags and ds- 



CONCERTS. 

We most look back again to pick up a few 
performances, mostly of piano-forte miisici which 
we hiul no room to notice in oor last. These 
were : — 

ManA 5. A Soirto Musksale at the Knabe 
Fiano-forte Rooms, by Mr. John Orth, pianist^ 
Mr. Wulf Fries, 'cellist, Miss Fanny Kellogg, so- 
prano, with Mme. Dietrich Strong for an excel- 
lent aeoompanist. These artists are too well 
known to need our praise ; so, as we were nn^ 
able to be present, we will simply g^ve the 
programme, which is unexceptionable : — <- 

Piano Duet, Overture to *• Roeamunde *' . . JBekuberl. 
'CeUoSofi: 

(a) Aria . . . . Lotti. 

(6) Capricdo Ooltermann', 

Aria, <* As fdien the dove hunente her love.*' . Handth 
Fnm <• Ads and Galatea," 

Sonata, In E-flat sudor. Op. 7 £€4thowf^ 

AQsgro, Holto, Larao, AOegro, Rondo. 
Piano and *CeUo Duet, two {Mcce .... JS«6t»tsfeiif . 

Song, ^ Tender and True ** M&nitm^ 

Pofonalse, £-fla mi^. Op. iS Chopm. 

March 21. Mr. S. Likblino, one of the most 
painstaking and enthusiastic among the younger 
pianists who have established themselves in Bos- 
ton within a few years, gaVe a concert at Union 
Hall with the following programme : — 

Sonata, for Piano (Op. 7). ....... . Orieji; 

Alhgro, Adagio, Mfaiuetto, FInab. 

Mr. S. liebUng. 

Aria, ** Bei dieeem schonen Handchen "... Motai-i. 

Mr. Clarence £. Hay. 

Fantaisie, for YloUn, "Faust" WiemawAL 

'Mr. Albert Vu. Baalte. 
(a) Boado in C (from Weber's Sonata, Op. 94) BraMm$. 
(As a study for the lea hand). 

(6) Ballade (Op. 47) Chopin. 

Mr. S. Uebling. 
Aria, from <« Don Giovanni " ..*... McmrL 

Miss Laura Schirmer. 
Grand Fantaisie, for two Pianos (Op. 907, new) . Jtafr 

(First time in Boeton.) 
Meesrs. B. F. Lang and S. lisbGiig. 
Aria, " Honor and Arms," from *< Samson " . . Handel, 

Blr. darenee £. Hay. 
(a) «< Thou art like unto a Bower" . . . Rubinttein, 

(&)•« Serenade " . • ./&'/. 

Mies Laura Schhrnier. 
Soir^ de Yhone (Naebtfolter) ...... Ta^dg. 

Mr. S. Liebling. 

Mr. JUebling undoubtedly has talent and a 
strong feeling for music. He brings out the 
tones well, plays with vigor, and has great facil- 
ity in rapid fingering. But there is sometimes 
more fire than discretion in hb heroic execution ; 
Inany passages are over^oud, and some are 
blurred by reckless inattention to the pedal, — ^ 
a habit which it should not cost him much, being 
so musical, to unlearn. A certain crudity and 
want of judgment seems to be the present draw- 
back in his playing. The Sonata, by Grieg, hay 
some pleasing ideas, but did not leave a deep 
impression. Mr. Liebling was at his best in 
Weber's ** Perpetuum mobile ** (made into a study 
for the left hand), and in Tausig's willfully diffi- 
cult arrangement of Strauss's " Nachtfalter '^ 
(Moth) wdtz, which might be named ^ Nacht- 
ftUer " (nightmare or torture). We were not 
greatly interested in the new Fantasia by RaflT, 
for two pianos, except as it was finely played by 
Mr. Lang and the concert-giver. The high opus 
number (207) suggests Uie question whether 
Baff is not turning out too much work of late. 

Miss Laura Schirmer, with her attractive 
presence, her delicate, sweet voice, add grace of 
style, made her vocal contributions highly . ac- 
cepUblo. " Vedrai carino " was given tenderly, 
but she entered more completely into the spirit 
of the songs by Rubinstein and Baff ; tha " Swr 



62 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 991. 



enade," by the latter, is a lovely melody, and was 
interpreted in such a winning way that the singer 
was obliged to repeat it. Mr. Clarence £. Hay 
has a solid, telling, wellnleveloped bass voice, 
which he used to good advantage in the Aria by 
Mozart, — a piece seldom if ever heard in our 
concert rooms, composed as an occasional piece 
for a singer in the part of Sarastro in the Zau- 
ber/ldle, — but with more complete success in 
the heroic air from Sofnson, which he sang with 
great spirit and in a sustained and even style. 
Young Mr. Van Raalte is steadily developing into 
an artist as a solo player on the violin. 



A very interesting concert was that given on 
the evening of March 24, at Union Hall, in com- 
pliment to Miss JosEPHiME £. Ware, a modest, 
interesting maiden, yet in the middle of her 
teens, and one of the most gifted and truly mu- 
sical of Mr. Sherwood's pupils. She certainly 
has made remarkable progress in piano-forte ex- 
ecution, and in the intelligent interpretation and 
expression of a high order of music for one so 
young. Her treatment of compositions by Bach 
and Handel, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schu- 
mann, Saint-Saens, etc., was tasteful and sym- 
pathetic. All was neat and clear, well phrased, 
with plenty of both power and delicacy of touch, 
indeed a high degree of brilliancy and finish, 
while she entered into the spirit of each work. 
She began with a Prelude and Fugue in 6, and 
a Gigue in D minor, by Bach, followed by a 
genial Fantasia in C by Handel. Next she 
played, with the artist-like accompaniment of 
Mr. C. N. Allen, the Sonata Duo for piano and 
violin, in C minor, by Beethoven, which went 
very satisfactorily. Another group of piano- 
forte solos consisted of the charminsr Minuet 
from Schubert's Sonata, Op. 78, the first Polo- 
naise of Op. 26, by Chopin, and a captivat- 
ing Mazourka (No. 2) by Saint-Saens. These 
were followed by some characteristic little pieces, 
**im Volkston," by Schumann, for piano and 
'cello (Mr. Wulf Fries), which were much en- 
joyed; and the concert closed with a brilliant 
if not particularly original Talse by Von Billow. 

The vocal numbers were sung by Miss S. £. 
Bingham, of Indianapolis, who has a beautiful 
contralto voice, giving evidence of good training, 
and who sang with unaffected, true expression 
and refinement, " Know'st thou the land ? " from 
Gounod's Mignon, ** Widmung " (Dedication), by 
Robert Franz, and " The Brook," by Schubert 

For both the young pianist and the singer the 
omens seem auspicious. 



Before leaving the subject of piano-forte re- 
citals, we may as well say what we have to say 
of a more recent one (April 4), at Chickering's 
Warerooms, by Mr. Henry G. Hanchett, an 
other advanced pupil of Mr. Sherwood's. It was 
an invited audience, coinpletely filling the long 

room. Musical editors and critics were not onlv 

* 

invited, but were challenged and instructed, 
through a very unique circular letter, to attend 
and to *^ report in unmistakable terms," whether 
the debutant is competent to '< the position which 
he aims to fill," — that, namely, of ** an exclusive 
pianist," that is to say, a pianist who can live by 
his virtuosity alone without having, like all other 
artuts, great or small, to give lessons for his 
daily bread. He " wishes to record a decided 
success, or a total failure ; " does ^ not mean to 
do half-way work," and does not want ^ half-way 
results," and there is nothing which he is so un- 
willing to face as ** faint praise," not even " igno- 
minious sifence " on the part of the critics afore- 
said. 

We are really sorry for this silly faux pas on 
the part of a young man, who seems really to 
hav« talent and to be much in earnest about 



what he has undertaken. And yet it looks a 
little as if the ambition for worldly success were 
stronger in him than the real love of music, if 
he can give music up so easily unless rewarded 
with decided and immediate success. Moreover, 
the alternative which he demands on the part 
of his judges is an absurd one and impossible. 
There is no absolute success for any one, nor 
can there be a total failure for one who can ex- 
ecute such a programme as we give below in 
such a manner, both of technique and expres- 
sion, as to win the recommendation of a teacher 
like Mr. Sherwood. It is asking too much of 
" the critics " that they should by jury vote de- 
termine a young aspirant's career for him ; nor 
can he rely on such a vote with half the con- 
fidence he could upon a single wise and candid 
friend. This was the formidable programme : — 

Dm wohlteniperirta CUvicr Bach. 

a. C minor, Book 1. 
6, E-flat miuort Book S. 

Sonata, Op. 2, No. 3, In C Beeikoven. 

Allegro oon brio — Adagio. 

Scheno, Allegro — FiniJe, Allegro aaai. 

Let Preludes, SymplMnle Poem Liut. 

(Arranged by the author for two pianos.) 

Romania from Op. 5 Saran. 

Seheno, Op. 31, D-flat mi^or Chcpin. 

Kreitleriana, Op. 16, No. 3 Schumann. 

Rigoletto — Panphraae Litti. 

Now Mr. Hanchett, as we have said, showed 
talent and a certain kind of musical feeling and 
enthusiasm, — how fine or deep we would not 
undertake to say upon a single hearing. His 
playing was far from being altogether bad; it 
would be wrong to call it a *' total failure ; " it 
had many excellent qualities. He has great 
strength, rapidity and certainty of finger; he 
achieves long stretches of most difficult execu- 
tion in a triumphant manner; phrases intelli- 
gibly, and has considerable light and shade. 
But there are great faults. In the Bach pieces 
he betrayed a continual tendency to hurry, mak- 
ing the movement uneven and spasmodic. In 
the Beethoven Sonata the quick movements were 
taken at an exaggerated tempo, making the little 
phrase of fi)ur sixteenth notes in thirds, in the 
first theme, sound like only three. And he is apt 
to pound the instrument with startling force. 
The strong, stern chords, to which the pleading, 
delicate figures respond in the Adagio, were 
made painfully and ruthlessly explosive like so 
many dischai^es of heavy ordnance. We thought 
him most successful in the Liszt paraphrase and 
in the arrangement of *< Les Preludes," which his 
teacher played with him. We can thank him 
also for the opportunity of renewing acquaintance 
with that most original and beautiful Romanza 
firom the Sonata-Fantaisie by Saran, though the 
interpretation rather lacked " true inwardness " 
(to use a vulgar cant term for what has a good 
meaning in the German). His selection from' 
Schumann's Kreisleriana was one of the least 
familiar and very interesting. 

We trust Mr. Hanchett will not be sickened 
by half praise, nor discouraged by even wholesale 
condemnation, but will continue to study and im- 
prove, winning success by gradual and sure steps, 
and reconciling himself to the conditions by which 
even the most gifled of performing artists have to 
live. A foolish letter should not be allowed to 
compromise his future. 

Harvard Musical Association. — The 
eighth and last of the Symphony Concerts of the 
fourteenth season fell upon about the stormiest 
and most disagreeable day of the whole winter; 
yet the audience was much the largest and the 
best of the season. And the close and deeply 
interested attention paid to the very end of a 
concert of unusual length (two hours and twenty 
minutes), to a programme which would have been 
called << heavy *' a few years ago, was the most 



hopeful omen we have seen for a long time as to 
our prospects for orchestral music, by our own 
local orchestra, in coming seasons. It was the 
crowning success of a series of truly noble and 
delightful concerts, recognized as such by all who 
have attended them. Indeed this series, although 
the pecuniary support has still fallen short of the 
expenses, which have been put upon the most 
economical footing, has involved a comparatively 
small loss, while it has gone far to win back the 
old favor with* which these concerts used to be 
regarded, and to convince our musical citizens of 
the ability and of the pains-takjng zeal of our 
musicians and their indefatigable conductor. Con- 
sidering the hard times and how poorly musical 
entertainments generally have paid, the Sym- 
phony Concerts may be said to have succeeded. 
They have revived public faith in such things, 
and it will be strange if means and measures be 
not found before another season for putting them 
upon a generous and permanent footing. 

This success must b« credited in a great meas- 
ure to the generous conduct of the members of 
the orchestra, who have rehearsed with unusual 
fidelity and zeal at a reduced rate of pay, and 
have even given extra rehearsals of their own 
accord purely for the sake of doing justice to 
some new and difficult work. The same unself- 
ish spirit has been shoi^n — the same devotion 
to the concerts for the s^ke of keeping them alive, 
and from the patriotic motive of Art culture >» 
by the solo artists who have so enriched the pro- 
grammes. It is a mistake to suppose, as we have 
seen often intimated in the newspapers, that the 
revival of interest in the concerts, and the marked 
improvement in the playing of the orchestra, has 
been due to any " new departure" in the policy 
of the managing committee, such as the infusion 
of a greater variety of elements, a larger propor- 
tion of *' new music," etc., into the programmes. 
The amount of new music given has been just 
about the same as for several seasons past ; the 
preponderance of standard classical works has 
hardly varied, and the complexion of the pro- 
grammes has undergone scarcely any change that 
is perceptible. But somehow, since formidable 
competition was withdrawn, the public has been 
in a more reasonable and receptive mood towards 
our own local efforts, and our musicians have 
heartily exerted themselves to do their best ; and 
verily they have their reward, for henceforth their 
good-will and their competency will be believed 
in. — If anybody doubts the good achieved by 
such a series of concerts and rehearsals, let him 
pay attention this week to the performance of 
Bach's ^ Passion Music," and ask himself where 
we could have looked for an orchestra so well 
prepared to take hold of its difficult accompani- 
ments at such short notice, but for this season's 
training in the symphonies and other master- 
works? 

The audience poured out, lingeringly, from the 
hall, exchanging congratulations on the finest and 
most interesting concert of some seasons in spite 
of its great length and the solid character of 
these selections : -— 

Heroic Symphony, No. 3, in EJlat, Op. S5 . . BeeCAovcm. 

Allegro ooQ brio — Mareia Kinebre — Sehem 

— Finale. 

Piano-forte Coooerto, in A minor, Op. 54 . Bdmmamn, 

Allegro aflbttaoeo — IiitermeBo ( Andantmo 

gruioeo) — Allegro vivaot. 

Fhuia Rummd. 

Orertore to «* Preeioea " Web^. 

Fantasia on Hwsgarian Airs, fbr piano-forte with 

OKheetn fJmi, 

Frsnz Rummel. 
Orerture to " Leonora," No. 8, in C ... Bt«tho9tn. 

The Heroic Symphony, which, with all its 
grandeur and ite wealth of beautiful, original 
ideas, has of^en been found *' heavy " and fatigu- 
ing to an audience, — partly no doubt on ac- 
count of its great length, nearly an hour, •— was 



Apbil 12, 1879.]. 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



63 



this time listened to with eager interest through- 
oat. It has seldom if ever been so well pre- 
sented in this city ; if there was room for 6ner 
finish in detail, the life and true Beethoven fire 
of the gp:«at work were eloquently and convinc- 
ingly brought out. For this is the symphony in 
which Beethoven first went his own way entirely 
and left the leading strings of his great models ; 
then his genius, his full individuality shone out 
with startling brilliancy. All the movements 
went well ; particularly the Marcia Fun^Ct 
which had just the right solemnity of movement 
without dragging. As the great symphony 
opened and gave the tone to the concert, eo the 
great Beethoven Overture, the ever welcome 
*' Leonora ** No. 8, formed the last word of the 
concert and the season. This, too, was finely 
played, as was the charming gypsy overture of 
Weber, furnishing a bright diversion in the mid- 
dle of the programme. 

We would rather have had some other less in- 
congruous piece of brilliant virtuosity to follow 
up the Preeioxa music, than that Hungarian Fan- 
tasia of Liszt's, which, after hearing so many of 
his Rhapsodies Hongroises for the piano alone, 
and finding them all essentially alike, all made 
out of the same materials, only worked up with 
new tricks of effect, still sounded as the same 
thing over again, more aggravated than enriched 
by the barbaric orchestration. Coming as it did 
in the midst of genuine great music, there was 
too much vulgarity and clap- trap about it. But 
it afforded a rare opportunity for Mr. Rummel to 
display his extraordinary virtuosity ; nothing 
could exceed the verve, the brilliancy, the start- 
ling contrasts, the finesse and the polish of his 
execution, and it wrought a large part of the 
public up to such a pitch of excitement that he 
was recalled several times. Mr. Rummel gave a 
splendid rendering of the Schumann Concerto* 
Wo do not say it showed so deep and fine a feel- 
ing of the poetic quality of the work as we have 
been taught to know by others who had not his 
astonishing technique. But he played it with 
power, with great clearness, with rare delicacy 
and grace where that is required, and he went 
through it all with a freedom and a triumphant 
swing which carried his audience with him. Ho is 
certainly one of the most effective concert players 
we have had since Rubinstein and Yon BUlow. 

It may be interesting at the close of the season 
to take a survey of the matter which has been 
presented in the eight concerts. The following 
are the works by each composer. The asterisk 
denotes the first performance in these concerts, 
two asterisks the first time in Boston. 

J, 8, Bach. Ofgsn Fsotaiaie snd Fugue in G minor, 
arr. by Lint for piano. — ^Pistorale firom Chriftmis Ora- 
torio Orehestnd Suita in D, entire. — * Coneerto in D 

mioor, for tliree Fuuioe, with String Oreliettra. — Cradle 
Song from Chriiftmas Oratorio. 

Ua^n, ** Oxford " Sympliony, in G (second time here). 
— * Symphony in D (Breitkopf and Hi&rtel, No. 14). 

MoaarL ** Piano Concerto in A miyor. — Overture to 
MiUgicFlote.'* 

Btetkovtn. Symphoniea, Noa. 2, 8, and 7. — Piano 
Cooeoto, No. 6, in £-fiat — Overtures to ** Prometlieus," 
« EgmoQt,** ** Leonora,** No. 8. — Adagio and Andante 
from the ** Prometheus ** Ballet — • Scena : " Ah ! Per- 
ildo.'* 

Spokr. Overture to <• Jessonda.'* 

SekubeH. Overture to " AifouM and EstreUa.'* — Retter- 
Maraeh in C, transcribed for Oreheatra by Liiti (second 
time). — ••Sonic: *«Tbe Toung Nun,'* with Lisst*B Or- 
dieateal Aeoompaniment. 

Mmdtittohn, Overtures to "St. Psnl,** and •^Die 
Heimkehr aus der FVemde." — Nocturne and Scheno from 
M ICidanmmer Night*s Dream.'* 

Wtber. Overtoce to " Preeioea.** 

Sekmrnann* Symphony in C. — Overtue to "Geno- 
tefa.**— Incantation and Entr'acte from <* Manfred.*' — 
Piano Coneerto in A minor. 

Ckembun. Overture to ** Anaoreon.*' 

Gcde. (*Onian** Overture. 

Hatg»tmann, •Song: *« Ave Maria.** 

M^ytrbetr, • Song: » The Finbcr Maiden.** 

Ckofm. E minor Coneerto (Romanes and Rondo). 



UiA. Tarantelia fimn '« Venesia e Napoli." — • Fanta- 
sia on Himgarian Airs, Piano and Orchestra. 

Wagner. ♦♦Siegfried Idyi (twice). — •♦" Der Ritt 
der Walktiren," Piano tiansoription by Tausig. 

Raff. Suite for Orchestra, iu C, Op. 101 (second time). 

Brahms. •• Second Symphony, in D (twice). 

SaitU^Saint, "Phaeton": Pogme Symphonique (sec- 
ond time). 

ffaAtrbter-GuUtnanL •Prelude and Fugue transcribed 
for Piano by Mme. Rir^King. 

Passion Week. — Baeh*s sublime and profoundly ten- 
der music to the Paarion, aoeording to St. Matihew, has 
made this a Psasion Festival in Boston. Every day of the 
week the great worlc has been rehearsed, — on Monday and 
Tuesday by the orchestra and sob-singers; on Wednesday 
and Thurday afternoons,, public rehearMds or double ehonis, 
soloe, double orchestra, and oigan, all combined; and on 
(>ood Friday (yesterday) the full performance — not a num- 
ber or a passage of the whole work omitted — before an 
audience occupying every seat in the great Music Hall, of 
the Ftrst Put at tluee in the afternoon, and the Second 
Part at eight in the evenuig. It was simply the greatest 
event so far in tlie musical history of this country. 

And what a hopeful sign of progress that so deep an in- 
terest should be taken in so difficult and formidable a work, 
dating from a century and a half ago! At the same time 
we may think with satis&ction of the quantity of Bach'a 
music in various forms that has been presented and enjoyed 
in Boston during the past season. Besides what the sym- 
phony programmes have offered, which is enumerated above, 
there has been a great Cantete sung, with orchestra, by the 
Cecilia; a superb Motet for double chorus by the Boylston 
Club; and no end of Organ and Piano Preludea and Fugues, 
and smaller pieces in the various Piano-forte Recitals, par- 
tieuUrly those of Mr. Sherwood. 

This week we have had also the fourth and last Euterpe 
Concert (Wednesday evening) ; and Cambridge has had ite 
third and kst Chamber Concert by the same artiste on 
Tuesday evening. 

Close upon Good FViday comes the joyful Easter, and to- 
morrow evening the Handel Society will follow up their 
good work with Handel's jubilant, heroic Judas Maceabceus, 
— thus completely the most successful and remunerative 
Oratorio season which the old society has ever had. — And, 
as if this were not enough, on the 2d of Ma^, an extra per- 
formance will be given, of £lijah, in honor of the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of the day when their efficient and es- 
teemed oonductor, Carl Zkrhaiim, in a performance of 
the same work, fini astiimed the baton he has wielded ever 
sUwe. 

Next Week will bring ite rich supply of music worth 
the hearing. On Tuesday evening^ 16tA, at Mechanics' 
Hall, the fhiBt of the Three Classical Concerte by Messrs. 
Sherwood, Allen, and Fries. The programme includes 
a String Quartet by Rubinstein; Polonaise for Piano and 
'Cello, Chopin; the great Fiano Quintet by Schumann; 
and Songs by Moaart, Rubinstein, and Frims, to be sung 
by Miss Mary £. Turner. 

— April 16. The Botlsion Club, Geo. L. Osgood, 
Conductor. 

Thursday, 17fA, at three p. m. Mme. Riyb-Kiho, who 
has been fulffiling numerous concert engagemente In this 
city and vicinity during the past fortnight, drawing largely 
from her almost inexhaustible repertoire of the best classical 
and modem works for the piancforte, will give her Farewell 
Recital for the season at Mechanics' HaU, aaristed by the 
charming vocalist Miss Abbie Whlnnery. The programme 
is one of exoeptfonal interest, including for the concert- 
giver: Beethoven's •* Sonato Appassionato; '* Allegro, fixmi 
Schumann's " Faschingsechwauk," Op. 36; sis pieces en 
grm^ from Chopin (Nocturne in G minor. Op. ;r7; Ber- 
ceuse; Impromptu, C-sharp minor. Op. 66; Valae, A-flat, 
Op. 84; Schenm, B-Bat minor; Rondo, E-flat, Op. 16); 
Mendelaaohn'a "Spring Song,'* and Andanto and Rondo 
from the Violin Concerto, transcribed by Mme. King; and 
the Strauss-Tausig Walte: " Man lebt nur einmal." There 
surely will be great interest fUt in this Recital, for it ia a 
much better thing to hear so finished a pianist in a small 
ro&m than it ean be in our great Music HaU. 

— On the evening -of tiM same day ( Thursday), a con- 
cert for the benefit of the Chapel of the Evangelists will be 
given at Huntington Hall (Institute of Te&nology) by 
members of the phours of the Advent, Fjiimannei, and Trin- 
ity churches, assisted by Mr. J. C. D. Parker, Mr. C. N. 
AUen, Mr. Wulf Fries, Miss Mary Beebe, Dr. Langmaid, 
and other artiste. The programme oflm a choice selection 
of sacred choruaes, vocal solos, and trios for piano, violin, 
and 'cello. 

— Friday eveiung, ISth. The advanced Violin classes 
of the Boston Conservatory of Music, under the direction 
of their teacher, Mr. Juuus Eichberg, will give a eon- 
cert at Union Hall, which will of course excite an interest. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, March 24. — The fourth concert of the 
Brooklyn Philharmonic Society took place on Saturday 
evening, Blareh 15. The orchestral selections comprised 
the Suite in Canon form. Op. 10, by Otto Grimm (vblin, 
viola, vlolonoeUo, oontrabasso, obli^to. Messrs. Brandt, 



Schwars, Bergner, and UttroflT); Beethoven'a Pastoral Sym- 
phony; and & ballet mnaio from ** Samson and Delila,** 
by Saint-Sagns. Miss Josephine C. Bates was the pianist. 
Mr. G. Cariberg gave his fifth symphimy concert at Chiek- 
ering Hall, New York, March 32, with the following pro- 
gnunme: — 

Symphony in E-flat Haydn, 

Concerto for Piano, No. 3, in C minor, Op. 87 Beethoven, 

Miss Josephine Bates. 
Overtors: ^* Midsummer-Night's Dream " Mendelssohn. 

Aria from 'lAcis and Galatea" Handel. 

Miss Gertrude Franklin. 

Nocturne (new) C. F. Daniels. 

For Orchestra, with *ceUo obligate. 

Eine Faust Overture Wagner. 

The Haydn Symphony, one of the best of the long list of 
similar works which have come down to us from that genial 
eompoeer, waa performed in a manner which was Ughly 
erediteble to Mr. Cariberg and his orchestra. Mr. Brandt, 
the laader of the first violins, waa very sucoesaftal in his per- 
formance of the variation fbr solo riolin, which was played 
to perfectioii. Miss Josephine Bates made her first appear- 
ance before a New York audience. She ia, we understand, 
a pupil of Kullak. It would be very pleasant to compli- 
ment the lady upon the merito of her performance, aa, for 
example, correctness, good taste, etc., but these quafities 
alone are not enough to make a pianist. Miss Bates shouU 
acquire more force and freedom of style before she again at- 
tempte such heavy work as the C minor concerto. Miss 
Gertrude Franklin has an exceptionally good voice, and has 
been well teught. She aang with good effect. The Noo- 
tume, by C. F. Daniels, is properly a melody for viokmceUo, 
accompanied at first by violins piaaicato, and afterwards re- 
peated by the orchestra. We believe that it waa originally 
composed as a nocturne for piano, violin, and 'cello. It is 
very brief and unpretentioua, but the theme is romantic and 
beautiful, and the aul^ect ia well vrorked up. That which 
ia most to be dreaded in American oompoaitions ia the mu- 
sical platitude, and thia bite noir is not to be fbund in Mr. 
Danids's WM-k, which contains nothing trite or comnion- 
pkce; therefore it Is to be hoped we may have more of it. 

Am A. (/. 

New York, April 7, 1879. — Dr. Daroroseh gave his 
sixth Symphony Concert at Steinway Hall, on Saturday 
evening, March 29, preceded by the usual public rehearsal 
on Thursday afternoon. The attendance was very large, 
owing to the unusual attnctious oflfered in the progmmme, 
as well as the general deaiie of musical people to show their 
appreciation ci the arduoua and sucoessfbl labor which haa 
enabled the conductor to bring the eeaaon to a brilliant end- 
ing. The small haU at the bade of the auditorium was 
thrown open to accommodate those who could not obtain 
seate in the main hall. The stage- waa beautifully deco- 
rated with flowering plante, after Uie manner usual at the 
Philharmonic Concerts in Brooklyn. The scene was im- 
pressive, and reminded one of the days when the Thomas 
enthusiasm was at its height. People are just now begin- 
ning to find out that it ia poasible to live without that 
worthy conductor. 

The programme waa an exemplification of contraat, for 
surely no two composers difibr more widely in their methods 
and their reaulte than Beethoven and JEUohard Wagner. 

The selections were a« follows: — 

Richard Wagner: 

Overture, «< Tannhiiuser.'* 
Choral, from ** Die Meistersinger.** 

For Chorus and Orchestra. 
Kaiaermarsch . 

For Orchestra and Chorus. 
L. Van Beethoven : 
Ninth Symphony. 

Orehestra Soli and Chorus. 

The sofoiste were Mrs. Maiy L. Swift, Miss Emily Wi- 
nant, Mr. Chr. Fritsch, and Mr. £. A. Stoddard. The cho- 
rus was the Oratorio Society of New York. The Tnun- 
kduser overture was nobly played, and the chorus did some 
excellent work in the choral trcm *'Die Meistersinger," 
(which waa repeated), and in the Kaisermaneh. The or- 
chestral parte of the Ninth Symphony were well performed, 
and it is high praise of the sololste and the chorus to say 
that if it were poesible to sing the parte assigned to them 
they would have sung them well, 

" But what -s impossible ean*t b«. 
And nerer, never eomes to pass." 

I give befow the repertoire of the aix concerte and pnblte 
rehearsab given by Dr. Damrosch during the winter: — 
Bach, J. S,: 

Air fh>m the Suite in D, fur violin witii string orchestra. 
(YioUn sofo: Herr August Wilhelnij.) 

Chaconne for violin sok>. (Heir August WUbehqJ.) 
Beethoven, Ludwig van : 

Symphony in C minw (No. 6). 

Symphony in D minor (No. 9). (Soli: Mrs. Mnrv Ion- 
ise Swill, Miss Emily Winaot, Messrs. Ch Fritsch, 
and A. £ Stoddard. Choral part: The Oratorio So- 
drtyof NewYork.) 

Concert in £-flat (No. 6), for piano-forte with orchestra 
(fifr. Max Pinner). 

Concert in D (first movement), for riolin with crehestra 
(Herr August WUhsIn^.) 



64 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 991. 



fiymphony FutMtiquek Op^ U (E^bode in the life of mi 
artist) 

Orcrtun, *<KingLMr.** 

«*La Captive." BMvie for oontialto witli ordieatn 
(Mi« Anna Dnadil). 
CktnMnif Luigi: 

Ovwtora, "Anafcraoo." 
(SUnka: 

KomadiHlaya, Oaprioelo for Oidwalra. 
GcUmarkCarl: 

OvHtora, " Sakontala.** 

*< At tlie Cloister Gate," Ibr meno eoprano, eootralto, 
.ftnale elioms, and ocdMetra. (MiaMS Antonie HeniMY 
Emily Winant, female ebomt from the Oratorio So- 
detj.) 
Cooeert in A minor fer piano^irte witli orelieBtra (Ur. 
Pkrnns Rammel). 
Handel, O.F.: 

Allegro in D minor for string orchestra. 
. Ajr from " Xflms" (Mias Anna Dnadil). 
Baffdm, Jo$eph: 

Symphony in 6 (No. 9, Br. St U.). 
jAtdy Frang: 

M Lea Prelodes," Symphonie pom. 
M€n4eU$oknt FeSx: 

Overture, ».Fingal*s Cave.'* 
Jtq^, Joaekim: 
Gmeert in B minor for vioiin with oreheatrm (Hot Au- 
gust Wilhelng). 
BanU-Satmi, CamilU: 

Symphony in A minor '(No. S). 
Jkharwtnba^ Xavier: 

Conoerto for piano-forte. Op. 88 (Mr. B. Boekdman). 
Sehvbert, Franz: 

SymplMoy, fragment in B minor. 
Bdnuntnm, Robert: 

Symphony in C (No. 2). 
8vtnd$ent Jokann: 

Morvcgian Meiody for string orchestra. 
VoOananm, Robert: 
Seienade in D minor Ibr strings and violoneeHo obligato 
(Mr. FV. BcTgner). 
Wagner, Richard: 
Overture, ** Die HMstersinger Ton Nuernberg.** 
Choral from « *< ** 

Price Song from •* " " 

(Airanif^ for violin sob with orchestra, Hot August 

WUhehiOO 
Overture, ** Tennhinaer.** 
tt Kaisermarch ** (with ehorua). 
Weber, Cart Maria Von: 
Overture, m Euryanthe.** 

The last Phnharmonio Coneai of the aeaeon took plaee 
at the Academy of Muaie on Saturday evening, April 6. 
Beethoven*e Seventh Symphony ma performed; aleo " Wo- 
tairs Faiewell,*' and •* The Fire Seeiie,** by Wagner (from 
Die WaUtitre), and the ('Caniival Bomain*' Overture, by 
BerUoK. Herr Wilhelng pbi]red Lipinaki's Concerto MiU- 
taire for violin and a transcription of Cbopin^s Nocturne, 
Op. 87, No. 1. Hie orchestral woriu nwe pe rf onned in 
tlie dreary, monotonoua style to which the rqgnbo' attendant 
at these concerts must now be well aeenatomed. The pby- 
iogof WilhelmJ vras of course superi>. For encoie he 
played a Romanza of his own and an air by Bach. The 
Mapleaon Opera Company gave a ferewdl mating on Sat- 
ttiday, April 6. The occasion Wae the benefit of Mme. 
Gerster, wlio sang in Sonnambuta to the delight of some 
8,000 auditors. At the eondusioii of the performance Col- 
onel Mapleson and the greater pert of his troupe embarked 
for Europe on board the City of Chester. 

The last of the Cariberg Symphony ConeerU (for this 
iceeon) will take pbce on April 13, with rsheanal April 10. 
Wilhdmj will pbty, and an attractive programme is oflered, 
including Schubert*8 Symphony of ** heavenly length.** 

A. A. a 

Chicago, Apkil 4. -^ The reeord of our musical ssa- 
ion would not be complete without some passing mention of 
the M Marie LitU Concert *' which took plaee on the even- 
ing of Maieh 84, at Plymouth Church. She had the ae- 
■igtance of a focal quartet (Mrs. Stacy, Mrs Bagg, Mr. 
De Celle, Mr. Bowen), Mr. Walton Pcrkine, a young but 
promising pianist, and Mr. Owen, organist. The pro- 
gramme vras of that so-called "popular*' order, which 
doca little for the elevation of musical culture. Miss Litta, 
following in the footsteps of so many open singsn, pee- 
eented her andience with selections from her stage r&s, 
singing the "Caro noma*' from Rigotetio, and the Polo, 
naise from Mignon ; and, not forgetting the usual custom, 
gave ** The Last Rose of Summer ** for the ineritaUe en- 
core. When we consider how much bcautifol music thcrs 
it so well a^4)ted (or the more quiet dignity of the concert 
stage, vre cannot but regret that so many artistes seem un- 
mindful of its existence, and are ** fimever " giring us worn- 
out selections 'from the popular operas. Think of the statdy 
. arias of Handel which Robert Frana has so bcautifuOy ar- 
ranged ; the concert arias of Mendelssohn, and Beethoven ; 
and the vast number of lovely songs by Schumann. Schu- 



bert, Frana, and Rubinstein, Liest, and othera of the mod- 
em school, that are yet unknown to the general musical 
public True, it is often renurked thai this class of musie 
is out of plaee upon a *< popular conoert ** programme. But 
do we vrant any more *« popukr ** oonoerts (taken in the 
aense now need, meanmg, doubtless, poor muaie), in this 
stage of our musical culture? I oonsidier them hindrances 
to a healthy advancement, for they often fill the rightful 
place of better things. We must show our diaesteem of 
bad programmes, and insist upon better oflbings from the 
so-caiQed great stngen. If the public haa a taste for songs 
that expreee a certain kind of ssntiment, let the art of 
music, while it gratifies it, present vocal eelectlone of sneh 
beauty, purity, and character, that the sentiment may be 
elevated into the realm of tioe culture. Music may he joy- 
Ail, light, and eparkling, sad, grand, brilliant, solenm, and 
almost reach the heavenly in her perfection, but if she for- 
gets her royal station, and pandeN to what is low in hu- 
man nature, her art forsakes her, and her sweetness, beauty, 
and wondroua harmonies ars gone forever. Art lives but in 
noble attainment, and in sUiring to reaeh the height of 
purity and beauty. If she is debased, she dies by the very 
consciousness of her guilt. 

On Friday evening, March 88, the *< Abt Society'* gave 
its second eoncert preeenting the following programme: — 

The "C^istanChoniB** Smart. 

Serenade: *« In SUUy Night** I^iekner, 

" Mania and Finale ** from " Concertstneek ** . Weber, 
The <« Equinox *' ......... Krtntxer. 

Aria: » Gape Fatal Mestria** CenUmeri. 

" The ViDsge Bbcksmith *' . Ilatton, 

"A Fresh Song in the Forest** Abt. 

"RhapsodieHongroise** No. 16 Limt, 

" The Desert Fountain ** Cfade, 

Romance: •< Maigucrite*8 Three Bouquets ** . . Brega, 
(*(>eUo accompaniment by M. Eichheim). 

»'Abeence** AbL 

( a ♦* Oh, Winter " Gade, 

\b^ King WithiTs Drinkfaig Horn **.... Hatton. 

As I have mentioned before in my notes, the gentlemen 
who coapoee this society have fine voioss, and indiridnally 
much euitnn in music. The eoncert on the whole gave 
much satisfaction to the huge andience that was present. 
The singing faidicated a better idea of finish than at the 
first peifonnance. The greatest drawback (one easy to cor- 
rect, however), to a perfect delivery, vras a too enthusiastic 
endeavor on the part of a few of the first tenon to make 
themsdves heard. In this way they foresd their tones un- 
til the quality became quite disagreeable, and deetroyed the 
bakoce of otlter parts. Then shiMald be no individuality or 
pereonal prominence manifeetcd in chorue singing. Each 
person ehould efaik the idea of sdf^ and strive for the per- 
SBction of the whole. In the mon d^cate portion of their 
sincing, in the soft parte, the blending of their rich voices 
had a ddigbtful eflbet. Mn. Farwell, wlio is one of our 
most aeeompliahed singers, sang her nnmben irith much 
taste and refinement Miss Neally Stevena, the pianist of 
the evening. Is a graceful young lady, with a quiet and 
gentle bearing, and is devoted to her art, with sueh a 
strength of purpose and eonectness of aim, that under the 
right influences she is sun to develop into somethiiwa 
great deal mon than an ordinarily good player. Shehas 
a firm touch, no email amount of tediniqne, and mon than 
all, fine ssntiment Her phrasing at times indicates the 
novice; yet it ia generally directed by a poritin aim, and 
foreteOs that a wUer experience, mon study, and better 
opportunit&ee for musical development, will ripen her talent 
so that she may accomplish gvealcr things. On Monday 
evening but, one of the ** Hereby Popular Concerts ** vras 
given un^er the direction of Mr. H. Cbrenee Eddy, with 
a fine programme — not by any means of the so-cslled ** pop- 
uhur *' ordfr. Miss Ingersoll, Miss HUti, Miss Maycn, Mr. 
Knorr, and Mr. Lewis assisting. 

On Saturday hat Mr. Eddy gave hln eighty-eighth or- 
gan redtal, with a very fine and rich programme. It is 
in those home cfiirts that our musical cultun finds the m»- 
terial for its best advancemant a H. B. 

MiLWAUKjn, Wia., Apbil 5.~iThe musical events 
which call for record at thia vrriting an the performanoef of 
AldawoA Mignon by the Strakooch Company, and of Fautt, 
The Chitnee of Nomtandy, and PatU and Virginia by the 
Hcas Company. The former I found both interssting and 
eqjoyaUe, in spite of some bieritable defects. The stage 
hoe is too small for ASda, and the orehestn and chorus 
wen small. However, as it is hard for any open troupe to 
pay expsnsfs hers, we han no right to comph4n of reduo- 
tion of foreee. The ecrfo parts wen uniformly good, except 
that Mr. Adama eeemed to be in bad Toice. I have never 
heard Miee KeUogg to better advantage. She did the showy 
Pofonaise in Mignon most brilllantiy, as well as it deserves 
to be given. Miss Gary, too, vras at her best, and acquitted 
herself most admirably. I suppose the operas theinselvca 
an too well known to your readen to need any eharacter- 
iatlon from me. 

The Heee Company vras much lighter, the orehestn es- 
pedally being vreak to the point of insignificanoe. Think of 
giving ppen irith only two fint Tiolins, and only six stringed 
instruments in all ! Then wen no horns and no bassoons. 
A piano eked out the aeoompaniment I was unaUe to 



hear their performance of Fauel, but suppose it must have 
been very inadequate, of coum. I should say H wouU hav^ 
been better to give only the veiy lighteet operaa, in irhieh 
the weak points wouM be less apparent They certainly 
succeeded in making the Giimes of Normandy enjoyable. 
Thcj nn it twice. I only heard it the second time, when 
Miss Randall took tiie two r6les of Mignonette and Ger. 
maine. Her voice seems to be well adaj^ed for such parts, 
and her ulwle p erform a nce sru very creditable and aatia- 
fitftory. I think the strongest point in the whole piece wae 
Mr. Ryse's acting of the part of Gaspard. His singing 
also vras exedlBnt The other singen wen fully equal to 
all that was required of them. 

PamL amd Virginia is intended to be a tragedy, but I 
cannot eay that I was afibcted by it as if it wen renXij one. 
I came away with the impreeeion that it vras neariy irorth- 
less rubbish. Miss Abbott sang her part skiflfiilly, and both 
she and Mr. Castle wen mil received by the andience, 
wMch, on this evening, was rsspectafaly large. In the 
afternoon the house had besn neariy empty. 

I do not think the season could han been satlsfeetory to 
Mr. Hess, and the bck of patronage ia not encouraging to 
operatic entciprieee in Milwaukee. But I wish Cofonel Maple 
son iTOttld try the experiment of bringing hen a company 
of artists of high rank, with ftiU chOTUS and onhestra, to 
do great open; a eoaqiany in iHiich the best of the Hess 
sin^n. would necessarily take light subordinate parts. I 
think be might hope to saooeed. J. C F. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGa 

YioLor CfOLLSCiOBS. — A writer in the *< Contributon* 
Qub** of the AiUmHc Monthly for Mardi hito the naU on 
the head hi these remariu: '< When Mark Twahi vrrote hia 
inimitable story of the lieh uncle who ruined himself and Us 
femily by making huge collectiona of everything he could 
think of, fimm etuffed wbalm to echoea, he gan a very feir 
sbp at those monomaniacs who han the rage of making col- 
leetfons for coIleetion*s sake. In most cassa the eollwtlng 
mai^ ia as innocent a form of Idiocy as any other; it 
hurt nothing but the collector*B own podet; in 
indeed, it may han the benefidal eAct of partially filling the 
vacuum in his skuU. But then is one sort of coUecter who 
doee real harm, — the man vHw insanely ooOeets valuable 
stringed instruments, Stradivarius or Amati vioUns and vio- 
ba, *celk)s, and basses, and lets Uiem Ue in tiidr caees in 
shamefril inanition. Now, a valuable Stradivarius is not 
only a rsrity, but it ia an instrument vrhich the art of muaie 
abeolutely needa. The worU cannot aflbrd to han sueh a 
gem lie idle; its value as an authentic specimen of a fiuiious 
maker*8 craft ia incomparably less than its intrinsic value as 
a musical instrument To take it out of the reeeh of fine 
artists, and phice it on the shelf in a men eoUection, ia to 
commit larceny upon musie. It property befongs to the art 
of muaie, and should be honestiy devoted to its senrice. Hie 
man who can keep such an insyrumsni in his house mer^y 
for the pleaeun of looking at it, and of knowing that he 
owns it, must han a queer eonedence. Other eollecton an 
very proper butte for ridicule. The riolin collector riees to 
the sublime height of distinct immonlity, and is not a fit 
snl(jeet for anything short of unsparing execration.* 



(• 



The latest disooveiy of unknown musical mrks ia an- 
nounced in a (Serman musical paper to havn taken plaee in 
Vienna, and this time Beethoven is the seleeted man. A 
double chorus, with orchestral accompaniment, wnieh datcp 
beek to the time of the Vienna Congrees, and a rondo fer 
pbno Bolo, with oreheetral aecompanimcnt, an the two 
positions mentioned. 



Mr. CuA Rosa, who seems to be meeting with unusual 
snecem in his preeent London season, has brought out an 
Ei^liah verskm of The Huguenote, which has been received 
with marks of the highest approbation. Mme. Vaosini 
(known better to this pubtte as Mn. Jennie Van Zandt)dld 
exoellentiy well as VaknthM, and Mr. Maaa won a deckled 
triumph as RaonL 

Saint-Salna has produced a new open in fcnr acts en- 
titled Etienne MareeL, whfoh has just been perfonned in 
Lyons. A London peper says that •* the oo m poeer, despair- 



ing of ever eeelog his pieqe mounted by a Peria theatre, car- 
ried it to Lyons, a step towarda decentralisation which has 
created much comment. Many of the Psris musical ottioa 
repaired to the first peribrmance, and they an unanimous 
fai praising the work.* 



»» 



Mme. NilaBon*s husband, M. Bouxeand, has pnichnsed 
Ibr £10,000 a one-third ahan in a laige Perishm Agence 
de Change, and Mme. Nilason has dedined all fivther en- 
gagements for this and next aeaeon. As she has already 
signed, she will sing in Madrid, but she has declined a pro- 
tnrted tour in the FVsnch provinces. Mme. NQsson trill 
go to London in the summer, and may poasibly sing in " Le 
Roi de Lahon." But owing to the new businem engage- 
ments of her husband in Paris, she vrill not accept any offer 
of an engagement hi the United States during next win- 
ter. 



April 26, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



65 



BOSTON, APRIL 26, 1879, 

CONTENTS. 

G»MB Baxv ah» Caopnr. Mn. F. R. Ritter 86 

WAona's " GonBBx>IifiuEui«a ** at Tumiia. X. Hansliek. 67 

Boos Nonon. F, H. U. (» 

HoliDM*! Uh of Mottoj. — Hm47>s " B«tani of tho Na- 

▲bt Talks, oIo., oto 09 

BAM*a- Pasuok If ctio on Good VrliUjr 09 

JuBAi Maooablmdi : liMtor 71 

OovcnTs 71 

Boterpo. — If enn. Shorwood, AUon , aod friM. » Mme. 
JnUft R1t«-K1d(. 

AVBUST KBHItMAKir 71 

If miOAL COKBMPOirOBllOB 71 

BalUmoro. ~- CliielniiaU. — Chlctfo. 



AU tk$ ariidet not crtdittd lo other puhlicaUon* wtre txprttdy 
written Jbr this Jownal. 

Published fortnighay by IIouohtoh, Omood (AHD Compaht, 
Z90 Devonthirs Strtet, Boston. Pries, 10 cenU a number; $2.60 



For sals in Boston by Cabl Pbuvxb, 30 West Stmtt, A. Will- 
iams A Co., 2S3 Washington Strest, A. K. Loriko, 369 Wash- 
ington Strtttf and by the Publishers; in Nrw York by A. Bbbm- 
TAVO, Jb., 39 Union Squart^ and Houobton, Osoood & Co. 
22 Astor Plaes; in PhilmdHphia by W. H. Bohbb & Co., 1102 
Oinstnut Sttset; in Chicago by the Gbicaoo Music Cokpamt, 
162 StaU Sirtst. 



GEORGE SAND AND FR£DfiRIC 

CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 

BT FANNY RAYMOND RITTER. 

(ConttniiMl from paffs 48.) 

Chopin said of himself, that his whole life 
** was contained in one episode.*' After having 
attempted to discover how well founded or 
otherwise is M. Karasowski's assertion that 
'' the spirit of Chopin breathes from the best of 
George Sand*s romances/' we may not un- 
reasonably inquire whether the episode, which, 
Chopin himself has said, contained ^* his whole 
life," had much influence on his artistic pro- 
ductivity or development 

The entire list of Chopin's works as they 
appeared during his life, contains only 65 
numbered publications; 9 additional works 
appeared posthumously, one of these a collec- 
tion of songs; besides 10 additional unnum- 
bered works, the genuineness of some of 
which is very questionable. There are also 
a few compositions, said to be by Chopin, in 
circulation, — dances, ii march, two or three 
separate songs, — to which his name is not 
attached ; in all 310 to 320 distinct composi- 
tions, some of these of very small dimensions 
indeed. But we must not assume that the 
source of musical invention in Chopin's mind 
was small or easily exhausted, on account of 
the limited number of works he published ; 
did not their richness of idea, extreme origi- 
nality and variety contradict such an assump- 
tion, his wonderful powers of improvisation, 
as vouched for by his friends and contempora- 
ries, would do so. In improvisation, a gift he 
possessed from childhood, he must have con- 
tinually exercised his powers, at the same time 
carrying his mastery of form to perfection, and 
throwing away countless beautiful ideas that 
he never committed to paper ; indeed, his ad- 
mirers have asserted that his published com- 
positions were only a pale reflection of his 
wonderful powers of improvisation. In his 
V Salon," Heine wrote : •* Chopin is no mere 
virtuoso, he is a poet able to express in tones 
the poetic feelings that agitate his soul ; and 
nothing can equal the delight he bestows 
when he improvises at the piano-forte. Then 



he is neither Polish, French, nor German, 
but he betrays a higher origin ; we then per- 
ceive that he comes from the birthplace of 
Goethe, Mozart, and Raphael, that his native 
land is the imperial realm of the poet. And 
while he is improvising, I seem to be re- 
ceiving a visit from one of my own country- 
men, who is relating to me the remarkable 
events that have occurred in my beloved 
home during my absence ; and often I long 
to interrupt him with questions : How is the 
lovely water-fay who so coquettishly wreathed 
a silvery veil among her green tresses? Does 
the gray bearded sea-god still continue to per- 
secute her with his foolish withered passion ? 
Do the roses at home flame as victoriously as 
ever ? And do the trees still sing as sweetly 
in the moonlight? — above all, he preferred 
to improvise at night, or in the dark, when 
no outward object could interfere with the 
free play of his imagination. " After he had 
embarked on an independent professional 
career, Chopin could seldom be persuaded to 
play in public ; between 1834 and 1848, he 
only gave one public concert in Paris ; but 
he gave occasional private recitals to his 
pupils, to which the 20-franc tickets were 
sold on personal application, he reserving the 
right to exclude any person whom he did not 
care to play to ; but he was most liberal in 
displaying his powers of improvisation to his 
friends. These seem always to have struck 
every one as extraordinary. I And in the 
AUgemeine Mtisikalische Zeitung^ for Novem- 
ber 11, 1829, a correspondence to that paper 
from Vienna, where Chopin, then 20 years 
old, had just given a concert. *' M. Chopin, 
a pianist from Warsaw, apparently a pupil of 
Wiirfel, proved himself a master of the first 
rank. His indescribable mechanical dexterity, 
the delicacy of his touch, his perfect shadow- 
ing inspired by the most profound feeling, 
the manner of his crescendo and diminuendo 
and continuance of tone, the remarkable clear- 
ness of his phrasing, combined with the 
geniality of his compositions, but above all, his 
extraordinary free improvisations, stamp him 
as a richly gifted and original virtuoso, who^ 
without any preliminary sounding of trump- 
ets, instantaneously impressed us as one of 
the most brilliant meteors now rising above 
the muidcal horizon." 

Chopin's first published composition was a 
march, written at the age of ten ; he also 
wrote dances during his childhood, which are 
said to have possessed much grace, and some 
Polish coloring. In his Rondo, Opus 1, com- 
posed at the age of sixteen, we find little that 
presages the Chopin we now know. It con- 
tains very little national character either, and 
still less of his own chromatic individu- 
ality; its ornaments are in the manner of 
John Field, and its harmony and passages 
display close acquaintance with Bach, Hum- 
mel, and Clementi. While admiring, I can- 
not help wondering a little at Schumann's 
immense enthusiasm over Opus 2, the varia- 
tions on ^* La ci darem la mano." Its grace 
and beauty are incontestable ; but where is 
the astonishing originality that so struck 
Schumann ? Only in the adagio there oc- 
curs a foreshadowing of the Chopin who was 
to follow with works of such unrivaled poetic 
originality. But we. Us enfanU de n6tre\ 
siecie, are surprised, when we first read 



" Werther " or " Jacopo Ortis," at the revo- 
lutionary excitement they created ; we forget 
that in their contemporary and after influ- 
ence lies the reason why the source of that 
influence affects us only n^derately. Refer- 
ring my present readers to the note I gave on 
page 7 of the English edition of Schumann's 
*^ Music and Musicians," I will now give an 
extract from the criticism on Chopin's Opus 
2, by the editor of the AUgemeine Afusikal- 
ische Zeitung, which followed Schumann's 
communication, and was no doubt intended as 
an antidote to it ! To this criticism I merely 
alluded in that note. After a tedious account 
of his usual mode of reviewing new composi- 
tions, Fink says: " A very powerful bravura 
piece! needs immensely large hands. Only 
thoroughly good players, Paganinis of the 
piano, will be able to play it as it should 
be played. Yet one might be able to get on 
up to page 17, without hands as large ks 
violas. But one Would find little reward for 
one's pains. Nothing but bravura and show 
passages ! However, with the exception of 
some harshnesses, which, it appears, are easily 
digested by the grammatical consciences of 
the authoifs of the present day, and the 
ears of their listeners, the piece is passably 
correct." In the same note in ** Music and 
Musicians," I mentioned that Fiuk completed 
the above review by saying that the paper 
had also received a third review of the work, 
by Friedrich Wieck, who seemed to be of 
the same opinion as his pupil, Mr. Schumann, 
but the paper had ^< no space " to insert it. 

The following review, which I find in a 
number of the Cecilia for 1832 (published in 
Mayence), is probably the very article, — or 
rather an extract from it ; as I do not trans- 
late the whole. Clara Wieck, then only 14 
yeard old, had lately played Chopin's varia- 
tions with great success before the court of 
Saxony ; and it is pleasant to find her father 
— qualified to write, as an artist and teacher, 
with judgment and authority, — speaking of 
a work by so new a composer, witl} well- 
founded enthusiasm and liberality. ''I do 
not know whether Chopin is a direct pupil 
of Field ; but in the whole style of this piece, 
every page of which engages our feelings 
through its imaginativeness, from the form of 
the passages, often surprising and wholly 
novel, yet presenting a certain solidity that 
is in itself an artistic enjoyment, as well as in 
the bold and uncommon fingering, and the 
masterly light and shade of the marks of ex- 
pression, we at least gather that he is thor- 
oughly familiar with Field's soulful musical 
language, and that he has practically appro- 
priated Field's manner of playing. But my 
readers must not therefore conclude that I 
mean to hint at an imitation of Field. No ! 
This work is completely independent. Yet 
it also betrays a close acquaintance with the 
light, graceful, purely mechanical Viennese 
manner of playing, in which style so many 
virtuosos have obtained reputation, as well as 
with the elegant and striking, if at present 
rather frivolous French school, in which 
Herz and others excel. Chopin did not 
select the duet from Don Juan merely to 
write variations upon it, but took this theme 
in order to sketch the entire outline of the 
wild, adventurous, amorous existence of such 
a character as Don Juan. This he has done. 



66 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol.. XXXIX - No. 992. 



according to my opinion, by means of the 
boldest and most original touches ; and I 
would not lose one measure of this fantastic 
bravura composition, so characteristic is every- 
thing it contains, J^rom the beginning of the 
grand, original introduction, to the close of the 
polonaise-finale, which seems to overflow with 
the foam of the most dazzling musical cham- 
pagne." 

Yet, until Opus 15, Chopin still appears in 
process of development as a composer ; the 
second nocturne in Op. 9, greatly resembles 
John Field^s eighth, though with the differ- 
ence that has been observed by the Polish 
critic whom Karasowski quotes : ** Field's 
nocturnes may be compared to a cheerful, 
flowery landscape flooded with sunshine ; 
while those of Chopin represent a romantic 
mountain country with a dark back ground 
heavy viith storm clouds which are pierced by 
flashes of lightning.*' Beautiful as are the 
Etudes Op. 10, they are chieHy dedicated 
to technical aims. No. 3, a sort of berceuse, 
lovely indeed, yet lulls some quiet sorrow 
only ; Numbers 6 and 7 are much deeper and 
stronger. In the first concerto, Op. 11, we 
meet with our Chopin in the romance. In a 
letter wiitten in 1829 to his intimate friend, 
Titus Woyciechowski, Chopin said that this 
movement was composed while thinking of 
the opera singer, Coustaniia Gladkowska, with 
whom he was then in love, and whom he 
hoped to marry. lie also said of this part 
of his Concerto : *^ It ought to create the 
same impression which a landscape, that has 
become dear to as on account of the remem- 
brances it awakens, calls up in the mind on a 
fine, moonlit spring night." The group of 
three Nocturnes, Op. 15, is thoroughly Cliop- 
inesque, though the first still contains some 
echoes of Field ; but the second possesses 
all Chopin's own tender grace, and the 
third, — characteristic even in its leading di- 
rection to the player, " languido e rubato" 
has his own peculiar melancholy, if not his 
passion, and moves the hearer profoundly in 
the monastic legend with which it closes. 

I think it will be generally conceded that 
Chopin's greatest works are comprised within 
Op. 15 to Op. 45 or 50. At the age of 22. 
an age corresponding with the close of his first 
period, that of development as a composer. 
Chopin -had apparently already left behind 
him the spontaneous joyful ness, the fresh de- 
light in artistic creativeness, the enthusiastic 
hopefulness that often accompany genius to 
the end of life. At that time, enforced sepa- 
ration from home, the defeat of the patriot c 
uprising in Poland, regret for his distant love, 
and uncertainty respecting his future position 
and resources, combined to transform the 
visionary youth, still dependent on models 
and tradition, into the active, struggling, suf- 
fering, most original and individual man. 
Passages in his letters of this period prove 
the state of his mind : ^^ Should I return to 
Warsaw ? Go on to Paris ? Kill myself ?" 
He dbtractedly asks his friend Titus. In 
one letter he begs that friend to remind Con- 
stantia of him, and to say to her, ^ Even 
after my death, my ashes will be found under 
her feet," an expression as forcible and direct 
ill its poetic simplicity as the language of a 
folk song. Then followed his removal to 

riii Jtus at ^st ansucceisf ul attempt to es- 



tablish himself there, his project of emigra- 
tion to America. This idea oci'urred to him 
in the same year as that during which the 
poet Lenau passed some months in the new 
world. Lenau, who would have had '* all 
that yields do sound " excluded from man's 
nature, as all material unnecessary to its 
harmonious existence is thrown off by the 
violin in its vibrations, lamented the absence 
of sympathetic warmth in the people, of joy 
in the life, of nightingales in the woods of 
America ; impressionable, melancholy, and im- 
passioned as Heine, but devoid of his satir- 
ical strength and his sense of humor, the 
positive and mercantile side of American 
civilization repelled Lenau. He was too 
idealistic and contemplative ever to have done 
justice to the active industry, the energetic 
will, the intense intellectual and material ac- 
quisitiveness of '* our American cousins." His 
American experience, though not a happy 
one, was at* least brief. Would Chopin ever 
have made himself at home in America ? 
That is very doubtful. What afRnity or an- 
swer would he have found there, fifty years 
ago, it} the requirements of his exquisite and 
sensitive nature? The trying climate; the 
hurrying rush, and absence of leisure in social 
life ; the absence, also, of artistic and aristo- 
cratic circles numerous or powerful enough 
not only to estimate, but also to recompense 
as his merit deserved, the artist not yet 
crowned with the halo of European reputa- 
tion ; the lack of any remunerative demand 
for original compositions; the intrigues of 
other fo eign artists who might have been de- 
sirous of establishing themselves, and likely 
to regard with a jealous eye the possible res- 
idence among them of one so much their 
superior; — it is well for art and art lovers, 
that Chopin never underwent this ordeal. 
His high moral artistic standard, his refine- 
ment and disinterestedness, would certainly 
have prevented him from entering the lists 
with those who, directed by managerial ex- 
perience, so frequently ** inaugurate a new era 
in art," and become for a time ^ the best ad- 
vertised artists in the country ; " for we know 
that even in Paris, and despite his eventually 
great social influence, he chose to withdraw 
almost altogether from public exhibition of 
his artistic powers. But, since his was not the 
nervous, eager, somewhat combative nature 
of Berlioz or Delacroix, his creative genius 
itself misiht have succumbed under too harsh 
an experience. Instead, however, of emigrat- 
ing to America, he remained in Paris. After 
the marringe of his first love, Constantia Glad- 
kowska, he became attached to another Po- 
lish lady, with whom, as his wife, he hoped to 
return to Poland to reside in the neighl)orhood 
of Warsaw, but who jilted him for ihe sake of 
a titled bridegroom. A year or so after this 
second disappointment, his fir:<t meeting with 
Madame Dude van t occurred, — a meeting so 
accidental in its character, yet so impressive 
to the fancy of Chopin, always at liome in 
the region of su[>erDatural 'ideas, from the 
shadow tliat haunted, the scent of violets 
(her favorite perfume), that affected his fine 
perception like a presentiment, immediately 
before it took place. Years afterward, when he 
was about to return home from Encrlnnd to 

o 

die, he wrote to his friend Grzymala, in re- 
gard to the arraogement of his apartments 



for his reception : '* Place a bouquet of 
violets in the $cdon; I should be glad to find 
a little poetry awaiting me on my return." 
Reader, 

** . . . M-tn qn^lqiiffois mpir^ 
Aree iTmie et letite goummiidiie, 
Ce grain d'fncens qui reinplit una ^gBat, 
Ou d'un sachet, le mnae inr^t^i^ ? 
Chaniie profond, nii^iqiie, dont nona griM 
Dans k pn'sent, le pass^ rataui^ ! ** 

During this eventful period, and during 
the years that succeeded it, from Op. 15 to 
Op. 64, what a study ! And not only a 
musical, but also a philosophical, psycholog- 
ical one. Take Op. 20, for instance, the 
great Scherzo in B minor (once called in 
England, " Le banquet infernal " — why ? 
and who so baptized it ?), overflowing with 
the vigor of powerful pathos and the ex- 
liaustless originality that seems at Inst to 
have conquered its own world unto itself ! 
Yet thus was the splendid Scherzo reviewed 
in 1836, in Castelli's Viennese Musikalt$cher 
Anzeiger: *^ If this be jesting, it is a jest of a 
very peculiar kind, and quite in Hell-Breugh- 
el's manner." (Poor Uell-Hreughel ! What a 
scarecrow for com^Kisers those critics turned 
him into I And, oddly enough, by some 
singular union of ideas, or snggestiveness of 
sound, I never meet his name without in- 
stantly conjuring up a vision of Macbetli's 
witches and their hell-broth). ^T\m\^ ala 
* Valse infernale * in Robert le Diable. Fancy 
reigns throughout it, but what kind of 
fancy ? Discontented with itself, brooding 
over disappointment, angry, as misanthropic 
as it is possible to imagine. Oh, heav- 
enly harmony, whither hast thou flown ? In 
what corner has the spotlessly pure one con- 
ceali'd herself?" This is nothing com- 
pared to Rellstab*8 attacks on the great 
Concerto, Op. 21, almost colossal in its gran- 
deur, with its wonderful slow movement; 
and no one with a heart to feel can avoid 
sympathizing with Schumann's noble anger 
when he defended this Concerto in particular, 
and Chopin in general, from Rellstab's con- 
tinual misinterpretation of his works. Ludwig 
Rellstab, born ten years sooner than Chopin, 
at Berlin, studied at first for the musical pro- 
fession, but, having fought as a volunteer in 
the campaign of 1815, he afterwards entered 
the military academy as a student, and be- 
came an officer of artillery and a teacher of 
matliemaiic8. He eventually turned editor 
and novelist. He was imprisoned for .six 
weeks in consequence of his attacks on Spon- 
tini as manager of the Berlin theatie; and 
during several months as a punishment for 
his satire, " Henrietta, the fair Songstress." I 
translate a few extracts from Rellstab's many 
reviews of Chopin's compositions, which ap- 
peared in the Jris from 1833 to 1836. "^It 
is really not worth the trouble to indulge in 
long philippics concerning the distorted maz- 
urkas of Mr. Chopin. We hope that only 
the erratic world of Paris cares anything 
about the erratic writings of Chopin ; for 
they repel all who possess one spark of 
true feeling. On the title-page of his Con- 
certo, Op. 11, Chopin prints, ' played by the 
composer at his concerts,* to show that some 
one is willing to take so much trouble for so 
small a resulL When a surprise is often re- 
peated, it ends by stupefying us, >iule88 
founded on an intellectual, and not on a 



April 26, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



67 



parely mechanical basis. We have from the 
first opposed this merely mechanical manner 
of writing for the piano-forte, which has 
ended by stupefying us. His lust Nocturnes 
are so like his first, that we are afraid to say 
that they are not the very same Nocturnes. 
The fHme of Chopin the pianist will long out- 
live that of Chopin the composer. Where 
Field smiles, Chopin grins; where Field 
sighs, Chopin groans ; where Field shrugs 
his shoulders, Chopin twists like a cat ; where 
Field uses a pinch of spice, Chopin throws in 
a handful of cayenne. This composer is inde- 
fatigable in his search for ear-teaiing disso- 
nance, forced transitions, cutting modulations, 
and contradictory distortions of melody and 
rhythm. Does not Cliopin know that the 
mesisure of poverty of genius is in exact pro- 
portion to the means made use of to create 
effect ? If these works were laid before a 
master, he would tear them up and throw 
them at his feet, as wo now do figuratively. 
Chopin is not quite devoid of talent, however ; 
so let us beseech him to return to truth and 
nature, and no longer stunt and deform his 
own gifts." On page 19 of " Music and Mu- 
sicians," Schumann repeats a very similar piece 
of advice which was once given by some mu- 
sical reporter to Bi-ethoven. Poor Rellstab ! 
"Wretched Berlinese reviewer!" as Schu- 
mann says. The indulgence that might be 
accorded to apparently dishonest praise or 
blame emanating from an incompetent igno- 
ramus, cannot, of course, be given to so able 
a man as Rellstab, who has pilloried his own 
reputation for judgment and integrity in such 
criticisms as those he wrote on Chopin ; how- 
ever, after he had outlived the envious or 
quarrelsome temper of hi^ t'arlier yetirs, he 
attained to a higher degree of sense, taste, 
and justice in his opinions and his expression 
of them. 

After the Concerto we find the Ballade, 
Op. 23, every phrase weighty or flamboyant 
with concentrated anger, patriotic rage, and 
regret; and the magniHcent set of Etudes, 
Op. 25. Let those who care to take the 
trouble, discover why, in measure 20 and on, 
of the seventh of those l^tude^, two lovers of 
Chopin are accustomed to' call this their 
"Lohengrin 6tude." Until' Opus 26, the 
gloom or fervor of disappointed patriotism 
seems to be the most distinguishing trait of 
these later compositions, lightened here and 
there by charming episodes; but Chopin^s 
opus numbers do not always correspond 
to the, date and order of the composi- 
tions. For exHmple, in his first collection 
of iltudes. Op. 10, the sixth, so expressive of 
proud despair, was composed by Chopin in 
1831, on receiving the news of the capture of 
Warsaw by the Russians, and is therefore, 
commonly called the Revolution Etude, and 
the great Ballade, Op. 52, in spite of iu high 
publication number, ranks in onler of compo- 
sition soon after the Preludes Op. 28, as it was 
written on Chopin*8 return from Majorca. 

( Condwnon in next number. ) 



WAGNER'S " GOTTERDAMMERUNG " 
AT VIENNA." 
The fourth and most solid course of the gi- 
gantic Bayreuth mubtual repast was solemnly 
1 From the i^eue Freie Presn of Feb. 16. TVanalated 
ia the Londfln Mmetd World. 



served up yestertlay at the Imperial Opera 
House. What we had to digest at Bayreuth in 
four days, and so to speak, on the same seat, has 
been more conveniently spread out over two 
years for the Viennese. The WnUUre (as the 
first piece) was performed in March, 1877 ; 
Rheingold^ in January, 1878 ; Siefjfriedf in No- 
vember, 1878 ; and now (14th February, 1879) 
the (jbtterddmmerung — a result which, attain- 
able only by the employment of every available 
resource, commands the respect even of those 
who are opposed to the management. Ere long, 
the four separate performances are to be played 
together in series h la Bayreuth, thus fulfilling 
the last demands of that powerful musical party 
which Hanns Hopfen so well terms *' the elegant 
conspiracy." 

Tlie plot of Die Gdfterddmmerung is a direct 
continuation of the preceding drama of Sieg- 
friedt where we left the hei-o enjxaged in an ardent 
amorous dialogue with Brunhild, who has been 
awakened from out the " fiickering glow " and a 
twenty years' sleep. We now, in tlie prelude to 
Dit G otter d&mnierungy behold the pur, taking a 
tender farewell of each other, step forth from 
their rocky grot; Siegfried, in complete armor, 
is sallying forth " to fresh deeds," and hands 
Brunhild the Nibelungenring as a f^age of \\U 
truth. In less than half an hour we shall see the 
Felf-same Siegfried in the Tarncap*, on the self- 
same spot, struggling wiih and overcoming his 
beloved Brunhild for King Gunther^ for whose 
sister, Gutrune, his heart has taken 6re I But let 
us follow the story step by step. Siegfried, bav- 
ins: ridden to the Rhine on Brunhild's well- 
known steed, enters the hall of the Giebichungen. 
Hagen h»is Just been telling King Gunther and 
his sister* Gutrune, all abqut Brunhild, the 'Mnost 
sublime woman in the world." Siegfried is to 
secure the invincible beauty for Gunther, and as 
his reward, receive Gutrune, who, on her part, 
looks forward with lontrint; for the *^ most sub 
lime hero." Ilagen, Gunther, and Gutrune (also 
a band of elegant conspirators I) resolve without 
more ado to give Siegfri^^d a magic potion which 
will cause him to for<ret Brunhild and fall in love 
with Gutrune. This is done ; Siegfried appears, 
with the Tarncap and in Gunther's form, before 
the defenseless Brunhild, from whom, after a 
struggle, in which she is overcome, he wrests the 
ma(;ic rins:. The second act takes us a<;ain to 
the hall of the Giebichungen ; Hagen is insti- 
gated by the dwarf, Alberieh, to destroy Sieg- 
fried, for the purpose of obtainins^ possession of 
the ring. Guntlier appears with Brunhild ; Sieg- 
fried, in his own form, advances, hand in hand 
with Gutrune. to meet them. Brunhild rushes 
up .to him, and, recognizing the ring on his 
finser, becomes aware liow I'aithless is the man 
she so dearly loved. She demands hi^ death, 
and Hagen traitorously stabs him while they are 
out hunting. Immediately before Siegfried's 
death, however, Hagen gives him another magic 
potion to neutralize the effect of the potion 
which produced forgetfulness. Siegfried sud- 
denly remembers Brunhild, and dies with a 
greeting to her on his lips. Gutrune quietly re- 
signs her place by Siegfried's bier to Brunhild, 
who claims it from ber, and then flings herself 
on the funeral pile kindled for Siegfried's corpse. 
The waves of the Rhine inundate the hall, the 
Daughters of the Rhine swim in, and, dragging 
down Hagen, hold up triumphantly the ring of 
which he wanted to obtain possession. At the 
same time a red glow is perceived in the sky ; it 
is the reflection of the conflagration which con- 
sumes the Fortress of the Grods and all its 
magnificence. 

From this short table of contents it will be 

> *< Taruksppe; " « cap which rendcn its wearer inriai- 
ble. 



p'ain that in dramatic animation Die GdUerdam- 
merung decidedly surpasses the three earlier 
dramas of the Nibelungenring series. The ac- 
tion of the second act contains a considerable 
amount of interest, which latter rises very much 
higher in the third. The dwarfs and giants, the 
gods and dragons of the Edda at last retire and 
make room for human beings, the heroes of the 
Nibelungenlied. But, even when thus approxi- 
mating to the German heroic poem, how much 
has R. Wagner not departed from it — how 
much has he not distorted and degraded the 
characters 1 What a repulsive detail, introduced 
by Wagner, is the fact that Siegfried overcome* 
for another, to whom he delivers her over thus 
subdued, not some female who is nothing to 
him, but his own belooedy his own wife ! From 
this instant all sympathy for Siegfried vanishes 
from our breast, and we by no means grieve at 
his violent end. The expedient of the potion 
which produces forgetfulness does not render 
the occurrence less hateful and less insipid. A 
man who brings about the emotions of his hero 
by physical means such* as mixtures, may be a 
good apothecary, but is assuredly a bail poeL 
Already in Tri<tan und Iitolde, the fact that the 
love of the hero and heroine for each other is 
exclusively owing to the operation of a magic 
drink, of a mechanical accident, exerts a repel- 
lant effect. But, at any rate, in that instance, 
Wagner was contented with only one kind of 
physic. In his last hour, however, the faithless 
Siegfried has a remembrance-producing draught 
poured down his throat as an antitlote to the 
potit)n of Ibrgetfulness, so that he may exhale 
his last breath in a pretty sentimental fashion h 
la IJVr/Aer, and with a tender speech to his 
mistress 1 He is not a " hero," but a puppet. 
A disenchant inu drink by which any weak- 
headed indiviilual suddenly becomes conscious 
of all the acts of stupidiiy he has committed 
while under the influence of a spell (or of liquor) 
is properly an incident for a farce. In tragedy, 
where moral will mast hold sway, it is a mon- 
strosity. We care very little whether or no 
these magic potions belong to the oldest saga. 
We read in the play-bill : " Poem by Richard 
Wagner." Who compelled the modern drama- 
tist to admit in his drama what was repulsive 
and impossible ? Hebbel and Era. Geibel were 
as familiar with the toyth as Richard Wagner, 
but how different a course did they pursue in 
their Siegfried tragedies ! Both rejected as un- 
necessary and objectionable precis^fly that which 
Wagner's partLdity for what is morally revolt- 
ing makes the priticipal thing. There was not 
the slightest inward necessity for Siegmund and 
Sieglinde, Siegfried's parents, to be brother and 
sister. When we think of Uebbers tragedy, and 
especially of the touching lament uttered by 
Chriemhild over the corpse of Siegfried, how low 
does Wagner's conception of the story sink in 
comparison! With his potions and poisons, 
Wagner has deprived the lovely, pure charac- 
ter of Chriemhild ( Gutrune) of all iU beauty. 
Ilagen, the type of a rough, unselfish, faithful 
vassal, becomes in Wagner's hands a gold-seek- 
ing, low scoundrel. Thus the only person left 
who enlists our sympathies is Brunhild. 

The action proper is by Wagner interwoven 
or* interrupted by scenes retrospectively con- 
nected with the stories of the Gods in the three 
previous pieces, and intended to establish a con- 
nection between the different parts of the work. 
This harking-back to the mythological busiiieM 
is a real misfortune for the trajgedy, because it is 
done in a violent manner, without any sufficient 
motive, and is unintelligible for the specUtor. 
The chan|;re of the original title: Siegfriea*s 
Death, to The Twilight of the Gods, tells us every- 
thing. It shows plainly that it wa« an after- 



68 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX.— No. 992. 



thought of Wagner's to derange and render con- 
fused the simple, clear events of the Siegfried 
tragedy. In the second volume of his Collected 
Writings, Wagner gives us the original concep- 
tion of the tragedy of Siegfried^ s Death ; he does 
not mentum a word about any Twilight of the 
Gods, The Tact is that Siegfried's death has 
nothing at all to do with the end of the Gods, 
which, as a mysterious prediction, runs through 
German mythology. The effect of the work as 
a whole has to pay for the arbitrariness and ob- 
stinacy with which Wagner clings to tlie Ring 
as the assumed leading motive connecting all 
four dramas with each other. The supernatural 
premises produce unnatural and unintelligible 
consequences. The poet appears at times to 
have himself swallowed a draught of fbrgetful- 
ness. Of the vaunted power of the Ring, which 
confers mastery over the world, we perceive 
nothing, as the said Ring comes into the hands 
of Its various possessors, from Wotan and Fafner 
down to Brunhild. And Siegfried, notwith- 
standing that the magic potion is supposed to 
have effaced from his mind all memory of Brun- 
hild, immediately finds his way back to her, and, 
on her approach, calls her, as some one well 
known to him, " Brunhild 1 " It was not in the in- 
terest of the drama, but for the sake of his " pro- 
found" and old-world mysticism, that Wagner 
wrote the expositional scene (omitted in Vienna) 
of the ** Gotterdammerung " : ** The three Nornes " 
(daughters of Erda) in the weird twilight throw 
to each other the golden rope symbolizing the 
course of human life. The confounding of the 
laws of epic and of dramatic- poetry, of the 
purely symbolical with what should be repre- 
sented on the stage, was here striking enough ; 
in Bayreuth, the scene bordered on the comic. 
Apart, too, from the intolerable length of the 
first act, the Vienna management did well in 
cutting out this introduction. We would rec- 
ommend the application of the same process to 
another equally superfluous scene : Waltraut«'s, 
which tried the patience of the public no less 
rudely. The above Walkyre, who turns up 
quite unexpectedly in Die Gotterddrnmerung^ 
visits Brunhild for the purpose of giving her a 
very moving description of the august Wotan's 
bad state of health.' We suspect that the ma- 
jority of the public (openly or secretly) congrat- 
ulated themselves at having on the third evening, 
at least, been spared the personage in question, 
and consequently would willingly have foregone 
a sentimental and protracted description of his 
melancholy and want of appetite. In a similarly 
surprising fashion does the dwarf, Alberich, 
shoot up, quite episodically, through a trap, for 
the purpose of telling Hagen, in a scene so rich 
in dissonances that it is martyrdom to listen, 
something we knew long before. But the grav- 
est mistake of all is, in our opinion, the end : the 
motiveless and, for the spectator, unintelligible 
introduction of the G&tterddmmerung, which has 
simply nothing whatever in the world to do with 
the only thing that has any interest for us, — the 
fate of Siegfried and Brunhild. The entire catas- 
trophe is managed most precipitately. While, as 
a rule, he is fond of spinning out situations in the 
most incredible manner, Wagner hurries forward 
the final scenes of Die Gdtterddmmerung. The 
murder of Gunther by Hagen, Brunhild's sacri- 
ficial death, Hagen's salto mortale into the stream, 
and the entrance of the Daughters of the Rhine; 
the inundation below, and the Twilight of the 
Gods in the *^ Walhalla " overhead — crowd on 
each other with such absolute and surprising 
haste, after the manner of a ballet, that it is well- 
nigh impossible for the spectator to make out 
what it all means. How the picture of the 
Twilight of the Grods ought to be scenically rep- 
resented at the conclusion is a point on which 



Wagner seems not to have quite made up his 
mind. It was ugly, obscure, and unsuccessful 
in ^^yreuth as it was here, but it was also very 
diffetent, though it was here placed on the stage 
in conformity with ** The Master's " most recent 
directions and under the immediate supervision 
of his agents, openly accredited and secret. Other 
experiments have been made in other German 
theatres with this final tableau, but with not 
much better result. The cause of the mischief 
lies unqucstion«ably in the pocm^ Wagner's in- 
tentions have in this instance overshot the lim- 
its of what is possible, or at least of what can be 
correctly carried out. The obscurity of this 
fourth drama might be essentially diminished by 
two little omissions : the omission of the title, 
GStterddmmerung (in favor of the previous one, 
Siegfried's Tod); and secondly, the omission 
of the cloud scene representing tlie aforesaid 
'* Gotterdiimmeruna:." 

Our notice of the poem has extended to such 
a length that very little space is left for the 
music. Our only excuse is that the story of 
Die Gdlierddmmerung is new and different from 
that of the first three Nibelungen dramas, but 
the music is, generally speaking, the same. The 
music in by far the larger number of cases is 
constructed out of the leading themes of the 
other three evenings, and, therefore, of the same 
materials and in exact conformity with the same 
well-known method. With a few exceptions, 
which shall quickly be mentioned, every thing 
we said, either in the way of praise or censure, 
for the purpose of characterizing the music of 
Die WalkUre, applies to the score of Die GSUer^ 
ddmmerung likewise ; consideration for our read- 
ers forbids us again to repeat what we have so 
oflen said before. The most important differ- 
ence, musically speaking, distinguishing Die Gdt- 
terddmmerung is the — at least sporadic — em- 
ployment of polyphonous song. The unexpected 
concession of an actual chorus for male voices 
especially must ag^eably surprise audiences so 
long treated homophonously. Indeed, we can 
attribute the ecstasy manifested at the noisy 
merriment of Gunther's vassals solely to the ele- 
mentary charm of the long missed sound of a 
number of men's voices in combination. There 
is no want of beautiful detached touches of 
melody either in the first or in the second act ; 
unfortunately, like Siegfried, they all possess a 
Tarncap, beneath which, nearly the instant they 
appear, they make themselves invisible or change 
into something else. The third act rises above 
the two preceding acts, more especially by two 
longish pieces better knit together, organized 
musically more firmly than usual, and possessing 
melodic charm ; these are the original and mag- 
ically sparkling Song of the Daughters of the 
Rhine, and a piece already known from having 
been performed at concerts, the Funeral '* March 
for Siegfried," a composition as cleverly com- 
bined as it is magnificently carried out. — Edou- 
ARD Hanslick. 



BOOK NOTICES. 

John Lothrop Motley. A Memoir. By Oli- 
ver Wendell Holmes. Boston: Hough- 
ton, Odgood & Co. 

Holmes's memoir of Motley is one of the note- 
worthy books of the year, being a warm and 
tender tribute from one man of genius to another. 
If the dead historian could awake to pass judg- 
ment upon it, strong and fervid as he was, he 
would be gratified at the courage, the strong af- 
fection, and the excellent good sense displayed by 
his friend. The memoir, though brief, is suf- 
ficient to give a good idea of Motley's character 
and training, of his toils and achievements. In 
view of what his life and labors were to be, it 



was a singular coincidence that one of his school- 
masters at Northampton should have been Ban- 
croft, the historian, and that Bismarck, the prop of 
mo<]ern, Protestant Germany, should have been 
his fellow student at Gottingen and Berlin. 

Those who came in contact with Motley at 
different periods of his life agree in representing 
him as wonderfully brilliant in conversation, and 
attractive in person. Precisely what turn his 
mental development was to take could not be 
predicted ; but he had the vivid perceptions, the 
quick sense of comparison, the talent for apt 
retort, and the general exuberance of resources 
which belong to men predestined to greatness. 

The failure of his first novel was fortunate. 
It has value as a profound study in autobiog- 
raphy, but not much else. The brilliant and 
lamented Edmund Quincy was the one who first 
advised Motley to turn his attention to history ; 
assuring him that most of the elements of a really 
great novel could be employed with effect in his- 
torical portraiture and in tlie dramatic presenta- 
tion of events. The result showed the wisdom 
of the advice. The histories of Motley, being re- 
lations of the great struggle for religious liberty 
in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries, are necessarily partisan in character : 
but they are laid upon solid foundations after 
years of intense activity in research ; and they 
are meant to be just, — that is to say, to be 
absolutely truthful in the statement of facts. 
But the author, as a Protestant and a believer 
in free institutions, does not attempt to disguise 
bis sympathies ; and his commanding energy and 
splendor of diction give the high lights of poetry 
and the vivid colors of romance to the exciting 
and often tragical events he portrays. 

The letters quoted by Dr. Holmes give a good 
idea of the historian's labors. A more difficult 
matter was to treat with due thoroughness the 
diplomatic services of Motley, and the unfor- 
tunate personal controversies in which he was 
involved with the Washington State Department. 
In common with all our foreign ministers he ex- 
perienced the annoyance of entertaining or of 
repelling the pretentious and vulgar persons 
among his countrymen who go abroad expecting 
to hob^-nob with princes. A man so fastidious 
as Motley could hardly have concealed his aver- 
sions. But probably he would have survived 
the attacks of the McCrackens and other wasps, 
if be had not been exposed to the jealous malig- 
nity of persons in exalted office. This is a very 
sorry business ; and Dr. Holmes, following the 
able and fearless John Jay, makes it pretty evi- 
dent that the complaints against Motley were 
trumped up to cover a revengeful purpose. 

The blow was keenly felt, and the relation of 
Motley's medical attendant, Sir William Gull, 
leaves little room to doubt that the intense morti- 
fication, preying upon an over-sensitive nature, 
was the not very indirect cause of the disease 
which ended his life. To Boston, which reared 
and nurtured Motley, his good name is precious. 
The public owes a debt of gratitude to his fear- 
less biographer. The friends of letters, and the 
friends of purity and honor in politics, will wel- 
come the final and triumphant justification of 
Motley by the great tribunal to which he so 
solemnly appealed. F. H. U. 



The Return of the Native. By Thomas 
Hardt. New York : Henry Holt & Co. 
This book might almost serve as a touchstone. 
It is an infallible test as to whether the reader 
has the faculty of imagination, or rather the 
power of realizing the imagination of others. For 
we must say (having small space to come to the 
subject by slow approaches), that this is a great 
book, and the author one of the few creative 
minds at preseqt engaged in writing fiction. 



Apkil 26, 1879.] 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



69 



The description of the heath on which the 
almost awful drama is to be enacted is one of 
those stern pictui*es which become a part of 
one's memory forever. William Black is a fine 
painter of wild scenery, and gives the poetry 
of the hills and the sea in the most melodious 
sentences ; but Hardy, whose vigor is like Car- 
lyle*8, puts more energy and more vividness into 
five lines than the elegant Black can compass in 
a page. 

Hardy is equally strong in his people. The 



whether the family would like her eyes blue or 
not in a portrait I 

I have n't lost a working day since we began. 
On Sundays we go off driving, and once or twice 
after work when we can see a few bright streaks 
in the sky, but generally not. Two Months is a 
horribly diort time ; but I can only do what I 
can. The paintings won't be like anything else. 
I don't kno# what people will think of them ; 
but that *B not my lookout. 

It is an entirely new kind of work for me. 



peasants, singing and dancing about their fires on different from anything else. I have to be very 



the fifth of November (Guy Fawkes's day), are 
drawn as if by the swift pencil of Teniers, and 
they talk as if they had been overheard and re- 
ported by Shakespeare. The power to enter into 
the mind of a boor, to think his thoughts, and 
fachion them in his way, has come to few men. 
The grave-digger is an entity no easier to con- 
ceive than Hamlet himself. 

Hardy is remarkable for the power he shows 
in making his characters depict themselves. 
The nature of the voluptuous and not very con- 
scientious Eustatia is nowhere described in set 
phrase ; nor is the amiable, truthful, and rather 
weak Thoraasin. A very few touches suffice to 
show the worthlessness of Wildeve ; and poor 
Clym stands out like a statue of melancholy 
Duty in bonds to fate. 

Probably the quaintest character of the whole 
is his ** reddleman," whose activity, shrewdness, 
and ubiquity make him the very centre and 
mainspring of the plot. 

The prevailing gloom of the book is its chief 
drawback; not that we would not rather have 
Han1y*s gloom than almost any other novelist's 
gaycty ; but with such great and glorious gifts 
we think an author owes something to the great 
public that admires him. This is a busy age ; 
and over^worked people, especially lettered peo- 
ple, crave the benign influence of more joyous 
and more brilliant scenes than those represented 
upon the immortal Egdon Heath. F. H. U. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES. 

VROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

IV. 



At the State Capitol, Albany, N. Y. 

It 's great fiin to be one of a gang. Tliere are 
ever so many workmen down below our scaffolding, 
working while we do. We come here at nine 
every morning, climb the stairs, and don 't go 
down until six in the evening. Have a light 
dinner brought us near the middle of the day. 
There 's plenty of exercise, for one must keep 
coming down the step-ladder and running away 
to see how the panels look. I have two step- 
ladders, on rollers. We have everything that we 
could desire. They insisted upon giving us a 
carpenter, whom we employ in washing our 
brushes. Tliey are as careful of us as possible, 
never letting a workman come up-stairs without 
some one to look after him. 

We don 't use very large brushes ; not bigger 
than my wrist. Large ones proved too sloppy. 
We have to take care lest the paint in the sky, 
for instance, should splash down on the figures 
below. The stone isn't a bit too rough. In 
fact, I almost wish it were rougher, the paint 
fills it up so. The figures are al>out twice the 
size of life. The women's arms are the size of a 
man's leg; and the Discoverer is twelve feet 
high. But you get entirely used to that large 
scale, and don't think of it. And it 's fun I It 's 
fatiguing of course; but it's the things which 
bore you that kill you, not the fatiguing ones ; 
and I 'm never bored here at all. It don 't take 
the life out of you half as much as thinking 



decided, for one thing, otherwise the work won't 
be seen from the very great distance. To disen- 
gage the clear figures from the light sky, I have, 
in places, to use a brun-roiige lino as thick as 
your finger. Every mistake or weakness " car- 
ries" perfectly. It won't do either to have 
things vapory. A fascinating little head, dis- 
solving into nothing, won't do at all. You 
can't see what it means. Then I have to paint 
in a key which, Uiough very colored, is very 
light, far lighter than my studies of the composi- 
tions, because I don 't expect to have much light 
on my work. The abyss of darkness in the 
** Flight of Night" is really not much darlier 
than brown paper. On a rainy day we have to 
work by torchlight, and my greatest anxiety is 
to know what the effect will be when the window 
screens and all the scaffolding come down ir- 
revocably, and I see my work for the first time, 
as it is to be seen I 

It 's a beautiful hall, and I have to work with 
one eye on my picture, and two on its surround- 
ings, to make my work take the right place in it. 
Ever since I began I have tried to keep both 
pictures so together, that if the scaffolding were 
taken down at any moment, they should bo in- 
telligible as far as they went. The architect is 
very much pleased with them, and says that even 
if I were to leave them now, his dreams would 
be more than fulfilled. 

It *s great fun 1 It makes you glad you have 
an occupation in life 1 

One thing let me tell you. You must learn to 
be precise, to draw exact lines, so that when you 
have mural painting to do, you may be able to do 
it. 

I 've learned a great deal by this work. Not 
that my ideas have changed ; but, for one thing, I 
should be much quicker in putting in the back- 
ground of a portrait, and not keep working on 
small parts of it. Then I 've learned more about 
getting the general, simple character of the figure, 
and making the important lines very precise and 
firm, and I 've learned not to think it so neces- 
sary to have strong shadows and lights ; but to 
do figures as you see them out of doors when 
you come out of your shop in the afternoon, and 
there 's no sun shining. 

At first I hardly knew how to make pictures 
that should be mural decorations and full of color. 
Before I began this work I had always looked for 
" effect," for " chiaroscuro," etc., rather than for 
vivid colors, and for qualities that are now 
needed. You could not stay in the room with 
the colors that I have had to use in order to 
make the panels look colored and light over 
rows of windows. 



Boston Art Muskuk. The completion of the fh>nt 
leetion of the noble building, and Its inauguration last Mon- 
day evening by the opening of the grand exhibition of paints 
ing, atatuary, crayon drawings, and all kinds of art work, 
under the auspices of the Art Club, the Society of Archi- 
tects, and the ichooU connected with the Muaeum, was 
enough to nuke one proud of Boston. Thousands of guests 
were present, who went home enthusiastic about what they 
had seen. The long range of rooms, brilliantly lighted, and 
so richly filled, ofSend most seductive vistas to the eye. 
Most proud might one feel at the array of copies and origi- 
nal productions by the pupils in our local schools. W^ 
there of the sort when w» were boys! 



^tDisl^t'0 fpui^nal of fiSiufAc 

e 
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1879. 

BACH'S PASSION MUSIC. 

Our old Handel and Haydn Society may well 
feel pride in its great achievement on the after- 
noon and evening of Good Friday (April 11). 
The entire St. Matthew Passion Music, by Sebas- 
tian Bach, was actually presented, without any 
omission whatever, in these two performances, — 
a thing very seldom done in Germany itself; and 
never elsewhere in this country has any consid- 
erable portion of the great work been attempted, 
— here and there a choral, or a single aria, is all 
we have seen reported outside of tliis city, — so 
that Boston, too, can take pride in it, and in the 
society which has shown the earnest aspiration, 
the courage, the perseverance, and the ability to 
organize and carry through so noble and so vast 
an undertaking. It was the culmination of a 
series of gradual approaches to completeness, 
beginning with the festival in May, 1871, and 
resumed in May, 1874, and April, 1876. Increas- 
ins interest in the music has followed all these 
efforts ; the singers themselves have gradually 
learned to love the work as they became familiar 
with it through rehearsal, until those who still 
think it dry and merely learned, difficult, and un- 
rewarding, are left in a decided minority. Their 
enthusiasm has spread beyond themselves, until 
at last the public was prepared to seize with 
eagerness the rare opportunity now offered of 
hearing the grandest monumental work of sacred 
music for once well presented and complete. 
The Music Hall was crowded at both concerts, 
many persons coming from a distance, and many 
having to stand up through the whole ; and for 
the benefit of hundreds who could not procure 
seats, public rehearsals of both parts were given 
on the two preceding afternoons. 

The division into two performances was a wise 
one, and indeed absolutely necessary to complete- 
ness, for the First Part occupied two hours, and 
the Second Part almost two hours and a half. It 
was also in accordance with the original design 
of the work, which was composed for the church 
service, in the old Thomas-Kirche of Leipzig, of 
which Bach was Cantor, Part I. being sung be- 
fore sermon (and probably before dinner), and 
Part II. after. Tliat was on Good Friday, 1729. 
Then the MS. lay shelved for a century, until 
Mendelssohn and his friend, Edward Devrient, 
revived it in Berlin, March 12, 1829. Our per- 
formance was on its 150th anniversary ; and the 
day was timely, many persons being drawn 
through their religious sentiment to music so ex- 
pressive of all that there is most deep and ten- 
der and sublime in the associations and emotions 
of the Holy Week. 

We have written so much about this Passion 
music in pastt years, that we need not enter into 
any full description of it now. It will be enough 
to speak of the performance and the impressions 
produced, dwelling a little more, perhaps, on the 
more important numbers hitherto omitted. For 
order we will take the various elements which en- 
ter into the construction of the work. Of course 
the real order is that of the gospel narrative of 
the betrayal and crucifixion of Christ. That 
narrative forms the connecting thread in all rep- 
resentations of the Passion, whether dramatic or 
musical ; and therefore we have to consider : — 
1. The Recitative, which is of two kinds : first, 
the simply narrative, which is assigned to a high 
tenor voice, in the character of Evangelist, of the 
kind called recitativo secco, sustained by mere 
chords struck on an upright piano-forte (Mr. 
Tucker). For the singer it is a most exacting 
task, recfuiring not only a voice of high rangtt 



70 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



lVol. XXXIX. - No. 992. 



and great endarance, but thorough artistic 
training, taste and skill and feeling. For Mr. 
W. Courtney's delivery of wh-it would be task 
enough for two voices, independently of the tenor 
arias, we have only praise. He acquitted him- 
self most creditably. . The voice was clear and 
sweet and flexible ; the trying and unusual inter- 
vals were taken accurately and surely ; the 
declamation was intelligent and telling, and it 
was nearly all expressive ; perhaps now and then 
a trifle too expressive, where a few commonplace 
words of narrative were dwelt on with gratuitous 
pathos. But, on the whole, it was excellent, con- 
sidering the long, high strain upon tlie organ. 
(It must be remembered that our modern pitch 
is about a tone and a half above that of Bach*s 
time ) Some call these recitatives " dr> " in 
other than a technical sense. We cannot for a 
moment agree with them. B.ich's recitative, 
here and always, is unsurpassable in its wonder- 
ful expressivenesrt and beauty. The singer who 
has mastered it knows that, if nobody else does. 
Every phrase and every note of it is perfectly 
adapted to the thought, the image, and the 
word. Now and then it melts into uncon<icious 
melody, a measure or two of most pathetic ca- 
dence, as where " Pettr wept bitterly ; " or, 
again, grows graphic and appalling, as where 
'* The veil of the temple is rent in twain.** 
Experience, closer acquaintance, with true sensi- 
bility and taste, will surely sustain all that we 
have said of these " dry " recitatives. 

Then there U the dialogue recitative, where 
characters are introduced as spe iking, and which 
are more caniabUe, and none could be more char- 
acteristically contrasted, llie wonls of Jesus 
(Bans), as here set in tones, have all the dignity 
and ten lerness that could be imagined. And 
with what exquisite sense of fitness and distinc- 
tion Bach always, tlie moment Jesus bcgiui*, causes 
a delicate stream of violin harmony to flow in 
like a halo about his sacred head, as in tlie old 
pictures ! Perhaps it es4'ape<l the notice of some 
of the critics. Mr. M. W. Whitney gave -these 
sentences with due solemnity and tenderness, 
particularly in the scene of the Supper. Those 
of the High Priest, of Judas, and others, equally 
well individualized, were for the most part truly 
and strongly brought out by Mr. J. F. Winch, 
and then such expressive bits as the pert ac- 
cusation of the two maids: "Thou, too, wast 
with Jesus of Galilee 1 " But it will not do to 
enter into detail here-; perhaps we may, some 
day, if only for our own satisfaction, try to com- 
plete our old description of the work. 

2. The German Choral*, with Bach*8 inimi- 
table harmony, whereby the Pasfrion bridges its 
entrance over into the Protestant (Lutheran) 
communion, representing the voice of the con- 
gregation, or whole Christian people, may be 
considered as the next essential element. There 
are some fifteen of these, counting the instances 
in which the same melo<ly is introduced more 
than once, with a new harmony and changed 
expression. These, like the chorus in the old 
Greek tragedy, reflect an<l comment on the pass- 
ing moments of the action. If the disciples ask, 
« Lord, is it I ? ** when told that one of them 
will betray him, the choral takes it upon itself 
for all and each : ** *Tis 1 1 my sins betray Thee I " 
Some of the chorals come in by themselves as 
moments of calm, grand repose, amid the ex- 
citing, agonizing stir of the recital, like broail, 
cool, still sheets of water in the midst of a bold, 
wild landscape, reflecting hills, and woods, and 
sky ; others steal in softly and with exriuisite 
efiVct, verse by verse, at intervals during a solo; 
and one, clothed with a marvelous wealth of 
figurative counterpoint, and with an orchestral 
accompaniment as rich and grand as. a Symphony, 
if leogtben«d intQ a grand concluding chorus for 



the First Part. They were all sung by the 
five hundred voices with impressive power and 
rich sonority, accompanied by int^truments in 
unison with each of the four parts, as well as by 
the great organ, used discreetly throughout the 
work by Mr. Lang. We felt, however, that 
some of them were rather too coarsely sung ; we 
should have liked some delicate, expressive 
shading here and there in lines, sucti as we are 
told is given them in Berlin and Leipzig. We 
may except, however, from this comment the 
choral, "O head all bruised and wounded,'* 
which was sung with a subduetl and lender feel- 
ing, very beautifully. We cannot help tliinking 
that t-hese chorals, sung by so many voices, 
would sound better unaccompanied. It is true. 
Bach indicates the instruments in his score and 
Franz retains them ; but Bach had, perhaps, 
thirty voices in his chorus, and it is probable 
that ho followe<l the uM German custom of letting 
the congregation sing the melody in unison (that, 
to be sure, means octaves !), so that for harmony 
the instruments, at least the organ, wouhi be nec- 
essary ; we have heard chorals done so in the Ca- 
thedral at Berlin. For, otherwise, these chorals 
miss their proper function in thj Passion, which 
is to af!urd sublime, refrashing moments of repose. 
Yet all cre<]it to the correctt and hearty and im- 
pressive manner in which they were done I Year 
by year (Uiking it for granted that the Passion 
at Good Friday will become an institution) there 
will be more and more refinement and expression 
in the rendering. Several of the chorals were 
sung here for the first time. 

8. Grand choruses of entrance and of exit in 
each part, gigantic portals, fitly leading up to 
the stupendous scene, and leading us away, fill- 
ing the mind with wonder and with awe, or 
swelling forth the universal requiem. We need 
not describe the colossal opening (double) chorus, 
'* Come ye daughters,'* with the soprano ripieno 
choral sung by boys. Never before has it been 
so grandly sung here, and so well accompanied ; 
it was an earnest labor, the rehearsal of it, on 
the part of singers and conductor, and was well 
rewarded. The boys, drafted from three of our 
public schools, had been well trained by Mr. 
Sharland, and were )X)stetl in a side upper gal- 
lery. In the public rehearsals we feared the 
loud cornet used to lead the boys would drown 
their voices, — Franz designates clarinets and 
the soprano trombone, sofler instruments, — but 
on Friday the cornet was more subiiued, and the 
fresh, delicate quality of the boy voices was 
pleasant to the ear. 

** Ye lightnings, ye thunders," that swifl, tre- 
mendous outburst of indignation, and impreca- 
tion of divine vengeance, afler Jesus is bound 
and led away, may also count among the grand 
choruses, though it is only incidental, passing like 
a whirlwind in an instant, and is properly the 
conclusion of a scene, of which the first part is 
that tender duet of foprano and alto, with ex- 
quisite accompaniment of flutes, oboes, violins, 
and violas, in which every note weeps, and in 
the midst of which the incontinent rage of the 
tiisciples vents itself in exclamations, "Leave 
him I bind him not ! " (which we would rather 
hear not so fortissimo) like the muttered thunder 
of the coming storm, until the double chorus finds 
full vent, " Ye lightnings 1 " etc. Somehow this 
chorus had not all the spirit that it has had on 
some former occasions ; partly, perhaps, because 
so many of the tenor and bass seats were empty 
in the afternoon, and partly because ir. was not 
taken quite fast enough. Yet it made an im- 
pression and was loudly applauded, in spite of 
the request that there might be no applause. 

Then, closing the first part, must be named 
the sublime figured choral, " O Man, bewail thy 
sin so great," before alluded to, which, though 



only in four parts, sounds, with its exceedingly 
rich and goi>reous orchestration, qaite as grand 
and broad as any of those in eight parts. The 
pervading instrumental figure keeps up that ca- 
ressing! of the notes of which Bach is so tbnd : — 



I:i 






•-#>-^ 



H 1- 




:e=ij 



The melody, or tune, is sung always by the 
sopranos, beginning just ahead of the other voices, 
which are interwoven in an inexhaustible variety 
of most expressive counterpoint. The parts are 
hard to learn, but once learned are not soon lost, 
for in their character they are essentially singa- 
ble ; what a melodious, natural flow the bass part 
has, which looks so difficult I This chorus was 
given for the first time, and it was about as cap- 
ital an achievement as the Ilandel and ilaydn 
Society has ever reached. 

The infinitely rich and tender " Schluss-Chor," 
or concluding chorus, which we have called the 
requiem, " Around thy tomb here sit we weep- 
ing," never fails to make a profound impression ; 
it is simply perfect ; no choir can sing it, no au- 
dience hear it, without deep emotion, whi<th all 
caiTy home witli tliem. It was grandly, nobly 
sung; and yet, we thought, too loudly, witli too 
rough accompaniment of brass, for the sentiment 
of words and situation, ** Here sit we weeping, 
and murmur low in tones supprest : Rest thee 
softly," etc. When Franz put in those parts for 
horns and trombones, he meant them doubtless 
to be kept down somewhat, so that they might 
greatly enrich the ensemble of tone, but not make 
it overloud and coarse. 

4. The so-called " TurboB^** or short, stirring 
choruses of an excited crowd, now of the disci- 
ples, now of an infuriated mob, clamoring, ** Let 
llim be crucified," etc. All of the more moder- 
ate ones in Part I. had been sung here before : 
" No, not on the feast," *' Wherefore wilt thoa 
be so wasteful ? " etc. They are diflicult, the 
parts curiouitly interwoven, vividly suggestive oi 
the situation, and they were sung better than 
ever before, though there are always too many 
voices which seem to wait for surer ones to make 
the first attack. Most of the fierce choruses of 
the Jews had not been sung before, and it was a 
great work to master them, and in the main rea- 
sonably successful. " Let Ilim be crucified," for 
instance, which occurs a second time in a key 
one tone higher, is in its intertanglement of pa^ts 
like an oak wrenched and twisted by the hurri- 
cane and liffhtnins. What a satisfaction to have 
mastered such a thing 1 So, ^ He guilty is of 
death," " O tell us ... . who gave the blow," 
*• What is that to us ? " " His blood be on us," 
"Thou that destroy'st the temple," and that 
piercing cry (diminished seventh), *' Bdrabbas 1 " 
all bring an angry, taunting, and relentless mul- 
titude, exciting one another, and out-screaming 
one another, in a few brief strokes most vividly 
before us. The conductor had been urgent and 
exacting, and the chorus had wrestled bravely 
with these knotty problems, and they solved them 
pretty satisfactorily. 

5. The Arioji^ with their introductory melodic 
recitatives. Tliese form a very large portion of 
the work, representing the reflective element. 
They are too numerous, too important, too full of 
pathos and of beauty to be passed lightly over in 
the small space we have left us now. Quite a 
number of them were sung here for the first time ; 
and among these were some of those ex(]uis'ttely 
lovely arias with chorus, which are among the 
finest numbers in the work, such as the temr 
recitative and aria: "O grief!" .... ''I'll 
watch with my dear Jesus alway," in which the 
soil, sweet harmoniea of the choral : '* So sluai- 



April 26, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



71 



ber 8h:ill our sins befall/' comes in repeatedly. 
A new one this time was (hu op<*ning number of 
Part II., alto aria : *' All I now is my Jesus 
gone," and chorus, in a somewhat romantic, psis- 
torai vein, suited to the words from the Song of 
Solomon, " Whitlier has thy Friend departed V ' 
We must take another time to call attention to 
the sometimes at first hidden beauties of all tliese 
melodies, with their no less beautiful accompani- 
ments. At present wo can only briefly thanlc the 
artists who showed themselves so wuU fitted for 
their several taslis, and who entered so well into 
the spirit, as well as the severe technical require- 
ments of the work. Miss Henrietta Beebe sang 
the soprano arias in a pure, sweet, flexible voice, 
in a tasteful, finished style, with respect for the 
compoi<er, and with (;ood expression, although 
her voice is of too light a character to bear all 
the wei>rht of emotion* with which these songs 
are charged. She was particularly happy in the 
air with the flute solo, and delicate accompani- 
ment of two clarinets : ** From love unbounded." 
Misd Edith Abell has a rich contralto, or mezzo 
soprano voice, well trainetl and effective, and 
sang all her arias artistically, with true feeling 
and expression. Her lowest tones, however, 
were sometimes blatant and unpleasant ; and she 
seems easily fati;;;ued. Her great aria : ** O par- 
don me, my Go<l " {Erharme dicK), was sung with 
breadth and sustained nobleness of style. Mr. 
Remenyi's violin (Mi goto was in some respects 
finely played, but there was too much of himself 
in i(. And the saiiie may be said of his obUgaio 
in the bass aria, which Mr. J. F. Winch sang so 
tellingly and grandly : " Give me back my dear- 
est Master." Mr. Winch was hardly in his best 
voice, but he was well prepared and effective in 
some of his exceedingly difficult tasks, such as 
** Come, blessed cross ! '* And let us not forget, 
while speaking of this aria, to give credit to Mr. 
Wulf Fries for the altogether beautiful and fault- 
less manner in which he placed the interesting 
and very difficult new violoncello solo. Mr. 
Courtney was as artistic, and on the whole satis- 
factory, in his trying arias as in the narrative 
recitatives, — a remarkable achievement for one 
man, indeed 1 Mr. Whitney's {)onderou8 and no- 
ble bass told to fine advantage in the most beau- 
tiful of all the bass solos, the recitative : *' At 
eventide, cool hour of rest,'* and aria : '* Cleanse 
thee, O my soul, from sin," which he sang with 
a sustained and even breadth of style and with 
true feeling and expression. 

We have yet to speak of the highly credit- 
able cooperation of the orchestra, and of the im- 
portant nature of the work they had to do, and 
of many other things, before this record will be 
worthy and complete. 



J0DAS Maccabaeus Handd'i martial and heroic 

Oratorio wm given with great sfMrit and in grand ityle on 
the evening of Easter Sunday, Af>ril 1.1. The only draw- 
backa were that, in spite of large omissions, it was altogether 
too long, coming so soon after the exhausting music of the 
Passion week; and tiiat many numbers of the work require 
the labors of a man like Robert Franz to fill out the accom- 
paniments. The choruses, some of them very diflScult, were 
ou tlie wliole splendidly sung. The soloists were: ftliss 
Fanny Kellogi(, who acliieved a brilliant success in the 
soprano arias, delighting all by the clear, bright, musical 
quality of her voice, and fine, tasteful execution. She has 
some faults yet to unlearn : chiefly, the habit of attacking a 
passage with a too explosi\« sforzando; Miss Edith Altell, 
whose voice seemed somewhat dull and weary after tlie former 
eflbrts. though she sang finely ; Mr. Courtney, who again 
Sistinguislied himself by the dear, ringings tone and fervor 
of his martial teiHW airs; and Mr. M. W. Whitney, who 
did all justice to the bass part of Simon. Orchesti'ay and 
organist (B. J. Lang), and the thorough-going conductor, 
wen up to all requiraments. 

Everybody, of course, with " his sisters and his coushns 
•lid his aunts,*' will go to the complimentary benefit of 
Carl Zeruahn on Friday, May 2, and hear KVjah^ — 
that iB,af^jbodj who can squMM into Uia Mqsie HaU. 



CONCERTS. 

We have only room for a mere line or two about a few of 
tlie nmny intervatinj; Concerts of the past thnfe weeks; the 
nvt will have to wait their turn. 

Tlie fourth and bat Eutkui*k Qoncert (April 9), was the 
most lirilliant and delightful of them all. The New York 
I'lnlhttnuonio Club gave a moat pure and satisfactory ren- 
dering of Be«tboven*s perfect QuUitet in C, Mr. Amokl lead- 
ing witli mora fire than be has sliown before. Moairts 
dahity first Quartet in G, was very smoothly, neatly, delicately 
played. But the great Octet of Mendelssohn (fur four violuis, 
two violas and two 'cellos), which starts ofl^with such fire in 
the Allej^ro, has such grace, and beauty, and finmt in the 
Andante, and such scouring speed and rush in the Finale, 
carried all before it by thefiivaud vigor, and the perfection of 
ensemble, with which it was pbtyed. Three of our own 
Boston artists (Messrs. AJIen, Akeroyd, and Wulf Fries) 
were no mean match for their associates iu this perfonuaiioe. 



The first of the three Classical Concerts announced by 
Messrs. Sherwood, Aulkm, and WuLr Fries, took phu» 
at Mechanics HaU, on Tuesday evening, April lr>, and was 
a choice, artistic, and delightful entertainment. The btring 
Quartet, in F, an early work by Rubinstein, impressed us mure 
agreeably than many more ambitious and wild things wliich 
he has written since. It is all fresh, clear, spontaneous, and 
charming in ita ideas, and consistently wrought out; and it 
WHS very nicely played by the ''Beethoven Quaj-tette "* (Meaus. 
Allen, Julius Akeroyd, Henry Heiudl, and Wulf Fries.) 
Ch<tpin*s '^Polonaine Brillante," \i\ C, Op. 3, for piano and 
'cello, was finely played by Mrs. Sherwoud and Wulf Fries; 
and that lady covered herself with credit by the smooth, 
facile, graceful technique, as well as the >'erve and fire with 
which slie pbtyed Schumann's great £-flat Quintet, witli 
the above-named artists. Miss Mary K. Turner, soprano, 
who sang Paniiui's aria, **Ah! lo so," from the JIatfic 
FltUtt showed great improvement both iu the developed 
qiuUity of her fine voice, and in the tasteful delivery and 
phrasing of the music, albeit the rendering was a little cold 
and impassive. Franz's " Slumber Sung " veemed less well 
duited to her; but ''The Lark," by Itubinstein, much bet- 
ter. We sludl have still better things to report of the sec- 
uud concert (April 22), and doubtless, also, of the third, 
next week. ^_^^ 

Mme. RiVB-KiNO's Piano-forte Redtal (April 17) had a 
faurge audience for a stormy afternoon. The prc^ramme was 
what we stated in our last, save io the omission ot the Men- 
deiasohn ** Spring Song.*' Her consummate technique was 
more than ever i^preciated in the small hall; ditlicultie« 
seem no longer to exist for her. The Samita Appauiuntitn 
of Beetlioven was superbly nmdered ; though one nmst have 
bad more of life experienoe to sound all ita depths of mean, 
ing and of feeUug. In the AUi^ro from " Schumainrs 
"Faschingsehwauk,'* and iu six notable selections from 
Chopin (Nocturne in G minor, Op. 37; Beroeuse; Im- 
promptu iu C-siiarp minor; Valse, in A flat, Op. 34; tiie 
Scherzo, in B minor, and the Rondo in E flat), she showed 
many phases of her interpretative fiu:ulty. Most of it was 
very flue, indeed, though one sometiuica felt that all-con- 
quering executive power claimed notice rather than the 
inner saise and spirit of the composition. But we think 
that altogether loo much fault has beeu found with hm per- 
formances iu this regard. 

Her transcription of the Andante and Rondo from Men- 
del«sohu*s Violhi Concerto is a musicianly and clever piece of 
work, and sounded well. Some may que«tioii the kgitimaey 
of such a transfer from one instrument to another so entirely 
dilRfrent; but Beethoven arranged and published his own 
Violin Conoerto to be played on the pianoforte, and Liazt 
has transcribed great Organ Fugues of Bach to general ac- 
ceptance. In Tausi^'s expansion of the Strauss waltz, 
•* Slan lebt nur einmal,'* Mme. King revelled in the dazzling 
maze of difficulties. 

Miss Abbio Whinnery (whom Boston, we regret to say, 
has lost) sang Beethoven's " Know'st thou the land ? " 
Haydn's " Mermaid's Song," and Faun's *' Sancto Maria," 
in a most simple, pure, artisUe style, and with great sweet- 
ness and evenness of voice. 



AiTGUflT Kreissmann. — The following tender tribute 
was received just a day too late for our last issue: — 

Mr. Editor: Let one of many sorrowing firiends speak 
through your columns a word of tribute to the memory of 
that kind and noble man and devoted musiebm, August 
Krdssmann. 

The lately^'eeeived news of his death in Germany was a 
sudden and sexiere blow to those in Boston who enjoyed the 
pri%'ilege of his friendship. Gentle and amiable in disposi- 
tion, equally charming in his domestic and social life, of al- 
most unlimited generosity — as more than one can testify, — 
his Ums surely calls fiirth more than common fcrief. Through 
all the yean of his constantly recurring illness, he never 
loMt the sweet patience which was one ti his distinguishing 
traits. 

His music was his never-failing oonifbrt; he wrote recently 
to a friend: "In my shattered state of health, the purautt 
of Music (die edle MuMca) affords almost my entire life-enjoy- 
ment Sue never yet abandoned « fidthful follower." Many 
a masidim now in this dty or on fitraign ground, can neall 



delightfbl houra passed under his roof in sympathetie enjoy, 
meiit of their beluved TwkuntU Hopes have often arisen 
that renewed strength would permit hmi to return and re- 
sume his place amung us. lluw sad is the certainty that 
those hopes can be eheriahed no more ! . . . . 

Our hearts mourn over tliat grave in German soil; and 
our deepeat sympathy goes out to the sorely-stricken Ikmily 
whose lives are thus over-sliado«ed. 8. B. 

BoBTOX, April 10, 1879. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Baltikorb, April 21 Since my last there has been 

nothmg of general intorest in musical matten here besida 
the Peabody Concerts. The programmes of the last two 
were as follows : — > 

Sixth Co:vcert, April 5. 
Eighth Symphony. B minor. No. 8*. 

Work 47 NitU W, Gadt. 

Prelude and Romance, from the 4th act 

of the opera Twtiille Atffer ffamerik. 

Miss 11. A. Hunt. 
Piano-Concerto. A minor. Work 16 . Edtard Crieff, 

"Mr B. Couriaender. 
Elfin Hill. Danish drama. Work lUO. 

Fragments. Composed 1828 .... Fr. Kuhlau. 
(Overture, Folk-songs, Agnete's Dream 
and ellln daiioe, bulk-song. Minuet.) 

The fulk-sougs sung by Miss H. A. Hunt. 

SsvEifTH Concert, April 19. 

Fantastic Sympliony, C mxjor. Work 14. Hector BerHog, 
Recitative and Air, from Theodora , , G F. HttndeL 

Miss Edith Abell. 

Serenade, D minor. No. 3. Wurk 69 . R. Vothmann, 

(For string orchestra and 'cello obllgato.) 

9 Blr. Rudolph Greeu. 

The Lost Chord. Song with piano . Arthur SuUivan, 

Miss Edith Abell. 
The Roman Carnival. Concert overture. 
A migur. Wurk 9 Hector Bertum. 

Mr. Couriaender, who took the piano part in (irieg*s con- 
certo, is one of our veteran pianisu and has Iteen connected 
with the Penbody (Conservatory fur a number of yeara Mr. 
Kudolph Green pla}ed the *ceilo obligato iu Volkmann's 
Serenade (an interesting piece of humoresqne music) with 
much expression and in appropriate st^Ie. He is well known 
here as an able, conscientious 'cello performer, and was for 
several years a memlerof the old Thomas orebeatra in its 
palmiest dnys. Tne serenade and Berlioz's ** Carnival" 
orerture are the fintt new selections that have been at- 
tempted by our orchestra this season. 

The Fantastic Symphony of Berlioz is not a stranger to 
Boston audiences. The letter of Stephen Heller, published 
in your Ust issue, will have gi^vn your readers a ounception 
of the personal peculiarities of the eminent French master 
of instrumentation sufficient to dispel any surprise they may 
have felt at the peculiariy wild and eccentric choice of sub- 
jwt of this brilliant, sencational work- 

Tlie peculiarities of this symphony which call for adverse 
criticism on the part of the luver of the ortliodoz in musie, 
are the very attriimtes tliat render it so effective with a gen- 
eral audience. Your correspondent has heard it here time 
and again, but never in any instance has it failed to elicit 
the warmest approbation. 

The prelude to the fourth act of Mr. Hamerik's opera, 
Toteiiile, is a surpasdnglv beautiful piece of tone paint- 
ing. It is very popukr with our coucert-goers, and I find 
it is gaining decided fiivor elsewhere. At the last Carlbeig 
concert iu New York it was received with much enthusiasm, 
and it has been lately performed in CopetUiagen and in Ber- 
lin and elsewhere on the continent. Musicus. 

Cincinnati, April 4. — A glance over a few past and 
the present niusica] seasons is most gratifying. Then mu- 
sicians and rousic-lovera looked upon the concerts given by 
the Cindunati Orchestra, and the few chamber concerts ar- 
ranged by our local pianists, ss oases in a desert; now, we 
have a series of twelve orcliestral concerts and one of twelve 
chamber concerts, of constantly improving excellence. Then, 
the public could scarcely be pereuaded to support these con- 
certs to such an extent as would mske the necessary rehear- 
sals possible; they were not appreciated except by a few 
earnest ad\*ocates of art culture; now it is a positive demand 
of society to converse intelligently or unintelligently on tlie 
" last concert." The change is astonishing; and when the 
petty dissensions of the last two weeks are over, it is to be 
hoped that gradually the public will patronize artistic eflbrts, 
not because it is fashionalJe, but because it has grown to be 
a want, aInKMt a necessity of life. Now, too, we have a 
chorus constantly increasing in memlienhip, and promising 
finally to embrace all good singers, who find it posuble to 
gire ss much time to the rehearsals ss the rigid discipline 
of the organization demands. 

llie College Choir (as it is ofBciaHy named) was beard 
fbr the fint time in the last orchestra concert. The pro- 
gramme consisted of, — 

Symphony, G minor . • Mozart. 

Twenty third Psalm 8<Atibert. 

Cbomsof womsn's Toioss with occfaotiik 



72 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 992. 



u SUUt Mate&:* Bomfu, 

Bfiai Annie Norton. MIm Louiw RoUws$;en, Mr. 
ILurUey Tliompwn, Mr. ChariM Daris, tha 
Coltege Cboir, and Orebestnu 

It b graUfying to oomenrativa miwiftiani thai Hajdn, 
Mcnart, and BeHboren, at w«U at Schumann and Schu- 
bert, have been to htfgely repretented in the ooncerte. The 
public, too, appeiin to ei^oy the tooe-poemt of theie masters, 
which can be lieard with pteasure Ibr the sake of the true 
music thej contain, without the neoessitj of a long psjcho- 
logiesl dissertation as to their meaning. In that magnifi- 
eent masterwork of Moaart, the improvement hi the pUying, 
espeehlly of the strings, was noticeable. Unity in phrasing, 
so Dcoessary in Mcsart's beautiful thematic worlc, had evi- 
dently been prepared with the utmoet care and to good 
efleet. How univeml was the desire to hear the first per- 
fbrmanee of the College Choir was attested by the unusually 
large audience <lf from twenty-Ave hundred to three thousand 
persons. The beautiful ** Twenty-third Ftalm," flur female 
voices, was sung well throughout The material over which 
Mr. lliomas disposes is Indeed excellent. The intonation 
was good, the sliading in some instances very fine. There 
was, however, perceptible a slight nervousness which at times 
made the attack uncertain. This will doubtless disappear 
as the chorus gains confidence by singing in public more 
frequently. 

A woric in which the sentiment of the poem and that of 
the music are more thoroughly at variance than in Rossini's 
StabtU Muter it would be difficult to find. It is an inter- 
esting study in psyclK>k)gy to trace, by the attempts of the 
eompoeer here and there to do justice to the text, and his 
imsistibly filling back into his inborn muMcal bias, the 
states of mind in which tbe different numbers sprang into 
custence. It is certain that tlie Stabat^ however interest- 
ing from a purely musical pmnt of view, cannot lay claim 
to that unity and harmony of all its factors, which every 
true art-work demands. The perfomumce, as a whole, was 
very uneven. Tbe good shading, the accuracy in rlijrthm, 
and in intonation present, for instance, in No. 1, were at 
times wanting, as in '* Eia Mater.'* In the ** Inflamniatus,'* 
the chorus was often conipletdy drowned by the brass instru- 
ments, while in the same number tbe totto voce chorus ac* 
eompaniment was smoothly and accurately sung. Tbe final 
fu;;ue, that oddity in contrapuntal art, could not be appre- 
ciiied in the large hall. Miss Annie Norton, the soprano 
soloist, possesses a voice of unusual beauty. With great 
fullness it combine* an exquisite timbre. The soprano part 
In tbe Stabat Mater demands a thorough knowledge of all 
the means of dramatic expression, which Miss Norton docs 
not at present command. Yet her singing was thoroughly 
musical, and, making aUowanee for the embarrassment al- 
ways attending tbe first appearance before a large audiaioe, 
•he acquitted herself in a manner which justifies the promise 
of a bright future. Miss Rollwagen, who in the interpre- 
tation of Gcnnan songs has proved herself a thorough art- 
ist, was not so succeesfiil in her rendering of the '* Fac ut 
portem." The tendency to sing too high .when under the 
excitement of appearing in public, was especially noticeable. 
Miss UoUwagen, however, never fitils to interest with the 
earnestness and intensity which mark all her eflfiirts. Mr. 
Thompson, through the good judgment and routine which 
he eommands, made up for the shortcomings of his voice in 
the exacting tenor part. The contrary muit be said of Mr. 
Daria, who with a very good, sonorous roice, — rather weak, 
however, hi the lower register for so Urge a ball, — has not 
the necessary control over it The choir promises well for 
the future, and we may hope soon to hear difficult choral 
works produced in an excellent manner. Abeady the Can- 
tata, Mg Spit-it was m Heanneu, by Bach, is in courM of 
preparation fbr the last one of this series of orehestra con- 
certs. The programme of the Eighth Chamber Concert, 
from attending on which I was. unavoidably detained, con- 
tained:— 

Quartet, B-flat (fbr strings) Haydn. 

Five Scotch Songs, Op. 108 Betthovtn. 

»*Schlummeriied*'and''FarEhien** . . . . Frnnt, 

Quintet, 6 minor (for strings) Moaart. 

Miss Annie Norton, vocalist. Mr. 6. Schneider, pUno ao- 

oompanist. 

The quartet and quintet, the latter with the assistance of 
Mr. Eich, I am informed, were rendered with extraordinary 
smoothness and technical peHiBction, as well as with unity of 
sentiment. The unusually huge audience I hope was an 
evidence of the growing appreciation of the treasure we pos- 
sess in such a string quartet. Miss Norton appearsd to 
great advantage in the songs by Beethoven, beautifully ao- 
companied by Messrsl Schneider, Jaeobssohn, and Uartde- 
gen, and hi thoee by Frans. 

The Ninth Thomas Orchestra Concert had flor its pro- 
gramme: — 
Symphony, D m%)or ......... Haydn, 

Coooerto No. 5, £-flat. Op, 73 Beeikaven. 

Fhms RnmmeL 
Ballet Musio and *• Weddhig Processkm/* firom 

** Feramoffs '* HMnstttn, 

Fantasia on Hungarian Ain Litxt. 

Frans RnmmeL 

In the Haydn symphony the rennarkable improvement in 
the playing of the orchestra was again evident. Tbe atrings 
itemed to be In perfect aecoid ; for instance, in so delicate 



a passsge as the Trio of the BfinueL What a mhie of 
beauty there is in that symphony ! Every motive is so per- 
fectly in its place, aeems so to l»ve sprung from intuition, 
from inspiration, that tbe slightest alteration or omission 
would brrak up the whole organism, every part of which is 
so homogeneous and neoAsary. 

Mr. Runimel, who was preceded by the meet favorable 
and flatteruig criticisms, did not appear to the best ad- 
vantage in tbe " Emperor Concerto." The first movement 
lost much of the grandeur, which is its characteristic fea- 
ture, through the hurried manner in which it was pUyed. 
The last movement may serve as display for virtuosity, but 
certainly not the first The Adagio Mr. Rummel pUyed in 
beautiful style, barring the slip of memory which occurred 
both in the public rehearsal and concert. In the Hunga- 
rian Fantasia he diapUyed remarkable execution and brill- 
Uncy; his pUyuig was full of dash and fire, sometimes to 
the disadvantage of technical perfection. His eflbrts could 
not be duly appreebted in the immense hall, which is cer- 
tainly not adapted fbr piano playing. For this reason every 
connoisseur was glad to embrace tbe opportunity of hearing 
Mr. Rummel at a pumo recital given in Dexter Hall, with 
the following remarkable programme: — 

Fantasie Cbromatiqne and Fugue AicA. 

Soiiate, F minor, Op. 67 Beethoven, 

Variations Serieuses, Op. 64 Mendeitsokn. 

Faschingsschwank, Op. 26 Schumann. 

Impromptu, Op. 29, A-fUt ) 

Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 2, D-flat S Chcpin. 

Polonaise, Op. 53, A-flat ) 

(jondoliera I «._. j %t f 

T«»..tdk |V«ioi.«NHKJ. iMrt. 

To execute such a programme accurately, and fh>m mem • 
ory, too, requires complete control over the entire field of 
technical skill; to interpret every number well and truth- 
fully, mon than talent and education is necessary, lliat 
Mr. Runiuiel is equal to the technical requirements of the 
moet difficult piano literature is beyond question. From the 
Fantasie ChromtUique to the shorter pieces of Chopin and 
Liszt, he phiyed every composition of the programme with 
apparent ease and with briUiaiicy. His touch is crisp and 
decided, his execution generally dear and smooth, as is al- 
most always the case with constitutions in which nervous 
energy predominates over purely muscular power. He has 
raro command over gradaUons and the character of the tone, 
and constantly takes advantage of this, often for the better 
production of eflfeet, but at the expense of objective inter- 
preUtion. In every respect he is purely subjective. In 
consequence of this there was a sameness in his rendering 
of the different composers which bordered on monotony. 
No matter how brilliant may be effects prwluced by con- 
trasts over-sharply marked, their frequent repetition de- 
prives them of cest. A constant fluctuating between dy- 
namic extremes can be interesting for a time, but is totally 
contrary to tbe character of many of the compoeitions which 
wen eo tMated by Mr. Rummel. His playing appeared to 
me to depend more on sporadic and chaotic flashes, and 
momenta of impulse, than on the reproducing of tbe idea of 
tbe eompoeer, which by constant reflection and study, from 
being ol^jective at first, has become subjective or thoroughly 
flesh and bkiod with the interpreting artist. Mr. Rummel, 
however, so completely mssters the entire technical appar. 
atns of piano-playing, with such ease and certainty, that, 
liring m a musical atmosphere as he does, and surrounded 
by the most refining and educating Influences, he cannot 
fail to become more thoroughly imbued with the spirit and 
poetry of music than he seems now to be, and thus satisfy 
all tbe requirements of a true artist 

Chicago, Apnril 17, 1879. — I cannot fbrbear oflbring a 
few words of tribute to the memory of my old friend, and 
kind instructor, the kte August Krsissmann. In former 
years, when the musical art was attractuig the warm hiter- 
esu of my youth, and the desire fbr culture and knowledge in 
music was shaping my pathway in life towaids the musician's 
humble rank, it was my good fortune to meet Mr. Kreiss- 
mann, and under his directing care to study the German 
Lieder. As memory recalls tbe teacher, the cultivated, gentle, 
and warm- hearted man, and reechoes his noble advice, his in- 
structive talka of art, his enthusiasm for what was good and 
beautiful in music, the mind becomes conscious of its great 
debt to this faithful instructor, for tbe wis« hifliieiioe he exer. 
cised over youthful endeavor. Tbe whole musical literature 
of what was chusic in German song, was unfolded littie by lit- 
tle to my comprehension ; and to his artistic treatment of the 
refined sentiment of thoee noble compositions, and his mas- 
teriy hiterpretations, do I owe the formation of my taste for 
good vocal music. I remember how his keen anal^ of a 
song would pass beyond the sunple words and notes, until 
it made manifest the emotion of the mind that was repre- 
sented in tbe composition. There was s reality of feeling to 
be presented, and that ao cleariy, that the delicate abadea of 
the picture, together with ite strong characteristics, must 
fbrm a representation that was an embodiment of truth. It 
was no exaggeration of aentiment, but a feeling fbr art, that 
reached the ipirit in the ideal, and transformed it into an 
actuaUty, by clothing it with a Uving vocal form. His in- 
terpretation of the " Aulenthalt*' of Schubert comes to my 
mind as I write. To thoee who are femiliar with the song, 
no suggestion of iU weird beauty is necessary. As his rich 
I voice caught op the wild and almost tngleal ay of the 



storm-king — as he smgs out bis hunent, — It seemed 
almoet to hold one traiufixed by the very miueetie murmur- 
ing of the grief of the real personage. When the climax of 
the song was reached at the last few measures, where the 
high G is held with a piercing cry of weird power, the effect 
was thrilling and grand. It was my good fortune to hear 
Mr. Kreissmaim slug a great deal in thoee fJai^away days, and 
to have the pleasure of furnishing the accompattimeuts for 
song after song ; and many a br^t picture is left in my 
mii^ of his devotion to his art. As a gentleman he was 
ever courteous and kind, and his judgments of othen were 
always tempered by justice and charity. The first songs he 
sang hi public in Boston, were the ** AdehUde ** of Beetho- 
ven, and «« Am Meer,*' of Schubert So he told me one 
morning when he gave me the pleasure of hearing them. 
While his gentle spurit has passed into the Uiss and peace of 
the Beyond, his influence in this busy woriJ is still felt by 
many a friend aiMl pupil, who will long reverence his mem- 
ory. True to his art, faithful to his friends, esmest in good 
works, and a uoUe ehampion of the truth, JUqmetcat in 
pace! 

, the «« Sym- 
S. G. Pntt, 
dtsflius men- 



. Uaei. 

GUnmm. 

Wagner. 



Mendelitohn. 
Mendtlnekn, 

Boodkerimi. 

OCniMUIIM. 

SoedertnoMn, 



PraU, 



Passing to my rseord cl[ onr musical 
phony Concert'* under the 4lnetionof Mr. 
which took place on the evenuig of April 16, 
tion. The fiiUowing was the programme: — 

" Les Preludes ** 

Vorspiel to u Otho Yiseonti '*.... 

Prayer from *« Tannhauser '* .... 

Mrs. Cbra D. Stacy. , 

Symphony No. 4. (Italian) * 

Aria (torn " St Paul " 

Mrs. W. S. Watrous. 

Minuet 

String Orchestra. 

(a) — The Watenprite 

(A) — Wedding March 

Chicago Lady (Quartette. 
Anniveciary March Overture .... 
Chorus and Orehestra. 

Mr. Pratt, who ia a young and veiy enthusiastic musi- 
ciait, has doubtless been under the censure of criticism more 
than any other member of the musical profession of our city. 
Yet in spite of any number of ad\-erM comments, and in the 
very fiMse of failure iteelf; he has been constantly enencetic in 
his endeavor to carry out his pUns. He went twice to En- 
rope for extended study, and although disappointment might 
sadden for a time, it oould not suppreis his enthusiasm, or 
dishearten him in his work. In his effort to be a eompoeer 
he wrote a symphony, an opera, and a large number of 
smaller things. His laige works seeme d (to me) to be an 
indication of his ambition, rather than manifestations of a 
new musical genius. Yet in hb oompositkm he presented 
many marked signs of talent and originality, and gave 
promise of passing into a much higher field than that which 
is held by medMcrity. The great demait in all sncceesful 
endeavor is consistency of actiou. Ambition must be held 
in subjectbn by sound discretion, to enable even a genius to 
ripen into a rich maturity of accomplishment As a con- 
ductor Mr. Prett has indicated mueh talent, many good 
idess, and gives forth a promise of success in his endeavor, 
should propitious cireumstanoes furnish him the opportunity. 
The mountain height of excellence cannot be reached except 
by the rough and hard pathway of penistent study and con- 
sistent work. That Mr. Pratt gave us three Symphony 
Concerts, even at afinancial loes to himself, Indicates a praise- 
worthy devotion to his srt, for which he deserves our thanks. 
The bright and joyous ** Italian Symphony " of Mendelssohn 
was the best performed orebestral work that I hare heard 
from our home band this sesson. It had many eiyoyaUa 
points, and was the most refreshing offering that the pro- 
grammes presented. Considering the number of rebeanals 
that Were given to it, it was feiriy done, and the conductor 
deserves praise for his bdior hi bringing it out Tbe little 
Minuet was ako nicely given. The lady sincere all received 
recalls for their vocal oflb-tngs, and seemed to please tbe au- 
dience \-ery much. The programme also gare te an orches- 
tral composition by another of our home musicians, Mr. 
Gleason of the Hershey School of Music. It wss a short, but 
plessing work, and gare satisfection. One hearing would 
forbid me from spelling of it with the Jostice it deserves. 
All honest and wdl-directed eflbrts for the advancement, or 
cultivation of what is pure in art, should receire the com- 
mendation of every true musician. C. H. B. 



A SiLVKR AinnvsitaABT. — On the 16th of April the 
Mason A Hamlin Origan Co. celebrated their silver anniver- 
sary by a dumer at Young's, It behig the twenty-fifth year 
since the commencement of tbeir business. The beginning 
was very small, in two or thrre upper rooms on Cambridgp 
Street, where they made two or three mefodeons a week. 
But so excellent hare tbeir productions proved, that they 
hare now reached No. 104,000, baring actnaUy made and 
sold neariy that number. The reputation of their work has 
extended to all dvilixed countries, so that the whole worid 
may now be said to be their market For many yean they 
have borne off the highest honon at all World's Industrial 
Exhibitions, and won giMen opinions firom tbe musical nng* 
natea of the old as wdl as the new world, and hi a single 
year they hare supplied England alone with 1000 oe^gsM. 



Mat 10, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOUBNAL OF MUSIC. 



78 



BOSTON, MAY 10, 1879. 



CONTENTS. 
Caopn. 



A Study. FanMjf 



Qmman Sam Ain> f Bioiaio - - -o 

Hammond BiUtr 7S 

BbITBOVUI at TBI IIUOBT OP Ktt PBODDOTITITr (18>7-9). 

TruulatioDBfromTbayor^sTbinl Volum* i6 

Tales on Abt : Sbco91> Sbuu. Trom Inttraetlou by Mr. 

Wm.M.UunttohisFuplli. Y 76 

Mabia Dn OoowniTB. F. H. U. 76 

Vabdai "iMPBovnuBTs:" BosTOM Motto Hail w Daxobb 77 



OP Musn. WiUiam F. Aptkorp 



n 

78 
78 
78 



Tbb Ezpbbssitb Po»: 

Trb Passion If dsic 

Tbb Zbbbahn Testimonial 

OONCEBTS 

Mr. Kiehbsrg^s YloHa Sehool. — Ths GaeUbm. — M( 
Bharwood, Alton, and Priss. 

Musical Goeebsponsbnoe 

Now Tork. — Baltiniora. — Chiosffo. — MilwEokoe. 

Norn Am QLBANiaas 80 



79 



AU tkt mnide* not ertdiud to oUur publieationM vmt exprutly 
writumfor tkit Journal, 

•^^^^^ 

FMaked ferhuglohf 6y IIovqbton, Omood an» Compant, 
M20 DtvonsUn Street, BoMtom, Frico, 10 etnts a Mfin^ / $2.50 



fbr mU im Boston by Gael Peopee, 30 We*t Strftt^ A. Will- 
iams A Go., 283 Washington Strett, A. K. LoEiMO, 369 Wash- 
ington Stroel, and by Uu PubUshers; in Ntto Yorh by A. Been- 
TANO, Je., 39 Union Sqnart^ and IIooobton, Osgood A Co., 
21 Astor Plau; in Philadelphia by W. U. Bonbe A Co., 1102 
Chistnut Stroet; in Chicago by th* Gbioaoo Mcsio Company, 
512 StaU Strtot, 



GEORGE SAND AND FR£d£RIC 

CHOPIN. 

A 8TUDT. 

BT FANNT RATMOND BITTER. 
(Ooottnued from page 67.) 

In the twenty numbers succeeding Op. 26, 
we find Chopin at the height of inspiration. 
Here we have the very emotion that lies at 
the heart of many of the most beautiful of 
Byron's or Lamartine's lyrics, Shelley's In- 
dian Serenade, Keats's Ode to a Nightingale, 
Petrarca's sonnets. An almost voluptuous 
richness pervades the tender or melancholy 
passages of some of these; suffused with 
glowing tone color, sadness and regret are 
less predominant in them than in most of his 
previous or subsequent compositions ; they 
often reach a depth that is profoundly touch- 
ing, and yet not enervating to the feelings. 
Among these we meet with delicious waltzes, 
some of his most original mazurkas, and love- 
liest, most persuasive nocturnes, martial Po- 
lonaises, especially the C minor Polonaise in 
Op. 40, and the difficult Op. 44 (which also 
includes a mazurka), besides the Tarantella 
and the Impromptu in A-flat : — 

M ScBToe inftj the mr, the finest, elearast, follow; 
The lightest foot, the step most foiry-fleet 
Most rest, while, spell-entrBuoed, the Usteniqg spirit 
BockB 00 the wbvcb of this wild melody." i 

Then Op. 89, that furious Scherzo, a choral 
interspersed with tossing arpeggio and octave 
passages; Op. 88, the Ballade dedicated to 
Schumann ; the Sonata, Op. 85, and the Pre- 
ludes! Of thd Schumann Ballade, Ehlert 
observes : '^ I have seen children break off 
their games to listen to the story told at the 
beginning of this Ballade. It is a fairy-tale 
transformed into music And as much trans- 
parency plays through its four-part phrases, 
as through the flexible fans of the palm-tree 
waved by the mild spring air." But that 
fairy-like mood becomes tragic wildness in 
the presto ; this always recalls to me the su- 
pernatural fascination of an old melodrama 
founded on the tradition of the *^ Flying 
Dutchman," and I fancy I detect a resemblance 

1 ¥Voni Ferdinand Killer's poem written for the eelebra- 
tioii Bt DilBKidorf in memory of Chopfai, Nov. 8, 1848. 



in the melody, and still more in the spirit of 
this Ballade, to that of Senta's romance in 
Wagner's opera on the same subject. Which 
of Mickiewicz's poems inspired it? For 
Chopin told Schumann that it was while pe- 
rusing these that the idea of this Ballade first 
awoke in his mind. Surely a sense of wild, 
homeless, but not ignoble or unmanly despair 
pervades it ; as though the spectre of his own 
destiny, a lost and wandering vessel, strug- 
'gling vainly with the elements and an ad- 
verse fate, unhappy, yet not uuconquered, 
floated before the composer's fancy. The 
Sonata is a treasure of musical power and 
beauty, containing the most mournful of all 
funeral marches, and a Scherzo of indescrib- 
able sweetnetis and pathos, a very garden of 
Boccaccio, far removed from, yet not uncon- 
scious, of death and desolation. And the wild 
flnale I AU this is ^ music of the future," to 
the radical extremity ; Chopin's Ninth Sym- 
phony. 

As for the Preludes, some of these seem 
to have attracted to, and crystallized within 
themselves an entire existence; the all of 
emotion in an atom. Free creations thrown 
off for the relief of the composer's deepest 
feelings, and almost entirely independent of 
technical aims, though nearly always perfect 
in form, many contain the germs of complete 
tragedies ; some are poetic and graceful epi- 
sodes ; some are absolutely realistic reflections 
of passing moods ; in others he seems to be 
conversing with, confessing, perhaps seeking 
to console himself. The fourth, a master- 
piece of large phrasing and chromatic har- 
mony, and the sixth (this was the prelude 
written by Chopin on that evening when 
Mme. Sand was absent from Yaldemosa dur- 
ing an inundation — to which event, as re- 
lated by her, I have already referred), were 
played by Lefebure W^ly on the organ, at 
the Madeleine, in Paris, during Chopin's ob- 
sequies, when the funeral march in the sonata 
Opus 85 was also performed by an orchestra. 
Some of the Preludes present to us ''a vis- 
ion of deceased monks and funeral chants," 
writes Mme. Sand ; such we may imagine when 
we listen to No. 15, with its sustained melody 
of enthusiastic, loving faith, broken in upon 
by a long and solemn processional strain, ad- 
vancing and passing away, and accompanied 
by the tones of a convent bell. No. 20 
greatly resembles, in its character, some of 
the choruses in Gluck's Orpheus; and this 
resemblance is especially striking when we 
compare it with the chorus of furies, '^ Chi 
mai deir Erebo " (in the same key and 
tempo), in that opera. Passionate despair (or 
despairing passion ?) lightened by episodes of 
ravishing, heart-piercing tenderness, and mo- 
nastic gloom broken in upon by the ecstasies 
of transcendental religious aspiration, are the 
leading psychological traits of the Preludes. 
If George Sand has described for us, in her 
book on Majorca, the outward character of 
the people, the life, the nature, that sur- 
rounded them there, and the reflections these 
suggested, Chopin's Preludes may be accepted 
as the quintessence of the impressions made 
by that experience on a remarkable mind, 
and as a soulful commentary upon some of 
her pages, such as the following : — 

*' How vast, how noble in style, this con- 



vent must once have appeared I How many 
remains attest its former splendor and ele- 
gance ! How sweet it must have been to 
come here at evening, to breathe the soft air, 
to dream, while listening to the sound of the 
sea, when these high galleries were paved 
with rich mosaics, wheu crystal water mur- 
mured in marble basins, when a silver lamp 
glimmered like a star in the depth of the 
sanctuary I Who would not abjure all the 
care, fatigue, and ambition of social life, to 
bury himself here in tranquillity and forget- 
fulness of the entire world, on condition that 
he could remain an artist, and devote ten, 
perhaps twenty years to a single work, which 
he might polish slowly, like a precious dia- 
mond, and place upon an altar, not to be 
found fault with by the passing ignoramus, 
but CO be saluted and invoked as a worthy 
representation of Divinity I . . . . When 
the weather was too inclement for us to climb 
the mountain, we roamed under cover through 
the convent, and many hours were passed in 
exploring the immense building. I Know not 
what attraction led me to seek, amid these 
deserted walls, for the inmost secret of mo- 
nastic life. Its trace was yet so recent, that 
I often fistncied I heard the noise of sandals 
on the pavement, and the murmur of prayers 
under the chapel vaults. One day, when we 
were exploring the upper galleries, we found 
a pretty tribune, from which we were able to 
look into a large and handsome chapel, so 
well furnished and arranged that it mi«rht 
have been deserted only the day before. The 
chair of the superior still stood in its place, 
and the order of weekly religious exercises, 
in a frame of black wood, hung from the 
ceiling amid the stalls of the chapter. Each 
stall had a little image of a saint attached to 
its back, probably the patron saint of each 
monk. The o<lor of incense, with which the 
walls had been so long saturated, had not yet 
passed away. The altars were decorated with 
withered flowers, the half burned tapers still 
stood in their candlesticks. The order and 
good preservation of these objects contrasted 
singularly with the ruins outside, and the tall 
brambles that filled up the windows. My 
children, Solange and Maurice, expected ev- 
ery day to find a fairy palace filled with mar- 
vels, in the garrets, of the chartreuse, or the 
traces of some wild and terrible drama buried 
un^ler its ruins ; and when they disappeared 
from my eyes in the windings of some spiral 
staircase, I fancied they might be lost to me 
forever, and I hurried on with a sort of su- 
perstitious fear; for so sinister a building 
certainly has its effect on the imagination, 
and I would defy the calmest and coldest 
brain to remain there long in a condition of 

perfect sanity To do justice to the 

grand style of the olive trees of Majorca, 
and the glowing sky from which their savage 
outlines stand out so boldly, we should pos- 
sess nothing less than the grandiose pencil of 
Rousseau, — one of the greatest landscape 
painters of our day, but who is still unknown 
to the public, thanks to the obstinate jury of 
exhibition that has for several years refused 
to allow him to exhibit hi 4 masterworks ; the 
limpid waters in which myrtle and asphodel 
are reflected, call for Dupr^ More culti- 
vated landscapes, in which nature, although 



74 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 993. 



at liberty, seems to assume an air of pride 
and classicism, from excess of coquetry, would 
tempt the severe Corot. To exhibit those 
adorable wildernesses of vegetation, in which 
a world of grasses, wild flowers, old tree- 
boles, and weeping garlands, droop over 
those mysterious springs where the stork 
comes to wade, I would fain hold, like a 
magic wand, the burin of Huet at my dis- 
position ; but it is you, Eugene, great artist, 
dear friend, whom I would have led with 
me into the mountain on that night when the 
moon vividly illumined the inundation that 
overtook us ! " 

The last fifteen or sixteen of Chopin's pub- 
lished compositions display less spontaneity, 
are more involved, than those preceding them, 
although we still find such noble inspirations 
as the first Nocturne in Opus 48, a life-drama 
in itself; some beautiful mazurkas, the un- 
rivaled Berceuse, and the exquisite set of 
waltzes. Opus 64. Of No. 2 in this last set, 
the silly story has been told, that Chopin, on 
hearing one day that Mme. Sand was ill and 
could not receive him, turned to his piano- 
forte and composed the first thirty-two meas- 
ures ; but being suddenly informed that she 
was better, played the much gayer second 
theme. As if such art-works, the essence of 
a poet*8 blood and brain, we#e shaken out of 
his sleeve, and strummed in such a manner 
for the delecUitioii of an indifferent messen- 
ger; especially in the case of the refined, re- 
tiring, exclusive Chopin, whose dances are not 
to be danced to, but are, rather, ** the dance, 
not of the body, but of the soul, that dances, 
like rage and remorse, out of the ball-room 
into the stormy night." But this silly story 
is a pendant to the other foolish gossip about 
Chopin's black nails and unwashed hands ; 
the circulation of such anecdotes proves that 
the race of clowns, once so numerous, who 
formerly saw in every musician an unedu- 
cated, half-tipsy minstrel, or a sort of merry- 
Andrew, an inspired idiot, is not yet quite 
extinct 

Chopin's posthumous works present little 
that is remarkable, though the Fantaisie Im- 
promptu contains something of his youthful 
freshness. The songs, collected by Fontann, 
do not, perhaps, offer us a just idea of all that 
Chopin, who was so essentially lyrical, might 
have accomplished as a writer for the voice, 
had he chosen to turn his attention to this 
branch of musical art Written at the call 
of love or friendship, but not for publicity, 
a few for the albums of his pupils, the prin- 
cesses Beauvau or Potocka, they possess the 
sincere charm of folk-songs, and were prob- 
ably written in such a manner and for such a 
reason as are those, — the necessity for in- 
stantaneous expression. Perhaps while ram- 
bling in the country round Warsaw with his 
father, who loved such open-air excursions as 
a recreation from academical labors, listening 
to rustic singers and musicians, or observino- 
the peasants chanting songs or hymns in cho- 
rus, on the way to market or church, as is the 
custom in some parts of Poland, or in mem- 
ory of such hoars, he may have composed sev- 
eral of these songs ; assuredly a thought of 
Constantia Gladkowska, with whom he ex- 
clianged rings on his departure from Poland, 
breathes through the soft regret of No. 14; 



patriotism, and sympathy for his friend Titus 
Woyciechowski, who joined the Polish army 
in 1830, may have inspired Nos. 9 and 10. 

It has been often supposed of Chopin that 
he developed at once as a composer, and re- 
mained the same, from his first period of ar- 
tistic productivity to his end. The striking 
character of Chopin's compositions may have 
created this impression, for their effect must 
have been that of powerful originality from 
the first ; but I believe the student will not 
fail to observe in them a gradual process of 
artistic evolution within itself, up to a climax 
of full, independent expression, varied accord- 
ing to the moods and thoughts of the com- 
poser, followed by a subsequent diminution of 
power, and even of originality. And to sup- 
pose that the events of his life, especially such 
as more nearly regarded his deeper feelings, 
came and went without any influence on the 
character of his works, would betray a mis- 
understanding of the nature of music in gen- 
eral, of Chopin's music in particular. The 
psychological character of this has made it an 
especially interesting object of study to poets 
and philosophers. Of few composers can we 
say, that they are able fully to reveal to us 
the general emotions awakened in men by the 
experiences of life, the appearances of nat- 
ure ; of only one, perhaps, can it be said that 
he resembles a seer, whose '^ eye beconoes en- 
lightened from within, and who, the more he 
loses connection with the outer world, the 
more clairvoyant becomes his glance into the 
inner supernatural world ; " ^ this cannot be 
said of Chopin ; but his music is so intimate, 
a reflection of those more secret strusrsrles of 
the human heart, those "tempests under a 
skull " that epitomize more general, object- 
ive tumults and vicissitudes, that it is deeply 
interesting to a very large circle of music- 
lovers, who imagine, perhaps, that their own 
unexpressed experience may have touched, 
here and there, on the wider, deeper ex- 
perience of this tone-poet. Not every one 
is willing to admit the truth of Beethoven's 
assertion, that ^ music is a higher revelation 
thiin that of all wisdom and philosophy ; " 
uot even every student of musio may accept 
Schopenhauer's assertions in regard to his 
favorite art;^ still less will the unmusical 
thinker be inclined to believe in the immense 
importance which science begins to attach to 
music, not merely as an art, in its human, 
modern, formal development, but as a tre- 
mendous elementary force in its original ma- 
terial, possibly the primary motive power of 
all volition, vibration, vitality ; ^ but no one 

1 Beethoiren; by Richard Wagner. Translated bj Al- 
bert R. PanonB (by pennission of Richard Wagner). In- 
dianapolii: Benham Brothers, 1873. 

a *« We may, with equal justice, term the universe em- 
bodied mude, as embodied will The essential seri- 
ousness of music, which entirely eicludes the laughable, re. 
suits from the bet that its object is not the representation of 
the will, but abaolute will itself ; that is, the most serious 
of all things, that on which all others depend Mu- 
sic stands entirely apart from, and above all other arts; for 
we cannot discover in it any imitation or repetition of any 
idea in the world; therefore it is the greatest, the most pe- 
culiarly noble of aU arte Music exceeds ideas, is in- 
dependent of the world, ignores it, and would exist even if 
the world had no existence. It is not an image of creations 
or ideas, but the image of the Will (the Creator) itself; this 
is why ite effect is so much more powerful and penetrating 
than that of the other arts; they merely reflect shadows; 
music discourses of the essence of all existence.** {Die Wdt 
ah WUU und Vorstelluny, Von Arthur Schopenhauer. 
Broekhaus, Lei{)zig, 1873.) 

» »• Matter in general, and plante and living creatures in 



attempts to deny that music is the most in- 
tensely subjective, profound, and emotional 
means of expression at present possible to 
miuikind. And the most natural province of 
music is the revelation of that subterranean 
agitation of thought and passion which is too 
deep and individual, or that elevation of spir- 
itual aspiration which is too transcendental, 
for more superficial formal expression ; the 
audible manifestation, that is, of love and re- 
ligion, the most human and the most divine 
of all passions. Love and religion — and 
patriotism, a lower form of these — are the 
predominant tones in all Chopin's creations, 
colored, lighted, or shadowed by inward mood 
or outward experience. While under the do- 
minion of one wholly absorbing affection ; 
while trusting in a finally happy solution of 
the struggles which that necessitated, his finest, 
richest works were written ; and their fas- 
cination and beauty are only heightened by 
the contrast between the tragedy of that un- 
happy passion, and the pure sublimity, the 
ideality and trustful piety, of Chopin's innate 
character. 

He has been termed sensualistic in the 
highest degree ; so, of course, he was, so far 
as that, being an artist, consequently of fuller, 
finer perceptions, more completely a man, 
than other men, he was more sensuous as 
well as more spiritual, than they are. And 
the composer is perhaps the most sensitive of 
all artists, precisely as the ear, the organ par 
exceUenne of the musician, is the most per- 
ceptive and sensitive of all organs. Chopin's 
very morbidity, beiiig musical morbidity, pos- 
sesses a purity which we may seek in vain 
among artists of a similar cast of mind in 
the realms of poetry and literature. Only in 
his latter works, the reflection of his noble 
soul became unbeautiful, for then physical 
suffering had incapacitated him from mas- 
tering his feelings of disappointed love, pa- 
triotic regret, and pietistic gloom ; he no 
longer struggled with his emotions, — they 
overpowered him. As Balzac says : " When 
an artist is so- unhappy as to overflow with 
the passion he seeks to express, he cannot 
depict it ; he is the object itself, instead of 
its image. When his subject domineers over 
him, he is like a king besieged by his people : 
too great an excess of feeling at the instant 
of execution is the insurrection of sense 
against reflection." Elsewhere, Balzac has 
proven his fine perception of the peculiar nat- 
ure of Chopin, where he says : *' This great 
genius is less a composer than a soul which 
has become audible to us, and which would 
communicate its own individuality to us in 
any kind of music, even in mere chords." 
Herbert Spencer, on the other hand, has 
spoken of the reports of Chopin's exquisite 
sensibility as '< almost incredible." Fink, a 

partlcolar, pcesess within themselvea a vital vibratory pow«r 
that continually agitates them in various ways. This foree, 
which vitalizes inert mstter, and whose nature we do not 
understand, but can only perceive through ite effects, being 
in continual agitation nnd vibration, embodies, modifies, and 
transfomu itsdf in various wa^-s, and takes the shapes of 
innumerable creatures and things, which, interlinked, and 
proceeding from each other in endless ordere and species, re- 
sulting ftx>m -their natures and relations to each other, form 
what we tenn a world. And this divine, vibrating, niotiv» 
force, sounding, spreadhig tiirough the eternal spaces of m- 
finitude, vitalizes other particles, and forms other modes of 
existence, that is to say, other worUs, spheres, systems 
creatures. (Opei-e di Uiacomo LtopctrdL Funenze : La 
Monnier, 1865.) 



May 10, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



75 



partisan of the old school, much surprised at 
the philosophical questions and controversies 
that were aroused by the psychological char- 
acter of Chopin's music, wrote of the com- 
poser and his imitators in a mingled strain of 
mysticism and Philistinism amusing enough, 
though not devoid of some good ideas. 
** There is a party that revels in enjoyment 
when Its emotions float on the moonlit waves 
of Chopin's sea of tones ; in their rush and 
murmur they discover the highest and deepest 
things tliat the present day has produced in 
the sphere of music. Others again, and 
those not uncultivated listeners, feel repelled, 
and think they speak favorably when they 
term his productions unpleasant, involved. 
In the way he writes, things are written for 
which posterity will not be thankful. Pas- 
sion moves in extremes, and overleaps the 
boundaries of happiness, ever the companion 
of thoughtful, benevolent content. And yet 
we may say of Chopin, in spite of the oppo- 
site opinions indulged in regarding him, that 
he is an atti*active individuality, sharpened 
and polished by modern life. Yet, since he 
is almost always true to himself, he is fasci- 
nating, though he wanders amid shadows and 
clouds. But his imitators are unbearable; 
they do not dream a dream, they hunt one. 
In Chopin's tones we listen to the morning 
dream of Time, and imagine what might 
become of this child of morning, if he would 
only open his eyes and wander through the 
daylighL" Elsewhere, Fink has compared 
Chopin to Ludwig Berger ! Lenz was more 
happy in styling him the Heine of the piano- 
forte ; yet the comparison is only half true, 
for Chopin, with all the fire, sweetness, and 
concentration of Heine, possesses not a trace 
of his corrosive irony ; but then Lenz, in the 
short space of eighteen lines, has compared 
Berlioz to Robert Macaire, the Vicar of 
Wakefield, and King Lear ! No ; Chopin 
was most individually, originally himself ; no 
imitation of him ctin prove more successful 
than is Paris paste as an imitation of the 

diamond. 

[Concluded in our next.] 



BEETHOVEN AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS 
PRODUCTIVITY (1807-9). 

TRANSLATIONS FROM THATBR'S THIRD VOLUME.^ 
THE C MAJOR MASS. 

1807. At thp. end of the month of July 
Beethoven returned from Baden to Heiligen'- 
stadt, and devoted his time there to the C minor 
Symphony and the C major Mass. To the 
latter refers one of the anecdotes related by 
Czerny : While he (Beethoven) was on a walk 
one day in the coantry with the Countess Erdody 
and some other ladies, they heard some village 
musicians, and laughed over the false tones, es- 
pecially of the violoncellbt, who brought out the 
C major chord with difficulty, groping after the 
tone somewhat in this way : — 



Beethoven's life, but in the history of music al- 
together ; it is tlie year in which the C minor 
Symphony was completed, — that work which 
even now by many competent judges is desig- 
nated as the acme of all pure instrumental com- 
position ; while those who do not without qualifi- 
cation grant it the first place, yet almost without 
exception place above it only the first three 
movements of the Ninth Symphony by the same 
master. Yet this wonderful Symphony was no 
sudden inspiration. Motives to the Allegro, An- 
dante and Scherzo are found in sketch books, 
which date at the latest from the years 1800 and 
1801. There are studies in existence which 
prove that Beethoven, at the time when he was 
busied with Fidelio and the piano-forte Concerto 
in G, was also working on the C minor Sym- 
phony, that is in the years 1804 to 1806 ; in the 
last year he laid it aside in order to compose the 
Fourth Symphony (in B-flat). This is all that is 
known about the origin and progress of this famous 
work; except that it was completed in 1807 at 
the favorite places of the composer about Heill- 
genstadt. 

** IN QUESTA TOMBA." 

A communication in the Journal des Luxus und 
der Moden (November, 1806), acquaints us with 
the origin of a smaller, but well known composi- 
tion of Beethoven's; indeed it is the only ac- 
credited and satisfactory notice that we know of 
it. The article reads : «* In some musical sport 
a short time since, a competition arose between 
a number of very celebrated composers. The 
Counter Rzewuska improvised an Aria at the 
pianoforte; the poet Carpani immediately im- 
provised a text to it. He imagined to himself 
a lover, who had died at grief at having found no 
hearing ; the loved one repents of her cruelty, 
she waters his grave with her tears, and now his 
shadow calls to her : — 

** In qaesta tomba oseura 
Laseiami riposar; 
Quando vivevo, ingrata, 
Dove\'i a me peiisar. 
Lateia ch« Tombre ignude 
Godaiui pace almen, 
£ non bagiiar niie ceneri 
D'iiiutile veleu." 

** These words have now been set to music by 
Paer, Salieri, Weigl, Zingarelli, Cherubini, Asi- 
oli, and other great masters and amateurs. Zin- 
garelli alone furnished ten compositions on them ; 
in all about fifty have been gotten together, and 
the poet will communicate them in a volume to the 
public." 

The number of compositions rose to sixty-three ; 
these were published in the year 1808; the last of 
them (Number 68) was by Beethoven. Although 
this at the time was by no means regarded as the 
best, it is the only one which has survived to the 
present day. The Leipzig MusikcUische Zeiiung 
selected, as an appendix to its criticism on the 
work, one of the two compositions by Salieri and 
one of the three by Sterkel, and said of Beetho- 
ven's : " On the whole it is not precisely un- 
worthy of this excellent master, but it will hardly 
entwine a new leaf into the wreath of his fame." 



ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS. 




Beethoven employed this figure for the Credo 
of his First Mass, and wrote it down upon the 
spot. 

THE FIFTH SYMPHONY. 

1807. This year is noteworthy not only in 

1 Ludwig tan Beethoven's Leben. Von Alexander 
WuxxLocK Thatek. Dritter Band. Berlin. 1879. 



1807 The want of better opportuni- 
ties for hearing good Symphony music well per- 
formed, than were offered by tiie Schuppanzigh 
concerts limited to the summer months, and by 
the occasional hastily prepared " academies " of 
composers and virtuosos, led '^ a society of re- 
spectable and willing friends of music in the be- 
ginning of the winter to form an organization 
under the modest title of Amateur Concerts. So 
an orchestra was got together, whose members 
were selected from the most excellent musical 
amateurs (dilettanti) of the city. Only a few 



wind instruments, such as horns, trumpets, etc., 
were drawn from the orchestra of the Vienna 

theatre The audience consisted only of 

the resident nobility and distinguished strangers ; 
and of these classes preference was given to mu- 
sical connoisseurs atid amateurs." • To this end 
they hired at first the hall " zur Mehlgrube ; " 
but, as this proved too small, the concerts were 
transferred to the hall of the University, where, 
in " twenty concerts. Symphonies, Overtures, 
Concertos and vocal pieces were executed with 
zeal and love and were received with general ap- 
plause. An excellent selection of pieces, a unity 
and precibion on the part of the orchestra such 
as is seldom heard, the most seemly behavior and 
the deepest silence on the part of the listeners, 
as well as their distinguished, brilliant company, 
all combined to make a whole of this production, 
such as cannot often have been reached." The 
banker Haring was the director in the earlier 
concerts; but "owing to some misunderstand- 
ing which had arisen" he resigned the place 
to Clement. 

The works of Beethoven which were produced 
in these concerts were the following: "The 
Symphony in D, in the first concert ; the Over- 
ture to ProtMtheus, in Novembep; the Sinfonia 
Eroicat and the Coriolan Overture in December ; 
and at New Year's the Fourth Symphony, in 
B-flat, which had also been performed Novem- 
ber 15, in the Burg theatre, in a concert for the 
public charitable institutions. The most of these 
works, if not all, were conducted by the composer 
himself. 

PROGBAMMB MUSIC. 

Those who seem to think that " programme 
music " for the orchestra is a modern invention, 
and those who regard the Pastoral Symphony as 
an original attempt to describe nature musically, 
are equally in error. It was not so much Beet- 
hoven's ambition to find new forms for musical 
representations, as it was to surpass his contem- 
poraries in the application of forms already in 

vogue. 

In one of Traeg's announcements of the year 
1792 are found simultaneously: "The Siege of 
Vienna,*' " Le Portrait Musicale de la Nature," 
and " King Lear," three symphonies ; in another : 
" La Tempestk," " L'Harmonie'della Musica," and 
« La Bataille." There were, in fact, few great 
battles, in those stormy years, which were not 
supplementarily fought over again by orchestras, 
military bands, organs, and piano-fortes. One 
might fill pages with a catalogue of programme 
compositions now long since dead, buried, and 
forgotten. Haydn's " Seven Words " still live, 
partly because a text is put under the music, but 
more on account of his great name ; but who, in 
our time, has ever chanced to hear of the Baron 
von Kospoth's " Composizioni sopra il Pater Nos- 
ter, consistenti in 7 Senate Caracteristiche con un 
Introduzione," for a 9-part orchestra ? What do 
our readers say to the following ? " The Sea- 
fight. 1. The drum-beat ; 2. The martial music 
and marches [in a searfight 1] ; 8. Motion of the 
ships; 4. Crossing of the waves; 6. Cannon 
shots; 6. Cry of the wounded; 7. Shouto of 
victory from the triumphant fleet ; " or this : " Mu- 
sical imiUtion of Rubens's * Last Judgment.* 
1. Gorgeous introduction; 2. The trumpet re- 
sounds through the graves ; they open ; 8. The 
an^n-y Judge pronounces the dreadful sentence 
upon the rejected ; they fall into the pit ; howl- 
ing and gnashing of teeth ; 4. Gotf receives the 
just into eternal blessedness ; their blissful feel- 
ings ; 5. The voice of the blest unites with the 
choirs of angels ; " or this : " Death of Prince 
Leopold of Brunswick : 1. The quiet course of 
the stream ; the winds which drive it faster ; the 
gradual swelling of the water ; * the complete 
overflowing; 2. The universal terror and shrieks 



76 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 99?. 



of the unhappy ones, who foresee their doom ; 
their shudders, lamentations, weeping, and sob- 
bing; 3. The arrival of the noble prince, whore- 
solves to help them ; the representations and en 
treaties of bis officers, who seek to hold him back ; 
his voice to the contrary, which finally stifles all 
complaints ; 4. The bo«it sets off; its rocking on 
the waves ; the howling of the winds ; the boat 
upsets ; the prince sinks under ; 5. An affecting 
piece, with the feeling appropriate to this event.' 
These are no jokes taken from the Fliegende 
BldtteTf the Kladderadatichj or Kikeriki of former 
days; they are actual extracts from the pro- 
grammes of the Abbe Yogler's organ concerts ; 
and so, too, is the following, which will surprise 
the most of our readers : ** Contented shepherd 
life, interrupted by a thunder-storm, which with- 
draws, however, and the naive, outright joy in 
consequence.** 

A remark of Ries, which is confirmed by other 
evidences, as well as by the form and matter of 
many of his teacher's works, must here be re- 
peated. " Beethoven in his compositions often 
thought of a definite object, although he fre- 
quently laughed and scolded about musical paint- 
ings, especially about those of a petty sort. 
Among them the Creation and the Seasons of 
Haydn had many a time to bear the brunt of his 
criticism, although he did not fail to recognize 
Haydn's higher merits.*' But Beethoven himself 
did not scorn to introduce imitations into his 
works occasionally. The distinction between him 
and others in this regard was only this : they 
undertook to give musical imitations of things es- 
sentially unmusical ; this he never did. 

On a bright, sunny day in April, 1828, Beetho- 
ovon took Schindler out on a long walk through 
the places in which he had composed his Fiflh 
and Sixth Symphonies. *' After visiting (Schind- 
ler, I., page 153) the bath-house at Heiligenstadt, 
with the adjoining garden, and afler talking over 
many a pleasant reminiscence, having reference to 
his creations, we continued our ramble toward the 
Kahlenberg in the direction over Grinzing. Strid- 
ing through the delightful meadow valley between 
HeiligenstacU and *the latter village,^ which was 
crossed by a swifUy hastening and sofUy mur- 
muring brook from a neighboring mountain, and 
lined with lofly ehns, Beethoven stopped repeat- 
edly and let his look, full cf blissful feeling, wan- 
der over the splendid landscape. Then seating 
himself upon Uie meadow, and leaning against an 
elm, he asked me whether there was no yellow- 
hammer to be heard in the tops of those trees. 
But it was all still. Thereupon he said : * Here 
have I written the *' Scene at the Brook," and 
the yellow-hammers up there, and the quails, and 
nightingales, and cuckoos round about have com- 
posed with me.* On my asking why he had not 
introduced the yellow-hammer also into the 
scene, he seized his sketch-book and wrote : — 




gave as the reason why he had not also named 
this fellow-composer : * This name would only 
have increased the great number of malicious in- 
terpretations of this movement, which have hin- 
dered the acceptance and appreciation of tlie 
work, not merely in Vienna, but in other places. 
Not seldom was this Symphony declared to be 
mere trickery on account of the second move- 
ment. In some places it shared the fate of the 

Eroica: " 

{Toht eontinutd.) 



«< < That b the composer up there,' said he ; 
* has she not a more important part to execute 
than the others ? With them it is merely meant 
in play.' Truly, with the entrance of this mo- 
tive in G major the tone-picture acquires a new 
charm. Expatiating further upon the whole 
work and its parts, Beethoven declared that the 
digression ink) the key of the yellow-hammers is 
pretty distinctly heard in this scale just written 
down in the Andante rhythm and same pitch. He 

1 In ft note Thftjer sajs: Sehindler it here in error. The 
nnible to the Kahleuber*; brought them northward into 
the vale between HeiUgensUdt and Nuaidorf, where now an 
Idealiaed bust cff the cmnpoaer marki the " Soeoe by the 
Bnok." 



TALKS ON ART. - SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS BT MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

V. 

« Do you not think that it requires as much 
intellect to be a great artist as to be a great 
statesman or writer ? " 

To be sure I do. When Rubens was acting as 
minister at a foreign court he was asked if he 
did not sometimes amuse himself by painting. 
** No," he replied, "I am a painter who some- 
times amuses himself with state affairs." 

He was chosen by his government, the Neth- 
erlands, as the most accomplished diplomatist of 
that country, in more missions than one. 

William Blake was sometimes called ** Mad 
Blake." But those who were pleased to call him 
so, are to-day, thought to have been idiotic. 

I believe that Shakespeare is the only name 
that the literary world bring forward as claiming 
equality with Michael Angelo. 

If book-learning is called intellect, who wrote 
the first great books ? 

Which is greater, Shakespeare or his reader ? 

Which is greater, the producer or the enjoyer ? 

Where was Abraham Lincoln's intellect while 
he was on a flat-boat on the Mississippi ? Lin- 
coln always said that he had read very little, and 
he referred questioners to Seward. 

Harvard University has not graduate<l a great 
man for fifty years ; and as print grows cheap, 
thinkers grow scarce. 

A great thing has nothing to do with what has 
been done ; and things have to be found out be- 
fore the word even can be put in a dictionary. 

There is a good deal of ground that can be 
cultivated for a century without giving back the 
seed. Art requires as much cultivation as any- 
thing else, not only to produce, but even to un- 
derstand. There is probably not a man living 
capable of sufficient cultivation even to under- 
stand or appreciate the work of Michael Angelo. 

A man can only be cultivated up to his capac- 
ity. 

I like Calvert's writing because he gets an in- 
dependent idea of a person's character, and car- 
ries it out, against all common opinions of its 
necessity. Common opinion about a man is 
worthless enough. Think of what was the com- 
mon opinion of Rembrandt in his day ! He was 
^'a miser," everybody said. Or think of what 
they say of Turner now ! Then consider what 
their pictures are, and see the insight which they 
give you into the characters of the men who 
painted them. Facts are easy enough to find. 
But the facts of splendid power and imagination 
don't get talked about as much as disagreeable 
facts. People look for what they love. They 
love the disagreeable, and they find it. 

*'You don't believe in working from photo- 
graphs, do you ? " 

No, indeed 1 and don't make portraits of peo- 
ple who have died, either. A sensitive person 
gives out altogether too much life in trying to 

1 Copjrigfat, 1879, by Helen M. Knowlton. 



put some life into them. If you get into that 
sort of tiling, you '11 be overwhelmed and fenced 
in with dead people. Keep out of it while you 
can. Leave death alone. Life is what we are 
trying to get at. 

So they objected to your painting on Sunday ! 
You might have told them that your work is one 
sort of prayer. It 's good for nothing if it is n't. 
And it is n't *' Now I lay me down to sleep, 
cither." 

It is a good plan to paint different kinds of 
subjects. It is exactly what you were put on the 
face of the earth for. Because Uiere are special- 
ists, don't hesitate to paint horses, or anything 
else that you please. Try to feel happy about 
your work. That kind of elation which you 
speak of is not conceit. A little boy pleased 
with his mud pie b not conceited ; and if you 
have enough to do you won't be conceited. The 
Saint Patrick people, riding around in the mud 
with their green sashes, are not conceited. Be- 
sides, that feeling does n't last. You know very 
well that you '11 pay for it soon enough. Paint- 
ing is a great joy and privilege to you. Take 
it as such, and don't make a labor and duty out 
of it. 

Have you seen the Tanagra figures at the Art 
Museum ? They are the gayest, most joyous 
little things, and full of life. They are like the 
work you ought to do in your two-hour sketch- 
clubs. << Like dolls ? " Not a bit For one 
thing, dolls always have their arms stuck out, 
and all their fingers and nails very plainly made 
out, the nails especially. But these figures oflen 
are folding the cloak up to the chest with the 
arm, and there 's no fussiness of detail People 
might learn a great deal from them about feeling 
and action, and grace. 



MARIA DEL OCCIDENTE. 

Readers of the literary cyclopssdias and 
learned histories will recall a pleasant memory 
of Maria Gowen Brooks, born in Medford, Mass. 
almost eighty years ago, and one of the few gen- 
uine poets that era could boast The era in fact 
did not boast at all. There was little poetry 
then, and little for many years afler. The ven- 
erable Dana (afber a few fine specimens) was 
settling, in exquisite prose and with admirable 
judgment, how poems ought to be written. 
Bryant had just printed ** Thanatopsis/' which, 
though great, signified less to the people of that 
day than it does to us. Charles Sprague not 
long afler was writing his strong and touching 
Indian poem, and his ** Winged Worshippers." 
The .Townsend sisters were pondering sublimities 
in blank verse. But passing by other names, it 
is safe to say that from 1800 to 1825 was not a 
period of great intellectual activity nor of any 
general refined taste. 

It was during this period that a lovely and 
most sensitive woman attempted to offer her 
poems to the Boston public. So few were pold 
that the edition was soon withdrawn. Mrs. 
Brooks soon afler removed to Cuba, where her 
husband owned a plantation, and there between 
the years 1828 and 1828, the six cantos of her 
principal poem, " Zophiel," were written. It is 
founded on the old Jewish story in the apocry- 
phal book of Tobit, — that of the bride whose 
seven successive suitors were slain by an evil 
spirit. The least imaginative pei-son cannot fail 
to be struck with the ease, beauty, and vigor of 
Mrs. Brooks's verse, no matter where the book 
may be opened. There are passages of almost 
the highest excellence. 

But we fear the verdict to-day may be like 
the verdict of half a century ago : that the pkMm 
is too long, and that the supernatural portions 



M.VY 10, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



77 



fiiil to hold the attention of the reader. No 
man can endure an uninterrupted siege of the 
Faerie Qucene. Bunyan's allegory after a while 
is apt to tire all but the very godly. And we 
fear that " Zophiel " is a book that will be 
monument to the genius of the author, without 
being very generally read, except by the wise few 
who make it a point to read all notable things. 

But Mrs. Brooks was clearly a woman of 
genius. Her song beginning " Day in melting 
purple dying," establishes her rank if she had 
written nothing else. 

We are indebted to Mrs. Gustafson, author of 
** Meg," a charming pastoral, for the new edition 
of " Zophiel " with memoir and notes. It has 
been a labor of love, and one that lays all lovers 
of poetry under a pleasant and lasting obligation. 
*' Zophiel " is published by Lee & Shepard, Bos- 
ton. F. H. U. 

Wvsi%\^t'si iounial of smmiu 

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1879. 

VANDAL " IMPROVEMENT." — BOSTON 
MUSIC HALL IN DANGER. 

EvBRT large, " progressive " city, in this fast 
age of ours, has in its population a certain rest- 
less element ever on the watch to improve its 
own selfish business interests, even at the expense 
of infinitely higher interests of the whole commu- 
nity. A and B, and possibly G, are petitioning the 
Board of Street Commissioners to extend Hamilton 
Place through the Music Hall (/), to Washington 
Street, so as to gain an open frontage to their 
own estates and thereby raise their value. The 
burden of this so-called ** improvement " is to be 
borne by the good city of Boston ; and the peti- 
tioners, through their lawyers and their retained 
newspapers, are doing their utmost to manufac- 
ture opinion, and persuade the venerable matron 
that she needs a new street in that precise lo- 
cality, and that it must come sooner or later to 
relieve other narrow and crowded thoroughfares. 

Whether it would be a gain to business and 
to public travel we leave to business people to 
determine ; though already the great majority of 
real estate owners in that neighborhoo<l have ex- 
pressed themselves decidedly against the project. 
We would present the question from another point 
of view, and humbly ask whether " business," 
mere private business, too, is alone to have any 
voice and vote in such a matter. No one, we pre- 
sume, will undertake to say that Boston is in 
duty bound to improve the individual property of 
A, B, and C, in any way which they point out as 
feasible. So they trump up arguments to make 
it appear that Boston for her own sake, for the 
good of all, requires it. Happily, for the present 
at least, this is a minority opinion; but the 
enemy, though few, are vigilant and will still 
press their point, while the community at large, 
contented with things as they are, takes no part 
in the question ; it is time that it should be 
aroused ; forewarned is forearmed ; and we are 
glad, therefore, to s€e that a protest is passing 
round for signaturef, already signed by the presi- 
dents of our leading musical societies, by the su- 
perintendent of the public schools, and by many 
other citizens of weight and influence, praying 
the Commissioners that this vandal act may not 
be consummated. 

What is Boston, city of onr love and pride, 
that she should allow this thing? Is Boston but 
a crowded mart, or wilderness of streets and 
shops ? Is this all that we mean by the dear and 
honored name ? What is the worth of these ex- 
cept as they serve a higher end ? By Boston do 
we not mean a home of pure and noble life, of 
education, culture, art, religion, charitjr? Proud 



as she may be of her wealth, her trade, her en- 
terprise, is she not far prouder of her schools, 
her chui*ches, art museums, public charities, 
measures for promoting general health and cheer- 
fulness, her beautiful parks and gardens, her his- 
toric monuments, her noble buildings about which 
cluster fine associations, and none more so than 
her halls of noble music ? And here in this 
Boston Music Hall we. have enjoyed now for a 
quarter of a century one of the noblest and largest 
halls for music in the world. Its very atmosphere 
is full of inspiring memories and associations ; its 
floor is consecrated ground. It is remarkably 
well situated and convenient of access to all ; it 
is withdrawn from all disturbing noise ; and it is 
admirable in its acoustic properties; we have 
never seen a hallpf the same size, here or in the old 
world, in which music can be heard so well. Can 
Boston afford to throw away so great a blessing 
for tlie cheap consideration of a few more shops, 
or a single short street more or less in the great 
labyrinthine wilderness of brick and stone ? To 
enhance the property of A, B, and C, shall Bos- 
ton dispossess herself of one of her noblest means 
of general good and culture, one of her proudest 
monuments ? 

We but express a deeply implanted sentiment of 
the whole more or less cultured and intelligent 
community, of every truly patriotic child of Bos- 
ton. The petitioners have to respect this senti- 
ment, or feign respect for it. Accordingly they 
go about disparaging the Music Hall on the one 
hand, and on the other prophesying smooth 
things, as that somebody, somewhere, at some 
early date, will build us a bigger and a better 
and more showy hall. They say the hall is 
running down, that it is let for dog shows, and 
" hen operas," and demoralizing, brutal, and dis- 
graceful prize-fights ; alas, too true 1 but this 
need no longer be, since the hall is paying a fair 
dividend, and musical enterprises are already 
again on the increase ; art, with trade, is gaining 
headway. 

But as for a new and better hall, — trust not 
the flattering illusion I This reckless, ready way 
of sacrificing the goods we liave, does not inspire 
confidence for the creation of new ones. Destroy 
the Music Hall, and you discourage every enter- 
prize of the kind hereafter ; who will build again 
upon such slight security? The hall we have 
would never have been built but for the convic- 
tion that it would stand at least a century. At 
all events a bird in hand is worth two in the 
bush ; first show us your new Music Hall, before 
you rob us of the one ^ve have ; and also show 
us, afler sufficient trial, that music will sound as 
well in it, since, as the remonstrants well say, 
**the excellent acoustic properties of the Hall 
are the result of a happy accident, and conse- 
quently, if a new hall were to be built, it might 
in this respect turn out to be greatly inferior to 
the present one." 



THE EXPRESSIVE POWER OF MUSIC. 

Dr. Eduard Hanslick, in his pamphlet on 
'*The Beautiful in Music," makes a very nice 
distinction in speaking of what is commonly called 
the expressive power of the art. He says very 
truly that music cannot present to the mind defi- 
nitely predicable emotions, but only their dy- 
namic quality. In other words, tliat, in charac- 
terizing the expressive power of music, we can 
rightly use only adjectives, but not substantives. 
We often hear people say that this piece of mu- 
sic expresses " passionate love," and that piece 
" overwhelming grief." But if we ^xamine 
closely, we shall find that the music only ex- 
presses the dynami^ force of these emotions ; it 
expresses " passionate " something^ or " over- 
whelming " something, but what this something 



is, we are unable to determine without the aid 
of some clue with which the music itself does 
not furnish us. In vocal music this clue is given 
us by the text ; in so-called descriptive instru- 
mental music it is given us by the title or by the 
programme. Yet even in these cases we should be 
careful to recognize the fact that the music does not 
really expressihi^ meaning of the text or programme, 
but only intensifies that which the text or pro- 
gramme has already expressed. That is to say, that 
the emotional power of music is in itself some- 
thing utterly vague and indeterminate ; a power 
which commands our emotional nature in gen- 
eral, which holds sway (Arer all the passions a 
Collins could enumerate, but which is yet inca- 
pable of imperatively calling forth any especial 
one of them. I say that music commands sdl the 
passions, but it is as a master commands a troop 
of servants whose various names and duties be 
does not know, and who needs the intervention of 
some serviceable major-domo before he can have 
his orders duly executed. Or, to make a more 
striking simile, it is like a torpedo of unlimited 
power, which has to be directed by an intelligent 
hand before it can blow up the desired object ; 
all tlie torpedo does is to explode, and it is of no 
consequence to it what it blows up ; it only shat- 
ters to atoms that which happens to lie in its 
way. 

These apparent restrictions upon the emotional 
power of music in no way contravene tlie pos- 
sibility of music's having, in a certain sense, 
a very decided intrinsic character. It can indi- 
cate not only the dynamic force of emotions, but 
also their nobility, elevation, seriousness, or frivol- 
ity. We may be utterly at a loss to determine 
whether a certain composition 6v phrase expresses 
love or anger ; we can only feel that it presents 
some more or less violent emotion to our sesthetic 
contemplation ; but we can in most cases appreci- 
ate very keenly whether the emotion, indetermi- 
nate as it is, is that of a demigod or of a boor. 
Phryne cannot sing in the same strains as An- 
tigone ; Francesca disdains the dialect of Messa- 
lina ; none but a very guUible ninny can mis- 
take Salomoneus for the Olympian Zeus. 

The element of nobility or baseness in music 
is, to be sure, dependent to some extent upon 
convention ; yet not so much so as is oflen sup- 
posed. If one man says that he can associate 
nothing with the finale of Beethoven's A major 
symphony but a merry-making of boors, there are 
an hundred who will prefer to associate it in 
their mind with the dance of the Corybantes. 
It is always allowable for the listener to furnish 
music with his own subjective substratum of 
ideas, if he only remembers that the ideas are 
his, not the composer's. What these ideas are 
will depend upon his mood, his accidental sur- 
roundings, and in a great degree upon his own 
musical experience and habits. A man of es- 
sentially frivolous and shallow nature may accept 
much trivial music as grand and impressive ; a 
man whose sense of the sublime can only be 
aroused by the most extravagant and tangible 
effects may even look upon essentially noble mu- 
sic as trivial and commonplace if it have not in 
it that magniloquent quality which is necessary 
to call his finer feelings into action. But here we 
take extreme and exceptional cases. Taking 
the music- loving portion of our race as a whole, 
we shall probably find that men agree quite as 
well about the serious, elevated, or frivolous char- 
acter of a musical composition as they do about 
similar characteristics of any other work of art — 
of a statue, a painting, or a poem. But to call 
music a *' universal language," as many people 
have done, and still do, is going .too far. The 
great desirableness and convenience of a mode of 
expression that shall be comprehensible in every 
part of the inhabited globe is, no doubt, the cause 



78 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 993, 



that impels ingenious individuals to believe in 
the possibility of such a thing. As human ex- 
perience has shown that articulate speech, what 
we call language, has steadily refused to adopt 
any single, universal form, it was not unnatural 
that the seekers after this tangible means of 
making the whole world kin should have sought 
for it in the most potent, and at the same time 
the vaguest of human arts. Richard Wagner, who 
has read his Schopenhauer to good advantage in 
many respects, makes the scream unconsciously 
uttered by a man just waking from a dream, the 
germ (in figurative Huxley an language, the pri- 
mordial cell) of all music. Apart from the 
metaphysical truth of this idea (which it would 
take too long to consider in all its bearings here), 
there is one great truth which it makes manifest, 
and that is that Music is, in its very essence, in- 
articulate, incapable of expressing definitely any 
particular train of thought, or any definite idea. 
Now an essentially inarticulate universal lan- 
guage, is one which will be open to much miscon- 
ception ; it will be one which docs not deserve 
the name of language at all. If there be really 
a means of communication between man and man 
which is absolutely unmistakable as to its mean- 
ing, it is a very old and primeval one, and one 
which has little in common with what we call 
art. A sharp blow, delivered straight from the 
shoulder, and striking just between the eyes of the 
person who is to be enlightened as to our inten- 
tions, is an argument tlie gist of which can be 
comprehended by every son of Adam. Other 
form of universal lansuas^e is unknown to the 
present writer. But when we come to screams, 
howling, or even the more orderly sounds which 
we habitually call Music, their meaning is very 
vague indeed. Many a traveller in the Sahara 
has been chilled to the marrow by the sudden 
howling ofhb Arab escort, thinking that fell mur- 
der was imminent, when the peculiar vocal noises 
made by his wild troop were only expressions of 
peaceful rejoicing. We have all heard the au- 
thentic story of the musical German who sang (in 
his native tongue) " A Maiden's Lament over the 
Death of a Rose," and was met by the compla- 
cent remark of one of his English-speaking list- 
eners : " I suppose that is one of your National 
War Songs I" I own that it sounds cold- 
bloodedly cynical when Hanslick says that you 
can change the text of Glnck*s great aria : — 

** J*ai perda raon Enridioe, 
Rien nV'gale moii nialheur," 

80 as to make it-read : — 

** J*ai trouv^ mon Euridioe, 
Rien ir^gale mon bonbeor,'* 

without making the music one whit less express- 
ive of the bcnsc of the text. All of us who love 
Gluck, and have had the wondrous melo<ly speak 
to our very heart of hearts, are inclined to reject 
such an insinuation as verging upon the scur- 
rilous 1 But let ns think a moment — still 
better, let us make the experiment for ourselves 
with the greatest practicable freedom from preju- 
dice, and see what the result will be. To me, 
personally, the experiment has been convincing 
that the expression of passionate sorrow is no in- 
herent quality in Gluck's beautiful melody, and 
that it lends itself equally well to the expression 
of passionate yoy. The thunderstorm in Beetho- 
ven's Pastoral Symphony might be brought for- 
ward as an argument on the opposite side. It 
certainly would be hard to find a listener who 
(even if ignorant of the intention of this move- 
ment) could not recognize it as a thunderstorm set 
to music. But this is not an expression of a 
thunderstorm, nor a description of one ; it is a 
phonetic imitation of one, or at least just enough 
of an imitation to guide the listeners' ideas in tlie 
desired direction. 



It may be asked, ** Does then music, of itself, 
express nothing ? Has music no emotional value 
whatever, or only such emotional power as we 
find in all formal beauty ? " The answer to this 
is evident ; it is well known that music has the 
very strongest emotional power, apart from any 
especial beauty of form. What then can it ex- 
press ? Just diis : Anything the listener pleases. 
It clothes his personal, subjective feelings in a 
garment of glowing light that makes them truer, 
deeper, nobler, tlian they were before. A Beetho- 
ven symphony will weep with him if he is in 
sorrow, rejoice with him if he is glad ; if he is 
ambitious, the music will show him the object of 
his ambition in fairer colors than he had ever 
imagined it before. In a purely emotional sense, 
music is a bank that gives you back whatever 
you yourself put into it, with an hundred fold 
interest. 

There is an old fable of a cunning magician 
who sold little bits of mirror to credulous persons, 
telling tliem Uiat if they looked into those magic 
reflectors they would see the object of their most 
ardent desire and love. The people bought and 
looked, and only saw their own faces, but the 
little mirrors had an enchanted power, by virtue 
of which people always saw themselves at their 
best when looking into them. 

Now music is just such an enchanted mirror : 
it shows you your own tolf, only glorified and 
ennobled. William F. AptIiorp. 



The Passioit Music. — We had intended to 
make our account of the performance on Good 
Friday more complete, by entering into a some- 
what detailed description of its many long, elab- 
orate Arias, which, with a few exceptions, are 
not readily understood and appreciated by hear- 
ers unfamiliar with them ; also of the solos ac- 
companied with chorus ; and particularly of the 
wonderfully delicate and efi'ective instrumentation 
throughout, in which Robert Franz, while show- 
ing the utmost reverence for Bach's intentions, 
has only added, with a master hand, what was 
necessary to make those intentions clear. But 
for this we must take some time when there is 
more room and leisure. 

For the present we wish, first, to correct a 
ridiculous error which, without our knowledge, 
crept into our last article. In speaking of the 
Bass Aria, " Come, blessed cross ! " the types 
made us praise Mr. Wulf Fries's playing of " the 
interesting and very difficult new violoncello 
solo." That word ^* new " was composed into 
our score by the compositor I 

In the next place, we wish to give some im- 
portant credits for which we had not room before. 
In paying our thankful acknowledgments to the 
organist, the chorus, and the solo singers, each 
and all, we omitted to say expressly, what was 
nevertheless implied in every word of praise we 
gave to the performance, namely, that to the in- 
telligent enthusiasm, the unstinted, well directed 
labor, an<l the remarkable tact of the conductor, 
Carl Zerrahk, far more than to any one, were 
we all indebted for this great success. He held 
all the elements completely in his hand. We 
might question his conception or his theory as to 
the treatment of some few parts of the music, 
but there is no denying that he proved himself 
master of the situation. 

All honor, also, to the president and board of 
government of the Handel and Haydn Society, 
especially to the very able and devoted secretary, 
Col. A. Parker Brown, to whose great organizing 
faculty^ as well as taste and judgment, and 
staunch fidelity to what is best in music, the 
present prosperous condition of the old society is 
largely owing. 

In recognizing, as we do heartily, the excellent 



service of the orchestra in almost every portion 
of tlie difficult accompaniments, we may repeat, 
al rovescioy a remark we made at the end of the 
Symphony Concerts. Then we asked where we 
could look for an orchestra to play the Passion 
Music, but for that practice in Uic Symphonies. 
Now, we may suggest : What practice could an 
orchestra possibly have, that would go so far, in 
so short a time, toward fitting it for all the no- 
bler tasks, as that one solid week spent in re- 
hearsing and performing the accompaniments of 
the Passion Music ? 



The Zerrahn Testimonial. — The Handel 
and Haydn Society were not reckoning without 
their host when diey relied, not only on their 
own large membership, but on a quick and warm 
response of all the artists and musicians, and of 
our whole musical public, to their glowing invi- 
tation. The Music Hall was crowded ; the 
chorus scats were filled to the utmost limit ; solo 
singers presented tliemselves in such eager com- 
petition that that service was divided among two 
and twenty of our leading artists ; beautiful gifls 
and floral offerings, with presentation speeches 
before the Oratorio (outside of the Hall), en- 
hanced the interest for all and expressed for all 
the cordial sympathy for the recipient., for the 
honored conductor at the end of twenty-five 
years of faithful and efficient service. And so 
on this occasion, as on that of his first assuming 
the conductorship, Elijah was performed with 
everything conspiring to a most complete and 
grand interpretation. It was inspiring ; the en- 
thusiasm never for a moment flagged. All sang 
and did their best. If we were to begin to 
praise individually we should not get through in 
this number ; yet the occasion was one of which 
this paper should preserve the record in full, and 
for that we must take another time. 

CONCERTS. 

The Symphonies, the Oratorios, the Operas, the refjpilar 
oounes, are all over; and now that the mighty meii of war 
and tlie huge (Hgates have withdrawn, a multitudinoiia fleet 
of smaller craft that have been awaiting their Spring turn in 
snug harbors, and in every hidden cove, have ventured out 
as usual, each on its own account, — some of them, from 
their amateur or semi-private character, having less tlie air 
of business than of pleasure yachts. Nearly every evening 
for some weeks has had its concert, mostly in some smaller 
ball. Then have been more of tliem than we can even men- 
tion ; much less could we attend them all. But most of 
them have been interesting; several of them too signifieaot 
to go unrecorded. None more so than that given on Friday 
evening, April 18, at Union Hall, by the ^vanoed Violin 
Classes of Mr. Julius Eichbkrg's Boston Conservatory of 
Music. It more than made good the promise we have hailed 
in similar exhibitions of several *3'ear« past. To hear young 
men and maidens, even girls of sixteen', or under, play difficult 
violin compositions of masters like Bach, "Beethoven, Haydn, 
Ernst, and Wietiiawski, and play them like artists, not only 
with good, firm tone, correctly, but with ease and grace and 
power, entering into the spirit and expression of each piece, 
is something to astonidi those who hear it for the first time. 
But this is what was realized that evening. In a pretty for- 
midable programme : — 

Allegretto, MenueCto, and Finale fhna lit 

Quartet Haydn. 

Messrs. Albert Van Raalte, Edw. A. Sabin, Willis 
Nowell, Chas. Behr. 

Legeoda WitniawtiL 

Miss Ullian Sbattuck. 
Prelude and Fugue for Violin sok> .... Bach. 

Mr. Edw. A. Sabui. 

OtheOo Fantisie ErmL 

Miss Ullian Chandksr. 

Adagio and Finale from Sonata, F ma.. Op. 80 BtvAoveiu 

(For Violin and Piano.) 

Messrs. Willis and Geo. Nowell. 

Nocturne for four Violins Eichberg, 

Blisses Chandler, ShaUuck, Sbepardson, 
and Launder. 

Polonuse WienmwM. 

Miss Edith Christie. 

Conoertante for two Violins Danda. 

Misses L. Launder and A. Sbepardaou. 



Mat 10, 1879.] 



J) WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



79 



Faust FaiitaRie Wieniawtki. 

Mr. Albert Van Raalte. 

Meauetto aiid Finale from C minor (Quartet . Beethoven. 

Misses Lillian ChaniUer, Lottie Launder, Abbie 

Sbepanlson, Lillian Shattuck. 

Mr. Van Raalte may be considered as the most advanced 
popll of this admirable scboolf — a graduate, in fact, of sev- 
eral years back, and now fully competent to figure as a con- 
cert virtuoso. It would have pleased Wieniawaki to bear his 
Fan$t Fantasie so well pbyed. The Prelude and Fugue of 
Uach, too, told for what it is in Mr. Sabin^s clear, intelligent, 
and vif^orous interpretation, only wanting the freedom that 
will come in time. The movements from the Beethoven 
Sonata were ably rendered by both violinist and pianist. But 
most interesting of all was the quartet playing — both that by 
the young men, and still more, for obvious reasons, that by 
the four young ladies. Miss Lilian Chandler, who led in the 
Beethoven Quartet, is a girl of sixteen years, who, during 
half that time has been studying the violin with Mr. lijch- 
berg. By her beautiful performance of the Othello Fantasie 
■he had oh'eady given signal proof of uncommon talent highly 
cultivated. There was perfect purity of intonation, even to 
the highest tones, fine phrasing, good legato and staccato, 
and in fact, all that the first violin part required to make 
the intentions of the music clear. And she was well sec- 
onded by the second violin, the viola, and the 'cello, ably 
handled by Miss Shattuck, who had also made her mark as 
solo violinist in the beautiful <« Legende '* of Wieniawski. 
On other occasions we have heard these young ladies play 
Quartet movements in which they have shifted about, now 
one, now another taking the first violin, the 'cello, etc. Each 
seems at home in more than a single part. There is power 
and promise here. We shall not lack material for chamber 
concerts; we sIuUl some day have such players in our or- 
ohestras for Symphony, etc. And, better stiU, think of such 
a resource for refined entertainment and culture in the home, 
when you may call on sons and daughters, with friendly 
neighbors* aid, perhaps, to play a string quartet, as easily 
as you would suggest a game of whist, — and how much 
better! 

Mr. Eichberg*s beautiful Nottumo for four violins was 
pUtyed by the same fair hands with fine unity and balance 
of parts, and with delicate expression. Miss Edith Christie, 
another of the younger ones, appeared only as soloist, but the 
brilliant rendering of tliat Polonaise placed her among the 
foremost. The Concertante for two violins showed the abil- 
ities of Misses Launder and Shepardson to great advantage. 
On the whole, we are more than ever convinced that Mr. 
Kchberg is doing a great work in this violin school. The 
violin is a fit instrument for woman, and this truth he here 
practically and signally illustrates. Scholars will become 
teachers, and the school will have its branches elsewhere. 



The Ckciua, od Monday evening, April 21, Mr. B. J. 
lang, director, sang in Treroont Temple, before the very 
large and cultivated audience always eager to accept its in- 
vitation. Part I. conauted of copious seleetfons from Han- 
del's L'AUegro ed il Fetuieroso^ which were given with 
orchestra and with fine effect Mr. Sumner presided at the 
organ. The soprano ain were sung by Miss Mary A. Tur- 
ner, In good voice and style, and those for the tenor by Mr. 
G. L. Osgood, with admirable taste and feeling. The chorus 
singing was excellent Part IL included Hauptmann's " May 
Song" (partsong);) Rubhistein*s *« The Nixie," a romantic 
ballad for alto song (Miss Ita Welsh), and female chorus, 
greatly increased in interest by the orchestra] accompani- 
ment; Moaart's **I1 mio tesoro," sung by Mr. Alfred 
Wilkie; the clever comic glee of **Humpty Dumpty,** by 
Caldicott, which was gleesomely received; and Gade's can- 
tata, ** Spring Greeting, '* in which of ooqrM the orchestra 
•gain was all-impOTtant 

The hst concert of the (third) season was on Thursday 
of this week, when the music of the *' Midsummer Night's 
Drum ** was given in fiill, witii reading by Mr. George 
Kiddle. 

The aecond and third of the three classical concerts of 
Messrs. Shervrood, Allen, and Fries, more than confirmed the 
promise of the fint The second (April 82) opened with 
the string quintet, with clarinet, by Mozart, a delicious 
work, and played to a charm; Mr. E. Weber's clarinet 
playing was of the finest quality. For the closing piece, 
Beethoven's Septet, with all the instruments for which it 
was written, was played entire, and in a most satisfiutory 
manner, except for a little awkward scrambling of that 
ik>w instmment, the horn, in the almost impossible pas- 
lage given to it in the rapid fteherzo. Chopin's Rondo, in C, 
for two pianos, was brilliantly played by Mr. £. B. Story 
and Mr. Sherwood. Mrs. £. Humphrey Allen sang Men- 
delssohn's concert aria, **Infolioe," in au uitelligeut and 
finished style, and with a beautiful voioe, but hardly with 
enough of the dramatic fire. In Schumann's songs, <* Beau- 
teous Oadle," and ** Why shouhi I wander," she gave real 
pleasure. 

The last concert (April 29) began with a most interest- 
ing Concerto in C minor, for two pianos, with string quar- 
tet, by Bach, heard here for the first time. The pianists 
wen Messrs. Hanchett (who, we were glad to see, has de. 
termined not to quit the field yet) and Sherwood ; the 
itriug accompanists were Mr. Allen and his party. To bal- 
ance this, at the end of the concert, Mendelssohn's Quartet 



n F^flat, Op. 12, was played delightfully, indeed inspiring- 
ly ; th'c quaint Cnn/onclta went so perfectly that it had to 
be rei)eatcd. Other instrumental pieces were: Beethoven's 
Sonata for piano and violin, in E flat, Op. 12, by Messrs. 
Sherwood and Allen, and three piano solos by Mr. Sher- 
wood, given in his l>est style, namely: 1. ** Moment Mu- 
sicale," Op. 7, in C sharp minor, by Moszkowski. a singu- 
larly fascinating and original production; 2. Schumaini's 
''Vogelals Prophet;" 3. Cbopm's A-flat Polonaise, Op. 
53, 

Mme. Cappiani sang with delicate and true expression a 
lovely little song by Grieg, " Ich liel» dich," '« £r ist ge- 
komroen," by Franx, and '» Pieta," by Meyerbeer. But we 
were still more charmed by her singing, with Mr. Fessen- 
den, of two exquisite, and to us wholly new, duets by Schu- 
mann : " Liebbttber Standchen " and " liebesgarten." Mr. 
Fessenden, for solos, gave " Yearnings," and ^^ Not a breath 
of Spring," both by Rubuistein, with all that contrast of 
ridi, open tones and delicate and tender toUo voce which 
makes his singing always so acceptable. 

These concerts have demonstrated that we need not go to 
other cities for good quartet playing ; we trust that next year 
Boston will make the most of her own resources in this 
line. 

A long list of concerts must lie over to anotba number. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, Apkil 21. — The programme of Mr. Carl- 
berg's Ust symphony concert, April 12, was as follows: — 

Overture, «* Coriolan," Op. 62 . . ; . . Beethoven. 
Concerto for violin (first time in America) . Jiulnnslein. 

Herr August Wilhelmj. 
Love Scene. Entr'act fh>m the opera <* Tovelille," 

Op. 12 A^ar llamerik. 

Miss Henrietta Beebe. 

Aria, »* Non temer, amato bene," Mozart. 

Reverie for violin Vieuxtetnps. 

Symphony in C, No. 9 Schubert. 

Mr. Carlberg has now thoroughly established his reputa- 
tuHi ss a conductor of marked ability, and his success is all 
the more creditable, for the reason that he had to contend 
with the general apathy and indifference of our musical pub- 
lic and tlie press at the opening of the season. Without 
claimuig that he has brought his orchestra to the highest 
attainable degree of excellence, it is sufficient to record the 
fact, that each performance under his b&ton has shown a 
steady improvement in strength, clearness, and finish of ex- 
ecution, as well as in spirited, intelligent expression. During 
the season of six concerts and six public rehearsals, the fol- 
lowing works were performed : — 
Barffiel, Woldeinnv. Overture, *• Medea." 
Beethoven, Overture, *' Coriolan." Overture, <*Egmont" 

Symphony in A (No. 7)> Symphony in B flat (No. 4). 

Concerto for Piano in G major, Mr. S. B. Mills. 

O>ncerto for Piano in C minor, Miss Josephine Bates. 
Bridl, If/naz. Concerto for Piano, Op. 10, Mr. Richard 

Hofifaian. 
DanieUj C F. Nocturne for Orehestra, with Violoncello 

Obli(^ (Blr. Wm. Popper). 
Hitndel. Aria from »Acis and (jalatea," Miss Giertnide 

Franklin. 
Hamerikj Asger. Love Scene from " Tovelille." 
Haydn, Symphony in E-flat (No. 1). 
LixU. Hungarian Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra, Mr. 

Franz Rummel. 
Mozart. Letter arU fit>m " Don Giovanni," Miss Kate 

I'hayer. 

Aria from *' Nome di Figaro," Signer CampobeUo. 
Aria from " Belmonte e Coustauza," Mrs. J. K. Bar- 
ton. 
Aria, •< Ah, non temer," Miss Henrietta Beebe. 
Mendelteohn^ F. Symphony in A minor (Scotch.) Over- 
ture, '«RuyBUs." 
Martini, Padre, Gkivotte. Arranged for string instru- 
ments by Ferd. Dulcken. 
NichoUy II. W, Romanza from the Suite, No. 1. 
Raff, Joachim. Symphony " Im Walde." 
Bubinttein, Anton. Oncerto for Violin with Orchestra, 

Herr August Wilbela\). 
Schubert, Franz. Symphony in C, No. 9. 
Schumann, Robert. Symphony in D muior, No. 4. Con- 
certo for Piano, Mr. Franz Rummel. 
Spthr, Louie. Concerto dramatioo for Vk>lin, Mr. Edonard 

Remenyi. 
Svendsen, Johann. Norwegian Rhapsody, No. 4. 
Vieuxtempe, Henri. Reverie for Violin, Herr August 

WUheln\j. 
Wagner, Richard. *> Waldweben," from the Music Drama 

" Siegfried." Eine " Faust " Ouverture. 

The list of compositions performed by the Philhannonio 
Society, during the past season, is as follows : — 

Bargiel, overture *< Prometheus " ; Beethoven, " Eroica " ; 
Seventh Symphony in A; Aria from «< Fidelio," << Abscheu- 
licher " (Mme Granger-Dow); Oncert Aria, " Ah Perfido " 
(Miss Minnie Hauk); " Leonora" overture No. 3; Berlioz, 
*« Camaval Remain " ; Pastorale from " Symphonic Fantas- 
tique," Op. 14; Brahms, Symphony No. 2; Briill, Om- 
certo. Op. 10, for piano-forte (Itichard Hoflfman); Chopin- 
Wilhehni, Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 1, for violin (August WMl- 
heln^); Ernst, *« Concert Pathetique," Op. 23 (Edonard 



Remenyi); Fuchs, Serenade in D; Lipinski, Concert Mil- 
itaire (August Wilhelmj); Liszt, Concerto in E-flat, for 
piano-forte (Franz Rummel); Hunnenschlacht; Tasso, " La- 
mento e Trionfo; " Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 4, in A; 
Mercadaute, "11 Giuramento" (A. Galassi); Mozart, 
" Jupiter " Symphony; " Un Aura Amoroea," from " Cosi 
fantutte" (Mme Granger-Dow); Rubinstein, **Achwenn 
es nur imroer so bliebe " (Miss Mhinie Hauk); Schuliert, 
« Ungeduld " (Mrs. Granger-Dow); ** Haidercslein " (Miss 
Minnie Hauk); Schumann, Concerto in A minor (Mme 
Groessler-Heim), Symphony in E-flat, No. 3; Tschdkow- 
sky. Symphony No. 3, in D; Fantdsie, <*France8ca di 
liimini;" Wagner, ** Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire- 
Scene; " Scena from " Tanuhiiuser," for baritone (A. Ga- 
lassi.) 

He Oratorio Society gave theur fourth concert, at Stein- 
way Hall, on Thursday evening, April 17, preceded by a 
public rehearsal on WediSesday afternoon. The programme 
included F. Kiel's Oratorio of ** Christus " [given for the 
first time in America], and compositions by Handel, Bach, 
Wagner, Beethoven, and Mozart. The soloists were Miss 
A. Henne, Mrs. l-lorenoe Rice-Knox, Messrs. Jacob GraflT, 
and A. E. Stoddard. Herr August Wilhelmj was the in- 
strumental soloist, and played among other compositions, 
the well known Largo, by Handel. 

Mr. W. H. Sherwood gave his first mating piano-forte 
recital at Stein way Hall, on Saturday, April 19. His se- 
lections covered a wide range, as will appear from the list 
given below: — 



XII Etudes Symphoniques, Op. 13 
Fugue, E minor ("Fire Fugue,") . . 
Sonata, Op. 31, No. 3, E-flat . . . 

a. Fugue, G minor, Op. 5, No. 8 . 

b. Serenade, I) minor. Op 93 . . 

c. Waldesrauschen — Concert £^tude 
I a. Ballade, A-flat, Op. 47, ) 

j b. Noctunie, C minor. Op. 48, j 
Toccata di Concerto, Op. 36 ... 

ia, " Lohengrin's Verwcis an Elsa," 
6. " Isolden's Uebes-Tod," 
urande Polonaise, £-migor .... 



. Schumann. 
. . Handel. 
Beethoven. 
. Rfteinberger. 
. Rubinnlein. 
. . , Liezt. 

. . Chopin. 

August DuponL 

Wagner-LiezL 

. . . Liszt. 



Mr. Sherwood's enviable reputation as a pianist had pre- 
ceded him, and bis appearance here was a matter of interest 
to musical amateura and musicians, who, thotigh a muior- 
ity in the audience, were present in force, and who could 
not fiiil to perceive and appreciate the merit of bis playing, 
which was distinguished by great technical ability, remark- 
able versatility, and an excellent touch. In the Liszt pieces 
especially, he made a mariced impression, and his rendering 
of the entire bill was character^ed by good taste, correct- 
ness, and fine musical feeling. A. A. C. 

Baltimore, Mat 5. — The thirteenth series of Peabody 
concerts ckMcd hen on Saturday night, with the following 
programme: — 

French Suite, D miyor, 1685-1750 . . J. Seb. Bach. 
Air from the " Messmh," 1684-:1759 . . G. F. Handel. 

Miss Jenny Busk. 
Piano Concerto, E minor. Work 11. 1810-1849 

Fr. Chopin. 
Madame Nannette Falk-Auerfoach. 
Scene and air from " Freischiitz," 1786-1826 

C. M. wm Weber. 
Miss Jenny Busk. 
Fourth Norse Suite, D mi^or. Work 25. Fragments. 
Composed in Baltimore, 1876-77. Love Song. 
<« Ode to the Sea," 1843- . . . . Asger Hamerik. 
Much has been said and written during the past sea*, 
son of the share system under which our orchestra has 
been playing, and of its effects on the nature of the selec- 
tions, and the manner in which they were rendered. It 
must be admitted that such an arrangement can only be 
unsatisfoctory to all concerned; but at the same time, it 
gives me pleasure to say that our orchestra, although 
no decided progress is apparent, has succeeded in holding 
its own, and. has resisted that tendency to retrogression, 
which under the circumstances was to he feared. It is un- 
derstood the Institute will be in a position next winter to 
place the fourteentli series of concerts on a firmer footing. 

The following is a list of the compositions played here 
during the past season : — 
/. 8. Bach. French Suite, D mo^or. 
Beethoven. Third Symphony, "Eroica." Eighth Sym- 
phony, Overture to " l^mont." Piano Concerto, £.flat, 
No. 5 (Mme. Naimette Falk-Auerbach). 

Violin Romance, F nit^r (Mr. Joeef Kaspar). 
Berlioz Fantastic Symphony, C nuyor; The Roman Car- 
nival, concert overture. 
G. Bizet. Melodrama from third act of " The Maid of 

Aries." 
0. B. Boise, Ohio. Piano concerto, G minor (Mme Falk- 

Auerbach). 
Chopin. Piano concerto, E minor (Mme Falk-Auerbach). 
Donizetti Cavatina fh>m "The Martyrs" (Miss H. A. 

Hunt). 
Max. Eixbnannsdorfer. Overture to the legend " Princesi 

nse." 
Niels W. Gnde. Eighth Symphony, B minor. 
M. J. Glinka. Overture to "My Life for the Czar;" 
Komarinskiya, Russian scherzo. 



80 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[you XXXIX. — No. 993. 



Overture to "Aloeate.** 
Songs with piaiio (Min Elin Boraldi). 



Glwik. 

Gounod 

Edvard Grieg. Piauo concerto, A minor, work 16 (Mr. 

B. CourlMuder). 
AMger Hamenkj 1843.- Fourth NorM Suite, D migoi't ^o^k 

25; Prelude and Romance from the opera "TovaliUe" 

(MiM H. A. Hunt). 
HandtL Rec and Air firom ** Theodora" (MIm Editlt 

AbeU). 

Air from »< Mttsiah *' (Min Jennj Busic). 
Haydn. Symphony, G, No. 13; Symphony, B4lat major, 

No. ai, " Queen of Frauoe." 
Fr. Kukiau. Ei&n Hill, Danish drama, work 100. Frag- 
ments. 
Mozart Symphony, G minor; Jupiter Symphony, C 

major; Rec. and Air from the *' Magic Flute'* (Miss 

Jeimy Busk). 
C. C AfUUeTf New York. Nocturne, E minor. 
E. W. NiehoUy New York. A movement from a Sym. 

phony, work 12. 
G, Romni. Cavatina fh>m '^Semiramis;" Cavatinafrom 

•»The Barber of Seville '* (Miss Elisa Banldi). 
August Sddtrman. Norse Folk-Songs and Folk-Dances. 
L, Spokr. Symphony, D minor; Overture to <« Jessonda; ** 

Romance from " Zemire and Azor '* (Miss Jenny Busk). 
Arthur StUHcan, 1842.—" The Ixst Chord,'* song with piano 

(Miss Edith AbeU). 
X, Votlanann, 1830.- Serenade, D minor (Mr. Rudolph 

Green). 
Von IVeber. Bee. and Air from '« Der Freisehiitx " (Miss 

Jenny Busk). 

Chicago, May 1. — The warm days of spring press upon 
us, and announce the chwe of our musical season. On the 
evening of April 22, the Beethoven Society gave its last con- 
cert in the regular course, presenting the following pro- 
gramme: — 



1. 



El^ie 
Miss 



Hoff. 



Lizzie Hoyne, Miss Jessie Jenks, and 
Beethoven Society. 
2. *< Song of the SpiriU over the Water " . . MUler. 
a. <« Fable of the Fairest Melusine "... Ilofftaann. 
Melusine .... Miss Jennie Dutton. 
Clotilde .... Mrs. Frank Hall. 
Raymond .... Mr. James Gill. 
Sintnun .... Dr. C A. Martin. 

The works were given with the aid of an orchestra, and 
the performance was a pleasing termination to a successful 
season. The most important of the numbers was " The 
Fair Mdusine," by Hoffmann. The pretty lable has been 
most charmingly set to music of a very attractive character, 
and by its brightness and variety made the concert very en- 
joyable to the krge audience. The orchestral part contains 
some charming e^ts, and as a whole furnishes a pleasing 
accompaniment. At times a little melodic movement sug- 
gests Mendelssuhn, while agun a hint of Schumann is felt, 
although the work possesses an identity of its own. The 
ch<nii8es hi the Cantata were very well given by the Society, 
who seemed to enter into the spirit of the work with no small 
enthusiasm, and the result was that they gave us some of the 
best singing we have had from them this season. Unfortu- 
nately, the huiy who sang the part of Melusine has a fiiulty 
method, which prevented a very good voice fivm dohig justice 
to some charming music. Her articulation was made very 
bad and unintelligible by mingling the vowel and consonant 
sounds without any regsj^ to their relative importance. The 
vowel sound is the soul of a word, and in vocal music must 
always be used in probnging a note. Otherwise, the tone 
loses its beauty, and the language its life and meaning. A 
confusion of soimds is neither music nor language. 

On Thursday evenhig the Apollo Club gave theur third 
concert of the season, with a " request " programme, made 
up of choruses, part-songs, eto., with which they had before 
won approliatbn. The selections were from Palestrina, Men- 
ddssohn, Schubert, Eccard, Macfarren, Handel, Smart, Dr. 
Ame, HaUon, and Benedict. They had the assistance of 
Min Fanny Whitney, who sang the aria " Nobil donna ** of 
Meyabeer, and ** Non so piii " from the Figaro of Moairt. 
Also of Mrs. Dyhrenfurth and Dr. Fuchs, who played the 
^ Concerto Pathetique ** of Liszt for two piano-fortes. The 
chorus work of the ApoUo seemed particulariy well done. 
There is one most pleasing feature about the singing of this 
Society, and that is its due regard for purity of tone. The 
rcwn blend with an exactness of intent in quality and power, 
such that a good balance is preserved among the parts, and the 
eflbct of harmony is never lost. Miss Whitney has a fine 
voice; her singing would be very enjoj-able, were she always 
correct in intonation; but, unfortunately, in her effort to 
deliver the high notes with power, she is inclined to sing 
slightly sharp. She might make a very successful concert 
singer if she would take pains to mend this &ult. It can be 
accomplished with a right method for the delivery of the tone. 

Altliongh the Liszt Concerto was written for Tausig and 
Ton Billow, and is unquestionably a most difficult work, it 
did not excite much interest or adniiratkm. On the first 
hearing the impression comes of its difficulty, and variety of 
eflbets, but no distinct tone-picture is left in the mind, while 
the musical nature is hardly excited into sympathy with it. 
Now and then a mdodic movement will arouse attention, but 
Just as it begins to mean something, it has resolved itself bto 



the first idea. It is very difficult, but it must be mor« than 
this to enter the ideal world of art, and, " like a thing of 
beauty, live forever." It was well performed. 

Mr. Carl Wolfsohn has commenced his yearly piano-forte 
recitals before the Beethoven Society. A week ago the se- 
lections were from Chopin; this lart one was made up of 
compositions by Liszt It is with much pleasure that I 
mention these recitals, for I realize that they ar« given for 
the good of the musical art, and are expressive of the devo- 
tion of this gentieman to the cause of promoting a taste for 
wIuU; is good and beautiful in music. It pleases me to also 
note that at a recent organ recital of Mr. H. (^krence Eddy, 
Miss Hiltz sang five of the tovely songs of Rol)ert Franz. 
Although we are in the spring time of our musical culture 
in this Western land, the seeds of good taste are being sown 
by many an earnest hand, and we shall yet reap the fruite 
of our hOwr. c. H. B. 



MiLWAUKEB, Wis., Ajtril 18. — The folbwing pro- 
gramme was given at the concert of Chr. Bach's oixshestra, 
April 14 : — 

Overture to " Don Juan " MvzarL 

Two parts from the E minor Suite (for the first time) 

/*. Lnchner. 
Solo far Contralto — " When tiie tide comes in " //. Millard. 

MissBeUaHuk. 

Meditation by S. Back and Gounod. 

Polonaise Lrillante C. M. v. Weber. 

For IMano and Orchestra, instrumented by Liszt. 

Mr. Joseph Petros. 

Duet — <' Ctuis est homo ' ' — from Stobat Mater JZosmiu. 

Mrs. Teetzel and Miss Una Bach. 

Fantasie for Comet DeBeriot. 

Mr. H. N. Hutehins. 
Selections from Verdi's "Aida," arr. . . Zimmermann. 



graceful, but by no means foreible; while in the Chopin 
Ballade there seemed to be a very fteroeptiblc Lick of power. 
I do not thiuk I should ever have discovered how noble and 
beautiful the latter composition is from her laying of \L 
But she phyed a Chopin Nudurne for an encore, and, I am 
glad to say, pUyed it m a way which pleased me very much. 

Mr. Knorr is a Chicago tenor with a thin voice, squeezed 
up into the nasal passages. I very much fear he has no fu- 
ture as a public singer. Mrs. Hall and Mrs. llayden are 
two of our local amateurs, pupils of Mr. Tomliiis. They 
did their parte every way oieditably. I do not remember 
that I ever heard Mrs. llayden sing so well. 

The Alusical Society is to give portions of Kiel's ** Chris- 
tus " next week. J. 0. F. 



Motete. 



I regret to say that the performance of the orchestra was 
by no means equal to the best of the programme. It 
leemed to me that I had hardly ever heard them play in so 
spiritless a way, and so carelessly. The singing was very 
poor. Miss Fink has a powerful, deep voice, worthy of 
thorough training; which she evidentiy has never had. The 
other ladies are equally deficient in schooling, without hor 
natursl advantages. The pianist, a pupil of the Vienna 
Conservatory, showed that he had been well tougbt; but his 
performance, both of the Weber Polonaise and of Chopin's 
FanUme-impromptu^ Op. 66, which he played for an encore, 
was mechanical, uninspired and uninspiring, — very Ur in- 
deed from an artistic interpretation. 

This evening the Arioii Club, assisted by the Ceeilian 
Choir, gave ito third concert of the season, with the follow- 
ing programme: — 

{a. Adoremus Te Palettrina. 
b. Presentetion of Christ in the Temple Eccard. 
Ye Spotted Snakes, *' Midsummer Night's Dream." 

MucfaiTen. 
Ceeilian Choh*. 
Ballad. 

(%as. T. Knorr. 

( a. Farewell to the Forest MendeUaohn. 

\ b. Hunting Song Mendeiuohn. 

Piano Sob. ^BaUade, G minor. Op. 23 . . . Chopin 

Miss Amy Fay. 

a. Largo, arrangement fiiom Handel. 

Sob by Mrs. A. W. Hall. 

b. Haste Thee, Nymph Handel. 

j a. Three Fishers went Sailing .... Goldbeck. 
} b, Italian Salad Genee. 

Chas. T. Knorr and Arion dub. 

{ a. DiTgb for a Faithful Lover Benedict. 

I 6. Hunting Chorus Benedict. 

Aria— t'OMioFeniando," DonizeUi. 

Mrs. A. G. Hayden. 
Cradb Song Smart. 

Baf. 
Liatz. 
Miss Amy Fay. 
The Lord is my Shepherd . . . 

CedUan Choir. 
Motet Judge me, (Sod, Ps^m xliii. . Mendelssohn. 

Though it conteined no extended work, it had no lack of 
nobb compositions by great masters, besides lesser produc- 
timis of tsJented and able writns. The piece called " Ital- 
ian Salad," however, I must regard as wholly unworthy of 
a {Jace in such a prc^rramme. 

The singera were snaring from colds and fetigue, having 
just had two of the worst rehearsals they ever went through. 
Under the cireumstances the singing was l)etter than could 
be expected, giving evidence of carefid and thorough drill. 
Hie performance was greatiy marred by Mr. Tomlins now 
and then beating on his desk, and giving ordera in a bud 
voice. This withdrew our attention from the music so as to 
seriously impair the eflfect, producing at times an extremely 
unpleasant shock. It was worse than overhearing the 
prompter in a |^y. 

I wish I could honestiy say I had discovered a great artist 
in Miss Amy Fay. As it is, I failed to be improsed either 
with hor powers of execution or interpretetion. Her play 



Piano Sobs. 



!a. Maerchen (Fairy Story), . . . 
b. Gnomen Iteigen (Elfin Dance), . 



Franz SchtU^ert. 



gigantic chords quite Inoomprehensibb in connection with I ing of the Raff and Uszt pieces was fluent, easy, dear, and 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Tub New York Philharmonic Society is to be congratu- 
lated. At the annual election held yesterday, Mr. Theodore 
Thomas was unanimously elected conductor. On the first 
ballot the vote stood fifty-four for Thomas, nine for Dr. 
Damrosch, and six for Mr. Neuendorff; the minority sub- 
sequeiitiy changed their votes, so that B£r. Thomas becomes 
the choice of tiie whob society. Mr. Julius Ilallgarten 
was elected president; Mr. Boiebm retams tiie vice-presi- 
dency; and the Board of Directon, we understond, is not 
changed, except that Messrs Brandt and Arnold replace two 
of the older members. The directon will soon have a confer- 
ence witii Mr. Thomas, and it will then be determuied 
whether amuigemente can be made to permit of his accept- 
ing the conductorship. — Tribune, April 30. 



Miss Thursbt has made an ennabb success in Paris. 
All the critics unite in praising her voice and execution. 
Figaro caUs her another Patti. VArt Mtuicale — whbh, 
by the vray, eredite her witii being descended on one side 
from an old " Knicker-llooker " iamily ~ says that she is 
in concert without a ri^-al. Le XIX, SiecU^ praising her 
voice, whbh it decUres that she manages with skill and 
grace, says also that she is ravishingly pretty. Le Sport 
speaks of the sweet, vibrating timbre of her voice, and of 
its great flexibility. Le Pttit Juurnfd praises her not only 
for technical power, but for feeling and expreisbn The 
Paris Jourmtl^ mentioning first her chsnniug voice and her 
musical cultivation, says tiiat she sang an air of Mozart, 
and a theme with variations of I'roch, and adds that she 
gave the first ** wiUi a taste and simplicity marv^ualy i^i- 
propriate to Mozart's style: and the second with an ease, a 
flexibility, a strength and a certainty of attack whbh won 
hearty and unanimous applause." Le Gaulois says that she 
is on the way to become one among the most cdebrated sing- 
ers. Le R'tppel declares that she is in talent of the fitmily 
of Patti and Albani, and that her voice is of the Huue 
metal, forged m the same scluiol. Charivari says that with 
her fint notes she conquered her audience, and Le Temps 
and Le Mtnestrel are full of her gifts and graces. Her 
audience recalled and recalled her, and certainly since Albaui 
no foreign singer has had such a flattering suooess in the 
French Capital. 

Mr.- W. H. Sherwood has started on a western tour 
of recitals and concerts. He played May 3 in PurtUuid, 
Me ; May 6 in Lowell He is engaged for two reeitaU each 
in Oberlin, Ohb, Cincinnati, and St. Lbuis, three in Chi- 
cago, four in Burlington, Iowa, and one each in Piltoburg, 
Evanston, lU., and many otha western towns; and on Uie 
return journey, in New Yoric. He will be away five weeks 
or more. 

Ernst Fribdricfi Richtjcr, one of the most distin- 
guished musical theoriste of the present generation, died at 
Leipzig on the 9th inst. in the seventy-first year of his age. 
He was born at (iross-Schcinau, near Zittau, on October 24, 
1808, and at a very early age showed great musical aptitude. 
In 183 L he went to Leipzig to study music; and on the 
founding oi the Conaervatorium in that town, he was i^i- 
pointed Teacher of Harmony and Composition. On the 
death of the late Moritz Haiiptmann, Kicbter was invited to 
succeed him as Cantor at the lliomas-Kirche, a post for- 
merly held by Sebastian Bach. Ills compositions, especially 
those for the church, are highly esteemed, and often per- 
formed in Germany; but it is as a writer of tiieoretical 
works that he will be best remembered. His treatises on 
Harmony, Counterpoint, and Fngue, are standard instruc- 
tion-books, l)eing sdopted as text-books at the Leipzig Coo- 
sen*atorium. — Academy. 



Miss Emma Thursbt has before her most gratifying 
prospects. She will remain during the present season in 
London; she then goes to sing at the Cerman wateiing- 
pbces. She will return to England for the Hoeford Festi- 
val in September, and for the fulfiUment of engagemento in 
the provinces during October and November. She will af- 
terwards go back to Paris to sing at the Conservatoire, and 
also at the concerts of Paadeloup and Cobnoe. Then foU 
bws a tour in the French provinces and in Holbwd, to 
which succeed engagements in Beriin, Vienna, Prague, 
Pesth, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. The next season she 
will qieud in England, and will return to America in the 
autumn of 1880. 



Mi.T 24, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



81 



BOSTON, MAY 2^, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 

Sahxo. Btmart Stem* ®^ 

Qmmbi Bav» asv FmtfsiMO Caorni. A Study. FatiKy 
RavmondBiiUr JJ 

TBI Zbb«aiim Tbstimoiiial: BotTOM, Mat2. 1879 . ... 82 
Talu ow Aet : BiooiiB Situs- Tram Instruotioos bj Mr. 

Wn. M. Hunt to hli Puplto. VI 8* 

A Lrtbb fbom Florihob ^ 

OOHCBBTS * 

G«oi8e L. Oiffood't Coawrt.— The CedlU. — Fourth 
Annual Feitlral of (Bptooopal) P»rUh Cholrn.— Ood- 
o«rt» of the Apollo Club. 

MDSIOAL CORBISrOKDIllOB W 

ProTldeoo*. — PUIidelphb. — Chicago. —MIlwaulMe. 

MOTIS ABD OLBABUGS ^ 



AU the orHeUs not endifd to other pubUeattons w*r$ txpnsfly 
writtm/or lAu Jommal. 

PMUJud fortHigktfy »y UouaBTOB, Omood abd Cobpabt, 
220 Dtvouikin Sinet, Boston. Pne$, 10 cents a nttmber ; $2UiO 

psrysar. 

For sak in Boston 6y Cabi PBOirBB, 30 West Slr^st, A. Wax- 
lAMS & Co., 283 Washington Strttt, A. K. Lobibo, 369 Wash^ 
ington Strtst, and by th* PtMiskers; in N*v> York 6y A. Bbib- 
TABO, Jb., 39 Union Sqmare, and Hooobtob, Osoood A Co., 
21 Astor Ptaes,' in Philadelphia bf W. H. Bonib & Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street ; t<» Chieago bp the Chioaoo Mo»io Conpabt, 
612 StaU Strtet. 



SANZIO. 

BT ffTUABT 8TKIUIR, AUTIIOB Or ^ AKGELO.** 

'( 8h« WM tiM dBughter of » ■od»-bnrner who Urod aeroM the 
Tiber, near St. C»ciUa. A tmall house ii etill shown, whioh is 
iald to havo been her blrthplaoe. Formerly a garden was at- 
tached to this. In which the loTcljr girl was often to be seen. 
Her beauty, therefore, was soon talked about, —and Baftel also 
was attfaeted by her fiune and seised by such passicmate love 
that he had no peace till he could call her his own, and would 
no longer live without her." — Possatant, 

TiiBT rode In silence for a time. The woods. 

Bright in the fresh young green of early spring, 

E'en now fitr in beneath the aged trees. 

That thickly hiterlaced thdr spreading boughs, 

Grew doslcy with the falling eve, save where 

The stems divided, or a timid sapling, 

Its trembling leaves stirred by each passing breath, 

Made room for light and air; while far and near 

The setthig sun scattered his golden shafts, — 

Among the gnaried, iMvwn oaks, whose swelling buds, 

Big with new life, must burst to flower erebn^; 

And on the towering, mdancholy pines. 

That rest unchanged through all the fitful year, 

Save for the brighter tips thstt in the springtime 

Light their dark crowns as with a sombre smile; 

On the grave olives, with their pallid leaves; 

And on the vii^in willows, modestly, 

Tet with a tender grace ineffiU>le, 

Wearing their bridal veil of delioate green. 

Whose drooping ends kissed the ghul earth. And here 

The mdlow sunbeams, wandering onward, fomid, 

Ckwe nestling at the foot of some great trunk, 

Or in the sh^ter of a moss-grown rock, 

Toung, tiny fienis, unrolling cautiously 

Their furry, silvered caps, dark violets 

In ih^rrBut, purple dusters, or a knot 

Of jreUow crocus cups, or, spread far out 

Like a dim, pale-blue mist, a starrj bank 

Of small foiget-me-nots. Loving and long, 

As with a fond caress, and loath to go, 

Lingered and dwelled the bte mild Ught upon 

Tb«e sweetest of Springes children, Suit so humUj 

Herald the gorgeous Summer's pride and pomp. 

And where it fell the woods all flashed and flamed 

With glittering drops, sole marks of the fierce shower 

Which scaroe an hour ago had swept the land. 

And left these after him, that quivering hung 

From tree and bush and flower. None spokc^ while all 

Drank in the freshnen of the odorous air. 

But when perchauoe some owrtianging braneh. 

Some trailing rine, brushed mantle, j^ume, or face, 

And showered its weight of drops down over him 

Who passed bek>w it. Then a short exclaim, 

A Jesting word, or railing laughter, broke 

From him and his companions. AU around 

The forest, loo, seemed hushed, and sk>wly folding 

His green wings ibr the night; their horses' hooft 

Fell noiseless on the carpet of soft moas. 

Save when they crushed a rustling kst year's leaf, 

Or a biowu, crackling twig. Aikl but Car this, 

And the low gnigle ^ an unseen brook. 

And the fidnt, k>ng-dt»wn notes of some lone bird. 

Who far away upon some k>fty branch 

Snt^ his sweet chant to the departing sun, — 

No sound fell oo the stillness. 

Thus they rode, 
A merry company of gay young firiends. 



Whose lips wen scarcely wont to rest long silent, 

By twoA and threes, close as the narrow path 

Would give them leave. But one among them all 

Lagged in the rear alone, suflbred the reins 

Loosely to lie upon his horw*s neck. 

Who mo^'cd but slowly forward, bending down 

To sniff* the grass and herbs, while his ; ouug master 

llung idly in the saddle, wiUi his head 

Bow^ on his breast, lost in some dreamy thought, 

Heedless of brushing vine or showering branch. 

And all unconscious how from time to time 

One of the others, turning in his seat, 

Cest back at him a furtive, smiling giBnce, 

And drew his shoulders up. 

And so at length 
They came to where the trunks stood far apart. 
And the low shrubs more dense, the light poured in 
With ftiHer flood, and the dim forest ended. 
And swiftly now emerged upon a phdii 
lliat rolled before them Car and wide, and broke 
Into small hills and level ^-allej's, sweet 
With soft, young, tufted grass and delicate flowers, 
That dripped with shimmering f^hness like the wood. 
While in the distance, bathed in rosy sheen. 
The towers and domes of the Eternal City 
Rose up, a fair, familiar sight. 

" Look you," 
One of the friends said now, and gUnced around, 
** How all the hills, that in the winter time 
Wear but a sober tu)t of purple brown. 
Have taken on their bright green summer robe 
E*en now, so early in the year! '* 

<* Ay, like 
Some &ir, vain woman ! *' cried another gByly, 
** Who cannot oft and swift enough exchange 
Her most enchanting robes for others new, 
And more enchanting sUU! '* 

And then a third. 
Pointing to where a rocky h«ght rose up. 
Crowned by a doister^s stem, gray walls, ** See when 
The pious women of the Hill walk forth. 
To catch a breath of air! Vespers are done, 
But still methinks their hands are cUsped hi prayer, 
And hark, they chant! Ay, how the golden light 
Plays o*er their somlire garments and white veils. 
And seems to cast a moment's gleam of joy 
Into their barren lives ! Well, surely these 
Have done with worldly pride and vanity ! " 
And when the other laughed and would have answered, 
A fourth excUimed, " Who *8 this that o'er the pbdn 
Comes spurring towards us there? " 

Shading their eyes. 
They watched the approachhig rider, and then all 
Cried out in chorus, ** Ay, it is the Count! 
I know him by his waving yellow plumes. 
And his kmg mantle! Look you ! bow the eUsp 
Flashes upon his breast! " 

A moment more. 
And he was close to them and checked his horse. 
Received with noisy greetings and bud cries 
Of " Well met. Count! " and « Welcome, Baldassar! " 
« What brings you here so late? " ** A thousand pities 
Ton were not with us first; you cannot know 
All you have mined ! " " Ay, what a precious gem, 
A pearl of rarest lustre, we found hid 
Deep In the woods!" 

The other smiled. " Good friends, 
I am rejoiced to find you, and perceive 
That the great shower washed none of you away ! 
But where *s my Saiizio? Ah, I see him there. 
Wrapped in deep meditation, it appears! " 
Ghmoing at him who, fallen far behind. 
Unconscious still of all that passed, marked not 
Tiiat a new-comer joined the rest, nor heard 
The babble of tiie merry tongues, now wbdly 
Loosed fipom the unwonted spell of silence. " Well, 
Let *s halt tai he comes up! " 

The horses stood 
And, with their heads together, curiously 
Cased each upon the other with great eyes. 
Or mildly snufibd his nmghbor's outstretched noee. 
** But pray where found you shelter tnm the storm ? 
And what is this I 've missed, — that predous gem 
Found in the woods? " asked Baldassar again, 
Of the friend next him. •« Oh, all that," cried he, 
t* Hangs by the self-same thread ! The stealthy storm 
Surprised us in the woods and scarce gave warning. 
The daylight.tumed to sudden night, — a flash, 
A eUp of thunder, and the fbrst great drops, — 
It seemed but one brief moment. We, dismayed. 
Scattered in haste, rode aimless hen and thoe. 
In quest of rock or tree to shelter us. 
And so came to a clearing and a bouse 
Just on the forest^s edge, and well content 
Dismounted, drew the horses 'nenth a shed, 
And knocked upon the door By all the Saints, 
I tell you when *t was opened, BialdaMsar, 
We well-nigh all of us, just as we stood. 
On the wet ground, beneath the streaming rain. 
Had dropped upon our knees ! A fairer vision, 
A face and form, a brow and lip and eye. 
Of rarer grace, your sight ne'er lit upon. 



Tlmii in the sweetest maid, who bade us then 
Enter and welcome! ** 

<* Every one of ns. 
Lost instantly his stricken heart to her! " 
Another cried. And yet another, 

"Ay, 
Bold Cupid stood upon her shapdy shoulders. 
Sat in her eyes, — what though 't Is true enough, 
They wtn cast down with Mushing modesty ! — 
And nestled in the ringlets of her hair, 
Plying his deadly trade, —let fly his shafts 
In all directions, swift and merciless, 
Till none escaped unscathed ! " 

** But yet you beer 
Your wounds with much heroic fortitude! *' 
Said Baldassare, smiling, and the one 
Who first had spoken, ** Ay, but there is one 
In whom methinks the rankling dart sits deep! ** 
Nodding towards Sanzio. 

'< Nay. Giovanni, hush! '* 
The other cried, in earnest, lowered tones, 
" I know those dreamy moods full well In him. 
And ever stand aside in reverent awe! 
Who knows what virion of immortal beauty. 
What heavenly fiur Madonna, or sweet Saint, 
To grow to slu^M beneath his cunning hand. 
And keep his memory green from age to age. 
Rises e*en now within l>is spirit's eye ! 
Let us not rudely jar or brmk those dreams, 
Lest we might prove us rubbers, in advance, 
Of the world's proudest treasures ! " 

»*0h no, no!" 
Giovanni said, and laughed, yet sank his voice, — 
^ (lood Baldassare, have no fear ! 1 swear 
'T is but a very earthly littie Saint, 
Who this time holds his heart and senses bound ! *' 
"And pray who is she? what her name and state? " 
'* I know not. It i^ipears they live with folks, — 
She and a grandam whom she calls but mother, — 
Who like a thousand others till the soil. 
But these two of fitf finer stuff an made 
'llian other common peasants, and we heard 
Her name is Benedetta." 

It might be 
That word had roused him as it reached his ear. 
For Sanzio raised his head and gssed around 
With a deep, long-drawn sigh, and then at last. 
But with a kindling eye, saw Baldassar, 
And Buddeidy seizing on his idle rrins 
Rode swiftly up, and with a grave, sweet smile. 
Reached out his hand. 

They turned tbdr horses' heads. 
And aU together now, at swifter pace, 
Moved tomunds the city, while the waning light 
Fast fiided from the purpling hills ; the Count 
With Sanzio first, the others following dose, 
Discoursing endlessly of this and thaL 
But ever- in the midst of friendly converse, 
Senzio fttmi time to time slid bark again 
To sudden thoughtful silence for a space. 
And his companion, smiling to himsdf. 
Would check his ready flow of speech, suspend 
A phrase half finished, unperoeivied by him. 
And patiently deby till he looked up. 
Ere he concluded. 

Thus they rode erelong 
In at the gates, and ckttered through the streets. 
When the gray shadows of swift-felling eve 
Lay gathered, and the mellow twilight hmig 
But with a last, feint, rosy flush, high up 
'Mid topmost spires and windbws. 

At the door 
Of Sanzio's stately mansion, they cried down 
A gay good-night to him, as he alighted, 
And then with laui^hing words and loud ferawdls. 
And promises to meet Bgun, dispersed. 
Each hastenuig on his separate way alone. 

{Tb be eontinaed.) 



GEORGE SAND AND FRfiDfiRIG 

CHOPIN. 

A STUDY. 

BT FANNT RAYMOND RITTER. 
(Oonoluded fhNB page 76.> 

Ter total loss of the letters written by 
Chopin from Paris to his relations and friends 
in Poland was an irreparable one for any 
biograplier, not only on account of all they 
must have contained in reference to the many 
historical and artistic celebrities with whom 
he came in contact at that period, but still 
more for the sake of the clearer light they 
would have shed on his own life and state 
of mind at the time, though he might have 



82 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 994. 



but half revealed this in his correspondence. 
It was difficult to induce one so profound 
\nd serious to converse on the subject of 
love or friendship ; questions having such a 
bearing were always parried with amiable 
satire or refined badinage. The letters given 
in that part of Karasowski's biography Vhich 
treats of Chopin's early youth are as charm- 
ing — though in a different manner — as those 
of Mendelssohn, who scarcely excelled Chopin 
in social accomplishments and literary culti- 
vation. All the information given by Kara- 
sowski respecting the first twenty years of 
Chopin's life — of many details of which we 
were ignorant — is valuable and interesting ; 
but this biographer, possibly unable to take 
the steps necessary to obtain a fuller knowl- 
edge of Chopin's life in Paris, and apparently 
influenced by his own prejudices, and not al- 
together unreasonably so by the regrets and 
opinions of Chopin's relations, endeavors to 
persuade us that the composer's early death 
was in a great measure owing to the disen- 
chantment of his Parisian experience. But, 
though not all those " whom the gods love 
die young," Chopin seems to have been one 
of those who are fated to do so. His sister 
Emilie died of consumption in early youth ; 
from this fact we may suppose that disease 
to have been hereditary in the family. In 
French journals of that time, Chopin's death 
was attributed to a combination of asthma 
and consumption. Jie told Fetis, who knew 
him well, that he was of so delicate a consti- 
tution in childhood that he merely vegetated 
for several years. The servants of the 
Chopin family in Poland said that Frederic's 
^ mind was sick ; " though chiefly on accouut 
of his excessive love of study, and his un- 
healthy habit of rising in the middle of the 
night, to improvise at the piano-forte. At 
the time of the Polish outbreak, his parents 
forbade him to join the insurrectionists " on 
account of the delicate state of his health." 
In 1837, a year before his meeting with 
George Sand, his first decided attack of dis- 
ease of the lungs had occurred. Liszt says 
he was so weak when he went with the 
Dudevant family to Majorca that no one ex- 
pected to see him return alive ; but in spite 
of that rainy winter on the island, his health 
was so much benefited by the change, and 
the care he received, that he remained com- 
]>aratively well for some years afterwards. 
The air of Majorca, the life and character 
of the place, were certainly favorable to his 
mental productivity, since, besides the Pre- 
ludes, he composed more than a dozen works 
there ; and his best compositions were writ- 
ten during the years following, in the rue 
Pigale, or the square d'Orl<^ans at Paris, or 
at Nohant, under the influence of that gen- 
tle scenery, and the society of artists and peo- 
ple of distinction who were invited thither by 
Mme. Sand, among them some of Chopin's 
old friends, who rejoiced to find his gayety, 
wit, and geniality as great as they formerly 
were, in early youth. How inspiring, how 
poetic was this life, of which Mme. Sand was 
the guiding spirit, we learn from one or two 
anecdotes which Karasowski gives us as re- 
ported by the relations of Chopin. In further 
proof of this, and of the kindness and care of 
the chatelaine towards her guests, I trans- 
late a few passages from the recently pub- 



lished letters of Delacroix, some of which 
were written from Nohant, where he was 
visiting, to friends in Paris : *^ This is a most 
agreeable place, and nowhere can one find , 
more amiable hosts. When we are not to- 
gether at breakfast, dinner, billiards, or walk- 
ing, one is in one's room reading, or lounging 
on the sofa. Through the open window, 
looking upon the garden, I hear snatches of 
Chopin's music, for he practices on his side of 
the house ; it blends with the song of birds 
and the fragrance of roses. You see I am 
not to be pitied, yet labor is necessary to add 
its grain of salt to all this life of ease, which 
I ought to purchase by a little brain work. 
. . . My health has greatly improved since 
I came here. I have grown passionately fond 
of billiards, in which I take lessons every day. 
We have delightful conversation^ on the sub- 
jects that please me best, and music by fits 
and starts ; but I must do something, so I am 
amusing myself with Maurice, the son of the 
house, and we have undertaken to paint a 
Saint Anne for the parish church. . . . We 
expected Balzac ; he did not come, and I am 
not sorry, for his talkativeness would have 
broken up the harmony of this nonchalance, 
which lulls me so pleasantly ; walking, bill- 
iards, a little painting and music, — more 
than enough to fill one's time ! . . . I have 
many a long lete-a-iete with Chopin ; I love 
him sincerely ; he is a man of rare distinction 
of chiiractcr, and, more than that, the truest 
artist I ever met. He is one of the small 
number of people whom I admire and esteem 
equally. Mme. Sand is at present a sufferer 
from weak eyes and violent headaches, which 
she bears with the kindest fortitude, to avoid 
giving us pain by the knowledge of hers. 
The recent event has been a ball given on 
the lawn of the chateau to the peasants of 
the neighborhood, accompanied by the best 
cornemuse players in the country. The type 
of these country people is gentle and good- 
natured ; though real beauty is uncommon, 
ugliness is rare among them. The women 
have much of that soft expression often met 
with in pictures by the old masters. They 
are all Saint Annes." 

After the inroads of disease began to tell 
continuously on Chopin's mind as well as on 
his physical well-being, and especially after 
his father's death, he l)ecame not un frequently 
the victim of fantastic hallucinations; like 
Hamlet, he imagined himself haunted by his 
father's ghost. Yet this excess of gloomy 
imaginativeness should not be attributed to 
the jealousy, disappointment, or regrets of 
this period of his life, as it always character- 
ized him. As early a.H his twentieth year 
he wrote to his friend Titus Woyciechowski : 
** How often I take day for night, and night 
for day ! How much time I lose in dreams 
and reveries! and instead of gaining strength 
from this stupefHCtion, I am tormented by 
it. . . . My heart always beats in syncopa- 
tion, so to speak. . . . When shall we meet 
again ? Perhaps never ; for, seriously, my 
health is miserable. I appear gay, especially 
when with my own relations ;' but my deep- 
est feelings are troubled by sad presentiments, 
unrest, bad dreams, sleeplessness, indifference, 
desire for death, and then' desire for life. 
Sometimes it seems as though my spirit had 
congealed, and then I feel ^ heavenly repose 



within my heart ; and then again I behold 
pictures from which I cannot tear my imagi- 
nation, an<l which pain me to excess. It is 
an indescribable mingling of sensations. . . . 
Should I leave Warsaw, 1 fear it would he 
never to return. I feel convinced that I 
should then bid farewell to home forever. 
Oh, how painful it must be to die elsewhere 
than in the spot where we were born ! How 
it would grieve me to see around my bed of 
death only an indifferent physician and a 
hired servant, instead of the faces of those 
who are near and dear ! " 

In a letter written in 1831 to his master, 
Eisner, Chopin gave very practical, honor- 
able, and noble reasons for his determina- 
tion to become at first a pianist rather than 
a composer by profession, intending, how- 
ever, to make the former only an eventual 
stepping-stone to the higher calling, and 
never meaning to lose sight of his aim "to 
create a new era in the history of arL" How 
far has he — who remained true to the 
dreams of his youth as much as was humanly 
jwssible — fulfilled his aim ? Strictly speak- 
ing, he has not create<l *• a new era,*' even in 
his own branch of composition. But his 
works constitute a remarkable, original, and 
unique episode in art history ; one too poetic 
and rife with lovely suggestiveness ever to be 
lost sight of; one as significant, in the devel- 
opment of musical art, as to his own artistic 
development was that episode in which, he 
said, his '• whole life " was contained, and 
which has formed the subject of this study. 

[My mden will observe that I have occasiunaUy quoted 
from the/r«( edition of Karaaowski't biography of Chopin; 
the $ecomi edition has recently appeared, oiiuouneed by its 
author as ** completely revised, with additional letters." I 
shall oonsult this, hophig to find in it some fuller record of 
Chopin's life in Paris, before arrangiug the above study fat 
separate publication. — F. K. K.] 



ERNST FRIEDRICH RICHTEEL 

BY F. J. SAWYER, B. MUS. 

Many a musician throughout Europe and 
America will hear, with deep regret, of the 
death, on the 9tli of this month, of Pro- 
fessor EiTist Friedricli Richter. I doubt if 
there ever was a master so universally be- 
loved and respected as ^* dear old Papa 
Richter," as he was often called. Those 
who have studied under him — who remem- 
ber his pleasant and cheerful way, yet strict 
and thorough method, — his kind word for 
the persevering, his disgust and dislike of the 
conceited and lazy, the high standard of art 
to which he pointed them, will deeply regret 
the news of his death. He was such a mas- 
ter as one rarely finds, so wise and kind, and 
yet so thorough. Would we could point to 
many like him, but we cannot. To say his 
fame was universal would be fully true. 
His excellent book on Harmony, after pass- 
ing through twelve editions in his own country, 
has appeared in America, translated by John 
P. Morgan, in Russia translated by another 
pupil of the old cantor, and also in England 
by Franklin Taylor, a translation in no way 
equal to the original. 

Ernst Friedrich Edward Richter was bom 
near Zittau, October 24, 1808, and was, there- 
fore, in his seventy-first year. His father 
was schoolmaster at Grosfr-Schonau, a man of 
good repute and position. His son received 
from him his first instruction, going after- 



May 24, 1879.J 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



83 



wards to the Gymnasium (college) at Zittau. 
Here he found in the school choir an opening 
for his musical talents, which had already de- 
veloped themselves, and, working studiously 
at composition, he soon became conductor 
of the choir and obtained for it much ap- 
plause at its sacred and secular performances. 
Once more he moved, this time to Leipzig, 
where he entered the university, and at- 
tended the usual course of philosophy and 
theology, but also working on at his music 
under Weinlich, who was then occupying the 
post of cantor to the Thomas School. Dur- 
ing! this time he founded and conducted the 
ZitUiuer Gesangverein, and on the death of 
Pohlenz was elected to the direction of the 
Singakademie. When, through the energy of 
Felix Mendelssohn, the Leipzig Couservato- 
rium came into existence, Richter was chosen 
with Moritz Ilauptmann as Professor of 
Harmony. But what a galaxy of talent was 
then on the staff of Europe's greatest music 
iKshool ! Mendelssohn, Robert and Clara 
Schumann, Ferdinand David, Hauptuiann, 
and Richter ! It is truly no wonder that, 
with such an impetus as tliis sUirt gave, the 
Leipzig Conservatorium has ever been the 
foremost amongst our European musical in- 
stitutes. 

Here it was that Richter was thrown into 
contact with Mendelssohn, and to this we owe 
the production of the excellent treatises on 
Harmony, Counterpoint, and Fugue, which 
have since appeared. For Mendelssohn, 
with that quick perception of another's pow- 
ers, had urged on his colleague the writ- 
ing of a work which would serve as the text- 
book for the Conservatorium. Richter, how- 
ever, with that large amount of self-criticism 
which he possessed, worked long at his book, 
and so not before 1853 did the long-ex pecte<l 
** Treatise on Harmony " appear. Two years 
previously he had been appointed organist of 
the church of St. Peter, and in 1862, to- 
gether with this post, organist to the New 
Church, and also a little after to the Nicolai 
Kirche. On the 3d January, 1868, Moritz 
Hauptmann died, and Richter was unani- 
mously chosen to succeed to the post of can- 
tor of the Thomas School, he being the 
eighth who had held the [jlace since it was 
filled by John Sebastian Bach (the exact line 
of succession l)eing Bach, Harrer, Doles, Hil- 
ler, MUller, Schicht, Weinlich, Hauptmann, 
and Richter). To this post no one could 
have been better fitted. His early scholas- 
tic training, his keen practical methods, ren- 
dered him in every way peculiarly adapted 
to the work, and thus under his careful su- 
pervision a steady reformation began. The 
*^ Kirchenmusik " (orchestral productions at 
the Sunday services from Easter to Trinity) 
were reintroduced, and motets were learnt 
and old ones re-studied (Reduer). From 
the 13th October, 1868, he steadily worked 
ou with his choir until their singing became 
noted throughout the whole of Germany. 

But the Conservatorium ever remained 
the centre of his work, and from thence he 
has sent out, to fill the best musical positions 
in all parts of the globe, pupils who will long 
live as bright examples of his excellent teach- 
ing. His mild and gentle spirit seemed al- 
ways to try to find the best side of every- 
thing. Only once can I remember him put 



out, and that was over Verdi's Requiem, a 
work the music of which is so vastly differ- 
ent from the masses of either Mozart, Che- 
rubini, or Brahms, that it might well arouse a 
purist of Richter's type. When his criticism 
was to be obtained it was always keenly true. 
Once he whs asked what he thought of Ros- 
sini's " Stabat Mater." He replied, " Lieber 

Herr , I will only say, I don't think 

Rossini understood Latin," — a criticism as 
mild as it was accurate. 

His compositions include psalms fur cho- 
rus and orchestra, motets, two masses, a 
** Stabat Mater " (voices only), part songs, 
string quartets and sonatas, and also pieces 
for organ and for piano. But it is his trea- 
tise on the theory of music that will keep 
Professor Richter*s name from oblivion. 
As already mentioned, two {English editions 
have appeared : one in London (printed 
without Richter's leave, by the way) by Mr. 
Franklin Taylor, which must by no means 
be accepted as a translation, but merely 
as a very moderate adaptation ; the other, un- 
fortunately little known in this country, 
printed with Richter's consent by John P. 
Morgan, in New York. The latter transla- 
tion is most carefully done, and forms a strong 
contrast to the Knglii'h edition.^ On last 
Good Friday, the 150th anniversary of the 
first production of Bach's '^ Matthew Passion," 
the dear old cantor and beloved professor 
was laid to his last rest, accompanied to his 
grave by the solemn sound of the beautiful 
chonil, "Jesu, meine Zuversicht." More 
hearty regret has rarely filled the hearts of 
those standing round a musician's grave. 
Once more the voices of his choir arose in 
Bach's beautiful melody to " Wenn ich 
einmal soil scheiden," and then with a last 
look at his coffin the crowd dispersed. But 
though gone to his last rest, the memory of 
many of us will long cherish, as one of the 
truest artists, most thorough musicians and 
excellent teachers, that we have ever met, 
the name of Ernst Friedrich Richter. — 
London Mu$. Standardly April 26. 



THE ZERRAHN TESTIMONIAL: BOS- 
TON, MAY 2, 1879. 

That evening's performance of the Oratorio of 
" Elijah " by the Handel and Haydn Society, in 
the Music Hall, marked the twenty-fiflh anniver- 
sary of the engagement of Mr. Carl Zerrahn as 
conductor, a position he has held with honor and 
marked ability uninterruptedly during the entire 
period. Before the performance, the society, as 
usual, assembled in . Bumstead Hall, where the 
esteemed beneficiary was presented with a beau- 
tiful gold medal and full scores of Mendelssohn'^ 
** Elijah," " St. Paul," and " The Hymn of Praise," 
the medal from the gentlemen of the chorus, and 
the scores from the ladies. The presentation 
speech, made by President G. C. Perkins, was as 
follows :. — 

Mr. Carl Zerrahn, I am requested by the ladies and gen- 
tlemen members of the chorus of the Uandel and Haydn 
Society in thdr name to convey to you, who have been for 
so many years their ever sealous conductor, certain presents 
in token of their sense of the unfiuUng ardor with which 
you have discharged the duties of your office, and in recog- 
nition of the important services which you have raidered to 
the society during the last quarter of the century. 

They f<^ Uiat you have enabled them to gain n deeper ap- 
preciation of the beauties of the oratorios which they have 
studied under your direction ; that by your conscientious and 

1 The excellent translation by J. C D. Parker (Boston, 
0. Ditson A Co.) should also be mentioned. — £d. 



judicious criticisms you have taught thetn to sing the choral 
works of the great composers in a manner which has not 
only maintained, but greatly increased, the reputation of the 
society of which they are members. Their G;ratitude to you 
is in proportion to their pride in tlie position which it holds 
aiuong tlie musical societies of America, to their deep and 
lasting aifiwtion for it, and their earnest wishes for its pros- 
peiity and improvement. 

As the work in which the Handel and Haydn Society is 
engaged is the efficient production of oratorios of the great 
composers, and as the way in whicli this work has been ac- 
complished owes much of its excellence to you, the lady 
members of the chorus thought it not inappropriate to offer 
you, in testimonial of their high r^ard, the orchestral scores 
of some of the oratorios which they have performed under 
your oondnctorship ; and as yuu yourself saw fit to select the 
''Elijih" for perrnnuanoe this evening, they have charged 
me with the agreeable duty of presenting to you the various 
scores written by tlie composer of that great work, which 
was performed in the Mudic Hall under your direction in 
1854, when you first assumed the baton, and will be given 
to-night in lionor of the completion of yonr twenty-fifUi sea- 
son as conductor. Considering it desirable that you should 
also carry avray with you, in memory of this notable occa- 
sion, a gift over which, by reason of its material, time can 
have but little power, the gentlemen members of the chorus 
have directed roe to offer }ou on their behalf a gold medal, 
bearing on its obverse the device of the Handel and Haydn 
Society, and on its reverse an inscription setting forth the 
date and the circumstances of its presentation. 

While ofTering you these presents, I leel that I am but 
expressing tiie feeling of the donors when I say that they 
hope tiiat your future career may be as honorable and useful 
as that which reflects so much credit upon your past life, and 
tiiat }'ou may long maintain your connection with a society 
which owes yuu so much, and would fain owe you more. 

Mr. Zerrahn, in reply, spoke as follows : — 

Ladies and Gentlemen, and Mr. President, let me say 
that I feel on this oecaslon a great deal more than I can ex- 
press. £ven had I designed to prepare anything to say, my 
head has been for the past two days in a perfect whirlpool. 
I thank you for your kindness to me, and for the testimo- 
nials of your regard, but I can hardly express m}-self as I 
would. There is one thing, however, I can say. If the gov- 
ernment of your society never had paid me a dollar, if I 
never had received any testimonial at your hands, and if this 
concert never had been given, I should feel that I was richly 
repaid by the honor of having stood before you for so many 
yean. If I am again chosen to be your conductor, I shall 
spare no endeavors to continue to merit your approbation. 

The medal is very rich and elegant, is oblong 
in form, and depends from a pin of gold. On the 
obverse is finely engraved the seal of the society, 
so familiar to all patrons of the oratorio concerts, 
inasmuch as it appears on all the programmes ; 
and upon the sides are the years ** 1854 ** and 
" 1879," while the name, ** Carl Zerrahn," ap- 
pears upon the cross-bar of the pin. On the re- 
verse is the following inscription : ** Presented to 
Carl Zerrahn by the Handel and Haydn Soci- 
ety on the completion of his twenty-fiflh year as 
their conductor. Boston, May 2, 1879." 

Tlie Music Hall was crowded when the chorus 
entered, and the appearance of Mr.» Zerrahn, 
wearing the insignia of his quarter-century of 
distinguished service, was the signal for prolonged 
applause by the society and audience as of one 
accord, llie tront of the stage was de<!orated 
with fiowers in a very tasteful manner. An elab- 
orate floral device, several feet in height, occu- 
pied the centre near the conductor's stand. At 
its summit was a crimson star, and below the in- 
scription, worked in flowers, " 1854. C. Z. 1879." 
A laurel wreath formed a part of this elegant 
and fragrant ornament, and a wreath of flowers, 
said to be the offerins of Miss Annie Louise 
Cary, handed up when Mr. Zerrahn first made 
his appearance, was hung upon the conductor's 
stand. One of the other tributes received by 
the beneficiary in the course of the evening was 
a porcelain horse-shoe, quaintly decorated with 
flowers — the gift of Mme. Erminia Rudersdorff 
— transmitted through the hands of Miss Fanny 
Kellogg. The decorations were painted by the 
donor. 

The rendering of the oratorio was undoubtedly 
one of the finest, artistically, ever heard here. 
The chorus sang in their great numbers, ^ Yet 
doth the Lord," " Blessed are the men," *« Thanks 
be to God," and ** He, watching over Israel," with 
more than wonted fire, fervency, and effect, and 



84 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol-. XXXIX.-N0. 994. 



the Baal choruses were also admirably sung. The 
striking novelty of the performance was the host 
of soloists, changing as the oratorio progressed 
from floor to stage and back again, and relieving 
each other in relays. All were volunteers/ and 
their names are Mrs. H. £. H. Garter, Mrs. J. R. 
Ellison, Mrs. Abby Clark Ford, Mrs. Annie L. 
Fowler, Mrs. J. W. Weston, Miss Sarah C. Fisher, 
Miss Fanny Kellogg, Miss Helen A. Russell, Mr. 
J. C. Collins, Mr. W. H. Fessenden, Mr. Clar- 
ence E. Hay, Mr. A. C. Ryder, Mrs. C. C. Noyes, 
Mrs. H. M. Smith, Mrs. Agnes Giles Spring, Mrs. 
Julia Houston- West, Miss lu Welsli, Miss Emily 
Winant, Mr. D. M. Babcock, Mr. Alfred Wilkie, 
Mr. John F. Winch, Master William H. Lee. 
Two others, Messrs. Myron W. Whitney and 
William J. Winch, took part in tlie public rehear- 
sal Thursday afternoon. Mr. John F. Winch's 
singing of the ^ Elijah " numbers was remarkably 
rich in expressive feeling, and really moving to 
the audience, as was evident in the effect made 
with "His enough.** Miss Emily Winant like- 
wise created a deep impression with her " Oh, 
rest in the Lord," which was redemanded with 
one unanimous, strong, and prolonged burst of 
applause. Her rich and uniform contralto, pro- 
ducing its tones without guttural forcing or sub- 
terfuge of any kind, was governed by a very 
sound and discriminating intelligence as to dra- 
matic sentiment, drawing the line between cold- 
ness and *' o*erstepping the modesty of nature" 
with a good taste that appears instinctive. Mrs. 
Houston- West succeeded well in '' Hear ye, Is- 
rael," and her recitative towards the close. Mr. 
Fessenden's delivery of the tenor part was with 
his well known refinement and tenderness, and Mr. 
Alfred Wilkie registered the great improvement 
his voice and style have made since his former 
appearance in this music. Master W. H. Lee, in 
the music of "The Youth," displayed the cor- 
rectness of hft training iu a very beautiful per- 
formance of his brief task. Mrs. H. M. Smith 
was in fine voice^ and sang '*The Widow's" mu- 
sic with admirable breadth and warmth and full 
efiect. Miss Ita Welsh and Miss Kellogg were 
also heard at their best^ Tlie concerted num- 
bers were not all equally well done, but " Lift 
thine eyes " was finely sung by Miss Kellogg, Miss 
Fisher, and Mrs. Ellison, and another concerted 
piece, especially well given, was the quartet, 
" Cast thy burden upon the Lord," sung by Mrs. 
Weston, Mrs. Fowler, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Ry- 
der. Altogether, the performance was excep- 
tionally fine, and one to be long remembered. — 
Trarueripiy May 3. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

yROM INSTRUCTIONS BY MR. 1¥1LLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

vr. 

(1877.) It's a good thing to study with Cou- 
ture. Anything is good which gives you a start, 
and makes you want to work. He does certain 
things admirably. I'm glad that I went to 
him, and I *m glad that I left him when I did. 
When you think of Millet — that 's different 
enough. There 's more humanity in one of his 
haycocks than in anything that Couture can do. 

I owe a g^reat deal to Thomas Couture ; more, 
in a certain sense, than I do to any one else. 
But I don't approve of his method. I think it is 
uncertain and unsatisfactory to put on thin color 
in that way. Ilis principles are admirable. He 
has taught people to give their work the true, 
broad, out-of-door look; and, in that way, has 
done a great deal of good. Troyon would not 
have been half the painter that he was, without 
Couture. You would not recognize his early work : 
1 Copyright, 1879, I17 Helen M. Know! ton. 



earnest and digging ; but hard and dry. It was 
from Couture and Diaz, and those men, that he 
learned the things which make people love his 
work. The critics may as well believe that the 
artist who painted the Decadence Romaine at 
twenty-one had a few more tools than they are 
ever likely to know the use of. I want no one 
ever to think me ungate ful to him. At the 
same time, I don't paint in his method, and 
don't want to. Even before I left his atelier I 
had begun to paint differently. The head of 
the '< Jewess," and that of the Dutchwoman 
which I painted for the " Fortune-Teller," show 
that; and he acknowledged it. My way of 
working, and of teaching too, is utterly different 
Why, you can hardly find Couture's name in my 
little book. Certainly, only one or two things 
which he told me are quoted there. When did 
I ever tell you to try to paint like Couture? 
Or when did I ever give yon a receipt for paint- 
ing at all ? It would be unjust to Couture and 
to me to pretend that I ever held him up in that 
way. 

As for what is called French Art, it 's a bad 
phrase, and I 'm sorry that men like John Everett 
Millais should talk about the »* French School," 
as if it were all one thinor. Those men form no 
school. Some of them have schools of tbeir own, 
but they are as different as can be. Some of 
their work I dislike as much as any one can ; 
but they have among them more knowledge of 
painting than exists in any other country. Even 
the new Munich School grows out of French 
ideas, and is not truly German. 

I like Duveneck's work ; although that sort of 
painting of stuffs is not my aim in art. There 's 
no use in painting unless you have something to 
■ay by it 

Literary critics can't appreciate art, because 
they don't work at it It takes as much love to 
rightly criticize a picture as it does to {mint it 
Why, Th^phile Gautier, one of the best of them, 
came and told Couture that if he did n't do this 
and that to his picture he would n't notice it in 
his review of the Salon. To which Couture re- 
plied, *' You will be obliged to notice it under 
penalty of being thought an imbecile I " 

What a proposal to make to a painter 1 Be- 
sides, the critics know that people like to see 
faults pointed out It is comparatively stupid to 
admire, when you can so easily join in detraction 
and slander. Really great work can never be 
fully appreciated, because only the men who did 
it can appreciate it And yet plenty of young 
fellows write about Michael Angelo's faults I 
What a privilege it would be for him to hear 
them! 

{To be continued.) 



A LETTER FROM FLORENCE. 

My dbar DwroHT, — There has been what 
is called, in the grandiose phrase of this region, a 
" solemn exposition " of some rare art products, 
the sale of which shall swell the fund for the 
completion of the Fa9ade of the Duomo. 

The grand building itself reached its elevation 
and finish by successive throes of the religious 
heart ever since the lime of Dante, until 

" Lore and terror bud tbe tUes.** 
But the front, like that of many another Italian 
cathedral, and notably the San Lorenzo in Flor- 
ence, has remained incomplete, its rough rubble- 
work showing more unsightly in contrast to the 
lace-like marble traceries of Giotto's Bell Tower, 
that rises beside it into the blue air, aud swings 
over the historic town now, as in the day of Sa- 
vonarola, a weltering boom of sound. 

But the pictures. These are a gift from the 



munificent Prince Demidofi*, and are at first sight 

disappointing, as they consist entirely of sketches 

by modem masters, on some of which Death has 

set his ineffaceable seal of rarity and increased 

value. 

" What miien are we to tbe toil, 
What speiidthrilU to the name ! " 

Here is a sketch, by Horace Vernet, of cannoneers 
in the act of running a piece of ordnance back 
from an embrasure in order to reload. It has 
the strain, the fierce, objective, decisive stroke of 
this great battle painter. There is a fiower-pieco 
by Jacquemart, who rivaled Jan Steen, and the 
best of the old Flemings in presenting by pig- 
ments the verisiniilituile of liquids in glass. Wliat 
interested me most was a charcoal landscape, by 
Til. Rousseau, with its sculpturesque economy of 
line, — few strokes and infinite suggestion. In 
another part of the Accademia is exhibited, sim- 
ply for the artist's benefit, a new statue in plaster 
of Cleopatra, where skillful handling, costume, and 
accessories are, according to the modern Italian 
method, made to take the place of informing ex- 
pression ; so that we see not the character but 
only a pert, fantastic metamorphosis of the im- 
mortal queen. 

Owing to deep snows in the* Alps, and ex- 
tending along the spinal column of the Apen- 
nines, the spring has opened late in Florence. 
The almond, apricot, and peach, which blossom 
usually in February, did this year ** take the winds 
of March with beauty." On the 18th of that 
month I saw the first lizard of (he spring. The 
cunning little footed snake had tided over Saint 
Patrick's Day, and came out fresh on the follow- 
ing morning. He was clinging to the bark of an 
evergreen oak, his tail so near the color as scarcely 
to be distinguishable from it, but his back of a 
spotted, greenish gold. I watched him quietly, 
when a man came down the walk and stopinid 
beside me. Without turning head I glanced 
toward the man, then instantly back to the lizard. 
Ho was gone I He had vanished in (he division 
of a glance. 

Only yesterday, after a heavy rain, the clouds 
rolled away from Monte Morello, showing his three 
peaks like billows heaving towards the east, and 
all crested with snow. An hour after, under the 
spring sun, not a vestige of white remained upon 
those summits ; but the piled masses of Yallom- 
brosa and the great Carrara crag still outline with 
snow against the blue this lovely Val d' Arno, gray 
with olive, green with wheat, and plumed with im- 
memorial pines. 

Elve and I were walking one afternoon up that 
magnificent avenue of pines, cypresses, ce<]ar, and 
evergreen oak that leads to (he ol i Ducal Palace, 
when the strange note of a bird in sad undertone 
drew our attention and stopped our talk. That 
was a nightingale. Her song came with a throb, 
as if the bird were all heart, and her heart all 
music, and the music all melancholy ; as if it were 
the dream and passion and memory of an impris- 
oned human soul made audible. Her nest is in 
that cypress. 

lliis avenue is on the way to Galileo's Tower, 
and Milton may well have trod it when visiting 
the <' Tuscan artist" 

Tempel, a short, round German astronomer and 
enthusiast, has the post of professor at the Observar 
tory of Florence. This is built on a spur of the 
same eminence where stands the old Tower of 
Galileo. Tempel is hospitable, cordial, to an in- 
spiring degree, a living proof that 

** Spring makes spring in the mind 
When sixty jean are told.** 

He seems by evidence of comparative photo- 
grraphs to have defined certain nebulse better than 
any other astronomer. His *' nature is subdued,** 
or rather elevated *' (o what it works in," •^— he 
has become a globe 1 As we left the genial pres- 



Mat 24, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



86 



ence of this compaDion of I he stars, I mu^ed how 
different was his honored lot from the dungeon 
of Galileo. The world moves. 

I began with an intention of sending you a let- 
ter on art, but have done little more than indicate 
certain aspects of nature. Yet I know you will 
accept the record in remembrance of a deep say- 
ing by Sir Thomas Browne, that ** Nature is the 
art of God.'* Odo. 

Fix>RKiiCB, Api-il 24, 1879. 



Woni&^H 3!ouvtial til iBujSic. 

SATURDAY, MAY 24, 1879. 



CONCERTS. 

Mr. 'Gkorgk L. Osgood's Concert, at Me- 
chanics* Hall, Wednesday evening, May 7, was 
one of the most interesting and unique that we 
have had. Indeed, it was full of most charming 
matter charmingly interpreted. There was va- 
riety, there was freshness, there were choicest 
songs and choruses without stint, and there was 
excellent relief of instrumental pieces for the 
most part new and striking. The only fault 
that could be found was the great length of the 
following programme, of which, however, no one 
wished to lose a single number. 

(1.) CbonuM — 

n. " Benwlictus," (1590) . . Guwffnni Gabneli, 
For three chorus, in twelve renl parts. 

6. "Ato Venim," Moaai-t. 

With aoeompaiiiment of piano-forte tod 

string quartet. 

(2.) Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 41 . . Saints SaiM. 

Fur piano, violin, viola, and 'celk>. 
(3.) Song Series, ** Frauen-Liebe und Lebeii." 

Schumann. 
The words by Yon Chamiieo. 
(4.) Cboms, " May Dew," Op. 95, No. 1 . Rheinberger. 
(6.) Fiano-forte solo — *' Benediction de Dietf dans 

la solitude" LiaxL 

From the ^ Harmonies Poetiques et R^- 
lig:ieutes.** 
(6.) Suile of Spring Songs Fi-anz. 

a, ^' 'Tib the dark green leaves,'' Op. 20, No. 5. 

b. " The moon 's to rest declining," Op 17, No. 2. 
c *« When the earth fh>m slumber," Op. 22, No. 8. 

d. " Mid bloisomy sheen," Op. 14, No. 2. 

e. " Thro' the wheat and the conj," Op. S3, No. 3. 
/. " The hills are green," Op. 11, No. 3. 

(7.) lliree CharBcteri»ye- Numbers . . . Rubinstein, 

a. Songs : 
( (1.) " There was a monarch golden." 
{ (2.) ** As tings the lark." 

b. Chorus — » The Pine lYse," Op. 39, No. 3. 

c. First movement of the Trio in B-Cat 

migor, Op. 52. 

For piano, violin, and 'eelk>. 
(8.) Chorus, ** Laughing and Crying." . . Schubert. 

For the choruses, Mr. Osgood had expressly 
trained a mixed choir nf fifty sweet, fresh, tell- 
ing voices, and their execution was remarkably 
effective and refined. The Benedictus by Ga- 
brieli, composed four years before the death of 
Palestrina, proved a most exquisite, one might 
say heavenly piece of purely vocal harmony; 
the effect of its three beautifully alternating and 
blending four-part choirs (one of 1st, 2<I, and 
3d soprano and tenor, one mixed, and one of 
tenor and Ist, 2d, and 3d bass), was of some- 
thing so serene, so pure and far above the world, 
that to hear it was to feel as one may when 
gazing up into the clear blue sky entirely rapt 
and lost. Shall it shake this testimony of soul 
and sense to be told that its beauty is "staid 
and formal," and that it has but ** the interest 
which attaches to. a curiosity?" Mozart's Ave 
Verum is a well-known gem and model of a more 
sensuous kind of four-part composition ; never 
had we heard it sung so perfectly before. (Mr. 
6. W. Sumner took the piano, ami Messrs. Al- 
len, Akeroyd, Heindl, and Fries the string ac- 
companiments.) Rhcinberger*s ** May Dew " cho- 



Heine's " Pine-Tree " dreaming of the Palm, are 
each instinct with fine imaginative feeling, — the 
music sensitively true to every thought and im- 
age of the words. These too wore sung with 
rare grace and delicacy, and with' true expres- 
sion. The quaint, half sad, half playful Schu- 
bert chorus, " Laughing and Crying," closed th^ 
concert well. In the Thematic Catalogue we 
find it only as a song, — one of a set of four, 
which includes the ever beautiful ** Du hist die 
Ruh'," remote as possible from this in mood and 
character ! 

Mr. Osgood's song selections wore of the 
choicest. The most important was that cycle of 
eight songs by Schumann, ** Woman's Love and 
Life," which he was the first to sing to us three 
years ago. Hardly can we conceive of a luore 
delicate or bolder undertaking either for the |)oet 
(Chamisso, represented on the programme by 
Baskerville's translation), or the composer, or the 
singer. The latter should by good rights be a 
woman, for the songs describe the most ideal, 
most absorbing, and most private experience of a 
woman's life : the first awakening of the tender 
j)a88ion, the worship of " the noblest among all,*' 
the dream of blissful union, the calling upon the 
sisters to help deck her for the wedding, the sad 
thought of parting from them, the new joy of 
maternity, and finally the grief of widowhood, 
the song of despair, like Thekla's "Ich habe 
gelebt and geliebet 1 " Schumann's music gives 
new inwardness and delicacy and fervor to tlie 
poetry, which is already ramarkable. for these 
qualities, and Mr. Osgood's singing, with Mr. 
Lang's accompaniment, was worthy of them 
both. The fervor of the interpretation was un- 
affected; there was none of the sentimentality 
which one shrinks from, and the entire expres- 
sion was refined and chaste. The suite of Spring 
Songs was happily chosen out of Franz's inex- 
haustible garden, where the fresh wild flowers and 
birds of song appear to be perennial. He sang 
them all in German, while translations by him- 
self and others were printed for the audience. 
The spirit and the charm of each were finely re- 
produced both in the singing and in Mr. Lang's 
accompaniment. The same may be said of the 
two fine songs by Rubinstein, so different in 
character, '* The Page " (" There was a monarch 
olden "), a tragical and simple ballad about the 
" old, old story," and " As sings the lark," which 
soars to a pitch of uncontainable ecstasy, in a 
breathless 12-8 rhythm, and returns to reason in 
two lines of common time. This last Mr. Os- 
good sang in Englioh, with irresistible fervor and 
with powerful crescendo ; more than any song it 
carried his audience away, and had to be re- 
peated. 

Of the instrumental numbers, the strangest 
and most novel, and in some respects most inter- 
esting, was the Quartet in B-flat by Saint-Saens, 
for piano-forte, violin, viola, and 'cello. The Al- 
legretto has a rather moody, fragmentary char- 
acter, with a light and airy first theme, mostly in 
octaves, worked up later with a strong and nerv- 
ous second theme in triplets, the piano-forte deal- 
ing largely in arpeggios. There is originality 
and brightness in it alL The Andante makes 
not at all the impression of an Andante on the 
hearer. For it is in the main a most willful, 
stubborn movement, full of angry bursts, and 
rushing, scouring blasts ; it is only when occa- 
sionally in one or another instrument yoii hear 
a bar or two of evenly divided choral melody, 
that you perceive the movement to be Andante. 
It is a strange, wild, tempestuous thing. The 
third movement, a sort of 6-8 Scherzo, crisp 
and piquant, b genial and highly entertaining ; 
but there is more of the madcap demoniacal than 
of the fairy fancy in it ; what a sullen rage in 



low tones, and every note forzando I The finale 
(Allegro) is a broad, rich movement, leading 
back into the theme of the Allegretto. Mr« 
Lang played the piano part superbly, and was 
ably supported by Messrs. Allen, Heindl, and 
Wulf Fries. Mr. Lang's interpretation of Lif^zt's 
<* B^n^iction de Dieu dans la Solitude," was alto- 
gether atlmirable ; yet we cannot, afVer repeated 
hearings, get over the feeling that the composi- 
tion is somewhat vague and prolix, ift spite of its 
undeniably serious and noble vein. ITio move- 
ment Irom the Rubinstein Trio was fine, but suf- 
fered firom the excess of richness that preceded. 



The Cecilia, in its last concert (May 8) of- 
fered a thoroughly delightful entertainment to its 
usual crowd of associates and friends. It wais 
nothing more nor less than the performance of 
Mendelssohn's entire music to **A Midsummer 
Night's Dream," with orchestra, female (fairy) 
chorus and solos, conducted by Mr. B. J. Lang, 
and with an admirable reading of the play by Mr. 
George Riddle, one of the teachers of elocution 
in Harvard University. This combination gave 
rare unity and life and charm to the work as a 
whole. The quality of Mr. Riddle's voice seems 
naturally light, but clear, elastic, musical, and 
sympathetic, and his physique is slender; yet 
he has somehow develop«:d volume and power 
enough in it to bring out the tearing tragedy and 
bombast of Nick Bottom in a most palpable and 
humorous manner; indeed, one wondered how 
he could roar so* much and have any voice at all 
lefl for the stately speech of Theseus, the quar- 
rels of Titania and Oberon, the light, delicate, 
and tricksy humor of Puck (which he gave de- 
lightfully), and for such marked, true contrast 
as he made between nearly all the several char- 
acters, both farcical and serious and fair}'-like. 
He read, too, with an evident appreciation of all 
the musical effects ; and, as the orchestra was 
commonly quite up to the mark, and played with 
just light and shade and proper phrasing, the fit- 
ting together of the reading and the picturesque 
little snatches of *' incidental music " was really 
exquisite. The set orchestral pieces too, — the 
Overture, Scherzo, Intermezzo, Wedding March, 
etc., — were beautifully played. Is the boy yet 
born, perhaps, in this America, who, as boy or 
man, will give us such an Overture as that? 
The work for the Cecilia Club itself was slight, 
being confined wholly to the ladies, and only two 
songs with chorus for them, namely, ** Ye spotted 
snakes," and that in which the fairies bless the 
house at the happy conclusion. These choruses 
were sung most charmingly, as were the song 
parts by Mrs. Hooper and Miss Gage. Of all 
the readings with the music of the Mendelssohn- 
Shakespeare fairy play that we have had, this as 
a whole wa^ much the most successftd. 



The fourth Annual Festival of (Episcopal) 
Parish Choirs took place on Wednesday evening. 
May 14, and for the first time in the Music Hall. 
The choirs of twenty-five churches of Boston and 
its vicinity completely covered the extended plat- 
form ; and the sonorous mass was very powerful, 
the voices of the several boy choirs making them- 
selves extremely prominent. Yet there were 
many sweet and pure, as well as blatant, voices 
among the boys, and three or four of them, who 
took part in solos or quartets, sang very beauti- 
fully. Mr. S. B. Whitney conducted the perform- 
ances with marked ability ; and Mr. J. C. Warren 
officiated as organist, generally well, but as it 
seemed to us with too much fondness for the roar 
of the full organ ; this we felt particularly in the 
long voluntary while the audience were assem- 
bling. Considering what heterogeneous materials 
had been brought together, witliout much re- 



rus (words from Uhland), and Rubinstein's to | that long cadenza of the violin, mostly in the hearsal together, the chorus singing was for the 



86 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 994, 



most part creditable and quite effective. Could 
the boy force be tamed down considerably, and 
more light and shade be introduced throughout, 
the result would be still better. 

The selections on the programme indicated 
what we presume to be the real object of these 
festivals, namely, to raise the artistic standard of 
the musical portion of the church service; to 
supplant the commonplace and dry, the namby- 
pamby, sentimental, shallow compositions which 
have been so much in vogue, by others of more 
dignity and true expression, conceived and exe- 
cuted in the spirit of true art as well as piety. 
To a considerable extent this programme realized 
the aspiration, but not altogether. It was as 
follows : — 

Hymn, ** Forth to the fight, ye ruiaonied," John Htywood. 

Te Deuni Uudamua .,..€.£. Stephtm (in C). 

Hymu, " Come unto nie, ye weary " . . Rtv. J. B. Dt/ket. 

Anthem, " Oh, teste and see how gracious 

UieLordit" A. S, SuUivan. 

Anthem, " Let ub now go even unto Bethle- 
hem " E.J. Hopkins. 

Hymu, " Sacred Head, now wounded," 

IJnnt Leo I/aaler, 

Cantate Domino Sir John Go$$ (in C). 

Anthem, *< He that shall endure '* . . . MtndtUaohn. 

f S. n. Whitney (in F). 

Tenth selection of Psalms] G, A. McFarren (in A). 

I Rev. Sir F.A.G. OuseUy (in E). 

Benedic, anima mea . . . . J. C. D. Pavktr (in E). 

Anthem, *< God hath appointed a day," Berthold Tuurt. 

Anthem, " The liord is my Shepherd " . Henry Simtri. 

Hymn, " Nearer, my God, to Thee " A. S. SuUintn. 

Anthem, *< Sing Pnuses unto the Lord " . . C Gounod. 

The first three numbers harrlly rose above 
commonplace. Mr. Sullivan's Anthem has some- 
thing more like musical invention ; and that 
which succeeded it, by the accomplished organist 
of the Temple Church in Ix>ndon, Mr. £. J. Hop- 
kins, seemed to us to come still nearer to the 
idea of chaste and sound religious music. It was 
strange, and not particularly edifying to hear the 
profoundly beautiful and tender Lutlieran hymn, 
** O Haupt, voU Blut und Wunden," sung with 
Hassler's harmony, when it has been harmonized 
so wonderfully, as we all heard in the Passion 
Music on Grood Friday, by Sebastian Bach ; the 
I>erformancc, too, was rather loud and coarse. 
The Cantate Domino (in unison), by Sir John 
Gross, was of a brilliant and inspiring character. 
Of course Mendelssohn's " He that shall endure," 
from EliJaJij was facile princeps among these 
choral works. 

The Psalm chanting, which began the second 
part, by its monotonous reiterations of the same 
short sentence, appeared out of place in a concert, 
where art, not ritual, ought to reign. Mr. Par- 
ker's BenediCf anima meOf was decidedly one of 
the best things of the whole, and gave general 
satisfaction ;' clear and strong and musician-like 
throughout, it is very happy in its fugal close. 
The anthem by Berthold Tours, full chorus alter- 
nating with double quartet of boys and men, was 
on the whole intcre|tiug and striking, though 
perhaps somewhat rambling and indefinite in 
form. The rest we were obliged to lose. On 
the whole, we should think these festivals might 
be efficacious in bringing about a great reform in 
the music of the church they represent; nor 
would the influence be limited to one commun- 
ion. 



others. The first of these concerts had only the as a Symphony, and the work as a whole is one 



Apollo Club. — The third pair of concerts 
of the eighth season took place in the Boston 
Music Hall on the evenings of the 15th and 20th 
inst. For both there was the usual crowded and 
enthusiastic audience, and on both occasions the 
splendid body of finely tniined male voices, full 
of e.^prit de ccrpSy seemed, if that were possible, 
to surpass their best previous instances of well- 
nigh perfect execution. It is hanlly worth the 
while to point out wherein this or that special 
piece was a shade more or less felicitous than 



director's (Mr. Lang's) piano-forte accompani- 
ment, highly effective so far as that could go. 
This was the programme : — 

Night on the Ocean BrandMch' 

(With piano aooompaniment) 

" Hail, Smiling Mom " Spofforth. 

Piano-forte quintet in E-flat Schuuumn. 

Allegro brillante. 
(Played by Mr. lAiig, Mr. Allen, Mr. Akeroyd, 
Mr. H. Heindl, and Mr. W. Fries.) 

Alisenoe Hatton. 

Khine-Wine Song Liszt. 

(With piano accompaniment.) 

Spring Matins, Op. 67 Frcau Behr. 

For tenor solo, quartet, and chorus. 
(The solo sung by Mr. J. C. Collins, the quartet 
by Mr. Want, Mr. Chubbuck, Mr Har- 
k>w, and Mr. Babcock; with piano accom- 
paniment.) 

Evening Scene Debois. 

Piano-forte quintet, in £-flat SchmnanH. 

Finale. 
Serenade — *^ Slumber, dear one " . . Mendelssohn. 

Song, »* Ho, pretty page " B. J. Lang. 

l*he words from Tliackeray's poem. 
(Song by Mr. J. F. Winch.) 

Hunting Song Abt. 

Moniing Rubinstein. 

(With piano accompaniment.) 

The two noblest choral pieces were those at 
the beginning and the end, especially that by 
Rubinstein, *' Morning," whose elaborate piano- 
forte prelude and accompaniment suggested the 
intended orchestral instrumentation which it af- 
terwards receivetl. llie two brilliant tbinss were 
the once well-worn glee by Spofforth, which re- 
newed its youth, sung with such precision, yet 
such spirit and abandon^ and Liszt's fiery Rhine- 
wine song, — a kind of thing in which Liszt is 
wont to be peculiarly happy and original. Abt's 
'* Hunting Song " is brilliant, too, but compara- 
tively commonplace. The tender, sentimental 
strains by Hatton and Debois called for and re- 
ceived the most refined and delicate expression, 
and of course won their way to the common 
heart. *< Spring Matins," by Franz Behr, is an 
elaborate composition of considerable beauty, but 
hardly such as haunts one when the sounds have 
ceased. The Mendelssohn Serenade is one of 
the most sincerely musical and inward of his for 
a long time unrivaled part-songs. 

Mr. Lang's setting of Thackeray's "^ Ho, pretty 
page," catches and reproduces the fine pathetic 
humor of the verses, and is a fresh, genial, fas- 
cinating bit of music. As sung by Mr. Winch 
it took the audience almost off their feet, and had 
to be repeated. The two movements from Schu- 
mann's Quintet, capitally well played as they 
were, could not, of course, sound Uiere as they 
do in a smaller room ; the piano-forte tells well 
enough, but the strings, having to bear on so 
hard to overcome the great space, sounded some- 
what dry and forced; yet all was clear; and the 
warm reception of such instrumental chamber 
music by an Apollo audience was a cheerful sign 
of progress. 

The last concert had the great advantage of a 
full orchestral accompaniment in seven of its 
twelve numbers. These were: (1) Brambach's 
'^ Night on the Ocean;" (2) Recitative and 
Air from Sullivan's ** Prodigal Son," sung by J. 
F. Winch (for these two we arrived too * late, 
thanks to apple-bIo^som »eason and the open 
horse-cars) ; (3) Chorus of Dervishes from the 
Ruins of Athens'^ (4) The Roman ''Song of 
Triumph," by Max Bruch ; (5) Vintagers' Song, 
from Mendelssohn's Loreley ; (6) '* Morning," 
by Rubinstein. Besides which, the orchestra 
also played Beethoven's Turkish March, and two 
movements (Scherzo and Andante) from Gade's 
first (C minor) Symphony. In all, the orchestra, 
with Mr. Allen as Vorgeiger, won the general 
approbation. Rubinstein's ** Morning" gained 
immensely by such accompaniment; the instru- 
mentation in itself proved almost as interesting 



of his most genial, original, and strong creations. 
The other numl)ers repeated from the former 
concert, without orchestra, were " Hail, smiling 
Morn," Debois's " Evening Scene," Mendels- 
sohn's Serenade, and Abt's Hunting Song. The 
new pieces were : — 

(a.) IteciUtive and air from *« The Prudipd Son,*' 

" Bring forth the Best IIoIm '*..... Sutiican. 
(Sung by Mr. J. F. Winch.) 

(6.) Chorus of Dervishes from the **Unins of 
Athens," '« ' Twas thou, beneath thy sleeve- 
fold hiding" *. . Beethoven. 

(c.) Turkish March from the same work, for Or- 
chestra Beetiioten. 

{d.) Song of Triumph Mtix Bruck. 

(e.) Scherzo and Andante from the Symphony in C 
minor Gade. 

if.) Vintage Sonif from the " Loreley " . Mendelssohn. 

Altogether this was a very richly varied, noble 
programme. Beetlioven's Dervish Chorus was 
sung and played with tlic greatest verve and 
furor, and received with uncontainable applause, 
which nothing else except the equally wonderful, 
imaginative Turkish March could satisfy. Bruch's 
Song of Triumph, ** Hail, O Csssar ! " is some- 
thing almost overwhelming in its martial and 
barbaric pomp, and its terrible suggestion of the 
blood-thirsty conquering crowd, the captives in 
procession and the lion hungry for them in the 
arena. How many times we might care to hear 
it we will not surmise ; but tliere is startling 
power in it for once at least. ITie " Vintage 
Song " went capitally, both orchestra and chorus. 

This concert made a proud finale for another 
season of the Club. 



Wb are still in aman with our record as to numerous 
concerts, including tliat of Miss Selma Bor^, with her inter- 
esting programme of Finnish and other Northern music, oki 
and modem, in which she herself conducted the orehestns. 
We must wait for room. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Providence, R. I., April 19. — The third and fourth 
concerts of the ** Cecilia" took pbee on the evenings of 
March 18 and April 1, as follows: — 

Third Concert Artists: Mrs. E. Humphrey-Allen, So- 
prano. Beethoreu Quartette Club (Messrs. Allen, Ackerojd, 
H«udl, and Fries), and Messrs. Alex. Hdndl. Contra Iksso; 
Ernst Weher, clarinet; Paul EJtz, fiasaooii; Edward Schor- 
mann, Horn. — Programme : — 

Septet, First Part Beethoven. 

Concert Aria. Op. 94, » Infelice "... Mendelssohn. 

Violin Sokw. (a.) Air (4th string) . . Bach-Wilheh^. 

(6.) Gai'otte in D. . . . Vieuztemps. 

Quintet, MozctrU 

For Clarinet and String Quartet. 
Songs: (a )** Beauteous Cradle,*' .... Sehvmann. 
(6.) " Why should 1 Wander '* . . Sdiumaim, 

Quartet, No. 3 Haydn. 

Tlieme and VariaUons (Austrian Hymn). 

Song, <« The Chorister,'* Sullivan. 

With aoccHupaniment of Piano, Violin, and 'Celk>. 

Septet, Second Part Beethoven. 

Fourth C'oficeH. — Artists: Mr. M. W. Whitney. Hasso; 
Mr. William Sherwood, and Mr. H. G. Hanchett, Pianists. 
The lieethoven Quartette Club with Mr. Alex. Heindl, in 
the phtce of Mr. Fries, who was ne ce ssarily absent. Pro- 
gramme:— 

Concerto, No. 1, C minor Back. 

For two Piauofl and String Quartet. 
Alle)i:ro, Adagio, Rondo. 

Aria, «' Per questa hdla mano " Momrt. 

Piano SokM. (a.) BaUade in A-flat, Op. 47, . Chopin. 
(6.) ToccaU di Concerto, Op. 36 JDupont. 
Mr. Sherwood. 

Quartet, Op. 17, No. 3 in F Rubinstein. 

Allegro Moderato ma eon moto, — Seherxo, 
— Andante oon troppo, All^ro AssaL 
(n.) ** A Rider thruuKh the Valley Rode," Franz, 
{b ) " 11m Two Grenadiers "... Schunutnn. 
Duet. Two Pianos, ** Les l*reludee,'j a Symphonic 

Pbem LiseL 

Song. *' A Mariner's Home 's the Sea " . . Randeggtr. 
Selection from Quartet, 0|). 18, No. S. . . Beethovtn. 
Allegro molto quasi presto, 
llie Septet is too well known either in its original form 
or in piano four-hand arranj^enients to require much notice. 
.\s a whole it was remarkably well i{iven. The iostnimenta 
blended finely. Instances of individual suceeu may be men- 
tioned in the case of Mr. Weber in the clarinet solo in the 



Soi»gs. 



Mat 24, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



87 



Adagio; Mr. Schomiann in the horii solo in the same 
muvenient, where his tone was particularly smooth, rich, and 
pure, and the crescendo very effective: Mr. Allen in the 
violin part; and Mr. Fries with the 'cello, especially in the 
Adagio and the Trio of the Scherzo. In the third variation 
of lite Tenia the contrasts l)etween the two reeds, clarinet 
and liassoon, were very finely brought out by both artists 
The phrasing was throughout that of artists; the lights and 
shmles and the marks of expression, so numerous with Beet- 
hoven, were carefully observed. 

The Quintet by Mozart is a work of sterling merit, but 
rarely lieanl, and is a fine specimen of his best style. The 
combination of instruments is a happy one; and the players 
were in full sympathy with one anotlier. Mr. Weber's tone 
was especially fine: we have never heard a lietter; his exe- 
cution was clear and his phrasing artistic. 

The movement from tlie '* Kaiser " Quartet was very ac- 
ceptable, llie beautiful hynni and its matchless variations 
will ever remain among the finest specimens and purest mod- 
els of quartet writing. Haydn is always happy and genial 
even in his more solder moods. 

Mr. Allen's solos were remarkably well rendered. We 
can never tire of tlie wuiiderfnl and inexpressibly beautiful 
air from Bach's Orchestral Suite in D ; nor do we seriously 
object, as some have done, to Wilhelmj's arrHiigement. It 
makes a very eflfective solo piece, and besides brings the 
composition within the knowledge of many who would oth- 
erwise never make its acquaintance. We have heard Mr. 
Allen play tliis arrangement several times before, but think 
he surparaed any pre\'ious performance in the rendering he 
gave us this time. The accompaniment for muted strings 
formed a delicate yet sufficient background to the solo. The 
Gavotte by Vieuztemps wss a contrast to the llach air, — 
quaint, in some pUocs possibly a little ugly, — but full of 
the genuine gavotte spirit. 

Mrs. Allen sang the trying and difficult ** Infelice " with 
good success. We thought there might have been more 
dramatic fervor and passion in parts of it. The accompan- 
iment must have been a very fair suggestion of the orches- 
tra, 'i'here were eight instruments: quintet <tf strings, 
clarinet, horn, and bassoon. The two Schumann songs 
were delightfully given. But why alter two notes in the 
" Schdiie Wiege '* V How expressive Schumann's accom- 
paniments are! Mr. Bonner pl-iyed them hi a thoroughly 
musician-like manner. In response to a hearty encore, Mrs. 
Allen sang Taubert's '■'• My Darling was so Fair," the render- 
ing of which does not seem capable of improvemenL Sul- 
livan's " Chorister" gave great pleasure. Gounod's '* Ser- 
enade," was given as an encore. 

The fourth concert opened with a concerto for two pianos 
and string quartet by Bach, which was entirely new to us. 
It is a strong work, and, to those who had, by a study of 
Bach in other works, come prepared for it, the composition 
must have proved a pleasant and profitable surprise. The 
opening Allegro is earnest and spirited. The Adagio, with 
a sort of 'cello obligato, the rest of the strings pizzicato for 
the most of the tjme, is perhaps the best part of the work. 
Here it seems to us is the real <* unendliche Melodic " so 
much talked of by tlie ** School of the Future." All moves 
on so smooth and flowing and comes from a seemingly inex- 
haustible fountain. The Kondo was quite brilliant and 
brought the whole work to a fitting conclusion. 

Mr. Sherwood's solos were reudovd in a manner entirely 
consonant witli his reputation. We were glad of the op- 
portunity of hearing hiin after reading so much aliout him, 
and hearing so much from friends who had enjoyed his play- 
ing. His conception and rendering of the Chopin Ballade 
seemed to us very refined and poetical; although we have 
lieard contrary views expressed. All ^ree that the execu- 
tion was well- nigh perfect. The Dupont Toccata gave him 
a chance to exhibit his fine technique, besides being in itself 
a work of merit. The Chopin, however, seemed to us to 
be his work for that evening, leavuig the Bach out of con- 
sidenaion. 

The ** Preludes,*' In the author's own arrangement, were 
given as well as it is possible to give orchestral music on a 
piano. The arrangement itself is superbly done; but the 
tone and cotoring, both so Important in a work of this kind, 
are unavoidably and necessarily lost. The work itself, too, 
seems out of (ilace, no matter how well done, on such a pro- 
gramme. Why could they not have given us the Andante 
and Variations by Schumann, or the Cliopin Uondo, works 
of much greater intrinsic merit than the " Preludes? " 

The quartet playing was especially fine, though perhaps 
not better than at the previous concerts. The Rubinstein 
Quartet was a new work to us, and we must say we like it 
very much. It is throughout characteriitic of its author, 
though reminding us now and then of Schumaim. The 
opening Allegro was full of beautiful melody, soaring high in 
the first violin over the fine aooompaniment of the otiier in- 
stmmeuts. Tlie Scherzo (we suppose this to be the title of 
the movement; it was accidentally omitted on the pro- 
gramme) was wild and rapid, interrupted by a beautiful pas- 
sage of quiet harmony, after the manner of Schumann, then 
resuming its breathless haste and fury. The Andante was 
vi^ much enjoyed. The writer overheard several remarks 
in its favor as we were passing out at the close of the con- 
cert. The impression w«s that it was the best part of the 
w<^> It was beautifully played. The finale was full of fire 
and vigor. The spirit of the composer seemed here almost 
to get the mastery of him ; and at the ck)se, which is very 



briUiunt, he seemed almost to need more instruments to ex- 
press his thought. The work aliounds in solo passages for 
the 'cello, which were finely rendered by Mr. Heindl. 

The selection from Beethoven's quartet was a fitting doee 
to the concert and the series. How many fine touches there 
are in that last movement ! Beethoven must have been happy 
for a litt e while when he wrote tiiat. 

Mr. Whitney added much to the success of the occasion 
by his fine rendering of the songs. He was b splendid 
voice, and his selections were in thorough harmony with the 
rest of the programme. The Mozart Aria was splendidly 
given. I'he Franz song was entirely new, as was also the 
encore piece, ** Swift fkides the Und I love." We never 
heard Mr. Whitiiey do better than he did in the " Zwei 
Grenadiere" of Schumann. It was simply magnificent. 
Words cannot describe it. Heine's poem means to ns much 
more than it ever did before, and to accomplish such a result 
is praise enough for any artist. 

The Sailor Song by Kandegger and the encore, ** It is 
no Dream " (author unknown to writer), completed the 
songs. It is needless to say both were given in Mr. Whit- 
ney's best style. 

The ** Cecilia " have given us as fine a series of concerts 
this season as it was ever our fortune to attend. In con- 
clusion let us express the hope that the organization will be 
permanent, and that it will annually provide a series of con- 
certs for the musical portion of the citizens of Providence as 
entertaining and instructive as has been that of the present 
season. The influence for good of such music cainiot l)e es- 
timated. A. G. L. 

NKwroKT, R. I. 



Philadrlphia, May 17. — Frequent annual lienefit 
concerts have been given by our resident musicians, but with 
one invariable result: "*■ Profit and Loss " debit to »< Cash.'' 
Mr. C. II. Jar\'ishas closed his interesting series of classi- 
cal concerts with great eclat; he has proved himself this 
season to be fully entitled to be classed among the best 
artists of the period. Mr. S. T. Strang is phiying a second 
series of Organ Recitals with more popular programmes, 
but his forte evidently Is the classical style. 

Gilmore's Band gave three concerts, with a meagre 
support from the public, notwithstanding the popular and 
high-priced artists assisting him. llie Hess Opera Com- 
pany presented Masset's "Paul and Virginia" for two 
nights, but it Culled to make any impression owuig mainly 
to the very indifi'erent rendering of the principal roles by 
the soprano and tenor, whose voices seem to be entirely worn 
by excessive work. The composition is a fair specimen of 
French work of the period. 

Mr. Carl Gaertner made an interesting exhibition of the 
studies of his pupils, and was warmly complimented for 
their nkill. Mr. Richard Zeckmer made a like occasion very 
enjoyable to his friends and admirers. Mr. J. lieroington 
I'airbank produced, under great difficulties, his enkirged 
opera ^* Valerie," which, from causes apart from the quality 
of the music, which is good, made a Jiasoo. Great sym- 
pathy was felt and expressed fbr him. 

The Peabody Orchestra, under Asger Hamerik, from Bal- 
timore, gave two concerte on 14th inst., and were well re- 
ceived. Mme. Auerbach made a profound impression by 
her performance of Concerto, Op. 11, by Chopin, and Con. 
certo in £-flat, by Beethoven, in which she was ably as- 
sisted by the orchestra, the accompaniments being played 
with more judgment and taste than within the recollection 
of Amehicub. 



Chicago, May 16. As the season closes for the larger 
musical entertainments a number of piano-forte recitals, 
chamber concerts, and the yearly receptions of the leading 
teachers to their advanced pupils claim, not only our atten- 
tion, but in many cases our sincere admiration. For these 
chamber concerts do much for the advancement of a love for 
the art, by showing that the noble compositions of tiie clas- 
sical and worthy modem composers are within reach of the 
'home life of the people. All culture should have its best 
encouragement within the home. 

In this connection it pleases me to notice what has been 
done by a small club of sincere musicians during the past sea- 
son toward familiaruBing our people with the bttutiful string 
quartets, quintets, and trios of the masters. Mr. Lewis 
(violin), Mr. Rosenbecker (violin), Mr. Eicheim (violoncello), 
Mr. Kurth (vioU), and Miss IngersoU (piano forte), compose 
the organization. Tlie aftenioon I heard them they gave the 
Trio of Schubert, Op 100, Quartet No. 12 of Mozart, and 
a Quintet of RalT. They were assisted by Mrs. Stacy, who 
sang songs of Schnliert, Rubinstein, and Randegger. The 
playing was very enjoyable, and indicated a sincere Intention 
on the part of the perfonners to bring out the beauty of the 
music, as well as to give an honest Interpretation of the 
CO It posers' works. I am glad to state these concerts are to 
be continued another season, and I trust they will have the 
large circle of admirers they so richly merit. 

On Monday evening last Miss Amy Fay began a series of 
three concerts, which gave the mimical public an opportunity 
to hear her in an extended programme. At the first per- 
formance she had the assistance of Mme. Salvotti, vocalbt. 
Miss Mantey, violinist, and a male quartet. Miss Fay 
played: Bourree, In A minor, Beich; (iavotte, by Gluck; 
*'I)es Abends," Schumann; Ballade, G minor, Chopin; 
** Spinning Song " from Flying Dutchman^ Wagner — Liszt; 
and *< liindlicher Reigen," by KuUak. At her second con- 



cert she had the assistance of Miss Grace Hiltz, vocalist. Miss 
Mantey, and the Ivies' Quartette. Her important numbers 
were: Sonata in D, Op. 28, Beethoven ; Iinproniptu, Op. 112, 
Schubert; with smaller selections from Mendelssohn, Liszt, 
RafT, Jensen, and an old Gigue by Htisler. It is with sin- 
cere regret that I cannot speak of Miss Fay's playing with 
that admiration which I had hoped to be able to express. 
From what I had heard of her accomplishments, her culture, 
and her splendid opportunity for study under the most cd- 
ebrated masters of Europe, 1 had looked forward to hearing 
her with the expectation c^ great pleasure. While her play- 
ing hi some of the numbers indicated the intdligent musician, 
on the whole her performance was disappointing. There was 
a lack of that repose, that balance of power that should stamp 
the performance of the great artist. In the Chopin Ballade 
her interpretation was hardly of that poetic character which 
the lovely music of this writer seems to demand ; and, indeed, 
at times her playing was extremely faulty. In the second 
concert her playing. was much better than before, and in the 
Beethoven Sonata, the RafiT, and Liszt selections she did 
some brilliant work. « The possession of a nen'ous organlza* 
tion may account for that lack of a full command of her 
powers, — so necessary to the success of a concert player. 
Without an adequate control it would be extremely difficult 
for even a person of remarkable talent and fine powers to win 
universal approbation as a public performer. Unfortunately 
Miss Fay played upon a very poor piano-forte of the Weber 
make, which was a serious drawback to a finished perform- 
ance. 

Last evening I had the gratification of. hearing a piano- 
forte recital by Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood, of Boston, who per- 
formed the following numbers : Etudes Symphonlques, Op. 13, 
Schumann; Fantasia In C mhior, Bach; Gigue of Mozart; 
Sonata by Scarlatti; Ballade, Op. 47, Etude, Op. 26, No. 7, 
and Pok>nalse, Op. 53, of Chopin; Barcarole, Op. 123, Kul- 
bOc; » Wedding March," Grieg; ** Dervbh Chorus" of 
Beethoven, arranged by Saint-^ns; "Mephlsto Waltz,'* 
Liszt; Rhapsodic Hongrolse, No. 6, Liszt; and, with Mr. 
Lewis, the variations and finale from the ** Kreutzer So- 
nata '* of Beethoven. This recital was the first of a series of 
three, all of which present programmes of equal magnitude. 

In \he playing of Mr. Sherwood one recc^nizes at once 
the true artist. Possessing a seemingly faultless technique; 
a sympathetic touch, capable of every variety of expression, 
from the most delicate tenderness to extremely wonderful dis- 
plays of power, he has everything to fit him to give splendid 
interpretations of the iiiano-forte works of the masters. 
Throughout the whole range of his programme, embracing 
as it did such a number of different and trying compositions, 
there was a uniform excellence of performance, while each 
work received that careful interpretation which only a con- 
scientious artist could give. I ha^'c not heard the ^ Etudes 
Symphuniques " of Schumann more perfectly played since 
Rubinstein gave them. The grand finale came out with a 
wonderful power, while tlie contrasts In the music were dla- 
played with a marked fidelity to tiie composer's Intention. 
In the Polonaise of Chopin, Op. 53, he met the composer iu 
his heroic mood, and gave a most eijoyable performance of 
this splendid work. 'Phe two long cresoendos which occur in 
the composition were given with a better idea of gradations 
in tone than I have ever heard before. In the Etude he 
found this poetical composer in a more tender and delicate 
mood, and his interpretation was marked with great refine- 
ment. In the Liszt Rliapsodie, its weird efTects, many con- 
trasts, and wonderful difliculties were performed with as- 
tonishing brilliancy. Yet It seems to roe that when the fire 
of youth has been tempered by a wider experience, and his tal- 
ent has had time to ripen to its fullest perfection, there 
will be shades of a deeper feeling in his tone-painting tiian at 
present mark his interpretations, no matter how faultless 
they are in point of execution. Perhaps then some of the 
mekidies of the oki masters will be given with a hallowed 
feeling, and the soul of art may inspire him to greater ten- 
derness. Of his other recitals in my next C. H. B. 



MiLWAUKKK, Wis., May 12. Mr. W. S. B. Mathews, 
of Chicago, gave three illustrated lectures here April 25 and 
26, the topics and prograninies of which I give below, llie 
illustrations were pUyed by Miss Lydia S. Harris, assisted 
by two of our local amateur singm, Mrs. A. W. Hall and 
Miss Lizzie Murphy, who did themselves credit. 

First Lecture: Three Great Epochs. Illustrations. 1. The 
Old Classical. 1750: 
Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C sharp; Gavottes in D and 

D minor. 
Handel. Aria, *< Angels ever Bright and Fair" (Mrs. A. 
W. HaU). 

2. CUssical. 1800. 

Beethoven. Sonata, *< Moonlight," Op. 27. 

3. Modem Romantic 1850. 

Scliumann. Fantasie Pieces, Op. 72. («< At Evening,'* 

"Soaring," ** Why," "Whims.") 
MendtlMohn. »' Spring Song " (Mre. A. W. Hall). 
Chopin. Andante Spianato and Polonaise, Op. 22. 
Liizi. Second Hungarian Rhapsody. (With Riv^ Ca- 
denza. ) 

Second Ijectura: Modem Romantic School. 
Bach. Prelude and Fugue in C minor. (" Cla\ier," No. 2.) 
Schumann, Etudes Svmphoniques, Op. 13. (Theme, Vari* 

ations I., II , HI., VI , IX., and Hnale.) 



88 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[ VO^^ XxxrX-. — No. 994. 



Gh<9H». Fantaufl Imprompta in C sharp, Op. 66 ; Seheno 

in B-flmt minor, Op. 81. 
SckunuuM, Romance in F-sliarp, Op. 28; Novelette, In 
. £, Op. 21, No. 7. 

hmt. Grand Polonaise Heroique Ein; Schubert's "Wan- 
derer;** Gounod's '* Faust** 

Third Lecture: The Piano-forte as a Musical Instrument. 
Beetkawn. Sonata Appassionata, Op. 67. 
Mmdel$$ohn. Song, "The First Violet** (Miss U»le 

Murphy). 
Beethoven. Concerto in C minor. (First movement with 

Reinecke's Cadenza.) Orchestral pert on second piano by 

Mr. W. S. B Mathews. 
Chopin. Concerto in E minor, Op- 11. 
Schumann. Song, ** Er dcr herriichste von alien '* (Miss 

Lizsie Murphy). 
Liut — Wagner. 1812. " Marsh fium Tannhiiuser." 

Mr. Mathews's treatment of hit topics was ?ery clear and 
forcible, putting the salient points into the most compact 
and effiictive form, aiming mainly at giving the auditors the 
proper standpoint from which to listen. I found it a very 
rare pleasure to hear three such admirable programmes, accom 
panied by just the right sort and amount of oomnient and 
criticism; and I am sure these lectures and rentals had rare 
educational value. 

Miss Harris is a pupil of Mr. Mathews, and has received 
hardly any instruction from any other teacher. Iler fine, 
clear, powerful technique, her excellent phrasing, her style 
and iuterprrtation, all give evidence that she has been care- 
ftilly, thoroughly,- and intelligently taught. She is, to be 
sure, a pupil of unusual gifU. I regard her, in foct, as 
poasessing talent which is likely to give her a place among 
the very first pianists, and as being already a genuine artist, 
though not yet mature; but I know few teachers who could 
have done for her what Mr. Mathews has done in the com- 
paratively short time during which she has taken lessons. It 
would require too much space to attempt to criticise her 
playing of particular compositions, but I will say that I found 
her playing of the most trying compositions on her pro- 
gramme quite as saUsbctory as any of her work. For in- 
stance, the Sonttta Appamonata, the f-Uvdes Symphmiiqute^ 
the Usat Polonaise in Ej and the E minov Concerto of 
Chopin, she pkyed in a way which I think would Iwve won 
hearty applause and encouragement from the composers 
themselves. In sober truth, I think there are very few pro- 
fessional pianists in this country who could have given three 
such programmes in so thoroughly interesting, artistic, and 
uncere a way. At least, few sucli pianists visit Milwaukee. 

The 2G2d concert of the Musical Society had for its pro- 
gramme the symphony from Mendelssohn's ifymn of PtftitCf 
and about half of Friedrich Kiere oratorio Ch-ittut. The 
latter is a very learned and skiUTully written work, but I ha^'e 
not been able to find a trace of genius in it The chorus 
did it respectably, but not finely. Tliere is always a Uek of 
precision in the singing of this chorus, and a general elouch- 
ineMt, which betokens imperfect discipline. It is strange, 
that with the example of the Anon Club before their eyes, 
they should actually go into a concert with so difficult a work 
as Christ ue^ after only four rehearsals under the director's 
baton, at two of which hardly mote than half the singers 
were present. At the ordinary rehearsals the conductor 
plays the piano, and the singers look at their music Of 
course when the conductor does b^in using his stick it is too 
late to get control of his forces. 'Vhe result is a lamentable 
absence of precision and vigor in attack, and of clearness in 
outline. I am gbd to be able to add that the performance 
of the Symphony was the most finished playing I have yet 
beard from this orchestra. 

Prof. Mickler was presented with two beauUful baskets of 
flowers and a silver laurd wreath, an attention due, I sup- 
pose, to the fiMSt that he is about to withdraw from his post 
of director. J. C. F. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

London. The Academy (May 10), says : ** The novel- 
ties at last Saturday's Crystal Palace concert were, as so 
frequently happens, placed at the end of the programme; 
but on this occasion no ground is afRnded for animadversion. 
Inasmuch as the concert was commendably brief. Wag- 
ner's Sietifiied' IdyU for orchestra was written in 1871, 
when the poet-ooniposer was engaged on the Nibelung te- 
tralogy. The circumstance of its compofliti<ni was kept a 
profound secret from Mdme. Wagner until her burthday, 
when she was serenaded with the work, the performers being 
placed on the staircase of Wagner's residence at Triebschen. 
It is not, therefore, surprising to find that the score is but 
small, containing only one flute, one oboe, two clarinets, 
one bassoon, two horns, one trumpet, and strings; and it 
would be unfair to judge of the composition as other than 
a pikee ^occasion. Considered thus It is a charming little 
work, and is valuable as showing what so consummate a mas- 
ter of orchestration as Wagner can accomplish with but 
limited means. Of the four themes, three are taken from 
the magnificent love-duet in the thhrd act of Siegfried^ 
and the fourth is an old (merman Wiegenlied, *Schbf, 
KIndchen, schlaf.' These themes are blended very express- 
ively, the character of the piece being dreamy and medita- 
tive throughout, and suggestive rather of delicate teiidemeEi 
than vigor. The Spring overture of Goetz catuiot be con- 
aidered one of hb best productions. The ideas are not re- 



markable for freshness, and the treatment seems labored 
rather than spontaneous. The work was not deemed worthy 
of any comment or analysb in the programme. Beethoven's 
Symphony in F, and Mendelssohn's piano-forte concerto in 
D minor, — the last-named work played by Mdme. Mou- 
tigny-K^maury, — completed the lirt of instrumental items. 
The vocaltsis were Mdlle. Friedlander — who appeared in 
phuse of Fran SchuchProska — and Mr. W. T. Carleton, 
a baritone with an excellent voice." 



Undeb the title of The Story of Moearfs JUquiem^ 
Dr. W. Pole has just published (NoveUo, Ewer A Co.) a 
most interesting little book containing the whole c( the 
ascertained foets as to the much-disputed auUienUcity of 
this remarkable work. The whole narrative is so extracvdi- 
nary as to read more like a romance than a history ; yet Dr. 
Pole has stated nothing which cannot be clearly established 
All musicians who have studied the subject will agree in the 
condusions at which the author arrives. Dr. Pole's style 
is extremely dear, and the book is a thoroughly readable one, 
and will interest others besides professional musicians. A 
foe-simile of the first page of Mooart's autograph gives ad- 
ditional value to the little volume. 



The Neue Ztitechrijl f&r Mueik aimomices that Jo- 
hannes Brahms has set portions of Ossian's Finyal for 
chorus and orchestra. Tlie appearance of the work will be 
awaited with interest, for such a sutgeet would doubtless \ft 
especially congenial to the composer. 

M. Gounod, the composer, says that he makes it a prin- 
ciple not to trouble himself about works that are once fin- 
ished, and to absorb himself entirdy in those which are in 
course of executfon. He declares that his opera of IleUnse 
et AMard is an incarnation of the most enlted philosoph- 
ical and religious ideas. Though a Roman Catholic, Gounod 
is said to be a great admirer of the German Reformation, 
and he intends his Abdard to personify tlie struggle of con- 
science against the laws of the Church and the defense of 
the rights of spiritual liberty and civilization. The culmi- 
nating point of the action of the opera is in the fourth act, 
where Abdard bums his books under the eyes of tlie Ecele- 
stastical Tk-ibunal. Then as he is returning home he is at- 
tacked in an obscure street and murdered. In the fifth act his 
ghost appears to H^loise surrounded by nuns m the doister. 



Mb. Abthub Suluvan and Mr. W. S. Gilbert are assur- 
edly coming to this country in the autumn to attend to the 
production of their new comic opera. An entire company is 
to be formed In London for the represeulation of the piece. 
Mr. Gilbert will arrange dl the details of stage management, 
and Mr. Sullivan will conduct the orchestra at the opoiiug 
performance. — N. Y. IS-ibune. 



Mr. William H. Sherwood will hold a Normal Mu- 
dcal Institute at C^andaigua, N. Y., for five weeks this sum- 
mer. Among his foeulty will be Mme CapfHani; Mr. H. 
CUrence Eddy, organist; Mr. W. Popper, 'eello; Mr. Harry 
Wheeler, vocal physiology; Mr. Narcisse C}t, French lan- 
guage and literature; Mr. H. G. Hanchett, pianist and 
budness manager. 

Cincinnati Sabnoerpest. — The twenty-first aiinud 
meeting of the North American Saengerbund will be hdd at 
Mudc Hall in this dty, June 11th to the 15th, inclusive. 
Extendve preparations are being made to render it one of 
the most successful gatherings ever hdd in the United 
States. The chorus, which has been rdieaning Ux the past 
year in this and other dUes, will number neariy S,(iOO 
voices, each society having been subjected to a rigid exam- 
ination liefore bdng admitted. The instrumental mudc 
will be furnished by the great organ and an orchestra of 
over 100 pieces, all under the leat^hip of Professor Cari 
Barus. The prominent choral numbers on the programme 
are the oratorio of St. Paul^ Verdi's Requiem Mau^ Rubin- 
stdn's Paradiie Lost, and adeetions trwn Wagner's Flying 
Dutchman^ and Gddmarck's Queen of Saba. The soloists 
engaged are %i follows: Sopranos, Mme. Otto Alvedeben, of 
Dresden, Saxony, recommended by Cari Reinecke, Ldpeig, 
Miss Emma Heckle, and Mrs. Flora Mueller; altos. Miss 
Emma Cranch and Miss Louise Koltwagen ; tenon, Mr. H. 
Alex. Biscboff and Christian Fritseh, of New York; bari. 
tone, Frans Remmertz, of New Yoric; basso, Myron W. 
Whitney, of Boston; oiiganist, George E. Whitney. The 
societies taking part in the chorus are from Cincinnati. 
Chicago, St. Louis, Cle>'daud, Milwaukee, Louisville, In- 
dianapolis, Detrdt, Columbus, and other Western cities. 



Vienna. The programme of the last Philhamiunic Con- 
cert for Uie season comprised Scbumaim's overture to Man- 
fredj Beethoven's C muior Symphony, a Prelude and Fugue 
by Hugo lieinhold, and Liszt's C<moerto in E-flat miyur, 
played by Mdlle. Martha Kcmmert Of the last-named work 
Dr. E. Handick writes in the Neuefreie Presee: — 

** The E-flat mi^or Concerto exhibits Liszt as a composer 
in this most agreeable light. The piano was and is the true 
source whence he derives his most origind and best qualities; 
for him the piano is what mother earth was to the mythokig- 
ical giant Antseus. How little and almost unpretentious does 
this O>ncerto appear compared with the Crun Mass we re- 
cently heard, — and yet how much more complete in itself, 



how much more true, moro •teriiqg, and more satisfociory 
it is ! Here idea and form Sgree, and the means employed 
correspond with the clearly recognized goaL ^ven many a 
baroque and false little bit of ornament (as in the finsJe) 
seen under such mundane drawing-room illumhiation ap- 
pears effective or at least aoceptablel We hen have Liszt 
in his best strength and in his best style ; he may be d- 
fowed something apart and unusud in the department of 
which he is the modem ruler. But it b impoesible to 
grant him the same privil^es in the sacred styb; Uie 
charter of a genial sul^ectivity b great^ restricted in the 
service of genoal devotion. Grantid that Wagner's reforms 
are necessary and advantageous to open — are they, there- 
fore, necessarily so for sacred music V Even for nuiids with 
seveti-league boots it b stUl a pretty good step from the 
Mount of Venus to Mount Cdvary. It b frequently said 
as an excuse for certain village mssses, remarkable for their 
want of intellect and origiiudity, that God cares mors for 
heart than for mudc. ^nie same prindpb must apply to 
messes which suffer from a luxuriant surplusage of intdlcci 
and origindity. The Almighty will assuredly be as highly 
pleased with the Gran Mau — dnce Liszt b said to have 
Sprayed rather than compoied' it — as with the country 
masses of the meet |hous sdioolmader. We poor niortab 
of mudcbns would, it b true, prder neither one nor the 
other. We bdieve, indeed, in our dmplidty, thai the E-flat 
ni^jor Concerto will outlive the (Jrim Mass. After the 
* Ungorische Khapaodieii,' which we condder the best things 
Liszt lias written — perhi^w because he did not only * com- 
pose ' (and still less *pray ') but also play them — and, after 
tliese genial gypsy-pieces, we fieel indiued to award the E-flat 
mi^ Concerto the fint (rfaoe auMMig hb compodtious. Since 
he has no longer unfortunatdy performed them himself, he 
has, by liberal instruction, takien care thai young talent 
should leara to pby them in hb H^^ as Car, at leaat, as 
leaching and learning will allow. But in how many cases of 
much-liehtuded * young tabnt' can we perceive only the 
youth without tlie talMit! Yomig pianids, female as wdl 
as male, from all parts of the worid fly to Liszt, like swarms 
of wasps to a sweet tart. Every one who has tasted only a 
single atom of the latter immediatdy feeb the hdy qibii 
within him, and hums about the world an ennobled insect| 
as *a pupil of Liszt's' (second degree: *a favorite pupil '), 
though the world moat ungratefully foib to discover the 
slightest flavor of the wondcrfbl tart. To the bdy pianists 
who have redly studied Liszt's styb with advantage, belongs 
Mdlle. Martha Bemmert. Of tall and vigorous fi^^ue, this 
young lady when at the pbno b especially a * StarkqiitU' 
rin ' (* strong pbyer '), as peopb used to say in the da}! of 
Mraart and those of Beethoven. All the octave passages 
and chord leaps were so hammered and Kenimerteif that 
they were really quite grand. Fortuiutdy, Mdlle. Boumert 
understands, abo, the oppodte; in the piauo passages she 
possesses tfa« art of fluttering lightly and softly over the 
keys. We can conscientioudy praise her, though we hope 
she will in time gun repose and naturd feeling; her roido^ 
ing of the Concerto was brilliant, but not free finm aActa- 
Uon ; any one not hearing the latter might, at any nte. 
It m immerous especially genid iacticd |irooeeses. She 
tumultiioudy appbuded and repeatedly recalled." 



** Chcrubino," of the London Figaro, writes (May 10); 

" I have before me the ootline programmes for the forth- 
coming Birmingham Mudcd Fertival, and I must confiBSS 
they show a serious foiling off* from the schemes of days gone 
by. They indude, for the morning of August 96, The EH- 
jah ; for the evening. Max Bruch's «* The Lay of the Bell," 
and a mlscdlaueons conceit; August S7, morning, Roadni's 
Moses Ml £gy/4 ; e^efiing, a miscellaneous concert and a 
Symphony; August 28, morning. The Messiah; evening, 
M. Sdnt-Saens' '* The Lyre and the Harp," and a mbod- 
bneous selection ; and August 39, morning, Cherulani'B 
** Requiem," and Menddssohn's •< Lobgesang"; and even- 
ing, Uandd's Israel in Egypt, That this scheme, superior 
as it b to those of the ordinary run of Muaicd Festivab of 
the present day, b worthy of Birmingham, nobody will, I 
bdwve, be abb to admit. The committee have, doubtless, 
found it diflkult to induce a fbtdgn musklan of eminence 
to write a new work for Birminglumi ; and they seem, when 
they were rebuffed by the chief foreign composers, to have 
sat down in thdr chain and to have resigned themsdves to 
their hard fete. Reedlecting the foilura of their attempt to 
bring into further prominence the work of a feshioiiabb song- 
writer, they .fended that the race oi BriUsh composers was 
bounded on the north and south by aristocracy, on the east 
by opulence, and on the west by patronage, entirdy foigeU 
ting that we have amongst us a band of abb, if not very 
wealthy, art worken who, had Birmingham the eourage to 
afford them the opportunity, wonU 1^ abb to give a very 
good account of themsdves agdust any of thdr fiwdgn 
compeen The fact b that Birmingham, politiedly one of 
the most democratic of towns, is, as to its Festivii, one of 
the most finically exdudve. 



The four days' muaicd festivd at Pittsburgh will begin 
May 28. The Messiah, Elijah, and Verdi's Requiem will 
be sung, and in additicm there will be an afternoon concert, 
in which the chiklren of the public fchoob will take part. 
The following quartet of solobts b engaged: Miss Abl>y 
Whinnery, Mbs lU Wdsh, Mr Willbm Courtney, and Mr. 
.M. W. WhiUiey. 



JuNB 7, 1879.] 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



89 



89 



BOSTON, JUNE 7, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 
SAwao. SiMart Stem* 

BlBTHOTKIf AT TUB HfraHT OF HIS PRODUCnYITT (1807-9). 

ThkitfkitloDs from Thajrer'a Thinl Volaoie. II. ... 90 

Bbbuos*4 Musical Cbbbd 91 

LsrTBBS moM a3I I8LA9ID. I. Ybuaf CoUcgB. Fanny Hay- 

mond RitUr 

Tales 021 .\bt : Sbcond Sbbibs. From lostrucUons of Mr. 

Wm. M. Hunt to bU Pupils. YII 

80MB Thooohts o« Musical Kouoatiov. I. WlUiam F. Ap- 

thorp 

▲ COBBBCnOH 94 

GOHCBBTS 94 

Wiimm A. Lockers Concert. — Miss Bttlmft Borg^s Con- 
otfi. — T. F Currivr's Concert. 

Musical Cobebspovdbkcb 96 

Baltlmors. — Cincinnati. — Chiosgo. 

NOTBS AHD QlBA2(I1I08 96 



93 



93 



AU the orticUs not credited to other publieationt were exprtsfly 
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TAHo, Ja., 39 Union Square, and Uoooutoh, Osgood 4fc Co., 
21 Astor PUue; in PhiluMphia by W. II. Bo.'fBR & Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street; in Ckicago by the Cbicaoo Mqsio Compamt, 
S12 State Strtet. 

SANZJO. 

BT BTUART STKllNE, AUTHOR OF *< AKOBLO.'* 
(Continued from page 81.) 

Old Nina waited long in v^n, next day, 
For her young master, at the uiomint; meal. 
Past doubt be bad agiun, as was bis wont 
Too often, — ah, be labored far too hard ! 
And shaking her gray bead she sadly sighed, — 
Arisen with the sun and enrly lark. 
And stolen to bis work, where, brush in hanS, 
He never thought of rest, or sleep, or food, 
Uukas she summoned him. 

So she crept up 
And tapped upon the door of bii great work room, 
Then ojiened and slipped in — he was not there — 
And so passed to his chaniber just beyond ; 
Nay, nor here either ! — nor yet anywhere 
Aliout the whole wide mansion could be found. 
Where Nuw, calling out his name, sought him 
Through all the empty, silent, sounding halls. 
For Sanzio long ere this was far away, 
Speeduig across the pfaun and through the wood, 
Back o*er the path traversed but yester eve. 
He paused not to salute the sun, drink in 
'I1ie freshness of the beauteous morning, bent 
But on the execution of a dream 
That in the long hours of the wakeful night 
Had ripened to a firm and fixed resolve. 
Only his horse, feeling the velvet turf 
Beneath his hoof again, threw back his head, 
Snufied the sweet air with wide dibiting nostrils, 
And whinnied loud. And Sanzio's hetirt rejoiced 
At the good omen. " Why, a Persian prince 
Had won his kingdom thus! " he smiling thought; 
•• May tlie kind gods favor my cause like his! " 
And gayly cried, »» Well done, well done, ray friend ! " 
Chipping bis steed's sleek neck, and urging him 
Stm fiMt and faster forward, while the horse 
Whinnied again, and as with wiugM foet 
Flew o'er the ground. 

Thus rose to view erelong 
The weU-remembered clearing in the woods. 
Where a gnarled apple-tree, its branches hid 
Beneath a snowy cload of tinted blossoms, 
Threw out its shadow ISsr and wide. And hen 
Sanzio leaped lightly down, and left the horse 
To browse at will among the grass, while he 
Stole toward the house in eager baste, on foot ; 
But at a little distance au Idenly 
He spell-bound paused, and stood immovable 
At sight of her his hungry eyes had craved, 
Through yearning hours, to feed on thus again, 
And, bidden by the trunk whereon he leaned, 
He watched her long, unseen, with raptured gaze 
And a heart swelling high. 

The open window, 
Round which a clambering vine luxuriantly 
Twined its fresh tendrils, hung with small white flowers. 
Framed in the fairest inu^^ in the world, 
So Sanzio thought. Here Benedetta sat, 
A dainty basket in her hip, wherein 
She broke some long green stalks with busy hands, 
Humming a tune, gayly, but yet so low 
Its breath scarce parted the soft, eurvins lines 
Of the closed lips. Her hair, glossy and dark, 
What though bound back into a simple knot, 
Tet waved and curled itaelf ao willfully, 



Rebellious ringlets rose up everywhere 

Like a dim halo round the low white brow, 

bending above her task. Yet once or twice, 

Hearing, perchance, some nutle in the woods, 

Some faint, unwonted stir ami J the stems, 

She raised her bead, like a bright, startled bird, 

And slowly gazed a moment right and left, 

A l(X>k of timid pride and shy surprise 

In her sweet fiice. Then Sanzio feaifuUy 

Drew further back, and held his breath, and would 

Have checked the very beating of his heart, 

Which throbbed mora loudly, as there turned on him 

The great, wide-open hazel eyes, sbuiing 

With such a mild, clear radiance, that he fancied 

The happy sun had left there half its light. 

Oh, and what marvel if its brightest beam 

Loved to dwell there ! And he cried inwardly, 

** My gentle dove! My golden eyed, sweet fiawn! " 

Marked how the fair young head was sot and iwised 

With such an exquisite tenderness and grace 

On the white, slender throat, it seemed a flower 

Unfolding on its delicate parent stem, 

That meekly, and yet half unconsciously, 

Rejoices in its own surpassing beauty, — 

And how there lingered in each purest line 

Of fiueand form, lilent to a perfect whole, 

Like bloom and freshness of tJie early dew, 

Still sonietliing of the child, not ripened yet 

To full-blown womanhood. 

Perceiving naught, 
She ever then took up her work again, 
Witli it her broken little tune, and drooped 
The long, dark Inshes, that had well-nigh kissed 
The faintly-tinted cheek. 

At length she paused, 
And sat a moment with her slender fingers 
Clasped idly o*er the basket, while a look 
Of dreamy revery, like a fleeting shade, 
Passed over brow and eyes; then suddenly 
A faint, half smile parted the rosy lips, 
And like a quiet ripple k)st itself 
In a small dimple. 

Then she left her seat, 
Threw the low door wide open, and let in 
A flood of light, dappled with shadowy leaves. 
That merrily played and danced alx>ut her head, 
And gliding down the dark, close- fitUng bodice, 
Touched the bright border of her robe, whence peeped 
The dainty, tripping foot, as she arose 
On tiptoe now, to fasten back alx>ve 
A tendril of the vine that trailed too low; 
And as she raised her hands, the long white sleeves 
Fell back, revealing the fair rounded arm 
And slender wrist. And Sanzio, with bis heart 
Brimful of joy, hanging on every breath 
And motion of the lithe young form, drew near. 
And so stepped forth at last. 

When she glanced down 
He stood before her, doflBng bis plumed cap 
In silent greetuig. Her wide, lustrous eyes 
Lit up with a swift look of recognition, 
And a &int flush, half pleasure, half surprise, 
Rose over brow and neck, but yet her cheek 
Dimpled again, as with a quiet wo(d 
She bade him enter, fur be prayed the grace 
Of a brief converse with her mother. 

She, 
Summoned by Benedetta, quickly came 
From out an inner room ; }'et, Sanzio thought, 
With something haughty in her step and mien, 
And a mistrustful look in her dark eyes. 
As briefly she saluted him, nor begged 
He might be seated, like a welcome guest, 
And stood herself, to wait his pleasure thus. 
But he to Benedetta turned once more, — 
<* Would she refresh him kindly, ere he spoke, 
With a cool draught of water? He had come 
A goodly distance, and the sun was warm 1 '* 
Glad of this pretext thus to put from him 
One moment the sweet magic of her presence, 
That drew his eyes again and yet again. 
To set them free no more, and would too much 
Distract and binder him while he must state 
The purpose tliat had brought him. Eran now 
When she bad vanished, and he heard erelong 
A silvery laugh outside, and the old well 
Creak heavily, and fancied how perchance 
Her little hands wound up tlie brimming bucket, 
lie tripped and stumbled in bis hasty speech, 
As he began : " Did they not sometimes come 
Into the city, mayhap, for a while, — 
Or had they not some friends or kinsfolk there, 
Where she might stay, — in fine, would she permit 
That he should punt her daughter? He was one 
Who made such art the labor of his life. 
And he had need of such a face as hers 
For a great picture of the Bltssed Virgin, 
Whereon be wrought just then." 

The woman heard 
In unmoved silence, and then shook her head. 
" No, — they had no such friend ! Long years ago, 
While her good son yet lived, — bis wife had died 
When this bis child was bom, — they, loo, had dwelled 



In the great town; now all were strangers there! 
Yet stay, — she recollected tliere was once 
Among the serx-ants of some noble lord, 
A distant cousin of her own. Ay, ay, 
Anna by name, and a kind, pious heart ! 
But she was old e'en then, and long ere this. 
Past doubt, laid in her grave. Heaven rest her sou] ! 
No, no, — what he demanded could not be! ** 
She said, a hard tone in her finn, clear voice, 
And then to Benedetta, who returned 
With tlie f^h draught, presenting it to Sanzio, 
" Lea\'e us, my child ! " and motioned her away 
By an imperious gesture. 

She obeyed, 
With a swift, wondering glance at both of them. 
Slipped through tlie door and closed it after her. 
But Sanzio, while he drank, his eager gaze 
Following her every step,-peroeived erelong 
How the door slowly moved, then noiselessly 
Slid a small space ajar, and though in vain. 
By such sly glances as be dared to give. 
He watched and waited to behold her face 
Peer through it, be yet fancied that be felt 
Her sweet, bright eyes on him. 

And there in truth 
She stood, her beatuig heart close to the door, 
To look, not listen. In the small, cracked mirror 
Between the windows, that reflected here 
The comer with the pretty, glkled shrine 
That she had decked with flowers an hour ago, 
She plainly saw the face and form that pleaMd 
Her fiuicy passing well e*en yesterday, 
Far more than all the other noble lords, 
'llien his companions. She had thought of him 
Oh, many, many times, since he bad gone ! 
And now was glad to gaze on him unseen 
'nil she should have content, if that might be. 
How lithe he looked, and yet well-knit and strong, 
With a short mantle flung across' bis shoulders. 
How young, and yet long years a full-grown man ! 
With manly strength, and winning, youthful grace, 
A noble frankness and simplicity, 
And yet a quiet dignity and pride, 
Uke a young prince's — was he such, perchance? — 
Most happily blent in him. How fair and flne 
Was the brown, wavy hair, that he wore bug, 
And now and then tossed backward carelessly. 
Standing uncovered still; how gently soft 
The Urge brown eyes ! Only upon his brow 
There sat a Ipok of thought ao deep, so earnest, 
It seemed like sadness, and his lips were grave. 
Yet they could smile with wondrous sweetness too; 
And those soft eyes kindle with dancing lights 
Of sparkling mirth and mischief! She perceived 
And noted all. Yet more than all things eLie, 
A subtle, powerful something, that streamed forth 
Like a rare perfume, of strange, magic spell. 
From his bright [wesenoe, drew unconsciously. 
But yet resistless, all her heart to him, 
As she thus watched him with her mother. Ay, 
Sometimes she caught her outlined features too; 
How stem they looked ! she thought. And once or twice 
He slightly fh>wned, and pressed his lips together. 
And tapped his foot, as half impatiently. 
Upon the floor, yet ever with respect 
Received her words. 

For Sanzio undismayed 
Had to the charge returned. Yet if it chanced 
That the old cousin lived, and could be found, — 
And he would search the town from end to end, -— 
Would she not then permit ber child to come 
For one sliort week, — three days V He pleaded long. 
And long at first in vain. The woman bad 
A thousand arguments, and doubts, and fears. 
That he must combat one by one. But as 
She stood before him thus, unbowed by years, 
A stately presence still, and with' a trace 
Of noble beauty in the hard-set features, — 
Perchance she too was fair once as ber child ; 
Oh no, yet surely never half so fair. 
She ne'er had Bcnedetta's tender grace ! — 
He listened with wliat patience he could find, 
For ber sweet sake. And so at length, at length, 
Won mayhap by his eloquence, mayhap 
By that fine charm that silent as the sun. 
And as unfidling, wrought on all, she said, 
Well, let him sedc, then ! If old Anna lived. 
The child might go and stay with her a week. 
One week, but nuurk you, not an hour beyond ! 
And he might then and there — but in good truth, 
Who was he, though, and what his name? 

ti Sanzk),** 
He simply answered, " mayhap " — 

<* How I "she asked, 
Unliending slightly from her dignity, 
" Sanzio, the famous Signor, who but year 
Painted St. Catherine, the great altar-piece, 
For the dear ladies on the Hill beyond. 
That all the country round would flock to see 
On feasts and holidays, — she, too, went once 
With Benedetta, though the way was long, — 
I Could it be he?*' 

" The same," he sriiiling said. 



90 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MU810. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 995- 



** What thoagh his name was aearee to widdy famed, 
As she most kindly thought" 

She oooiteaied. ** Ay, 
Wherefore had he not told her this ere now, 
Then mayhap had he foond her more inclined ! " 

So it was speedily fixed: Sanzio should send 

A message, telling her that all was well, 

If he could find old Anna, and the child 

Should come to town with their good, aged neighbor, 

Within three days from then. 

And now at last, 
With words of thanks aoe^ted graciously, 
He took bis leave, without ano^er glimpse 
Of BenedetU. But t^ he looked back 
He saw her standing in the open door. 
And for his life could not reftidn, but kissed 
His hand to her, again and yet again, 
She waving hers for answer UmidJy, 
Till he had vanished. 

{To he continued.) 



BEETHOVEN AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS 
PRODUCTIVITY (1807-9). 

TRANSLATIONS FROM THATER*8 THIRD 

YOLUMB. 

II. 
THE RASOUMOWSKT QUARTET. 

1808. — Count Rasoumowsky is set down 
in the list of arrivals in Vienna, in the sum- 
mer of this year, as coming from Carlsbad, 
and living in **his own house," — that is to 
say, in his new palace on the Danube canal, 
to which he had removed a short time be- 
fore from the WoUzeil ; he had furnished its 
interior in the most splendid style. Of 
course he could not compete with men like 
Lobkowitz or Esterhazy (princes with exten- 
sive hereditary possessions) in the keeping 
of an orchestra or vocal choir; but it did 
lie in his power and corresponded with his 
taste to have the first string quartet of Eu- 
rope in his service. His own skill qualified 
him perfectly to play the second violin, 
which he commonly did ; but the young 
Mayseder, or some other one of the first 
violinists of the capital, was always ready to 
take his place when so requested. There- 
fore only three permanent engagements were 
necessary ; and these were now made, in the 
late simimer or early autumn of 1808. 

Schuppanzigh, the first quartet player of 
his time, but still without a permanent posi- 
tion, received the place of first violinist for 
life, and to him was intrusted the selection of 
the rest. He at once recommended Weiss 
for the viola whom Rasoumowsky accepted, 
and to whom he assigned suitable lodgings 
for himself and family in the houses con- 
nected with his palace. Of Joseph Linkers 
skill and talent Schuppanzigh had received 
so favorable an impression that he secured 
for him the place of violoncellist. He was a 
young man of twenty-five years,^ in his ex- 
terior a little hunchbacked, an orphan from 
his childhood. Seyfried, in whose orchestra 
Linke was solo violinist for many years, 
says of him: ^*At the age of twelve the 
orphan boy came to Breslau, to the Domini- 

1 Linke during his list yem was solo rioloncellist at the 
Theater-an-der-Wien. Kapelhneister Adolph Miiller, of 
that theatre, deseribes his personal appearance as follows: 
*< Linke was of middle stature, with a somewhat crooked 
back, — perhaps from the oonUnual handling of his instru- 
ment, which afterwards reduced him to a hunchback. Face 
and body flesh j, somewhat pufied out; a pale, monotonous 
eomplexion; hair a good deal mingled with gray. He 
spoke little, — still less when he handled his instrument, of 
which (without charlatanry) he was a master in every re- 
spect; for Linke was universally known and honored, not 
only as a correct phyer, but also a technical master." 
(From a Letter to the Author, April 26, IfiU.) 



cans, in whose choir he had to assist with 
the violin; and from the accomplished or- 
ganist, Hanisch, he received his initiation 
into thorough-bass, as well as on the organ. 
Then also he began, under Lose's and Fiem- 
ming's guidance, to learn the violoncello; 
making such decided progress that, when 
the former left the theatre orchestra over 
which C. M. von Weber presided, he was 
already qualified to take his place. In the 
year 1808 he resolved to visit Vienna, where 
he arrived on the first of June, and soon 
after was received into the HduskapeUe of 
Prince Rasoumowsky. Here he enjoyed 
the fortune of becoming acquainted with 
Beethoven, who truly prized the talented 
young artist, wrote much for him, and even 
studied after his ideas. Hence Linke, with 
his Commilitonen (comrades in arms, fellow- 
students) acquired, so to say, a European 
fame in the performances of the tone-crea- 
tions of this genial master.'' 

Forster was the Count's instructor in 
musical theory, the learned Bigot was his 
librarian, and his talented lady was pianist. 
These were the years (1808-15) in which, 
according to Seyfried's account, Beethoven 
was, so to say, cock of the walk in the 
princely house. ^ All that he composed was 
there tried, though smoking hot from the 
pan, and executed according to his own di- 
rections with hairbreadth exactness, — just 
as he wished to have it, and not in the least 
otherwise, — with a zeal, a love, a complying 
spirit, and a piety, which could only emanate 
from such glowing worshipers of his ex- 
alted genius; and it was only through the 
deepest penetration into his most secret in- 
tentions, through the most perfect apprehen- 
sion of their spiritual tendency, that those 
quartettists, in the delivery of Beethoven's 
compositions, attained to that universal celeb- 
rity about which only one voice reigned in 
the whole world of art." 



A CONCERT WITHOUT A PARALLEL. 

1808. — In return for the noble contribu- 
tion which Beethoven, through his works and 
his personal services, had made to the char- 
ity concerts of April 17 and November 15, 
Hartl granted him the free use of the 
Theater-an-der-Wien for an "Akademie" 
(concert), which was announced in the Wiener 
Zeitung of December 17, as follows : — 

MUSICAL ACADEMY. 

"On Thursday, the 22d December, Ludwig 
van Beethoven will have the honor to give a 
musical academy in the K. K. Privil. Theater-an- 
der-Wien. The pieces collectively are of his 
composition, wholly new, and have not yet been 
heard in public. First Part. 1. A symphony, 
under the title * Recollection of Country Life,' in 
F major (No. 5). 2. Aria. 3. Hymn, with 
Latin text, written in church style with chorus 
and solos. 4. Pianoforte concerto, played by 
himself. 

'* Second Part 1. Grand Symphony in C 
minor (No. 6). 2. Sanctus, with Latin text, 
written in Church style with chorus and solos. 
8. Fantasia on the pianoforte alone. 4. Fan- 
tasia on the pianoforte, which ends by degrees 
with the entrance of the whole orchestra, and at 
last with the falling in of choruses by way of 
finale. 

*' Boxes and reserved seats are to be had in 



the Kriigerstrasse, No. 1074, in the first story. 
The beginning is at half-past six." 

Can the annals of musical art name any 
concert programme of purely new works — 
and such works ! — collectively by the same 
composer, which will bear comparison with 
the above ? 

The high importance of the compositions 
produced on this occasion, the strange events 
which (according to the reports) took place 
there, and the somewhat contradictory asser- 
tions of persons who were present, justify 
some pains to sift the testimony and set it 
right, even at the risk of wearying the 
reader. 

It is to be lamented that the concert of 
November 15 has been so completely for- 
gotten by all those whose contemporary 
reports or later reminiscences are now the 
only sources for our knowledge; for it is 
certain that, either in the rehearsals or in 
the public performance, something occurred 
which caused a serious estrangement and a 
rupture between Beethoven and the orches- 
tra. But just this is sufficient to obviate 
certain otherwise insuperable difficulties. 

Whoever is familiar with the various writ- 
ings of Schindler will recollect the bitterness 
with which he alludes to Ries, — nay, goes 
so far as to ascribe unworthy motives to his 
statement in the Notizen (p. 84), that once a 
scene occurred where the orchestra made the 
composer feel himself in the wrong, ** and in 
all earnestness iysisted upon it that he should 
not direct. So Beethoven during the re- 
hearsal was obliged to stay in the anteroom, 
and it lasted a long time before this differ- 
ence was made up." It will presently ap- 
pear that Schindler in this case is entirely in 
the wrong, and that such a scene did actu- 
ally occur in the November concert; but 
first a narrative from Spohr's Autobiography 
must be taken into consideration. *^ Sey- 
fried," he writes, *^ to whom I expressed my 
astonishment at Beethoven's singular manner 
of directing, told of a tragi-comical incident 
which happened at Beethoven's last concert 
in the Theater-an-der-Wien." 

'* Beethoven played a new Pianoforte Con- 
certo by himself, but forgot, at the very first 
tutti, that he was solo-player, sprang up, and 
began to direct in his manner. At the first 
sforzando he flung his arms so wide apart 
that he threw both candles from the piano 
desk upon the floor. The public laughed, 
and Beethoven was so beside himself at this 
disturbance that he made the orchestra stop 
and begin anew. Seyfried, in his anxiety 
lest the same mishap should repeat itself in 
the same passage, ordered two choir boys to 
station themselves near Beethoven, and hold 
the candlesticks in their hands. One of 
them unsuspectingly stepped too near, and 
looked over into the piano part Accord- 
ingly, when the fatal sforzando came along, 
he received from Beethoven's out-sweeping 
right hand such a hard slap in the face, 
that the poor lad in terror let the candle 
fall to the ground. The other boy, more 
cautious, watched with anxious looks all 
Beethoven's motions, and succeeded in evad- 
ing the blow by quickly ducking down. If 
the public laughed before, this time it broke 
out into a truly bacchanalian jubilee. Beet- 
hoven was so enraged that at the very first 



Junk 7, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



91 



chord of the solo he broke half a dozen 
strings. All the exertions of the true friends 
of music to restore peace and attention were 
for the time being fruitless. Hence the 
Allegro of the Concerto was lost entirely for 
the audience. After that mishap Beethoven 
never would give another concert." 

The great inexactness and the extraor- 
dinary faults of memory in Spohr's Auto- 
biography, even in matters which he himself 
had occasion to observe, are well known to 
every competent judge ; but where he, as in 
this narration, repeats from memory circum- 
stances which have been imparted to him by 
another, the doubt acquires an especially 
wide room for exercise. It stands perfectly 
established that in the concert nothing of the 
sort occurred ; consequently all that he re- 
lates about the public, about ttie efforts of 
the friends of music, and of the Allegro being 
lost, has its foundation solely in Spoil r*s 
fancy 

Reichardt begins a letter, dated Dec. 25, 
1808, with an account of the ^Akademie," 
as follows : — 

"The past week," he writes, "in which 
the theatres were closed and the evenincfs 
occupied with public musical performances 
and concerts, I was not a little at a loss with 
all my zeal and my purpose of hearing all 
there was here. Especially was this the 
case on the 22d, when the musicians here 
gave the first grand musical performance of 
this year in the court theatre, for their ex- 
cellent widows' and orphans' institution ; but 
on the 8}ime day Beethoven also gave, in 
the great suburban theatre, a concert for his 
own benefit, in which only compositions of 
his own work were performed. I could 
not possibly lose this, and so accepted with 
heartfelt thanks the kind offer of Prince 
Lobkowitz to take me with him to his box. 
There, in the most bitter cold, from half-past 
six to half-past ten, we sat it out, and found 
the saying verified, that one may easily have 
too much of a good thing, — still more of a 
strong thing. The box was in the first tier, 
quite near the stage, on which the orchestra, 
and Beethoven, directing in the midst of 
them, stood very close to us. I did not like, 
any more than the exceedingly kind-hearted, 
delicate prince, to leave the box before the 
concert was entirely over, although many a 
failure in execution excited our impatience 
in a high degree. The poor Beethoven, 
who in this his concert had the first and only 
gain in solid cash that he could find in the 
whole year, had found in its arrangement 
and its execution many a great obstacle and 
only weak support. Singers and* orchestra 
were composed of very heterogeneous ele- 
ments ; and it had not been possible to 
procure a complete rehearsal of a single one 
of the pieces to be performed, all of which 
were full of the greatest difficulties. Yet 
you will be astounded to hear what a quan- 
tity of things by this fruitful genius and 
indefatigable worker wer^ performed in the 
course of four hours. 

" First, a Pastoral Symphony, or * Recol- 
lections of Life in the Country,' etc 

Every number of thi^ was a very long and 
perfectly developed movement, full of vivid 
paintings and of brilliant thoughts and fig- 
ures ; and this one pastoral symphony lasted 



longer than a whole court concert is allowed 
to last with us." 

What reception the symphony found with 
the listeners is nowhere reported. The cor- 
respondent of the Allgemeine Musikalische 
Zeitung evades all criticism. But the com- 
poser shared the customary lienor of being 
called out at the end of it, as appears from 
an anecdote related by F. Hi Her. ^ One of 
the best known Russian friends of music, 
Count Wilhourski, told me," he says, " how 
he was sitting alone in the reserved seats at 
the first performance of the Pastoral Sym- 
phony ; and how Beethoven, when he was 
called out, made to him a (so to say) per- 
sonal, half-friendly, half-ironical bow." 

Reichardt continues : " Then followed, as 
the sixth piece (the Pastorale counting as 
five) a long Italian scena, sung by Demoi- 
selle Kilitzky, the beautiful Bohcmienne 
with the lovely voice. That the fair child 
trembled more than she sang was excusable 
enough in the grim and bitter cold ; for we 
too shuddered in. the close boxes, wrapped in 
our furs and cloaks." 

" Seventh piece : a Gloria in choruses 
and solos. Unfortunatdy the execution was 
an utter failure. Eighth piece : a new 
Forte-piano Concerto, of monstrous difficulty, 
which Beethoven executed wonderfully well, 
and in the very quickest tempos. The 
Adagio, a masterpiece of lovely, sustained 
melody, he actually sang upon his instru- 
ment, with a deep melancholy feeling that 
streamed through me. Ninth piece : a grand, 
very elaborate, excessively long Symphony. 
A gentleman hear us assured us, that at the 
rehearsal he had seen that the violoncello 
part alone, which was very actively employed, 
filled four and thirty sheets of paper. To 
be sure, the note-writers understand here 
how to stretch things out, not less than the 
court and lawyers' copyists with us. Tenth 
piece : a Sanctus again, with chorus and solo 
parts. This, like the Gloria, was a total 
failure in the execution. Eleventh piece : 
a long Fantasia (improvisatori ?) in which 
Beethoven exhibited his whole mastery ; and 
finally, for the close, another Fantasia, in 
which presently the orchestra, and at last 
the chorus, came in. This singular idea 
was most unlucky in the execution, through 
such a complete confusion in the orchestra 
that Beethoven, in his holy zeal for art, 
thought no more of the public or the place, 
but shouted out for them to stop and begin 
it over again. You can imagine how I 
suffered there with all his friends. At that 
moment I wished that I had had the courage 
to go out earlier." 

{To be continued,) 



BERLIOZ'S MUSICAL CREED. 

(from the London Mnaleal Standard ) 

The following letter (which we translate 
from our Brussels contemporary, Le Guide 
Musical) is not unpublished, but it is little 
known ; and we are surprised, seeing its im- 
portance, that M. D. Bernard did not find a 
place for it in his carefully compiled " Corre- 
spondence of Berlioz.*' The history of this 
epistle, which displays the vigorous mind of 
the writer, is as follows : Hector Berlioz 
had just gained a wonderful success (this was 



in 1852) at Weimar with his Benvenuto 
Cellini and Romeo and Juliet, The town 
was full of poets and distinguished musicians, 
and the enthusiasm was still at its height, 
when J. C. Lobe, a celebrated composer and 
author, and one of Berlioz's most fervent 
partisans, thought it a favorable opportunity 
for the propagation of his own views and 
the demonstration of the ideas, tendencies, 
and aspirations of the author of Benve- 
nuto, and it* appeared to him that the most 
efficacious means to secure his end would be 
to get Berlioz to write a condensed form of 
his musical creed. Having communicated 
this idea to the master, Berlioz addressed to 
him, in reply, the above-mentioned letter, 
which was published in Lobe's ^liegende Blot" 
ter fur Musik : — 

Sir, — You invite me to write for your journal 
an epitome of my opinions on the present and 
future state of musical art, requesting me to dis- 
pense with the history of the past. I thank you 
for this reserve ; but in order to contain even the 
abridgment you desire, a large volume would be 
necessary, and your FlUgende Bldlter [flying 
leaves] would no longer be able to " fly." If I 
understand you rightly, it is simply an authentic 
account of the musical faith I profess that you 
wish me to publish. It is afler this manner that 
electors act with regard to the candidates who 
court the honors of national representation. Now 
I have not the slightest ambition in this direction. 
I wish to be neither deputy, senator, consul, nor 
burgomaster. Besides, if I aspired to the pos- 
session of consular dignities, it appears to me the 
best thing I could do to obtain the suffrages, not 
of the people, but of the patricians in art, would 
be to imitate Marius Coriolanus, — appear at the 
forum, and, uncovering my breast, display the 
wounds that I have received in the defense of 
my country. Is not my profession of faith ap- 
parent in everything I have had tlie misfortune to 
write, in what I have done and in what I have 
not done ? What musical art is to-day you 
know, and you cannot think that I am ignorant 
of it ; but what it will be, neither you nor I can 
tell. What, then, shall I say on this subject ? 
As a musician I hope much may be pardoned me, 
as I have loved much ; as a critic I have been, 
am, and shall be cruelly punished, because I have 
had, have, and always shall have in my nature a 
certain amount of hatred and contempt. This is 
only just ; but this contempt is no doubt pos- 
sessed by you, and there is no need to point out 
its particular objects. 

Music Is the most poetic, the most powerful, 
the most enduring, of all the arts. It ought also 
to be the most free ; but it is not so, and from 
this cause arise our artistic griefs, obscure de- 
votcdness, lassitude, despair, and longings for 
death. Modem music, music (I do not speak of 
the courtesan of that name, who is recognized 
everywhere) with certain connections, may be 
compared to the Andromeda of old, divinely 
beautiful in her nudity, whose flashing glances 
are split up into many colored rays while passing 
across the prism of her tears. Chained to a rock 
on the edge of a vast ocean, whose waves beat 
against its sides without cessation and cover her 
pretty -feet with seething slime, she awaits tlie 
Perscan conqueror who is to break her fetters and 
dash to pieces forever the chimera called Routine, 
from whose menacing jaws whirlwinds of pesti- 
lential and destroying smoke are continually shot 
forth. I believe, however, that this monster is 
growing old : his movements have not their youth- 
ful energy, his teeth are decayed, his claws 
blunted, and as his heavy paws slip as be places 
them on the edge of the rock on which Androm- 
eda is enchained, he begins to recognize the 



92 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 995. 



uselessness of his efforts to scale it, and that he 
must soon return to the abyra from whence he 
came. His death-rattle is already heard, and 
when the beast is d«ad, what will there remain 
for the devoted lover to do but to swim to her, 
break her bonds, and, carrying her distracted 
across the waves, bring her back to 6re<M:e, at 
the risk even of seeing Andromeda reward so 
much zeal with indifference and cfoldness ? 
Vainly will the satyrs of neighboring caverns 
laugh at his anxiety to deliver her ; in vain will 
they cry, with their goats' voicel, " Fool I let 
her remain captive ! You cannot tell whether 
she would bestow herself on you were she free. 
Naked and in chains the majesty of her misfort- 
une is only the more impregnable." The lover 
who truly loves has a just horror of such a crime, 
and would rather receive than take away. Not 
only will he save Andromeda, but, after having 
bathed with his tears the feet so cruelly tortured 
by heavy chains, he would give her wings to in- 
crease her liberty. 

This is, sir, all the profession of faith that I 
can make to you, and I do it Folely for the purpose 
of proving that I have a faith, in which respect 
so many professors are wanting. Unfortunately 
for me, I have one and have long publicly pro- 
fessed it, piously obeying the evangelical precept. 
The text must be greatly in the wrong that says, 
'* By faith alone are we saved," for 1 find, on the 
contrar}', that it is by faith alone that we are 
lost, and I also find that it is ruining me. Such 
is my conclusion, only adding (as my Galilean 
friend, Greipenkerl, does at the bottom of all his 
letters), E pu¥ si muove. Don't denounce me to 
the Holy Inquisition. Hector Berlioz. 



LETTERS FROM AN ISLAND. 

BY FANNY RAYMOND RITTER. 

L 
YASSAR COLLEGE. 

Dear Mr. D wight, — In answer to your 
inquiries regarding the musical "situation" at 
Vassar College, I am happy to inform you that 
the year of study now drawing to a close, in the 
school for musical art there, has been one calcu- 
lated not alone to attract the interested atten- 
tion of an observer like myself, — one whose 
warm sympathies are with it in all its workings, 
— but also of a nature to give satisfaction to 
those practically concerned in it as instructors 
and students. A genuine spirit of harmony 
pervades it; the plans of its director are fol- 
lowed with the surety of complete confidence by 
an able corps of teachers, two of whom are Vas- 
sar graduates ; and this confidence is shared by 
every student. Here, all feel, there is no sham ; 
no forced, feverish striving for superficial, tem- 
porary success; no experimentalizing, and yet 
no standing still. Here is an atmosphere of 
honorable emulation, not overdriven to the ex- 
cess of ambitious rivalry; solid acquirement, 
genuine interest in the students' improvement, 
friendly esprit de corps, — in a few words, the 
inspiration of true art, and the life, the progress, 
that result from this. 

The number of students in the various branches 
of music taught at Vassar College has been 
large this year, especially considering how many 
institutions of the kind, following Vassar's ex- 
ample, have been lately established. This un- 
mistakable proof of the popularity of the musical 
department of Vassar College is partly owing to 
the excellent results of last year, — the first, 
initial year of its formation as a school of art on 
a footing of as much independence as is possible 
in a school not wholly isolated, but branching 
firom a foundation of general collegiate education. 
The number of students in solo and chorus sing- 



ing, organ and piano-forte playing, and harmony, 
has been one hundred and fiflv ; several of these 
are especial art students, who enter this college 
for the sole purpose of enjoying the musical 
advantages it has to offer. Seven concerts haVe 
been given since last November, though the 
entire plan includes nine, two of which will 
occur during this closing month of the collegiate 
year. Four of these are given by advanced 
students, three by artists, two by teachers. Two 
of the artist concerts were performances of 
classic chamber music by Messrs. Bergner, 
Matzka, and Schwarz, with the assistance of 
students. The third was a pianoforte recital by 
Franz Rummel. Tliis was Mr. Rummel's first 
recital, though not his first appearance, in 
America; and the programme was the same 
that he has since repeated with such success in 
New York,. Boston, and elsewhere. This pro- 
gramme was a test of the artist's marvelous 
acquired powers, and of his excellent and often 
original conception of the master-works he inter- 
preted, — especially Bach*B Chromatic Fantasia, 
and Chopin's Polonaise, Op. 53, — the bass oc- 
tave passages of which he emphasized with finely 
graduated force and delicacy, — and in what a 
tempo he played the Liszt Tarantella I But 
mechanical dexterity is now so common, such a 
matter of course to be«expected from all pianists, 
that even Mr. RummeVs magnificent technical 
ability would not appear so remarkable, were it 
not for the magnetic warmth of a certain eager- 
ness of expression, a rash impulsiveness, that 
lend it a peculiarly interesting and piquant col- 
oring. Was it not your own " Fair Harvard " 
that first among colleges, after Vassar, had the 
courage and wisdom to organize, within its own 
walls, a regular season of orchestral and cham- 
ber concerts, — or am I mistaken ? 

Every concert given at Vassar is prefaced by 
a short introductory address from Dr. Ritter, 
explaining and analyzing the principal numbers 
on the programme, — a system first "inaugu- 
rated " by him. Besides this. Dr. Ritter gives a 
regular bi-monthly series of lectures to the mu- 
sical department during the year. But Vassar 
students are not wholly dependent on concerts 
given within its walls. As New York is only 
three hours distant, students are able to attend 
matinee performances of opera and concert there, 
and to return on the same day. This advantage 
is one of which they have frequently availed 
themselves this season, by listening to the mas- 
terpieces of symphonies or vocal composition 
performed by the Carlberg, Damrosch, or Phil- 
harmonic orchestras, the Mapleson opera com- 
pany, the organ i>recitals in various churches, 
etc. 

The school of musical art at Vassar possesses 
a circulating library which contains more than 
six hundred numbers, and there are many excel- 
lent works on musical literature in the college 
library. The appearance as solo pianiste (at 
the evening entertainment which takes place at 
Vassar on the auniversary of its founder's birth- 
day) of Miss Stevens, a graduate of 1877, aud 
pupil of Dr. Ritter for four years, was an inter- 
esting event of this season. Since she gradu- 
ated, the lady, who is a very accomplished 
executante, has appeared with success at several 
concerts in California and the West, and now 
goes, by the advice of Dr. Ritter, to study for 
two years with Drs. Von Billow and Liszt, before 
entering upon the career of a professional pia- 
niste. May Miss Stevens never depart from the 
ideal artistic principles which her instructor has 
inculcated I And that her future career may 
prove entirely successful, is the wish of all her 
friends. The standard of excellence in perform- 
ance among the students in this school is so 
high that it excites surprise even in artists, who 



listen to the singing and playing of these ladies 
with admiration for Uie metliod of tuition em- 
ployed, when they hear how short a time pupils 
are allowed (save in exceptional cases) for daily 
practice. And, young as Vassar is, several 
of its musical students of former years are already 
successfully engaged as teachers or ^rg^ists 
elsewhere. 

Vassar College, standing in the front rank 6f 
women's colleges, is peculiarly a mark for com- 
ment and criticism. I have observed that in 
New York society, and among my European cor- 
respondents, one question is more frequently 
put to me on this subject than any other, ** How 
many famous women has Vassar College turned 
out yet ? " Should a lively demand for *' famous 
wonien " ever arise, no doubt a mill to supply 
the necessary article will speedily be established. 
At present there is no very apparently pressing 
necessity for an immediate supply, — or of fa- 
mous men either, to judge from the fact, of which 
a distinguished editor (who should know) re- 
cently informed me, that no great man has 
graduated from Yale or Harvard for fifty years. 
If this be true, why expect so much more, in one 
fifth of the time, from Vassar College and the 
inferior sex? It is enough to ask from col- 
legiate education that it should raise the average 
mind of the avera<^ thousands of students to a 
higher plane of thought and action ; and this it 
certainly does. Grenius it cannot create, and 
exceptional natures will always find their own 
way to exceptional acquired excellence. In this 
elevation of the faculties, this discipline of the 
mind, art is a powerful agent; and, although 
the benefit of such a study may not always be- 
come apparent in rare artistic accomplishments 
(demanding rare artistic qualifications), its effects 
will invariably appear in the form of greater 
harmony and breadth of character, superior 
grace of manner and softness of disposition. 
This result, and the favorable effect upon health 
of a judicious study of art, ough^ to be enough 
to establish its utilitarian claims to respect, even 
among those who are incapable of perceiving its 
beauty, or its elevated rank among the highest 
achievements of the mind. 

President Caldwell holds out promises of ex- 
cellent things in the way of lectures upon art 
and literature, etc., to be g^ven in the lecture 
hall of Vaasar College next winter. The Rev. 
Mr. Spaulding, well known to you in Boston, 
has already given there two of those illustrated 
lectures of his on painting, architecture, etc., 
which have been found so highly interesting 
wherever he has delivered them, from their re- 
fined tone of literary culture and experience. 
If a great painter does not so much place a 
picture on canvas, as raise the veils that separate . 
him from the picture of his imagination, the 
appreciative commentator on such a picture un- 
veils beauties to the eye of the ordinary observer 
that would otherwise remain unseen by him; 
and the expression' of enlightened individual 
opinion i( always suggestive, even though the 
ideas of a non-professional may sometimes dis- 
agree with the accepted canons of artists. The 
same quality of liberal appreciativeness which is 
to be found in the lectures of Mr. Spaulding 
characterises (as you are aware) Mr. Fields's 
analysis of the works of Tennyson, which was 
also listened to at Vassar last winter. Ladies 
in general, and we English ladies in particular, 
may not wholly share the opinion of Mr. Fields 
in regard to Tennyson's mediaeval ideal of wom- 
anhood ; but all must agree with him in desir- 
ing a more complete and solid study of English 
literature than the system that generally pre- 
vails. The spirit of such lectures as these is 
one well adapted to further something more than 
I the interests of literature, — those of human 



Jdnb 7, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MU310. 



93 



fraternity ; and where shall we 6nd this spirit 
more nobly embodied tlian in the creations of 
art and poetry? Poets, artists, are the truest 
republicans! When in presence of a work of 
art, utterly qpposed, {terhaps, in its character to 
all previously acquired thoughts, ideas, and 
habits, who has not, in a moment of joy, grief, 
or perturbation, felt a mysterious, foreign, and 
yet strangely familiar influence whisper to him, 
in some beautiful verse, some harmonious suc- 
cession of tones, some rich combination of colors, 
<* Dost thou not understand me ? For most surely 
do I understand thee : 1 have suffered and re- 
joiced, loved and hated, like thee, and yet a 
thousand times more profoundly, as the poet and 
the artist must, ere tliey are consecrated to their 
mission. Look, listen, brother 1 and then may 
rest and benediction descend upon thee ! ** 

Yours faithfully, F. K. R. 

May 26. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

VROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO BIS. PUPILS. 

VIL 

After you have, placed the shadows on that 
&ce, you want to make it subtle, to get the dream 
of iL Don't have the pupils of the eyes small 
and decided 1 It is only when people are angry 
that the pupil grows small. When they are 
pleased and quiet the pupil grows large. See 
how little yuu notice the distinction between pu- 
pil and iris when ) ou are at a very short distance ! 

** I 've made the shadow on the cheek too black." 

If you put in your other darks strong enough, 
it will not look black. 

'* Besides, I have made it so bad in color that 
I don't like to. go on with it" 

It is in a good state to go on with, if you will 
put some greenish yellow, terre-verte bruUe^ and 
raw sienna, into that crimson shadow on the face. 
Just use the opposite colors, and it will come 
right 

I don't like the ppots in your backgrounds. 
Yon ought to be able to get just as much air and 
color in them by painting them flat, and your 
6gure8 would come out better. But I don't 
mean to tell you a great deal. I think that it is 
better that I should not. You ought to find out 
things for yourself; and if there is anything that 
I ought to set you ri>;ht about, like those back- 
grounds, I will. But I shall not take the respon- 
sibility if you spoil them. 

** How far shall I carry the face?" 

As far as you like. 

If that little girl won't sit still, get a photo- 
graph of her. I know that it is horrid to work 
from photographs generally ; but you must have 
lomediing to help you about the exactness of it. 
If you get into a real scrape with it, take another 
canvas, and paint her head on that 

That child's foot ought not to turn up so on 
one side. The figure would stand much better 
if it were brought down true. And that 's no 
way to do a fiddle f Just think what a violin is ! 
How carefully it is made I Eichberg could tell 
in a minute who had made an old violin ; there 's 
so much in the look of it And it is not a thing 
to treat carelessly. 

You must learn to be very careful. All the 
great men, Velasquex, and the rest, were tremen- 
dously careful. I have said that to you forty 
times ; and I know that it won't make the least 
difference. Put in the whole subject at once, in 
masses, painting loosely. But don't precise any- 
thing unless you do it exactly right. And because 
a thing looks quickly done, and as if you were 
1 Copjright, 1879, by Helen M. Knowlton. | 



smart, never leave it on that account, if it is not 
right Don't be afraid to carry your things 
where they ought to go. 

You are on the right track. You are going on 
well. But I 'm sure it won't make you pedantic 
if I say that now you must be sure of having cer- 
tain things exactly right ; and that you must try 
for a certain simplicity beyond what you have. 
I know it is easy for you to make the hard, 
pedaptic ^ drawing," that people talk so much 
about There is a great deal more thought in 
looser work. I like your studies. There is 
thought in every one of them. And that can't 
be said of all pictures. 

Wm&^t'^ Sloumal of fsimxu 

- e 
SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 1879. 

SOME THOUGHTS ON MUSICAL EDU- 
CATION. 
I. 

It seems to me that the time when it was 
incumbent on every true music-lover to exert 
himself to the uttermost to encourage the diffu- 
sion of musical knowledge throuorhout our coun- 
try has now gone by. True, that time is not 
yet long past ; but such is the pace at which 
everything rushes onward nowadays that music- 
al institutes have sprung up on every hand, 
and are within the reach and means of almost 
every one. Musical instruction, as an item in 
the regular course at our public schools, is now 
an established fact. In so far as a general 
knowledge of musical matters is concerned, he 
who runs may learn. I would by no means be 
thought to regret this, or to urge anything 
against it : it is wholly to be rejoiced at, and 
not at all to be deplored. Yet it does seem that, 
in view of the great tendency of our peculiar 
civilization to favor the wide-spread diffusion of 
everything, from printed cotton goods to relig- 
ious principles, it would be well now for those 
who have the honor of music at heart to exert 
all their influence in the direction of concentrat- 
ing higher musical instruction ; of making it more 
thorough and clearer of all dubious elements, 
for the benefit of the very and decidedly mu- 
sical few instead of the vaguely musical many. 
In this I refer more especially to what is com- 
monly called theoretical teaching, — the study of 
harmony, counteqioint, and other items in the 
art of composition. Music is as yet somewhat 
of an exotic in America; it has been going 
thi*ough the process of transplanting for some 
time, and is taking quite as kindly to our soil as 
there was any reason to expect it would. We 
have made especially rapid progress in respect 
to musical performance. I need only mention 
Mr. Theodore Tliomas's orchestra in Cincinnati, 
I he Philharmonic orchestra in New York, the 
Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, and the 
Mendelssohn Quintet Club, known pretty well 
all over the country (though it was cradled 
under the shadow of Bunker Hill Monument), 
to show that we are not wanting in excellent 
musical means. Some of our pianists, too, 
could take a very high rank anywhere and 
everywhere; and Albani, Miss Cary, and Miss 
Tbursby show well what we can do in the way 
of singing. 

But it is not the fine means of performing 
music that sets the musical stamp upon a coun- 
try. It is not the quality of music it performs 
and listens to,' nor the manner in which it per- 
forms it, but the quality of the music it produces. 
We have already done sometliing in the way 
of musical production, and some of our fellow- 
countrymen can seriously lay claim to the title 
of coinposer; yet ours can hardly be c&Ued a 



composing people in any high sense of the term. 
But the number of young men who aspire to 
follow the lead of Mr. Paine and Mr. Dudley 
Buck is every year increasing, and it is no very 
visionary possibility that the time is drawing 
nigh when a highly respectable number of com- 
positions in the more serious* forms will be turned 
out annually by native-bom Americans. Of the 
vast number of pupils who study harmony at our 
conservatories, there is a fair percentage who do 
so with some more ambitious aim than the mere 
getting a comprehensive, bird's-eye view of the 
art of music, or the qualifying themselves for 
improvising unobjectionable interludes between 
the verses of a psalm-tune in church. It is 
upon just these ambitious ones that the best and 
purest didactic musical force in our country 
should be concentrated. As for the others, they 
do very well to support conservatories for the 
benefit of themselves and their more worthy 
brethren : non ragionam di loro ! 

But, considering the fact that we actually 
have a respectable number of young Americans 
who dream of the chance of becoming com- 
posers, I would say a thoughtful word or two, 
not to our noble army of teachers {thai I aip by 
no means entitled to do), but to themselves. 
To be sure, one is a little inclined, when one 
sees a young man about to enter upon the 
arduous path of musical composition, to repeat 
to him Punch's advice ''to those about to be 
married." But this is a purely cynical way of 
facing the question, and will not advance mat- 
ters one whit. I am well aware that one of the 
most unruly and recalcitrant mortals breathing 
is the really talented pupil in composition : he is 
hard to lead, and impossible to drive ; he is ex- 
celled in unmanageableness only by the gener- 
ally bright and clever pupil, who has a quick 
intelligence and decided tastes, but no special 
musical talent. Yet I will take courage. I 
have long been struck with a singular phenome- 
non in my own experience as a teacher, which 
is that pupils, almost without exception, who 
have shown very marked ability, and have made 
gratifying progress in the study (so called) of 
harmony, meet with far less flattering success 
so soon as they begin the study of counterpoint 
proper. This difference has seemed to me too 
great to be accounted for merely by the com- 
parative difficulty of the two studies. I think 
that it arises mainly from a false appreciation, 
on the part of the pupil, of the fundamentally 
different nature of the two studies. Harmony 
and counterpoint are, in common parlance, loosely 
lumped together under the general head of Music- 
al Theory. Harmony, the science of the forma- 
tion and progression of chords and of the rela- 
tion between different keys, together with the 
means of passing from one key to another either 
with or witliout modulation, is certainly, to a 
very great extent, a theoretical study; it is 
something to be understood, learned, and remem- 
bered. But simple and double counterpoint, 
from the first order, note against note, up to 
polyphonic imitation, is almost purely a practical 
one. What the harmony student strives to ac- 
quire is knowledge, and that refined musical 
sense that conies from well-digested knowledge ; 
what the counterpoint student aims (or should 
aim) at acquiring is technique, executive ability. 
It is a want of appreciation of this fact that 
makes beginners in counterpoint so self-willed 
and unamenable to guidance (for, if the talented 
harmony pupil is unruly, the counterpoint pupil 
is doubly so), and consequently so slow of prog- 
ress. In harmony exercises the pupil can almost 
always answer his teacher with considerable 
show of justice : '* You say that this progression 
is bad ; but it sounds well 1 " But in exercises 
in counterpoint the teacher can always answer 



94 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 995. 



back : " Whether what you have written sounds 
well or not is no matter at all ; it is not what 
you were told to do." Exercises in elementary 
counterpoint (say writing four, notes in the bass 
against one in the canixis firmus^ for example) 
exactly correspond to scales, five-finger exercises, 
and arpeggio practice in piano-forte playing. 
Their object is to develop a thorough technique 
in composing. As for the rules of counterpoint, 
they can be learned in less time than it takes to 
learn the notes and fingering of the various 
major and minor scales. To study counterpoint 
is one thing, but to practice it is a vastly differ- 
ont thing. And here I would urge upon all per- 
sins who have the ambition to become com- 
posers to practice counterpoint in all its forms, 
and to practice it hard, with the most implicit 
observance of the strictest rules. Without the 
practical technique that such exercise gives, it is 
vain to think of doing anything sesthctically 
worthy in the higher branches of composition. 

But the pupil may ask, '* Why observe all these 
strict rules of preparing fourths, and passing from 
one measure to another by conjunct movement, 
and the like, which have come down to us firom a 
set of old periwig-pated contrapuntists of the last 
century, and which all the greatest composers 
break through constantly, without stint or mercy, 
and, what is more, with the very best musical ef- 
fect?" I answer with the counter-question, 
*' Why practice scales with a certain strict finger- 
ing when the most eminent pianists oflen greatly 
modify this fingering in scale passages that occur 
in piano-forte compositions? Or, indeed, why 
practice scales at all, seeing that they are neither 
pleasing to the ear nor musically interesting in 
any way?" Before you think of breaking rules, 
first earn the right to break them, by making 
yourself superior to them ; and remember this 
well, that a cultivated musician can always tell 
the difference between the composer who disre- 
ganls rules because he wishes to and tlie scrib- 
bler who breaks them because he does not know 
how to comply with them, and has got himself 
into a tight place, from which he can extricate 
himself only by kicking over the traces. Why, 
the difference is as palpable as that between a 
pianist who makes an intentional accelerando and 
the one whose inadequacy of technique makes 
him so nervous that he cannot help hurriedly 
scrambling through a difficult passage. And, 
upon the whole, when we wish to strengthen our 
muscles, we swing dumb-bells and Indian clubs 
and other unwieldly things which are in no wise 
fascinating to a man of higher athletic aspirations. 
Call writing strict counterpoint composing in 
chains, if you will, but remember that by steady 
practice you can get to wearing your fetters grace- 
fully, and that, in the end, they will fall off of 
themselves, and leave you a far freer man than 
you were ever before, and with the power of 
making a good use of your freedom, too. 

William F. Apthorp. 

( 2V be continued.) 



ioT our blunder we will give the historical facts 
about this choral, as we find them in Cirl von 
Winterberg's " Der Evangelishc Kirchengesang," 
etc., a very elaborate and valuable work, in three 
quarto volumes, in which he traces the develop- 
ment of the Grerman Protestant church music, 
out of the simple Lutheran chorals as the germs, 
into the highest artistic forms of Bach and Han- 
del's time. 

The melody in question was originally a love- 
song. Hans Leo Hassler, of Nuremberg, pub- 
lished about the year 1601 a collection of songs 
under the title, " Pleasure Garden of new Ger- 
man Songs, BcUlettif Galliarden und Intraden, 
with four, five, six, and eight voices, etc." Among 
these is found a five-part song of five strophes, of 
which the initial letters form the name " Maria," 
— probably that of the beloved to whom the 
poem is dedicated. The first strophe reads as 
follows : 

Metn G'miith ist mir venrirret; 

Du Diacht ein Jungfrau cart; 
Bill iB^s und fgjax verirret, 

Meiu Hers das kruiikt aich hart ! 
etc., etc. 

Which we may loosely imitate : — 

JAy ipirit ii confounded, 

Because a maiden fair 
My very lieart liatk wounded, 

And filled me with despair ! 

A few years later (about 1613) the melody of 
this song, now commonly referred to by the first 
line of Paul Gerhard's Passion hymn, ^ O Haupt 
voll Blut und Wunden," together with its orig- 
inal five-part harmony, was transferred to a death- 
bed song, and is found as such in a collection of 
Latin and German sacred songs published by 
Johann Rhamba at Gdrlitz. Instead of the orig- 
inal words the followins: were 



A Correction. — We were in error in one 
point of our notice of the concert by the Parish- 
Church Choirs. The choral, ** O Haupt voll 
9lat and Wunden,'* as there sung, transposed 
into a very low key, and with the boys' blatant 
voices overcrowing all, sounded so strangely that 
we did not recognize Bach's harmony ; moreover 
we were momentarily misled by the name Hass- 
ler attached to it upon the programme ; though 
on reading our own article in print we suddenly 
remembered that the melody, the tune, is com- 
monly ascribed to Hassler, and on inquiry found 
that the harmony as sung on this occasion was 
Bach's essentially, although not in the key he 
uses in the Passion music. By way of amends 



now sung : — 

Herzlich tbut mich verlangen 

Nach einem seePgen End, 
Weil ich hie bin umfangen 

Mit TriilMal und Elend. 
leh hab' Lust abzuscheiden 

Yon dteser bosen Welt, 
Sehn mich nach ew'gen Fretiden, 

JesQ, komm nur bald ! 

Under this name, " Herzlich thut mich ver- 
langen," this borrowed secular melody soon 
found its home in the church so completely that 
for a long time its source was not suspected, and 
many even now will be surprised to learn that it 
was not created, but only borrowed, for religious 
uses. Under this name it is found in all the 
choral books. But such a pregnant melody, so 
full of beauty and deep feeling, could not fail to 
become a favorite theme for harmonic treatment 
and for contrapuntal development among the 
Grerman composers, particularly Sebastian Bach, 
who in the St. Matthew Passion alone has har- 
monized it in four or five different ways, accord- 
ing to the thought and feeling of the words sung, 
giving it an altogether peculiar expression in 
"O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden," — an ex- 
pression which we confess we missed in the sing- 
ing of the Parish Choirs. 



CONCERTS. 
Mr. Warrex a. Lockr, a Harvard graduate 
of 1869, — a class with more than the usual share 
of musical members, — after several years of 
study in Germany, returned last fall and settled 
down in Cambridge as an organist and teacher of 
music. On Tuesday evening, May 22, he gave 
his first concert in Lyceum Hall, assisted by Mr. 
George L. Osgood, tenor, and Messrs C. N. 
Allen, violin, Henry Heindl, viola, Wulf Fries, 
'cello, and Alexander Heindl, basso. The audi- 
ence was large and friendly, a fair representation 
of Cambridge culture, and included not a few 
musicians and amateurs from Boston. Mr. Locke 
presented the following choice bill of fare : — • 



Quintet in E-flat minor. Op. 87 Hummtl. 

a. Allegro e resoluto ataai. b. Menuetto ; 

Allegro con fuooo. c. Laigo. d. Finale, 

Allegro agitato. 
Piano-forte, Violin, VioU, *CeIlo, Baaao. 
Songs. 

DieForelle SdiuberL 

Mondnacht Schumann. 

Ini Somnier Franz. 

Golden rolls beneath me j EMn$Uin, 

As suigs the lark ) 

Quintet (Forellen-) in A miuor, Op. lU. . . SeknberL 
a. Allegro vivace, b. Andante, c. Scherzo; 
Presta d. The r.a ooq Variazionl. e. Alle- 
gro giusto. 

Piano-forte, YioUn, Viola, 'Cello, Basso. 

A sensible programme for a debutant ! First, 
in that he did not present himself with the ambi- 
tion of a solo-playing virtuoso, but rather, it would 
seem, for the simple end of taking his stand in 
public as a respectable musician, well educated 
and appreciative. Secondly, because his selec- 
tions were all excellent ; and last, not least, be- 
cause the concert was of reasonable length, pre- 
cisely one hour and a half. Mr. Locke's skill 
and taste proved equal to his modesty. It was 
not a crucial test of an executive pianist to play 
the comparatively easy piano- forte parts in those 
two quintets. Yet, while not particularly dif- 
ficult in a technical sense, they do require a sen- 
sitive touch, a sure, firm accent, and much fluency 
and grace of execution, all which they received at 
his hands. His playing was characterized by 
ease and delicacy, and showed a true musical 
temperament and feeling. He was fortunate also 
in his string quartet of associate interpreters. 
The two quintets were well contrasted, and both 
interesting, though neither of them belonging to 
the strong, great specimens of the not very nu- 
merous class, — not to be compared, for instance, 
to the E-flat Quintet by Schumann. That by 
Hummel — the only one he wrote — has all the 
fluent grace and elegance which characterize his 
works, with little that is deep in feeling or strik- 
ingly imaginative ; but it is the work of an artist 
and a true musician brought up in the very at- 
mosphere of Mozart and of Beethoven ; and for 
us here it had the interest of novelty and fresh- 
ness, and displayed the young musician to ad- 
vantage. 

Mr. Osgood was in his best voice and mood, 
and sang all his songs delightfully. He threw a 
plenty of fervor into Rubinstein's " Grolden rolls 
beneath me," sometimes called by another line : 
*^ Oh that it were ever abiding 1 " And in that 
singular little *< Lark " song, he rose to the climax 
of its passionate crescendo with such power that 
it had to be repeated in spite of the strange, al- 
most Mephistophelian anticlimax of the last two 
lines, for which the poet is responsible : *' But 
Reason bids me silent stand, and holds me back 
with icy hand " (1). It was well that Mr. Os- 
good sang Schubert's " Trout " song in its orig- 
inal form, making plain the reason of the title 
of the " Trout {ForeUen) Quintet," which came 
after. The song was composed in 1817, the 
quintet two years later. At the end of Schu- 
bert's autograph of the song stand these words 
in his own handwriting : '* Dearest friend 1 It 
rejoices me exceedingly that my songs please you. 
As a proof of my sincerest friendship, I send you 
here another, which I have just this moment writ- 
ten, at Anselm Hiittenbrenner's, at twelve o'clock 
midnight. I wish that I might form a nearer 
friendship with you over a glass of punch." 

A trout might well be a fit subject for playful 
variations ; and the melody of the iong is used 
for such in the fourth movement of the quintet, be- 
ing first played in harmony by the quartet of strings, 
then taken up by the piano-forte, while the strings 
play flashing trout-like figures of accompaniment, 
and so on, through kaleidoscopic shiftings of form, 
and of light and shadow, until at last the melody is 
sung by one and another of the strings, while the 



JoNK 7, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



96 



piano-forte gives the original figures of accompa- 
niment. But these variations are hardly more 
interesting than many portions of the other move- 
ments, in which some flashing little figure ever 
and anon occurs to show you that trout lurking 
in the background. The opening Allegro has a 
rich, cool, buoyant character; and the Minuet 
and Trio are very bright and vivid. We cannot 
quite agree with Herr Kreissle von Hellbom, who 
speaks of this as '< the melodious but somewhat 
spiritless piano-forte Quintet, Op. 114." 



Miss Srlma Boro's Orchestral Concert at 
the Music Hall (May 16) was certainly unique 
and interesting, inasmuch as it presented the 
singular spectacle of an orchestra conducted by 
a woman, while the programme, with the excep- 
tion of the first piece, was composed entirely of 
Ruj*sian, Finnish, and Scandinavian music. All 
of this had more or less of a Norse flavor, though 
comparatively few of the selections appeared to 
belong to the old folk-lore of the North, the 
greater number of them being manifestly modern 
and by composers of the present day. Here is 
the programme : — 

1. Organ Solo. ** Proccasional March." 

(By request) S, B. IVhUney. 

2. Tract Songs ; 

a. '*Dawn in the Forest*' (FinniBh) Carl Collan. 

b, '' Russia's Prayer for Freedom." Guttaf Stolpe. 
8. Ancient Finnish Folk- Songs arranged for or- 

chestra. ** Vasa March '' and «' March of 
the Finns," played at the battle of LUtsen 
(1632), when Gustavus Adolphua ga?e up 
his life for the cause of Protestantism. 

4. Duets : 

a. ** Moonlight" .... Gunnar Wcnturbtrp, 
6. "TwilighiHour" . . . Ounttar Wtnnerbeiff. 

5. Comet Solos: 

Three Finnish songs, arranged by D. W. Reeves. 

6. Swedish Wedding March Sddermann. 

7. Russian National Anthem ' lUwoff, 

8. Contralto Solos: 

a. ** Remembrance" 

b, '<The Golden Star" (Finnish) Carl Collan. 

9. Overture to the Finnish Opera, ** Kuller- 

▼o" FtUpvonSchants, 

10. Tenor Songs (Norwegian): 

a. *« Forest Wandering" Orieg. 

6. «* The Young Birch Tree " . . . . Grieg, 
c " Spring Song " GrUg. 

11. Swedish Folk Songs, arranged for Orchestra. 

12. a. " Bjomeboig's March " pkycd by the Fin- 

nish Guard before Pleyiia (1878). 
b. *• National Hymn of Fudand." 

The general impression which we brought away 
from all this music was of something far less na- 
tional, distinctive, characteristic, than we had 
expected. The truth is, we imagine, that the 
essential traits of all the old .peoples' melodies, of 
whatsoever nationality, have been so much re- 
produced by modern composers, especially the 
Germans, that they have become part and parcel 
of the current musical coin of the world. Doubt- 
less the << Vasa March " and the *' March of the 
Finns," in No. S of the programme, are histor- 
ical, but here we had them only served up inci- 
dentally in the midst of a very modem orchestral 
fantasia. " Bjomeborg's March," too, and the 
National Hymn which closed the concert, are no 
doubt genuine. But the only orchestral music of 
really artistic character presented was entirely 
modem ; namely : Sodermann's " Swedish Wed- 
ding March," played by an inadequate, reduced 
orchestra ; the '* Russian National Hymn," which, 
with the roar of the great organ added to the 
orchestra, had a mighty volume of sonority, but 
was taken at an inconceivably slow tempo ; and 
von Schantz*8 Overture to a Finnish Opera. 
This last was interesting and original, worked up 
with a great deal of skill, and full of fire ; but 
without Liszt, Wagner, Raff, etc., it never would 
have been written ; it is wholly in the spirit of 
"the Future." 

If we turn to the songs, decidedly the most 
interesting were the three by Grieg, one of the 
youngest .of the Northern (Norwegian) composers 



who have passed through the mill at Leipzig. 
The songs by Collan, Stolpe, Wennerberg, etc., 
are characterized by sadness and a sentimental 
sweetness, as well as a certain freshness and 
simplicity. Those duets, the voices moving in 
sixths and thirds, seemed to us of much the same 
character with songs by English composers of 
some fifty years ago, such as were often heard 
here in the parlor. The Swedish Folk-Songs 
(No. 11), played by the orchestra, short little 
strains, seem^ to us more like true wild-flowers 
of native melody. The contralto songs were 
sung in a pure rich voice, with true expression by 
Mrs. C. C. Noyes, and the tenor songs found a 
good interpreter in Mr. Julius Jordan, who has 
a light, pure tenor, and a refined style. 

For Miss Borg's conducting of the orchestra 
great allowance must be made, since she had been 
taken suddenly ill that day on the receipt of 
alarming news about a dear friend in Russia, un- 
nerving her completely for some hours. Her 
manner was extremely enthusiastic, seemingly 
inspired by her country's music ; her motions 
energetic, firee, and graceful. She seemed to be 
acting out the emotions of the music before the 
orchestra and audience ; and how far that might 
be helpful to the musicians, we are not yet pre- 
pared to judge. Nor was it possible, from any- 
thing done in that concert, to measure her mu- 
sicianship. She had the disadvantage of an 
orchestra too small and made up of rather hete- 
rogeneous materials. But at all events the zeal 
for her native music, which moves her to stand 
forth as its interpreter and advocate, — a mission 
not without its sacrifices, — is worthy of respect. 



A Piano-forte Concert by pupils of Mr. T. P. 

Currier, at Wesleyau Hall, Friday afternoon. 

May 16, was another instance of how the tide 

has turned of late years, even in pupils' concerts, 

in the direction of sound classical programmes. 

The general style of performance, too (of what 

we heard), was worthy of the programme : 

1. Orerture to ** Son and Stranger." . . Mendtlaohn. 

(For two pianos, eight hands.) 

Misses Fisher, Gould, Oigood, and Tuner. 

S. Concerto, D minor Mozart. 

Romance and Presto. (With second piano accom- 
paniment.) « 

Miss Osgood. 

8. (a.) Venise, GondoUfere J&tll. 

(6.) Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 2. . . . . Sckubtrt. 

Miss Gould. 

4. Concerto, D minor MenJtUtokn. 

(With second piano accompaniment.) 
Miss Fisher. 

5. Rondo, E-flat Wtber. 

Miss Osgood. 

' 6. Scherso, Op. 91 Chopin. 

Miss Fisher. 

The very satisfactory performances by the two 
young ladies in the second part showed how 
much we had lost in not hearing the first part. 
Miss Fisher's rendering of the D minor Concerto 
of Mendelssohn was in every way creditable to 
herself, and to her teacher, who played the ac- 
companiment. She had evidently been taught in 
a sound method. Her touch is clear and sympa- 
thetic, her execution sure and even and equal to 
all the difiiculties of such a work. She played 
the Chopin Scherzo, too, with not a little fire and 
brilliancy. Miss Osgood, in the Rondo by Weber, 
bore equal testimony to good opportunities of in- 
struction well improved. It all seemed like honest, 
unaffected, faithful work in an artistic direction. 



Herb Haxs Richter, who condncted Wagnar^s fa- 
mous orchestra at the last Bayreuth feitival, has heen giving 
some orchestral concerts in London, where he has been 
greatly admired. Especially fine has been his conductinj^ 
of selections from Wagner's works, which, says The Acad- 
emyj were given with almost electrical effect. It is an- 
nounced that h« will return to London next season, and 
conduct a series of eight concerts, in which the nine Sym- 
phonics of Beethoven are to be performed in ehrouological 
order. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Baltimore, Mat 31. — The eleventh series of exhibi- 
tion concerts of the students at the Peabody Conservatory 
closed on Thursday last 

The programmes of the three evenings were as foUowi : — 

1. Tuesday, May 27, 1879. 

(a) Piano-trio, C major. No. 8 Haydn. 

(For piano, violin, and violoncello.) 

Miss Ada Swartswelder. 

(6) Yiolln-Sooata, C mitfor. No. 6 .... Haydn», 

(For piano and violin.) 

MIbs Hallie Edmunds. 

Yiolin-Ronuuioe, G minor. No. 6. Op. 7 . Vievxtempi. 

Mr. Henry Boeclcner. 

(a) Piano-Trio, B-flat miyor. Op. 11 . . Beethoven. 

(For pano, violin, and violoncello.) 
Miss Nora Freeman. 

(b) Yiolin-SonaU, E-flat migor. Op. 12 . Beethoven. 

(For piano and violin.) 

Adagio con molto espressione Rondo : allegro 

molto. 

Miss Ida CarlUe. 

2. Wedke&day, May 28. 

(a) Piano-Trio in C minor. Op. 1. No. 8 . Beethoven. 

Miss Mary van Bibber. 

{b) Piaoo-Quartet in B-flat mi^or. Op. 16 . Beethoven, 

Miss Helen Todhunter. 

(c) ^auo-Trio in C major. Op. 1. No. 2 . Beethoven, 

Miss Agnes Hoen. 

8. Thursday, May 29. 
Fifteen Variations and Fugue, E-flat migor. Op. 86 

Beethoven. 
(Composed on a theme from the Eroica Sym- 
phony. For Piano.) 
Mr. Ross JungnickeL 
Fourth Scherso, 6 migor. Op. 101 , . . G. SaUer. 

(For piano.) 
Miss Susie Moore- 
The* Queen's Polka. Caprice. A-flat mi^or. 

Op. 95 J. Baff. 

(For plana) 

Mr. Adam Itael. 

Concert-Paraphrase on Verdi's " Kigoletto " . Fr, ImmL 

(For piano.) 
Miss Sarah Scboenbei^. 

Serenade for sopiano Seuderi. 

Miss &Iary Arthur. 

Romance for baritone T. MatUL 

Mr. Wm. Linoohi. 
Separation. Romance for oontralto ... (7. Roenni. 

Miss Emma Steiner. 
Scene and Air from the opera ** Nabuooo ** . C. VenU. 

Miss Helen Winternits. 
Air from the opera ** II Guarany **.... C Gomee, 

Miss Ida Crow. 
Duet composed by Miss Emma Stetner. 

Misses Wmtemitz and Oow. 
Study for nine voices, in three parts . . P. Baraldi. 
Misses Winternits, Steiner, Graflin, Moore, Stein- 
baeb. Sharp, Orow, Sultser, and Arthur. 

Of course, every one acquitted himself or herself credit- 
ably; but those really deserving special mention are the 
following : The Misses Agnes Hoen, Helen Todhunter, 
Mary van Bibber, Sarah Schoenberg, and Messrs. Jung- 
nickel and ItzeL The last-named gentleman is about fifteen 
years of age, I bdieve, and has evinced much talentf not 
only in piano performance, but also in other branches of 
music His dexterity at the piano is really msrvek>us in so 
small a specimen of humanity, whose little hands would 
seem scarcely capable of strilcing an octave. 

The director left to^ay for Copenhagen, to return neit 
fall ; and the symphonies of the great masteri hare been 
consigned to the shelf for a season to make room for Strauss, 
Supp^, and Oflfenbach, at the summer garden concerts 
opening next week under the direction of Cariberg, with an 
orchcetoa of twenty-eeven of our own musicians at the Acad- 
emy. " Musicus. 

Cincinnati, May 14 As the amusement season is 

drawing to a close, the remaining orchestral and chamber 
concerts of the two series are followmg each other in such 
rapid succession that only a hasty survey of them is possible 
in this letter. In the tenth orchestra concert the college 
choir appeared for the second time in public. The pro- 
gramme comprised 

Symphony No. 1, C minor .... Johannet Brahvu. 
Selections horn. " Ruins of Athens '* . . . Beethoven, 

(a.) Chorus of Dervishes, Op. 113. 

(6.) Turkish March, Op. 113. 

(c.) March and Chorus, Op. 114. 
Selections torn 2d Act, " Flying Dutchman " . Wagner. 
Introduction. Spinning Chorus. BaUad and (^oms. 

Symphonic Poem. Les Preludes. Limi. 

The Brahms Symphony has been so extensively oommeiiled 
on in your columns that I will not obtrude my opinion of it 
at length. I cannot refhun from saying, however, that with 
every hearing of the work the first favorable impression it 
made on me is deepened. Tliere is an earnestness and no- 
bility pervading every part, a perfection and polish in the 
I detail work, and, it appears to me, often kfty flights of In- 
' spirataoo, which stamp the symphony as b^ng more thai) 



96 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vot. XXXIX-— No. 995. 



the fruit of Uborious eontr^Mintal work. The numerous 
•jnoopations aud shifted rhythmic accents did not produce 
in me the feeling of unrest and confusion which I experi- 
enced when I hnrd it for the first time. The contrafikgot, 
which we boast of haring in our orchestra, gives a reroarli- 
able sofflUre cdoring to parts of the woric, such as is lost en* 
iirely if the part is taken by a brass instnmient. In the 
Andante the beautiful tone and phrasing of Mr. Jaeobeohn 
in the sok) violin part was a pleasant feature. 

The male voices of the college choir in the Chorus of Der- 
vishes were very eSective. Accuracy and firmness was no- 
ticeable throughout. The Spinning Song from the Flying 
Dutchman was the best performance with which the college 
choir has so £sr fisvored us. That the chorus following the 
ballad, especially the Prestissimo, was, in phuxs, somewhat 
nervous and blurred, I think is to be attributed greatly to 
the position- which the singers must necessarily occupy. 
The distance which separates the altos from the sopranos is 
so great that a perfect undentanding between the two parts 
is made extremely diflBcult Miss Norton, in attempting the 
trying role of Seuta, took upon herself a very laborious task. 
The manner in which she sang the balUd was very good 
throughout, and in some passages highly dramatic, — not a 
little praise for a comparativdy inexperienced singer. Miss 
Stone, in the part of Mary, assisted the ensemble very credit- 
ably. In Le$ Prtludtt the orehcatra was evidently not so 
perfectly at home as in the Symphony. I must add that 
tiie smooth and accurate rendering of the hUter was in strik- 
ing contrast with the manner in which the same players per- 
formed this work in the first concert of Uie season. 

Musicians, especially, had been looking forward to the 
ninth chamber concert with the greatest interest, for the 
programme contained, besides tlie Schumann Quintet, Op. 
44, the great Beethoven Quartet, No. 14, Op. 131, in C- 
sharp minor. So exacting are the demands made on the 
players in this remarkable composition, that it is very seldom 
performed. Technically, only virtuosos can do justice to it, 
while few artists can gi%-e an interpretation which will, in a 
measure even, bring light hito its contrapuntal chaos. It is, 
therefore, a proof of the extraordinary excellence of tlie ren- 
dering of thia work, — which b the bone of contention to so 
many sstheticians, — that after the performance the audi- 
ence, in the highest enthusiasm, insisted on the resppear- 
aiice of the artbts. And, indeed, it was a deserved tribute, 
tat never have I heard so clear and transparent an interpre- 
tation of this intricately constructed work. There was a 
certainty, a freedom, even in the most difiicult numbers, 
which i fiiLled to notice when I heard this same composition 
performed by tlie very best string quartets in Europe. It 
was a wortliy climax to the steady improvement which was 
mariced in every chamber concert. The quintet, with Mr. 
Singer as pianist, did not show so good an ensemble as we 
are accustomed to hear. Perhaps it was the expectancy on 
the part of the performers of the great work to follow, — 
the quartet, that caused the lack of unity. The tenth 
chamber concert had for its programme: — 
Quartet, Op. 192, «« Die schone Miillerin "... Rnff. 

Sonata, A minor, Op. 19 RvifUuttin 

Quintet for Strings, C mi^, Op. 163 ... Sckubert 
Mr. Doemer, pianbt Mr. Brandt, *cello. 

The Raff Quartet, programme music of the purest water, 
I could not accept as being anything more than very skill- 
fully ** made'' music There are all the effects introduced 
which so perfect a musician as liaff commands, but true 
poetry I could not find in the composition. The Rubinstein 
Sonati, which b widely known, received an excellent inter- 
pretation at the hands <rf Messrs. Doemer and Jao<ibsohn. 
The b««utirul Schubert Quintet came like a ray of sunlight 
after so much modem music. Never did I f^l so deeply 
and intensely the dangers to art into which the present tend- 
ency of composing b inevitably leading. The unaffected, 
natural, inspired strains of Schubert stood in striking con- 
trast with tlie labored, artful efforts of Raff, and the untamed, 
unbridled passionateness of Rubinstein. The elevenih cham- 
ber conct'rt ga\'e us 
Trio, No. 6 (Serenade), for Flute, Violin, and 

Viola, Op. 25 Beethoven, 

3Ir. Wittgenstera, flutist. 

Quartet, F m^^or, Op. 37 . . . . ■ Xacer ScharwetUefi. 

Sonata, A migor. Op. 47 (Kreutcer) . . . Beeihcven, 

Mr. Schneider, pianist. 

The Beethoven Trio b a charming notelty, and shows the 
wonderful command which Beethoven had oiner all possible 
combinations of instruments. The viob b so cleverly em- 
pk>yed as to make the alisence of a fundamental bass instni . 
ment scarcely felt. The qiwrtet by Scharweiika b universally 
pronounced by European critics to be the best composition 
of this kind which has been written since Scbunuinn's fa- 
mous quartets. It contains many beauties, shows the com- 
poser to be thoroughly at home in all the technicalities of 
composing, and above all does not attempt in its eonstnic- 
tion to improve on the logical and time-honored laws of 
form. The Kreutxer Sonata was pbyed by Messrs. Schnei- 
der and Jacobsohn in most admirable style. Both perform- 
ers seemed to have one conception of the w<»'k, and to com- 
mand all the means necessary to bring it to the most per- 
fect expression. With ei'ery public appearance, Mr. Jacob- 
sohn impresses one mwe and more as a thorough, oonsci- 
entious, and poetic artist. Mr. Schneider, one of our very 
best pianists here, proved himself both in the quartet and 
ionata to be an excellent ensemble pkycr. 



Quite an event to the lovers of piano music was the ar- 
rival of Blr. Wm. H. Sherwood, who was announced to give 
two recitab. Unfortunately, the welcon>e which it was the 
intention of the Music4l Club to give him could not be ex- 
tended, on account of hb absence from the city on the' day 
appointed for the meeting. While the programmes prepared 
by Mr. Sherwood could not but attract the attention of 
musicians, the circumstance that an enviable reputation pre- 
oeded him assbted in bringing to the recitab e%-cry prominent 
pianbt in the city. On tlie first evening Mr. Jaoobsolin 
assisted in the E-flat Sonata, Op. 12, and in the Kreutzer 
Sonata by Beethoven ; on the second, Mr. Doemer took part 
in the Andante and Variations, Op. 46, of Schumann. The 
other principal numbers were Fantasia and Fugue in 6 
minor. Bach; Soiwta, Op. Ill, Beethoven; Etudes Sym- 
phoniqnes, Schumann; besides compositions of llandel, 
Kheinber>;er, Chopin, Lisxt, and others. Mr. Sherwood's 
Ikying has been so often spoken of in your odumns that it 
b certainly unnecessary for me to give vent to the enthusi- 
astic admiration for it, which I only share with all the other 
pianbts, without exception, who heard these two recitab. 
When the most trying feats of modem virtuosity are so 
completely mastered that they are almost lost sight of, even 
as a &ctor only, in the reproducing of a work, but above 
all, when a healthy sentiment and noble dignity pervades 
tlie interpretation of an art work, when this interpretation 
appears to be more the result of momentary inspiration than 
of long and laborious study, — then the highest pinnacle in 
reproductive art has been reached. And these excellences 
appear in Mr. Sherwood's playing. The pianists of our city 
have been accused of nnfiumess because they in the past did 
not show themselves willing to give adulation to virtuosos 
who dazzle with brilliancy of execution, but substitute for 
trae sentiment afl^ted mannerism. The genuine heartiness 
and plessure with which they accord to Mr. Sherwood un- 
stinted praise and admiration, I hope, will not fail to db- 
prove that charge — With the pleasant spring days the at- 
tendance on Mr. Whiting's organ recitalii b constantly on 
the increase. He continues to ofler choice programmes 
made up of the standard dasMic organ compositions, as well 
as of interesting novelties, in the executing of which nothing 
remains to be desired other than a hall which would permit 
of a more thorough appreciation of their beauties. Of the 
elaborate pre{Mirations for the Saengerfest of the N(Hib 
American Saengerbuud I will speak in my next letter, as 
they are of a nature to demand attention. 



the fovely oompoeiUons of the old masters, even if alf ap- 
plause b hushed into the happy silence of co.itentment, 
doee more for the advancement of his art, and hb own prog- 
ress as an artbt. 

llie bst of the " Hershey Hall Popular Concerts " pre- 
sented a programme that contained some fine numbers : the 
most particularly notable being Brahms's Piano forte Con- 
certo in D minor, Op. 15, which was played by BIrs. Clara 
Vou Kleiitte; the Tocc:ita in F, liich; and " Morceau de 
Concert," vOp. 24, Guihuant, perforaied on the organ by 
Mr. H. Clarence Eddy. The Brahms Concerto was played 
in a very musician-like manner; yet, alUiough it contains 
some quite interesting music, it did not (to my mind) 
seem worthy of all the study it must have cost to prepare it 
for a public performahce. With an orchestral accompani- 
ment, it would doubtless be much more pleasing; and I 
regret that we were obliged to hear it for the first time with 
only a second pbno-furte as a substitute. BIr. Eddy's 
organ playing b alwa3-s so artistic in its finish, and we 
have become so accustomed to hearing him do everything 
he attempts so well, that not unfrequeutly hb performances 
are passed over without according to him the high praise so 
justly hb due. On Satunlay last he readied his ninety- 
sixth organ recital, presenting a splendid programme of 
great magnitude. The prlnciiial selections were: " Intro- 
duction and I>ouble Fugue, Op. 41, Merkel; Choral l*rs- 
lude. Bach; Chorus from Stnbat Muter of Pergolese; 
**CanUbile" hi G minor. Ph. Em. Bach; LM-go, of 
Haydn; Prelude In C G..J. Vdgler; Concerto, Op. 5 (new), 
M Prout; an organ sketch, «*The Lake," Dr. Spark; 
« Elegy Fugue," Op. 42, Gullmant; and a Duet, " Fest-in- 
trade," Op. 76, Dr. Volckmar. In the bst number he 
had the assbtanoe of a talented pupil, Mr. A. F. BfcOuiell. 

Mr. Cari WoUaohn brought hb series of historical piano- 
forte recitab to a dose bst Saturday, presenting eelectioni 
from the tbl owing modem eomposers: Genisheim, Tsciiai- 
kowsky, Griqr, Von Biifow, and Scharweiika. These 
redtab have afibrded the piano-forte student a fine oppor^ 
tunity to beoonie acquainted with a large variety of new 
works, and also to bear a number of very old compodtions 
but seldom pUyed. 

Although the musical season b drawing to its dose, we 
are yet to have the Mettiah of Handel from the ApoUo 
Club; Verdi's Reqyiem from the Beethoven Society; two 
concerts by Wilbdn\j and a number of smaller entertain- 
ments, before the midsummer days quiet us to rest. Of 
these as they approach. C. H. B. 



CniCAOO, Mat 28. — Since my hut Icitter I have had 
the pleasure of hearing BIr. William H. Sherwood pUy two 
important programmes of piano-forte mude, consisting of 
the folfowing numbers: Chromatique Fantasie and Fugue, 
Bach ; Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, Schumann (orchestral 
part on a second piano-forte, by Mr. H. Clarence Eddy) ; 
Impromptu in A- flat, Op. 21), Etude in B minor, Op. 25, 
No. 10, Waltz ui B minor. Op. 69, and the larger one in 
A-flat, Op. 34, —all of Chopin; •«Blomeiit Miuical," of 
JMoskowski; '* Perpetual Motion," Weber-Brahms; <* Faust 
Waltz," Gounod Liszt; Sonata, Op. Ill, Beethoven; 
Kreisleriaiia, Nos. 1 and 5, Romance in F-sharp, Op. 28, 
" Vogel ab Prophet," and •* Ende vom Lied," Op. 12, — 
all of Schumann; the'* Fire Fugue "of lliindel; Etudes, 
Op. 10, and Nocturne, Op. 48, Chopin; «* Waldesrauscfaen," 
and Grand Polonaise in E major, of Liszt: ** Toccata di 
Concerto," Op. 36, August Dupont; ''Lohengrin's Ver- 
web an Elsa," and '*IsolJen*s Liebes-Tod," Wagner-Lbzt; 
and an Allegro, Op. 5, by the pianist himself. As one 
reviews the long list of difficult and interesting numhos, 
and considers what a ground tliey cover, and what a variety 
of schoob and composers they represent, he must fairly 
acknowledge tliat to play them all from memory, and in an • 
intelligent and perfect manner, would indeed require an 
accomplished artist. Such a performer we had In Mr. 
Sherwood, and it will be with the most »h ere admiration 
that we shdl remember hb vidt to our city. Fw he not 
only gave us great eqjoyroent, but afforded some of our 
3*oung pianists the needed opportunity of hearing good 
interpretations of celebrated classical works. I ha\-e not 
seen one adverse criticbm, or heard a word, except in ap- 
proval of his fine performances; and, indeed, our city papers 
and the intelligent music-lovers have all extended to him 
the fullest praises for the eigoyment he has given us. 

Personally, i enjoyed hb fugue pU^iiig, and his Interpre- 
tati(ni of Uie Schumann Concerto, togetlier with hb Chopin 
and Beethoven selections, the best of atl the mude be gave 
us. The brilliancy and diflSculty of the Uszt numbers 
may dazzle. for a time, and perhaps half carry one away 
in the nuid whirl of exciting contrasts; but in the quiet 
moments, when mude lingers as a ddightful memory, the 
rich harmonies, the grand melodies, and dassie fomis of 
the old masters, seem, after all, tlie best. Modem inven- 
tion in mudcal form may partake ot the spirit of the age, 
and give us a new sensation as the " mude of the future " 
bursts upon our ears, and we may listen with no little de- 
light to its varied novelties; but, after all, the heart goes 
back to the old maden to find its resting-place, and to 
reach the fullest acme of ei^yment. BIr. Sherwood 
played the Liszt mude with fire and passion, and his audi- 
ence seemed carried away by tlie briUiancy of hb perform- 
ance: but I trust that he will not dk>w the enthusiasm 
of a ddigbted public to tempt him to make intensity his 
prindpal aim; for to calm hu Ibteners into sympathy with 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Welueslkt Collbob. — The 52d Concert (fourth 
series) consbted of an Organ Recital by Prof. C. U. Morse, 
with the following programme: — 

SonaU in B-flst. Op. 65-4 MtndeUtdkn, 

Benediction Nuptiale Smnt-SaSns. 

Allegretto graziuoo Tuun, 

Passacaglia in C minor Bach. 

Christmas Song Adam- Whiting. 

Grand Choer Guilmant. 

Adagio, Duo Sonata. Op. 80 Merkel. 

(Arranged as solo by 0. H. Morse.) 
" Star Spangbd Banner" J. K. Paine. 

The 50th Concert was given Saturday evening. April 
26, with Mr. E. B. Perry pianbt and Mrs. J. W. Weston 
voedlst. The 51st coiidsted of an Organ Recital by Prof. 
C. H. Morse, with the following interesting programme: 
Bach, Fantasie and Fugue, G minor, bk. ii. ; Menddssohn, 
Nottumo, '» Midsummer Night's Dream," Op. 61 (ar- 
ranged by Warren); Wagner, Chorale, " Bfeiktenbger;" 
Guilmant, Invocation; Gounod, Blareh Romaine; Jensen, 
Bridal Song, from Op. 45 (arranged by Warren); Best- 
Koeckd, "Air du Dauphin;** Guilmant, March Funibre 
ct Chant Seraphique (by request). 

Supp^*s buffo opera, Boccacdo^ has met with little suc- 
cess in Ldpsic. 

Owhig to continued indispodtion, Mow. (Serster and 
Mme. Christine Nilsson were again unable to appear last 
week at Her Msjesty's Tbeatni. 

Prorided with new and hitherto unused materials. Dr. 
Bemliard Stave, now of Gorlitz, Is about to publish a 
Biography of Chopin. (How many more'/) 

Warner has completed the composition of Parei/hl^ the 
first perfiirmance of which is fixed for August, 1881, at 
Bayrenth. (Twenty-four months are required for re- 
hearsal!) 

Herr von Hiilsen, aooompanled by Herr Eckert, has vis- 
ited Hamburgh to hear (xoldmark's Kdnigin von Sabtt^ with 
a view to its productiun at the Royal Opera House, Berliu. 

Honors and attentions continue to flow in upon Blisa 
Thursby since her triumph in Paris. Pasddoup has had a 
medal struck and presented to her, and the " artistic so- 
ciety " have sent her a magnificent card receiver in bronze. 
Bliss Thursby recently sang for Ambrobe Thomas of the 
Paris Conservstofy, and he has written her a letter such as 
Patti or Nilsson would be proud to recdve. Gounotl was 
to give her a complimentary dinner; and numberless offers 
from opera managers ha^-e been tendered her, which she hat 
dedined, inristing that the concert b her true field. 



JONE 21, 1879.] 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



97 



BOSTON, JUNE it, 1879. 

CONTENTS. 

Saxho. Stmart SUrru 97 

LRTBU or IlMTOR BttLIOS 97 

PALitniirA. W. N. B 99 

HAlTDn AHB HaTSIT SOOItTT. RspOlt of th« PlVfldMlt, 

C. 0. I*«rkiiit,«tth«Anau*lMMUog 100 

Talks on hxt : Smotid Sbuis. Vrom lutmctiont of Mr. 

WIllUuB M. Hunt to bU Pupllii. Till 101 

8oMB TaouOBTS ox MuaiOAi KoiiOATioii. II. WUUam F. 

Aptkerp 101 

Oovonn 102 

BojlatoB Glnb.— Mr. Kdward B. Pfrrj't Piano Redtal. 

SfasIOAL COKUSPOHDBIICB 106 

Chimgo. — Mllw»okee. — WilbMbarra, Pia. 
Nom Airs Glbaxiiioi 106 



AU tke articles not credited to other pubUeationt were expreedy 
written for this Journal. 

PnUiMhed /ortnighUjf fry IIouortoh, Osoood amd CovrAHT, 
2Z0 Devomehire Street, Boston. Price, 10 tetUs « number ; $2JfO 



For snie in Boston fry Cakl Pevbpbe, 30 West Street, A. Will- 
lAVS A Co., 283 Washington Street, A. K. Lorino, 369 Wash- 
ington Street, and fry the Publishers f in Nns York fry A. Bbsi- 
TAXo, Jb., 39 UtUon Square, and Houooroir^ Oboood 3l Co., 
21 Astor FUue; in Philadelphia fry W. II. Bon BR & Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street ; m (Sueago fry the GnoAOO Momo Oompaitt 
612 StaU Street. 

SANZIO. 

BY STUABT 8TKRXB, AUTHOR OF ^ ANGBLO.** 

(CooUnued from pBgo 90.) 

Thus he reached hte borae, 
Y«t moaoted not, but bade the docile ereeture 
FoUow, BB he walked slowlj on. For now. 
Moat loath to think each atep mast bear him off 
Farther firooi her, he Idterad bj the way, 
Noted how graaa and flower and budding tree 
Were hung with gltatening dew, bi^ ^ where the sun, 
Tliat had crept upward for a goodly apace 
Behind the wooda, aiiioe he had paased before, 
Had kiaaed the drop* away; watched the blithe biida. 
That loftly twittering flew from twig to twig, 
Fall of gay buatk for their new-made neatB, 
And the awift, boay bee, that eroeaed hia path 
In quest of eariy honey for her queen ; 
And listened to the lark, lost In the depth 
Of aUiuleaa Uoe, ao high above ahe aeemed 
Only another Bpad( of ladiant light, 
And her kmd, jubilant carol quivered down 
But like • hr, faint eeho to the earth, — 
Felt in each fibre of hia aool the rapture 
Of all the bndding, awelliug, buratiog life 
Of apring and early mom. And then he thought 
Of the great victory that waa hia. A week, 
A whole glad week, and who oookl tell, perebaaoel 
She would be near him, with him, — he ahould aee 
Her feir young fhce a thouaand joyfiil timea ! 
Hh heart o'cilowed with audden happineaa, 
And on the foreat*a edge peroeiving then 
Two little bright-hoed flowers, brimful of dew, 
He flwig himaelf upon the ground beside them, 
And prwaed hia feee into the aparkling graaa, 
And kiaaed in ailent^ tender ecataay, — 
For, oh, were they not like her awecteat eyea I — 
The quivering golden petals. 

Then aprang up 
And aped far out upon the rolling plain, 
And toBaed hia cap into the aunny air, 
And gayly atruck his horae*a flank, and cried: 
*< Go, friMid, and dream a moment thou wert flpee, 
Aa thy wild brotherB in the fer-off East! " 
Half atartled by the unlooked-for touch, the horae 
Bnk» from him, and in drelea for and wide. 
The noUe bead thrown back, the foug dark mane 
Streaming behind, galloped with pU^ul gambols, 
Now near, now distant, round and romid the field. 
Hie master watching him with smiling mien. 
Bat suddenly the joyous mirthfulnCBS 
Faded from out his feoe, and, as ashamed 
Of all these boybh pranks, be gravely said: 
** Euough, enough, good friend, for both of as! '* 
And caUing to 3» horae, who willingly 
Obeyed the well-known voice and trotted up, 
He swiftly leaped hito the Baddle now. 
And mutely, without fiirther word or pauae, 
Rode towuda the city. In hia ear there rang, 
It aeeroed to him, in ohangeieea tune the woida: 
OSanBio,Sansio,fooUahboyI 'T is not 
The first time thou hast known such ecetasJes, 
Nor all the bitter pangs that follow after! 
WherBfore, wherefore! And when and what the end! 

He had made good his word, and searched the town 
Fkom end to end for Anna, bnt in vain 



No trace of her or of the noble house 
That she had aenred he found, jet none the leas 
He sent the message out that all was well. 
For might not Ac ^y that grand lord awhile. 
And Nina take the cousui^s name and part? 
Kind Heaven would surely pardon him this sin, 
If sin it were ! He vowed by all the saints 
No harm should come of this; he looked on her 
As a most precious charge, — and oh, he could 
Not thua renounce thb hope! 

So ahe arrived 
On the appointed day, and had been lodged 
In a small, pretty chamber, doae to where 
Old Nina had bar aolitary room; 
Yet knew not that the atatdy, marble mansion 
She gased at wonderin^y was Ssnzio*s home. 
For, fearful lest it startle her to learn 
The same roof sheltered both of them, he kept 
His secret well; and for dear love of him 
The good old woman too, what though in doubt 
She ^ook her head with many a troubled sigh, 
Betrayed him not, — reluctantly performed 
The service he implored as best she migbL 
And thus the whole glad day was passed with her, 
The sweetness of whose preeenoe eeemed each hour 
A deeper need, that his impaasioned soul 
Craved with more thirst bikI hunger; while she too 
BeheU him ever, listened for his step, 
With fonder joy in her bright eyes. 

For now, 
While yet the earth and air, the sun and sky. 
Were so divindy feir that no frail mortal 
Gould turn a deaf ear to their riren song. 
He came for her betimes: she found him oft 
In the great kitchen, waiUng patiently. 
When she with ooudn Anna, hastenhig home. 
Returned from early mass. And then through all 
The frMh young morning, and the long bright hours 
Of afternoon, they wandered through the city, 
He showing her its wonders, and well nigh 
Aa full of gay delight as she herself. 
To whom til things were new and passing feir, 
And who, like some glad, eager child, drank in 
And marveled and r^oieed at all. He led her 
To many a stately church and noUe palace 
That was adorned by the immortal work 
Of his own busy hands, — sometimes agfow 
In wall and ceiling with rich tints and lines 
Of hundred beauteous feces and fair forms, 
Angels and saints and cherubs, nymphs and gods, 
And sometimes guarding, like a priceleaa gem, 
But one great master-piece with jealous care, 
llien he stood by content, and smiling watched 
How Benedetta speedily lost herself 
In deepest contemplation, often thus 
Resting in rapt and speechleBS silence long, 
And then, perchance, looked up at him at last 
With shining eyes, and drew a long, glad breath ; 
And when he pleased to question bar, she spoke 
Freely of all that moved her soul, while he 
Marveled %nth what most subtle comprehension 
She reached the finest essence of his art, 
And fended that no kmd appkiise or praise, 
Laviahed by all the great onea of the earth, 
Had ever awdled his heart with such proud joy 
As the soft, simple words from thoee sweet lips. 
That were as mudo to his ear. 

And once, 
When they went homeward through the streets at eve, 
She saul to him: <* Oh, Sansio, and to think 
Your single soul conedved, your dngle hand 
Poured out before us, all this wondrous beauty ! 
When I remember it, I venture scarDe 
To touch your hand or look upon your fece. 
Oh, you are passing great! Methinks the town, 
Nay, all tlie whole wide world, is filled with you, 
And you alone ! The very stones and trees, 
The sunshine and the winds ra|>eat your name, 
Tell of your fame and gkwy ! Ay, see there! " 
Pointing to where a flock ^ snowy doves 
Girded above them, »* How meet fair and pure 
They kwk with thdr white wings againat the blue! 
I fimey even they in their glad flight 
Are cooing but of you! '* 

And he, half laiigbing. 
What though he yearned to daap her, then and there, 
doae to hia heart: ** Oh, no, they anrdy have 
Some better and more pleaabig song than that! " 
And then more gravdy, ^ Nay, my child, believe, 
'Hioagh God baa granted me aome power, perchance^ 
The throne you build for me b fer too high ! 
There 'a one at least, in thia Meat fend of oun, 
Aa great aa I, — nay, greater, thouaandfold, 
To whom I humbly bei^ a willing knee. 
And call him Maater! " Gayly then once more: 
** I *ve never heard the tresa mid sanshine aay 
What you, sweet dreamer, now report of them, 
But I shall be content, my Benedetta, 
If only you will oft and oft repeat 
My name to sun and stars! " 

Uiged by his prayers 
She had renounced all eoUer titles soon, 



And shyly first) erdong as quietly 

As though it were the wont of all her life, 

Cdled him but dmply Sando, and with this. 

For all her ddicate, maidenly reserve, 

Warmed to a timid yet femiliar frankness, 

Drew doee to him witli a sweet, childlike trust, 

A tender and undoubting confidence. 

That unto Sando*s fine^tnu^ soul appeared 

Sacred as heaven iteelf. 

If, rambling thus, 
Sando met those he knew, — and he could aearee 
Move for ten pacea, Benedetta thought. 
Ere aome one greeted him, and atopped to diat^ — 
He aaid ahe waa a dlatant little coudn. 
Come for a week to town to aee ita dghts. 
And did it chance to be one of the filienda 
Out with him that ghul day he saw her first, — 
She knew them all, and flrankly bent her bead 
In gentle salutatkm; who stood still 
And gased at them with widdy opened eyes, 
And a loud Ah ! bnt half suppressed, — Sanxto 
Would ehedc them with a finger on his lip. 
And sn appeaUng glance towards her. Thejr all 
Left them erekmg and wandered off again ; 
But one. Count Baldassar she hear*1 him called, 
WouU stay and talk awhile to Bsnedetta, 
With such grave kindnees that -her grateful heart 
Went swiftly out to him. 

Thus had sped 1)y 
Xhe golden hours unheeded and untold. 
Two days and three and four; the greater part 
Of Uie brief time, too charily granted them. 
Fled like one moment, and yet was the end 
Of Benedetta*s eomfaig unftdfilled. 
And the Madonna waited still in vdn 
The hwn of her sweet fece, who had not once 
E^en looked upon the canvas from afer, 
For Sansio scarce through all these days had tooched 
Pfendl or brush, and Nina, marveUng much 
At this unwonted idlenees in him, 
B^iced in secret. 

But one afternoon, — 
The day was not so feir, for showery clouds 
Had dappled all the sky, and hid the sun, 
And darkened the broad window of hie work-room, — 
He sat alone and labored kng and hard 
On his great picture, for to-morrow noon 
He must have Benedetta come at length. 
Or the last day woukl vanish unempfoyed. 
Ay, but by what device, — how bring her here, 
And not betray hie secret ? Lsaning back 
To view bis work, he punled with a smile 
LoQg o'er the knotty question, llien sprang up. 
Flung brush and palette dovm, and stretched hu limhs. 
And striding up and down, Mng half ahrad 
Snatches of some gay eong, and so heard not 
A timid tap upon his door; and finding 
No answer reached her ear, she who had knocked, 
Stood waiting patiently outdde unseen, 
Listeuing with gUdness to the soft, rich voioe, 
That ro&d so bravdy forth the mdody 
Bearing the burden of the happy words 
She eadly caught: — - 

M What were more gforious than the balmy nighty 

Radiant with moon and star? ** « 
** The rosy mom, dear heart, whoee golden beam 

Bleaks o'er the hills afer! ** 

<* What felrer than the antomn's purple tints, 

When summer heats are done? *' — 
<< Hm spring, whose thousand bursting bods proeklm 

New tife begun!" 

He pansed, and she made hold 
To tap again. » Enter! " be kmdly cried, 
But turned his picture over to the wall. 
And the door opened, and a wdl-known head 
Peered in half timMly, while be exdaimcd, 
Hastenhig to draw her in: »< My Benedetto! 
Welcome, a thousand times! '* And she in turn, 
** Yeu, Sando! Ah, methought I knew your voice. 
Though I have never beard you dug before. 
And you smg well! Yet pray bow can it be,** — 
Bnt suddenly broke off her words, forgot 
To end the phrase, as gadng round she clapped 
Her bands in wonder and delight, and cried: 
** Oh, what a strange, great phoe! And may I stoy 
And see it an? '* 

(Tbbe continued.) 



LETTERS OF HECTOR BERLIOZ. 

Dr. Edouard Harbuck has written an article in the 
Neue/reU Preue upon the letters of Hector Beriioa, which 
the London Muncal WoHd translates as foUows: — 

A collection of more than one hundred 
and fifty letters of Berlioz, ander the title of 
^ Correspondanoe in^dite de Hector Berlios,** 
ha8 joBt been published by Galman L^vy in 



98 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol- XXXIX. - No. 996. 



Paris. Long anxiously expected, it appears 
very opportunely at tlie present moment 
when Berlioz has suddenly hecome a popular 
and great man in his native land. To achieve 
the fame for which he so ardently and so 
vainly yearned — says Daniel Bernard, the 
editor of the Correspondance — Berlioz had 
only to do something exceedingly simple — 
to die. In Germany Berlioz was looked up 
to as a genial composer at a time when people 
in France ignored or ridiculed him ; perhaps, 
on the other hand, we in Germany consider 
the enthusiasm for him which has now blazed 
up among the French as something exagger- 
ated and forced. But no matter ; his orig- 
inal and powerful individuality exerts the 
same degree of attraction on Germans and 
French alike, and wherever people care for 
music Berlioz's letters, now first made public, 
will be read with interest. 

The purport of the very first letter in the 
collection is remarkable : young Berlioz offers 
Ignatius Pleyel, the Paris music-publisher, 
some concertante Potspourris on Italian mel- 
odies. It is a well-known fact that Wagner, 
too, though, like Berlioz, an opponent incar- 
nate of all music written merely to amuse, 
and the foe of the Italians, furnished Paris 
publishers with similar arrangements to earn 
his living. Why are we less astonished at 
seeing Haydn and Mozart perform petty mer- 
cenary work than at beholding Berlioz and 
Wagner do the same thing? Because we 
know the former as the most universal and 
at the same time most unpretending of all 
artists; as men to whom nothing human or 
musical was foreign. Compared with them, 
Wagner and Berlioz appear one-sided in their 
idealism, impatient and proud. Many letters, 
dating from the most glowing years of Ber- 
lioz's youth, interest us doubly from being 
addressed to Ferdinand Hiller. To Hiller, 
his *^dear Ferdinand," young Berlioz pours 
out more willingly than to any one else his 
heart, Qppressed with a mad passion. The 
object of this youthful love was, as we were 
aware, the Knglish actress, Miss Smithson, 
who at that period knew nothing of her secret 
worshiper, and did not make his personal ac- 
quaintance until three years later (1832), on 
his return from Italy. The outbursts of de- 
spairing love in these letters sometimes bor- 
der on madness. What a fortunate thing it 
was, we exclaim involuntarily, that the highly 
gifted youth should have been extricated as 
though by a higher than merely human hand 
from this hopeless amorous distress, and as 
" first prizeman of the Paris Conservatory " 
sent, with a stipend from the state, for tvo 
years to Italy ! What a fortunate thing, — 
yes, had Berlioz understood and appreciated 
it in the same way as other mortals ! His 
sojourn in Rome was torture, insupportable 
captivity; he abridged it almost forcibly to 
hurry back to Paris, find out Miss Smithson, 
and marry her. ^ She possessed," he says, 
** on our wedding day nothing in the world, 
gave debts ; I myself had only three hundred 
francs which a friend lent me, and I was again 
on bad terms with my family." The match 
did not prove a happy one ; after some years 
of mutual vexations and misunderstandings 
the couple separated. 

We are fully acquainted through his Me- 
moires with everything relating to Berlioz's 



stay in Rome ; the Letters before us add 
nothing essential. Only the unusually cor- 
dial and almost sentimental tone in which 
Berlioz writes of Mendelssohn, under the 
immediate impression of their friendly inter- 
course, came on us with refreshing effect. It 
stands out very strongly from the cool reserve 
which Berlioz observes with regard to Men- 
delssohn in the M^moires written ^wq and 
thirty years later. In Berlioz's '^ Roman 
captivity " the acquaintance of Felix Mendels- 
sobn-Bartholdy was like a bright ray of light. 
** He is an admirable young fellow," writes 
Berlioz in 1831 from Rome ; ^ his talent of 
reproduction is as great as his musical genius, 
and that is saying a great deal. All I have 
heard from him has charmed me; I firmly 
believe he is one of the highest musical nat- 
ures of the present epoch. He has been my 
cicerone here ; every morning I called upon 
him, when he played me one of Beethoven's 
sonatas and we sang Gluck's ^ Armida," after 
which he took me to all the celebrated ruins, 
which, I confess, made little impression upon 
me. He has one of those candid souls with 
which we meet only very seldom indeed." In 
several subsequent letters, also, Berlioz speaks 
of Mendelssohn with equal warmth. ^* Has 
Mendelssohn arrived ? " he inquires of F. 
Hiller, and continues : " He has enormous, 
extraordinary, wonderful talent I cannot be 
suspected of partisanship in speaking thus, 
for he has frankly tqld me that of my music 
he understands absolutely nothing. He is a 
thoroughly original character, and still be- 
lieves in something ; he is a little cool in his 
manner, but I am very fond of him. though, 
perhaps, he does not imagine so." These are 
charming words, and honorable to both. M. 
Daniel Bernard should have taken example 
by them, instead of most unworthily insult- 
ing, in his preface, Mendelssohn's character. 
Mendelssohn entertained for Berlioz's com- 
positions a decided and unconquerable dislike, 
which must appear very intelligible to every 
one familiar with Mendelssohn's music. M. 
Bernard, however, finds the real ground of 
this antipathy in the professional envy felt by 
Mendelssohn, who was ^ as jealous as a tiger," 
though he had no presentiment ** that Berlioz 
would one day dispute with him the palm of 
musical fame." Mendelssohn envious, jealous, 
— and of Berlioz ! It is too absurd. In 
Germany every one knows that Mendelssohn 
was in truth a ^ candid soul," and the French 
may take Berlioz's word for the fact. M. 
Daniel Bernard should*, on the contrary, have 
dwelt eulogistically on two facts in Mendels- 
sohn's conduct : in the first place, the genu- 
inely colleague-like and friendly readiness to 
oblige, which he always, in Rome as subse- 
quently in Leipsic, manifested toward Berlioz ; 
and, secondly, the frankness with which he 
avowed his repugnance to the musical tend- 
ency followed by the Frenchman. Such a 
manful love of truth should be doubly prized 
in our age of conventional compliments. And 
Berlioz himself did so prize it, though not 
without a bitter taste, which we can well un- 
derstand, on the tongue for ^ Mendelssohn," 
he writes from Leipsic, in 1843, to a Parisian 
friend, ^ never said a single word to me about 
my Symphonies, my Overtures, or my Re- 
quiem." In his inmost iieart, Berlioz, too, 
was a true and honest nature. Unfortunate 



circumstances compelled him unluckily, as the 
critic of the Journal des Dehats^ to mask not 
seldom his convictions ; this was difficult and 
painful for him. For Mendelssohn it would 
have been impossible.^ 

For us Austrians it is interesting to learn 
that among other persons whose acquaintance 
Berlioz made in Rome was a talented man 
named Mr. de Sauer. This was evidently 
our Joseph Dessauer. ^ He insists on intro- 
ducing me to Bellini, though I oppose the 
project might and main. La Sonnamhula, 
which I heard yesterday, doubles my repug- 
nance to form this acquauitanceship." "Oh," 
says he, in concluding this letter, which is 
addressed to Hiller, " you must yourself be 
in Italy to form any conception of what they 
here dare to call music ! " On every occa- 
sion does he give vent to his hatred of Italian 
music Frequently, however, in the midst of 
his rage he remembers that he helped in 
Rome to found a philosophical club entitled, 
" Ecole de I'lndiff^Srence absolue en Matieie 
universelle." This joke, beneath which lies 
concealed a piece by no means to be despised 
of practical philosophy, reechoes frequently 
and long afterwards in what he says and does ; 
only, unfortunately, he of all men was the 
least fitted really to observe in practice the 
condition of '^absolute indifference." He 
never ceases to be angry with Rossini for 
always saying: ^ Qu^est-ce qu9 fa me fait f** 

Through Robert Schumann, who, as a 
critic, first directed attention to Berlioz, the 
latter's relations with Germany began to 
grow more animated. He addressed (Febru* 
ary, 1837) a long letter to Schumann, thank- 
ing him for the interest he had displaye<l, and 
speaking of the pleasant hours Liszt had pro* 
cured the writer by performing for him Schu* 
mann's pianoforte pieces. A few letters from 
Leipsic, Prague, and Breslau please us by 
the happy mood in which Berlioz disoonrses 
of his personal success in Germany, but they 
contain nothing new for any one acquainted 
with the exhaustive travelling-letters included 
in the M^ moires. We were surprised at 
the statement made by Berlioz (page 142), 
that serious steps were taken in Vienna to 
secure him for the post previously held by 
Joseph Weigl, the Imperial GapeUmeister^ 
then just deceased. The notification that he 
would not be granted annual leave of absence 
to visit Paris induced him, we are told, defin- 
itively to decline the offer. Unfortunately 
every trace is wanting which could lead to 
the corroboration of this strange story. Apart 
from the fact that Berlioz did not understand 
a word of German, he could scarcely be con- 
sidered especially adapted for the post of 
Capellmeister at the Court of Vienna. Dur- 
ing the following years most of the letters 
are from London, where Berlioz always met 
with a most flattering reception as an artist, 
and where, too, he used to do well pecuniarily. 
He speaks, therefore, of the English and their 
musical intelligence by no means badly, though 

1 " I wiah you could bear the new open bj Billetia, 
the celebrated English professor of the piano,'* writes Ber- 
lios on the 13th November, 1857, to his friend, A. Morel. 
^ Do not beUet€ <me vord of the moderate eneomiums 
which my to-day's feoiUeton contains coooeming it! On the 
contrary, I had to exert the greatest control over myself to 
write even calmly about it." 

P. S. Biletta was not • profiMnr of the pianoforte; Jior 
was (or is) he an Englishman (however ** celebrated '*); nor 
is (or was) hirname spelt «* BiUettA.'* — D. B. 



JcNB 21, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



99 



he might have beea expected to do so. lie 
judges the French public with merciless se- 
verity ; nay, from his letters we can plainly 
perceive his embittered feeling as an artist 
and his wrath against his country increasing 
year by year. ** Did I ever see at my con- 
certs in Paris people belonging to good so- 
ciety, men and women, touched and affected, 
as in Grermany and Russia ? To behold noth- 
ing around me save stupidity, indifference, in- 
gratitude, or alarm, — such is my lot in Paris. 
France, from a musical point of view, is only 
a land of cretins." ^ In England the wish to 
love music is at any rate true and lasting.** 
In London he was especially charmed by 
Wilhelmine Clauss (now Mme. Szvarvady), 
the pianist, who performed Mendelssohn's G 
minor concerto with such wondrous purity of 
style that, despite her youth, she struck him 
as ^ the first eminent musician -and-pianist 
Ipianiste musicienne'] of the day." 

There now appeared a new personage, 
destined to agitate strongly and painfully the 
later years of Berlioz's life: Richard Wag- 
ner. I'he letter addressed to Wagner (the 
only one so addressed in the collection) is 
dated Paris, September, 1853, and written in 
the most friendly tone. Still, despite all the 
reserve regarding Wagner's compositions, 
there is about it a foretaste of that sharp 
polemical spirit which subsequently called 
forth the well-known ^ Public Letter " to 
Wagner, and finally blazed up into passionate 
hostility. It is in answer to a communication 
from Wagner, who had probably requested 
that some of Berlioz's scores might be sent 
him at Lucerne. This interesting document, 
with the omission of a few immaterial pas- 
sages, is well deserving a place here. Ber- 
lioz writes : — 

" Mr DEAR Wagner, — Your letter afforded 
me great pleasure. You are not wrong in deploring 
my ignorance of the Grerman language, and what 
you say about its being an impossibility for me to 
appreciate your works is what I have said very 
many times to myself. The flower of an expres- 
sion fades nearly always under the weight of the 
translation, however delicately the latter may be 
made. There are accents in true music which 
require their special word, and there are words 
which require their own accent. To separate 
one fix>m the other, or to give approzimatives, is 
to have a puppy suckled by a goat and recipro- 
cally. But what is to be done ? I experience 
a diabolical difficulty in learning languages; I 
can scarcely say I know a few words of English 
and Italian. ... So you are engaged in 
melting the glaciers by the composition of your 
Nibdungen I It must be superb to write thus in 
presence of Nature in her grandeur 1 . . . . 
That is another delight which is refused me. 
Fine landscapes, lofty mountain-tops, and the 
grand aspect of the sea, completely absorb me, 
instead of evoking the manifestation of my 
thought. At such times I feel without being able 
to express. I cannot draw the moon except by 
looking at her image in a well. I have your Zo- 
hertg/in ; if you could manage to let me have 
TannkduseVy you would do me a great favor. 
.... Were we to live another hundred years 
or so, I believe we should get the better of many 
things and of many men." 

The more widely and more loudly Wag- 
ner's fame spread, the more violent became 
the opposition on the part of Berlioz. In the 
year 1858, he writes of Hans von Biilow : 
^ This young man is one of the most fervent 



disciples of the insensate school called in 
Germany the School of the Future. They 
will not give in, and are absolutely bent on 
my being their chief and standanl-bearer. I 
say nothing, and I write nothing; people of 
sense will be able to nee how much truth 
there is in the matter." On the morning 
after the celebrated failure of Tannhduser 
at the Grand Ope a, Paris, Berlioz cannot 
suppress, in a letter to Mme. Massart, a wild 
cry of joy. And, after the fearful disturb- 
ance at the second performance, he exclaims, 
as though relieved : ^' As for myself, I am 
cruelly avenged ! " It is something lament- 
able to see the bitter spirit caused by his own 
professional fate dulling so sharp a mind and 
clouding his judgment. Not only is he un- 
influenced by the fact that the scene of con- 
fusion enacted by the Parisians at the per- 
formance of Tannhduser was a piece of black- 
guardism planned beforehand, but, in his 
hatred for the " Music of the Future " he 
likewise fails to perceive the undeniably close 
relationship connecting that music with his 
own. At first it was Berlioz's orchestral 
works which influenced the younger Wagner ; 
afterwards, inverting the order of things, Ber- 
lioz (in his opera of Les Troyens) was in- 
fluenced by Wagner, if not by his music, at 
any rate by his principles. His prophetic eye 
which foresaw that his own music, then neg- 
lected there, would one day be appreciated in 
France, was blind to a similar claim when 
advanced by an artist connected with him by 
affinity ; blind to the possible future of the 
"Music of the Future" in France. The 
time for Der Fliegende Hollander, Tanti' 
hduser, and Lohengrin will come for France 
as surely as it has come for Italy. Nay, 
if R. Wa^er is not already performed in 
Paris, political antipathies alone are the 
reason. Musically the way has been perfectly 
smoothed there for the composer of Tann- 
hduser ^ and by no one more than — by the 
resuscitated Berlioz himself! 

Berlioz's letters, agreeing with his life, be- 
come sadder and sadder, more and more mis- 
erable, as they approach the end of the vol- 
ume. He buries his second wife (formerly 
Mile. R^cio, the singer, who accompanied 
him on his concert-tours to Vienna and 
Prague) and is doomed to survive his only 
sou, Louis, who was a seaman, and dies far 
away on some distant sea. For the last great 
and unalloyed pleasure of his life he was, ac- 
cording to his own assertion, indebted to Vi- 
enna. In answer to Herbeck's invitation he 
visited the Austrian capital towards the end 
of 1866 (that is, about two years before his 
death) to conduct in the large Redoutensaal 
his dramatic symphony, La Damnation de 
Faust, previously unknown to the Viennese. 
Perfectly delighted, and, writing to a Paris- 
ian friend, he speaks in these terms of the 
performance and its brilliant results : *^ I had 
three hundred chorus singers and one hun- 
dred and fifty musicians ; a charming Mar-' 
guerite, * Mile. Bettleim,' whose mezzo-so- 
prano voice is splendid ; a tenor Faust (Wal- 
ter), such as we do not possess in Paris ; and 
an energetic Mephisto, Mayerhofer. Her- 
beck, who is a first - class conductor, has 
doubled, ten folded, manifolded himself for 
me. My room is never free from visitors 
and persons coming to congratulate me. This I 



evening a grand banquet, at which two or 
three hundred pei*son8 will be present, is to 
be given in my honor. In a word^ wh^t can 
I say ? This has been the greatest musical 
pleasure of my life ! " With this bright and 
harmonious chord we will take leave of the 
noble and much-tried artist's book, otherwise 
so full of dissonances. 



PALESTRINA. 

(Pron Um ProfFMDBM of tha Bojtoton Qub Oonotrt, Jxum 4, 

1879.) 

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 
was born in 1.524. Of his early life little is 
known except that his family was obscure 
and hid resources yerj small. Of his inlel- 
leotnal and spiritual life, his works, to those 
who read them aright, are a full and satisfy- 
ing expression. He was appointed Ma<«ter 
of the Chapel by Pope Julius III. in 1551, 
and then practically began the work which 
has rendered him illustrious. 

The age in which he lived was a crisis in 
the history of music. Secular influences had 
debased that school from which was devel- 
oping the later German classical school. It 
was of supreme importance to the future of 
music that the purity of th^t school should 
be restored. In this extremity appeared 
Palestrina, and by the beauty of his works 
and the sturdy truthfulness of his musical in- 
spirations, he impressed himself so thoroughly 
on his own age that the wisest and the best 
united in styling him the ^ Prince of Mu- 
sic." He created a style so imposing, so 
pure and so expres'«ive, that for the long pe- 
riod of a hundred years the Palestrina school 
held undivided sway over the musical thought 
of the world. He opened the path, by fol- 
lowing which the most beautiful and most 
touching works have been produced. 

The music of Palestrina recalls the heroic 
ages of history. He is the Homer of mu- 
sical literature. Simple, yet never trivial ; 
learned, but without pedantry ; rich, yet al- 
ways natural ; quiet, but never weak, his 
music has the characteristics which distin- 
guish the great epics. The bard for the 
honor of whose birth seven cities contended 
is not more simple, grand, and irresistible in 
his poems than is Palestrina in his ma<«ses, 
and the influence of the one in the domain 
of literatue is not more ennobling and per- 
manent than that of the other in the realm 
of music. 

In order to estimate the beauty of Pales- 
triua's music, it is especially necessary that 
we should know beforehand for what beauty 
to look, and be possessed with the spirit in 
which he wrought ; for there is no modern 
standard by which to judge hinL In his 
sphere he stands alone ; and so far removed 
from the spirit of our times that it may be 
of service to some who are not familiar with 
his works to suggest what is to be found in 
them 

We find in Pale-^trina, then, the profound- 
est knowledge of musical science employed 
in expressing with purity and simplicity the 
fervent emotions of a devout soul. This ex- 
pression is usually in the form of melodies 
of the subtlest emotional character, crossing 
and recrossing, weaving a texture of hnrmo- 
nies as rich as they are surprising and beauti- 
ful ; a style of imposing grandeur; a perfect 



100 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 9»6, 



adaptation of music to the spirit of the 
words; an earnest, chaste, and exHlted re- 
ligious feeling, as far removed from gloom 
and cant as from sentimentality ; a repose, 
as if he were resting on the Kock of Ages. 

For the expression of his thought there is 
required a perfect purity of intonation, an 
absolute sostenuto, a quiet delivery, and an 
intense feeling bom of pure enlhuniasm, and 
when these qualities are united in the per- 
formance, we are borne irresistibly along as if 
upon the broad, unruffled bosom of a majes- 
tic river of pure tone. 

It is not possible to overestimate the mar- 
velous effect upon the mind of the study and 
frequent hearing of f>uch music as Palestrina 
has left. Grand, refining, and divine, it does 
not lavishly expose nil its wealth to the care- 
less eye ; but to the mind that can appreciate, 
and to the heart that can feel the force of 
the beauty of truth, it speaks with such per- 
suasive eloquence that even those *' who come 
to scoff remain to pray." His music is mu- 
sical truth, satisfying the best aspirations <>f 
all ages ; a Mecca to which shall come in all 
lime the faithful worshipers of the good, the 
beautiful and true. w. M. £. 



HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 

BBPORT OF TBI PRBSIDBNT, C. C. PERKIITS, AT TBK 

ANNUAL MEETING. 

Gentlembk: — I have to thank you this 
evening for reelecting me president of the Han- 
del and Haydn Society. This is the fifth time 
that I have received a like proof of confidence on 
the part of its members, nay, I may say the sixth, 
as twenty-eight years ago I first served it in that 
capacity for the space of a twelvemonth. A long 
time elapsed before I was again called upon to 
do so, but I can honestly say, that although there 
was a witie break In my tenure of office, there 
was never any in the warm interest which I felt 
in the well-being of the society. This leads me 
to believe that 1 need not take up time in making 
such protestations of attachment to it as might be 
called ibr from a younger member, for any words 
which I might use would serve only to express 
feelings of whose existence you must be aware, 
and of whose sincerity I hope you are not in- 
clined to doubt 

At these, our annual meetings, it is customary 
to take a brief survey of the season, and to com- 
pare it with preceding seasons, so far as is neces- 
sary to assure ourselves that we have not lost 
ground in any respect. If the music performed 
has been of an equally high character, then we 
may feel that we have not derogated in point of 
selection from our previous high standard ; if the 
works selected for performance have been studied 
faithfully, then we may have confidence in the 
unabated zeal and devotion of the members of 
the chorus ; if we have reason to believe that the 
oratorios given at our concerts have been even 
better sung than before, then our minds may be 
at rest upon the all-important point as to whether 
the chorus has made an advance towards a de- 
sirable though ever unattainable perfection ; and, 
if we find, as in the present case, that the special 
difficulties encountered in preparing one of the 
works performed have been successfully over- 
come, then we may rest assured that we have 
raised our society to a higher plane than that 
which it had hitherto occupied. I think that, on 
examination of our winter's work, we shall find 
reason to be satisfied and encouraged upon all 
tTiCfte points. 

The season just closed presents features pe- 



culiar to itself, and, as it shows higher musical 
attainment and better material results, we are 
justified in concluding, on the one hand, that we 
did not overrate our ability when we took the 
Passion music for our chief study ; and, on tlie 
other, that we were not deceived in believing that 
we should find the public ready to support us in 
an undertaking which some persons looked upon 
as not a little hazardous, considering the great 
difficulties which the music presented to the cho- 
rus, and the demand which its peculiar character 
made upon the audience for patient and rever- 
ent attention. The performance was a widely 
acknowledged artistic success, and, as the receipts 
were larger tlian those coming from any other 
oratorio given during the seai«on, we may safely 
conclude that, while in producing such noble mu- 
sic we were acting up to the high standard hith- 
erto adhered to by the society, we were also 
consulting its material interests, and thus feel 
ourselves justified in believing that a continuance 
in such well-doing will not impoverish us, while 
it must certainly benefit us in every other way. 
But to reca])itulate, in order to dwell for a mo- 
ment upon the several points indicated; and 
first, as to the selection of works to be performed. 
These were Verdi's '* Requiem," the *' Messiah,** 
the ** Hymn of Praise,** the Passion music entire, 
** Judas Maccabseus," and the "Elijah, "or Mr. 
Zerrahn*s benefit concert. Certainly no previous 
year can show a richer or more varied selection 
than this, including, as it doe8,.the three greatest 
master-pieces of German oratorio muric ; a sec- 
ond, and truly soul-stirring work by Handel, and 
a highly dramatic and effective work by the most 
eminent living Italian composer. Nor should I 
neglect to mention that at the miscellaneous con- 
cert, when the ** Hymn of Praise '* was performed, 
a portion of the sacred cantata by Hector Ber- 
lioz, the " Repose in Egypt," was given for the 
first time in America, together with Mr. Parker's 
** Redemption Hymn,*' which was written ex- 
pressly for our last triennial festival. 

My second and third points were. How have 
these works been studied, and how were they 
performed ? I couple the two, because the an- 
swer to the last, admirably carries with it the 
answer to the second, diligently. Had they not 
been studied patiently, intelligently and with an 
earnest desire on the part of all to do their very 
best, the works in question could not have been 
performed so efiectively as all acknowledged that 
they were. 

Our excellent conductor did not shrink from 
searching criticism, or weary in requiring fre- 
quent repetition, but, in justice to the chorus it 
must be said that its members were no less mind- 
ful of their duty, being ever patient under the 
first and willing to comply with the last When 
we remember that difficult passages abound in 
the choruses of the Passion music score, we feel 
that we have a right to be proud of having over- 
come them so successfully. To have produced 
the entire work for the first time in America is 
highly honorable to the society, and to have filled 
the Music Hall both at the afternoon and evening 
performance is welcome evidence that the public 
appreciated the opportunity of hearing music 
wMch combines the deepest science with the 
purest, the most earnest, and the most devout 
feeling. Of this excellent disposition on the part 
of the public we must not fail to take, advantage, 
knowing, as we do, that the more such mu«ic is 
heard, the more it will be appreciated and called 
for. We recognize how much our own apprecia- 
tion of it grew as each succeeding rehearsal re- 
vealed to us some hitherto unseen beauty, and 
how our enthusiasm increased as its wonders of 
construction and inspiration were gradually re- 
vealed tp us. Vividly impressed as we were at 
the outset by the dramatic power of <* Ye light- 



nings, ye thunders ; *' moved as we were by the 
solemn grandeur of the chorales interspersed 
throughout the work ; charmed as we were with 
the quaint pathos of such airs as ^ Give me back 
my dearest master,** it was only little by little 
that we began to perceive the subtle beauty of 
those ever changing harmonics, and the unending 
variety of those contrapuntal enrichments, which 
make the context of these and other gems of 
Bach's sreat work a marvel and a wonder to all 
musicians. 

It is human to value most that which it has 
taken the most trouble to attain, and thus, of all 
that the past season has given us, we value most 
the insight which we have gained into the Pas- 
sion music. Convinced that, no matter how 
much more study we may give to it, we cannot 
exhaust its resources, let us look forward to the 
time when we may again tske it up and wrestle 
with it, as did Jacob with the angel, till it has 
given us its full blessing. One last word, and I 
will have done with the Passion music, and this 
is a word intended to call your attention to the 
evident improvement of the chorus under its dis- 
cipUne. It was manifrst to all who heard the 
oratorios which followed it that Bach had smoothed 
the way for llandel and Mendelssohn, for never 
were the chonkses of ** Judas MaccabsBus ** and 
*' Elijah ** sung with great lu* correctness, fire, and 
effect than at the two concerts which closed the 
season of 1879. 

Our chorus has certainly gained in unity of 
attack, in nicety of shading, in precision of in- 
tonation, and the^e are the essentials of progress. 
With a smaller body of singers, all of them picked 
voices, drilled by such an accomplished musician 
as Mr. Osgood, the Boylston Club surpasses us 
in the niceties of chorus singing, but these cannot 
be speedily attained by a great body of singers 
like the Handel and Ilaydn chorus. Our work 
is epic, while theirs is lyric. We paint frescoes 
with broad effects I they produce cabinet pictures 
finished with all the minuteness of a Meissonnier. 

In considering the possibilities. of artistic im- 
provement and enjoyment in America, I have 
often thought how much greater they are in mu- 
sic than in architecture, sculpture, or painting. We 
cannot see the great Gothic catliedrals and learn 
from them to appreciate the masterpieces of an 
art to which the epithet of ** frozen music * has 
been well applied ; we cannot look upon original 
Greek and Rjnaissance marbles, and gain from 
them an insight into the possible perfections of 
plastic art ; neither can we stand before the pict- 
ures of Raphael, and Rembrandt, and Velasquez, 
until we have penetrated the hidden secrets 
which their beauty has to reveal to the initiated ; 
but music, like poetry, belongs to us as absolutely, 
if we choose to possess ourselves of it, as to the 
inhabitanu of the Old World. The masses of 
Palestrina, the overtures of Handel, the cantatas 
of Bach, in all their immortal freshness and orig- 
inal perfection, are written down for us as for 
them, and at the cost of our exertion can be 
made to deliver to us their myriad messages of 
consolation and comfort. We are the guardians 
of those sources of elevated and ennobling enjoy- 
ments, and, feeling as we do the responsibility of 
such a trust, we will not fail to discharge it as 
the honor of our well-beloved society demands. 

We concluded our season with a performance 
of the " Elijah," for the benefit of Mr. Zerrahn, 
who for twentj-five successive years had filled 
the important office of conductor. The conduc- 
tor, gentlemen, I need hardly say, is the main- 
spring of our musical watch, and, feeling how 
much the success of the society has depended 
upon him, it was most fitting that we should give 
him a public testimonial of our regard and ^rati- 
tude. He sent me this morning a letter which I 
will read to you, that yon may see how much he 



JcMB 21, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



101 



has felt the generous appreciation of his services 

which the Handel and Haydn Society — and by 

this he means both the actual members and the 

lady members of the chorus — have manifested : 

Boston, May 96, 1879. 

Mt Dbab Mb. Pbrkims : — Supposing that you will 
be praent at the annual meetuig of the Handel and Haydn 
Society to-night, I woold request you to thank the memben 
of tlie government once more finr Uieir liindnets in giving me 
that BiSendid benefit eoncert, and the members of the choros 
for their magnilioeiit singing during the whole evening, as 
well as for the bcautifU presents thoy have given me. It 
was an occasion which nuule me more than happy, and I 
shall always look back upon it with the greatest pride. Thank- 
ing you personally flbr your kind efibrts in my beliaJf, I have 
tlM honor to remain, my dear sir, Yours, very truly, 

Cabl Zjcxrahx. 

In conclusion, I beg to offer you my sincere 
congratulations on the financial resylt of the past 
season. For the first time since I have been 
president, I have neither to announce a deficit 
nor a mere liquidation of incurred expenses, but, 
on the contrary, a balance of $1000 in the hands 
of the treasurer. Let us hope that tbb is the begin- 
ning of a turn in the tide of our affatn, and that 
other seasons, with like results, are in store for 
us, which will enable us eventually to carry out 
many useful projects too long kept in abeyance 
for want of the necessary funds. 

During the feason we have given six concerts, 
including the ^ Elijah," and have held thirty-five 
rehearsals, attended by an average of three hun- 
dred and forty- seven members of the chorus. 
The average number of singers at the public per- 
formances was four hundred and forty-seven, out 
of a total of five hundred and ninety-five belong- 
ing. Forty-two new members have been ad- 
mitted to the society, and sixty-seven ladies have 
joined our ranks. Finally, the number of dis- 
charges given and resignations accepted is nine 
in all. Feeling that this address has alraady grown 
to an inordinate length, I »hair hastily bring it to 
a close with an expression of my best wishes for 
the continued and ever-increasing prosperity of 
the Handel and Hadyn Society, which has now 
completed its sixty-fourth year of existence. 



that they 're asked. And what stuff they paint I 
The stupid patrons themselves don't like it. 
You may say : <' I '11 never do that 1 " But you 
will do it You must, if you don't stop short in 
the beginning, and determine never to change 
your work to suit those people. Bead William 
Blake, and see what he would have said to such 
a proposal 1 I know it is hard to hold out about 
such a thing. The yety sensitiveness that makes 
people paint makes them hate to be disagreea- 
ble ; but you had better get over that as soon as 
possible. 'Twas you who made the picture: 
no one else ; and no one else ought to make al- 
terations in it. You ought to say : ** Take my 
brushes. No, on the whole, you may buy your 
own, and see how much you can improve it." 
You know, and they do, that they couldn 't im- 
prove a thing about it. And above all things, 
never make such a concession for money. 

Did you ever feel that your life-time was not 
long enough for all the work that you wanted to 
do ? That 's the good* of teaching other people. 
You get your life continued in that way. 

It did no great harm to cut a hole through 
your picture ; but you ought to have lined the 
whole tiling with another canvas. If you only 
make a patch large enough it does n't show. As 
the little girl at the menagerie could n't see the 
elephant There he was, towering up before 
her ; but he was so big that she could n't make 
any tiling of him. So she still inquired, ** Where 
is the elephant ? " 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

yaOM INSTRUCTIONS «Or MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO BIS PUPILS. 

vni. 

It is a good plan to btop your work and go to 
drive sometimes. You see so much, and it 
makes you want to work, and that's the main 
thing after alL When you are out-of-doors and 
see something that you like, put it on canvas in 
your mind: Think just how you woold do it 
That will often help you more than if you really 
did it 

*' How shall I wash my picture, that has been 
varnished ? " 

Just with water. That won't hurt it ; and a 
potato is an excellent thing for cleaning an oil- 
painting. Use it with water, as you would a 
sponge ; then dry it with a piece of damp cha- 
mois-leather. Not a dry one. You could not 
dry it with that Chamois-leather is good be- 
cause' It does not leave any lint. 

But I should never alter that picture. You 
must not getJnto the habit of allowing outsiders 
to interfere with your work. It is fatal. It will 
ruin you as a painter. There are too many 
poor, miserable creatures, who paint portraits 
with people standing over them to say : ** A little 
more blue here ; some red on her cheeks ; and, 
I should like to have the dress red. No, on the 
whole, I'll have it green." They meekly re- 
ceive all that kind of thing, and turn every way 

1 Copyrigbt, 1879, by Helen M. Kiiowltoo. 



What makes you paint on that horrid book- 
binder's board ? You might have felt like go- 
ing on with that sketch if the board had not 
been all out of f^hap^. But it is of no use telling 
people things like that It is better to let them 
learn from their own sad experience. Provide 
yourselvct with good canvases, or panels. And 
you had better have only two or three different 
sizes. Then you cau more easily have frames 
for them all, and you can pack them better for 
sketching. There is no use in having so many 
different sizes. 

You are getting the transparency of that 
mantle. But there 's one thing there that 's big- 
ger than transparency 1 There 's human nature 
underneath that shawL 

If speech is silver, and silence golden, then 
gabble is greenbacks. 

^tmgl^t'0 fpumal of fustic. 

s 
SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1879. 

SOME THOUGHTS ON MUSICAL EDU- 
CATION. 

II. 

I HAVE said that exercises in counterpoint 
are exercises in the technique of composition, as 
scales, arpeggios, five-finger exercises, and octave 
studies, are exercises in the technique of piano- 
forte playing. Yet there is no practice which is 
purely technical ; if it were so, it were practice 
to little purpose. The sesthetic element creeps 
in of itself and beautifies the drudgery, if we do 
not willfully shut the door upon it and leave it 
outside in the cold. In trying to conquer the 
weakness or stubbornness of a particular finger 
which mars the perfect smoothness of our scale 
passages, we take to the shift of practicing scales 
with a variety of rhythmic accents, knowing that 
when we have succeeded in making the unruly 
finger strike an accent when we please we have 



taken the first step towards conquering its stub- 
bornness. So scale practice becomes of itself an 
exercise in rhythm, and an introduction to the 
art of phrasing. The incipient athlete who be- 
gins to strengthen his muscles with dumbbells 
and Indian clubs, that they may acquire the 
toughness of fibre necessary to enable him to 
trust himself on the horizontal bar and enter 
upon higher athletic exploits, soon discovers that 
even these preliminary exercises do not consist 
in the application of brute force merely. With 
certain poises of the body, the dumbbell can be 
raised at less expense to the muscles than with 
others ; afler a while, the clubs, which at first 
seemed so unwieldy, almost swing themselves ; 
after the first impulse, it takes comparatively 
little strength to keep them a-going. His mus- 
cle-strengthening practice becomes also a muscle- 
saving practice, an exercise in economizing 
strength and in athletic skilL So exercises in 
counterpoint are not merely dry, mechanical 
problems which the pupil can satisfactorily solve 
by writing, we will say, so many notes in one 
voice against one note in another, in accordance 
wi'h certain strict rules; the exercise must be 
written so that it not only fulfills all the require- 
ments of its scheme, but that it sounds well and 
musically to boot The more advanced the or- 
der of counterpoint is, the easier will it be for 
the pupil to make his exercises musically beauti- 
ful. 

Another priceless benefit that the well-directed 
study and practice of counterpoint and harmony 
confers upon the pupil is a certain purifying and 
rendering stable of his musical taste and percep- 
tions. It is here that sound teaching and intel- 
ligent supervision becomes of the utmost impor- 
tance. It is much to be regretted that most of 
the text-books of harmony in common use aie 
rather text-books in thorough-bass than in har- 
mony proper. They give the pupil all the nec- 
essary directions to enable him to write out a 
figured bass in four-part harmony without mak- 
ing bad fifths or octaves, or very disagreeable 
cross-relations, but, as a^ rule, they teach little 
concerning the art of harmonizing a given canius 
firmu$. This instruction is generally left to the 
teacher. I know of nothing more valuable in 
forming a pure musical taste than practice in 
harmonizing chorals in pure tonal harmony. By 
this I do not mean what some theorists call tonal 
harmony, that is, harmony composed merely of 
chords that can be formed from the notes belong- 
ing to any particular scale (leitereigenen AC" 
corde), but what F^tis calls tonal harmony, for 
an explanation of which I will refer the reader 
to his admirable treatise on the subject.^ In 
this noble exercise (which may be varied by all 
sorts of contrapuntal devices), let the pupil grad- 
ually persuade himself that all the chromatic, 
so-called transcendental element in harmony if 
properly nothing more than* a sort of brilliant 
adornment, which can in almost every case be 
dispensed with ; that the simple nature of the 
choral demands a certain classic nudity in its 
harmony, and does not admit of the direct sim- 
plicity of its progressions being loaded with chro- 
matic and enharmonic ornaments. When the 
pupil has once trained his ear to feel the beauty 
and solidity that is inherent in a firmly fixed 
tonality, so that he prefers strength and decision 
in harmony (which by no means shuts the door 
upon variety) to capricious rambling and inde- 
cision, he has already reached a point where he 
can look upon his own musical perceptions with 
respect and confidence, and where he can begin 
to apply the technique he has gained by contra- 
puntal practice to the freer forms of original com- 

1 TrttiU compUt dt la Thiaru et de la Pratique d* 
PHmtnonU. Ptf F. J. Fktu. Peris : Biandas et Oe. 
lli&me Editioo. 1875. 



102 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. -No. 996. 



position. At this stage of bis development no 
exercise is so fraught with benefit both to his 
technical skill and his assthetic sense as the fill- 
ing out some of Handel's figured (or unfigured) 
basses in pure polyphonic writing ; in other 
words, writing '' additional accompaniments ** to 
many of Handel's airs, which in the original 
scores are only supported by a figured bass. If 
any one ask why I recommend Handel's basses 
in preference to Bach's, let him only tndn him- 
self up to the point of being able to fill out a 
Handel bass in pure polyphonic writing so that 
it really sounds respectably, and then try to do 
the same thing with a Bach bass ! I mistake 
Tery much if he does not find his first attempts 
with Bach singularly disheartening. 

It IS an almost universal thing for students in 
any particular branch of the arts or sciences to 
pursue what is known as ^ a parallel course of 
reading" in addition to studying certain text- 
books. For the musician and student of com- 
position this ** parallel course " is naturally an 
analytical study of the works of the great com- 
posers. The choice of works to be studied with 
the most benefit is not so easy as might at first 
be supposed. Evidently the student should 
choose such works as Uiere is the most to be 
learned from ; but here tliere are many points 
which deserve mature consideration. As a gen- 
eral rule, the true classics are to be almost ex- 
clusively recommended, — Haydn, Mozart, the 
earlier works of Beethoven, and almost the whole 
of Mendelssohn. I do not emphasize the works 
of these men because they are standard models 
of excellence merely, but because they are so 
thoroughly pervaded with the true classic spirit, 
which, if it means anything, means the exalting 
of workmanship over material. No one can 
deny that Sebastian Bach and Beethoven, even 
in his last period, are essentially classic writers, 
yet there is a certain quasi-elemental quality in 
their music which appeals so strongly to the pas- 
sions and the more potent sentiments that it is 
diflicult really to $t%td}f it. Their results are so 
overpowering that one is hard put to it to pay 
much attention to their methods. And, after all, 
methods are what we try to study, and all that 
we can learn. Beethoven, for instance, may 
fairly be said to have completely turned the heads 
of half music-writing Europe. So intense is the 
emotional power of his music that many men 
have been actually blinded to the classic purity 
of his writing ; nay, more, some enthusiasts have 
even foi^tten that he was a composer at all, 
and never mention him saving as a tone-poet, 
a giant, a Titan, or by some other equally reso- 
nant epitheL Now remember that no one can 
learn to be a tone-poet any more than he can 
learn to be a genius. But one can learn to be 
a musician. Leave the $tudy of Beethoven's 
later works and of almost all of Bach until you 
have made yoursielf a master of Haydn and 
Mozart. Look to the later Beethoven sonatas 
and quartets, and .to Bach's church cantatas, for 
inspiration and musical enjoyment ; when you 
are bent upon analyzing and study, take some- 
thing else. It b ticklish business at best study- 
ing a composer to learn what you may have au- 
thority for daring to do ; all tbat one generally 
learns thereby is what the composer himself 
could dare, and the probability of its fitting your 
own case is not great. It benefits you little to 
know that Beethoven can fly from the key of A 
major to that of £ major by the way of B flat 
major, unless you have the genius to do some- 
thing equally original and daring with equal 
musical success. Upon the whole, it behooves 
the student to distinguish sharply between that 
which can be leanied from great examples and 
that which cannot. Studying the great com- 
posers in the right way will not in the least de- 



stroy the student's originality ; studying them 
in the wrong way inevitably will. Try to per- 
meate yourself with their assthetic spirit ; do not 
try to catch their manner. If you analyze their 
works, do so with the purpose of discovering 
wherein their artistic symmetry and proportion 
lies, not for the sake of appropriating to yourself 
any peculiarities of style and manner which may 
be characteristic of them. And to end with, let 
my " et delendam etse Carthaginem " be the oft- 
repeated cry of ** acquire technique,*' Learn how 
to do things, and practice until you can do them 
easily. Technique does not stand in the way of 
originality ; if you have really original stuff in 
you, it will appear doubly original — and worth 
listening to, besides — if you can express your- 
self easily and naturally. 

William F. Apthorp. 



CONCERTS. 

BoTLSTON Club. — The fourth and last con- 
cert (sixth season) of this steadily progressive 
club of singers, under the earnest and eflicient 
leadership of Mr. Osgood, took place in the 
crowded Music Hall on Wednesday evening, 
June 4. It brought our Boston musical season 
practically to a close, although small s'jattering 
performances, mostly pupils' concerts, still go on 
in smaller halls and chambers. It was one of 
the most intei-esting conctrts which the Boylston 
Club have ever given, if only by the single fact 
of its opening with a repetition of Palestrina's 
Mass for the Dead (Me*$a per i Deffonti)^ which 
maile so deep an impression a year ago. It was 
sung a capella as before, that is, without accompa- 
niment, mostly in five parts, the Hostias only be- 
ing in four parts (soprano, alto and two tenors). 
To singers who have had no other practice in 
this s<;hool of music, nor even any chance of hear- 
ing it, it must have ofiured very great and peculiar 
difficulties. In the first place the contrapuntal, pol- 
yphonic flow of the interwoven voices, nearly all 
in long notes, overlapping one another, each me- 
lodic voice claiming attention to itself for but an 
instant and then losing itself in the complex uni- 
tary whole, like the swelling and subsiding of the 
waves upon a gentle ocean, emblem at once of 
restless life and of repose, must render it ex- 
ceedingly diflicult to measure and keep time, for 
it has hardly anything like accent. The time, the 
rhythm, to be sure, in this and all the Falestriua 
music is ever the same square four-two measure ; 
save for convenience to the eye the bars mean 
nothing, and it might as well be written without 
bars. Then it requires such purity of intona- 
tion, such a full, even calibre of voice, and such a 
sustained delivery, so smooth and quiet, so noble 
and reposeful, and as it were impenonal, as if 
this music were expressing the eternal, that one 
wondered how it was possible for these singers to 
succeed in it so well. They did succeed, how- 
ever, even better than in the first performance. 
There was a pure and beautiful ensemble of well- 
balanced voices, and the efiect was heavenly. It 
was peace itself; you could but yield yourself, 
heart and soul and sense, to the blissful, holy 
spell. Essentially it sounded all alike ; it might 
come to a stop at this point or at that, in any 
portion of the movement ; yet you did not wish 
it ever to leave off; you could listen forever ; it 
was breathing a clearer atmosphere, it was being 
lifted out of the realm of clouds and common- 
place. We do not yet know enough of Pales- 
trina's music to judge whether each composition 
of his can be called a new and individual crea- 
tion in the imaginative sense, differing from the 
others as one symphony of Beethoven, or one play 
of Shakespeare, differs from another ; in other 
words, whether these compositions have ideal 
contents (^Inhalt) as well as a noble form and 



style. Open the volumes of his woiks where 
you will, one page looks like another. Are there 
idecu here, musical or poetic ? Or is it not rather 
a grand, an almost superhuman, divine manner 
of expi'essing always one and the same idea and 
feeling. — that of holiness ? In this very Mass for 
the Dead,' for instance, we get no sense of mourn- 
ing or bereavement, nothing of the funereal char- 
acter, any more than in any of the other masses, 
— say the famous one named after Pope Mar- 
cello. It is all peace, a cheerful, solemn mood of 
faith and perfect trust ; and what else do we find 
in all this music ? Sublime, therefore, as Pales- 
trina's music is, and worthy to be much better 
known among us, we cannot rank him on a level 
with such a creative genius as Bach or Handel, 
in whom the same polyphonic principle has 
reached a far richer development. The writer 
of the excellent article which we copy from the 
programme of the concert, makes Palestrina the 
Homer of music ; we do not quarrel with the 
parallel ; in some sense it is just ; yet Homer 
always has something more to tell than he 
had told before ; Homer is essentially a narra- 
tive poet. Palestrina's mission seems to have 
been, through music, to fill the church with the 
right atmosphere of feeling ; an atmosphere which 
it is very delightful to breathe, in which we forget 
and rise above our selfish egos, and realize eter- 
nity, feel that the Lord is in his holy temple. 
This he can do without having much to tell, 
without fresh and various ideas to communicate, 
without the imaginativew and of Prospera And 
yet we would not go so far as to say that 
there is nothing characteristic in the several 
movements or pieces of the mass, no distinctive 
features by which we can rec*ognize each one ; 
the fact that, while all were found so beautiful 
and so impressive, yet everybody felt this more par- 
ticularly in the Scthcfun and the Benedictuty proves 
the contrary. We thank ihe Boylston Club for 
so precious an experience as the hearing of such 
music so well sung, and we hope they will give 
us much more of the same, and by their example 
inspire others to the same good work. 

Tlie second part of the concert offered a rich 
variety of pieces, both for male and female chorus 
separately, and for mix^ voices. The only fault 
was in the too much of a good thing, and this 
was aggravated by the relapse of the audience 
into the old (we had thought outgrown) barba- 
rism of encoring half a-dozen pieces in succession, 
'lliis was the selection : — 

A Night In the Graenwood Hkeimberger. 

Miud Chorui, acoompsnicd by Flano, Violiii, 

Viob, and 'CeUo. 

On Upper Lsagbatluea ...... EngeUbtrg. 

Msk Choms. 

Prange of Spring HoUatnder, 

FeoMle Choms. 

TVumpeter's Maj Soni; Otgood. 

Mais Chorus with Altoa, aoeompanied by T^nun- 
petObligato. 

Slumber Song KUcken. 

Miied Chorus. 
' a. Song of the Sammcr Birds . . \ 

Female Chorus. i j»b.Ai«/-i- 
6. First morementfitHn Trio hi B fiat / ^w««»«»- 
PhuM, VioUn, and 'Cdlo. Op. 59. J 
FoTMkeo (Folksong from the CSrinthlaii.)* 

HaleChonis. 

Spinnin|( Song Wagner. 

From the openi, " The Flying Dutchman.'* 
Female Choms. 

YooalWalta Vogd, 

Male Choms. 
Anthem: Kini; AU-Glorioos .....'.. Bamb^. 
SokM, Bfixed Choms, and Oigan. 

These were all sung in rare perfection, those 
for female voices only leaving a delightful sense 
of pure sweet harmony, and delicate expression. 
We never heard that " Spinning Song " so finely 
given. The most important numbers were the 
mixed chorus by Rhcinberger. which was ex- 
tremely effective, Messrs. Allen, Heindl, and 
Wulf Fries supplying the string accompaniments, 



Junk 21, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



103 



with Mr. Peterailea, as usaal, at the pUno-forte ; 
Mr. Ofigood's " Trumpeter's May Song," which 
is fresh and bright, with a blithe, buoyant, cap- 
tivating melody, and the whole effect made 
romantic and picturesque by the trumpet oh- 
ligato, while the blending of the alto voices with 
the tenors (in unison) lent a peculiar quality of 
fullness to the tone; and Barnby's Anthem, 
which has a certain ringing splendor, although 
its themes seemed comuionplace, and its solos 
tediously long, albeit well sung, the tenor by 
Mr. Julius Jordan, Uie bass by Mr. Albin R. 
R^^ ; Mr. Sumner accompanied upon the organ. 
The only instrumental piece, the movement from 
Rubinstein's Trio in B-flat, was well interpreted 
by Messrs. Petersilea, Allen, and Wulf Fries. 



a 



Mr. Edward B. Prrry. This gentleman, 
who is entirely blind, returned but recently from 
his piano-forte studies in Geruiiiny. He has 
given one or two successful concerts in the sub- 
nrbs, but hitherto has not played before a repre- 
sentative musical audience in Boston. On Tues- 
day morning, June 10, by invitation of Mr. Junius 
W. Hill, of whom he was fonnerly a pupil, Mr. 
Perry played, at the Music Room of the ibrmer, 
154 Tremont Street, to a i<elect and appn'ciative 
audience ; interpreting such a programme, and 
in so masterly a manner, that one soon forgot to 
make any allowance for his blindness. His se- 
lections, it will be seen, were formidable for any 
artist, and very tastefully combined : — 

1. Introduction snd Koiido, from Sonata in G 

ini^, Op. 53 Bt€lko9tn, 

8. Gavotte BUa: 

Chan«Miett6 KttW'k. 

Rarcarolle Rubinstein. 

Prelades in G mi^r and E minor, Op. S8. ) 

Nocturne in E major, Op. 62, No. 9. . . > (^cpin. 

Etndca in F minor and A-flat miyor. Op. 85. ) 
4. Etodes Sjmpboniqucs, Op. 13 . . . . Sdimmtmn, 

Mr. Perry has a sensitive, clear, oflen brilliant 
touch, very sure, clean execution, intelligent ac- 
cent, phrasing, light and shade, and he plays 
with feeling and enthusiasm, entering into the 
spirit of the piece and the composer. In tiie 
Beethoven Sonata he reproduced the solemn, 
thoughtful depth of feeling of the slow Introtluc- 
tion, and the light, bright, rapid fairy Rondo, in 
which his fingers ran most deftly, to the general 
satisfaction. He showed himself equally master, 
through all their contrasts, of those stupendous 
Variations (Etudei Sympkoniquet) of Schumann ; 
very few have done it better here. The group- 
ings of smaller pieces were felicitous alike in the 
choice and in the rendering, which often showed 
great delicacy of sentiment and touch. Indeed 
we have seldom passed a summer hour with music 
more enjoyably ; we doubt not that every per- 
son present came away convinced that this blind 
pianist may safely claim rank among the best. 



to impose upon us with poor music, notwithstanding it may 
be fiiielv perfimned. Mr. Vogricli did not win much praise 
from either our press or the musiciani, and the reason was, 
doubtless, that they do not care to listen to a ** Fantasia on 
Norma^" a ** Parapharsae " on £oi»iirfiN5ii^ even if ar- 
ranged bj Liast. Mr. Vogrich might have allowed us the 
honor of making his acquaintance as a composer in some- 
thing more worthj of his audience and himself than an 
operatic Fantasie, even if his arrangement of Huberto 
had a certain kind of merit, llie oiilj number that gave us 
any real pleasure, was his perfomiaiioe of the ^luriaUons 
from the *• Kreutcer SonaU " of Beethoven with Wilhelng. 
lu this he manifested a delleate touch, good ideas, and a 
feding for what is worthy of ng/ud in music, and it called 
forth more commendation than ten thousand operatic arrange- 
tuents could excite. When the great artist bends from his 
true position in the world of art, his very powers seem to re- 
fuse to serve him. To be really great is to be steadfast in 
what is good and pure. 

On the evening of June 5, the ApoUo Club gave a per- 
formance of Handel's Mtniak before a very laige au- 
dience. They had tlie aasiatanoe of Miss Fanny Kellogg, 
of Uuetoii, Mrs. Uaydeu, Mr. Williaiu Courtney, the 
English teuvr, and Mr. Myron W. Whitney, also ^ your 
city. The iierfonnaiice waa sadly marred by a very bad or- 
chestra, which not only played out of tune and time, but 
with little regard for eitlier chorus or soloists. It was the 
wont band I have ever heard in an oratorio performance, 
and we have the new mania fur seusationni '* Comic Opera ^* 
to thank for it, for the three theatres that are giving enter- 
tainments of this character, liad engaged almost all of the or- 
chestral players, and the Apollo L'lub could only have those 
who were kit. The chorus had studied this oratorio for a 
long time, and indicated by their singing that, had they had 
tlie support of a fine band, they wuuld have given us a very 
fine performance. * It would not be just to pass judgment upon 
the sobista, for it would be very dittkult to sing with fine 
feeUng and good elftct with such a bad acconjpauiment as 
the oreliestra gave them. Mr. Tonilins, the aocouiplished 
conductor of the society, is a great admirer of Handel, and 
I trust tlmt when they give this wurk agaui, he may 
have an orchestn* that will do justice to hb ideas, and allow 
the chorua fully to manifest the result of his excellent 
training. 

On the evening of June 4, Mr. William H. Sherwood be- 
gan a second series of three recitals, i liave before expressed 
my opinion of the artistic interpretations of this accomplished 
pianint, but I must record a word of praise for this new 
pleasure he lias given us in presenting us with tltree re- 
markable programmes of classical music One great service 
that Mr. Sherwood has done for us has been in giving our 
piano students an opportunity to hear a laige number ^ no- 
ble works fiiieiy performed, and thus creating a good influ- 
ence iot what is worthy emulation. His examples ui the 
production of ptirs and ringing tones from the piano-forte, 
and his careful appreciati<Mi of the value of a musical forte, 
in all loud passages, have in themselves conveyed a needed 
lesson to many <tf our young pUyers. To recognbce the dif- 
leienoe between power that produces musical climaxes of tone, 
from the exaggerations of a noise-giving force, is a valuable 
reflection for all young pianista* llie abuse of the piano- 
forte by many of our players will ne\-er be corrected unless 
students improve every opportunity of hearing artistic inter- 
pretations. Mr. Sherwood in this respect is doing splendid 
educational work by his concerts in the West, and although 
he may win golden opinions finom the press and public, the 
results that will foUow from his example to students are 
worth more than any flattering commendations he may re- 
ceive. Mr. Sherwood bad the assistance of Mr. Carl Wolf- 
sohn, who pUyed the orchestral parts of the great " Em- 
peror Concerto ** of Beethoven upon a second piano-forte, 
and in the Schumann Variations for two pianos. Op. 49. 

C aX' B. 



' a. » Moment Mndoale," Op. 7, No. 3 . MotMhfwtki. 
b. Wedding Maieh (Norwegian Bridal PsHy 

passing by), Op. 19 OrUg. 

e. Dervish Chorus (from Beethoven's '* Rnhis 

of Athens Sainl^SaiM. 

a, *« WaUesrauseben " (Concert Etude) ) 

b. Grand Polonaise in E um^ ) 



Littt. 



U. 



xn 

a. 
b. 
c. 



Schumann. 

. . Htmdtl. 

Kktinberyer, 

• Rubin^tin. 

Weber-Braht 



. 



n. 
b, 
c. 
d. 
a, 
b. 

b 



Chopin. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Chicago, Juke 13. — Since my bst note, we have had a 
number ef musical entertainments, the most important of 
which I shall briefly notice. The fimt in order were two 
concerts by Wilheln^, assisted by Mr. Vogrich, " the Hun- 
garian composer and pianist," Mrs. Swift, soprano, and a 
local tSDor, Mr. Charles Knorr. The first concert .presented 
a very poor programme, and even the numljcn alfotted to 
the great violinist were of a charact^ for bekm his notice, 
and unwurthy of so eultivated an artist. The programme 
called forth the censure of our best critics, and the p^^ers 
expnased themselves in no weak terms, as being displeased 
with the musie ofliiredt Indeed, the time has gone by when 
even an artist of great celebrity can present a poor pro- 
gramme in this city without subjecting himself to a well- 
meriteii rebuke. At the second concert there was much im- 
provement made in the selections for performance, and the 
great appbuse, and the triple recall, that followed Wilheln^*s 
pbying of the grand Chaoonne of Bach must have uidicated 
that our musical public is not Ucking in appreciation of the 
best music. I trust that all great artists will remember, 
when they visit this Western city, that they have to pass a 
musical judgment that has both a knowledge of, and an ap- 
pnsdation for, what is best in art, and that it is impossible I Toccata di Concerto, Op. 86 



MiLWAUKSB, Wis., Juicx 16. — Since I wrote yon Uui 
we have had Wilhelmj here for the third time. He played 
a concerto of Lipindu, and pieces by Ernst and Vieux. 
temps. TUting his three programmes ogetber, I think so 
great an artist ought to be ashamed that he gave us nothuig 
better. 

llie pianist at this concert was Mr. Maxlmilhui Vogrich. 
He played a concert allegro by Henselt, Usst's Smtnambnla^ 
and a Fantasia of his own on themes from Roberto, 'Ilie 
pieces were all sAoa>^pieeef, and were played showily, with 
immense focUity and power, and thundering bravura, and a 
touch like the kick of a mule. Mrs. Mary Louise Swift 
sang some light musk very acceptably. Artists who give 
us such programmes as this must not expect to comnuuid 
the rsipect of sincere people. 

Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood gave us two programmes in the 
same wedifwhich were in very marked contrast to Wilheln^'s. 
Here they are: 

L 



Etudes Synphooiqi 
Fbgne in E minor (Fire Fugue) 
Fugue in G minor Op. 5 . . 
Serenade in D minor. Op. 93 
*• Perpetual Motion " . . 

(Arranged as a study for the left hand.) 
Nocturne in F-sharp, Op. 15 
Etude on Black Keys, Op. 10, No. 6 
Nocturne in C muior. Op. 48 
Polonaise in A-flat, Op. 58 

*• Lohengrin's Verweb an Elsa, ) n* , . ^ 

"Isolden'sLiebes-Tod. ^\ ' Wa^ne^^UnL 
Tarantelle, Op. 11 .... OntUn Schumann. 
Grand Oeteve Study, in E-flat, No. 7 . . Kultak. 

Mr. Sherwood played In such a way that f am not able 
to see any room for improvement, eitlier in Interpretatioii or 
technique. His touch Is especially admirable, fine, delicate, 
and infinitely varied. He certainly bdoogs in the verf 
highest rank of artists. 

The pupils in music in Milwaukee (Allege, taught by Mr. 
John C. Fillmore, and in elocution, taught by Miss Mariana 
A. Brush, give a choice and varied programme this evening. 
Judging from the reliearsals, the young ladies an likely to 
acquit themselves creditably. J. C. F. 

WtLKESBARRK, Pa., Jvhk 3. ^ A subscribsT to your 
Journal takes the liberty of sending with this letter two 
newspapers containing accounts of a musical festival held at 
Wilkesbarre, Pa., on the 38th and 39th of May, and also a 
programme of the order of exercises for both days. 

Your journal is so alive to progress in art, at hone and 
abroad, that it may not be out of place to draw its atten- 
tion to the foct that this festival hss given a new impulse 
to music in the anthracite coal r^otis of Pennsylvania. 
In the first place, by preparing the way to yeariy eflbita of 
the same sort in the neighboring cities and towns; another 
Eisteddfod having been appointed for the summer of 1880, 
at Hyde Psric, eighteen miles from Wilkeebaire. Secondly, 
by showing us what may be done outside of our nsual re- 
sources; for the material empfoyed In the vocal part of the 
eompeUtive exercises was drawn mainly from the mining 
ci s sses , and as they did their work In a creditable manner, 
it proves that they have some musical ability and knowl- 
edge. This being true of such a laige element of oiir pop- 
ulation, nmy we not hope, unless there is a total want of 
ttiergy, to produce in time great choral sodetica, and to be- 
come an important music^ centre? Praise is due to the 
Mendelseohn society of this place for the first eflbrt in a 
good cause m the shape of our musical festival. 

SThe great length of the notices above referred to pre- 
es their insertioa here. The mornings and afternoons 
of the two days were deroted to competitive perfonnancea, 
vocal and instrumental, the competing choin being largely 
oompoeed of the Welsh popuUtkm of the minhtg distrieta, 
who, as In ok) Wales, are distinguished for their good cho- 
rus singing; the evenings were occupied, one by a perform- 
ance of the Mrssiakj with plano-fofte aecompanimait, with 
Mrs. Granger Dow, soprano. Miss Lixxie Parry James, con. 
tralto, Mr. Eoe Morkus, tenor, Mr. A. E. Stoddait), ban- 
tone, and Prof. D. J. J. liason, as conductor; the otlier by 
a miscellaneoos concert of songs, duets, quartets, etc The 
Judges in the coropetitfon were Dr. Leopold Damroach, Kos 
Morials, and A. E. Stoddard. The Rev. Fred Evans, D. D., 
was the chairman.] 

[An expected letter from our Cincinnati correspondent, 
containhig an account of the German SaengerfiBst, Ins failed 
to reach us in season for this number. \^ are toU that it 
was artistically a great succeNS, though financially It rseulted 
in a foes of about $10,000] 



Organ Fantasie and Fugue in G minor (arranged 

byUsst) Back. 

Sonate, Op. 81, No. 8, in E-flat Bteihoven. 

Waltx, Op. 34, in A-flat 1 

Etude in C sharp minor. Op. 35, No. 7 > . Chopin. 

Balhuie m A-flat, Op. 47 ) 

. . • . August Dupont. 






NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

The Colmboe or Music, of Cincinnati, has pah- 
fished a prp^;ramme book, which contains the programmes of 
twelve orehestra symphony concerts and tweire public re- 
hearsals of the same coneerta, given in the great Music Hall, 
hi Cincinnati, by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra; also the 
prognmmes of tweire chamber ooocerts given hy the College 
Quartet, which consists of Messn. Theodore Thomas, S. £. 
Jaoobsohn (violms), C. Baetena (viola), and Adolpb Hart- 
degen (viofoncelfo). With these there is a list of someone 
hundred and thirty different compositions played upon the 
great, organ by Geo. £. Whiting (profe s sor In the coOsge), 
at the Wednesday and Saturday afternoon organ concerts. 
All of the abore concerts hare been given by the eoUiige be- 
tween the months of October, 1878, and May, 1879, iiidu- 
sire. These programmes show the standard of the college. 
They contain mostly choice and beantilU musie, and Ita per> 
formanoe could not but be of great value to the mora than 
fire hundred students of the institution. The college gives 



104 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 996. 



Mtke tint ttiMleDto maj mtar at any tinM, md thrt there 
li to be a ramiiier term, beginning Julj 7, and ending dur- 
ing the last week in Aognat. 

Robert Clarice dk Co , of Cineinnati, are the poblidien of 
tlM programme boolc, which is for sale at twenty oente. 

Dattom, O. —The dgfateenth eoncoi of the Philhar- 
nonie Societj, with chonu and oreheetra, W. L. Blunien- 
achein, director, oeeaired May SS. Mendel«ohn*e <« Hymn 
of Pniee" waa giren In the eeeond part, the flnt eonaisting 
entirely of aelectioni from Beet h oren, ae foUowt: — 

Orertvre to «• Egmont" 
Song: «' Adelaide.** 

Ifiei Annie MiUer. 

Piano Concerto No. 8. 

Fint movement, with CMlenaa, by Cari Reinecke. 
W. L. Blumeneehein. 
Songt: (A) >• In quceta tomba.*' 
(6) «*llay Soog.** 

MIh Ida Deam. 
Chome: •* UelkliOah,'* fkom the oratorio, « The Mount of 
OUna.** 

LoxDOM. — The New Fhilharmonie Concert of MajS4 
waa notable by the appearance of M. SaintpSaiSns in the 
double capacity of eondnctor of a new symphony of his own 
oompodtlon, and of pianist in his own fourth concerto (C 
minor), — the one pkyed here in a Harvard concert by Mr. 
Pkeatoo. There was also an admirable performance of 
Beethoven's Violin Concerto by Seiior Sarasate, a taste of 
whoee quality we have had in Boston. The symphony by 
8aint-8s«ns (Op. 65) !■ in A mbior, is in four movements: 
(1.) Allegro mareato and Allegro appassionato; (9 ) Adagio; 
(8.) Scbmo, Presto; (4.) Prestissimo. The Mumeal SUtnd- 
orrf speaks of It as *' an unmiatakable success. Hiscomposi- 
tkms evince a grsaA amount of originality, both in thought 
and design, belonging nther to the French school than the 
Gffman. The symphony in qusstkm is the second of its 
kind, and almost his last published work. From a very eariy 
age, we are toM, he began to study the pianoforte and organ, 
and receivwl kesooa in oompoeitkm; and Judging him by 
the work given on Saturday, he has, we predicate, a brilliant 
fbture before him. The orehestntion is very skillful and 
pleasing, and it la full of graceftil and striking ideaa well 
worked out. It containa auffident adherence to rule to 
aatlafy muafeiana of the old acbool, while there la an amount 
of freedom which indicatea the indinatkm to progresa and 
development. The adagto movement ia very sweet and del- 
bate, and the prestissimo finale Is irresistible. Each movo- 
ment was greatly applauded, and the talented compoeer waa 
twice reealled.*' 



TBI Maiquia D*Ivry*a Let Atnantt dt VkroM haa 
been performed at the Royal ItaUan Opera. The iiciu/emy. 
May 81, aaya: '• It ia by no meane aurpriaing that so many 
eo m poeew hare se l e ct ed the story of Romeo and Juliet as the 
fomidathmofanoperft. Of aU the plays of Shakespeare this 
onelendsltself most readily to the eili^ncica of lyrical treat- 
ment; and that no mualdan haa auccceded hi producing an 
enduring roaaterpieee out of auch a auggceUre theme speaks 
but little for the ability of thoee who hare at various periods 
believed themaelvee worthy to flluatrete it. Among the 
earlier operatic vecakwa of the tragedy waa that by Zingar 
lelli, produced at Milan in 1796. In 1825, in the lame 
loorrb, an opera by VaooiO waa heard, and it obtained auch 
high leeognitkm that the final aet waa aAerwaida added to 
the Fkench editkm of BdUnra / Ca/mUui ed i MimUeeku 
TUa bat aaw the Hght at Venice in 1880, but it b by no 
meana one of ito autbor*a beat worka, and haa not heU the 
stage. Other vcraiona worthy of mention are thoee by 
Steibelt, 1798; Schwanberg, 1783 ; Dabyiac, 1793 ; and 
Maiehettl, 1865. All thcee hare bng since vanished. It 
appean likdy, however, that M. Gounod'a aetting of the 
tab, written for the Th^fitre Lyrique in 1867, will obtain 
greater bngevity. The Southern warmth and intenae paa- 
aion of the tragedy are not weU auited to the French com- 
pceer'a dreamy, feug-drewn manner, but he haa auceeeded in 
writing aome very charming muab which the woikl will not 
willingly let db. The moaical anteeedenU of the Marqub 
D'lvry were not such as to warrant the hope that he wouM 
sttcosed where men of undoubted genius had foibd, and the 
fiivt imprceebn on bamlng that be had set Shakespeare's 
play was that of amaieroeut at hb temerity. We have bb 
aasunnce, however, that hb work was completed before that 
of M. Gounod, and he has acted wbely in btting tbb bet 
be known. It was eutirsly in consequence of the personal 
frbodahip of M. Capool for the amateur muabian that Let 
AmnmU <fs Ferone at bngth aaw the light at the SaUe 
Ventadour a few montha since. I1ie Fkenoh tenor asaumed 
the idna of management for the itonce, and expended con- 
j|, ^p ^ i i^4f mi n^ on the mounting ot the opera. At the out- 
eet it achieved a partial aucceas, but enrkwitywaa not suc- 
ceeded by admiration, and erentually publb opiiikm decbred 
Heelf strongly advem to the pretensions of the new work 
.... Ambitioue as the Marqub D'lvry haa ahown him- 
adf to be in hb chobe of a aulject, he haa erinced no vain 
deaire to impart indiriduality to hb muaie. He doca not 
hide hb poverty of invention under a ebak of eccentricity, 
and if he cannot extort admiration he avoida all chance of 
giving oflbiae. Then b abundant eridence to prore that 
he b a enltnied and weU-read muabian, but thereb none 



to abow that he possesats a modicum of iiuicy or imagina- 
tion. There are a few pretty melodies in the fint act, and 
a delicate littb entemiU, " Col novel giomo in cbl," in the 
balcony scene. But the compoeer does not develop a good 
idea when he obtains one, and hence the writing through- 
out the open b fragmentary. Tbb weakness b of coutm 
especially apparent in the concerted music, where we look for 
derelopment and the working-up of a sutjject to an efibetire 
dimax. In the dramatb situatimis — such as the quarrel 
scene, where Meroutlo and Tybalt are slain; or at the cbee 
of the fourth act, where Juliet takes the potion — there b 
a pmnful lack of power and intensity of expreesion. The 
musb does not heighten the eflect of the drama In the bast 
degree. In fine, Zes Amant* de Verone b a respectably 
mediocre work, highly crsdltabb as the production of an 
amateur, but of no intrineb value, and thierefore quite un- 
worthy of a poeition on the Angb-Italian stage. 



»» 



Bbbun. — As ahneady announced, 8pontini*s OUfmpid 
had been eeboted for the gab performance at the Royal 
Opeimhouee, in honor of the Gokbn Wedding of the Em- 
peror and Empress, on the llth June. It was pbyed here 
for the lest time about sixteen yean ago, the principal char, 
acten being sustained by Mmcs. Wippem and Ahna, whoee 
placee were now filled by Mme. Voggenhubber and MUr. 
Brsndt. Olympia was compoeed for Paris, where it was 
brought out in 1819, after nine months' rehearsals. It 
proved a eompaxatlre fidlure; and Spontiiu rsadily accepted, 
in consequence, an Invitation to go Co fieriin, where the 
king intruated him with very extenaire powera. All mu. 
aical matten were aul^ected to the new-comer's authority, 
and not a concert couhl be given without hb concent. 
Olympia was performed here tar the first time on the 14th 
May, 1831; Mme. Mikbr appearing as Statin, and Mme. 
Bader as Cassandra. lU success was something extraor- 
dinary, and Spontlni waa called on, — a mark of approba- 
tion then quite unuauaL The work had had forty- two 
reheanab. — Corr. Lomd. Jhu. World, 



Han8 von BuELOvr AT Hankotsr The IbDowing 

b a liat of woriu performed in the peat aeaaon, 1878-79, be- 
tween October and April, at the >* Abonnement Concerte " 
in Hannover, under the directimi of Dr. Hana von BQbw: — 

Nine Symphoniea: Beethoven, Noa. 6, Paatorab, and 7, 
A mijor; *Berlios, Harold Symphony; •Brahma, No. 3, 
D mijor; Gade, No. 8, A minor; Haydn, C minor; Men- 
debaohn, No. 8, A minor; Mosart, £-flat nuyjor; Robin- 
stein, •Drematic Symphony, No. 4, D minor. Also, for 
the firrt time, •Bach's Suite, in C migor. Nine Overtures, 
Beethoven, "King Stephen" and » Leonora," No. 1; 
Beriios, "Benvenuto Cellini" and «* Roman Carnival;" 
Cherubini, "Waaaertrager;" •Glinka, »Ruasian" and 
*<LudmiIb;" M#hul, •^HoraUus Cocks;" Mendebeohn, 
'>lieeresstilb und Gliicklbhe Fahrt; " Schumann, '* Brant 
ron Meabina." Other orebcstnl worka: Salnt-Saena, 
•« Danae Bfaeabre " (twice); . •Ttehaikowsky, balbt music 
from the opera, "The Woywode;" Wagner, »* Kaiser 
BfarKh. Concertos with Orehestra, for piano-forte: Beet, 
hoven, No. 4, G mijor (Dr. von Billow): •Rubinstein, 
Grand Fantaala, in C mlnw (the compoeer) ; Salnt-SaiJna, 
Concerto, No. 4, in C minor (the compoeer); Weber, Con- 
cert-StUdk (Dr. von BCUow). Concertoa for violin : Joachim, 
Hungarian Concerto (the compoeer) ; Mendebeohn, Con* 
certo, E minor (Herr Hiinfleiii); Mosart, Andante, from 
riolin (Concerto, No. 4 (Herr Hermann); •Rafl^, Secnod 
Concerto, A minor (Hcnr Herrmann). For vidooceno: 
(joltermann, Andante and Finab, from G najar Concerto 
(Herr Lorieberg). Piano4brte and riolin : Fantaab hi C 
mi^, Schubert (Dr. von BiUow and Herr Joachim). 
Vocal Worka: •Beethoven, « Meereestilb and Gliicfcliehe 
Fahrt;" •Cherubini, Mbaa Sobmnb, D mhior; Schubort, 
<« GoU in der Katur " (acored by Billow). 

Thoee worka marked with an aateriak were performed ibr 
the fint time. Here b prodigioua actirity and no mistake. 



St. Pktkbbbvro — In reccignition of the great serrices 
rendered by him as Inspector of Music In the Imperial 
Schoob for Nobb Young Ladies In thb capital and Mos- 
cow, Herr Adolph vou Henselt has been created by the Gear 
an Actual CounciUor, with the titb of *< ExceUency." 

Opbra in LoMDoir. — The Tnbtme correspondent 
writes (May 17): <'It b well for Mr. Mapbeon that the 
success of hb open troupe in the United States was at 
once brilliant and substantiaL Since hb opening in Lon- 
don he has been punned by ill luck, for which he b in no 
wise responsibb; and in thcee circumetances it must be a 
oomfortabb thing to hare hb well-filled American cheat to 
drew firom. The first appearancea of Mme. Nilaaon and 
Mme. Kt^lka (Scrater hare each been announced for two 
or three aucceaaire datea; but neither lady haa yrt been 
abb to put in an appearance. Othen of the troupe hare 
abo been ill; and the houaea at Her Majeaty'a Theatre, 
except on aubaeription nighU, hare not been fblL Next 
week, however, Mme. (Serrter b promiaed for certain. She 
haa been detained on the Omtinent and then shut up here 
by iUtieea. The public wlU throng the more eagrriy to 
hear her on Mmiday ; her popularity in Lond<m being not 
leaa than her popularity in America. Mme. Nilseon*s first 
appearance b now doubtftil. Meantime Miaa Minnb Hauk 
haa repboed her in Fantt; with a gratifying measure of 



aucceaa, the difliculty of the undertaking conridered. Mme. 
CSenlcr waa to hare aung bat weak in La ikmnnwilnda. 
At a monient'a notbe Mlb. Van Zandt waa called on to 
take her place. Our young ooantrywonuui b a favorite 
here, but would not, I aoppoee, hare been caat for ao exact- 
ing a part as Amina, aare Ibr the emergency. Her per- 
formance waa, neveribeleaa, a moat creditabb one. She 
appeared on a aubaeription night before an audience of 
eritica, abb both to make aUowancea for youth and inex- 
perience and to Judge, birly of real merit Her reception 
was cordial, and the good opinion of the houae grew better 
ae the evening wore on. Publbhed critbiama hare been 
equally fiivomUe, and Mile. Van Zandt'a poeition haa been 
dbtinctly improved. Even a London audbnce, with all ita 
pr^udicea for eatabliahed reputation and iU alowneea to 
enthuaflMm, waa charmed by the youthftd gmce and winning, 
aimpb mannen of thb young bdy. Muaical antboritbe 
aay that her voice and method are both exeelbnt, and that 
ehe needa but atiength and eiqierbnce to Insure her a 
brilliant future." 

It b rebted that Frederb Chopin could slways quiet hb 
fother's pupils* no matter bow much noise they were making 
in the house. One day, when Prefeseor Chopin was oat, 
there was a frightftd scene. Bardnaki, the maater preeent, 
waa at hb vrita' end, when fVederie happily entered the room. 
Without delibention he reqncaled the royatcrcn to ait down, 
called in there who were making a ndae outaide, and prom- 
iaed to improvire an intereeting atory on the pbno if they 
would be quite quiet. All were inatantly aa atUl aa death, 
and Frederic eat down to the Inatruoient and extlngubhed 
the lighta. He deeeribed how robbva approached a houae, 
mounted by laddcn to the windowa, but were frightened 
away by a nobe within. Without deby they fled on the 
winga of the wind into a deep, dark wood, where they fell 
aaleep under the atarry aky. He pbyed more and more 
aoAly, aa if trying to lull the chiUren to reat, till he found 
that hb hearen Imd actually fallen a a lee p . Tlie young art. 
bt noiaebaaly crept out of the room to bb parents and vis- 
itors, and asked them to fbUow him with a light. When 
the family had amuaed themaeivw with the varioua poatnree 
of the abepcra, FMbric eat down again to the piano, and 
atrudc up a thrilling chord, at which they all aprang up In a 
Iri^t. A hearty laugh waa the Ibiab of thb mudyeal Joke. 



M. SAWT-SAKm b finbhing a cantata for the Birming- 
ham fcetival of next autumn. Together with thb abeolute 
novelty, a comparatire novelty in the ahape of a cantata by 
Max Bruch, already given in Germany, but not yet heard in 
Eni^and, wiU be brought out. M. Saint-Sagna' canuta 
will not be of great dimenaiona. Application had been 
made to M. (vouuod for a woric of some magnitude, but the 
compoeer of Fautt dedined to compere ^ oratorio de- 
manded of him nnbaa the fcetival committre wouU agrre to 
pay him the aum of £4000. 



JoHAN SvBMDSXK, whow Snuphouy in D (Op. i) waa 
the moot important novelty a the concert of Mme. Vbrd- 
Loub on Thuraday, b the flrat Norwegian compoeer where 
worka hare met with appredatiou beyond the confinM of the 
nmthem peninaula. Ihe ability of Svendaan b undenbbb, 
but hb growing repntaUon b partly the reault of artiatie 
friendahipe and conncctiona fiirmed in forrign bnde. Hb 
octet for atringa haa been frequently beard hoe at dmmber 
concerta, and the aymphooy preeented on the oceaaion re- 
liBrrBd to containa aufBcbnt merit to warrant iU introduction 
to a London audience. There b a certain eommon|rface 
bruaqueneaa In the principal theme of the opening move- 
ment^ and the plan of the finab b vague and ill-defined. The 
ft**— «*^^ de vel opment of both there movementa cannot be 
apoken of in terma of admiration. But there b much that 
b charming In the Andante, with ita oontinooua flow of 
punly mebdic phraare; and the Allegretto Schersando, 
thoo^ crude in atructure, b not without Individuality of 
character. The aymphony b of courre an rerly compoaition, 
and aa auch b boUi creditabb and intereeting. 

Mr. Joaeph Halbentadt'a Drematb Qrertare in E mfaior 
b a very muaicianly work. It b akillfully eonatructed, and 
the compoeer erinore a knowledge of efifect^ not only in the 
working of hb materiab, but 1^ the Cfcheatnl coloring, 
which b full and rich. 

The name of Ferdhsand Ri« b well known to muabiana, 
but more fomiliariy aa the pupil and friend of Beethoven 
than aa a compoeer. RIm wrote many worka ; but as he 
lacked the power of Individual utterance, hb musb has 
failed to attain a lasting value in the eetimation of the pub- 
lic. For example, the piano-fbrte eoncerto in C-ehaip minor 
pbyed by Mme. Vlard-Loub on Thuraday calb for i^h 
proval merdy by reaaon of the fluency and eflbctirenen of 
the aob part. The themes and the aecompantmenU are 
wholly without interest, and the concerto cannot be pbeed 
even on the eame brel as there of Hummd. It was excel- 
lently pbyed, howe^-er, and the appbure which Mbwed the 
performance was a well-earned tribute to the skill of the ex- 
ecutant. 

M. Saint-Saens rendered one of Baeh*s organ-fbgure in 
G minor with adminbb cbanieaa and predrion; and the 
audience aeemed greatly to relieh the grim but unpbaeant 
humor of the French compoeer'a Dant€ Macabre tot orehes- 
tra. —Aoadtm^, June 7. 



July 5, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOUBNAL OF MUSIC. 



105 



BOSTON, JULY 5, 1879, 

Xntered at the Poat Oflice at Boston at iiecond-elai« matter. 

CONTENTS. 

Sahsio. Stuart Stertu 105 

TORC-QUALITT. Oeorgt T. Bmiling 106 

Mr. BBBmcsKa Proot-s " Hbriward " 107 

Thi InrtUBMCB op Display nr Mdsio. CkarUs H. Briua» 107 

Talks os'Abt: Sbookd Sbbus. Prom Instruotloiu of Mr. 

WilliaiD M. Uunt to hU Pupils. IX. * 100 

Obcbbstkal Pbospbcts 110 

f iobtlbss Scbolabs 110 

Oomcbbts HI 

Mm. Anna M^hew-Simondit's Organ and Ptano R«- 
efuta. — Miss Henrietta Manrer'a Complbnentarj Be- 
oeptlon. 

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612 Stato Streot. 

SANZIO. 

BY 8TUABT STKKMB, AUTHOR OF ^ ANOELO." 

(Continued from page 97.) 

So Saozio joyfulljr, 
While the bright, Blanting sanbMnis, that at hwt 
Had boTBt their eloudj veil, moved on beSon them, 
Led her about, showed and interpreted, 
While she, with glad, untiring eagerness. 
Listened and looked, — opoii the long, graj walla 
Covered with dabe of color aiid black lines, 
That, if one watched, slowly resolved themselves 
Now into countless &ir, fantastic shapes, 
Then melted back into a strange eoufuBioo; 
Upon the bits of canvas in gajr tints. 
Or the white lieads and faces, feet and bands, 
Hung pell-mell here and there; and yonder stood 
Two maible figiuee towering high, though one 
Had lost its haul, the other both its arms. 
And glancing past them, Benedetta knelt 
To torn the tbcetB of peper on the floor. 
That lay there scattered broad-cast and scrawled full 
Of twisted liiiei and circles like the walls. 
Till Saoxio told her, Uughiiifi^, *t was in vain 
She burrowed there for any hidden gem ; 
Found in one distant comer of the room 
A curious, wide-mouthed urn of blackened silver. 
Filled to the top with rose-leaves bintly sweet. 
Long, long ago, Saiizio related, ere 
The dear Christ-child was bom at Bethlehem, 
Some unknown skillful woricman wrought this vase, 
*Mid a great people perished from the earth. 
Hen lalMuing in the fields discovered it 
Of late, deep in the ground, — thus it came here. 
And near it stood a dish of finest glaas 
Shaped like an open lily, where she saw, 
With biU of scariet coral, pearly white 
And delicate pink and amber-tinted sheik. 
Ay, Swizio said, they by so many years 
Upcm the sborss of the eternal sea, 
Their little shallow cups had caught at hat 
Some fiunt reflection of the sunset gloiy 
That flooded them a thousand Umes- A fiui 
Of goigeoiis peacock feathers, spreading wida^ 
Nodded above them, and near by, in yet 
Another comer, Benedetta merited 
A crimson mantle, and blue, silken robe, 
A trailing piece of precioua doth of gold, 
And many more of various hues, that looked 
Like purple and fine linen, — heedleasly 
Tossed over dusty efaairs. 

But^ best of all, 
Sando turned kindly, at her earnest prayer, 
The feoes of great pictures ficom the wiUs, 
And showed her much she had not yet behekl 
Of an hie nobleet labors, though he said 
Of ibis and that, *T was but the first poor sketch; 
TUs had been ordered from beyond thie eea; 
And that had croesed the mountains. One of them, 
A sweet Madonna, eeated, with bent head. 
Her happy amis clasped round the Blessed Babe 
That nevtled on her boeom. Then an image 
Of that fiur Saint who first firom heaven drew down 
Hie power of music to the thirsty earth, — 
Amid a group of other stately fcume 
Standing erect and rapt, her purest bee 
Turned upward to a chanting ang«l-ohoiri 



And yet another, of that graeioas Saint 
Who conquered ill by her sole innocence. 
She walked alone, — behind her sombre trees, — 
Her beauteous limbe scarce hidden by the robe 
Whose folds one slender hand held gathered back 
From the nude, tender feet, while in the other 
•She bore a branch of palm. Thus fearlessly, 
The godly peace unbroken on her brow, 
A feint-rayed halo, round the golden hnd. 
She stepped upon the pointy, jagged wings 
Of the fierce dragon, who with monstrous coils. 
And fiery Jaws wide open, rolled and writhed 
Powerless to right and left. 

And so at lengtli, 
Making thdr round about the whole wide room, 
They came to that great picture, half complete. 
Whereon he labored still, and even this 
He turned and showed. A heavenly Virgin-mother, 
Bearing the little Jesus in her arms. 
And floating upward on light clouds; beside 
And yet beneath her, other forms, two Saints, 
A woman, and a noble, grave old man ; 
And further stiU bek>w, ckise to her feet, 
Two marvelous feir child-angels, with small wings, 
Both gazing up, in rapt, adoring joy, 
Tlielr sweetest eyes lost in the heavens beyond. 
And Benedetta when she first saw these 
Cried out in wonder and delight: ** Sanzio! 
What rosy limbs, and dimpM little hands ! 
Oh, would that I might hold them in my arms. 
And kiss their lips and eyes! This right one here. 
With upturned fiice, he is like you, methinks ! " 
Then following the little angel's glance, 
And reverently, yet all unconsciously 
Folding her hands, she softly said, and spoke 
As to herself: ** And what a grave, wise look. 
Wears the Beloved Babe on his sweet face ! — 
And I am to be here among all these, — 
Nay, how should I be wortliy of such greatiiess! " 
My dsriing ! Ob, I would most joyfully 
Make all Uie world your footstool ! Sanzio's heart 
Cried out within him, yet he sufiered not 
The words to pass his lips, Sut gazed at her 
With a glad, silent smile. And now, when she 
Was well content that naught was left unseen, 
He bade her sit and rest on the small couch 
Where he was wont sometimes to pause fi^>m work, 
When that grew wearisome, — he standing near 
On the great tawny lion-skin stretched out 
Upon the floor, and sliowing pluuly still 
The outlines of the mighty head and paws. 
" What is this? '* asked she, planting her small feet 
Whare once the fbll, dark mane had flowed. 

He told her, 
And how it came from countries far away. 
Filled with wide deserts, where the sun was hot, 
And bred strange beasts and birds and flowers and trees. 
** Fancy,** he said, ** how dismal for some kte 
Lone traveler, if at fell of night, perchance, 
He hears a stealthy rustle *uiid the reeds, 
And sees the gleaming of two fiery eyes. 
And suddenly, with a fierce, resounding roar, 
A lion leaps on hiui and his poor horse, 
And strikes his teeth into its pajiting flanks ! '* 

Unwittingly she drew her feet away, 

A shade of trouble flitting o'er her fece. 

It bded in a moment, and her cheek 

Dimpled and faintly flushed, and looking up 

She said, ^ Nay, I am like a foolish child ! " 

** And wouM you be afraid in that wild land ? " 

He smiling asked. ** No, — yes, — no, not with you, 

If you were with me there ! ** And for the first time 

She of her own free will reached out her hand, 

And put it mto hie, who with delight 

Ck)se cUsped and held it fest. But suddenly 

She drew it back and asked, with earnestness, 

Keturaing now at length upon the words 

She left unfinished when she entered first, — 

** But tell me how it is I find you here! 

Anna went out this afternoon, and I, 

Left all abne, wandered about the house, 

And curiously peeped into many rooms, 

Finding them still and empty all, save this. 

You do not live here? Nay, it cannot be, 

Methonght you came a dittauee every day, 

In from the street!" 

« And so I did ! I flung 
My cap upon my head," he gayly cried, 
** And passed through one door out into the street. 
And by another then as speedily back, 
Into the house where I have dwelled long yearsi *' 

She looked at him in silence. Then agafai 
Moat gravely, ** Mayhap you can tell me, too, 
Why Anna scarce remembers aught of ua, 
My fiither and my grandam and myself. 
Whom she was wont to know and love so well, 
For when I question her, she shakes her head, 
Or gives me answers all awry ! " 

And now 
He broke into a peal of merry laughter: 



'* Dear, innocent, simple heart! Your Anna long 
Has been at rest in Abraham's Up, I trust. 
And pray she may be softly pillowed there. 
For I could find iiier nowhere! *' 

But he saw 
That in her face his mirth found no rssponse. 
And sobered hi a moment, while she sdd, — 
And Sanzio feiicied that her lips grew white, — 
*' You told us all was well, aiuL we believed you! " 

'Ilien briefly he recounted his device. 
And added, ** Nina's heart is true as gold, 
And could your mother know she were well pleased " — 
But she seemed scarce to bear, and suddenly said, 
(* You have deceived us then, — me and my mother; 
That was not well in you ! " Her voice was low, 
And a strange, shadowy look In the wide eyes 
She fixed upon his feoe. 

He bit his Up, 
Flushing and paling swiftly, then moved off 
And strode with hasty paces through the ro(Nari, 
While he tossed back hie hair imp&ently; 
And then returning close to her again, 
Said, though his voice and eyes were half unsteady, 
" You give a hard name to a petty feidt. 
And make me suflto heavy penalty. 
For what methuiks ma^ scarce be called a sin ! " 

She sat in silence, with her eyes east down. 
And he went on, — hie voice, that had grown Arm, 
Now'quivering with so strange a thrill again, 
That Benedetta started at the sound, — 
** And if a feult, a wrong, a sin there waa, 
It was committed but for love of yoo ! 
But for I saw no other means to gain 
The innocent cause I pleaded. I protest 
My work in trath has need of you ! — and for 
I must have perished could I not have looked 
Upon your fiuse again ! Ay, Benedetta, 
WherdRorenot tell you now, in simple words. 
What every breath of life, each laptoroos throb 
In this glad soul, that lives but on your sight, 
Surely haa long ere this confessed to you, — 
I fove you ! with a fove too passing great, 
Fw mortal tongue to utter half my hearti '* 

Still while be spoke she gave no sign, but bowed 

Her head still lower, the small, dark ringleta qoivering 

On the white, bended neck, and even now 

When pausing he stretched out his. hands to "her. 

She made no feintest answer, but be saw 

How the hot blood rushed over brow and neck, 

And that she shook and trembled like a leaf. 

But when he wouki have clasped her in his arms. 

She sprang up suddenly, broke away, and fled 

Into the furthest comer of the room. 

And cowering like a child down on the floor, 

Her feoe hid in the hands upon her knees, 

Bunt into passionate tears. 

For one brief moment 
He stood confounded and irresolute. 
Then flew to her and knelt beside her. *< Lovvl — 
My darling Love ! — my Bird ! — my bright-eyed Fawn I 
Wherefore these tears? Will you not answer me, 
By one small word, — give bat a sign! " he cried 
In passionate tenderness, and would have drawn 
Her hands from off her fece with gentle foroe. 
But she resisted, and loud sobs alone 
Came for reply. 

*« My Own, my Benedetta, 
My Queen, my sweetest Saint! — can you not then 
Pardon, forgive me? Ay, *t is buttoo true, 
I love you with the power of all my soul. 
And 't was my bapptness to think, — perehanoe, — 
But yet forgi\'e me if I startled you 
By my too hot and hasty words! Fofget 
That they were ever spoken ! For I pray 
Not now aught other fevor at your hands, 
But that you grant me still a few brief days 
The joy to hot on you aa here to fore, — 
Kneding to <)o you homage, — from afitf 
To worship at yoiur shrine. Madonna mine! *' 
He cried 4;ain, deep grief and yeamhig love 
Mingled in his entreating, pkadfaig voiee: 
But sUll he sued in vain, still waited breathleaa 
For some response. 

And so at last sprang up, 
Turned from her with a geature half despair. 
Half swift, impatient wrath, and pressing doee 
The arms he foUed on his breast, aa though 
To still the mighty beating of his heart, 
Said in a strange, cold voice, ** Then we must part ! 
To-morrow, with the eariiest, I will find 
Some one to take you safely home! " 

And thos 
Walked to the window, and stood looking out 
With stormy brow, and dark, unseeing eyes, 
And pallid lips so firmly closed and set. 
As though they ooold mibend and smile no more; 
Stood thua in silence for a little time. 



106 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 997 



> lid motionless, yet fimcied that he hesid 
Her sobs grow fainter, and then oease, and then 
A movement and a gentle step dose by, 
But would not look around, till suddenly 
Two clinging anna were flung about his neck, 
And a ecrft, whispering voice cried pleadingly, 
Ck)ee to his ear, *• Oh, no, send me not from you ! 
*Twould break my heart, — I love you, Sanzio mine! *' 

Then he turned swiftly with a joyous cry. 

And strained her to his heart in breathless rapture, 

And raised the tender, brightly flushing face 

She tremblhig hid upon his breast, and kiised 

Again and yet again the dewy lipa, 

'Iliat shyly half, but with ghu! willingness 

Yielded themselves to him, and timidly 

Responded to his own, and quivered still, 

Though a laint smile played round them like a light. 

While yet her eyes o'erflowed with great, round drops, 

Until he kissed the swelling tears away, . 

Remembering the sweet blossoms in the wood, 

And she as in a fleeting, happy swoon, 

Ckwing her eyes an instant, laid her head 

Upon his breast once more. 

Tlius anu in arm 
The lovers stood a while in blissful silence, 
Each hearing but the other's throbbing heart, 
While the red sunlight flooded all the worU 
With a hut burst of brightness, — gazing out 
O'er the Eternal City's wide expanse, 
That stretched far, far bebw. 

(7b be continued.) 



TONE-QUALITY. 

BY GEORGE T. BULLING. 

It is a question worth the scrions sisking, 
whether the power of tone-quality in musical 
sounds* is as generally recognized by the mu- 
sicians of our day as it deserves to be. Brill- 
iant and voluble execution, and the startling 
dynamic effects which characterize many mod- 
ern mudical compositions, are deadly enemies 
to delicate poetry of tone. True, the blare 
of sound which, when translated from a score 
of Brahms, or of Wagner, often falls upon 
our ears with an impressive, if not with an 
expressive effect, is a complicated musical 
sound, but it will take years of ear training 
to convince us that it does not approximate 
to downright noise. The comparatively vast 
resources of modern instrumentation prompt 
the deeply thinking composer to extravagant 
combinations of tone-quality, and to strongly 
contrasted volumes of tone. That this in- 
novation is in kee{.ing with the cesthetic and 
the intellectual progress of the day, no lib- 
eral minded person will deny. Yet, this noisy 
advance of the army of free musical thought 
is prone, for the time at least, to crush under 
foot Che musician's delicate and subtle sensi- 
bility to tone-quality. 

Nor does this assumed fatal facility of the 
orchestra alone threaten the destruction of 
the finer and more poetic musical effects. 
The demand of the people at large is for 
quantity instead of quality of musical sound. 
When a grand musical performance is con- 
templated, the anticipated grandeur is too 
often measured by the numbers to take part 
in the performance, and by the consequent 
amplitude and intensity of dynamic effect to 
be produced, just as if the attribute of grand- 
eur did not as truly lie in quality, as in 
quantity, of tone. Monster jubilees and fes- 
tivals, with their concomitant rhythmic and 
dynamic effect, produced by the discharge of 
loaded cannon at the thesis of the measure in 
the music, and of musketry at the arsis, 
merely supply outward excitement to the peo- 
ple, instead of inciting them to true inward 
musical enthusiasm. If you should ask a con- 
scientious musician, after he had attended 



such a gigantic concert, which numbers of 
the programme he enjoyed best, he would be 
very likely to answer in favor of those which 
were not chorus and orchestra, nor cannon and 
musketry. 

Ilelmholtz has clearly proved to us that 
most musical tones contain harmonic upper 
partial tones, and that the order in which 
those over-tones occur in a musical sound 
explains its individual quHlity. If expressive 
musical effects are attained through harmony 
proper, how much more delicate' are the 
effects which may be wrought by the va- 
riously combined harmonics in a musical 
sound. The [^ower of tone is no more to be 
analyzed than is the power of music itself. 
You may get an answer to the scientific 
How ? but when you ask Why ? it is thai 
quality of tone has such an influence over 
you, an explanation is as impossible as it is 
unnecessary. It is sufficient that you should 
study the function of tone, and the chief rules 
of its existence. If it were possible to define 
accurately the effect of tone-quality upon 
our sensibilities, it would be no difficult mat- 
ter to translate music into words. Fortu- 
nately, there is no prospect of either of these 
deplorable acts being committed. 

One of the reasons why composers regard 
the orchestra as the most potent means by 
which to express their .musical thoughts is 
because of the varie<l tone-quality of the in- 
struments, and the multifarious combinations 
of which these are capable. Then again, as 
expression and tone-quality are almost insep- 
arable companions, the orchestra also allows 
full scope to the former attribute by reason 
of its power to decrease or increase, at the 
composer's will, the amplitude of its tonal 
vibrations. In this connection, the only rival 
of the orchestra is the human voice, if an in- 
strument of musical expression so specific and 
essentially different, Ciin at all be considered 
a rival. An orchestral composition is purely 
abstract music, and is of a much higher order 
than vocal music, the sentiment of which is 
suggested to the composer by the signification 
of the words which he set«. Yet, as a means 
of expression, any musical instrument is dead, 
.dull, and imitative, when compared to the 
cultivated human voice. ' 

The shades of tone-quality in instruments, 
and in the human voice, are infinitely various, 
and are the foundations of characteristic ex- 
pression. The purity, mellowness, and bal- 
ance of tone in an instrument or a voice 
constitute its chief excellence. Correctness 
of intonation is indispensable to the exhibi- 
tion of a pure quality of tone ; therefore, the 
tempered scales of the piano-forte, or the 
organ, admit of tones inferior in musical force 
and purity to those which may be drawn 
from the violin. The natural quality of a 
voice is much improved by singing with an 
efficient orchestral, instead of with a piano- 
forte or organ accompaniment, because a 
keener sense of correct and pure tone is 
gained and maintained by the singer. The 
deafness and strength of tone which Wilhelmj 
draws from the violin is greatly to be ac- 
counted for by his power of exact intonation. 
It is well known that the ear is unable to 
distinguish marked shades of tone-quality in 
an orchestra playing out of tune. So, too, 
a note strained in the sounding, until it pro- 



duces discordant over-tones, is deprived of if^ 
normal characteristic color. 

The finer shades of tone-quality do not im- 
press all people with precisely the same effect, 
no more than does music itself. The more 
striking attributes, such as the sombre and 
the clear tones, are unanimously recognized, 
just as the mournful in musical strains may 
be distinguished from the joyful. But you 
may depend upon it that the scrupulously ex- 
act observer, who informs you that a certain 
shade of tone-quality implies longing, is sure 
to meet with an equally exact observer who 
will prove to him that it means resignation. 
The innumerable adjectives by which each 
particular shade of tone-quality in music is 
qualified by many critics is a fact alone suf- 
ficient to prove that the English language is 
wonderfully rich in epithet Yet, perhaps it 
is to be regretted that even this wealth of 
epithet is not commensurate with the count- 
less shades of tone-quality in musia 

Each mui<ical instrument possesses an in- 
dividuHlity characterized by its tone-quality. 
A strain written for the violin loses its in- 
herent character when it is played upon the 
viola. Still leas does its composer recognize 
it, when it is played upon the oboe. Tlie 
melody remains the same, but its peculiar 
character as conceived by the* composer is 
altered. The individual color of tone in or- 
chestral instruments is classed into groups 
composed of instruments nearest related to 
each other in quality of tone. The wood, 
brass, and stringed instruments, are the 
broader divisions of tone-quality from which 
infinite varieties of tone-color may be drawn 
by the genius of the composer. Take any 
worthy orchestral composition, and in your 
mind's ear imagine that a part written for 
the strings alone, is played by the wood. You 
hardly recognize the music in its new charac- 
ter. Now imagine that you hear this partic- 
ular part plnyed by the brass; whereupon 
you are given a burlesque upon the original 
conception of the music Hence, then, the 
reason why a work composed for any instru- 
ment, or any group of instruments, loses its 
color by being arranged in a form which is 
at variance with its original conception. It 
would alQU>st be as reasonable to rearrange 
the colors in the master-work of a painter. 
An orchestral symphony arranged for the 
pinno-forte is perhaps enjoyable enough in 
that way, but it is too much like a photo- 
graph of a bouquet of flowers — its color and 
fragrance are missing. 

It is not difficult to recognize the charac- 
teristic qualit'es of the various keys in music. 
Yet, with the musician, these qualities are of 
a subjective and relative, rather than of an 
objective and positive nature. It is generally 
conceded that the key of £ major is bright 
and strong, A-flat mnjor tender and dreamy, 
C major bold and manly, and so on, but com- 
positions may be written in any of the keys 
with an effect which will flatly contradict 
their widely accepted character of tone. 
Moreover, it is possible to write a pathetic and 
mournful phrase in a major key, whereas a 
minor key can be make the vehicle of the 
gayest of scherzi. But with all this width of 
argument which is granted us, we cannot rid 
ourselves of the fact that a composition, con- 
ceived and expressed in a certain key, loses a 



July 5, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



107 



great deal of its intrinsic and characteristic 
value by being traii'«posed into another key 
from that to which it by birthright belongs. 



MR. EBENEZER PROUPS " HERE- 
WARD/ 



>f 



[All the London journals have more or lets daborate 
aeeounts of the new Cantata compotied by the musical critic 
of the Academy ^ who ranks among the most earnest and 
accomplished of living; Ena^Iish musicians. It was performed 
for the first time on the 4th of June, at St. James's flail, by 
the Borough of Hackney Choral Association, of which Mr. 
l^ut is the Conductor. We select, for the present, the 
notice of the Musical Standard.] 

It is, we believe, the first work of tlie 
kind written by him, his other compositions 
embracing orchestral and chamber music only. 
It was, therefore, with a great deal of curi- 
osity that the musical world anticipated the 
performance of his cantata, *' Herewanl the 
Wake," founded upon and illustrating the 
following narrative : — 

Hereward, the son of Leofric, Earl of 
Mercia, and the famous Lady Godiva, had 
caused much pain to his pious mother, and 
much annoyance to the neighborhood of 
Bourne, where she resided, by a series of 
youthful indiscretions, committed at the head 
of a band of comrades as lawless as himself. 
He brings his excesses to a climax by way- 
laying and robbing Herluin, a priest, against 
whom he has a long-standing grievance. 
Herluin denounces him to his mother, who, 
unable to pardon an offense committed 
against the church, banishes her son. This 
scene forms the subject of Part I. Here- 
ward makes his name famous by a number of 
daring exploits performed during his wan- 
derings, and at length arrives at Flanders, 
and takes service under Baldwin. At St. 
Omer dwells a noble lady named Torfrida, 
whose accomplishments in advance of the 
age have gained for her a reputation for su- 
pernatural power, a belief which her con- 
templative and mystic character half fosters 
within herself. She has already become in- 
terested in Hereward, through hearing of his 
fame, but they have not met when Fart II. 
opens. Hereward encounters Ascelin, Tor- 
frida's whilom champion, in a tournament, 
defeats him, and takes from him the ribbon 
which he wears as the token of her favor. 
Hereward brings the token to Torfrida, 
presenting himself to her in disguise, pre- 
tending to be Siward, his own nephew. Her 
quick perception, however, penetrates his dis- 
guise, and she avows her love, to which he 
passionately responds. Their marriage fol- 
lows, and the festivities bring Fart II. to a 
dose. A short period of happiness and re- 
pose is now disturbed by the arrival of a 
messenger bringing news of the accession of 
Harold Grodwinsson, his triumph at Stamford 
over Harold Hardrada, the great Norse hero ; 
of the defeat and death of Harold by Will- 
iam of Normandy ; of the misery and op- 
pression endured by his fellow-countrymen at 
the hands of the Normans ; and of the occu- 
pation of his own ancestral home at Bourne 
by the invader. Fired by the news, Here- 
ward calls his followers together, saiils for 
England with his wife, clears Bourne of the 
foe, is elected by the Saxons their commander 
in the camp of refuge at Ely, and by his 
own daring, and that of his followers, aided 
by the wise counsels and inspiring presence 



of Torfrida, defeats William in a great bat- 
tle, and defies all the Conqueror's attempts 
to storm his cump. This victory brings 
Part III. to an end. Artifice and the treach- 
ery of the monks at last accomplish what 
valor has been powerless to attain. William 
becomes master of Ely ; and Hereward, hav- 
ing cut his way out sword in hand, and hav- 
ing defied the Normans for a long time in 
the greenwood, is at length induced by the 
wiles of Alftruda, a noble Saxon lady, and 
by the offers of William, who is struck with 
admiration of his bravery, to give in his sub- 
mission to the Norman king, who restores him 
his estates, and bestows on him many marks 
of favor. Torfrida, his wife, persuaded by 
monkish counsels that her influence over 
Hereward had been gained by magic arts, 
and that the same worldly spells had inspired 
his great deeds, consents to a divorce and 
retires to a convent. The Norman nobles, 
inflamed with revenge at past defeats, and 
jealousy at the favors bestowed by Will- 
iam, conspire against Hereward ; and taking 
him unawares and without armor, slay him, 
though not till the greater part of their num- 
ber have fallen before his desperate resist- 
ance. Torfrida, hearing of her husband's 
death, hastens to Bourne, and consoles his 
mourning countrymen by a prophetic antici- 
pation of the future glories of a country 
which can boast of such mighty heroes as 
Hereward. Her prophecy brings the work 
to a close. 

It will be seen that the composer set him- 
self no ordinary task when he undertook to 
give a vocal representation of these stirring 
incidents with which the public are more or 
less familiar by perusal of Mr. Kiugsley*s 
graphic historical novel, '* Hereward the 
Wake." Mr. Prout was, however, on safe 
ground, and completely in his element in his 
work, especially in the instrumental support 
given to the voices. The story, as told in the 
four parts of the cantata, is loosely connected, 
but sufficiently strung together to maintain 
the interest of the narrative. After a short 
introduction, the scene opens with a chorus of 
Hereward's followers, '* Landless and Law- 
less " (allegro feroce), written with great 
vigor, and at once indicating the character of 
the whole work. In this, as in all the music 
in which Hereward appears, there is a special 
style which the listener learns to associate 
with his appearance. This is followed by a 
chorus, or rather hymn, of Godiva's ladies, 
'* Salve Regina." Then enters the priest 
with his complaint to Lady Godiva, who, in 
recitative, condemns her son to banishment, 
and joins with him and Herluin in a cleverly- 
worked -out trio. A tenor song, " Farewell 
my boyhood's home," is succeeded by a 
double chorus, entitled ^ Bring forth the 
beaker," in which appears the most beautiful 
effect of the work, namely, the combination 
of a hymn sung by Lady Godiva's ladies, rep- 
resented by sopranos and altos) and a drink- 
ing song given out by the tenors and basses. 
The novel device was very successful, and to 
our thinking the chorus was the gem of the 
performance. Part II. commences with a 
chorus of Torfrida's ladies, '^ Bright is the 
day," in which the pizzicato work of the 
strings is used very happily. This is fol- 
lowed by a soena, ^ 'T is all in vain," a duet, 



^ Hail, maiden fair," and a bridal march and 
chorus, " Strike the harp." Part HI. intro- 
duces a chorus of English, ^ Mourn, An- 
glia," the solo of the messenger with the 
evil news, Here ward's call to arms,- and a 
chorus on board ship, " Wafted by east wind." 
Then we are introduced to William's tiourt, 
at Wiachester, and are shown the reception 
of the Wake's reply to the Conqueror's sum- 
mons to surrender, followed by a " March of 
Normans." The succeeding scene is the bat- 
tle, described in soli and double choruses, 
and closes Part IH. The IVth Part is oc- 
cupied with Here ward's fall and death, con- 
taining a recitative and air by Alftruda, '* Hail, 
the might of woman, hail," a trio, ^ Great 
Norman, thine is Hereward's arm," a chorus 
of Normans, ** Gleemen lift a tuneful strain," 
a scena, ** Ah ! restless is the peace," the at- 
tack of Norman knights, and the death of 
Hereward. Then succeeds a recitative by 
Torfrida, " What sound is floating," a chorus 
of Saxons, " Weep for the Viking slain," and 
the finale, solo and chorus, " A glorious vis- 
ion." Mr. Prout has proved himself a thor- 
ough musician by his treatmenf of these num- 
bers, and the orchestration is in many places 
gorgeous in its coloring. That the cantata 
is strikingly original cannot be said ; that it 
is, strictly speaking, original at all, can hardly 
be vouched for ; reminiscences of well-known 
phrases frequently occur to the listener's 
mind, ranging from Handel's well-known 
style to the modern " Ancient Mariner " of 
Mr. J. F. Barnett. That it is the work of 
an intensely earnest musician, possessing in- 
timate and extensive knowledge of the re- 
sources of an orchestra, and the capabilities 
of the human voice, is without doubt. He 
has been ably assisted in his work by the 
libretto written by Mr. William Grist ; and 
his conceptions were nobly carried out by the 
body of musicians assembled. The Hack- 
ney Choral Association has reason to be 
proud of the performance. The composer 
has spared neither soloists nor chorus — the 
latter having to touch C in alt. on two occa- 
sions, and the former being taxed to their 
utmost in some of the number!<. Mrs. Os- 
good sang all the music of Torfrida ; Miss 
Marian Williams the music of Alftruda ; the 
comparatively small parts of Grodiva, and 
Leofevin, a page, were filled by Miss Mary 
Davies. Mr. Barton McGuckin represented 
Hereward ; and Mr. King, William the Con- 
queror ; and Mr. Prout conducted. The so- 
loists had a very arduous task, but they came 
triumphantly out of it, and gained great ap- 
plause. Mr. Prout very wisely and properly 
resisted numerous attempts to obtain encores, 
and was satisfied with the gratifying recep- 
tion of his work as evidenced by the enthu- 
siasm of the audience throughout the evening. 



THE INFLUENCE OF DISPLAY IN 

MUSIC. 

BY CHARLES U. BRITTAK. 

There is an unfortunate aim at display for 
exterior or vain purposes that sometimes passes 
into the realm of art, and causes a disturbance 
which, if not righted, tends to a demoralization 
of the very principles upon which act rests. 
This disposition of humanity which cultivates 
the appearance, and attempts to reach results by 
the effect of dazzling displays, is an element that 



108 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



C^OL. XXXIX. -No. 997. 



is unsound in principle, and calculated to mislead 
not only those who come in contact with its in- 
fluence but the very possessor of the trait; for, 
considering it in its correct relation to ultimate 
good, it is false in motive and in aim. As a 
people, the American nation makes appearance a 
positive element in its character, and cultivates 
a love for display to such an extent as to make 
ti8 liable to the charge of superficialityr This 
very attempt at what is termed in common par- 
lance " keeping up appearances " often leads to 
a very unssie method in social regulations as well 
as in the educational sphere of life. The youth 
becomes too early impressed with false ideas 
about his importance in the world, and is at 
once tempted to reach for general appreciation 
by the means of superficial acquirements. As 
a people, I suppose, we are but a half-educated 
race, and yet we attempt to hide our deficiencies 
by the unhealthy means of a vain appearance. 
It is no uncommon occurrence to see important 
positions in civil, governmental, and educational 
life filled by the incompetent. 

Real culture, when considered from its right 
standpoint, unfolds to the thinking mind certain 
principles upon which the very development of 
its vitality depends ; the first of which seems to 
be a love for *tlie truth. All acquirements in 
knowledge, the discoveries in the natural world, 
the progress of art, and the very development of 
the religious element in the people, — all depend 
upon the great impulse in the hearts of men that 
leads them toward the universe of truth, which 
lies just beyond their present limit of advance- 
ment. As the leaf of the tender spring-time 
flower expands towards the light of the sun, 
and gains from its warmth the elements of life 
and bloom, so must the mind of man unfold be- 
fore the enriching power of truth, until the soul 
has reached the maturity of a heavenly perfec- 
tion. Nothing can hinder true advancement so 
much as the influence which comes from being 
satisfied with one's attainments. If a flattering 
world bows in appreciation of some worthy ac- 
coniplisliment, and the hero listens to its seduc- 
tive praises, until his step falters, and he becomes 
like the god of old, charmed with his own image, 
he signs his own death warrant, and all subse- 
quent progress is rendered impossible. And in 
no department of life is the eflcct of a love for 
the superficial in accomplishment so productive 
of harm as in the art world. 

Bringing this characteristic of a love of dis- 
play into our own don^ain, namely, the musical 
world, we can follow its influence for a moment, 
and perhaps profit by the lesson. The purpose 
of all art seems to be the cultivation of the Beau- 
tiful. In the word beautiful, as used here, we 
have a higher meaning than that which denotes 
a mere gratification of the artistic taste of hu- 
manity ; for it seems to signify a reaching after 
the ultimate of what is lovely, even to an em- 
bodiment of heavenly purity in the noblest forms 
capable of manifestation. Thus we observe 
true art is influenced by a higher purpose than 
that of pleasing by mere displays, but rather 
aims at a positive good, even to making manifest 
the power of beauty in works that bear the holy 
stamp of truth. If we consider the great efforts 
of the truly endowed composer, we can but note 
that a love for his art — that is, the beautiful — 
influenced him in all his endeavors, and that 
his creations seem to bear the stamp of inspira- 
tion so far are they removed from worldly forms 
and material or financial aims. An intention 
that contains a love of the beautiful for its own 
sake becomes a higher motive than one which 
looks at manifestation as a means of acquiring 
some personal aggrandizement, and is sure, when 
reinforced by positive ability and power, to ac- 
complish works of great importance. Art when | 



taken in its highest sense, is as noble a power 
for the development of all that is good and great 
in a man as any that civilization can exert. 

In the modern use of the word virtuoso (taken 
in its musical sense) we have an idea which, per- 
haps in many cases, has too great a bearing upon 
the technical dexterity of a performer, and not 
enough upon his connection with the real signifi- 
cation of art. Many critics write fluently upon 
matters of technique, and offer flattering praises 
for any wonderful feats of mechanical agility, 
but look very little upon the relation of the per- 
former with the works which he interprets. Thus 
we hear more of the performer than of the music 
which he plays. To attend a concert is in too 
many instances but to be present at a show of 
the pergonal feats of some famous artist, who 
has won a reputation more from the brilliant 
manner in which he exhibits his agility, than for 
real merit as an interpreter of great music. To 
show his technique, his power, and endurance, 
seems in too- many cares the aim of the per- 
former. Thus a showy piece of a brilliant 
character is chosen for public performance with 
little intent but that of making a display of 
his own dexterity. In piano-forte playing some 
of the Liszt music of tlic most showy and brill- 
iant kind is sure to fill the larger part of a 
programme, where virtuosity, — ihat is, display, 
— is the aim of the player. Real art uuist hide 
its head when the selfishly dis]K>sed performer 
attempts to make an exhibition of his own qual- 
ifications. For true art is something far higher 
than this, and the thoughtful and devoted tbl- 
lower will sink the very idea of self in his effort 
to lifl his hearers into that inner circle where a 
sympathy for the beautiful makes a unity of feel- 
ing that forbids selfishness. Yet many of our 
young musicians are led on by the spirit of our 
age and country, and, in not reasoning out for 
themselves their relation to their art, often com- 
mit this sin against the true principles of an 
artist, unknowingly. Their best friends flatter 
their octave playing, their wonderful performance 
of rapid scale passages, and comment with com- 
plimentary vords upon their power, until they 
consider displays of technique the essential qual- 
ifications of an artist, and make this the aim of 
their lives. So also the newspaper reporter, in 
far too many cases, applies this test, technical 
proficiency, as the criterion for his judgment upon 
all performances. Not that a perfect technique 
is to be deprived of its full importance in the 
classification of an artist's attainments, for it is 
of all things primarily necessary to his success as 
a performer. Yet it must not be regarded as 
more than a means towards the accomplishment 
of an end. That end is surely the interpreta- 
tion of the musical ideas in whatever composition 
the artist may desire to perform. The true artist 
stands between the composer and the listener as 
an interpreter, and unless he would sink all idea 
of self ambition, and lose himself in the spirit 
of the music, and with faithfulness of aim make 
manifest the intentions of the author, he is not a 
sincere musician. The artist who is ambitious to 
shine for his technique and brilliancy of per- 
formance can hardly forget self long enough to 
find the spirit of his author, as he studies his 
compositions. He may, indeed, produce the 
piece with correctness of a technical character, 
and strive for a brilliant performance, for his 
ambition for display leads to this, but to seek for 
that depth of feeling, that refined sentiment that 
comes from conscientious study, and the truthful 
interpretation of the composer's intentions, re- 
quires a higher motive and a truer love for art. 
In a love for art, self stands sacrificed, while the 
artist becomes ennobled, and reaches the mount- 
ain height of attainment by the very giving up 
of himself to the object of his adoration. 



It is no uncommon thing to have this vain 
motive of display tempt these followers after the 
diflicult to commit great sacrileges with the 
classical compositions of the worthy old masters. 
We often see on out programmes pretty bits of 
melodic writing of some fine old composer tor- 
tured almost beyond recognition under the name 
of a modern arrangement, in order to be the 
means of showing how easy it is for some vain 
Knight of the Key-board to conquer difficulty. 
Not long since I heard a gigue of Mozart, which 
in its natimil setting is a beautiful piece of quaint 
music, as fresh and fairy-like as the dance of 
some lovely nymph of classic time. In its new 
form, as arranged by Tausig, its simplicity, grace, 
and wondrous charm had all fallen before the 
modern mania for difficult execution, and just to 
satisfy the love for display of our new school of 
virtuoso piano-forte players. If we must have 
these showy pieces to enable the man to manifest 
his dexterity, at least let him play pranks with 
his own musical works, and keep the treasured 
compositions of the masters sacred for those that 
love them in their old sweet forms. To take ltt>- 
erties with the classic works in literature, and 
to attempt to deprive some old Grecian bard of 
his tuneful verses, by altering them to suit modern 
caprice, would bring out the condemnation of 
every scholar in the world. To pervert Plato, to 
alter a word in Shakespeare, or to change a line 
in Milton, would seem to be an unpardonable sin. 
Yet are the musical ideas of Uie old masters any 
less sacred and their own inherent property, than 
the thoughts of the literary lights of the world ? 
Has the modern idea of display a right to com- 
mit depredations among the classic compositions 
of the greatest masters in the musical art world, 
and transform their stately melodies, through the 
means of variationsy into distorted images of their 
once lovely forms ? Every lover of justice should 
protest against innovations which deprive a com- 
poser of his own creations. 

Chopin, that master tone-poet of modem time, 
whose music in many of his numbers is difficult 
enough for even modern ambition, has not been 
secure firom the inroads of the piratical arranger 
of the present day, for I heard one of his smaller 
yet lovely waltzes that it had pleased his fancy 
to leave in a simple but graceful form, trans- 
formed into a work of difficulty to satisfy some 
ambitious performer. If a love of art had pos- 
sessed the feelings of the transcriber, a correct 
taste would have indicated to him that some 
things are more beautiful because of their very 
simplicity. Is the timid and tender little violet 
of the spring-time less lovely, because there are 
other and more brilliant flowers that bloom in 
the warmer days of su tamer? Are there not 
differences in the forms with which Beauty may 
manifest herself,* and yet be true to her glorifying 
instinct ? The soft and gentle strain of melody 
that is born of a refined and tender inspiration 
may be as beautiful as some wonderful burst of 
harmony that carries awe with its grandeur. 
There is variety in the world of the beautiful, 
for one form may be lovely, and another quite as 
fair, and yet be different. In music it is not 
alone those compositions that are hard to execute 
that have a high rank as works of art. The 
stately, yet graceful and pure harmonies of Pal- 
estrina, and the simple little love-songs of Pergo- 
lese, have a charm about them that comes from 
the real domain of true art, no matter if they 
differ from that greater depth of feeling grasped 
by the mighty intellect of a Beethoven. 

Crin modem musical inspiration surpass the 
fugal form that Bach developed to such perfec- 
tion ? Mo<lern composers may, perchance, write 
a six-part fugue, or even one of ten parts, but 
contrapuntal talent has not yet surpassed even 
the smaller examples of this fiftmous old master. 



Jolt 5, 1879.] 



DWIGHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



109 



Thero is something beyond a knowledge of mu- 
sical form necessary to produce works that bear 
the stamp of greatness, and even the disposition 
to write a yery difficult work will not alone lifl 
it into a high rank as a composition that will 
bear the test of time, and yet live in the world 
of art.. It seems to me that this spirit of vir- 
tuosity that so often rules the young artist, some- 
times also influences the modern composer, and 
in the effort to surpass the old works in regard 
to difficulty and character of effects, they lower 
the standard of tlie art, and die by reason of 
their own failures. In many of the compositions 
of Liszt for the piano-forte, it appears to roe as 
if his wonderful talent for virtuoso playing had 
run away with his fancy, and that few musical 
lovers outside the rank' of those knights of exe- 
cution could catch the spirit of the mad whirl 
of notes, as they rush from one climax of diffi- 
culty to another, that is found in many of his 
works. It is refntshing to my mood and taste 
to turn to some of tlie quiet simplicity of even 
Mosart's music, and 6nd there a more genial 
musical sympathy than any of the " Ungarische 
Rhapsodien ** can excite. 

A man of thought must believe in progress, 
and I have no doubt but that music in her on- 
ward development will reach higher degrees of 
excellence than have yet been obtained by even 
the great intellects of tlie past, for this art is yet 
young, and time is long, and human genius is far 
reaching in its aims, and will strive for even in- 
finite perfection. But I also realize that talent 
must be excited by a higher motive than personal 
display of powers, to ever reach even the noble 
heights now held by the old masters of other 
generations. Like Schubert they must be will- 
ing to write for a future time, if their own age 
will not listen ; and rest satisfied in the pleasure 
that creation gives, even if there is no recognition 
or applause coming from a thankless world to 
encourage theuL The composer that sees in his 
art full compensation for whatever labor or time 
he may spend upon it, must have the spirit of 
genius within him ; and that, as it develops into 
maturity, will bring him a more lasting acknowl- 
edgment than any that is born of a passing 
popularity. So also with the artist. One who 
dazzles the muldtudo will win money and a cer- 
tain kind of fame, but his place may soon be 
filled by another more dexterous than he. In 
the real art-world, there is no cessation for the 
influence that comes from the activity of the con- 
scientious artist, for we have but few honest 
interpreters who are influenced by a true inten- 
tion. 

In vocal performance, the same love of display 
18 conspicuous among the singers in far too many 
cases. To win a certain kind of popularity by 
catering to the varying tastes of a capricious pub- 
lic, seeflls to be the aim of a large number of our 
concert singers. This influence even enters into 
the churches, and the religious worship is too 
fre((uently marred by an ambitious quartet, 
whode effort seems to be that of making a display 
of their vocal acquirements 1 Poor, but sensa- 
tional music, is often chosen for selections that 
should be devotional, and worthy offerings to 
the praises of Grod. The third commandment 
contains no awe for the general choir-singer, for 
tCe name of the great Creator is too often taken 
for the mere use of vain vocal displays, rather 
than sung with that reverence that is its due. 

Not many months have passed since a ship 
containing a crew of burlesciue ^ingers, was borne 
to this land upon the tidal wave of sensation. 
The revelry of their mirthful singing became 
universally contagious, until no part of the mu- 
sical world seemed firee from its sensational in- 
fluence. Opera singers, concert vocalists, and 
church choirs, caught up the songs, until it I 



seemed as if the acme of every artist was to ap- 
pear in the role of a buffo singer. Even the dig- 
nified representative of Mendelssohn's Elijah 
caught the infectious influence, and began '* car- 
oling to the moon," thereby verifying the truth 
of the adage, that in the musical world things 
were indeed " at sixes and at sevens." And the 
golden calf of scriptural fame under his modern 
form of money, sent showers of gold as offerings 
of praise to these musical rioters, proving that 
his influence in the present day, is as seductive 
as in the olden time. Alas 1 sensation is the 
coordinate factor of display. 

While we all recognize the value of mirth, 
and can appreciate the benefit that comes to the 
people from hearty and fitting enjoyments, and 
would even approve of burlesques of an innocent 
order, yet to have the high circles of true art in- 
vaded by sensational influences can but be for 
the time deplorable. In the drama, the modern 
love for sensation h^s produced a certain class 
of plays, of which those of the " society " order 
are perhaps the least objectionable. But there 
has been a sad falling off, both in the plays pro- 
duced, and in the actors educated, since this 
liking became general. A taste for the artistic 
in decoration, refinement in social life, purity in 
literature, the beautiful in painting, sculpture, 
and music, and the good in every thing, can only 
become general elements among humanity when 
the leaders of civilization speak in strong and 
powerful words against every influence that re- 
tards trife culture. The uiu»ician who would 
grace his art by his adherence, must bring info 
its sphere the influence of a general culture. 
The mind that reflects with a universal recogni- 
tion of the various interests tliat attract human- 
ity, is more likely to bring to its own particular 
work the results of a wide culture, and is able 
by means of this greater store of knowledge to 
do more to advance whatever cause may be 
nearest its endeavor, than one who is nar- 
rowed down to a limited observation. Art is 
universal in its aim, for its purpo.-e is the ad- 
vancement of the beautiful. Painting seeks to 
embody the beautiful on the canvas, sculpture to 
preserve it in marble, and music to pulsate its 
influence through the medium of sweet sounds. 
The beautiful in nature is seen in its manifesta- 
tion, the beautiful of religion in its purity and 
matchless precepts, the beauty of thought in 
poetry and in literature, the beautiful in human- 
ity in the love of one's fellow-men, and through- 
out the whole universe in things seen and 
expressed in idea is this wonderful influence. 
The beautiful in the ultimate is the great spirit 
of Grod. And in this correlation of mental forces, 
so necessary to the full development of the per- 
fect soul, will the artist and composer, even like 
the men in all classes and professions, find the 
only means to reach that vast height of attain- 
ment that shall bring the mind into communica- 
tion with the vast thought and knowledge of the 
Infinite. 

Out of the busy world, into the atmosphere of 
pure art, comes the art-student, bringing with 
him his humanity, energy, and love of the beau- 
tiful, and he must be content to leave behind 
him every element that is sensational or selfish 
in its desire for personal display, if he would 
reach that point of excellence that is worthy of 
a lasting reward. Music's power has within it 
an influence that will ennoble as well as charm, 
if one but listens to its pure manifestations of the 
beautiful, as they are heard in sweet sounds. Its 
grand harmonies proclaim the infinite. Its gen- 
tle sonvs murmur of love and faith, while its 
matchless chords will bind together every in- 
terest that would ennoble the soul of man, and 
make him Worthy of his immortality. 
Chicago, Hay 10, 1879. 



TALKS ON ART. - SECOND SERIES.^ 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

IX. 

You want work I and then, no work 1 You 
can put your model in better in half an hour 
than you can in a whole day. By rest you get 
polished and brilliant, and come to your work 
with a zest which makes you dissatisfied with 
everything which has not the essence of life. 
Work that is done by the day is filed down, and 
has no spontaneity. 

You don't work intensely enough. I'd like, 
for a while, to see no carelessness, no thought- 
lessness. Why do you put that line down there ? 
For what ? You don't cut velvet in that way ; 
and velvet costs only six dollars a yard. What 
is velvet compared to your mind ? 

The best music teacher that I ever saw. Mile. 
Michel, would not let her pupils touch a piano 
except under an instructor. I 've heard a little 
fellow, one of her pupils, play Mozart's music 
as I never heard it played before. Beautifully 
regular and child-like — as Mozart was. Mile. 
Michel had few scholars and enormous prices. 
Was in the third story of a house near Mont- 
martre. I have heard Joachim and Klaus play 
the violin, but they did not move me like those lit- 
tle children playing with their professors. They 
could not play Chopin, but certain other things 
that were really beautiful 

Draw that ear carefully. It is permanent; 
always stays there. It can*t laugh or cry. It is 
permitted to draw the other features with a little 
less care, because you reach an expression with- 
out great work. 

It is only science that thinks of grays and half- 
tints — that the Lord never thought of. There 's 
conscientiousness all through your studies. A 
little more tranquillity, a little more simplicity, 
would carry your work along immensely. If you 
only had a good idiot to work for you 1 

Lose yourself in looking for the effect that 
is governing a picture. 

There *s no such thing as common-place except 
in your own mind. No such thing as beauty 
except in your appreciation of it. 

Don't rely on getting nature in the position 
that you want at just the moment when you want 
to see it. I painted that portrait of a boy stand- 
ing, when the child was half the time turning 
somersaults upon the floor. 

When the boy turned his head he took his ear 
with him. 

You have put in his heail without any body. 
You could take up his head as it is in your hand, 
and handle it as you would a ball. That boy's 
head is of value to him only as it is joined to his 
body. That interrogation-point (outliue of the 
nostril) is too distinct. I see a beautiful moutJi ; 
but you have made it look like 8. 8. 8. 

Hold a sheet of white paper behind that head, 
and see how dark the outline of that face is in 
light. 

Keep your love of nature keen. The moment 
that you thiuk how to do it, then you don't paint 
unconsciously. Some of my scholars ought to 
be able to paint, but they don't care enough. 

You feel a great deal of certain parts of a 
thing. Instead of going to work and getting it 
all, you work too much on the one part that fas- 
cinates vou. 

Nothing like ambition to multiply lights. Con- 
scientiousness and ambition play the Nick with 
pictures. 

1 Copyright, 1879, hj Helen H. Kuowlton. 



110 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 997. 



As many outlines as you like ; but have them 
of the right value. 

The " Talks on Art " were written for mere 
students ; but great artists read them. You may 
say they are contradictory. But they were ad- 
dressed to different students. Some needed 
Lasty-pndding, some Albert Diirer. 

Woav&^i^^ ^journal of inujStc. 

SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1879. 



ORCHESTRAL PROSPECTS. 

The old problem of a permanent orchestra 
in Boston seems to be approaching an affirma- 
tive solution. Two separate manifestoes for 
the coming season have appeared. One an- 
nounces, as a matter of course, our long accus- 
tomed symphony concerts under the auspices of 
the Harvard Musical Association. The other, a 
new enterprise, is a series of popular orchestral 
concerts, uniier the lead of Mr. Bernard Liste- 
mann, the well-known admirable violinist, who 
has withdrawn irom his traveling companions of 
the Mendelssohn Quintette Club, preferring to re- 
main quietly, though not inactively, at home. 

(1.) The Symphony Concerts left so agree- 
able an impression the last season, that all the 
omens look encouraging for their continuance. 
Everybody speaks hopefully about them. The 
orchestra, in spite of its few chances of rehear- 
sal, and of remuneration reduced to the stand- 
ard of the times, showed what good work it 
could do when animated by the right spirit and 
enthusiasm. The indefatigable conductor, Carl 
Zerrahn, really accomplished wonders with the 
men at his disposal for so lew hours during four 
months only of the year. The programmes 
seemed to give general satisfaction. The audi- 
ences, to be sure, were not large enough, and 
the season, in spite of rigid economies, resulted 
in some pecuniary loss, though very small com- 
pared with several preceding seasons. 

Now the Concert Committee of the Harvard 
Musical Association speak in a confident tone. 
Without apology or argument, without any ifs 
or peradventure, they have issued their circular 
at this early hour, in which, " encouraged by the 
interest manifested in these concerts during the 
past season, both on the part of the musicians 
and the public," they say they **feel already 
warranted in promising another series (the fif- 
teenth), of at least eight concerts, in the months 
of December, January, February, and March 
next." This circular, which bears the names of 
the committee in full (J. S. Dwight, C. C. Per- 
kins, J. C. D. Parker, B. J. Lang, S. B. Schles- 
inger, Chas. P. Curtis, S. L. Thomdike, Augus- 
tus Flagg, William F. Apthorp, Arthur Foote, 
and Greo. W. Sumner), proceeds as follows : — 

The orchestn and kadenbip will be the best that Boston 
can commaud. 

Of course it is not poesible, lo long beforehand, to an- 
nounce the programmes in full; but it may be confidently 
stated that the proportion of iroportaot neio works will be 
larger than usual, with due care that the great old masters 
shall be richly represented. Among the orchestral composi- 
Uons which it is the intention to present, may be named the 
followiog:^ 

SrMPiio:iiK8. New : Posthumoos Symphony in F, by 
Goets; "Symphonic Faiitastique,'* by Berlioz; Second 
(•* Spring") Symphony, by J. K. Paine. — Old: One by 
Hocart; the Fifth, and another by Beetho\'en; the great 
Schubert Symphony in 0; the *• Sootch/' by Mendelsohn ; 
and, possibly, the short one in B flat, by Gade. 

Overtures: Beethoven, '^Weihe des Hauaes," Op. 
124; BerlioK, " Benvenuto Cellini " {Jirst time); Mendels- 
sohn, "Die schone Melunne;" Schumann, "Manfred;" 
Bargiel, '* Medea; *' Schubert, " Fierabras,*' " Itosaniunde." 
More hereafter. 

Miscellaneous: One of Handel's Concertos (^r$t 
time)\ Schamanu's "Overture, SehenM and Finale; '* also 
{Jirii time), Schumann's Concert-Stiick, Op. 86, for four 



horns, with orchestra; Baeh*s Chaconne, transcribed for or- 
chestra by Raff; first movement of Kubinsteiu's " Ocean " 
Symphony; three short Marches from "Nozzedi Mf^aro," 
" Zauberflutte,'* and " Fidelio; " lutroductiou to Third Act 
of Cherubini's "Medea"; Night March (first time) from 
Berlioz's " L'Enfiwce du Christ.** 

Other works may be found dcRirable and practicable as 
the concert season approaches. Solo artists^ vocal and in- 
strumental, will be announced in due time. 

Subscription lists for season tickets, with particulars, will 
be opened early in the autumn. Meanwhile, any persons 
eager to lend assurance to the enterprise by an earlier pledge 
for tickets have only to send in their names to the Cliairmau 
(12 Pemberton Square), or to any member of the Committee 

This announcement, it will be seen, is not an ap- 
peal for subscriptions, which is left to a later 
and more convenient period. It is simply a giv- 
ing notice before entering; the accustomed field. 
Several new signs of encouragement have pre- 
sented themselves. We will mention only one, 
and that perhaps the most important, namely : 
the prospect of a valuable accession to our or- 
chestra ; not only have we Mr. Liatemann here 
again, but all tlie artists of the Mendelssohn 
Quintette Club will be available during the four 
months of these concerts, as they propose to 
confine Uieir traveling to the autumn and the 
spring. 

Now what is further needed for the regular 
and adequate supply of symphony concerts of 
the highest order in this mu»ical community, is 
a much greater frequency of orchestral {perform- 
ances, so that the musicians may be kept in 
more continual practice together, and so that we 
may have our local orchestra en permanence. 
There is a fair chance that this need may be 
supplied through this new enterprise of Mr. 
Listcmann. 

(2.) Popular Orchestral Concerts. Mr. 
Listemann's plan is simply, with a small orches- 
tra, say tliirty, of the best musicians of the 
Harvard orchestra, and at popular prices (6fly 
cents), to give in some large hall frequent con- 
certs of mixed and popular, yet well chosen 
programmes, both of classical and light instru- 
mental music, mostly orchestral, but with some 
instrumental solos. Mr. Listentann himself will 
wield the baton, and will also doubtless play 
some solos. . Financially the organization will 
be conducted somewhat on the cooperative 
system, so that every member may be person- 
ally interested in its success. (It is intimated 
tliat Mr. L., with a few of his musicians, will 
give also some chamber concerts afler the man- 
ner of the " Monday Pops " in Ix)ndon.) 

Mr. Listemann's party takes the name of 
<*The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra." From 
a conversation with him we understand that he 
proposes to make his concerts popular by giving 
a comparatively small allowance of symphony 
music, and more of light, bright, sentimental, in 
short-, popular varieties. But such a man can 
he relied on to offer nothing which is not worthy 
and good of its kind, nothing coarse and vulgar, 
or too hackneyed. With so small a band he will 
confine himself, so far as symphonies are con- 
cerned, to the smaller symphonies of Haydn, 
Mozart, etc , leaving the larger works of Beet- 
hoven, Schumann, and more modern writers, to 
the larger orchestra. Nor indeed does he in- 
tend always to give an entire symphony, but 
only single movements. Thus the distinction 
will be quite well marked between these and the 
Harvard concerts. They need not interfere 
with one another ; and, not interfering, they can 
only be of mutual benefit. It certainly should 
be a great gain to our orchestral music, and to 
the grand symphony orchestra, especially, to 
have the nucleus of that orchestra made perma- 
nent and always kept in practice. And it all 
tends directly to multiply inducements for good 
instrumental musicians to settle down content- 
edly in Boston. 



SIGHTLESS S(;H0LARS. 

Under this head the Advertiser doscrilxis the 
closing exercises of the year at the Perkins In- 
titution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, 
on Tuesday afternoon, June 24th. The educa- 
tion at this school, — which is of a very thorough 
and comprehensive kind, embracing not only 
reading, writing, and arithmetic, but many 
higher branches, as geography, history, ancient 
and modern, civil polity, literary history, natural 
history and philosophy, ment-al and moral phi- 
losophy, geology, Latin, and even optics (!) — 
may be said to be carried on in an atmosphere 
of music. For music is one of the prime objects 
of interest among the blind. They have ex- 
cellent teachers, vocal and instrumentaL They 
are made familiar witli what is classical and best 
in music. You may hear there fugues of Bach 
upon the organ, sonatas of Beethoven on the 
piano-forte, and indeed the repertoire is large. 
And what is learned at all, is necessarily learned 
thoroughly ; for every piece, however long and 
complicated, has to be acquired note by note 
memoriter. The concentration of the mind on 
sounds, and their relations, is naturally close 
with those who are deprived of sight. In an at- 
mosphere, then, vibrating with harmony, where 
the young mind is always kept in wholesome, 
alternating, interesting exercise, and where mu- 
tual love and kindness between teachers and 
pupils seem to be all-pervading, it is no wonder 
that these unfortunates, as they are commonly 
regarded, seem to be so bright, intelligent, and 
happy. Certainly this was the delightful impres- 
sion upon all who witnessed those most interest- 
ing exercises — a sort of Commencement on a 
nio4le8t scale — upon that beautiful June day. 
But let the Advertiser speak : — 

When one sees on the street the apparently blind girl 
b^jcar, about whoae neek hangs a phuard reqiieittiiig Chria- 
tiaiis all, both great and imall, to take pity on her, the blind 
mother of six oi'phaiis all under nine yean of age, tiie in- 
digtiatiou at the imposture overpowers the oompaatiioii for 
the misfortune. But the tntly unfortunate and honest 
blind, such as were gathered in the ball of the South Boston 
institute yesterday aitemoon, appeals to one's sympathies as 
no asker (tf alms ever does. It \ras the eloae of Uie schod 
year, and the blind pupils, the girls on the right of the hall 
and the boys on the left, were present, both to take part 
and to hear the fitfeweli words spoken. Decorations of 
ferns, climbing ivy and bright flowoa were arranged taste, 
fully about the widls and oigan, and hung from the eiling. 
About seventy pupils were present ; the body of the liall 
was filled with visitors, including members of tlie board of 
trustees, the Boston school committee, and South Boston 
clergymen. In the gallery, also, were other spectators 
Programmes printed in raised letters were distributed by a 
blind pupil stationed at the door. At half past two the 
exercises began with Bach's Prelude and Fugue No. 3, 
which was played on the organ by Henry T. Bray, with tnie 
insight of the spirit of the composition. An object lesson 
by three girls and three boys followed. Cubical blocks of 
one inch dimeusions were uned, and various combinationa 
made neatly and quickly at the word from the teacher, Miss 
M. L. P. Shattuck. A composition on the **£flects of 
War on Nations ** was recited by William B. Hammond, 
— for the reader must remember that he bad no eyes 
Alice Gary's " Au Order for a Picture " was then recited in 
a clear voice and appreciative manner by Mary McCafAey, 
and next came Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, Opus 67, 
the first movement (allegro), phtyed by William H. Wade. 
One peculiarity of the young artist's playing was marked. 
He pUyed as if be were wholly alone; as if no spectators 
were watching him ; as if he were expressing his own soul 
in the music. Every note had a meaning which woold 
have been in danger of extinction at an ordinary player's 
bands, and the accompaniment was more than usual an in- 
tegral part of the theme. Miss Ella R. Shaw read with 
her fingers a composition of real delicacy about Apple^; but 
it had the peculiarity of omitting colors from the menUon 
of the good qualities of the fruit. After Arthur £. Hatch's 
declaraation of Macaulay's opinion of the Puritans came 
'fully's »' 'fhe Gypsy Maid,*' sung by RitUe Wheeler in a 
sweet voice. LitUe Charlie Prescott's natural, history exer- 
cise was full of interest, and then Henry B. Thomas re- 
cited Master Wade's composition upon " A Man is What 
he Makes Himself." The next exercise was Joseph R. 
Lucier's comet solo of J. llartmaun's "The Favorite." 
The player was a master of his instrument, and played with 
wonderful power and facility. His k>w notes were especially 
full and firm, and the double-tonguing passages m the va- 



Jdlt 5, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



Ill 



nations on the theme were reitUy brilliant. He was per- 
sistently applauded, and gave ** Fair Harvard " in response 
to the encore. He was accompanied in both selections by a 
bUnd pianist. The recitation in geology was another well- 
performed exercise, and the bright little fellow who found 
the places on the map was a favorite, llie lecturer, as he 
stood behind the table, looked like a professor. Henry T. 
Bray, who leaves the M:hool now, spoke the good-bye, and 
the exercises closed with the " ht\\ trio,** from Pinafore, by 
female voices. It was charmingly done. Only three gradu- 
ate this year, there being no reguhu- class as last year. 

At the close, brief remarks were made by Menrs. J. S. 
Dwight and K. E. Apthorp of the trustees, Uie Hon. Henry 
B. Peirce, secretary of the Commonwealth, Dr. Thomas 
Hnwer, Dr. I^ D. Packard, the Kevs. K. K. Meredith and 

5. S. Hughson, and Mr. W. T. Adams (Oliver Optic). 
Mr. Anagnos presided during the exercises, and conducted] 

them. 

♦ 

CONCERTS. 

Mrs. Anna Mayiirw-Simond.4, an accom- 
plished pupil of Mr. Kugene Tliayer, the or- 
ganist, and of Mr. Carlyle Fetervilea, tlie pianist, 
has just completed a series of six free organ and 
.piano recitals. The former were given at the 
Berkeley- Street Church, two of the latter at the 
Meionaon (Tremont Temple), and the sixth and 
last in the great Tremont Temple, which was 
crammed full of listeners on Thursday evening, 
June 26, — a rare scene for a hot midsummer 
night I Mrs. Simonds's organ programmes in- 
cluded such works as Handel's fiflh and sixth 
Organ Concertos; Bach's Doric Toccata, St. 
Ann's Fugue (£ flat), and Fugue in C minor, 
Book II.: Schumann's ** Skizzen; " an i4M Ma- 
ria by Liszt ; three Adagios by Volckmar ; varia- 
tions by Merkel, Thayer, and others. 

In the fir.-t two piano recitals she peiformed 
Beethoven's £-flat Concerto (the accompani- 
ment by Mr. Petersilea), and the '* Moonlight " 
Sonata; Chopin's F-minor Concerto and Valse 
Brillante, in D flat, Op. 64 ; Mendelssohn's first 
Song without Words ; and Liszt's Fantasias on 
Lucia and Rigolette. Miss Ellen D. Barrett 
sang Benedict's ** Carnevale di Venezia," and 
Schubert's " Barcarolle ; " and Mi:*s Anna C. 
Holbrook Rossini's ** Di Paljiiii," and Rease's 
" Absence." 

Of all these recitals we were only able to atr 
tend the last, — that in the great hall witli the 
great audience. The programme was an inter- 
esting one : — 

1. Concerto, F minor. Op. 16 I/ffuelL 

Allegro pathetic — Larghetto — Allegro Agitato. 

3. Vocal, Ave Maria . Bnggt. 

Miss Jessie Hallenbeck. 
8. Valse Caprice, Op. 34 Schavwtitka. 

4. Quartet in £ flat. Op. 13 MendeUiohn, 

(For two violins, viola, and violoncello.) 
Adagio non troppo. Allegro non tardante — 
Canzooetta. All^^tto ^ Andante espressivo 
— Molto Allegro e Vivace. 

6. Vocal, a. In Autumn ^ 

b. Out of the Soul's great Sadness > Franz. 

c. The Woods ) 

Mm. £. Humphrey.Alleii. 
6. Rhapsodie Hongroise, No. 2 Litzt. 

The Henselt Concerto was accompanied by 
the Beethoven Quartet (of strings), and by Mr. 
Petersilea, who himself first performed this ex- 
tremely difficult work in Boston in one of the 
earlier Symphony Concerts. The composition, 
though it abounds in brilliant effects, as well as 
in pleasing sentimental passages, lacks sustained 
inspiration ; it was, perhap:^, too serious an effort 
for the author of such felicities as '* If I wei-e a 
Bird." Mrs. Simonds proved herself fully equal 
to all its technical requirements, having a clear, 
firm touch, sure and facile execution, while her 
phrasing and entire inteqiretation was intelli- 
gent and expressive. She plays with enthusi- 
asm. The very fresh, original, and piquant 
Valse by Scharwenka, which also has its pe- 
culiar difficulties, also showed her interpretative 
faculty in a fine light. We could not remain 
for the Rhapso<lie Hongroise. 



The Mendelssohn Quartet was beautifully and 
artistically played, and with true verve and fire, 
by Messrs. Allen, Akeroyd, Heindl, and Wulf 
Fries. The fascinating Canzonetta, so quaint and 
ballad-like, was enthusiiistically encored. — Miss 
Hallenbeck, a youthful pupil of Sig. Cirillo, has 
a frerh, clear, ri'^h, mezzo soprano voice, and 
made a pleasing impression by her singing. Of 
course Mrs. Allen's rendering of the three Franz 
songs was a choice feature of the concert ; but 
why was ** A us jneinen grossen Schmerzen " 
tianslated ** Out of the Soul's great sadness"? 



Miss Henribtta Maurrr. — This young 
lady, formerly a pupil of Mr. Petersilea, at- 
tracted the attention of Rubinstein when he was 
here by the fine promise of her piano playing, 
and, by his recommendation, she has been study- 
ing with his brother Nicholas Rubinstein at the 
Conservatory in St. Pctereburg. A compliment- 
ary reception was given her on Wednesday even- 
ing, June 25, in Palladio Hall. That being 
Commencement Day at Cambridge, we could not 
attend. We have heard high praise of her per- 
formance in the following programme : — 

Conoert-Stuck Weber, 

(Two Pianos.) 
Miss H. Maurer and Mr. C. Petersilea. 

Song, ^' I..es Kameaux " Faure. 

Mr. V. CiriUo. 

Aria, " II Carnevale di Venezia " Benedict 

Mi»8 Ellen 1). Barrett. • 
Piano Solo, <• Masaniello, Tarantella *'.... Liszt. 

Miss H. Maurer. 

Aria, " Pace mio Dio " Verdi. 

Mrs. 1« V. C. Richardson. 

Violin, "Fantasia Brilliant'* . Artot. 

Mr. Wm. Dom. 

P,Vn« <5i>iA I'** "Noctunie" Chopin. 

^**"^ ^**' J 6. "Air with Variations" . . HandeL 

Miss Maurer. 
Song, «' Odi Tu " Mattel. 

Mr. Cirillo. 
Ballade, " Guide au bord U nacelle '* . . . Meyerbeer. 

Mrs. Kiehardson. 
Piano, » Valse de Concert " Wieniawaki. 

Miss Maurer. 
Song, " When the Tide Conies In ** . . . . Millard. 

Miss Barrett. 

Duett, ** L'Addio " Cirillo. 

Mrs. Richardson, Mr. Cirillo, Bliss Maurer. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Cincinnati, June 19. — The week of the Saengeriett 
is over, and, as the ezeitement is gradually jielding to the 
comparative quiet which reigns in musical circks, I find 
time to make short mention of the elosing concerts of the 
College of Music. A sketch of the Saengerfest most be 
reserved for a special communication. In the eleventh Or^ 
chestra Concert a novelty was presented in a symphony of 
Bach for oreliestra and organ. It is a short and unpreten- 
tious work, interesting to the musician on account of the 
peculiar manner in which especially the wind instruments 
are employed. I'he second number on the programme 
was " At the Cfeister <iate," Op. 2(>, by the young Nor- 
wegian composer, Grieg. It comprises a soprano sok>, a 
few short (Erases for alto solo, and a dosing choral ftnr 
women's voices, with full orchestral accompaniment. Its 
Ijrie character throughout was calculated to give Miss 
Norton an opportunity for doing justice to herself; for her 
talent thus 6tr seems to lie in that direction. She depicted 
admirably in the weird strains of the composition the long- 
ing with which a woman betrayed in love, and a vntness 
to the murder of her brother by her lover, knocks at the 
cloister gate, attracted there by the chants of the nuns. 
Questioned by the nun at the gate she recites the story of 
her woe, and as the ehoral sounds firom within is admitted. 
The composition proves the author to be at home in or> 
chestral efiects. It is strained throughout, however, and 
suflfrrs from the habit of constantly playing with harsh dis- 
sonances, which like an epidemic seems to have taken ftold 
on the composers of to-day, especially the lesser ones. 
Menddssohn's "l^cotch " symphony followed. In its trans- 
parency and delicacy it is indeed a test.stone for an or- 
chestra; the slightest want of unity in the strings, or heavi- 
ness in the wind instruments, is most pidnfully fdt Not- 
withstanding these difficulties a very good rendering was 
given. 

A repetition of the second act from the ** FIjing Dutch- 
man,'* with the same cast as h) the previous concert, was 
followed by Liszt's illustration of Kaulbach's celebrated paint- 
ing in the Berlin Museum, of "The Battle of tlie Huns," 
for orchestra and organ. It is a very noisy composition. 



replete with all sorts of eflects, but to me by no means 
suggestive of the picture, which with all its confusion and 
tumult, even the battle of the spirits of the slain, which 
hover ovw the battle-fidd, — is neverthdess so perfectly 
symmetrical and, with all its horrors, so idealized as not 
to be repulsive or bewildering to the eye. In Lisat's com- 
position the grand choral at the close with organ and or- 
chestra is, from the stand-point of eflfect, wonderful. 

Ill the twelfth and last orchestra concert the college choir 
made its appearance in a work which almost more than any 
other is calculated to test the mettle of chorus singers. 
Baches Cantata: ".My Spirit was in Heaviness,*' abounds 
in the most trj'ing difficulties for soloists and the chorus. 
That it was rendered in many parts excellently, and in 
others satisfactorily, is high praise for the college choir. 
Had Bach intended this composition for a large chorus and 
not for a small number of singers trained under his own 
su^ienisiou, he would surdy not have made demands which 
it IS almost impossible to satisfy. Want of space prevents 
me from speaking of the single numbers <^ the cantata; the 
first chorus, however, "My spirit was in heaviness," which 
in intonation, and especially in style, is the most difficult, 
is deser\'ing of especial mention for the smoothness and clear- 
ness with which it was sung. The soloists were Miss Nor- 
ton, Miss Crancb, Mr. Darby, and Mr. Hill. 

To render Bach's music in good style requires the most 
thorough musicd culture. Tbe numerous mannerisms, 
which no composer can perfectly disown, are so foreign to 
our present musical tendency, that only constant, unremit- 
ting study of the style peculiar to Bach and his time can 
enable a singer to amalgamate them with the entire com- 
position so as to make them appear less trivbl. Whether 
it is wise or not to omit and change many of these groups, 
as is frequently done in editions revised by prominent mu- 
sicians of the present day, I will not attempt to decide. 
Miss Norton succeeded in meeting the exacting demands of 
her part as far as her resources permitted. The constant 
strain on the voice which the use of the high roister brings 
with it, cannot but disturb the ease and repose which are 
the primary requisites in Bach's music. There were many 
praiseworthy points in her singing; the first airespedally: 
** Sighmg, weeping " was rendered in a noble and dignified 
style. The same difficulties appear in the tenor part. Mr. 
Darby bravdy battled with them, and rather successfully 
too. Mr. Hill, in the trying duet for soprano and bass: 
" Come my Saviour," sustained his part wdl, though his 
voice has not sufficient volume for the laige hall. The 
sok> quartets, in which Miss Cranch sustained the alto part, 
were sung with precision and certainty. I have spoken 
somewhat at length of the rendering of this work, as it was 
indeed a very momentous undertaking, llie concert and 
with it the first season closed with a very good and clear 
interpretation of the wonderful A mi^or symphony, No. 7, 
by Beethoven, in which the remarkable progress made under 
the careful training of Mr. Thomas was especially notice- 
able. 

The last one of the series of chamber concerts by the 
Thomas quartet, presented tlie following programme: — 

Quartet, £ minor Venh. 

Messrs. Jaoobsohn, Thomas, Baetens, and Hartd^geii. 

Andante and variations. Op. 46 iScAtinuinn. 

Messrs. Doeruer and Schndder. 

Quartet No. 7, F ma^^ Op. 59 Beethoven, 

Messrs. Jaoobsohn, Thomas, and Hartdegeu. 

Great interest was manifested to hear the Veixli quarteL 
The remarkable, dmost anomalous course which this com- 
poser's development has taken, has attracted the most wide- 
spread attention and given rise to much comment, llie 
bvorable criticisms which even German muucians accorded 
to this work certainly caused every one to listen to it with 
predilection. And yet I must acknowledge to have been 
disi^ipointed. While there are many points of beauty the 
entire style struck me as being in contrast with what we 
are accustomed to hear in a string quartet. Intuitively 
the musician expects a certain breadth and dignity which 
the classical writers have without exception inAised into this 
form- If the four movements had been designated in any 
other way than as forming a string quartet, iny individual 
impression woukl have been more favorable. The first move^ 
meut (Allegro) is beyond a doubt the most dignified of the 
four, 'llie Andantino reminds one irresistibly of bdlet 
music. The last two movements (Prestissimo and Scher- 
zo, fuga, Allegro asaai mosso^ improve on this, but do not 
strike me as ^iiig equal to tne first, either in conception or 
musical workmanship. Of the favorite •* Andante snd Va- 
riations," by Schumann, Messrs. Doemer and Schneider 
gave a very good rendering. With the odehrated F nuyor 
quartet. Op. 59, by Beethoven, the first of the " Basumow- 
ski'* quartets, this memorable series of concerts doeed. 
When the performances have all been mai-ked by so high 
a degree of excdience it would be " carrying owls to.Ath- 
ens" to huid the interpretation of this wonderful work. 
The members of the quartet, Messrs. Jacobsohn, Thomas, 
Baetens, and Hartdegen, have proven themselves such per- 
fect .artists in execution and cultivated umsicisns in inter- 
pretaUon, that special mention is unnecessary. To the 
lovers of the highest in music these quartet evenings have 
indeed been a boon. How deeply they realized this was 
evident from the enthusiasm with which at the cloae of the 
hist chamber concert the hearers demanded the reappearance 
of the artists in order to be able to express their gratefulness 



112 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Voi. XXXIX. — No. 997. 



bj renewed applMiM. A very vmi uid well wnn^ 
puDpUet baa been ieaued by the College of Miuic, oonUin- 
ing the progFammes of the orcbestn and chamber coiicerte 
of the past leaaoo, together with intereating mtioellaQeous 
inlbnnation pertaining to the eetabltshing of the institu- 
tioa. It will be a valuable landmark to all interested in the 
progrfi of muaioal culture in the country, and especially in 
the West. An interesting feature to organists is the list of 
OMnpositions performed by Mr. Whiting at the organ mati- 
ng, a repertoire extensive as it is excellent in point of the 
oharacter of the worics it embraces. The announcement that 
the oqpui concerts are to be co'iUnued during the summer 
meets with Universal approbation. BIr. lliomas, with his 
orchestra, will Appear during the summer mouths in the 
Hlghfamd house, a most delightful hill-top resort; already 
two conoerts have been given before hu^ and elegant au- 
dieoces. 



Chicago, Juxb 36, 1879. — On the evening of June 
16, the Beethoven Society gave its closing performance for 
the season, presenting Veitli's Btquiem Mau. They h .d the 
assutance of Miss Aunle Louise Cary, Miss McCsithy, Mr. 
Charles Adams, and Mr. Geoige W. Coiilj as solobts, and a 
large orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Carl WoUwhn, 
the conductor of the society. The performance was given 
in Haverly*s Theatre, and the stage was arranged with a ca- 
thedral scene and decorated after the manner of the first 
repreaeutation in the Uoyal Opera House in Vieiuia, where 
the work was under the direction of the composer. The 
society had taken much pains to prepare the work for per- 
formance, engaging the best solo talent, and the result was 
that the mass received most satisfoctory trcatmeut. Miss 
Cary sang the high and difficult music of the mezxo-eoprano 
part with telling eflbrt, particularly in hersofo numbers. In 
the •• Quid sum miser ** her high A flat came out with 
fine power, and indeed the noUe tones of her rich voice 
gave a beauty to the part that was delightful to hear. I 
Know of no singer who gives more univernl satisfiustion than 
Miss Cary, for no matter what music she sings, there is an 
honesty of purpose about every effort, and she stamps all lier 
work with the eonsdentious intent of the true artbt. Miss 
McCarthy, the soprano of the evening, has a large and telling 
voice, aud as she has had much experience in singing mau 
music, being a member of a Catholic church choir for a kmg 
time, the result of her study was manifest in her fine per- 
formance of the part. Mr. Charles Adams unfortuu^ely 
was not in his beit voice, but yet his work indicated feeling, 
good taste, and the ^irit of an artist He gave the tenor 
sob " lugemisco ** with fine eflbct, and his vutce was quite 
satisfying in the high tones, but the efibrt seemed to de- 
prive him of his best powers for the rest of the eveuhig. 
Mr. Conly sang the bass part for the first time, and as lie 
has had but little experience in musie of this character, It is 
not to be wondered at, that his success was only a partial one. 
The ch<Hrus was well up in its work, and had the orchestra been 
a little more subdued in the soft passages, in which the mass 
abounds, the effect would have been more pleasing. The 
qnesiion of an adequate orchestral aocompuiiment is one 
that will have to be met before foug in this city, if our mu- 
sical societies would perform great works with that refine- 
ment of vocal finish of which they are fully oqiable. We 
need an orcbestnd organizaUon, under the charge of a good 
and earnest conductor, which shall devote its energy to- 
ward the perfection of an orehestra worthy of the name. 
Mr. Carl Wolbohn had a picked number of men in his band 
for the performance of the mass, but even with good musi- 
cians it is quite impossible in a few rehearsals to obtain that 
balance, anid finish of phiying, so necessary in a large and 
important work. I hope that we shall have an organixaUon 
next season which <shall have for its idm the perfection of an 
orchestra, the study and per form ance of symphonies, and 
other orchestral works, and tend to harmonise the dements 
into a perfect whole. It is time that positi>'e work was 
undertaken in this direetfon. 

On the evening of June 83, Mr. fl. Cbhrence Eddy gave 
bis one hundredth organ redtal, presenting a very remarkable 
programme, inasmuch as dght of the pieces had been com- 
posed expressly for that occasion. Gustav Merkel of Dresden, 
Faisst of Stuttgart, De Lange of Cok)gne, Rogers of Pans, 
8. B. Whitney of Boston, each ftimished a composition, 
while our home composers, Gleason, Pratt, and the oiganist 
himsdf, added ofihrings. The completion of such an under- 
taking as the performance of one hundred rsdtals of organ 
music, without the rq)etition of any number, deserves more 
than a passbig notice. Looking over the programmes, a foil 
record of which I have kept, I find that there have been one 
hundred and thirty-five diffbrent oompoeen represented. At 
each recital a selection fttnu Bach has been pUyed, until the 
concertos, soiwtas, prelqdes, fugues, toccatas, chorals, fiui- 
taisies, gavottes, and arrangements from hu^er works, have 
made the goodly number of one hundred and seven fine com- 
positions S this great master. All his most important organ 
eompositions have been pkyed. 

Folfowing the list in respect to the diflteent periods of mu- 
sical devdopment, we find Handd represented with twenty- 
three eompodtions, comprising his organ concertos, the 
flfUi suite, f^igues, and arrangements of his overtures, and 
other woriis. It may be remembered that his concertos have 
been rearranged fbr organ afone, by Schwab and De Lange, 
having bean originally written with an accompaniment for 
other instnuneots. 8oariata*s famous "Katzen Fuge** 



we find arranged for the ofgan by Mr. Eddy himself, while 
Mozart has been represented by ten compositions, mostly 
transcriptions by Haupt, Best, Van Eyken, and Gottschhg. 
All of Mendebsohn's organ sonatas have been played, his 
preludes and fugues, and other eompodtions, numbering some 
thirty-two selections. Schumann's name is down for fifteen 
compositions, embracing bis fugues on B-A-C-H, ^•Canonica 
Studies," and some arrangements of larger works. Spobr's 
compositions are presented by thirteen numbers, while 
Haydn's name adds five more. Some transcriptions from 
Schubert bring his fame to rsmembrance, while Beethoven's 
overtures, symphonies, and other worics, had been made to 
meet the requirements of the organ, by good arrangements. 

llie name of Krebe brings to memory the history of ** ye 
olden time" when music was enriched by the great crea- 
tk>ns of the fore&thers of the art. Palestriua, and Fresoo- 
baldi recall the eariy devetopmeut of the art in Italy, when 
music blossomed into bdng in the ** kud of song." The or- 
gan, in ite wide-reaching way, even grasped fbr the mudc of 
Chopin, kr four of his compositkms were transcribed, and 
thus enlarged the list of representative men. Coming down 
to modem time, Merkd, of Dreaden, has thirty-five eompod- 
tions embracuig soiuitas, dugle and double fugues, pasto- 
rales, fautades, and other pieces for the organ. His sonatas 
have been r^arded as fine models of modem compodtion, 
and are doubtleis among the most important works for the 
organ ever written. Guilniant, too, anwug the writers of 
to-day, has a hu^ number of eompodtions for this instru- 
ment, aud in this series is repreeeuted by thirty-five num- 
bers. The name of lliide recalls the virtuoso-music, his 
>* Concert Sati" in E-flat minor, two in C minor, and the 
" Chromatic Faiitade and Fiige," besides other numbers, 
h».\t graced the programmes. 

Saint-Saiins, Lisat, and transcriptions from Wagner have 
presented each in thdr turn new departures in music Yet 
Von Weber was not forgotten, nor the sons of Uach, and the 
names Kossini, Flotow, and Gade added contrasts of no 
quiet order. Kaff was represented by a fugue, and a grand 
canon in B flat, while a number called '• Winterrahe " (Re- 
pose in Winter), gave no suggestion of the " inevitable 
March," unless the thought of Charles Lamb's **fiuuous 
fault" cdled up the idea. Dietrich Bnxtehude recalls the 
sUte of musical progress in 1650, and ZipoU in 1700; while 
Dr. Volkmar indicates the culture of to-day by many of his 
best eompodtions for this " mighty instrument." Franz 
Ijicbuer, too, was r ep r e s en ted by some pleasing sonatas, while 
Charles Marie Widor's grand organ symphonies indicated in 
a masterly manner new possibilities fbr that iustrament 
They called forth the high praises of our mudcians. Liszt's 
arrsngement of the famous AiUertre of AUegri was an inter- 
esting reminder of the former generations, and their pLice in 
the grand development of the musical art. The pure mud- 
eal thought of Peigolese was not forgotten, and selections 
from his HUtbat Mater indicated to us his claim for remem- 
brance. Kahnstcdt, and Rhdnberger, with Faisst, Smart, 
and Hdnecke, bring us to our own day again. Our own 
comitry was represented by Buck, Thayer, Whiting, Singer, 
Carter, Morgan, Gleason, and others. Haupt, the celebrated 
teacher and musicd scholar, had two manuscript composi- 
tions performed during the series. Hesse, Van Eyken, Lem. 
mens. Beet, Lux, Batiste, Kicbter, and even Kink by afiigue 
on M AmA " were on the list Wely, Schneider, and Hummd 
made variety agdn poasiUs. OrUndo di Usso, of the year 
1690, was brought to our hearing by an arrangement of 
Liszt's. The name of Hatton recalled not ** 'ilw Little Fat 
Man " but his fine pUying of the fugues of Bach, as one of 
his own found its way hito public hearing. Stemdale Ben- 
nett and Sir Michad Costa suggest the Eiigluh school, while 
the name of John A. West indicates the promise of even a 
Chicago musieuui making his way in the wide fidd of oom- 
podtiooi. 

I have thus pa s sed quickly over the names of some of the 
compoeen represented in this series of one hundred redtals, 
dmply to show the magnitude of the uuuertaking. The 
total number of pieces played has been about six hundred, 
embracing the compositions of every school aud of the repre- 
sentative men in all comitries that have taken a part in the 
progress of the mudcal art. To perform such a task week 
after week, and bring out a fine prognmme of flresh mudc 
each time required great endurance, hard study, and rs- 
markable ability. The uniform artistic character of Mr. 
Eddy's playing has been a sulgect of wonder on the part of 
all who understood the magnitude of the undertaking. He 
richly merits high praise for what he has accomplished. The 
list of programnvBS will also make a valuable catalogue of 
what is good in organ mudc for every student and organist. 

C.H.B. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

The Cimcimxati Sajcnokrfzst. — A taustie and plain- 
spoken correspondent addresses the foUowing "Anti-Teu- 
tonic [and we fear too just] View of the Proceedings " to 
the Mudcd critic of the B<f§Um Courier: — 

" The prpgranmie of the twenty-first Siingerfest of the 
North American Sfiiigerbund induded a street parade, seven 
concerts, and a picnic. The aniount of enthudasm dispbyed, 
in the streets, by the Germans of the city is astounding to 
the cooler-blooded and more sincere Americans. Everything 
wears a holiday fook Fbgs, evergreens, banners and out- 
rageous portraits of the masters are seen everj'where on the 



outddes of buildings. He parade coodated of 5,000 para- 
den and was witumed by 100,000 people. You see it cost 
nothing to see this part of the show. The Mudc Hall was 
about two thirds full at the first concert, aud half of thoee 
went home before it was over. Let me digress here long 
enough to say that the Germans of this town are the worst 
lot of hypocrites (musically cmisidered) there are to be 
found. They are wild over friends, picnics, beer, and braes 
bands. But put before them a solid feast of intellectual 
music, and they won't listen to it, nor pay for it, nor com- 
prehend it when they do condescend to listen to it. Three 
fourths of the audienoei at these festival concerts ars Amer- 
icans; the remainder are Germans of high intelligence natu- 
rally, or who have become so by association with Americans. 
Over a beer-shop }-ou read * AV niekt keU wem, weU umd 
yetang,^ and so forth. Now this is the position: WeU 
(beer) comes first, and poor gesany last. In other words 
getang has no chance until wein aud totU have palled upon 
the Teutonic appetite. This assumption of superiority in 
mudcd matters is founded in ignorance and cultured ui 
stupidity. Let it be pbinly understood that the Ftst is 
nothing mon> nor less than a grand spree, b^uuiing in a 
street parade and ending u\ a picnic and beer. l*he pro 
grammes include two hm$e a-orfcs — 8L Paul aud Verdi's 
AequUtn. The list of composers runs down to Donizetti, 
Abt, and a host of obscure German worthies. The pro- 
grammes are too short in some esses, too kmg in otbere, and 
are always incongraous. The chorus Is robust and heuiy, - 
and sings pretty well when they know thdr parts. The 
orehestra is better and has pUyed flndy. The Leonora 
overtuiw went vilely, but the conductor was at fisulL Mr. 
Thomas has no part in the aflair; he fled to Chicago on the 
opening night and has not shice been heard from. Of the 
soknsts, Madame Otto AJaskben is the bright and expensive 
star. They imported her from Germany at a oost of $3,000, 
an error in valuation of just $2,8j0. She is pretty good as 
far as she goes, but she don't go fiir enough. The other 
soloists are not worth mentioning, adde from Mr. Whitney 
and Mr. Remmertz, bdng niostiy resident singers. My esti- 
mate is made from a strict standpoint, and c7 course would 
be greaUy modified if seen through the bottom of a beer 
gbss. I cati discover no good to art from the affiur, and 
believe that encouragement of such undertakings ii more in- 
jurious than beneficial. Other festivals hdd throughout the 
Union are so far superior to the one under notice that com- 
parisons are absurd. Let me indulge the hope that the pro- 
gresdve spirit of the timee may force upon the people a 
wider education and that such scenes as have occurred at 
this Feet will not be repeated. Think for a moment, good 
Boetonians, of a dnger coming on the stage drunk, dear 
through, fidliug asleep before the audience, and tumbling 
over into the orchestra. 1 am so thoroughly a (Mdican 
man ' that 1 do not believe any American dnger would be 
guilty of such behavior. Chkoar." 

'* CmciifNATl, JUME, 1879." 



CufCiifKATi, JuKB 37 The Mudcal Festivsl Associa- 
tion, of Cincinnati, has offered a prize of $1,000 for the 
best musical compodtion by a native American composer, to 
be sung at the musical fiostivd in 1880. Bir. Theodore 
Thomas was appointed by the assodatiou one of five gen- 
tlemen who ars to pass on the merits of the work, aud now 
the other four judges have been appointed and have ac- 
cepted the trust. The full board is as follows: llieodora 
I'homas, preddeut; Dr. Leoi)old Damroech, of New York; 
Asger Hamerick, Baltimore; Otto Singer, Cincinnati ; aud 
Carl Zerrahn, Boston. 

A Prkcious Prksent to an Obgamist. — The fol- 
lowing inddent occurred at the one hundredth organ con- 
cert of Mr. Eddy, of which our Chicago correepondent 
writee above: *'Just before the bet number of the pro- 
gramme, Miss Grace Hilts, in a neat little speech, presented 
Mr. Eddy, hi the name of the pupils and patrons of the 
Henhey School, with the magnificent edition of Bach's mu- 
dc published by the Bach Geselischaft, at Leipsic, number- 
ing twenty five volumes. 



Mr. Carl Rosa's repertory will next year indude such 
operas as Lohengrin, Auia, Bieud, Mignon^ Cat-men, and 
other works, with poedbly, as a specid iiovdty, the Taming 
of the J^reWy of the Umeuted Uermann Goets. 



The two French composers, M. . Saint-Saens and M. 
Massenet, have been commissioned by Ricordi, the Milan 
musical pulilisher, to set two Italian librettoa, which are to 
be produced in Italy. M. Massenet's score will be on the 
*< Erodiade," by Sig. Ziiiardini, who also supplies M. Saint- 
Sagns with the book " II Macedone,'* based on the history 
of Alexander the Great. 

Mllx. Anna BiKHUO gave her morning cmeert at St. 
James' Hall (London) on Monday, June 0. The pianist se- 
lected for her solos Bach's organ prelude and fugue in E 
minor, transcribed for piano by Uszt, Haydn's variation in 
F minor. Field's Nocturne in A, and a Tambourin of Uaff 
With Herr Strauss, Mile. Mehlig played the Fantasia in 
C, Op. 159, of Schubert, she led the piano quintet in G mi- 
nor, Op. 99, of Rubinstein, and with Madame I'jdpofT she 
played the Rondo in C, Op. 78, fbr two pianoe^ of Chopin. 
The vocalists were Mile. Kedeker and Herr Ehnblad, the 
latter singing nationd Swedish songs. 



July 19, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



113 



BOSTON, JULY 19, 1879. 

Bntered at the Foat OAc« at Boston »4 neeond-elBM matter. 



CONTENTS. 
Sasho. StMon Stenu 118 

Toojouaa Pcbdrix IM 

Hoxia rnsvi " Pirapoks *' 115 

How TBI FeXRCH LIARK TO ACT 116 

LiRSU FBOM All Island. II. Fanny Rafmomd Hitter . 117 

▼asmr Comin«>neeuietit, PIctnrw, and Phj»lee. — Der 
PnijracbUts and Oaapar's Kill. — Open-Alr Studies. 

H. M. 8. PiVAfou 118 

Musical CoaacsroKDiiici 119 

Chieaco.— Milwaukee. 

NoTis Air» QLBAjrtiros 120 



AU tk» mrtieUs net ertdiud le otkn pubUeaHont wtrt txmtuly 
writtfu/or this Joumat. 



PMisked furtnigkUy bjf ilouoHTov, OfOOOD Aiii> COMrART, 
220 Devdnskin Street, Boston. Priee, 20 eetUs a number ; $2.60 



Far taU in Boston bjf Carl Pkuifbe, 30 West Street, A. WaL- 
IAM8 & Co., 283 Washington Street, A. K. Loamo, 369 Wash- 
ington Street, and fry the hiblisktrs; in New York by A. Bauf- 
TAVo, Jr., 37 Union Square, and Hoihibtoii, Osgood A Co., 
21 Astor Ptaee; in Philadelphia by W. II. Bovia A Co., 1102 
Ch^tnut Street ; in Chicago by the Chicaoo Mosto Oompakt, 
612 State Strtet. 



SANZiO. 

BT STUART 8TKHNB, AUTIfOB OP " AHOKLO." 

(Continued from page 106.) 

And oh, bow sweet 
The next glad, busy day to both of tlieiu ! 
When Uenedetta came at eariy morn, 
And nt beside the canvas patiently, 
Long as he pleased, while Saiizio fell to work, 
Now to aeoompliiih at the eleventh hour, — 
Nay. but he would not think that they must part ! » 
All he had left undone. Ere he began. 
He hung the fine white linen round her head, 
That like a kmg, dense veil feU down behind. 
And draped itedf about the graceful shouklen 
In easy, flowing folds, and knotted it 
Himself alx>ut the slender waist in fWmt, 
Though fienedetta thought him wondrous slow, 
Nor over skillful at hie task, so long 
His fingers fumbled o*er it. And at first. 
When holding brush and pencil ui hie band. 
He gaaed upon her searchingly, now near, 
Now further off, -> both of them smiled each time 
llieir glances met, when Sanxio would throw out 
Some merry word, while Benedetta flushed 
And dropped her eyes, and I he cried, **Nay, nay. 
Not so. my little Saint ! This will not do; 
Turn the full light of those sweet eyes ou me. 
Or I shall have no power to work ! " Wheraat 
They fidterad oooe again. 

But when ere long. 
Warming to his great task, he gradually 
Was ever mora and more absorbed and lost, 
Unl«l he labored on in silenee, grave. 
And without further word or smile, sometimes 
E'en fit>wning darkly in his eagerness, — 
She bore unflinchingly his longest gase, 
Felt that he scarcely saw her when he kwked, 
Save ss she helped his work. 

Thus swiftly gnw 
Her eaniest face ft-om out the eanvas, life4ike 
In form and tint and line, for fsitbfiilly 
As his unerring, subtle eye beheld, 
His master-mind conceived, whose swift commands 
The cunning hand obeyed, — he set theui down, 
Caught all their fitiniess, and sweet, winning grace. 
Only the wavy hair he smoothed away 
In simple, shining bands, and on the brow 
He mingled with its earthly purity 
tlie mikl effulgence of a heavenly light. 
And the bright eyes and viigin lips he deepened 
With the unutterable tenderness 
Of sainted motherhood. Yet long, it seemed. 
He could not please or satisfy himself, 
But muttered half ak>ud fVom time to time. 
And set his foot down hard upon the floor. 
And twice with one bold sweep destroyed sgain 
A whole hour's labor. But without a pause 
FeU ever patiently to work once more, 
And so at hut threw down his brush, leaned back. 
Drew a deep sigh .of comfort and content, 
And bade her rise and look. 

**0 beautiful! 
Am I hi truth so fitir as that? " sbe cried, 
«* Ah yes, metbinks 'tis Uke, ~a very litUe! " 
But ui a moment gently shook her head. 
Then bowed it, as in swift humility, 



Crossing her hands an instsnt on her breast. 
And softly said, ** Ah no ! — tninafigured tlius, 
It is no longer I!" 

No answer came 
From Sansio, save that he cried merrily, 
** My bird, you were an angel, to hold out 
So long in sweetest patience on your perch ! 
Soon will I set yon free, and let you fly 
Where'er you list, until I call again; 
But now for few brief moments yet, I pray. 
Go back once more I ** 

And then he speedily sketched 
Her finely moukled hands and tapering fingers. 
And ere he copied kissed each one, — in vain 
Did BenedetU strive against hu will, 
Draw them away! For irreaistibly 
He now slid back into bis oM, gay mood. 
And full of happy laughter chatted on. 
Till he exchumed, " Enough and over much ! 
Sufficient to the day shall be its work; 
May but my little Saint with equal grace 
Bless me to-morrow ! " 

And with this sprang up. 
And clasping Benedetta in bis arms, 
Swift whirled her round and round the great, wide room. 
In a mad, merry dance; till the white >'eil 
First floated far l)eh)nd and then dropped off. 
And her dark hair, escaping from its coil, 
Came rippling down in long, luxuriant waves, 
That covered neck and shoulders, face and eyes, 
Till laughing, breathless, blinded, she cried out, 
'• HoM, hok), O Sansio mine, — 1 can no more 1 '* 

Hie morrow came, and like the yesterday 

l!led but too fast to these who passed again 

Long hours together in the sunny work-room. 

At whose broad windows, thrown up wide, rolled Ui 

The balmy air and Joyous light of spring. 

And now and then a twittering bird sped by. 

f^ng, happy hours of sweet, unbroken peace! 

For Sansio prayed that under some pretext 

Nina for these f^ days might turn away 

Pupils or patrons, stiangers or good friends. 

All who were wont to throng his open doors; 

But sent her in the sfienioon to bring 

A neighbor's pretty child. And though at first 

The babe gazed all about him anxiously, 

With troubled, restless eyes and quivering lip, 

The little fsce grew calm and smiled at length. 

When Benedetta gently spoke to him 

In k)w, caressing tones; then crowyig loud. 

He suddenly stretched his chubby arms to her, 

And gladly dasped in hers, and nestling ctose. 

Patting her softly with his dimpled hands. 

Soon blinked and shut his bright eyes dreamily, 

And dropped Into a peaoefol, smiling sleep. 

The rosy babe folded upon her bosom, 

llie snowy linen draped about them both. 

And the blue mantle gathered over it, 

Sbe stood where he had bid her, near his work. 

While Sansio gazed and gased, and more than once 

His steady hand shook, and his eye grew dim. 

And all his heart welled op with tetidemcas. 

So passhig fair seemed ber sweet image thus; 

Forgot the unwonted burden that she bore 

Grew heavy in her arms, until she moved. 

And gently laid it down upon the couch. 

Saying, •> Nay, I am weary, Sanzio mine. 

Pray let roe rest awhiks!" 

They sped away. 
Those seven brief, golden days, that wera so filled 
With mingled joy and labor, Sanzio scarce 
Knew the beginning or the end of each. 
Knew but that every hour of this blest life 
Quickened as with a new, untold delight. 
But promptly on the morning of the eighth, 
The summons came fh>m home for Benedetta. 
Breathless she flew to Sanzio, with the cry, 
*' Our neighbor is below to take me back, 
My mother tends him ! Oh, but must 1 go. 
And can it be this happy, happy time 
So soon Is over? " 

He k>oked up as though 
He scarcely understood her hssty words. 
" What, go ? '• he said. " Now ? — they have come for you 
Before the week is done! Nay, by the Saints, 
I cannot let you ! — nor my work, nor I, 
Can spare you yet for many another day ! 
Hold, I will baste to tell the messenger, 
Leave me to deal with him. I at this moment 
Happen to come here from my distant home ! " 
And with a merry glance he seized his csp 
And sped away, while BenedetU stayed. 
And in the work-room waited his return, 
In doubt and fear lest he might not prevail. 
And they be parted after all so soon. — 
Too soon, oh, all too soon ! — For ah, kind Heaven — 

He tarried long, she thought, and when st length 
She heard his step again upon the stair, 
She hastensd out to meet him, anxiously 



Searching his face, to swiftly read their fate. 

And found his beaming eyes lit up with joy. 

Mutely he twuied his arm about her neck. 

And drew her close to him, and softly ssked, 

" So my swM BenedetU willingly 

SUys here with me another little while? '* 

•* Oh, ghuily, gladly, Sanzio mine! ** she whisperad, 

Turning hn timid lips to meet his kiss. 

And fondly pressed her cheek against his own. 

But in a moment then with cbuded brow, — 

" Yet my Sanxfo, 'tis not well, methluks, 

To thus deceive my mother! " 

*• Nay, my Saint,** 
He answered gayly, *<take no heed for that. 
And be consoled, I pny yon I All the sin 
Is mine akme, and I, a hardened simier. 
Can bear it with my conscience undisturbed ! 
We do not wrong your mother, and sometime 
I'll make it right, dear Love, with her and Heaven! '* 



The new brief time of grsoe Sanzto had (gained, — 
Another week, — rolled by e> u like the first. 
What though to BenedetU it appesred 
His labor could have missed her, better fiur 
Tlian he had thought and said. For often now. 
After he gazed a moment, he would cry, 
'« Fly little bird, I'U work afone awhile! " 
Yet ever when die had returned fit>m mass, 
Where she must go to pray with sil her soul 
For the foigiveness of their sin, she said, — 
Surely she must accept her share of it. 
Nor let him bear ite burdeu all akme! — 
And coming to the work-room, softly asked, 
•* My Sanzio, have you need of me to-day ? " 
He answered, " I have need of you, my darling. 
Ever and ever, ~ in esch hour of day ! 
Come in and sit hers with me. Or stand up 
And walk about, — be mute, or huigh and talk, — 
Do aught and all as it may please 3t>u beet. 
Only be near me somewhere, sunbeam mine. 
Whose sole, sweet presence helps me! " 

Sosheroamed 
Sometimes about the work-room quietly. 
Looking its hundred treasures o'er again; 
And sometimes in a comer laughed imd played 
With the dear babe, — that Sansio sent to fetch 
On many another day. — and when he tired 
Kocked him to sleep with a soft lullaby; 
Or begging Nina for some piece of work, 
Sat plying her swift needle busily. 
By tlie great window gazing on the town. 
Distant fiom Sanzio, yet when he could see hor. 
As with a very tyrant's obstinate will 
He would demaiMl; and ever finely caught 
Her fleeting mood fhnn him, insenstblj 
Attuning all her being to his own. 
Silent and grave, or bubbling o'er with sweet 
Low laughter and gay words, e'«i as she read 
The shifUng lighte and shades within his soul 
R e flected on his brow. 

One afternoon 
She stole away, and for an hour or mora 
Showed not her fooe again, till Sansio raee 
To go in search of her, when suddenly 
He heard the rustle of a httvy robe. 
And a light huigh close to his ear, and turning. 
Saw her befon bim curiously transformed. 
She stood and swept him a low courtesy, clad 
In the quaint garb of hundred years sgo. 
A piqu^ coif upon the delicate head. 
That scarce seemed strong enough to bear the weight 
Of the tall, shimmering tower, whence a kmg veil 
Flowed down and half concealed the dimpling fooe 
And laughing eyes; her slender form enMsed 
In a stiff, gorgeous robe of blue and silver, 
Whoee wondrous sleeves hung down so Ikr and wide. 
They well-nigh touched the pointed, scarlet shoes. 
Peeping fhmi out the garment's hem. 

*« My Fkwn, 
How stimnge you fook ! '* cried Sansfo, laugUng too. 
While yet a deep delight shone in his eyes, 
« Whera found you aU this gear ? " 

*« In an oU chest 
In a dark comer of the attic. Tbera 
Lay these and other pretty things," sbe said. 
And he, " Oh yes, I recollect, metbinks; 
They were my great-grandmother's, in her time. 
And so csme down to me." 

*< I put them on. 
Though mayhap all awry, for I could And 
Only the smallest bit of broken glass. 
That sosroely told if they were right or wrong, — 
•lust for a little sport and to surprise you," 
Sbe said sgain. ** Nina once gave me leave 
To stir through everything in all the house, — • 
You ara not angry with me, Sanzio mine ? " 
But looking up at him she had no need 
Of other answer than his silent glance. 
And went on gayly, " Fancy now I wera 
Some mighty queen ! " 

And then strode up and down. 
And as she moved, listened with childlike glee 



114 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vot. XXXIX. — No. 998. 



To the load rnstfe of the rich brocade, 

And often tunied her head to watch the train 

Sweep o*er the floor behind her. 

** Aye, you know 
You are my Queen, whose kingdom is my heart ! 
But all this finery suits you wondrous wellf 
You want but tbeee/' he said ; and as he spoke 
Went to a curious casket carved in wood, 
That Benedetta long had marveled o'er, 
Unlocked it with a twisted silver key, 
And took a handful of gemmed trinkets out. 
Then hastening to her side again, exclaimed, 
** Come sweetest, I will play your maid for once ! ** 
And deftly turning down t^e yelk>w lace 
That rose up stiffly round the snowy throat, 
He would have chuped it with a quaint old necklace 
Of dimly shimmering peari, with here and there 
A precious ruby, like a drop of blood. 
Set in between ; but could not pleaae himself, 
And took it off to try another one, — 
Plain goklen beads, stnmg on a thread of silk, 
But shook his head again, unbound this too, 
And laid it down, saying in graver tone, 
•* Nay, it but breaks the beauteous line! *T ia best 
Simply as Nature made it, — let not us 
Attempt to mar her fsirest handiwork ! 
But Love, take this, and wear it for my sake," 
He added then, and would have slipped a ring, — 
A finely wrought, gold serpent, with bright eyes, — 
Upon her finger. But she gently said, 
And feintly flushing drew her hand away, 
" Nay, Sando mine, I will not ! I have this," 
Toodiing a silver circle, plain and old, — 
Sansio had often marked it on her hand, -^ 
^ That my poor father gave me long ago. 
And need no other! V 

" As you will, dear heart! " 
He answered, but one moment earnestly 
Gased at her with a puzzled, questioning kx>k. 
But suddenly, full of smiling mirth again. 
He bowed in mock solemnity, and asked, 
<* But since I am thus honored, will not now 
Your migesty be seated? I must fix 
This image, ere it vanish from my sight, — 
But this must off ! *' 

He lifted from her head 
The heavy coif, then with the words, •* Permit 
Your happy bond-slave! '* led her to a seat, 
And tossed the trinkets all into her hip. 
** My Princess, pray you kipk them o'er, at least, 
If you *11 not kindly take them off my hands. 
While I make ready!*' 

Benedotta passed 
The jewels through her fingers; then she thought, •.— 
How sad, oh, how most sad, the form of her, 
Who once was gayly decked with these bright things, 
Lies crumbled into dust long yean ago, — 
That the lair eyes, which h>oked on Uiem with joy, 
Are closed and blind in the dark earth forever, >— 
Oh, may the Saints rest her poor soul in peace ! 
And suddenly rose, and put the gems away. 
While an unwonteil shadow lingored still 
On the white brow, and in the darkened eyes, 
When Saoaio bid her turn and look at him. 

(To ke coniinutd.) 



referring to his book as the great and sulfi- after long and patient study, and bearing 



TOUJOURS PERDRIX. 

[The substance of the foUowing article, prepared for the 
(Serroan Press by Prof. Frans Gehring, has appeared in the 
DeuUcht Ztitmng of Vienna.] 

FnUtnff, — His thefts were too open ; his filching was 
like an unskilful singer — he kept not time. 

Nvm. — The good humor is to steal at a minim rest. 

Ptstol. — Convey, the wise it call; steal! poh, a fioo for 
the phrase. 

The few whose duty or taste it is to col- 
lect, or at least acquaint themselves with the 
constantly accumulating Beethoven literature, 
must of course include the multitudinous 
writings — the toujours perdrix — of Herr 
Prof. Ludwig Nohl. They know ad nau- 
seam that gentleman's method of dressing his 
perdrix in all modes ; or, to drop the figure, 
his habit of using the same materials over and 
over again, in lectures, articles for periodical 
publications of all sorts, and in volumes made 
up of such articles. They know also, that, 
since the publication of Thayer's first and 
second volumes of his '*L. v. Beethoven's 
Leben," the swarming errors of Herr Nohl's 
biography of the cumposer have, in such ar- 
ticles, been silently corrected ; and that he 
(Nohl) rarely if ever loses an opportunity of 



cient authority upon all that relates to Beet- 
hoven's history ; and, finally, that he is, to a 
certain extent, justified in so doing, because, 
in the notes to his third volume, he has cor- 
rected a great number of the errors of the 
preceding two, besides adding an appendix 
containing seventy-nine (79) " corrections and 
verifications," — whence derived the reader 
is not informed. 

It is not asserted, nor even intimated, that 
all, even of these ** corrections and verifica- 
tions," are conveyed (the wise it call) from 
Tbayer*s two volumes ; indeed, some are from 
Nottebohm's writings and perhaps other 
sources ; but this fact is certainly striking 
and significant: that, of the 79, all but the 
last two belong in the years covered by those 
two volumes, and just where Thayer leaves 
him in the lurch (end of 1806), Herr Nohl's 
appendix ends. 

The well-informed reader knows that hith- 
erto Thayer has taken no notice of these 
" convey iiigs ; " that Herr Nohl has re- 
viewed the first two volumes of Thayer's 
work to his heart's content, and that Thayer 
has not retaliated ; and that, in a few in- 
stances, in which Thayer has deemed it fitting 
to speak plainly to him, it has only been 
when he believed (rightly or wrongly) that 
truth, justice, and good morals demanded it. 
It is true, that Thayer has never received a 
penny in return for all the costs and labor 
expended upon his four volumes on Beet- 
hoven and his works ; but as he has not 
written them for money, if Herr Nohl can 
improve his perdrix by small conveyings from 
them, to his pecuniary benefit — why not? 
He has a family to support. Had he re- 
mained satisfied with simply correcting his 
previous errors, he might even have " con- 
veyed " a supplemental appendix to his ^ Beet- 
hoven's Leben " from Thayer's new volume, 
with the same impunity he has enjoyed for 
a dozen years past. 

But, perhaps in consequence of this impu- 
nity, he has begun to " convey," as Falstaff 
says, *^ too openly," and Thayer's friends, with 
one voice, now declare that patience has 
ceased to be a virtue. 

The " rock of offense " is a long article in 
the Berlin Vosi*sche Zeitung under the head- 
ing : " The Last Court Organist of the Elec- 
tors of Cologne." 

As C. G. Neefe was appointed successor 
to Van den Eeden in 1781, and did succeed 
him the next year, and held the ofiioe until 
he received his formal dismission in 1796, 
from the then fugitive elector, Max Franz, 
the, reader naturally supposes him to be the 
subject of the article, and is curious to know 
whether anything is added by Herr Nohl to 
what Nottebohm and Thayer have printed 
concerning him ; but, no ; it is upon one who 
in 1784 was appointed Neefe's assistant, and 
who in 1792 left Bonn never to return — 
Ludwig van Beethoven. So, we find the same 
old perdrix — ** Beethoven's youth " — served 
up again (in the first half of the article), of 
course with numerous corrections of former 
errors silently ** conveyed " from Thayer. 
Then comes, however, matter of great inter- 
est and value pertaining to the history of the 
composer's early years, as indeed it must be, 
since it is copied bodily from an essay written 



throughout every mark of excellent judgment 
and singular critical acumen, by Dr. Hermann 
Deiters (then of Bonn, now director of the 
Imperial Gymnasium in Posen), and printed 
in the appendix to Thayer's first volume of 
his Beethoven Biography. That Dr. Deiters 
is not named by Herr Nohl need hardly be 
stated ; but he does state in a marginal note 
whence his *^ conveyances " are made; in 
what spirit the reader shall see. 

" Ludwig said later," so Herr Nohl con- 
vetfs, **' that Pfeiffer was the teacher to whom 
he in the main owed everything." *• So say," 
remarks Herr Nohl, " the still existing remi- 
niscences of a son of the house in the Rhein- 
gasse, who died some fifteen years since — a 
baker named Fischer, and his sister Cscilia." 
The marginal note — to the word " i-eminis- 
oences " — runs thus : " Formerly in posses- 
sion of Herr Oberburgomeister Kaufmann in 
Bonn, and partly published as an appendix to 
A. W. Thnyer's ' Ludwig van Beethoven's 
Leben ' (vol. i., Berlin, 1866), who therefore 
was as little able to interweave them into his 
text, as I [Herr Nohl] was in my * Beetho- 
ven's Leben ' (vol. i., Leipzig, 1864), so that 
tliis sketch [t. e., the article in the Vo$isch» 
Zeitung"] is in fact the first complete one on 
the subject" 

Peruse that again, reader, and get its full 
flavor. 

Sir Thomas More, in Che author's epistle 
to Peter Giles which precedes the Utopia, 
speaks of the ^ advantMge that a bald man 
has, who can catch hold of another by the 
hair, while the other cannot return the like 
upon him." He is '* safe as it were of gun- 
shot since there is nothing considerable enough 
to be taken hold of." Now as to dates and 
facts, ^ Beethoven's Leben, vol. i., Leipzig, 
1864," by Nohl, is, so to say, very " bald- 
headed." But think of its richness in other 
respects ! — its grandiose dissertations upon 
the nature of the German mind {Geist) ; 
upon the Rhinelander, and his love for gor- 
mandizing; and upon the Rhine wines; its 
citations from an article on Beethoven's early 
years, ^ written with considerable knowledge 
of the subject, and, some few errors excepted, 
worthy of confidence throughout^ which ap- 
peared in a Revue Britannigue,^ not known 
to Thayer ; especially the long passage so flat- 
tering to an American upon '* the first prao 
tical realization of Bousseau^s ideas — the 
first genuine political act of the last cenXnry 
— the Declaration of Independence by the 
American colonies ; and much else, which it 
never would have occurred to Thayer to 
weave into a biography of Beethoven. Pro- 
fessor Nohl's force lies, no doubt, in aesthetics. 
Logic, certainly, is not his strong side ; for if 
the appearance of Dr. Deiters's essay in the ap- 
pendix to Thayer's volume proves that he could 
not have woven its substance into his text, a 
fortiori, he could not have known Nohl's 
** Beethoven's Leben, vol. i., Leipzig, 1864," 
since ueitlier in text nor in appendix has he 
^ conveyed " (the wise it call) a word of its 
lofty philosophy and ethnological wisdom. 
And yet that gentleman cannot have forgotten 
that to his request for Thayer's opinion of 



1 The joke is, that the article thna enlogiaed by Nohl 
a translation of Thayer's article in the AthHtic Montkift, in 
1S5S, printed as original in the iteewe. 



July 19, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



116 



that volume (end of March, 1864), the an- 
swer was in substance, that, owing to the very 
numerous differences in their views and in their 
presentations of facts, which had struck him 
in reading it, he felt compelled to subject his 
manuscript to another thorough revision. 

Now for a transient modulation into an- 
other key. 

In the autumn of 1860 Thayer passed a 
month or two in Bonn, examining and copy- 
ing from all the old newspapers, court alma- 
nac->, and whatever would throw light upon 
the lives and times of the Beethovens. Time 
pressed, and without accomplishing his in- 
tended search in the provincial archives at 
Dusseldorf, he went to Paris, ^hera he lost 
much time in suing for permission to search 
the old diplomatic correspondence of the 
French agents at Bonn — a permission finally 
refused by Louis Napoleon*s minister of for- 
eign affairs. Thence he proceeded to Lon- 
don, where he was received and aided in his 
researches by Neate, Potter, Sir George 
Smart, Hogarth (son-in-law of Thomson, and 
father-in-law of Dickens), Chorley, Lonsdale, 

— all decf ased, not to name the still living, 

— in a manner which he cannot recall to mind 
without emotion. 

Soon after, an offer of employment at the 
United States Legation in Vienna compelled 
bim to return thither, without visiting Diissel- 
dorf. Nevertheless, he wrought out the first 
draft of his first volume, and in 1863 was 
able to place it wholly or in part in the hands 
of Dr. voo Breuning and other friends for 
their opinions. It found favor, and its author 
was pressed on all sides not to delay its pub- 
lication. Why then did two years pass be- 
fore it was put into the hands of the trans- 
lator? Simply because he was unable to 
return to the Rhine until November, 1864, 
and then for but fourteen days. 

The first object of this journey was of 
course researches at DUsseldorf, the surpris- 
ing results of which may be read in the pre- 
liminary chapters of the book for which it 
was undertaken.^ The wealth of new mat- 
ter there found detained him until tiie last 
moment, and he was obliged to return to 
Vienna, leaving the second object of the jour- 
ney unaccomplished. This was no other 
than the examination of the remini^ioences of 
baker Fischer and his sister Caecilia ! 

" Well, thereby hangs a tale," as Dame 
Quickly says, which may be read in letters 
written some fourteen months later. ^ Mark 
now, how a plain tale shall put you down," 
says Prince Hal to Falstaff. 

Thayer's removal to Trieste extinguished 
the hope of any personal examination of the 
Fischer papers ; but he did not despair that, 
through his friends and translator in Bonn, 
they might yet be made of use, even though 
be was compelled to forward a pjirt of his re- 
vised manuscript to Dr. Deiters first. Nor 
Iwas he mistaken. On the 12th of January, 
a866, he received a closely written letter of 
a dozen pages from Deiters, largely relating 
to the Diiaseldorf documents, and then to the 
Fischer reminiscences. After a general view 
of them, and the report of a conversation with 
Otto Jahn upon them, comes a discussion of 

1 See pegee tiv. and zv. of that Tolume for an aeeount of 
the noble manner in which Dr. Uarlen and Dr. Deiten oom- 
plated the retMivliet Ibr which Thajer*B time was too lim- 
ited. 



the use now to be made of them. "• You will 
probably," he writes, ** not desire to rewrite 
these chapters again. I might make such 
changes in the text as would l)e needed and 
insert the new matter ; but I might easily 
make mistakes both in judging of and using 
it, and the errors would be at your cost. I 
think, therefore, of again carefully revising 
the whole and putting it into an appendix, if 
the plan meets youf approval." 

Thayer replied : ** Your letter is at this 
moment giving me great delight. I have not 
finished reading it, but begin the answer, so 
as at once to reply to the various questions." 

There is nothing to the present purpose in 
the letter, but the pages devoted to the Fis- 
cher matter, and two extracts from them are 
sufficient. 

*' So poor old Fischer is dead ! When I was 
in Bonn in 1860, I went to the hospital (my 
note-book says September 15), to see him, 
but found his reminiscences (oral) of no value. 
The next day (I think it was) he came to me 
at lionecker's, dressed in frock (swallow-tail) 
and white cravat, I think — at all events in 
great state, poor old devil ! — and brought 
his manuscript with him. I ordered a bottle 
of good wine and let him warm his heart 
with it, and meantime looked over the papers. 
I thought then that one might find hints at 
information, but did not consider it of zo 
much value, as you prove it to be. As the 
old man demanded three (or was it four?) 
hundred thaler for it, I dismissed him. My 
conscience would not allow me to stejil its 
contents, which I might have done, I believe, 
on pretense of wishing to examine it." .... 
^' While I WHS reading this part of your let^ 
ter, I determined to write you and request 
you to give this new information in the ap- 
pendix, and was much pleased when I came 
to the place where you propose to do this." 

Why ? First, because of the labor in- 
volved in rewriting the chapters in which the 
new matter belonged ; second, because it ap- 
peared to be too copious to be inserted there 
in exienso ; but principally, because Thayer 
judged it unfair to deprive Deiters of the full 
credit of his patient and difficult labor in de- 
ciphering, selecting from, and rendering fit 
for publication these reminiscences. 

Is this *^ plain tale " sufficiently explicit ? 

During his stay in Bonn in 1860, Thayer 
usually supped at the Schwann, with Dr. 
Reifferscheid, now Professor at Breslau, Dr. 
Binsfeld, now Director of the Imperial Ly- 
ceum, Paul Marquand, the learned editor of 
Aristoxenus, whose early death is so sad a 
loss to musical science, and other very prom- 
ising young scholars. Deiters was also occa- 
sionally of the party. As Thayer made no 
secret of his meetings wiih poor old Fischer, 
he to this day does not understand how his 
friend Deiters *could have known nothing of 
the manuscript and have written of it as a 
new discovery, with the sad effect of leacling 
the unlucky Herr Nohl astray ! 

The reader will now understand why, for 
a dozen years past, Deiters and Thayer have 
read with Homeric laughter that writer's ref- 
erences to the *^ too late discovery of the 
Fischer manuscript, portions of which are 
printed as an Appendix to Thayer's book, 
and which so cruelly deprived the most labo- 
rious researches of nearly twenty years of 



their ultimate value," — whatever this last 
may mean. 

Herr Nohl has amused himself and doubt- 
less his readers, in his reviews of Thayer's 
first two volumes, by sarcasms upon the pain- 
ful regard for ** dates and facts" exhibited 
therein, to the neglect of musical criticism, 
and for good morals, to the neglect of aes- 
thetics. Now, it is in a high degree flatter- 
ing to that writer to find how great a confi- 
dence this same Professor Nohl places in the 
correctness of those dates and facts, as is 
proved by the extent to which he *•*' conveys " 
(the wise it call) them. 

Should Thayer live to complete his work, 
who can say that Nohl may not honor it — as 
he did Jahn's ** Mozart " — by making it the 
basis of a brand-new biography of Beetho- 
ven ! 

Apollo and Minerva ! Thayer's dry, tedi- 
ous facts and dates illuminated, sublimed, glo- 
rified, by Herr Professor Ludwig Nohl's lofty 
morality and aesthetics ! That will not be the 
old perdrix. 

That will be a work 1 



HOMER VERSUS "PINAFORE." 

[From the Fortnlghtlj lUTiew.] 

Old Homer is tlie very fountain-head of 
pure poetic enjoyment, of all that is sponta- 
neous, simple, native, and dignified in life.. 
He takes us into the ambrosial world of he- 
roes, of human vigor, of purity, of grace. 
Now, Homer is one of the few poets the life 
of whom can be fairly preserved in a transla- 
tion. * Most men and women can say that 
they have read Homer, just as most of us 
can say that we have studied Johnson's Dic- 
tionary. But how few of us take him up, 
time after time, with fresh delight ! How few 
have even read the entire Iliad and Odys- 
sey through ! Whether in the resounding 
lines of the old Greek, as fresh and ever-stir- 
ring as the waves that tumble on the sea- 
shore, filling the soul with satisfying, silent 
wonder at its restless unison ; whcjther in the 
quaint lines of Chapman, or the clarion coup- 
lets of Pope, or the closer versions of Cow- 
per. Lord Derby, of Philip Worsley, or even 
in the new prose version of the Odyssey, 
Homer is always fresh and rich. And yet 
how seldom does one find a friend spell-bound 
over the Greek Bible of antiquity, while they 
wade through torrents of magazine quotations 
from a petly versifier of to-day, and in an 
idle vacation will graze, as contentedly as cat- 
tle in a fresh meadow, through the chopped 
straw of a circulating library. A generation 
which will listen to '' Pinafore " for three hun- 
dred nights, and will read M. Zola's seven- 
teenth romance, can no more read Homer than 
it could read a cuneiform inscription. It will 
read about Homer just as it will read about 
a cuneiform inscription, and will crowd to see 
a few pots which probably came from the 
neighborhood of Troy. But to Homer and 
the primeval type of heroic man in his beauty, 
and his simpleness, and joyousness, the cult- 
ured generation is really dead, as completely 
as some spoiled beauty of the ball-room is 
dead to the bloom of the heather or the waving 
of the dtiffodils in a glade. It is a true psy- 
chological problem, this nausea which idle 
culture seemis to produce for all that is manly 



116 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 998. 



and pure in heroic poetry. One knows — at 
least, every school-boy has known — that 
a pass'ge of Homer, rolling along in the 
hexameter, or trumpeted out by Pope, w>ll 
give one a hot glow* of pleasure and raise a 
liner throb in the pulse ; one knows that Ho- 
mer is the easiest, most artless, most divert- 
ing of all poets ; that the fiftieth reading 
rouses the spirit even more than the first — 
and yet we find ourselves (we are all alike) 
painfully psha-ing over some new and uncut 
barley-sugar in rhyme, which a man in the 
street asked us if we had read, or it may be 
some learned lucubration about the site of 
Troy by some one we chanced to meet at din- 
ner. It is an unwritten chapter in the history 
of the human mind, how this literary pruri- 
ence after new print unmans us for the enjoy- 
ment of the old songs chanted forth in the 
sunrise of human imngination. To ask a man 
or woman who spends half a lifetime in suck- 
ing magazines and new poems to read a book 
of Homer' would be like asking a butcher's 
boy to whistle ** Adelaida." The noises and 
sights and talk, ihe whirl and volaiility of 
life around us, are too strong for us. A so- 
ciety which is forever gossiping in a sort of 
perpetual ** drum " loses the very faculty of 
Caring for anything but " early copies ** and 
the last tale out. Thus, 1 ke the tares in the 
noble parable of the sower, a perpetual chat- 
ter, alx>ut books chokes the seed which is 
sown in the sreaiest books uf the world. 



HOW THE FRENCH LEARN TO ACT. 

[From the London Time*.] 

We have seen that every French boy or girl 
who has a taste for the stage miy get a 
thorough training at the Conservatoire. The 
next step of the aspirant is, properly speaking, 
no step at all ; ii is a bound. He may pass from 
the Conservatoirn to one of the state theatres — 
})erhaps to the Fran^ais — from school to the first 
theatre in the world. This last is, of course, a 
reward of very high merit in the classes, as re- 
vealed in the public coniptititions of the students 
lM»fore the ^lite of the critical society of Paris. 
The great point to bear in mind is that, what- 
ever the promotion, it is but another stage of the 
teaching. The French actor is in a sense in 
ittaiu pvpiUari to the end of his days. He is 
coached at the Fran^ais as he was coached at 
the Conservatoire ; only at the theatre he gets 
his lesson from the collective bo<ly of his com- 
rades, instead of a biugle professor. It is a kind 
of teaching by universal suffrage. There is no 
such thing recognized as a man's right to a part, 
to make or mar at his pleasure. He holds it in 
trust only for the rest of the members of the 
company, and he is bound in some sort to ad- 
minister the trust in accordance with their in- 
terests and wishes — at least with their judgment 
in respect of its tendency to promote the success 
of the performance as a whole. 

Nothing can exceed the thoroughness of the 
rehearsals at the Fran9ai8. Most of the pieces 
there are old ones long in the reperioire^ yet 
when they are in course of revival each actor 
seems to adopt the useful assumption that he has 
never seen them before. ' Tlie pieces less known 
are labored with incessant care. "Ruy Bias," 
just reproduced, was rehearsed for six or ci<;ht 
weeks. It was first taken act by act, a day for 
each, over and over again ; then came a series 
of full rehearsals of the entire play without stage 
costume; then a grand dress rehearsal. It 



played on the first night just as though it had 
hatl a month's run. No wonder — it had really 
had a run of nearly two, with closed doors. 

I went to see one of tliese rehearsals of *' Rny 
Bias," without making any choice. It happened 
to be the thinl act On quitting the daylight of 
the wings for the twilight of the stage — it was 
about three on a winter afternoon, — I, as a vis- 
itor, had first to pay my respects to the company. 
I accordingly crossed from Jeft to right to reach 
a rude tent of canvas on the stage, a sort of port- 
able green-room, where the ladies sat in safe 
shelter from the draughts to wait for their calls. 
Here I found, among others, Mile Sarah Bern- 
hardt and the aged lady companion who is al- 
ways by her side. In another tent, quite close 
to the foot-lights — in fact, just behind the 
prompter's box, and therefore commanding a 
view of the whole stage — sat Got, who was 
superintending the rehearsal. In front of him, 
and near the left-centre entrance, was the well- 
known council table of the third act, garnished 
with greedy lords whose monopolies devour the 
substance of Spain. A lamp in each tent and 
one in the prompter's box burned dimly in the 
demi'jour. 

This was an ordinary rehearsal, and the com- 
pany was in ordinary dress. Sarah Bernhardt 
wore a jacket to shield her from the cold of the 
stage. Febvre (Don SaUuste) carried his great 
coat over his arm, rather, as it turned out, as a 
property than for any other use. The only ap- 
proach to stage costume was in the broad Spanish 
hat with a drooping plume worn by Moonet- 
SuIIy {Ruy Blwt), The contrast between that 
and his frock-coat and the rest would have been 
striking cnou<;h if one had had the leisure to at- 
tend ta it. These three — Febvre, Mounet-Sully, 
and Sarah Bernhardt (who of course plays the 
Queen) — are the leading personages of the 
present cast, and the third act they are rehears- 
ing is about the best in the play. 

The rehearsal had begun, but it had been in- 
terrupted for a few moments by my entry. I 
came in, therefore, only for the fag end of that 
squabble of the corrupt councillors for place ahd 
pay which winds up with a friendly distribution 
of the monopolies on tobacco, salt, negroes, arse- 
nic, ice, an<l musk. They are disturbed by Ruy 
Bla$\ who has overheard them, and who delivers 
the well-known grand tirade on ministerial job- 
bing, one of the finest that even Victor Hugo 
ever wrote. Mounet's 

Charlet-Quint ! dims eea tonps d'opprobre et de terreur, 
>2ue fais-tu dans ta tomlie, o puissant empereur? 

was a perfect vocal detonation ; it positively 
shook the hat in my hand. Got stopped him at 
once from the prompt-box tent : — 

**I should certainly say that in a diflerent 
style. It is a solemn invocation ; it requires a 
change of voice." 

" I am quite of your way of thinking," said a 
gray-haired gentleman who had just joined him 
from the wing. It was M. Ferrin, the adminis- 
trator of the company, who holds one of the roost 
envied offices in France. He is about as highly 
salaried as any English prime minister, and in 
governing the Tliddtre Fran9ais he holds a post 
which mrst of his countrymen tfiink fully equal 
in dignity to the governing of a department of 
state. ** I am quite of your way of thinking," 
repeated M. Perrin. 

It was a timely reinforcement ; for, as it 
proved, the two together were hardly an over- 
match for Mounet mounted on the hobby of this 
particular inflection. .The rehearsal was sus- 
|)ended for a cjuartcr of an hour, while they 
fought the point. . There was a world-wide of 
critical acumen — I will not say wasted on it, 
more especially as I mean just the opposite thing 
— on either side. 



'* It is a call to wake the Emperor from his 
death-sleep," said Mounet ; " it must btf loud." 

'' It is a reverent appeal," said Got. 

'^ It is almost as solemn as an act of religion," 
said Perrin. 

** I assure you I cannot see it in that light," 
answered Mounet-Sully. *vFor me it is a pas- 
sionate call to the shade of the Emperor." 

^ But you do not expect to Wake the man up, 
— vojfonSf" said Got. 

** Well, try it again," said Perrin. 

Mounet-Sully returned to his starting point, 
and in an instant he was off at the old rate of 
initial velocity. The windows in the place must 
have rattled if one had been near enough to hear 
them. 

They stopped him again. It was quite a 
struggle h la Fran^aise^ — obstinate insistance 
on both sidi^ tempered in its severity by the 
use of the forms of good breeding. It was evi- 
dent to any one knowing sometliing of the per- 
sonal history of the company that what was now 
going forward was but a continuation of a very 
long struggle on the part of the seniors to repress 
the exuberant vivacity of this fiery youngster, — 
at once the glory and the reproach of their com- 
pany. At length the contest comes to an end : 
Mounet lowers his sword — that is to say, his 
tone — and pronounces the passage in something 
like the required manner, although occasional 
flashes show that the level earth on which he 
now condescends to tread is still undermined 
with fire. 

In what other theatre in the world — in what 
other company — would a theatrical star of this 
magnitude bear correcting in his course in this 
way? 

Now it will soon be the turn of the concealed 
Queen to step forth from behind the arras and 
announce herself to Ruy Bias. The superb 
Sarah accordingly quits her tent to place herself 
in very visible hiding, **R. 2 E." 'llien her 
voice is heard, deep and sweet, with twice as 
much meaning in its lowest tones as in its high- 
est : — 

** O, merci I " 

Ruy Bias — Ciel I (It is a start of surprise, and, 
as we may imagine, he b perfect here.) 

La Reine — Vous avez bien fait de leur parler 

ainsi. 

Je n*j puis renster, due; U fkut que je serrs 
Uette loyale nuun si fieniM et si sineen! 

She darts out her hand, extending the arm at 
full length — a gesture peculiar to her in private 
life as on the stage. She always shakes hands 
in that way. 

Got — I don't like that. You only give him 
your hand-; you ought to take his. 

Sarah Bernhardt — I think my way is better ; 
there is more netteie in tlie action. 

She probably means that it is more statuesque, 
as it certainly is, but is perhaps unwilling to use 
an illustration from her (avoi ite art. Her acting 
has always shown thnt she has a keen sense of 
the beauty of pose. She gets the full plastic as 
well as histrionic value of a situation. 

Perrin — But what does your text say ? Look 
at the stage direction. Reads : — 

**She advances rapidly, and takes his hand 
before he can prevent her." 

Sarah Bernhardt [laughing]. — Very well, 
then ; give me your hand. (Mounet- Sully suf- 
fers her to take it.) 

Got [to Perrin] — I think just where he wants 
most energy he shows the least [To Mounet J — 
Your own movements there should be as quick 
and decided, as full of nervous energy as hers. 

Mounet-Sully — Let me alone for the present. 
I have my own very decided opinion about this 
scene. I will give it you by and by. 
I The Queen goes on to tell htm how she has 



Jolt 19, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



117 



Hcl mired his superb indignation in the pcene with 

the rapacious courtiers. How comes he to bo 

able to spenk as kings onl/ ought to speak — to 

be so terrible, so god-like, so grand ? 

Ruy—\i springs from lo\'e of thee. In serving Spain 
I serve the Queen. Thy image lends me stieni;^ ! 
Strengthened by love, I am all powerful ! 
1 love Uiee ! — hear me out lliott art aiiotlier*s — 
A king's — though not his bride,Jii8 bride-elect. 
I kiM>w it; knowing it, have shunned thy presence, 
Still loving while 1 shunned it. I have lo\-ed thee 
As the mariner the star that guides biui home; 
A distant homage and an awestruck worship. 
Though k>w to thee as is the earth from lieaven, 
I loved tliee as the blind mii^ht k)ve the light 
lie never hoped to look on ! 

And all uttered — how do you think (by 
Mounct, above all) ? — as gently as the roaring 
of a sucking dove. 

Got (decbivcly) — It will never do. 

Perrin (as decisively) — It will never do. 

Sarah Bamhardt — It will spoil the whole 
scene. 

Mounet-Sully — Yet that is how I read it, I 
assure you. He is overpowered at the thought 
of his own pn^sumption ; he is an earthworm 
raising his head to heaven. 

Got — But he does not think of that while he 
is raising it. . Voyons ! what excuse docs he give 
the woman for loving him by meeting her in that 
timid style? 

Mounet-Sully — I know it has never been done 
in that way before. That is one reason the more 
tor doing it. It gives a new sense to the pas&age, 
and, as I think, a truer one. 

Sarah B. [laughingly] — I do not think I can 
possibly dare to love you if you do not set me a 
better example. Remember the Queen wants 
encouragement as much as Ruy Bias, and who is 
to give it her if he fails ? 

Got — I should certainly deliver it in the most 
thrilling accents of passion. 

Mounet-Sully — Like this, you mean (giving 
an example in his first manner, the only other 
one he has). 

Got, Perrin, Sarah B. — Exactly 1 

Mounet-Sully [impatiently, and with mutter- 
ings that may mean anything] — But surely you 
must see how false it is to have him so glib of 
tongue. I really cannot change it in tliat way. 
I wish I could ; but you must allow me to . be 
obstinate on this one point. I cannot see it in 
any other light 

Grot [disconsolately] — Very well, then, if you 
cannot see it. 

Rehearsal resumed as follows, to quote still 

further firom the translation, which so pleasantly 

relieves me of all responsibility : — 

Kait Qfutn by the »ame entrance $ke came on o^ r. 2. a. 
Ruy (after a pause). Can it — can it be real? Loved, 

and by her! 'Tlsso! 
O Paradise, that opens to my eyes, 
And steeps my soul in k>ve's profound repose I 
Loved — happy — powerful ! IXike d' Olmedo ! 
Spain at my feet! Its honor in my hands — 
My oountry*s honor! Teaeh me, O Heaven, 
How to be worthy of my task 1 Make me 
Worthy to ofier her a shiekl and sword — 
The Queeo'my arm, the woman my devotion ! 

Perrin — Very fine. Bravo 1 Only I beg to 
observe that you are too far up the stage if you 
mean to be heard by the whole house. 

Mounet-Sully — I must begin here. 

Perrin — But you need nat finish. I should 
like to see more movement during the monologue 
(in the original a rather long one). I do not 
think he could stand still while he delivered it. 

Enter Febvre, as Sallusie, to surprise Ruy 
BloM : ** Bonjaur ! " tapping him on tlie shoulder. 

Ruy Bias — Good heaven 1 I am loet 1 The 
Marquis. 

Will it be believed that the discussion of this 
•ingle entry occupies tlium the better pai't of an 
hour ? Febvre, Mounet-Sully, Sarah Bernhardt, 
Perrin, Got, all taking part in it, and with the 



liveliest interest, often all talking togetlier. The 
first entry is from the centre, — Ruy Bias stand- 
ing in soliloquy conveniently near, — his msster 
tapping him on the shoulder, then crossing to 
the council-table, throwing down his cloak, and 
taking a seat to meet his astonished stare. ** Will 
it be better to do that," says Febvre, <* or to take 
one*8 feat first, without tapping him on the 
shoulder at all, and then confront him with the 
botijour, — making that the * tap ' so to speak ? " 
He tries it, and they are' unanimously of opinion 
that it would not be better. " How wouhl it be 
to tlirow I he cloak to him to hold? " says Sarah 
Bernhardt. "No," says Perrin, "you discount 
your oifcct of the handkerchief later on, which is 
a much better one." " Would you have him at 
the centre of the stage or near Uie wing ? '* That 
is the fourth proposition, and I really forget the 
*other. 

And all that I have seen to-day is less than a 
thirtieth part of the declamatory preparation for 
one piece. Yet we wonder by what magic, by 
what happy gift of nature, precluding the neces- 
sity of labor, the French have become the first 
actors of the world. 



LETTERS FROM AN ISLAND. 

BY FANNY RAYMOND RITTER. 
IL 
VA8SAR COMMENCEMENT, PICTURES, AND PflYB- 
ICS. — DBR FREYSCHUtZ AND CASPAR'S KILL. 
— OPRN'-AIR STUDIES. 

Dear Mr. Dwight, — Like a great many 
other people, I was carried away, towards the 
end of June, by the fiood of oratory, prophecy, 
white muslin and music that sweeps over the 
land periodically, "for a few days only," in 
waves of broiling midsummer weather, and, de- 
serting the island, I attended the celebration of 
commencement at Vassar, and survived the ren- 
dering of many brilliant essays, delivered by 
charming young women, each one of whom 
seemed to have passed through ages of extraor- 
dinary experience in a score or so of years, and 
who convinced every man present that he didn't 
know much in general about anything in par- 
ticular. And one evening there was a prome- 
nade concert on the lawn, with calcium lights 
creating picturesque effects on the sward and 
evergreens, when everything would have been 
delightful with the additional charm of the pres- 
ence of a few absent friends. The resonance of 
Gilmore's brass band from the tribune outside, 
with the lofly college walls behind as sounding- 
board, was admirable. Among the selections 
pbyed was a good arrangement from Der 
FreyschiUZf an opera, the woodland melodies and 
pastoral character of which are so admirably 
adapted to out-door performance. 

The beautiful aria sung by Max (arranged for 
the band), with the ominous kettle-drum beat, 
and double-bass pizzicaii that announce the com- 
ing of the demon Samiel, draped in the bat- 
like folds of his scarlet cloak, was so suggestive 
of romantic witchery, that I should not have 
been astonished had the goddess Fauna rushed 
over the meadows with her host, or the Wild 
HuntHinan swept through the sky, followed by 
his tumultuous spectral train, or had the ghost of 
Caspar, that lyric lago, stood before me in the 
moonlight, in dark green hunting dress, a sar- 
donic smile on his pale face, a hooting owl on 
his shoulder, surrounded by a pallid greenish 
light, and a circle of fiery skulls. Mill-cove 
Lake, on the college grounds, is chiefly fed by 
Vassar creek, originally termed Caspar*s kill. 
Now who and what was the Caspar that bap- 
tized it? Some dull, but honest and industrious 
Dutch fiurmer? Or was it the direful, artful, 



diabolically interesting Caspar of Von Weber and 
his poet, Kind ? The original Freeshooter legend 
is to be found in the Gexpensterbuch of 1810; 
but after all, it is barely possible that Caspar was 
not shot by the enchanted bullet with which he 
intended to ruin his confiding friend Max ; per- 
haps he escaped to America, and lived happily 
ever aAer, and died in the odor of sanctity 
peacefully in his bed, on the banks of the kill 
that for some time bore his name. But if his 
ghost had appeared on that evening, the lake fed 
by Caspar's kill would have been a capital place 
for him to disappear in, faintly illumined by 
glimpses of the crescent moon, and veiled by 
fitful shadows from the willow, chestnut, and 
maple boughs, while the owls in the museum 
might have flapped their wings and hooted a 
phantom " uhui," as in the bullet-casting scene 
of the haunted Wolf's Glen. 

Messrs. Matthew and John Guy Vassar have 
lately presented ten thousand dollars to the Col- 
lege, to be used in erecting a new chemical labo- 
ratory on the grounds (in place of the old one 
within the large building), which, it is expected, 
will be ready next autumn for the use of the pro- 
fessor of chemistry and physics, Le Roy C. 
Cooley, Ph. D., a gentleman as able in his pro- 
fessional as he is estimable in his private charac- 
ter. The Messrs. Vassar, having thus displayed 
so much generosity, and being engaged, besides, 
in planning the erection of a home for old men 
in Poughkeepsie, imagination runs riot as to 
what is to come next. Some fancy it will be a 
new gymnastic hall, strong, rustic, and pictur- 
esque, under cover, yet open to the air when 
needed, with a heating apparatus for winter, and 
a solid yet elssiic floor. More contemplative 
minds revel in the idea of cloisters for the studi- 
ous, in the Anglo-Norman style, — one so suitable 
for modern educational or ecclesiastical buildings, 
and not out of harmony with that of the college, 
— perhaps with tiled floors, vaulted roofs, and 
stained-glass windows alternating with open 
arches through which the rose and honeysuckle 
may swing and sway their fragrant chalices 1 
Chateaux en Espayne ! And yet, perhaps not. 

The advantages of the school'for draiwing and 
painting, and the art gallery, at Vassar, have 
been lately described as follows, in a local paper, 
by a gentleman familiar with the subject : — 

The art department of Vassar College is presided over 
by Professor Henry Van Ingen. a naUve of Holland, whose 
works in the line of hb profession have oeeasionallj appeared 
on exhibition at the Academy of Design in New Ymric, and 
in other noted eoUectiona. One of his master pieces, the 
Golden Headed Eagle, hangs in the art gallery, and is very 
mueh admired. 

The art gallery contains numerous spedmeus of painting 
in oil, and. in water-eolor, and alio in fine pendliog and 
crayon sketches, besides the e^*"' ' ooUeetion of sua pict- 
ures, consisting of some three to lour thousand copies of the 
best works of art to be found in Europe, selected by the 
Rev. J. L. Coming, now of Stnttgard, in Germany. 

There are in the Magoon collection spedmeos of portrait- 
ure, landscape, marine views, architecture, — ezterion and 
interiors, — Howers, fhiits, real and fancy subjects, single 
and composite, ancient and modem ; copies of many cele- 
brated paintings by the old masters, and many %-aluable orii^- 
nals by distiuguislicd modem artists. Among tlie copies of tlie 
old masters u the laige one from Raphael, hanging at the 
south end of the gallery, which cost the generous founder 
over $4000. This and three others were purchased in 
Rome by Dr. Jewett, the first President of the College. 

Besides the paintings, there is in the gallery a choice 
collection of oasts in plaster, re|Mreaenting some of the most 
celebrated statuary of Greece and Rome, and some alt ths 
best works of modem sculptors. 

But what unheard-of audacity, to speak of the 
advantages elsewhere in America than in Boston, 
of the study of the arts of design, to a Boston ian ? 
Have you not your own galleries and private 
collections and studios and art- schools, your mu- 
^eum of the fine arts, and normal art school, and 
schools industrial and otherwise, for wood-carv- 
ing, and modelling, and decorative painting and 
embroidery, etc., etc. ? And poet-painters, and 



118 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 998. 



musical painters, and painters par excellence^ and 
Mr. Hunt, that faithful didciple of the noble Cou- 
ture? 

And why linger longer with echoes and repre- 
sentations, while the lovely original, Nature her- 
self, in the rich, ripe, glowing beauty of summer 
weather, laughs, weeps, sings, blushes, frowns, 
sighs, beckons, through all the endless changes 
and seeming caprices of transition ? Only here, 
in the open air, may tlie artist now truly study, 
obserre, enjoy, absorb, the thousand transient 
yet immortally enduring influences of the great 
mother and mistress of all great art, with the 
abandon of complete repose and confidence. 
Perhaps he seeks th^t inspiration, and yet repose, 
in some sunny glade where the daisies and butter- 
cups dip and rise in waves of white and yellow, 
and the wild rose eglantine twines her delicate 
pink flowers amid the elder bushes, and the ma- 
ple spreads its deep green masses of shadow 
overhead, and glimpses of the far-off purple hills 
appear between the parted boughs of oak or ma- 
ple ; or on the firm, pebbled, tawny beach, amid 
the vast spaces of the gray -blue atmosphere, 
while the dark blue, foam -fringed sea throbs as 
if with the palpitations of a Titan heart, and 
clouds are scurrying landward, and a brisk wind 
blows in the ships with their swelling sails ; and 
if he be an islander, his yearning for the sea is, 
for a moment, satisfied ; forgotten, for a little 
while, is the ever-present remembrance of the 
poignant home-sickness for that great, beguiling, 
terrible source of strength, and love, and beauty, 
which no afler influence can erase from the soul 
that has once been smitten with the spell of its 
vital power I Or perhaps, like some pious soli- 
tary, the painter observes atmospheric effect, the 
musician seeks to evolve the mysteries of har- 
mony,' on some mountain that seems to command 
vast distance, amid a silence unbroken save by 
the ethereal voice of the hermit-thrush, or the 
long swell of the ceaselessly rushing wind, where 
he experiences an impression akin to that awak- 
ened within us when listening to the introduction 
to Lohengrin. He dreams, perhaps, like Wag- 
ner, of some ideal, pearly, mystic sanctuary, such 
as that of the Holy Grail, reflected in opaline 
waters, overshadowed by iridescent clouds ; he 
feels that pure and yet voluptuous sensation 
which is felt on very great heights, when the 
mind is plunged in the reveries of absolute soli- 
tude, and yet aware of an infinite horizon, an 
intense, ardent, yet almost colorless light. And 
how deep is the witchery of music, when it 
wakens in the bosom of a shadow-haunted glen, 
over whose rocky walls a forest fountain falls, 
while, from wood and water, resounds the deep, 
deep F, the ground-bass of nature, and all the 
sweet, organic, supernatural forces seem revealing 
themselves to us in that undertone ; or when 
song rises from a little lioat, rocking under a 
branching willow, — 

The willow tree is the gjpej tree. 
And therefore *tU the tree for nie, 
Ai I lore the dusky Rommiuiy, 

and then dies away in silence, while the sinking 
sun trumpets forth red flouriOies on every side ; 
green grows empurpled, on the horizon bursts a 
great harmonious glow, its echoes, orange, saf- 
fron, rose, a score of melting tints, are chased 
away by faint blue shadows ; lines tremble, color 
flies, lost, embraced in the mystery of night; a 
vaporous veil covers all things with one exquisite, 
uniform transparency; the crescent moon rises, 
stars tremble with a glance that seems not igno- 
rant of tears ; then, should Uie voice of song arise 
again, — some naive or passionate folk-song, or 
an art-song, the aspiration of some exceptional 
poet-heart, — we are touched with so rich, so 
full, and yet so pathetic a sense of the possibili- 
tiea of an existencti too blest to be experienced 



on this planet, that we long to break from earth 
forever here and now ! But, with the inconsis- 
tency and contradiction of human nature, scenes 
of melancholy and ruined beauty awaken cheer- 
ful thoughts by way of compensation ; and, as is 
just possible, a letter written on a sunken grave- 
stone by the Lido, or dated from a balcony on 
the gprand canal of the Aphrodite of Italian cities, 
Venice, may be a very gay epistle from 

Yours faithfully, F. K. R. 

July. 

^tDt9l^t'0 fjournal of f^usAt* 

e 
SATURDAY, JULY 19. 1879. 



trc, and that the unpretending, pretty thing was 
to be given on a grand scale by the most famous 
and accomplished of our native singers, we were 
at first mistrustful of the policy ; it seemed like 
overdoing it, and running it into the ground. 
But even through that magnifying glass it bore 
the test, and it took many weeks to satisfy the 
eager crowds. Since then it has been served up 
in every theatre end hall ; church choirs go 
about the country singing it ; every child sings 
or hums it ; the tuneful images repeat thems«%lves, 
as in a multiplying mirror, from ^yevy wall, 
through every street and alley. The ** craze " is 
general, and some begin to talk about the nui- 
sance of hftving to hear music " on compulsion," 
whether you will or not. We are as easily bored 

XT -ftiT c -DTUAvr^ui? *" *"^ oue, aud shrink finom what is common- 

H. M. S. PINAFORE. pj^ee and hackneyed ; but when we think how 

Is it not about time that we should say a word, many more pretentious bores and vulgarities un- 



or two about this all-pervading, all-prevailing, 
most amusing, and extremely clever little ope- 
retta ? If we have not thought it necessar}' for 
us to praise what all the world was praising, it 
was not from any want of interest in the pretty 
thing. We have been to see and hear it more 
times than we dare to name ; we have spent 
pretty freely of our time and our spare (in the 
sense of meagre) cash upon it, both for our en- 
joyment and that of younger people, without 
whom we should not have yielded to the attrac- 
tion quite so often. We certainly should not 
have done so had we not enjoyed' it. But to an 
editor there is a sort of luxury, which we, in this 
case, felt inclined to hug and make the most 
of, in standing for once in a wholly unofficial, 
unprofessional relation, either as editor or critic, 
toward the musico-dramatic phenomenon of the 
day — a very long day too 1 Indeed, it doth en- 
hance the charm of music not to feel obliged to 
write about it ; and yet in the end one feels the 
oblii;ation all the more. 

The first thing to remark about this joint prod- 
uct of the wit and genius of Messrs. Gilbert 
and Arthur Sullivan, is its wonderful, its perhaps 
unexampled popular success. The immense run 
it has had in England is eclipsed by its universal 
vogue in every theatre, both great and small, of 
the United States. Hundreds of companies, 
professional and amateur, have been acting and 
singing it. In the great cities Pinafore has held 
the stage in half a dozen theatres at once. When 
we first saw it at the Boston Museum, whence it 
started on its rounds, we enjoyed it as a pretty, 
unpretending, fresh, amusing, harmless little 
thing, easily appreciated, full of pleasant humor, 
and of melodies of a quite catching sort, yet not 
flat, commonplace, or namby-pamby, — never vul- 
gar. Closer attention reveale<l fine musicianship, 
rich, fascinating, delicate orchestration; every- 
thing was characteristic : the mock solemnity of 
imitated classic recitative, the graceful solos, and 
the well-constructed duets, trios, choruses, and 
ensembles ; and all felicitously close to the mean- 
ing and the rhythm of the half serious, half 
funny words. Then, too, tlie mere finding of so 
clever a performance where you would hardly 
have supposed it possible, all from the resources 
of the stock acting company of the little theatre, 
and finding it so much better than it pretended 
to be, apparently, lent a peculiar zest to the 
whote thing. Singing and orchestra were in the 
main more than passable, in spite of drawbacks, 
such as the transferring of the tenor part of the 
hero to a soprano; the acting, too, was good, 
that of Mr. Wilson, a; the K. C. B. inimitable. 

Then came a New York company with it to 
the Gaiety, with several artists for singers, par- 
ticularly a tenor able to cope with the quite for- 
midable music of the part. When, it was an 
nounced that there was to be an ^ ideal '* per- 



der the name of music haunt the air and ruth- 
lessly besiege all sensitive ears, we are easily rec- 
onciled to innocent and thoughtless snatches from 
the Pinafore, which have not the exasperating 
quality of say " gems " from // Troro/orf, and 
many more high-sounding operatic titles. 

— But to complete the history of this march 
of progress, we should speak of the most unique 
and beautiful of all these presentations, namely, 
the Children's Pinafore, now in its tenth week 
at the Museum. But that deseri'es to be a sub- 
ject by itself. It is too full of matter for feeling 
and reflection, too suggestive, say of ideal possi- 
bilities in the direction of sesthetic, rhythmic, and 
harmonic social culture, which may supplement 
the common education of the children of the re- 
public, realizing perhaps the Greek idea with far 
greater means for it than the Greeks possessed or 
knew, that it would be useless to begin to treat 
tlie subject here. We do not advocate the prv- 
fesnional and absorbing employment of young 
children in such histrionic occupation ; yet as we 
witness it, it looks entirely innocent and happy ; 
and so it suggests the question whether, in a 
healthier way, as an element in the general cult- 
ure of the young, the talent which responds so 
richly and spontaneously in hosts of children in 
this beautiful experiment may not be turnefl to 
excellent advantage. We wonder whether such 
a thing could have been made so signally success- 
ful in any place but Boston, and whether it may 
not fSUrly be regarded as a legitimate outgrowth 
from our common schooli^, with the attention paid 
in them to music and the training of the eye and 
hand in drawing. — But of this another time. 

Now this amazing popularity of the Pinafore is 
something significant. It is easily accounted for. 
In the first place it indicates a general longing 
for some artistic entertainment which shall Iw at 
once readily appreciable, light, and humorous, 
yet graceful, clean, and innocent, combining real 
charms of music, witty poetry, and action. And 
all this the work supplies. It is extravagant, 
yet not devoid of sense and meaning. It is fas- 
cinating, piquant, and exciting ; yet not sensa- 
tional, in the sense of the modern French novels 
which appeal to the same taste that finds fasci- 
nation in a public execution ; it is sensuous and 
highly colored, but not sensual. It is cleverer 
than the French Opera Bouffe, and doubtless has 
done much to drive out and occupy the place of 
that unclean drama of Silenus. Musically and 
dramatically, or even farcically, it is a thousand 
times better and more entertaining than those 
extravaganzas of the ** Evangeline " stamp, 
stuffed full of flat inanities and fly-blown with 
puns too poor to nUe a lau>»h. In short, though 
it is but a trifle if you will, it is an artistic, a 
truly humorous, a musical trifle. It took an 
artist, a man of some creative faculty, each ia 
his own sphere, to compo^ie it. Hie music, it if 



formance of Pinafore in the vast Boston Thea- 1 found, wears well ; the last hearing is pretty sure 



Jolt 19, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



119 



to reTeal in it Bome new trait of beauty and of 
subtlety, some nice orchestral effect, some ex- 
quisite fitness of sound to sense. And the li- 
bretto 1 — It is so good, so felicitous a hit of genius 
in its way, that one will find it in vain to try to 
alter or improve upon it ; every phrase and every 
word stands once for all, like the song that sang 
itself. Mr. Arthur Sullivan and Mr. Gilbert are 
to be congratulated on such joint authorship. 
They are proving themrtelves the world's benefac- 
tors ; long may they continue in the good work, 
and find the next effort more remuneraUve to 
themselves 1 

In saying all this we do not shut our eyes to a 
more serious side of the question about this Pina- 
fore '*craxe,*' — a view well presented by a 
writer in the Fortniyhiljf Review^ from whom we 
copy elsewhere, under the title '' Homer os. Pina- 
fore.*' While we rejoice that the popular crav- 
ing for light and entertaining music and scenic 
action should be met for once by something pure 
and harmless, something truly musical and truly 
witty, it must at the same time be admitted that, 
from the point of view of deep and earnest cult- 
ure, this cheap idolatry betrays a rather super- 
ficial, indolent condition of the general mind. 
All the earnestness of life being monopolized and 
taxed to the utmost by life's groveling material 
necessities and business competitions, it follows 
naturally that all the reaction toward the free 
ideal life of art and joy should seek that en- 
tertainment which costs no thought, no effort 
to understand and to appreciate. As it is we 
must have entertainment; most people are not 
equal, and few people at all times, to Homer, 
Dante, or even Shakespeare, or to FideliOf Don 
Giooanni, or Gluck'i* Orfeo, If they must have 
plays and music which are light, what a godsend 
is a thing so innocent, so genial, so charming, 
and BO satisfactory in its way as " H. M 8. Pina- 
fore I " We do not say it is a great work. That 
could only be said ironically. 



MUSICAL COIIRESPONDENCE. 

Chicago, July 10. — On Thunday evening. June 26, 
the ** Abt Society " gftvs its last concert for tbe seaeon, pre- 
senting a progrunme of • four-part music. The lelMtious 
were from Hatlon, Gould, Storch, Scbubert, Adam, Abt, 
Kreutaer, and Mohr. Tbej had the aasiatance of Miss 
Mantejr, violinist, and Miss Arabella Root, a New York so- 
prano. The UAj vocalist lias not tbe voice or method for a 
concert singer, and in her selections added UtUe to the en- 
joyment of the evening. The programme of the society, 
however, did not furnish music wwthy of the talent and 
vocal proficiency oi the singers, for they are civile of doiug 
greater works, and it almost seems a waste of time and 
energy for them to devote their powers to simple four-part 
aoogs. Of course with beautifui voices, used with refined 
and tasteful expression, they have been able to give much 
pleasure to their audiences duriug the pest seaaoii ; but I trust 
that th«r next series of coucerts wUl contain laiger and 
more important works, and choruses that are more worthy 
of their study and performance. They need a director who 
will have a positive aim in this partieubur, and who will not 
be content until a greater proi^ress has twcn made toward 
reaching the highest position that a musical organiiatioo of 
this character can take. A programme may be made pleas- 
ing to an audience, and yet contain only good music; and it 
is a fiJse idea that regards *< popularity ** as the only test 
by which an art work should be judged What is good in 
music may be made popular if well performed, and by true 
interpretations brought to the comprelictision of tbe people. 
We obeerve the truthfulness of this statement, in the fivt 
that a number of classical works have been made popobur, 
even in the common acceptation of the word. Beethoven's 
Sonata, called the *« Moonlight," Op. 37, has been pfaiyed so 
often, bi private and public, that every note in the compo- 
sition is known to huge numbers of musical people iu every 
eity in the bmd. litis is but an example of how popularity 
and tme art may exist as coordinate foctors for the advance- 
meut of culture. Novelty may excite a passing interest in 
the multitude, but only a thorough acquaintance with a work 
can sive complete satlsfoction. 

I had the pleasure of hearing a remarkably flue perform- 
ance of Beethoven's C-minor Concerto, with a Cadetisa by 
Beiiiet^ by a child of thirteen years, a pupil of Mr. Carl 
Wolfsohn. This young girl. Miss Alice GvMEgenhime, poa- 
sesses a remarkable talent for music, and although she has 
only been under the instrootkm of bar pre sent teacher for 



two years, has made herself acquainted with a huge number 
of classical works, which she plays with the finish and in- 
terpretatlou of an experienced player. Her touch is firm, 
and her technique advanced to no small degree of proficiency, 
while her insight into the real expression and intent of a 
compoeltion is quite wond«fut for her yean. If she is al- 
lowed to mature sfowly, and is advanced in her art by the 
quiet yet sure pathway that modestly leads up to true excel- 
lence, by years of well-directed study, it is my opinion that 
she will reach a high rank as a pUniat. The bud of prom- 
ise must be protected firom the dangerous breath of flattery, 
if a rich maturity of bloom is to be reached ; fbr many a 
child of great talent has been retarded in development, by a 
mistaken direction that forces young natures to the capri- 
cious bifluence that comes firom public appearances. Young 
natures, rich bi talent, with every healthy indication of 
reachkig a high rank in tbe artistic world, roust have tbe 
most wise dinctiou, if tbe ionocency of a true ambition is 
not to be turned into a self-retarding vanity that destroj-s 
all noble advancement. Even the movements of a great 
genius must be directed by the wisdom of reason, if the 
highest point of attidnment is to be reached. A brief re- 
flection on the UwB of progreu, as their workings are mani- 
fested in the history of the past, will doubtless prove to the 
reader the truth of this statement. 

I mentioned in one of my former notes that we had great 
need of some orchestral organization that should have for 
its purpose the advancement and development of a good or- 
chestra in our city. A society called " 1lie Philharmonic *' 
has been formed, embracing in its niembership tbe leading 
teachers and musicums of Chicago, which has . this aim hi 
view. The society has made a constitution, which states 
that the piu^xiees of the organization are for the good of the 
musical art as a whole, and not for the advancement of any 
person or persons, and It undertakes to give symphony con- 
certs each season, also to support chamber music, and aims 
at holding triennial fSestivala some time in tbe future. This 
union of the musical elements in our city, if well supported 
by a liberal financud aid from the music lovers, ought to be 
able to place the orchestra on a permanent footing, as well 
as give a greater advancement to tbe musical art than it has 
ever had before in Chicago. Each city in our country should 
advance its home culture in a;usic, so as to be iud^iendent 
of tlie money-making organisations that pay flying visits for 
fove of gain. 

Mr. W. S. B. Mathews directs a Musical Normal School 
at his home in Evanston, IU. The advanced circular gives 
a fine list of teachers, and embraces a course of study that 
has a most positive aim, and of a higher order than is ususl 
in institutions of this character. Piano- forte and song re- 
citals, with excellent programmes, and lectures on music- 
tcacVing, and the voice, furnish the student with the oppor- 
tui^ for extending his musical knowledge in no small de- 
gree. C. U. B* 



MiLviTAUKKB, Wis., JuLY 11. — The ninth Saengerfest 
of the Northwestern Saeiigerbund was held here June §8-^0 
Four concerts were given, of which tbe pn^rammes were as 
foUows: 

I. 

1. Overture to Freischiits Wtber, 

2. Speeches by the President of the Milwaukee 

Singing Society, Mr. John C. Ludwig, and 
Mayor Bbck. 
8. Wickittgcr Balk 16. Sung from Tegncr^s 

(* Frithiof Saga," Jtmeph Panny, 

Male Chorus, Tenor Sob> and Orchestra. Tenor, 

Mr. Jacob Beyer. 
4. Soprano Aria from ^^Kaust,** ...... Spokr. 

Miss Lutzie Murphy. 
6. Overture to ** Midsummer Night's Dream,** 

. Mthdth»nkn. 

6. (a.) «< Three Fisbers went Sailing " . . . Gotdbeek. 

(6.) << Calm Sea** RulnntUU. 

(c.) MAveBfaria" AU. 

Male Chorus and Tenor Sofo. Arion Society. 
Tenor, Mr Jacob Beyer. 

7. "Stay with Me,'* Soprano Sofo Abt. 

Mme. Florence Forbes. 

8. Comet Solo, '* Fantasia Csprice'* . . . Uartmann, 

Mr. H. N. Htttchins 
9.- •« The Wedding of Thetis '* . . . Dr, Carl L6w€. 
Arrangement of a Cantata from ** Iphlgenie in 
Anlis.'* By the Full Male and Mixed Chorua. 

II. 
1. Overture, <* Calm Sea and Happy Voyage,*' 

MendtUtokn. 

%. ^ My Fatheriand ** Apptl 

Nortbweateni Saengerbnnd. 
8. Sceua and Prayer from « FreiscliUU '* . . Webtr. 

Mme. M. Rounge-Jancke. 
4. Vfolbi Sofo, " Fantaeie de Faust*' . . Wienutmky. 

Mr. A. Roeenbecker. 

6. <*Tbe Hero's Resurrection." Male Chorus, 

with Orchestra Framm. 

Nofftbweateni Saengerbund. 
8. **Ph«ton.*' Symphonic poem . . . Snint-Sains, 

7. Prize Singing. By tbe Soclctirs. 

8. ** Tbe Message,'* Tenor Sob .... BhrnmUkal. 

Mr. Charles A. Knorr. 



9. « The Watch on the Rhine*' WUMm. 

Northweatem- Saeogert>ttnd. 

m. 

1. Symphony in C minor Btttknven. 

8. Soprano Sofo, "Eri Rbig*' SchwbtrU 

Mme. M. Rounge-Jaoeke. 
8. "Bride's Song and Serenade." Orchestra. 

GiMmark, 

4. •* Thou Everywhere.** Tenor, with Flute and 

Piano obligate Latkntr, 

Mr Charles A. Knorr. 

6. Solo for Violin. Fautasie Vievatemp§, 

Mr A. Roeenbecker. 

6. Scena and Aria for Baritone, from the «* Night 

in Granada *' Krevtzer, 

Mr. A. WaUorf. 

7. "Rittder WalkUren'* R, Warmer. 

IV. 

1. Symphony in B mbior Fr, Schubert, 

5. Aria for Soprano, ** Marriage of Figaro ** MomurL 

Mme. Roun^^ancke. 

8. *' Tbe Last SkaM.** Male Chorus, with Or. 

chestra W, Sturm, 

Saengerbnnd. 

4. ** Adelaide,'* Tenor Sok> Btethoven. 

Mr. Charles A. Knorr. 

5. Overture, MEaryanthe*' . . . C- M. «m Weber. 

6. Scene from ** Tannhaiiser," with Orehestra. 

**. JvnffHerm 
(a.) Male Chorus, (b.) Sofo for Baritone. 

(c.) Female Chorus, (d.) Miied Chorus. 
By the Various Societies. 

7. Serenade, for Baritone Lackner. 

A. WaMorf. 

8. "• When the Swallows,*' etc AbL 

Saengerbund. 

The choruses were almost all of a light and pt^mlar char- 
acter, the festival being intended, apparently, for social en- 
joyment, without too great strain on the intellect or emo- 
tions. The choruses were all very well sung, the Arion 
Club doiug the beat work, bowe^-er. lliey sang with ad- 
mirmble fiuish. 

The 8ok> singing compared, in tbe main, very favorably 
with the chorus performance. Miss Murphy deserves special 
commendation for the purity and nobility of her style^ and 
Mme. Rounge-Jancke for the dramatic fire with which she 
deliveied the ** ErI-King.'* 

Mr. Roeenbecker makea a thin tone, lacking Id breadth 
and power. His execution is not bad, and be seems tb be a 
very good violinist. 

By far the moat important work of tbe fe8ti\al was done 
by the mvbcstra, under Cbr. Bach's direction. Ue bad en- 
larged his own band by adding eight or ten men, making 
forty-two in all, and by dint of vigorous and csjvful re- 
hearsal brought them into excellent condition. Of course 
the boms were nK>re or less uncertain, and the flutes some- 
times played out of tune, especially in tlie fewer notes; but 
the perfbnnance was, on the whole, very good indeed. 

llw St. Cecilia Society, an association of Catholic Cboits, 
held a two days* converition here, beguming June 80. I 
give only one of tlieir programmes, the only one T heard. 
The best singing was that of the Palestrina Sbclety, of St. 
John's Cathedral here. ThU Society is under the direction 
of Prof. Willwm Mickler, and is now in excellent condition, 
well babinced, and sings with purity of intonation, precision 
of attack, and good light and shade. This programme prob- 
ably doses tbe record of serious musical work for tbe season : 

Oflertory. *' Lstentur Cceli,*' 5 mixed voices. 

Bev. Dr. Witt 
Choirs of Detroit and Kenoeha. 
*< Ave Maria," 4 mixed voices . . G. Arcadelt (1600). 

Palcstrina Society, Milwaukee. 
Responae. ** Acce|Ht Simeon,'* 6 mfaced voioea. 

G. P. PaUtlrina. 
St Joeeph's Choir, Detroit 
GniduaL '* Salvos fae nos," 4 mixed voices. 

Bee. Dr. Fr. WUu 
Cathedral Choir of Chicago. 
Motet. **Ade8to Fidelea," 4 mixed voicea. 

Btv. Fr, JToettcn. 
St Geoigs*s Choir, Kenosha, Wis. 
Response. ** In Monte Ohveti,'* 4 mixed voices. 

G. Croee (1809). 
St Francis' Chofar, Milwaukee. 
Antipbon. ** Regina Cceli, 8 male voices . . P. Piel. 
St Joeeph's Choir, Detroit, and Seminary Choirs 

of St Francis, Wis. 
Antipbon. *< Salve Rq;ina,'* 4 mixed voices. 

6*. P. PaleUrina, 
Palcstrina Society, Milwaukee. 
'* Adoramns," 4 mixed voicea . . , Fr. Boteili (1000). 

Cathedral Choir, Chicago. 
Ps. •• Miserere ** (VI ton.) Falsob. 4 male voicea. 

Bev. Fr. WiU, 
St Joeeph's C%oir, Detroit 
Oflkrtory. ** Asoeodit Deus," 4 mixed voicea. 

Bev. Fr, Sekalter. 
St Francis* Choir, Milwaukee. 



120 



B WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 998. 



GndaaL **0 Yot Omnet,** 5 mixed voioet. 

Rev, Fr. WitL 
St. George's Choir, KeiioelMu 
BflipoDM. ** CttDantilMu illis,** 6 miied voieet. 

Rw. M, HaUer, 
Si. Joerph's Choir, Detroit. 
Seqaenee. ^'Lauda Sion** . . . Orefforinn Chant, 

Seminwy Choin of St. Fnncis', Wie. 
Oflertory. " Gloria et Honore," 8 mixed voices. 

Rn. Fr. WiU, 
Choirs from Detroit, Kenosha, and St Francis* Church, 

Milwauliea. 

J. 0. F. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

The Omritr of Sunday last informs us that the pro- 
gramme for the si&ty-ftflh season of th^ Handel and Haydn 
Society has been made op, and will lie as follows: At 
Thankagiring, Handel's Jur/rrs MaecabatM; Christmas, 
The Mtitiah ; Easter, Urael in Kyypt. The fifth trien- 
nial festival will be given in Blay, 1880, beginning May 4 
and ending May 9, and includini; two afternoun and five 
evening concerts. The liNi of works will not vary materially 
from the following: 13eetho«-en, ninth symphony; Handel, 
Uittekt JubUfitt (new), and SiJomtm; Haydu, Spt-ing, 
ttOBk The Seamms ; Hiller, A Song of Victwy ; Mendels- 
sohn, Haint Paul; Saint SaSns, The Ihluge (new); Spohr, 
The Ln$l Jwdgment; Verdi, Rrqtntm Ma$$^ and other 
novelties by modem writers. Siwkr's work and Handel's 
8iA>moti will be practically itew, the former not having been 
heard hers since l844, nor the latter since 1855. 

Wellrslet College. — The Fifty-third concert (fourth 
scries) was given, by the pupils, on Saturday evening June 
7, mtder the direction of C. H. Morse, their professor of 
music, and Miss A Louise Gage, their teacher of vocal cult- 
ure, with the following programme : — 

Nocturne in A, No. 4 Fidd. 

Knisleriana, Op. 16-1 Schumann, 

Miss PUmpton. 

Duet, *( Saper vorrei se m'ami.** Haydn, 

Misses Brewster and Richmond. 
Concerto in A (First movement — Allegro) . . Mmtari. 

Miss Talford. 
(Orchestral Accompaniment on Second Piano.) 

Song, w The Garland." Afendelteohn. 

Song, •* Thou 'rt like unto a flower." Rulnnttein, 

Miss Leonard. 

Allegretto, in B minor (Organ) Guilmant. 

Miss PbcBbus.. 

Song, "Romance." Rupte, 

Miss Richmond. 

Novelette in D, Op. 21-6 Schumann, 

Miss Hobart. 

Song, "Love Star" Kicken, 

Miss Lewis. 
Adagio firom «Duo Sonata,'* Op. 30 (Organ). MerktL 

Miss Ptatt. 
Con«rto,inCmiiw(No.ni). ) .Beethoven, 

Allegro con brk> (Moseheles' Cadenza) \ 

Miss A. Jones. 

Song, «TheAsra" RMnttein. 

Song, "Marie" Jensen. 

Miss Brewster. 

Overture to "Tsnnhaliser" Wagner. 

Misses Talford, Jones, liSwis, and Metcalf. 
The 54th Concert, June 9, was an Oiigan Recital by Pro- 
fessor Morse, who played: — 

Sonata, in D, Op. 42 Guilmnnt. 

18-J7 (Laigo e Maestoso, Allegro, — Psstorsle — 

Allegro Assai.) 

Oigan Hymn, «« SancU Maria " Whiting. 

Pastorale, in F -fi«^' 

Andantino, " Power of Sound " Spohr, 

Overton to " Oberon " Weber. 

AUBUBN, N. Y A series of interesting Organ recitals 

has lieen given hers in the first Presbyterian Church by the 
organ'mt, Mr. I. V. Flagler, assisted by Mrs. A. M. Bennett, 
of Rochester, and Miss Biay Benton, vocalists, and Dr. Wni. 
H. Schultse, of Syracuse, riolinlst. The programmes of the 
7th, 8th, and 9tb recitals were as foltows: — 

i^fy 19. — Bach: Toocat« in F; Beethoven: Andante 
from Fifth Symphony; Cherubini: Ave Aiaiin (Mrs Beii- 
neU); Leutner: Fest-Overtore, Op. 42 (adapted by Mr. 
Flagler); Schubert: Serenade (Mrs Bennett); Batiste: Of- 
fertoin de St. Ceclle; Verdi: **£mani, invobnii " (Mrs. 
Bennett): Soederman: Swedish Wedding March; Usst: 
Fest-Mareh. 

ifay 26.— Reubke: 94th Psalm (Organ SonaU) in C 
minor; Ernst: El^ie (W. H. Schultze); Beethoven: An- 
dante from First Symphony; B^h: Air for violin and or- 
gan; Schubert: Overture to Roeamundet David, Ferd. — 
** L'Ek>ge des Larmes ** (Dr. Schultae): Sabroe, T — AUe- 
gro Moderate; Molique: Hungarian Faiitasie, Op. 26 (Dr. 
Sehultu); Flagler: Proorssional March. 

June 2. — Bach: Prelude and Fugue in B minor; Schu- 
maim: Bonte Bliitter, Op. 99, No. 11; Costo: "Turn thou 
unto me,'* fimm £U (3(iss Benton); J. U Krebe: Concert 



Fugue in G; Raff: Fest-Mareh, Op. 139 (arranged by Mr. 
Fhgler); J. L. Roeekd: "A Little Mountain Lad*' (Miss 
Benton) ; Mendelisohn : Overture to Ruy Bias, Toe or- 
gan, built by Hook A Hastings, Boston, contains forty- 
three registers, three key-boards, and is blown by hydrauUo 
power. 

Detroit Comservatobt of Music. — The following 
programmes of piano-forte music, certainly wortliy of any 
artist, were performed in the 12Ui, Idth, and 14th Recitals, 
by pupils of the institution, under the direction of Professor 
J. H. Hahn: — 

Mtiy 9. — Miss Kate Jaeobe was the sole pianist. Bach : 
Prelude and Fugue in Q ; Beethoven : Sonata Pathetiquer; 
Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Potonmse in A-flat; Men- 
delssohn: Hunting Song; Raff: Eclogue, Op. 105, No. 8; 
Billow: Quadriglia, Op. 21; Schumann: Concerto in A 
minor, with a quintet of strings and a second piano for ac- 
companiment 

June 6. — By Miss Mary Andnis. Berthoven : Sonata 
in C, Op. 53; Henselt: •' Liebeslted; " Schumann: '* Grill- 
en ;'* Chopin: Beraeuse, Ballade in A-flat; Usrt: Con« 
certo In £-flat, with quintrt and second piano. 

June 18. — By Miss NeUy Colby. Uamean: " Le Rappel 
des Oiseauz;" Scarlatti: ]3oiirree, in B minor; Bach: IVe- 
lude and Fugue in F (No. 11, Book I , Well-Tempered 
Clavichord); Beethoven: SonsU in A-flat, Op. 26; Chopin: 
Nocturne in E, Valse in C-sharp minor; &[eiidelssohn : 
Concerto In G minor, with quintrt and second piano. 

On the 12th, about a hundred of the moet musical people 
of Detroit assembled at Seminary Hall, by invitation of 
Professor Hahn, and ei\joyed a great treat in the following 
rich programme, interpreted by Mr. William H. Sherwood, 
of Boston: — 

Prelude and fugue, in 6-minor Bach-Lxttt. 

a. BalUule in A-flat, ) 

b. Etude in C-sharp, Op. 25, > Chopin. 

e. Polonaise in A-flat, ) 

a. ( Fugue in G-minor, Op. 5, No. 8 . . Rheiaberger. 

b. ) Serenade in D-minor, Op. 93 . . . Rubinstein, 

c. ( Scheno, C^. 81, extract from a sulto . . BargieL, 
Concerto in A-minor Schumann, 

The orchestral part played on second piano by J. H. 

Hahn. 

a. ( WaMesrauschen, concert etude Litet. 

b. / Nortume in F-^arp, Op. 15 Chttpln. 

c ( Tannhaiiser March ........ Liut. 



Chkrubiho of the London Figaro, says he Is authorised to 
state that Mr. Mapleson settled by telegram the engagenaent 
for his American eeaaon of Miss Annie Louise C«ry, the 
leading artist of Mr. Max Strakosch's company. Mr. Ma- 
pleeon contraete to pay her $15,000 for five months. I'he 
eiigsgemerit has also been signed for the United Stetes of 
Mme. Trebelli, the contralto. Siguor Magnani, who pro- 
duced Atda- at Cairo, at the Scak, and at her Mi^esty's 
Theatre, is now duplicating toe scenery, so that Verdi's lat- 
est work may be played with scenery from his brush simulta- 
neously on both sides of the Atlantic Blr. Mapleson has 
also i«s(dved to further increase the American orchestra, 
which, under the direction of Signor Arditi, will now con- 
sist of ninety players (sixteen first violins and other instru- 
mente in proportion), while another dosen artiste will be 
added to the chorus, which, consisting of seventy- two picked 
voices, will thus be one of the finest opera choin which has 
ever visited the United Stetes. In rsgard to the New York 
Academy oi Music, the dirrcton have agreed to construct 
seventy-six extra seate on the third tier, a new suit of offices 
is being made for the director, a new drop curtain is being 
painted, and in order to obviate the necessity for ladies to 
wait in draughty corridors, a new crush-room is to be built 
on the sidewalk, capable of holding three hundred people. 
The same writer also says that during the forthcoming ^ew 
York season, Mr. MaplMon will test the electric light as an 
illuminator for the borders and wings, and that the direcUHv 
of the Academy have agreed to heat all the dressing-rooms 

by 



FOREIGN. 

London An enormous audience crowded St. James' 

Hall to hear the first performance for many years of the 
famous choral song, in forty real parts, of Thomas Tallis. 
Written in 1575 to Latin words, this historic curiosity was 
set to English words in 1680, and performances are rtiU on 
record, by the Madrigal Society in 1884, and some years 
ago by Mr. Hullah's choir at Exeter Hall Only four 
copies of the woric are known to be in existence, one of them 
being in her mi^jesty's library at Buckingham Palace, the 
others at the British Museum, In the library of Sir F. Gore 
Ouseley, and in that of the Sacred Harmonic Socirty. It 
was from the copy belonging to the Sacred Harmonic So- 
ciety that the performance was conducted by Mr. Henry 
Leslie. Dr. Bumey and Sir John Hawkins both refer to 
this remarkable work; probably the only specimen of ite 
sort in existence. According to these authors, this won- 
derful efl'ort of harmonic abiUty is not divided into ehoixt of 
four parte — soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, in each — but 
consiste of eiglit trebles placed under each other, eight 
mezzo-sopnno or mean parte, eight counter- tenors, eight 
tenors, and eight beeses, with one line allotted to the organ. 



The several parte of the song are not in simple counterpoint 
nor filled up in mere harmony without meaning or design, 
but have each a share in the short suhjeete of fugue and im, 
itetion which are introduced at every ehaitge of words- 
The first subjert is b^gun in G by the first meazo-soprsno;. 
the second medius, in like manner beginning in G, is an- 
SH'ered in the octeve below by the first tenor, and that by 
the first counter tenor in D, a fifth above. Then the first 
bass has the subject in D, the eighth below the counter- 
tenor, and thus all the forty real parte are severally httro- 
duced in the course of thirty-nine bars, when the whole 
phalanx is empk>yed at once during six bars more. After 
this a new subject is led off by the fowest bass, and pur- 
sued by other parte severally for about twenty-fotir bars, 
when there is another general chorus of all the parts, and 
thus this musical curiosity is carried on in alternate flight, 
pursuit, attack, and choral union to the end, when the 
polyphonic phenomenun is terminated by twelve bars of 
geuoal chorus in quadragintesimal harmony. The effect 
of this marvdoiis work is, in performance, perhaps more 
astonishing tlian pleasing to modem ears, althoujch the 
sound of the forty separate parte sung at once is truly ex- 
traordinary. To properly conduct such a work, sung by 
the finest of our amateur choirs, was a stupendous task, and 
Mr. Henry I^esUe fully deserves tlie highest credit for ite 
succfesaful accomplishment. Even in these modem days, 
when that which is called musical sdence has made great 
strides toward finality, this marvelous relic of an Elisabetban 
age remains unique. 



NiLS80i«*B London Homk. — Mme. Christine Nilsson- 
Rouxaud and her husband, — the son of a French merchant, 
who married her after nine years* courtehip, — a Parisian of 
the best type, live very quietly in the house in the Bdgrave 
road which formerly belonged to their old friend, Mrs. Klch- 
ardson. Singing days, as already remarked, are passed ab- 
sdutely, save for an hour's drive in an open carriage, in se- 
clunoii, and the invjtations which descend in showers are 
firmly but gratefully declined. Singing days being out of 
the question, -and ante-singing days being prohibited for 
dinbig.out purpoees, it may be imagined that not much time 
is given to festivity, especially when it is recollected that 
every spars evening is devoted, not to the opera or to con- 
certe as one of the audience, but to the theatre, Kiigllsh or 
French. A bust of the late Duchess de Fries occupies the 
place of honor in the Belgrave-road drawing-room, and ite 
mistress u never weary of extolling the lieaiity of her friend 
and the admirable qualities of her excellent father. Beyond 
this bust and the picture of "Ophelia,*' by Calianel, the 
drawing-room contains few works of art. It lioaste, how- 
ever, a wonderful collection of photographs, with autc^rrapb 
signatures, of course, of the crowned hnds and other mem- 
bers of the royal families of Europe — tlie Kmperor of Aus- 
tria, the Emprees of Austria, the Prince and Princess of 
Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Eduiburgh, the Queen of 
Naples, the King of Sweden, and many others, including 
the Car. There is concerning this last-named protograph, 
a story indicative of the sharp line drawn by Mme. Nilseon 
brtween the artist-world and let oailres, tlie great by birth 
or wealth alone. On the last night of her Kussian engage- 
ment, at the conclusion of the paform nee she remained on 
the stage biddhig farewell to the other artiste, and especially 
to the ladies and gentlemen of the chorus, to whom she di». 
played great libenlity in the distribution of photogrsphs. 
In the niidet of leave-takiug she heard a quick step behind 
her, and then the voice of t^ Cxar, •* ICl tnoi done^** point- 
ing to her hand full of photographs, ^je n'aurai fienf *' 
asked the master of all the Russias and of some Rnesians. 
Now, the Csar is very chary of giring his own portraits, and 
the cantatrice at once saw her advantage. ** On condition 
that you give me your picture, you shs^ have mine,** she 
answered, in her vive manner: and the head of the Roman- 
offt bowed to his fate with excellent grace. 

Mnw. Nilsson sete great store by her photographs; but 
beyond these — beyond even the bust of VicUnre Balfe; be^ 
youd the Cabanel «' Ophelia,** with ite *«fey** look; beyond 
the golden laurel crowns of Russia, Austria, Frsnce, and 
America; beyonil all the treasures acquired during a life of 
unceasing de\-otion to art — she cherishes the little box oon- 
taining the eariiest musical instrument with which she was 
acquainted. Opening it daintily and delicately, she will 
produce a battoed and patched specimen of the genus violin 
— no costly Strsduariui or Guamerius, no milky-tougued 
Stainer; but a pfaun <* fiddle,'* cracked and stringlem, a 
sorry specimen of the most perfect of musical instramaite. 
As she takes it from ite retijipat, she islls naturally into the 
positioo of the violinist, and in a voice of that subtle, pene- 
trating force which constitutes what is loosely called a ** sym- 
pathrtlc quality," continues: "I fove the vM>liu, and would 
pUy It ei-ery day if I were permitted to do so; twt I am not 
permitted. It is suspected that the constrained attitude and 
the powerful vibration would by no means im|Hwe either my 
physical or musical tone for the evening. But I regrot the 
vioUn nevcrthelees, and love this one very much indiced ; for 
it b the instruuMiit I played on at fiidn round the country to 
help my people to money while I was yet a little child. I 
aiu, as you hear, a peasant bom, and am proud of it|.** and 
the fair head is flung back, the blue eyee throw out a brighter 
ray, and the soft curls are shaken, as the well-known position 
of Mme. Normanda N^ruda is copied with life-like accuracy. 
—London World. 



August 2, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



121 



BOSTON, AUGUST «, 1S79. 

Bntand at Um Post OfliM at Boston m MOond-«lM<i matter. 

CONTENTS. 

Saiisio. Slwart Burnt ISl 

CoLTinw Axa Mi)sio 132 

In Mjdiobiaii : AoaosT ZxUMnuMW. An MdriM. J*. If. 

UtuUrwod . . . . U8 

Tin BAnanrin as OvooivAn, Juvi, 1879; IM 

Taiki oh An : Smokd Sniii. hmn Initniodoiit of Mr. 
WlUlam M . Haat to hlf PapUt. X. ...*.... 126 

Hbabem lIUBio ov Ooiirouiov 126 

XosiOA& OoautPOiAuoi 137 

Nons A«» OuAMiiNt 127 



10 tht mrtuUt nt tndiud U ot/urpi 
wriuem/ar this JounuU 



'« taqpftdy 



PMi$k€d fftnigkaif b^ Houaaro*, Omooo aw Compakt, 
280 Dev9m$kin Arwl, lfe«lM. Mm, 20 tmU a number ; $2M> 



For MaU m BofiMi 6jr CAai PaviFii, 30 Wt*t Straet, A. Will- 
iams A Co., Mi9 iraOifirtoa atrui, A. K. Loama, 3«9 Wash- 
imgton Arvfl, aa4f *y <A« hMisktra; ta iV«if YbrA *y A. Basii- 
TANO, Ja., S9 Um9» Square^ mud HoooaiOM, OaoooD A Co., 
21 Agtor PImet; im Pkitadttphia 6y W. U. Bovia A Co., iJO;? 
CkMnut Butt; m OUeaftf 6y tkt CaiOAOO Mo«io OoxpavTi 
512 Suae Sirut. 

SANZiO. 
BT STUABT STKKint, AUTIIOB OF *< AHOKLO.** 

(Contlnoied from pago 114.) 

This Ume, whan the allotted week had fled, 

No word or messenger was sent tton liome 

To sttmmoo Benedetto. She debjed 

One day, and two, and tbiee, and then grew troabled, 

And fiimly said, " I must return .at ouoe! 

I know mj mother*8 mhid, — I *ve disobejed, 

Ai^ she b engiy with me, and waits now 

For me to eome without another eall ! ** 

And naught that Saiizio's ready wit devised, 

No argument or doquenee, availed 

To ehange her purpoee. So she eaoie to him 

One morning cariy, with the hasty words, 

** Farewell, — I go,^my Sanik>! An old friend 

Of Nina's Journeys on my way to-day. 

And I will join her, and am sJl prepared.* 



«« 



(( But you will oome egaln, my Benedetto! ** 

He flried, and passionetHy seised her hands. 

(• Promiee, — nay, swear, you will return to me 

Soon, eoon, — leet yon would see me -> Oh, my Love, 

How can I bear that you and I should part! *' 

<« I will, I win, I promise! tf I can 

I shall eome baek to you! ** she eaid; and then, 

£re he eould hold her &et, sped to the door,' 

But on the thieshoU turned, flew baek onee more, 

And flung her anna about him, whiepering, bceathlees, 

•* And yet If I should not return, ^ noi soou, — 

For should my mother keep me for a while, 

I must submit me to the penalty, — 

But trust me, fursly I will eome erelong! 

Be thanked a thousand times, Sanib, my Low, 

For all the peesiug sweetness of theee days! ** 

A fleeting tonoh, a bieath upon hb Ups, 

And she had vanished, seeing not the hands 

Vainly stretched out to hold her back. 

Thebmira 
To thoee she left behind, drugged slowly oo, 
Joyless and kmg as au eternity. 
OM Ninaeadly missed the sweet, bright fiwe; 
Turned oft and often to an openhig Soor 
With the Tague hope to eee it enter there. 
For ah, 'twas true enough, she soon had learned 
To love her as the apple of her eye! 
She, too, had had a daughter long ago. 
And fondly fiuded she mart now have been 
As taU and fidr ae this, if Heaven had not 
Seen flt to eaU the dear babe to Himedf ! 
And Sanalo thonghi In tnith, sunshine and spring 
Had suddenly flMled ftwn the darkened earth. 
Hie kbor flagged that day; —the light was wrong, 
Hie hand unsteady, and the eanvae warped. 
The eofers wooM not mingle as he wished, — 
All things seemed somehow out of joint and tune. 
Till wearied and Impatient he sprang up. 
Left hapless work behind, and hastened out 
To wander through the silent straeto alone. 
And wont of all, the morrow eeemed to bring 
Small hope or promise of aught better things. 
And thus a week wore on in nndelight 
Without a word from her. When suddenly, 
As OQoe towaids nIghtM he flung down hie brush. 



Reeolved to go to her that vary eve 
And bring ber baek with liim at every cost, — 
A fight bmiliar stop stole in, and she 
Whoae image never left him day or night 
Threw herNlf weeping on his breast and cried, 
** My Sanak>, I have come to you agaui I 
Now keep me and be kind to me Ibnver! " 

Speechless with glad surprise, he heU her thus 

All inetant, when she said between her sobs, 

And many pauses in her broken epeech, — 

** My poOT old mother is no more ! She slept 

So long and late one mom three days ago, 

I went to call, but could not waken her; 

Qod In the night had taken her away ! 

I would have eent for yon, but there wee none 

To bring the message, — and this afternoon 

We kU her in the ground! Oh, this great blow 

Has come so suddenly, I can scarce believe 

I shall not see her more ! But oh, the hooee 

Looked so des ert ed, dark, and deeolsto, 

I could not stoy, but haatoned here to you! 

Ah, she was good to me, and loved me well. 

Though she but little showed it, and seemed stem; 

And she was all I liad ! There 's no one now 

In all the whole wide wortd to claim and own mel " 

But this is joy, not cause for tears, dear heart! 

Sanalo had well- nigh cried, but checked himself^ 

And only strained her to his heart and said, 

*' O Love, sweet Love, now you are mine in truth ! " 

Then listened long In silent sympathy 

As she rebited all her mournful tale. 

What she had seen and suflfored since she left him; 

How she had found her mother, as she Ibared, 

Displeased and wroth, but won her pardon soon; 

How she had eometimes slightly ailed of late, 

Yet ne*er complained, and never spoke of this. 

But how she felt well sure that she had died 

At peace with God and her, and all the world. 

And when her eyes oft filled and overflowed, 

Sanzio would eoothe and softly talk to her. 

As he had comforted a grieving child. 

Till she looked up and smiled amid her tears. 

Thus bloomed and laded springes sweet buds and bkMSoms, 

And ripened into summer*B golden fruit. 

While Benedetto dwelt in Saniio's home 

liong, happy weeks, — happy for all and all; 

For, though she often sat alone, and wept 

Her graiidam's memory much, when Sanalo came 

He iMighed away the melancholy mood; 

And, seeiug he grew ssd to find her so. 

She learned to shed her tears in secret first. 

And then at length they oeaeed to flow. Her heart 

Grew lighter, and her emiles came back egabs, 

And the new grief seemed merged and lort, well-nigh. 

In the old gladness, — what though sometimes now 

She scaroe saw Saiutio through the whole long day; 

For, taking up the iMisy Ufo once more 

Whose course her coming had an instant stemmed. 

He was much absent, head and hands employed 

On weighty errands; or from mora till eve 

Strangers and pupils thronged the quiet wofk-ioom, 

All esger for the master's eye and word. 

Then Benedetto shyly kept henelf 

Aloof and hidden out of sight, so none 

Gueesed at her presence, eave the few old friends 

Who knew of it before; Count Baldassar, 

Kind ever and fiuniliar as of old. 

Game to the kitchen, sometimes, — where she stoyed 

With Nina now, and busily at work, — 

And talked to ber an hour, and pleasantly 

Hdped on the skywly moring time. And Sancto, 

With deUoato regard and subtle tact. 

Honored this shrinking modesty in her. 

And never eought to break on her reeerve. 

Once he had gently questioned her, — a day 

That Kueeto were bidden to a merry faaet. 

But when she fooked at him with pleading eyes. 

And mutely shook her head, he p re s se d no further, 

And only said, •< My poor, sweet, oaptive bird. 

Have paUetiee yet a little while! 'Twill not 

Be ever thus, — I shall be fine ere long 

To eome to you again, and then, dear heart. 

We'll try our wings on many a joyous flight 

Through wood and field together! " 

Long that night 
She ky awake, and firom her chamber heard 
Far off the sound of laughter and kNid song 
Bing through the silent house, and sadly thought 
That Sansfo's heart was for away from her. 
And then, remembering all the love he knew,— 
Had she not often firom the window watehed 
How, when he scarce iqipeared, a hoet of friends 
Thronged round and foUowed him for down the street^ — 
She humbly croesed her hands upon her boeom. 
And wondered what he found In such as her 
To love so well. 

But yet the happy time 
He spoke of came; for ae the days went oo. 



And summer burned with fierce and fiercer heat 

From out a Mazing sky of merciless blue 

Down on the parching streeU and thirsty fields, — 

llie city grew desert^, friends and pupils 

Fled from her withering breath, and Sansto thus 

Was left in solitude; for he alone. 

The greaieet laborer among them aU, 

Choee to remain, and suifcred not his hands 

To pause at their immortal work. And now 

Would Benedetto come to him again. 

As In those first and sweetest days of all, 

Eaeh momhig to the work-room, bringing flowers 

Wherewith to make it bright. 

It long had grown 
To eeem a simpls and most natunU tUng 
Thus to be with him; thrilled her now no mora 
With something new and strange, a fluttering sense, 
Half sweet, half painflil, when he kissed her Upa, 
Or drew her towards him,— ever tenderiy. 
And well-iiigh ever gently. And yet someUmes 
A subtle fire burned on his lipe; he strained her 
With a swift, paisionato fiereeiiees to his heart 
That made \er shrink, and trembling break away 
From his encirding arms, while he, without 
A single word, but with a strange, dark ktok, 
Turned suddenly from her. 

And one dreary night, — 
A threatened storm had burst towards fell of eve, 
And still the sobbing wind, scaroe quieted 
From its first fbry, moaned about the house, — 
She thought she heard a soft, half-etifled sigh 
Come through her chamber door, ** O Benedetto! " 
Startled, with wide ^yes straining through the dark. 
She sat up listening; sihsoce for a time. 
And then agahi, more softly than before, — 
*«0 Benedetto mine!" She knew the voloe, 
And fended it rose up doee to the floor. 
Sansio upon his kneee! — such image flashed 
Swiftly before her, as she trembling p re ssed 
Her cold, dasped hands upon her burning eyes. 
Outdde the feintest sthr, — a glidiog st^ 
That crept away as nolselces as a bieath 
But for Uie feeble creaking of the stairs, ^~ 
Then deepest stillness; so unbroken soon 
By any sound save that of the great rain-drope 
That now begm to fell again, and beat 
With gentle patter on the window-pane. 
That Benedetta, — burying her feee 
Deep in the pillows, while a yearning wish 
Her mother Uved, she were at home onee more. 
Stole on her aching heart, — wondered ere long 
If it couU all have been a troubled dream. 
Or eome poor little nibbling mouse, mayhap, 
Have startled her from sleep. And wondering thus, 
Lay wide awake until the eariy dawn 
Crept upward in the skies; knew not that 'neath 
The same still roof, a burning, storm-tossed soul 
Through all the night had wrestled with itself 
In a k»g, bitter struggle, and that he 
Who slowly then at length roee firom hu knees 
Cried with white lipa, but firm, upUfted brow. 
My God, what dn there wes, it Is atoned! 



tt 



ti 



And when she went that morning to the worii room. 
The eyee that met here were so firank and dear 
That ahe caat down her own. *« what Is It, Love?** 
He asked, and took her hands, swift to detect 
The unwonted shadow on her fece. ** MetUnks 
You have not rested well! " » My Sansto, — ay, — 
Something, I ecaroe know what, — perchance a mouse, 
Broke on my eleep, and kept me kmg awake! '* 
•«Amouee!"heeaid. '*How!— But I eannoi let 
A naughty mouee dun thoee sweet eyee of mine! 
We must have Ntoa set a trap for him, ^~ 
He'll trouble you no more! " 

And after this 
He ever proved eo kind, so gently tender, 
Odling her sometimes. Little Sister mine, 
That Benedetto's grateful heart went out 
With deeper k»ve each day, and dung to him 
In undivkled eonfldence; and life 
Flowed on in sweetcet, ek>odleas summer peace 
To both of them. Save that one other day 
He marked a shade on Benedetto*s brow, 
And when he questfoned her, she said at length. 
Though with half hedtating worde, ** I sat 
Betow, doee to the window, and o'erheard 
Two men that talked together in the street 
They stopped and pointed to thie bouse, and fenghed, 
And said 10 things of us! Of you, — and me! " 
<* Pooh, Uttle Sister, k that aU your grief ? " 
He gayly cried. *< Then pcay you be conaded ! 
Ay, let them babble to their hearts' content. 
What matters unto you and ine, dear Love, 
The goedp of such idle tongues? Think yon 
If the bleet Sainto and white-wfaiged Uttle Angds, 
Or your dear mother, *mkl the joys of heaven. 
Look down on us, they shake thdr heads and frown? 
Nay, but I teU you they most kindly smile! " 

{Tb b* conUmtud.) 



122 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - Ko. 999. 



CULTURE AND MUSIC. 

[Trom the London MoBical Standard.] 

Now that the universities have all closed 
their doors against candidates for musical de- 
grees who will not or cannot furnish proof of 
having received at least some part of what 
is usually described as ** a liberal education," 
doubts are beginning to find utterance as to 
whether those literary qualifications will be of 
any further use to a candidate after they 
have served as the first stepping-t'tone to the 
acquisition of the degree. These doubts em- 
anate, for the most part, from the same quar- 
ters as the complaints about the utility of 
musical degrees, and it is only natural that 
they who attach no importance to such de- 
grees should attempt to cast ridicule upon 
the educational tests by which those degrees 
must now be preceded. The people who tell 
us that the science of acoustics has no connec- 
tion with the art of music will, of course, con- 
tend not only that a musician will be no bet- 
ter in any way because he can translate 
Xenophon and Horace, work all the prob- 
lems in the first six books of Euclid, or arrive 
at a rapid solution of a difRcult numerical 
puzzle by means of an algebraic equation, 
but that he can be fully equipped for his art 
without a knowledge of harmony and coun- 
terpoint. For, if it means anything at all, 
this is what is involved in the outcry, long 
ago rais^, and recently revived, against mu- 
sical degrees. This part of the question, 
however, lies within very narrow limits. A 
composer, be he great or small, known or 
unknown, cannot work without harmony, and 
if it be contended that genius can dispense 
with counterpoint, harmony, fugue, etc, we 
can only say that the genius who has dis- 
pensed with these requirements has not yet 
appeared, but, if existent at all, has hitherto 
wasted his sweetness on the air of some des- 
ert unknown to fame. It is absurd in the 
extreme to talk of writing fugal choruses 
without a knowledge of fugal rules, or of 
composing harmonious music without first 
studying the laws of harmony ; and this be- 
ing so, it is equally absurd to rant against 
degrees which prove a man's fitness to exer- 
cise the calling by which he has elected to 
live. Every musician who is not a charla- 
tan ought to knpw the things against which 
this outcry is raised ; the great masters — 
with the exception of that one wiseacre who 
strives to show that Handel was not a musi- 
cian — all knew them ; it is impossible to be 
a musician without knowing them ; and a mu- 
sical degree is a proof to the world that its 
holder does know them. Less than this a 
degree cannot be ; more than this it does not 
pretend to be. To sneer at musical degrees 
seems to us to indicate but little knowledge 
and less wisdom. 

But, on the other aspect of the case, — the 
advantage of literary culture to a composer, 
— there is also much to be said. The mod- 
ern apostles of a musical agnosia think ap- 
parently that they have made out a grand 
case when they have triumphantly asked, in 
a tone which implies that a reply will never 
be forthcoming, ** What the better will a mu- 
sician be for knowing Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, 
quadratic equations, or conic sections ? Of 
what use can these thing be to him, either as 



a composer, executant, or teacher ? " Much 
every way. The advantages of culture to 
the musician are incalculable ; and if the ad- 
vocates of ignorance could point to a single 
great musician who was not also an educated 
man, we should yet contend that e<lucation, 
culture, and acquaintance with other arts, 
would have widened his views and refined 
his intellect, and made him to that extent a 
greater musician than he was. We shall not 
be astonished at any wild statements which 
may be made for the purpose of supporting 
a weak cause ; and if it should be alleged 
that the most brilliant stars in the musical 
firmament were not cultured men, we should, 
even after receiving evidence in support of 
such an assertion — which evidence we ven- 
ture to think would not be forthcoming — still 
dare to believe that if they were so great 
without culture, they would have been far 
greater with it. We have never heard of 
musical degrees being despised by those who 
had by sheer force of intellect obtained them, 
nor have we yet seen' learning or culture de- 
cried by those who possessed either. 

Culture — the mental discipline which real 
education ensures — is advantageous in many 
ways to any one who intends to follow music 
as a profession. It gives, to begin with, that 
mental grasp, that grip, that firm hold of a 
subject, that concentration of mind upon one 
thing at a time, and that energy of purpose, 
the absence of which has squandered so many 
lives, made abortive so many noble resolves, 
and utterly ruined so much of what would 
otherwise have been magnificent art-work. 
The man whose mind has been trained by 
translating involved Latin sentences, or solv- 
ing intricate mathematical problems, is accus- 
tomed to hard thinking, close reasoning, clear 
definition, and the tracking out of subtle dis- 
tinctions ; he carries these habits of mind into 
all his work, and whether he possess a genius 
for composition or not, he can no more help 
being influenced through life by such a train- 
ing than he can alter his stature. His music, 
as well as his whole life, will bear the un- 
mistakable impress of his culture. The 
entire man is moulded by it, and he could 
not, even if he wished it, escape from its 
benign influence. 

The actual benefits which « rigid classical 
and mathematical training confers upon a 
man, whether he be a genius or not, are 
many, and among them are these — power of 
concentration, which enables a man to bring 
his whole soul to bear upon the work in 
hand ; clearness of mtW, which stamps his 
mental work, as it were, with the brand of 
lucid, logical, sequential thought ; reserve 
power, which helps him to lay hold of sug- 
gestions or inspirations at the moment of 
their advent even though that may not be a 
fitting time for their elaboration, and lay 
them by for future use ; and an exalted stand- 
ard of perfection, which, by excluding low 
aims, effectually prevents him from frittering 
away his powers upon work which is un- 
worthy of him. Now, if these advantages 
are bestowed by culture, — which no cultured 
man will for a moment doubt, — it becomes 
necessary, in order to avoid confusion of 
thought, to point out what genius can and 
cannot do for its possessor. Men of genius, 
especially musicians, are coming to be looked 



on from an art point of view much as the 
apostles of Christianity are too often regarded 
from a religious point of view, as exalted be- 
ings who had pleasures, did work, and lived 
lives quite beyond the ken of common mortals. 
These ideas are not healthy, and do grievous 
injury to art and to religion. Those apostles 
were ^ men of like passions with ourselves," 
who had to live pretty much under the same 
conditions as other men lived, and do their 
work amid the ordinary, common relation- 
ships of every-day life. The same is true of 
any one of the great composers. The part 
which ** genius " (as the word is commonly 
understood) took in the production of any 
inspired musical work was not nearly so great 
as most people seem to imagine, while the 
influence of those qualities of mind which we 
have indicated as the result of culture, and 
which are not peculiar to men of genius, was 
far greater than many are prepared to admit. 
Grenius no doubt originated the divine mel- 
odies of Spohr's " Power of Sound," or Beet- 
hoven's B-flat Symphony, or Mozart's " Jupi- 
ter " Symphony ; but it was not, we think, 
genius which developed the '* form " in which 
those deathless works are cast, seeing that 
^' good form " is found in many works which 
do not contain one spark of genius; and 
it was certainly not genius which enabled 
these composers to write correctly for the 
instruments in an orchestra, or to mould their 
divine thoughts in a shape which should ren- 
der them intelligible to the ordinary mind. 
Genius can suggest, in a vague way, — at 
times a very vague way indeed, — thoughts 
which are without doubt inspired ; but genius 
alone does not and cannot enable its pos- 
sessor to benefit the world by- his inspiration. 
It is here that the work of genius ends and 
that of culture begins; and when details 
have to be considered, ways and means found 
out, and practical ends accomplished, unaided 
genius is powerless, and even inspiration sinks 
bafiied if it cannot fall back upon those men- 
tal qualities which only culture can bring to 
perfection. Men of genius are numerous; 
and we speak in all earnestness when we say 
that thousands are the recipients of inspired 
ideas of whom the world never hears, becauj>e 
they have not received that culture by which 
alone their genius can be made manifest and 
their inspiration utilized for the benefit of 
their fellows. It is inexpressibly painful to 
think of what the world' loses when her men 
of genius are not also men of culturST In- 
spiration comes to one and to another, here 
and there, and genius is born in more men 
than the world knows of; but it is only 
when it finds a cultured mind that it thrives 
and grows. How much good work is lost 
because men lack concentrative power, clear- 
ness of thought, rei>erve force, and high ideas 
of perfection ! The great masters of music 
were all inspired men ; but they were more 
than this — they were cultured men, trained 
thinkers, logical reasoners, systematic work- 
ers ; their works prove this beyond all con- 
troversy. If they were not all trained by 
means of Latin, Greek, or mathematics, they 
were trained by means which produced the 
same results. Had it been otherwise, they 
could not possibly have left behind them 
those works which have shed upon their 
names an undying lustre. 



AcocsT 2, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



123 



"^niateyer position a musician may be 
called to fill, he will be a better man if he 
be a cuUnred man, even though he have no 
more culture than is implied in the prelimi- 
nary literary test which is now the indispen- 
sable first step to a musical degree at the 
three universities, — not because so much 
Latin or Greek will effect certain results, 
but because the mental effort necessary to 
attain those languages trains the whole mind, 
brings a man, so to speak, within his own 
grasp, subdues his mind to his will, and gives 
him that self control which is the best prep- 
aration for the work of life. If he is to be 
a cathedral organist, his culture will widen 
his views, and make his dicta on art-mat- 
ters respected as well as worthy of respect. 
If he is called to act as a parish organ- 
ist, he will carry wiih* him into the service 
of the church a delicacy and refinement 
which will be of priceless value to sacred art. 
If he be a conductor, his trained mind will 
act. like magic on those who place themselves 
under his guidance and obey his bd,ton. If 
he is a teacher only, he will be free from that 
rudeness which too often marks the unlettered 
musician, and renders him contemptible in 
the eyes of those who employ him only be- 
cause there is no other teacher. And if, in 
any of these positions, he have genius as well 
as culture, he will be able to bring to bear 
upon his inspired thoughts a clear, logical, 
well-trained mind ; he will be able to use to 
advantage those odd minutes which are all 
that most men can in these days spare for 
composition, and he will, above all, be saved 
by his cultured intellect from composing any- 
thing ^ common or unclean," or falling into 
the deadly snare of writing down to popular 
taste. 

** Sspe lUlttin vertM itemm qun digiwkgi sint 
Scripturua, Deque te ut miretur turba liU)orM, 
Coutentnt pMicia lectoribiu." 

Nothing so much as culture will give to an 
inspired composer that divine satisfaction in 
his work which will enable him to be *' con- 
tent with few readers,** and confident in the 
venlict of posterity. It is culpable folly to de- 
spise culture, and to try to convince musicians 
that they will be no better for their learning, 
seeing that no man, whatever his genius, un- 
less he be aided by those powers of mind 
which culture (and not genius) must devel- 
op, can prevent his inspired thoughts from 
being lost in eternal silence. 



IN MEMORI AM : AUGUST KREISSM ANN. 

ADDRESS BT F. U. UNDERWOOD. 

[On Friday ereniog, June 18th, the Orpheut Mueieel 
Society, of Boeton, held at its rooms a memorial service in 
honor of its first oonduetor, August Krkmsm ann, who 
died In Germany fiCarch 12, 1879. The exercises, which 
were pritale, were very impressive, oonsisting (I ) of the 
singing, by tlie Orpheus, of the German Grave Song, ** Du 
nnteo ist Friede." (2.) An sddress by F. U. Underwood, 
Esq. (8 ) Part-Song: *< Ueber alien Gipfehi ist Rub." (4.) 
Address in German by Dr. B. De Gersdorf. (5.) Agnus 
Del, from Chembini*s Maes, for male voices. Mr. Under- 
wood has kindly furnished us the manuscript of his address 
for publication.] 

We are met to do honor to the memory of 
August Kreissmann. The elder members of the 
Orpheus Society do not need to be told what 
manner of man he was. To those who knew 
him he was more than a name. But new gen- 
erations press on ; the glad and eager eyes of 
youth look forward and not backward ; and af\er 



the lapse of a rery few years, when the most 
beloved and honored among us passes away, we 
come to realize the terrible truth of the Roman 
poet : Pulvis et umbra tumus. We are dust and 
a shade. 

To brighten the fading lineaments of our la- 
mented friend, and to restore for the time the 
semblance of life to his person and character, it 
may be allowed briefly to recount something of 
his history and of his work in the world. 

He was born in 1828 in Frankenhausen, Thu- 
ringia ; probably in humble circumstances. He 
studied music at Rudolstadt, and had learned to 
play the bassoon. The Princess Caroline, of 
Schomberg Lippe, had observed his bright face, 
his look of intelligence, as well as his proficiency, 
and, finding that he had also a fine voice, became 
his patroness. 

He went to Bueckcborg, where he soon came 
into society and was recognized as a rising man. 
There he studied history and languages, as well 
as music and harmony. There, too, he found 
powerful friends in the family of Langerfeldt, 
two of whom are members of our society to-day. 

In 1844 he went to Leipzig and entered the 
Conservatory, where he remained a diligent stu- 
dent for two years. He next passed two years 
at Milan for the purpose of perfecting his vocal 
training. Upon returning to Leipzig he married, 
and shortly afVer sailed to America, arriving in 
New York in 1849. 

The Princess Caroline died in |84d, but the 
Prince, who was himself interested in the young 
musician, continued the payment of the allow- 
ance she had granted him up to the time of his 
leaving Milan. 

The patronage of the great only aided in the 
development of Kreissmann's artistic nature ; it 
is hardly necessary to say that no culture can 
create a poetic soul. The sense of beauty, the 
instinct of grace, the perception of symmetry and 
fitness, are inborn : and they will manifest them- 
selves, whether in the tones of an orchestral 
player, in the natural voice and untaught mastery 
of a singer, in the forms of a sculptor or wood- 
carver, or in the fine lines and harmonious colors 
of the* painter. 

Kreissmann was born an artist, and felt in his 
soul the overpowering influence of the ideal in 
art It was fortunate indeed that he was assisted 
in his early days ; but it was the world's good 
fortune as much as his own. The Princess was 
one of the instruments of Providence. 

Upon his arrival in New York he had the good 
fortune to make the acquaintance of Dr. Lowell 
Mason, then at the height of his reputation and 
influence, and through him was introduced to the 
musical public. He attended musical conven- 
tions as a solo singer under Dr. Mason's manage- 
ment, and after a time came to Boston. 

Here his true musical life began. Here he 
became known to those who loved music for 
music's sake ; and he brought with him the fresh- 
est and finest songs then known. From him the 
Boston public first heard the incomparable beauty 
of Schubert, Franz, and Schumann, the more 
mundane graces of Abt, and the immortal strains 
of the '* Adelaide " of Beethoven. The classic 
forms, the perfect accompaniments, — all that 
makes the typical Grerman song the interpreter 
of thought and emotion, — were first revealed in 
any large way to the Boston public by August 
Kreissmann. It is a trite but significant phrase, 
but he became the fashion. People who ha$l 
starved upon the inanities* of modem psalmody, 
who were tired of the forced brilliancy of Italian 
opera, and were disgosUid with the commonplsces 
of British composers, found in the overflowing 
fountain of Grerman song the sources of the keenest 
and most lasting pleasure. Directly or remotely 
the musical knowledge, feeling, and capacity of 



every person in this region has been afiTected in 
this way. 

Before the time I am speaking of we were 
confined to indigenous music, — much as one 
speaks of domestic cigars and native wine, — to 
fragments of opera imperfectly rendered, and to 
English ballads and glees. I am not depreciating 
the music of other nations, and I do not consider 
that Germany, by any means, has the monopoly 
of vocal art or composition. But it was from 
Grermany that we learned that a song, whether 
for a single voice or in parts, was a composite 
idea, — that words and music, thought and form, 
melody and accompaniment, should be parts of 
one whole. 

YHiatever was best in musical society became 
friendly to Kreissmann. To count the names of 
his friends is to mention the musical families of 
Boston. The Chickerings, in particular,*were his 
ardent supporters ; and the Dwights, Schlesingers, 
Dresels, Uphams, Apthorps, Lorings, and many 
more, were constant and devoted to him. 

Here was the sphere of his activity. German 
by birth and training, he became a Bostonian to 
his heart's core. He left his native land at ma- 
turity, upon completing his studies, and only 
returned there when disease had totally incapaci- 
tated him for labor. It was a second transplant- 
ing of a full-grown tree. . His own country, 
therefore, knew but little of him. Boston was 
his heart's home, and Boston knew him. 

He was largely occupied with church music, 
and sang at first in the Rev. Mr. Coolidge's 
church, at the comer of Harrison Avenne and 
Beech Street, since demolished. Afterwards, 
for a considerable period, he led the choir at the 
Rev. Eilward £. Hale's church. This situation 
ho resigned on account of ill health. Subse- 
quently he sang at St. Mark's, and later at Brook- 
line. All the time he was engaged in composing 
or adapting anthems and motets for the ser- 
vices. Though he was not in any sense a great 
composer, his work ' was marked by an original 
vein of melody, by refined taste, and religious 
feeling. 

During his season of greatest prosperity he 
lived at No. 14 Hudson Street., where he gave 
lessons and entertained his musical friends. Those 
were his happiest days, — days of active and con- 
tented labor, crowned with success, and devoted 
to dear and enduring friendships. Equally free 
from pcnuriousness and prodigality, he lived a 
life of serene pleasure, cheered by the thought 
that his modest savings would render his last 
days comfortable. 

In this period he had many pupils whose voices 
and style he formed, and who yet remain with 
us, glad to acknowledge their obligations to the 
master. 

We are chiefly interested, however, in another 
sphere of his activity. Within a year after his 
coming to Boston he began to drill chorases, both 
mixed and male voices. A society of male sing- 
ers, called the Liederkranz, was organized, and 
met for some time at PfafiTs Hotel. Afterwards 
it was called the M'annerchor. Finally, in 1854, 
all the eligible members were brought together 
under the name of Orpheus. 

You can see them in tliat most interesting old 
photograph in the steward's room. There are to 
be seen in youthful bloom Kreissmann, Weiss- 
bein, Langerfeldt, Heidenreich, Housman, Engel- 
hardt. Gems, Isador Etchberg, Esbach, Roeth, 
Hetzer, Schraubstaedter, whom you will recog- 
nize as the fathers of the society. Some are 
dead, and some are far away. God preserve and 
long continue with us those that are left 1 

The Orpheus was the first among societies of 
the kind in America. Now every city boasts its 
club, all modeled from their prototype. Kreiss- 
mann was leader and first tenor. He arranged 



124 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 999. 



or composed their music. He was an assiduous 
and skillful drill-master ; and being himself singer 
as well as conductor he accomplished unexpected 
i^Kmlts with scantjr numbers. He was able and 
courteous, never swerving from principle, but 
maintaining his leadership with rare and exquisite 
tact All this he did freeljr, for the love of art ; 
wholly unselfish, because he toiled for the pleasure 
and improvement of others, and without a thought 
of reward. 

In those days there were no cabals or whisper- 
ings; none were absent or tardy; the society 
was compact as the Greek phalanx. Rehearsals, 
as well as concerts, found every man in his place, 
proud of the growing renown of the society, and 
entirely loyal to its self-sacrificing and energetic 
leader. 

There were not then many skilled and accom- 
plished male singers in Boston, and the formation 
of the Orpheus was a work requiring patience. 
Since that time music has been taught in common 
schools, and the knowledge and practice of the 
art are widely difiused ; and it has been an easier 
task to form an Apollo or a Boylston chorus. 
The infancy of the Orpheus was in the day of 
small thing;8. 

When we hear the magnificent concerts of 
these later and much latter societies, and when 
we honor, as we ought, the ability, liberality, and 
taste which have called them into being, let us 
not foi^t the lalx>rs of the pioneer conductor 
that made these grander successes possible. 

" Other men labored, and ye have entered into 
their labors." I confidently, therefore, call upon 
the members of whatever societies are highest in 
renown to join with us in doing honor to the 
memory of August Kreissmann. 

Our friend came to this country in his early 
manhood, but in truth he was always young. 
With sound physical health and steady nerves, 
he had more than the usual exuberance <^ feeling ; 
and this was not expended wholly on his art; 
his joyous spirit and sunny smile irradiated 
every circle in which he moved. Hence he was, 
more than most musicians, a positive force and a 
controlling influence in the musical world. There 
are many fine natures that have not the faculty 
of communication. There are many musicians 
to whom the laws of harmony and the esthetics 
of music are matters of familiar knowledge, who 
yet preserve a cloistered privacy, and whose 
powers are known only to a few most intimate 
friends. However profound these men may be, 
and however worthy of admiration, they can- 
not hope to wield any extended influence nor 
to enjoy any general appreciation. There are 
distributors of musical as of literary thought, 
men who interpret the ideas of the great masters, 
and bring their conceptions within the popular 
apprehension. These men have something more 
than the possession of power ; their natures are 
magnetic, and they kindle the hearts of pupils 
and friends with their own enthusiasm. This, 
I think, was the supreme quality of our friend 
Kreissmann. When he stood in his place as con- 
ductor, every person within reach felt his com 
manding influence. Those who looked at his 
earnest eyes and his strong compelling gestures 
felt that they must sing ; and when, after rehear- 
sal, he took his place with the first tenors, his 
voice sounded like the call of a chieftain to battle. 
Those who heard him, however, and particularly 
those who knew him, need not be reminded that 
the power of the man was not the result of mere 
animal vigor. He did not revel in noise. He 
had the finest appreciation of what was lovely, 
tender, and pathetic; and the strains of his 
chorus could be as soft as the west wind on a 
tranquil summer evening. 

In this hurried sketch you will observe a man 
of fine physical powers, with attractive features 



and presence, with a voice that was noble by 
nature and refined by art ; with a generous, un- 
selfish heart ; with singular enthusiasm in his pro- 
fession, fortunate in every musical undertaking, 
gathering around him troops of devoted friends, 
living a pure and simple life, exerting an influence 
unparalleled before his time, and. leaving behind 
him a memory of love and reverence. 

What could I say more? He lived, and he 
loved. He followed the path of duty and per- 
formed his appointed tasks. 

It was not necessary for him to have reached 
the coveted bound of threescore and ten in order 
to have filled out a perfectly rounded life. 

In the summer of 1865 his health began to fail. 
He tried the effects of medicinal springs, but 
with little resttlL The physicians could do noth- 
ing for him. He was reluctant to give up, but 
as the symptoms became more urgent he began 
to think that a change of climate might be bene- 
ficial. At all events a season of rest amid the 
scenes of the fatherland would be a relief. He 
had accumulated a modest competency, — so he 
supposed, — though by what mishaps and mis- 
management (not his own) that property was 
scattered and lost, need not be related here. He 
went to Germany in 1866, and was for a time, I 
believe, at Carlsbad, where he obtained temporary 
relief. 

The following year he returned to this country 
in improved. health, though still feeble and a su^ 
ferer. The struggle continued for some years 
between the strong will and the insidious disease. 
He gave lessons when he conld, and strove to be 
cheerful and to think of himself as getting the 
better of the enemy. For some time he was one 
of the corps of the Boston Conservatory. But 
he was not improving, nor even holding his own. 
His infirmities increased, and he was sinking al- 
most to helplessness. 

In 1873 he went to Germany and settled in 
the little principality of Gera. He did not know 
that he had gone to meet his fate. He taught as 
long as his infirmities would |)ermit, but was com- 
pelled finally to desist ; and I am afraid we must 
say that his later days were passed in gloom, if 
not in actual want When his condition became 
known here, friends hastened to send^him relief; 
and plans were in progress which would have 
placed him in easy circumstances. But death 
came, and with kindly touch ended his sorrows 
with his life, and left him in the long repose to 
which we are all tending. 

All wo can do is to bo silent in the presence 
of the great mystery, — a mystery as inscrutable 
now as when the first man ob«\yed the resistless 
summons. 

We know we shall not again look upon his 
bright and cheerful face, nor Ibten to the beloved 
tones of his voice, nor again clasp his friendly 
hand. 

Affection may picture him in the Elysian fields, 

joining in the melodies of the immortals; but 

with our finite fiiculties we have no ears for the- 

sounds beyond sense. All that remains to us is 

the noble image which arises in thought's interior 

sphere at the sound of his name. 

He is at rest. 

Warts nor, inuie nor! Imlde 
Robot do Mich. 



THE SAENGERFEST AT CINCINNATI, 

JUNE, 1879. 

• 

In matters of musical criticism, when circum- 
stances tend for the time to prejudice or bias one, 
it is doubtless conducive to an impartial opinion 
that a period of time be permitted to elapse be- 
fore venturing to express it. While, therefore, the 
following remarks on the *' Sangerfest " (a word 
which may now be called an Americanism in the 



vocabulary of Cincinnati journalists) may s^m 
to be somewhat belated, I hope they may yet 
prove of interest to some of your readers, as 
they havQ been postponed with the* object of 
making them more reliable and free from all ex- 
traneous influences. It is certainly a pleasant 
custom to celebrate extraordinary feasts of song; 
in which hundreds participate, with festivities 
which assist in creating enthusiasm and make the 
people more susceptible for the art-repast in store, 
provided the necessary preparation for the latter 
is not made impossible by the social pleasures of 
the former. 

When thirty years ago the humble foundation 
was laid for the *^ North American SiLngerbund," 
it was certainly not intended that the social 
features at the biennial feasts should in any way 
interfere with their artistic success ; for the differ- 
ent clauses of the constitution and the by-laws 
all testify to an earnest .desire to make the mu- 
sical features the chief end and aim of these gnth- 
ings. There is a trait in the German character 
called GemlUlUiekkeitf — this word alone can 
express it, — which, when well dhrected, is a great 
help toward concentrated action, but when un- 
bridled is inclined to lead to excess. This tend- 
ency soon became prominent at the *'Sanger- 
fests," and proved a decided drawback to the 
efforts of those who were interested in carrying 
out the original object of making them instru- 
mental in furthering the progress of musical art. 
In Cleveland this was so unpleasantly evident 
that steps were at once taken to remedy the evil, 
and, as the sequel proved, with the best success. 
At the *' ^ing^est " in Louisville, a mixed chorus 
for the first time took part, and the measures in- 
stituted to secure attendance on the rehearsals 
gave it a new musical importance. When Cin- 
cinnati was decided upon as the place for hold- 
ing the next festival it became evident to every 
one that, in view of the remarkable musical and 
pecuniary achievements at the May festivals, no 
effort must be spared to uphold Uie dignity of 
the gatherings of the ** l^gerbund," by making 
this one, at least, an artistic success. And it is 
a pleasant duty to chronicle that this end was 
gained. 

Mr. Carl Bams, who was elected musical di- 
rector, left nothing undone to insure thorough 
preparation on the part of the societies attending. 
So strictly were his injunctions obeyed that a 
large and influential society of male singers was 
refused permission to participate, having been 
found insufficiently prepared. At the Reception 
Concert the usual formalities of transferring the 
banner of the *< Bund " were dispatched as rapidly 
as possible. Mendelssohn's Su Paul was then 
performed under the able direction of Mr. Otto 
Singer, by a chorus of singers from Cincinnati 
only. It was a promising inauguration of the 
series of concerts. The choruses, especially of 
the first part, were sung with spirit and precision. 
The volume of sound was quite sufficient to 
produce a powerful effect in the vast hall, while 
the balance of the parts, and in consequence the 
tone-color, was very good. The opening chorus 
was rendered with such spirit and enthusiasm as 
to put the audience into the happy frame of mind 
so essential to keep up the energy of the singers 
and the interest of the listeners. The short 
dramatic choruses, which form a characteristic 
feature of the oratorio^ were given with intense 
effect. In the second part there was a percept- 
ible felling off* in spirit and' accuracy, owing, 
doubtless, in a 'great measure to the late hour and 
the growing restlessness in the audience. The 
soprano solos were sung by Mme. Otto- Alvsleben, 
who, at the recommendation of Carl Reinecke, 
had been engaged to come from Dresden as 
" prima donna " for this festival. Her voice is 
phenomenal neither in quality nor quantity, but 



August 2, 1879.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



125 



she uses her resources so artbticallx that nothing 
appears wanting. . Her phrasing is most excel- 
lent, evidently the result of long and serious 
study ; her vocalisation very good, as was shown 
in her singing of the braTurA aria irom rStoile 
du Ncrdf in one of the matine^i. In the re- 
citatires her declamation was admirable. Miss 
Josie Jones-Torke, one of the alto-soloists of the 
Carl Bosa Opera Company in London, made the 
most possible of the little allotted to her in the 
oratorio. In the arioso, ** But the Lord is mind- 
ful," she proved herself possessed of a beautiful 
voice, well-cultivated, and of a thoroughly artistic 
conception of the music. The impression she 
made was deepened by her singing at a subse- 
quent mating. Mr. Bischoff and Mr. Remmerti 
are so well known that it is scarcely necessary to 
say that they were fully equal to their parts in 
the oratorio. 

The programme of the second concert con- 
tained, as principal numbers, "German Battle 
Vow and Prayer," by F. Mohnng, for bass solo 
and male chorus ; ** Easter Morning," F. Hiller, 
soprano solo and male chorus ; and in the second 
part, ** Paradise Lost," by Rubinstein, for solo 
voices and mixed chorus. There were about 800 
male singers on the stage when Mr. Bams ap- 
peared at the conductor's desk. From such a 
number the audience had a right to expect a 
grand volume of sound ; but when the first chord 
after the instrumental introduction burst forth, 
not a few of the thousands of listeners looked at 
each other in utter astonjshment. Such an over- 
whelming tone-wave had never rolled through 
the immense hall. The effect was indescribable. 
Trumpets, trombones, and tubas were completely 
drowned; the robust, powerful German voices 
alone were heard. It was repeatedly said by 
persons qualified to pass judgment that such a 
male chorus had never been heard before in 
this country. Mr. Remmertz, in the bass solo, 
displayed his powerful voice to the best advan- 
tage. In the *' Easter Morning," Madame Alvs- 
leben sang at a disadvantage when the irresistible 
power of the male cborus is considered, but, nev- 
ertheless, she succeeded in bringing her part into 
the prominence given it by the composer, and in 
bringing out the original effect which the peculiar 
combination of a soprano-solo with male voices 
produces. Notwithstand ing the size of the chorus, 
the singing was throughout precise and accurate, 
and in some passages remarkable for the dynamic 
gradations observed. The selections from Ru- 
binstein's «< Paradise Lost" introduced the <<full 
mixed chorus," made up of societies from Louis- 
ville and Indianapolis, in addition to the local 
singers. Some parts of the composition are com- 
monplace, others very interesting. In all the 
choruses Rubinstein's peculiar talent for making 
effects with masses Is noticeable. The perform- 
ance was \ery satisfiustory, and, although after the 
ringing of the male choruses, it was difiicult to 
hold the interest of the audience, it was duly 
appreciated. The solo parts were in good hands, 
having been assigned to Miss Heckle, a Cincin- 
nati singer, recently returned from a year's study 
with Stockhausen in Frankfi>rt, Mr. Bischoff, and 
Mr. Remmerta. 

The musical event of the fisstival to which 
every one looked forward with the greatest in- 
terest was the performing of Verdi's Mamoni 
Re^wem, For months this work had l)een most 
carefully rehearsed with the chorus ; and the or- 
chestra, too, had been carefully prepared for the 
difficult task which the composer has allotted to 
it. With .a large, well-trained chorus, an or- 
chestra sufficiently numerous to execute the full 
score without omitting any one of the instruments 
or substituting one for the other; finally, with 
eminent soloists, an excellent rendering was to be 
expected. And the expectations were realized. 



Verdi's work is one which, if justice is to be 
done to it, must be spoken of at length. The 
occasional predominance of the opera composer 
over the evident desire to preserve the church 
style in. the mass makes it of very unequal merit. 
The perfect control, however, over all the re- 
sources of the solo, chorus, and orchestra, which 
is shown on every page, must be admired. In 
many places the scoring is almost audacious, 
bordering on the very extreme limits of what is 
beautiful in art, while other passages are treated 
with the greatest moderation and taste, at the 
same time with perfect originality ; for instance, 
the *' Quid sum miser " with the bassoon accom- 
paniment. But in the space of this letter it is 
impossible to give even a superficial idea of the 
character of the work. The difficulties which 
in the course of the composition are thrown on 
the soloists, chorus, and orchestra are numerous, 
and frequently almost impracticable. While they 
were generally successfully surmounted, there 
were features in the performance which were 
most admirable. The ^ Dies Ire," the weighty 
bass passage with the syncopations in the other 
parts of the ** Rex tremendsD," were sung with 
thrilling effect, while the " Sanctus," which the 
composer calls a " fugue for two choirs " (it is 
nothing more than a /ugato)^ and the closing 
chorus, likewise a fugue, received a correct and 
transparent rendering. The soloists were Mme. 
Otto Alvsleben, Miss Cranch, Mr. Fritsch, and 
Mr. Whitney. In the solo parts the mass pre- 
sents the greatest difficulties ; not only are the 
voices constantly employed in their widest com- 
pass, but in modulation there is an arbitrariness 
which makes perfect intonation and the preserv- 
ing of the pitch extremely uncertain, as, for 
instance, the solo quartet, h capeUoj '* Pie Jesu." 
It speaks well for the artistic conscientiousness 
of the soloists that, almost without exception, the 
ensemble parts were sung faultlessly in every re- 
spect ; evidently they had been carefully prepared. 
The excellences of Mme. Alvsleben's singing, her 
perfect control of the voice, her fine declamation, 
and her artistic discrimination in producing effects, 
for which the mass presents such ample oppor- 
tunity, became more than ever before evident. 
The mezzo-soprano part, which is really the most 
important of the solo voices in the mass, was 
rendered by Miss Cranch in most admirable style. 
In addition to perfect vocalization and pure into- 
nation in the most difficult intervals, there was a 
dramatic intensity and genuine feeling pervading 
her singing, which created a profound impression. 
The duet ^ Recordare, Jesu pie," for soprano and 
mezzo-soprano, marked the climax in the per- 
formance of the soloists, and worked up the au- 
dience to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. The 
understanding of the two singers in every re* 
spect, in breathing, phrasing, dynamic changes, 
was perfect, and produced a most delightful effecL 
Mr. Fritsch was at his best He never sang in 
Cincinnati to better advantage, although tlie tenor 
part is very exacting. Mr. Whitney, in the bass 
solo, '* Confutatis," had occasion to display his 
beautiful voice and the dignity of his style, while 
in the ensemble number he, as well as Mr. Fritsch, 
showed praiseworthy moderation. 

I cannot close this short sketch of the evening 
concerts without making favorable mention of the 
orchestra. While the nucleus consisted of local 
musicians, the best available talent was engaged 
from neighboring cities, and the number swelled 
to about 110 pieces. Especially noticeable was 
the size of the string orchestra in comparison to 
the wind instruments. The effect was most ex- 
cellent. The brass instruments, even in the loud- 
est passages, never became unpleasantly promi- 
nent; the coloring was always subdued by the 
mass of strings, a feature which made a most 
favorable impression on me. 



Of the three matin^s I will not speak In de- 
tail, as they offered nothing of special interest. 
Besides the soloists already mentioned, there ap- 
peared on these occasions Miss Friedenheimer, of 
Tx)uisville ; Miss Balatka, daughter of the well- 
known director, Hans Balatka, now of Chicago ; 
Mr. Andres, with an oi^an solo ; Mr. Carpe, in 
the £-flat piano concerto of Beethoven; and 
Mr. Michael Brand as 'cello-soloist, — the last 
three from Cincinnati. • The musical success of 
the ISingerfest was beyond a doubt highly satis- 
fiMtory, and will doubtless assist materially in 
raising the standard of the coming festivals. The 
next one is to be held in Chicago in 188S. The 
deficit, which entails on the subscribers of the 
guarantee fond a loss of twelve per cent, on their 
subscriptions, will be covered without much dif- 
ficulty. Mr. Bams, the musical director, and all 
those connected with tha preparing of musical 
as well as business affairs, can rest satisfied with 
the result. M. 

Cincinnati, July 15. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

X. 

Trb finest shadows of things are seen by 
painters. Talk about mathematics 1 They don't 
develop a person like painting. 

You must love a thing in order to go on. L. 
T. comes down to the sea-side and finds a little 
atom of a thing, — a new moth. That moth is 
a success. If people would only sing the little 

note which they are intended to sing I J 

sings her note. She has such love that I think 
she will leave after her things that will excite an 
emotion that some smart things do not. 3he has 
individual expression ; lives and communes with 
nature. 

It has got to be firom your heart's-blood, if it 's 
only two marks on a shingle. 

I can feel enough in that apple-tree (sketch) 
to last three months, but I am too volatile to pass 
my time so. I see a sunset, a twilight. I can't 
carry both into that apple-tree ; but if I live 
long enough 1 may put something into that apple- 
tree, and do it in five minutes. 

A great deal has got to be done materially in 
order to render things sssthetically. 

Very few who paint have any idea of subtle 
expression. Ingres could not bear RembrandL 
At the time of Rembrandt his contemporaries 
thought little of him. lliey thought more of 
some of his scholars. 

Plenty of people admure Jacque ; but I would 
not turn my head to see the best Jacque that 
ever was put on canvas. I don't like his works. 
They are masks. There are very few things 
that fiiscinate me. Among the pupils' sketches 
I see things that make me feel that they have a 
power that is not developed. 

A picture is not necessarily complete in itself. 
When the time comes another person will come, 
who will take that up and go on farther. 

I like Millet's work* and 1 like that of a baby 

I hate conveniences. That's my pet economy. 
I don't generally have conveniences. Once I 
was at Berville's shop in Paris, and he wanted 
roe to buy a box of materials for charcoal-draw- 
ing. I didn't want it a bit. But he kept press- 
ing It upon me, and at last I took it because I 
could not hold out any longer. I give you my 
word, that box was the beginning of all the 
.charcoal-drawing that 's been done in America ; 
of my having any class in feet. I took it down 
into Brittany with me, and liked it very much. 

t CopTrigbt, 1879, by Hsleo M. KuowltOD. 



126 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 999. 



I had hardly ever used charcoal before; and 
when I made sketches they were on scrape of 
paper, and easily lost. This little box kept my 
things together, and interested me in that way of 
drawing. 

The people who live by accamulated wealth, 
with which they do nothing, are a set of higs. 
The community carries them. Every time they 
die there 's a song of angels. If people respected 
themselves there would be no such class, for they 
are made such by being bowed down to. It 's 
the gwing muscles that we ought to use, not the 
grtupifig. Paralysis means having all the mus- 
cles turned in one direction. 

I own all the greatness in Europe. I remem- 
ber the best pictures. They are mine; but I 'm 
willing those old kings should take care of them. 
If you see a flower, pick it and smell of it ; that 
flower is yours. 

The individual is nothing. The men who 
built the pyramids are dead ; but the pyramids 
stand. 

Unconsciousness is superior dignity. Astump- 
tion of superiority is the one thing that arouses 
my indignation. I have a feeling of respect for 
a certain kind of humility. I believe, with 
Bousseau, that every one we meet is superior to 
us in some respect I can't see the first brutal 
thing in what is called the brute creation. Every 
human being has the elements of the animal 
creation. 

There 's a call for everything that 's fine ; but 
there is n't a market for so much competition. 

J^yxfi^ta 3!out;nal of sausHc, 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1879. 

HEARING MUSIC ON COMPULSION. 

Music is an excellent thing, m its place. But 
too much of a good thing is not good. At all 
times and seasons, but especially in summer, one 
hears perforce a never ceasing medley and Ba- 
bel, or at least a general hum, of instruments 
and voices, loud blasts of brazen harmony (or 
discord), or half finished periods and phrases, 
idle scraps and bits of melody, mere haunting 
echoes of tunes so popular that they persecute 
us everywhere and turn the musical sensibili- 
ties into a source of tormenr, — things which 
we must hear and cannot escape, and yet to 
which we almost never listen. Now music to 
which one does not Uaten is of very doubtful 
benefit. It only distracts and dissipates the 
mind ; it confuses and bewilders, calls the atten- 
tion off from other things, without commanding 
any real, full attention to itself. Music, which is 
merely incidental to something else, to something 
which makes a more direct appeal, had in most 
cases better be left out altogeUier ; its presence 
is impertinent, irrelative to what is going on. 
Only when it is in itself the main thing, the 
direct, objective point of interest, does it really 
speak to us, or do us any good, while in the way 
of musical culture it is worse than nothing ; it 
besrets a habit of listless inattention to that 
which, if it be of any account, is certainly enti- 
tled to a full and careful hearing, — not an in- 
voluntary hearing with the cars alone, but a 
considerate hearing witli the mind, and with a 
yielding up of heart, soul, and imagination to its 
influence. Musical babble is unedifying. It 
spoils the appetite for music that means some- 
thing ; tends to bring on musical dyspepsia. 



This text comes round with summer. Bands 
in the streets and gardens and on every steam- 
boat, hand-organ grinders, whistlers of Ptna- 
fore^ keep the air full of melodies that cross 
each other in all directions, to some of which, 
could you select, you might listen, in safe seclu- 
sion and get the good of them ; but such " Stille 
Sicherheit" is seldom found. We would be 
choosers both of the what, the how, the when, 
and the where ; — then we can listen ; but " on 
compulsion ? No I " Yet on the simple ground 
of general cheerfulness, we all like this tuneful 
Babel well enough ; no one would have the air 
emptied of the commingling, crossing sounds ; 
they incite a general disposidon to enjoyment, 
to free, rhythmic, genial life, a good reaction fit>m 
the old Puritanic narrowness and stiffness. It 
is all well enough in that sense ; only it hardly 
counts in the sense of musical culture ; it does 
not elevate the taste in music, nor does it prove 
us to be a musical people. The regular provis- 
ion, whether municipal or private, of open-air 
concerts for the people in the cool evenings, on 
the Common and the smaller parks and squares, 
is really commendable. To thfise throng young 
and old, obedient to the desire to hear and listen 
to good music of its kind ; we doubt not, most of 
the crowd try to hear, and give their best atten- 
tion to the music that is offered, though it be 
merely music by a band, and by a band all of 
brass, and it may lead to sometliing better. 

With the inevitable out-door summer music 
we have no quarrel ; we only take from it the 
suggestion of our present topic, which is hearing 
music " on compulsion ; " and we wish to speak of 
certain fonns of this, which we think may be 
capable of remedy. It is not for the first time 
that we allude to them. 

(I.) Here is a recent experience. It is the 
great annual academic festival at our oldest 
university, whom so many of us call Alma Mater, 
and delight to honor. It b a grand sight, — a 
thousand of her sons, age afler age, in long pro- 
cession winding through the .shady grounds, and 
entering that vast dining-hall, to take their seats 
at table. Nowhere, probably, can you see such 
a number of such men assembled at a banquet ; 
in such a gathering the humblest shares the in- 
spiration of the whole. But during the half hour 
(nearly) which it takes them to get all seated, 
the ban<l, to whose martial strains they have been 
marching, having found its way to a high-arcbe<l 
gallery at one end of the resounding liall, con- 
tinues all the while its loud, ringing, stunning 
march, with full fortissimo of brazen monster 
tubas and shrill cornets; the terrible rimbomho 
making it impossible for the guests and class- 
mates to converse with one another, or even 
think, all are so crazed by the unmeaning, utterly 
irrelative, tyrannical, oppressive noise. In some 
such scene, years ago, may Holmes have been 
moved to pray for ** silence, like a poultice, to 
heal the blows of sound/' Such occurrences are 
common on all such occasions. And though the 
band, a portion of them, may then take gentler 
instruments, as violins and 'cellos, to play inter- 
ludes between the speeches, it is commonly with 
no plan of any fitting of the music to the word 
or topic, but all at random, like the music that 
we hear in theatres between the acts. And this 
for an audience of educated men, of men of cult- 
ure and refinement^ who have been trained to 
a sense of fitness and of taste in all things I One 
would say that such a dinner party would de- 
mand eiUier music afler a carefully studied 
programme, fitted to the other exercises and cal- 
culated to enhance their meaning and* idealize 
and somewhat perpetuate their influence, or else 
to be relieved from the presence of the disturber. 
Harvard has her Musical Professor at last, and 



students of the theory of music. Is it not time 
that she begin to treat the music of her festivals 
as an element of some significance beyond the 
mere timing of the march to dinner and relax- 
ing the strain of attention to speeches dry or elo- 
quent? Shoi]^d not her music set a worthy 
example of selections and performance, classical 
and tasteful and inspiring? Now it is no better 
than one hears at a political rally in old Faneuil 
Hall ; indeed, the latter is more relevant to its 
occasion, since it brushes up old patriotic tunes. 
This is one way in which we become victims to 
the music of compulsion. 

(2.) But nowhere is the inflicUon quite so fla- 
grant as in theatres. You go to see and hear a 
play, a drama humorous or tragic, and you have 
to hear something else which you don't want, 
which is simply a bore and a distraction, which 
breaks the spell of the good acting, and rudely 
interrupts the continuity of the drama, will not 
let you talk with your neighbor, or even think 
the matter over Uf yourself^ but leaves you scat- 
ter-brained and with a headache. In this respect 
a thing like Pinafore^ which turns it into an 
opera, and makes the music paramount, the ele- 
ment that chiefly claims attention, is a real blesa- 
ing ; and even to the poorest opera we can grant 
one virtue, if it had no other, namely, the silence 
of the orchestra between the acts. For the music 
commonly played while the curtain is down is 
wholly irrelevant, and even in a vulgar sense, 
impertinent. It has nothing to do with the play, 
either as preparation or continuation and im- 
provement of its mood and its effecL It is a 
rude assault upon the ear and sense just when 
one requires a little rest and silence ; ijt keeps up 
what seems an endless and relentless repetition of 
a dance tune or hackneyed sentimental melody ; 
and when the ambitious cornet-solo man begins 
to caricature the death-song of Edgardo, or to 
imitate a flute and revel in all sorts of florid va- 
riations, it is enough sometimes to drive one to 
despair. The appeal is to the lowest taste in 
the audience, and is sure to elicit much clapping 
of hands, while it fi^tigues and sickens those of 
finer culture. 

In the best Grerman theatres for the spoken 
drama, there is no music between the acts, and 
no orchestra is present, except when pieces like 
Goethe's Egmoni, or the Mids%immer Night's 
Dream are presented, for which composers of 
genius, like Beethoven and Mendelssohn, have 
maile music specially adapted to the play, and 
such as to render the illusion more ideally com* 
plete. Without any real interruption of the 
drama you can relax attention for a moment, and 
look round or talk with friends, and find yourself 
fresh for the next installment of the play, with 
brain not distracted, brayed as in a mortar by 
coarse, senseless, tedious noise called umsic. 
We are sure many persons would go to a good 
play oftener than they do, were this the practice 
in our theatres. . But if there be music, let it be 
for music's sake, a thing that claims attention on 
its own account, and worthy to be listened to as 
such ; not flung at our heads while we are cor- 
nered and cannot escape it. In an opera, how- 
ever light, like Pinafore, it cultivates the common 
taste; we do not think the musical entr^actea 
of the theatre, as a general thing, do that. 

(3.) The very diflusion of mubical taste and 
knowledge, so desirable in itseif, has this uncom- 
fortable side to it. It compels us, — not abso- 
lutely, not directly, but yet practically, through 
our sympathies, our interest in concert-giving 
debutants, whose name is legion, through a good- 
natureil (iis^position to encourage, to recognize 
and duly appreciate all degrees and kinds of 
real merit — to attend concert after concert, in 
season and out of season, and sit through lengthy 



her musical classes, her fifty or more earnest programmes of all sorts of compositions by all 



t 



August 2, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



127 



the old and new composers, when one had much 
rather stay at home and make a little music by 
himself, or find an hour for once to study music, 
or take a walk or cl^at with friends, or go to a 
scientiAc lecture, or a reading, or a play, — in 
short, to anything rather than the nine hundred 
and ninety- ninth concert of a season still pro- 
tracted into the nddsummer heats and dog- 
days. This compulsion, to be sure, chiefly weighs 
upon musical editors and critics, who, because 
they ha?e undertaken to give such notice as 
they can conveniently of the more significant 
phases of the advancing cause of music, seem 
therefore to be held in duty bound to make dis- 
criminating (and that means in too many cases 
flattering) reports on everything that passes in 
the way of musical publication or performance. 
The most unsatisfactory aspect of all such ex- 
pected, and therefore half-compulsory, listening 
and reporting (*' cridcising," if you please) is 
that it uses the poor editor and critic as an invol- 
untary advertising medium I But his is not the 
only class that suffers ; all who have a name in 
the community for musical enthusiasm, taste, or 
knowledge, are more or less appealed to in the 
same way to listen to the new comer, to sub- 
scribe to, or at least accept a complimentary in- 
vitation to, the complimentary concert of the 
newly arrived singer or instrumental virtuoso, or 
the exhibition recital, mating or concert, of such 
singing and piano teacher's pupils in their turn. 
It is a penalty we all pay for our love and taste 
for music. It has its pleasant and its irksome 
side. We do not know that there is any remedy 
to be found for it, or that it would not be surly 
and un amiable to seek one. We must make up 
our minds to hear much that we do not wish to 
hear, much that is good intrinsically, but not 
good coming in the wrong time, when we can 
only hear with ears, not listen heart and soul, 
simply as the consequence of happening to be 
somewhat musicaL 

We might pursue the theme indefinitely ; but 
these specifications will suffice to show how 
Music, often welcomed as a heavenly visitor, may 
also be a persecuting bore, to none so aggravating 
as to the victim who is the most truly musical. 



Thk ''• Ruth Burraoe Room." — Mr. B. J. 
Lang has furnished to the Boston correspondent 
of the Music Trade Review the following interest- 
ing description of a little practical scheme, suc- 
cessfully put in practice under his (Mr. Lang's 
direction), for the benefit of earnest young piano- 
forte students. We had long been intending to 
make some account of it ourselves ; but since the 
New York paper has the start of us, we are glad 
to borrow, hoping that by so doing we may lead 
some to avail themselves of the opportunity 
so generously and wisely offered. Mr. Lang 
writes : — 

•< In the upper story of Cihiekering A Son*i building, ao- 
eeeeible by an elevaior, there eiiste a tasteftiUy faraished 
foom, oontaiDiug two eoncert graod piano-fortes and a beaa- 
tilhl niahoganj case oootaining every pieoe of mnsie that ex. 
iats for two pianofortes, two plajefe, and for two piano-fbrtea, 
four players (eight hands). Every symphony, ooiicerto, over- 
ture, suite, ete., ete., to the extent in value of abont three 
thoiiiand ddlan, is there, conveniently bound, with catalogues 
oomplete. Under appropriate rules for the convenience of 
the benefioiaries, this room is abedntdy fine to all, even 
wlkhoat the asking. That this wonderful pbee is in constant 
use from moming until night, and has been from the mo- 
ment it was inaugurated until now (nearly two yean), is a 
matter of course. 

** From whence came all this ? 

<• A fow yean since there died in Boston a lovely girl of 
twentyrtwo (a fine pianist herself), a daughter of the Hon. 
A. A. Bnrrage, who, on her death-bed, expressed the wish 
that the little property of which she was possessed should be 
given, under the dirNtion of Mr. B. J. Lang, to rtfai i iJiiy, 
musical students. The before mentioned collection of mn- 
sio was purchased with Mim Ruth Bumge's money. The 
Messrs. CSiickering A Sons allowed Mr. Lang to construct 
the room, and to retain it free of lent for the purpoee, so 



long as they (pie Mcasn. Chickering) occupy the building ;| 
and, furthermore, do generously supply, free of cost, the two 
grand piano-fortes. 

** Consider what delight one can get from this pbee. 
Have you two grand piano-fortes ? Have you a hundred and 
fiay volumes of music for those two piano-Zortes ? This is a 
very expensive sort of music, while it is not just what one 
caree to own year in and year out. This attractive place is 
called the " Ruth Burrage Room." May this littk deeerip- 
tion lead some generous mortal to carry out the same idea 
in some other of our musical centies." 

The rules attached to the use of the room are simple, and 
not hampered by red tape: 

«* This room, with ito piano-fortes and library of fourJiand 
and eight-hand music for two piano-fortes, is intended for 
the use of persons who play such music tolerably well at 
first sight. 

*« For the convenience of those who may use it, and the 
preservation of its valuable contents, the following rules are 
established: 

M 1. The houn for the use of the room are from 9 a. m. 
to 5.dO p. M. orily. 

" 2. The names of all persons using the room must be 
entered ,iu advance in a book kept for the purpoee on the 
third floor of the building. 

** 3. One hour or two hours at a time may be engaged by 
a party of two or four peraonn, by entry of the names of the 
party opposite the hour or houn decided; but such entry is 
never to be made more than seven days before the desired 
time. 

'* 4. No party is to have the right to engage more than 
two houn in any one period of seven days. 

** 6. The same hour or hours, week after week, may be 
secured by the entry of the names of the party on their ar- 
rival each week for the same hour or houn in the foUowing 
week. 

^ 6. One hour on each of two days may be taken instead 
of two houn on one day, if preferred. 

M 7. Parties are to assemble on the fower floor, in order 
tliat the elevator may be used once onlr to reach the room. 
They are expected to use the stain in descending. 

*'8. On reaching the room, umbrellas and clothing 
shouU be left on the rack provided for the purpoee outside 
the door. 

** 9. The best care must be taken of the music; it must 
never be taken finmi the room, and never used as a ssat, and 
the conien of the leaves must not be turned up. 

M 10. The pianos must be careftilly treated, and be closed 
on leaving the room; the music must be returned to its 
proper phue, the book-case focked, and the keys of the caae 
and of the room pot into the place assigned for them (un- 
less the party having the next daim to the room stands 
ready to take them), and the window-shades drawn down. 

*4 Implicit obedience to these rules, or to othen hereafter 
established, is required from all who may avail themselves of 
the benefits of the room.*' 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

CiNCiKHATi, JuLT 16. — The close of the winter term of 
the OoUege of Music was preceded by six examhiations of the 
pupils ui^er instruction. Five of these examinations were 
semi-public, while the sixth took pbce before a very hurge fai- 
vited audience in Music UalL The numben consisted in vocal 
sob and ensemble numbers, and solo selections for the viofon- 
cello, violin, and the organ. Space vrill not permit of any en- 
larging on all the performances of the diflferent students; of 
two I will only make mention, that of Min Funck and of Mas- 
ter Bendix, both pupils of Profeieor Jacobssohn. llie former 
pbyed the Fantaaie-Caprice of Vieuxtcmpe, not only very 
smoothly in execution, but in a style which was more that of 
an artist than of an amateur. Master Bendix, In the fint 
movement of a concerto by V&otti, showed himself very pro- 
ficient both technically and in point of taste. 

The convention of the National Association of Music 
Teachers, which gathered here on July 1st, was not largely 
attsnded. Mr. De Boode, of Lexington, acted as president. 
The programme was carried out to the letter. l*he essays 
lead were by Mr. Parsons of New York, *«The Kehtion of 
Music to Morals ; *' by Bfadame Seller of PhifaMlelphia on the 
<• Physiology of the Voice ; " by Mr. Krehbid of Cineinitati on 
** The Sacred and Profone Influence in Musical Develop, 
ment; " by Mr. Van Clere now of Cincinnati, on ** Realism 
in Music; ** and by Mr. Mees of this city on *« Instrumenta- 
tion, its Origin and Development.'* l*he last paper was 
illustrated, through the kindness of Mr. Thomas, by his 
orchestra, in a concert at the Highland House, in which 
selections from the works of Bach, Handel, Hayden, Mo- 
lart, Beethoven, Usst, Wagner, Berliofl^ and Strauss, were 
performed in chronolog^teal order. At the afternoon sessfon 
Mme. De Roode Rice of Chicago, gare a piano recital with 
an excellent programme, aod m. Sherwood, of Boston, cre- 
ated genuine enthusiasm vrith his rendering of a kmg list of 
classic and modem oompceitions. M. 



Thx Netherlandish Society for the Promotion of Musical 
Art celebnte^ ito fiftieth Jubilee in Amsterdam, May 23-85. 
The vrorks performed were: Handel's Jothua; a Maes by 
Yerhulst; ^ Der fliegende Hollander," by Richard Hbl; the 
third part of the oratorio Bomfadut, by NicoU; and the 
Ninth Symphony of Beethoven. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

The Nkxt Opera Season. — Mr. J. R. 6. Hassard 
writes home from London to the New York 7Vi6iaM .* ** Mr. 
Maplcson*s plans for the next season in America are still 
vague, and I presume that they will be governed by drcum- 
stances not altogether within his control. Mme. Gmter will 
certainly return ; I believe there is no doubt that ire shall 
have Campanini, and Galassi also ; and you have probablj 
learned that Mapleeon has captured from Strakoech no len 
a prise than Mim Annie Louise Gary. Here is an admira- 
ble quartet to begin with ; but a double set of singen is 
needed for a good season, and negotiations with the othen 
are incomplete. Mr. Mapleson informs me that he is mak- 
ing strenuous efforts to secure Nilsson. Nobo^X^ believee 
that he will eucceed. Mme. Nilsson is engaged for n^t vrin- 
ter in Madrid, and I presume that neither she nor the man- 
ager is anxious to pay the forfeit of jCSOOO to which she 
would become liable by accepting the American engagement. 
Nilsson and Center would do well together, for thehr spe- 
cial roles are entirely distinct. Del Puente vrill doubtless 
return, and^among the less important memben of the troupe 
are Mile. Ambre and BUle. lido. I am sorry to say tl»t 
there is more or leas uncertainty about our eiyoying Sig. Ai^ 
diti's services again this year, for he, too, is wanted at Ma- 
drid. Sig. Muxio has made several engagemento for Mr. 
Max Strakosch's next season m the United States, of which, 
as you know, the dramatic soprand, Teresa Singer, is to be 
the principal attraction. The tenor. is Petrovich, a Russian, 
who was the first rep resentative of the ^ King of IjAhoro ** 
when Massenet's open was performed in Italy. The bari- 
tone, Storti, — Italian, of course, — made a name, I believe, 
at Milan, where he sang with Mme. Sasse in the * Guarany * 
of Gomes. Castelmary, the French basso, is not unknovra 
to fame; he has Utely been heard in the * Mefistofole *" of 
Boito. I wish I could add that Sig. Musio had engaged 
himself as conductor of the troupe ; but there is no such 
good nevrs. Ptotaleoni, the baritone, who sang with the 
Strakoech company bst season, is about to join Mapleson 
here. Mr. Max Strakoech has jiist arrived in Loudon, and 
you will doubtless soon hear of his Aurther anrangements.'* 

From the same letter (London, July 6), vre learn : " A 
German vocalist who has taken a distinguished rank here 
is Henschel, the bass, distinguished especially as an inter- 
preter of German songs, and remarkable alike for the bcanty 
of his voice and the purity of his method. A man of va- 
ried acooniplishmento, and a favorite in society, he is in gen- 
eral request. He steadily refrises to give lessons, but to this 
rule he has made a solitary exoeptioA in fiivor of our young 
countrywoman, Miw Lillian BsJley of Boston, who sang 
not long ago at one of Dr. Damrosch's concerto in New York. 
I heard her at a private assembly the other nighc, with 
Henschel at the piaino, and was charmed and aetnnishfd at 
the progress she has nude since she came abroad. Herr 
Henschel teUs me that he intends to visit America in 1880. 
Miss Thunby is in Loudon, singing firequently at private 
ccmcerto and universally admired. The reportf of her brill- 
iant successes in London and Paris were not in the least ex- 
aggerated. She has lately received a letter ftiU of compli- 
ments, constituting her a perpetual member of the French 
Association des Artistes Musiciens, and signed by Gounod, 
AmbrolM Thomas, Juks Biassenet, Victor Msn^ H. Reber, 
and othen well kix»wn to the world. She is engaged for 
the Hereford, Bristol, and Gloucester festivak, after which she 
will return to Ameriea, probably in October. Seveiul man- 
agen are in treaty with her for the United States, but slie 
hM not yet dosed with any of them.** 



1m addition to the promises for orchestral concerto made 
by the Harvard and Philharmonic oganixations, the Euterpe 
promises this year to ^ve ito subscriben a rare treat in the 
way of chamber music for strings mainly. A series of dgbt 
concerts is preposed, and a plan Is in contemplation which 
may give Boston musicians an opportunity to improve the 
record of this association over that of ito initiatory season. 
The field for the association is one which often rich attrac- 
tions for ito members, and, with such acknowledged ability 
at Ito head, the Euterpe can hardly foil to win a high posi- 
tion animig the musical <Mganisatious of the city. 

Notwithstanding all thoe attractlMis, Boston is also to 
ei\joy the presence of the Mendelssohn Quintet Club during 
a large part of the season. Only two concert trips are con- 
templated by this oiganization during the season, one In 
October and November, the other in April and the late 
spring, thus aflbrding an opportunity for it again to become 
a standard feature of the home musical season during De- 
cember, January, February, and March. Ito mcmbenhip 
will be made good by the addition of artisto of established 
reputation, whose names vrill be duly announced, and the 
long and hononble record of the club will be foUy maintained 
during the coming seaaon. 

While the instrumental concert field will be thus richi j 
provided for, the home open season will be one of the lead- 
ing features in the attractions of the coming month. . The 
** Ideal*' company will fill a month's engagement at the 
Boston Theatre, beginning lato in Septembo*, or eariy in 
October, and present Pino/ore, FatmUgOj and poasiUy a 
third opera during the seaaon. By the withdnwl of Tom 
Karl, who goes to fill an engagement with the Emma Abbott 
Company, a change vrill be made in the Ralph and the Cor. 
respondent in the two operas, Mr. W. H. Fessenden assum- 
ing both idks in place of Mr. KorL Mr. M. W. Whitney 



128 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vot. XXXIX. — No, 999. 



nnmet his ptooe m CSqitain Coreonui in Pinqfort vid* 
KMnniM the role of the fitUBian Genenl in FatmitMOy 
materially stnagthenlng the eait of the latter opera. Hr. 
Frothingham con t in u e! as the ideal Deadeje in Pinafort, 
and aasames the rfile of Steipann in FaUmiMa^ again strength, 
ening the oast of the open. Mias Adelaide Philllpe wiU 
assnme the rdle of Batterenp, as originally planned in the 
oiganisation of the eompany, and will assume the dual role 
of Fatinitsa and Vladimir, In which she made such a pro- 
nooneed soeoess upon the first night of the season. It will 
be seen that all these changes go to strengthen the company 
in both operas, and a suoMsrful season seems to be a oer- 
tataity. ^.Awtoift HtroUL 



Thb repertoire of the Marstaek open company for the 
coming season wiU include Csar amd ZtaMwreiati, by 
Lottaing, whieh will beoalled Tk€ Ttoo Petem, an ii^en- 
ious and sprightly work, known principally through orches- 
tral amngements; Babadon, by Giona; La Colombe^ of 
Goonod, which will be caDed The Dovt; Grisart*s original 
Doeior qf Akamtara^ the French name of which is Boasotr, 
M.Pantakm; BUepy iroOoip, the new open by lias Marst- 
nek himssif, and FatmiUa to fill ui. 

Popular OBCRBflTRAL Cohcbrts. Mr. Listemann's 
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, of about thirty of our best 
musicians, has issued a ^roepeettts, from which it appears that 
the first venture will consist of flveooncerts, beginning in the 
latter part of October, at the Music Hall, their programmes 
to include the fallowing among other works: 

Beethoven: Symphmy in K, selections; overture, «* Eg* 
mont " ; overture, " Leonore No. 8." 

Schumann: Symphony in D-minor, seleotfams; overture, 
•» Manfred.*' 

BalT: ** Lenore Symphony " selections. 

Spohr: Overture, " Jessonda." 

Mendelssohn: Overture, « Midsummer Night's Dream." 

Wagner: Overture, ** Tannhanser." 

Bach: Airand gavotte. 

Schubert: Unfinished symphony in B^minor. 

Lisst: Preludes; Hungarian rhapsodies; polonaise In E; 
M Faust ** symphony, Greteben movement. 

Moaart- Overture, " Magic Flute." 

Weber: Overture, ^ Oberon; " <• InviUtion a k Danee.** 

Saint-Sadns: « Danse Macabre; " «* Ls Uouet d*Om- 
phale." 

Tsehaikowski : Andante for string orcheetra. 

Accomplished vocal and instrumental sok>ists will con- 
tribute to each programme. 



Stkacubb UinvBBsrrr. — A Commencement Musical 
Soirte of the CoUege of Fine ArU was heU intheWieUi^ 
Open House on Bloiiday evening, June 33. We presume it 
waa under the dirsction of our oM friend William Sohultae, 
the musiod professor of the university. Pupils of the insti- 
ttttioo, with thsir teachers and mnsidans of the place, took 
part in the following programme : — 

Concerto in C, for thrse Piauoe, two Vk)lins, 
Viola, Tioloncelo and Bam . . . Sebattkm Back. 

Balutaris PecAer. 

Pieth Signon (Pnyer) ....... Biradella. 

Homage to Handel, Grand Duo far two Planoe, MmeheUt. 

Pur Diceeti LoUi (1690). 

Sul Cbmpo Delia Gloria, from Bdieario . . . DomMtUL 

Cbprioew BriUant, far Piano, with Quintet Accom- 
paniment MtmUittokm, 

Songs: (a) La Viofetta, (Romanae) .... Mtmari. 
(6) O Lac (Meditation) .... NUdkeimtr. 

Hymn, «• I come to Thee for rest! " Olio H. Wemdamti, 

Vocal Duetf «* Vieni ** Lusd. 

Ave Maria Ckervbi$d. 

Bondo Brillant in B, for Piano and Violin . /*. 5c&i<6en. 

Oroah RscrrAL. — Mr. Charles H. Morse, Professor of 
Music at Wellesley College, gave a recital on the great organ 
of the Boston Music Hall, on Saturday, June 14, with the 
following pit^gramme: — 

Paesacaglia in C minor Back, 

Organ Hymn, <« SancU Maria '* Whiting. 

Benediction NupUale Bamt-Saim. 

Sonata in D. Op. 43 (Largo e maestoeo. Al- 
legro — Pftetorale — Allegro Asnl.) . . . OmUmmU. 

•* Air du Dauphin'* Boedtei-Be$L 

Andantino from the Symphony, ** The Power 

of Sound** Spohr. 

Overturato *< Oberon** Weber. 



FOREIGN. 

M. MAMBsn's ** IL Rk di Lahohb.*'— The folfowing 
le a portion of an etaborste aitlde in the London rimet of 
June 30: — 

»< Massenet's new opera, the Italian version of which was 
l^ajed im the fint time in Eiighmd at Covent (aarden on 
Saturday night, may be Judged fttun two very difftreiit 
points of view, and the amount of merit granted to it will 
vary aecordin|^y. If we look in an open for the emana- 
tion of higbeet dnunatic pathoa combined with etriking 
originality of melodic invention, and in connection with it 
of formal development, we moot certainly shall be disap- 
pointed in Maasenet*s woik. U; on the other hand, we are 



satisfied with ifowing, though net very deep or very new, 
melodies expressive ol the sentiments common to heroes and 
heroines of the lyrical stage, vrith adminble musical work- 
manship aided by gorgeous scenery, — with a worl^ in eliort, 
after the model of the grand open as fitahlished by M^yer. 
beer and Haltf vy, the Boi de Lakore will command our ap- 
proval and in parte our admiration. But befon qteaking in 
detail of the music it will be necessary to give a brief out- 
line of the story which tt serves to illustrate. Nalr the her- 
oine, a priestess of Indra, has inspired an unholy passion in 
Sdndia, the all-powerfol ministsr of Alim, King cSf Labors, 
who claims her hand from Timur, the high prieet. In the 
conversation between the two men which eneues it transpirse 
that Sdndia suspeote Nalr of receiving the visits of a stran- 
ger in spite of her eacred rows, and when ques ti o n e d by him, 
Nalr herself eonfassee her strong but pnn love for a youth 
who, at the sound of the evening pnyers, enten the temple 
nightly through a seerst doer. Scindia promises secrecy 
and ftxglvanees on condition that the girl will foUow him as 
his wife; but thb Nalr firmly refuses to do, whertat her dis- 
appointed lover denounces her to the prieete and priestesses, 
who assemble at the sound of the sacied gong. Death will 
be her punishment; but befon it is inflicted the companion 
of her guilt must also be diecovered, and for that purpose 
the priest CSS w intone the owning hymn, at which fipial the 
seerst door opens and lets in King Alim himself. The 
state of aflUrs is now sntirsly ciianged, and Nair from a 
culprit is converted into a royal bride. Even Timor, the 
priest) cannot oppose the will of his sovereign, who, to pacify 
the gods, promises at once to do battle wiUi Blahometan ar- 
miee invading the kingdom. Thue, among warlike and fea- 
tive songs, closes the first act, Scindia maly rowing secret 
revenge. In the second act we are in Alim's camp. A bat- 
tle hM been fought, and the King*s army is beatlM and he 
himself wounded to death. Tliis opportunity Sdndia uses 
for sowing treeeon among the fugitive soUiers: who, aban- 
doning their King, proclaim him ruler of Lahore. Only 
Nalr rsAises to fonake the unfortunate Alim, and it is not 
till after his death that by foroe she is compelled to follow 
the usurper. In the natural course of things, Jl Bi di 
Lahore would now be an open without a hero and a tsnor. 
But such a contingency had to be avoided at any price, and 
M. (xaUet, the liberalist, not satisfied with a eingie c/eawex 
maehinaf accordingly introduces a whole system of heavenly 
machinery. When the curtdn risee for the third time we 
are in the heavenly abode of Indra, the supreme god, who b 
surrounded by minor ddtiee and the spirits of the bleseed. 
The songs and dances of hourb and other cebetial maidens 
snliven the scene, which seems to dnw Inspiiatkm from 
the Koran rather than from the Vedas. Alim, whose 
s|Hrit b soon discovered i^iproacbing the throne <k Indra, 
akme reAises to take part in the uuivenal Joy. Amid the 
beautiea of Parsdiee he rsmemben Nalr, and hb srdent 
pnyer b to be once again united with her. Tins pnyer 
Indra grants, and hi tlm fourth act Alim, restored to life, b 
at L«hon to thwart the designs of the trsacherous Sdndia, 
who b Just on the pdnt of crowning hb success by the possss 
sion of the unwUlii^ but powerism Nalr. A stormy meeting 
of the rivab ensues, before the assembled peopfe, and Alim b 
saved from the wrath of the tyrant by the priests, who give 
him shelter in the temple of lodn. Here, fai the fifth and 
lastact, he has a seerst meeting with Nalr, but thefar plans of 
flight are frustrated by the vi^ibnce of Sdndia, who enten 
the temple foUowed by hb eoldien and threatens Alim with 
second death. Rather than become the tyrant's vrifo Kalr 
seeks destruction by her own hand, and, according to Indn*s 
decree, her fover Joins her in death. In the ibal tableau 
the pair are eeen aaeending to the abode of bfiss, whib the 
baflled Seindb; aocorduig to the Englbh verdon of the li- 
bretto, " regards them with deep emotion, then proetntes 
himself; hiding hb fiMe*in hb hands.'* The weaknem of 
thb plot from a dramatic point of view b at once i^iparent. 
The charaeten are littb more than shadowy conventionali- 
ties, the celestbl Intsriude b obvioudy hitruduced for the 
purpoee of scenic dispby alone, and the air of unreality per- 
vading the whole b intensified when the rssusdtated Alim 
appean among the living people in his own form as if noth- 
ing had happened, and eontinuee to act and to suflKT ex- 
actly as he had went to do. But perhape it b unfidr to 
Judge by the canons of common ssnse a libretto which con- 
tains at least some eflhetive dtuations and no end of oppor- 
tunitiee for celestial and terrestrial marrhrs, pageants, 
dances, and other attractione of the opemtic stage. That 
on these the success of the work must to a great extent depend, 
the management at (Movent Garden had fully recognised, and 
nothing more splsndid, and, for the greater part, more taste- 
Aal, could be imagined than the way in which the piece b put 
upon the stage. The dresses throughout are gorgeous, and 
a perfectly dasiling eflbct of cokir ud light b produced by 
the eeenery and tlw grouping of dances ami figmramti in the 
third act, where Indm's atwde b rep r ese nted . To sum up, 
M. M sss en et's opera, although not a work of gsnius proper, 
b one of more than common merit, and contains all the de- 
ments of at least temporary success. The receptkm it met 
with augnn wdl for its immedbte future at Commit (jarden, 
a circumstance no doubt largdy due to the excellent per- 
formance and wiae en sot ««.*' 



cantata of The Lay of the Bell. Then was a band of 
135 and a chorus of 400, so that the cantata was accorded, 
on the whob, a better chance than it had at its previous 
performances at Cokgne and Berifai. Sehillcr's fine poem 
has before now tempted maddane, who have peiformed 
thdr work with 'more or less success. Zdter, Hurka, Bar. 
tels,and Liudpahiter have set The Lay of the BeU to 
mudc, the setting by Romberg has long been popular, and 
Uerr Cari Stiir of Wiemar, a few yean ago, wrote mnale in. 
tended as an aeoompaniment to, and in illuatratlon of^ 
the deddmed text of Schiller. Cari Stiir's work gdned a 
good ded of success in (Germany, and it has also been per- 
formed at the popular concerts of Brusseb. The Lay of 
AeBeUci Max Brnch b, however, of bqcer dimendona, 
and b frir more ambitious than Its predeeesson; whib a 
spedd point hae been made by the division of the poem into 
redtatives for such parts of it as are didactic and philoeoph- 
ical, and into soke and choruses for such porUons as an 
msrdy deecriptire. The opimone of the (Serman critics as 
to the eflbct of thb division are by no means unanimona. 
Some of the critics aver that it gives great variety to the 
emeeaMe without detracting fimn the unity of the work. 
Othen, like the Cologne Popular GaweUe, regret that the 
composer has not trsated the derbmation in the modem 
spirit. The paper quoted is, bdeed, of the opinion that 
"the versss of Schilbr, which are, aeconling to Merita 
Hanptmann, music of themselves, ought not to have been 
treated irith the dryness of the audent redtative, dthoi^ 
it b true that Herr Max Bruch obtdiis great eflecta by the 
contrast which hb melodious soke and magnificent chorusee 
aflbrd uith these arid recitatives." The work b sdd to be 
well scored; but some of the critice aver that it is net re- 
marl^sMe from the point of view of oiiglnaHty, and lacks 
the grandeur and the power ef tospiration with iriiieh Sehil- 
br's poem b so strongly Impregnated. At the Rhenish 
FeeUvd the chief part was undertaken by the bass, Staudig, 
who shared the honon with the eompoeer-conductor. Hot 
Max Bruch. — BceUm Courier. 



Thb grsat novelty of the Rhenbh Whitsuntide Festival, 

held thb year at Aix-U-CSiapdle, was the performance, 

j under the direetkn ef the composer, of Max Brneb's new 



IIaxdel ih Italt. — The first peeformance in Itdy of 
Handd's oratorio, Jnuei tn JSyypt, which took place at 
Kome on the 90th of May last, b an event of more than 
ordinary hiterest in the mudcd world. The Maestro Mne- 
taTa, Diredor of the Soebtk Mudcale Roamna, to whom 
the merit bekugs of having been the fint to introduce The 
Meatiak to Italian aniateun, has now rendered a dmilar 
ssrvice to hb countrymen with regard to the great choral 
nuMterpiece juet named; and to Judge by the comments 
made on the oooaakm in the Roman prees, there can be no 
doubt that be has found an audience ftdly prepared to ap- 
predaie the uobb musb of the great rep r e s en tative of mu- 
dcd Protestantism. The work iras most carefully rehearsed, 
and ito production iras looked forward to with the keenest 
intsrest by the musicd public, the performance behig at- 
tended by the «lJte of the artistb and even the fiMhionaUe 
world. TIm execuUon b spoken of as highly finished, the 
wdl-trdiied choir eoneisting of upwards of lOO dngcrs, and 
the orchestn numbering staty perfonncn; the sdo poiiioos 
of the work were rendered by tlie following artists, namely, 
Signore Alari and Borghi dd Puente (eoprsno), Rkd de 
Antonb (alto), Signori Cotogni (tenor), CapcUoni and Cal- 
sanen (bam.) M the Roman Journab refer to the event 
at some length, giving sketehce ef the composer's career, 
and expreedug the beUef that the introduction of Handd's 
compodtions hito Itdy will naark an epoch in the mudcal 
history of the country. As regards the eflbct produced upon 
the audience by the performance, the Omereatore Bomawo 
rsmariu as follows: " Every one appeared to be listening 
with profound attention and reverent wonder to thoee gigan- 
tic choruses, those sweet arias, those imposing ftigues with 
which thb classicd oiatorio of the grsat German master 
abounds. At every pause of the performance the universal 
admiration broke out into long-continued applause, thus 
doing homage to the celebrated master and bestowing also 
a wdl-msrited reward upon the Maestro Mustafi^ and all 
those who assisted him in tjie rendering of the work. Some 
of the most prominent numben ipsre re-demanded and had 
to be repeated." The Italian verdon of the English words 
b the Joint work of Signori Gukfo Guidi and Girobmo 
Osldant Thsre have been eeverd rspetltions sfaice the 
above first performance, each time bdSore nnmeroue audi- 
encee, and the interest talcen in the work by the pubUc ap- 
pean as yet unabated. 

Mb. Arthur Suluvax, who has Just been created Mus. 
Bee. by Oxford Unlverdty, b a very great fevorito with the 
undergraduates ef that institution. At the gnmting of de- 
grees the other day, the chief event waa the dcecent from the 
upper gallery of an immenee pinafocu. Ilien foflowed from 
the undergraduates one of the moot popular of the Pinafore 
chorueee, which was recdved with tremendoue and generd 
apphose, checked, alas ! in the bud by a stern proctor. 

M. Mbrmbt, anther of •• Jeanne d'Arc," hae. It b said, 
finished an open, the words and mudc of iHiidi are both by 
himself. Ito sulgect b <«Becchus," and ita plot deab 
with the conquest of Indb by the wine-god: a parsphnse, 
it has been suggested, of *< Drink." The new open wiU, 
however, hardly be of much uee to London impresartt, as a 
Icadhig feature of it b a number of wiU beasta. Fbncy 
Signer FanoeUi as Bacchus and Madame Nilsson as Hebe 
shying with the roaring of attoBoUlgatoI — /^^aro. 



August 16, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



129 



BOSTON, AUGUST 16, 1879. 

Entered at the Poat Ofllce at Boston a<« Hocond-elasi matter. 



C0NTKNT8. 

Sansio. Sti$art Stmu UO 

ToB DcvuopjfxiiT or Piaxo-Foeti Music, waau Bach to 



ScnuMAMSi. Carl Van Bruyck . . . . 
Musical Ihsteuctioit in Okeman Sgoools. 



Dr. W. Lang- 



180 



181 



Talks on Abt: Sscoud Skum. From losCrucrioosorMr. 

WUlUm H. Uunt to hb Pupils. XI 133 

SufoiHO Clubs : ftsroBT or ras Pbisidbmt or ms Cbcilu . 188 

THB TBKATUOAL " TbBMOM " FiBlfD . .* 184 

ScBOOL or Vocal Abt i« Pbiladblthu 186 

Music IB Cbicaqo : Rbasob or 1878-1879 185 

Musical Cobbbspobdbboi 186 

Nous ABD Glbabibqs 186 



Att tht artieUs not ertdiud to other pultiieatunu wer§ $3cpr«Msty 
wriUen/or this Journal 

FtMisked /ortnigkUy fry IIouobtob, Osgood abd Compabt, 
220 Dovonskirt Strttt, Boston. Priet, 10 etnU a nmnbor; $2.60 
poryear. 

For $aU in Boston by Cabl Pbubpxb, 30 West Sirttst, A. Wiix- 
UKB & Co., 283 Washington Street, A. K. Loribo, 369 Wash- 
ington Slrtet, and fry th* Publishtrs; in New York fry A. Bbib- 
tabo, Jb., 39 Union Square, and IIocootob, Osoood & Co., 
21 Asior Place; in Philadelphia fry W. U. Bobbb A Co., 1102 
(Aestnut Street; m Chicago by the Chioaoo Music Compabt, 
512 State Street. 



SANZiO. 
BT STOAItT BTKltNB, AUTHOR OP *« ANOKLO.** 

(ConOnuad from pace 121.) 

The suinmer sUU 
Stood in its blaze of full-blown glory, proud, 
Triumpliant, aiid utidimmed, bul at that point 
Of over-ripeness, when its golden floods 
No longer rise and swell ai^ forward pms 
With eager, joyous life, bat seem to pause 
Satiate, an instant, — nsst content to glass 
And contemplate their own imperial poaip 
And gorgeous beauty; then insensibly 
Glide on towards russet autumn, till they hang 
Suspended o*er its edge so doee, one hour 
May bring its blight; perdiauoe in one night more 
All these rich splendors rock to their swift fidl. 
Now often when the day's fleroe beat was spent, 
SmsIo and Benedetta wandered off, 
Bearing along thdr timi^ evening meal, 
To some fiUr ganien, or soma breezy hill 

Shaded by spreading trees. ** Let Cousixi Anna," 

Ue often called her so, and ever glanced 
At Benedetta with a merry eye, — 
"Give ui our basket,'* be would cry; ** to^ay 
We *U nm away torn her! " 

Thus did she glide 
In through his door one afternoon, sayuig, 
** Come Saiizio mine, *t is time to go! The snn 
Fast rolls his golden chariot towards the sea, 
As you have taught me; on these sultry days 
It is not well that you should toil so bsid ! '* 
But paused, not finding him before his work, 
And glancing round perceived him stretehed full length 
Upon the lion skin, and fast asleep. 
Yet was he fairly skef^ng? She stole np 
And softly knelt beside him, fancying 
She saw the faintest shadow of a smile 
Hover about his lips, and the fine eyelids 
Quiver half imperceptibly. Yet no! 
He lay and stirred not, resting like a child; 
His cheek upon one hand, the other arm 
TlirowD careless o'er his breast, that rose and fell 
With quiet, long-drawn breathing. By a touch 
Light as a gentle breeze, she pushed away 
Tto soft, brown hair fallen o'er his brow, and sat 
Gazing most earnestly on that well-known, 
Belov^, beauteous fSoe. Was she deceived, — 
Or did she mark in truth a change in it? 
A change so subtle, that perhaps no glance 
Save Im had noted it! Had that grave look 
His brow wore ever, deepened into sadness, — 
Was there a dim, dark shadow 'neath his eyes, 
And round his lips a trace of age, a faint 
UnUmdy Une of grief and resignation, — 
Had all the joyous life and power of youth 
Withered away firom him? She could not tell, 
Bot suddenly, yet timidly bent down 
And kissed those grave, sweet lips, — the first time thus 
All of her own free wiU and wish. But scarce 
Had touched them ere she saw, -^ too late, alas! 
To speedily now draw back again and fly ! — 
They broke into their wonted, sunny smile, 
And his eyes opened, while his clasping arms 
Hdd her an instant thus, ckiae to his heart. 
Hmo with a merry laugh and springing up, 
He cried, " And so I fiwled you, and yoa came 



To waken me so sweetly! Well, I own 
I had grown weary past my wont with work, 
And while I waited for your call, dear Ix>\'e, 
H»d flung myself down here. But come, in trutti 
It is full time to go ! '* lite Saints be thanked I 
Was Benedetta's fervent, grateful thought, 
As slie looked questioning up into the e3'es 
That brightly smiled an answer to her giftnce, — 
Surely I was deceived ! Here is no trace 
Of what I fancied! 

Tliey set out, and hastening 
To leave the streets behind, posiied through the gates, 
And soon gained Sanzio's favorite spot, — a hill 
Crowned by two mighty oaks, that cast their shade 
Far down the slope, to where tall olive-trees 
Mingled the sober ulver of their leaves 
With dumps of bright-greea willows, and near by, 
UpoQ another hill, a towering pine 
Beared high its mournful, solitary head 
Into the smiling heavens. 

"Oh this U good!" 
He cried conlentedly, and here again 
Stretched himself on the ground, — the swelling moss 
Close to the foot of the great stems. ** Dear heart,* 
Sit here and be my pillow for a while, 
I 'ni but an idle, lazy boy to-day, 
And good for naught, you see! " But when once more 
She gently ehid, and said he toiled too hard. 
He lightly kughed her off. 

Thus he lay long, 
His head npon her lap, and silently 
Gazed up into the specks of stainless blue ' 
That high al)ove shone through the ghuit crowns. 
Or at the fleecy cloudlets floating past 
And melting into air, and when a breeze 
Stirred in the branches, said, " Hark, Love, I hear 
Tlie rushing swell of the etornal sea! *' 

tunted and watched a wandering, lighter breath 
Kiss UenedetU's faintly tinted cheeks. 

And blow the wavy hair upon her brow 
To close and closer ringlets, and asked smiling, 
*' What does he whisper in your ear, that new 
Gay lover, hovering round you ? '* Then at length 
He hummed a eardess tune. 

'*0h, sing me that! 
It is a pretty song," she cried ; " surely 
The same I heard, yet heard but half, the day 

1 first knocked at your door! " 

«'Isbig?** he asked; 
'< Methinks *t were batter I should hear your voice! " 
She shook her head. '* I cannot sing,*' aha said. 
** Sweet, have I not oft " — •* Nay, Sanzb mhie, 
I can do naught but twitter like a bird, — 
Sing you, I pray! '* 

So, leaning on his elbow, 
He caroled fivth hi his clear, mellow voice; — 

*t What were m<»« glorious than the balmy night, 

Radiant with moon and star? ** 
** The rosy mom, dearlieart, whose golden beam 

Breaks o'er the tills afiur! " 

t* What fairer than the autumn's purple tints, 

When summer heats are done? ** 
** The spring, whose thousand bursting buds proclaim 

New life tegnn! ** 

" Ob, and what sweeter than old bve, that still 
Brings back in memory's bliss 
The snowy arms that clasped me, the red lipa 
That once returned my kiss! 



»» 



** The hope of new, my soul ! — the downcast eye. 
The genUy heaving breast, 
The blushing cheek, and flitting smile, that say 
Thou Shalt be blest!'* 

And when he ended and gazed up at her, 
She said, but with a gathering pensive shade 
On brow and lips, ** The song is fair enough, — 
And yet so strange ! — old love and new, — methinks 
That love is ever old and ever new ! " 

** And so you never knew it, — this old k)ve? " 
He questioned as he fized up(m her face 
A searching, earnest gaze. " You are well sure 
No other's image dwdled in this dear heart 
Ere the fjiad day when it was given to me? 



»> 



" Sanzio mine, how can you ask ! " she cried. 

And eageriy stretched out her hands to him ; 

But suddenly, ere he could smze on them. 

Drew back, and asked with drooping head, ** And you? '* 

*< My little one," he said wiUi gentlest graveneas, — 
But yet his eye fell, and he ventured not 
To touch the hands that she had lisUessly 
Clasped in her lap, — ** our paths lay tu apart! 
I have been tossed about on many seas, — 
My heart and life are not ao white as yours ! 
Ay, I have k>ved, — yon ask, and would the truth, — 
' Loved, — many others, in the years gone by ! ** 



He turned his face away, and could not see 
How the swift blood rushed over cheek and brow, 
Tlicn ebbing slowly, left her wliite, e'en to 
The quivering lips. A moment she sat mute. 
Then asked again in a low, tremulous voice, 
Yet bent an eager glance on him, " And now? 



♦f 



t» 



" Now," he cried out, ** Oh, now and evermore, 
But you and you alone, my Love, my Saint! 
And fervenUy seized on her garment's hem, 
To press it to his lipe. — "I humbly pray 
Forgive me, my Maidonna, what I sinned 
Before I knew the sweetneasof your service; 
I swear that I will swerve from it no more! " 



She geiitiy shook her head, with bnt the words, 

" Call me not thus, — it is not well ! I have 
Naught to fiwgive you, Sanzk) ! " And a pause 
Then fell between them. 

u Littie one," he said 
lu lighter tone at length, and hwking up, — 
*' Know you that many friends would have ma wed, — 
Plot what they call my happiness? A great 
And powerful patron, ay, a sainted man, 
[s pleased to ofibr me his brother's child. 
In truth I 'm much beholden to His Grace, 
But fancy this poor bride will have to wait 
Her bridegroom long I " 

She fitlnUy flushed again, 
But made no answer. Something in this silence 
Fretted and stung him ; he tossed back his hair 
With an impatient fling, and struck his foot 
Upon the yielding moss. Then with bis cheek 
Still resting on his hand, he shook his head. 
And long lay gazing up into her face. 
With puzzled eyes, and wonder in his soul. 
De^ down in that young, cahnly-throbbing heart, 
That lay yet dreaming in unruffled peace. 
Like some still lake beneath unck>uded skies, 
Was there not hid the possibility, 
llie promise, of fierce, tosdng, bitter storms? 
Or would she live and bloom and fhde away 
But like some exquisite, sweetest, half-blown bloaBom, 
That never ripeoeid to full flower or fhiit, 
Witiierinjr in the fair bud ? Who might foceteD ? 
She loved him, — ay, he could not question it, 
And yet even he had surely found no path 
I'o reach her soul, quicken and wake in her 
lliat slumbering fuller life in all its power I 
And thinking it he drew uuconsctously 
A heavy sigh. 

«« Nay, Sanzio mine," she said, 
" Pray wherefore do you sigh, and shake your head, 
And look so strangely at me? " And she turned 
Half shyly from his gaze. But suddenly 
Her sober eyes lit np. " Oh, see," she cried, 
" What a most beauteous ffewcr right here betow! " 
And springing up ran half-way down the sk)pa. 
But in a moment had returned, and now 
Bore in her hand a shining, full-bk>wn lily 
That trembled on its slender stem ; while ha, 
Seeing her thus amid the sombre trees, 
Thought of his Saint, who held the dragon boond. 



't Ay, this is passug fidr, in truth I " he said, 
Taking the flower that slie held out to him, 
" And what a fiunt, fine firagranoe! " 

Sitting 

She watched him gaze upon it tenderly. 
And kiee himself with far-off, dreamy eyes, 
Deep in the stainless, golden-hearted ciip; 
Smiling at first; — but gradually the light 
Faded from lipe and eyes, — a shadow crept 
Across the face that darkened more and mora, 
Until a melancholy, stormy frown 
Sat on the brooding brow, and the set lipe 
Seemed to shut in a bittor wailing cry. 
And suddenly he cktsed his fingers down. 
And crushed the lily in his palm. 

" O Sanzio, _ 
Oh, my sweet flower! " she cried, and would have caught 
The bn^en, drooping thing he tossed away. 
But startled ceased ud stayed her outstretched hand, 
As he with a fierce gesture hid his fiMW, 
Upon the ground beside him. 

"Love, forgive!** 
He said then, kwking up with calmer brow, 
And half arising, — ** It is better thus I 
Oh, it is well, iMlievame, — passing well, 
For her to perish in her strength and beauty. 
Untouched, unchilled by withering blight and fnst! 
They whom the gods love die in euiy youth. 
Said that old people perished long ago, 
And they said wisely ! Ay, to be cut ofl^" — 
And as be spoke his voice roee more and m<»e, — 
** In the first flush of life and love and joy, 
In all the ftillness of unbrokai power, 
In the glad morning while the dew is fresh, — . 
Never to know the burning heat of noon, 
The shadows of gray eve, the sk>w decay 
Of dreary autumn, — never to behold 
The shining q^lradors of the world grow dim 



130 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[.Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1000 



And fade below the aky ; — . never to feel 
The chill of diaenchantmeiit in the blood, 
The weariness of disapiwuiied hope, 
Tlie sickness of the soul, when golden fruit 
Turns to pale ashes on the parchins; tongue, — 
The thrill of ecstasy, the living glow 
Of thousand sacred fires, fall flat and cold, 
The pulses of the blood that once throbbed high 
Sink to the sluggish beat of feeble age, — 
But have the sparkling cup dashed from our lips 
Kre its intoxication stales and palls. 
Ere we can drain it to the bitter lees, — 

gods, that were rare privil^e and grace, 
And thus to die were to have lived iu truth ! " 

And as imploring those invisible gods, 

Or as once more to drink in thirstily 

The hMt full light of day that faded last, 

He turned his face up towards the sinking sun, 

With a strange rapture radiant in his eyes. 

•*And must those shadows come, — to all of os?" 
Asked Benedetta, venturing at length 
To break the k>ng, deep sitence that bad fallen 
When be oonduded. 

^ So all things proclaim, — 
To all of woman bora ! Ay, and I know, 

1 feel it here ! *' and saying it, he pressed 

His hand a moment on bis heart. ** And sometimes " — 

*< Sometimes? " she questioned eagerly again, 
As hstttating he broke off. 

•* Metliiuks 
Those shadows have begun to &I1 for me! 
Even as the blind can dimly feel the light, 
So upon me who see, steals a vague sense 
Of coming darkness! ** 

Yet even while he spoke, 
There lingered such a brightness in his face, 
That Benedetta, recollecting not 
Her fancies as she gated on his feigned sleep, 
Cried out, " Sanzio mine ! Nay, you are like 
llie proud, rich, golden, ever-joyous summer. 
In all its glory, teeming with " — And then 
Kemembering, suddenly paused. 

**And you," ha said, 
And with unutterable tenderaess, 
Too deep for other fond caress but this, 
As in a silent l)enediction, hud 
His hand upon the bead that meekly bowed, 
As though receiving it, " you, my Beloved, 
Are like the dewy spring, the rosy dawn, 
That no fierce noon, no scorching summer sun. 
Has ever touched, — within whose purest heart 
Lie fokied countless, infinite promises 
Of fragrant bfessoms and sweet songs of birds ! — 
God keep you thus ! God keep you thus fiorever I ' 
He once again exclaimed most fervently. 
And gazed a moment deep into her eyes. 

M Bot here, my Sanzio,'* BenedetU said. 
And passed her hand, as he withdrew his own, 
With a light touch across his brow, ^ here sits 
So strange a look, — grave, deep, and sad, — a shade 
I would so gladly banish ! " 

•* Would you, Love? " 
He gently asked ; " press your dear lips here then. 
And mayhap that will help it! " 

She leaned over 
And softly kissed his brow, but shook her head ; 
** No, 't is there sUU," she said, <' 't is ever then! " 

Then as she glanced across the hills, where now 

The red sun hovered like a buniing spark 

That swiftly vanished, — " Hark, niethinks I hear 

The >'esper-bells sound from the cloister, — ay, 

'T is time for evening hymns! " and clasped her hands 

In a brief prayer, but soon cried cheerily. 

As if to break the spell that hung on him, 

" And time for us to have our little feast ! 

Come, Sanzio mine, you S'e tasted naught since noon, 

And must have need of it! " 

And from their store 
Gracefully brought him, on a spreading leaf, 
A downy, deep-red peach, and a rich duster 
Of swelling, pale-green grapes. " No, not for me," 
He said, and gently put her hand aside, 
I cannot. Love, — nay, pray look not so grieved. 
There is no cause ! But take them yoa j dear heart, 
And that will do me good ! " 

But yet she too 
Scarce put one golden berry to her lips. 
And sad and silent shut the lid again 
O'er their untested feast, but left the fruit 
Upon the hill-side in the moes. ** Perchance 
Some bird or bee were glad," she said, " to find 
This banquet ^read for them." 

Then stealing dose 

To Sanzio's side, she whispered, <* And those others, 

Those that you, — did they love you, even as 1 ? 



9t 



But hwked not up, nor turoed his fS^e to hers, 
" Better, — and yet I fiuicy not so well ! 



tt 



A look of questioning pain passed o'er her brow. 
And her lips parted as to speak once more. 
But he, like one who thinks aloud, went on, — 
*' Ah, yes, I bear a weight of grie\-ous sin. 
Most humbly I contiess it! Yet I know 
That unto me too much shall be forgiven. 
For I have loved much, — as the Saviour once 
Said unto her who loving sinned and fell ! 
Know that this last great passion of my soul. 
Our sweetest, purest love, my Benedetta, 
Shall wash my spirit clean of many taints ! 
Look," he cried suddenly, risuig to his feet. 
And stretched h:s arms up towards the wide -spread 
Now flooded with a gush of blazing gokl, — 
*< In blinding glory such as this, the Lord 
Rose up transfigured from the hill to heaven ! " 

Silent, for neither spoke, but hand in hand. 
They took their homewiu^ way at length ; but onoe 
Sanzio said, pointing to the skies again. 
Whose radiant flush had faded in gray shadow, — 
" llius passes all the glory of the world 1" 

( To be eoniinued.) 



n 



** Ay, — even as yoo, -— yet dififarently," he said. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FROM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

FROM THE GERMAN OF CARL VAN BRUYCK. 

Among all the arts, music is the only one 
whose development into a higher, self-suflli- 
cient art (according to the manifestations we 
so far possess of it), belongs entirely to mod- 
ern times. This fact of history, as well as 
the fact that this art has unfolded its highest, 
richest bloom on German soil, appears sig- 
nificant enough, but is not to be entered into 
here. What even the most prominent, most 
comprehensively cultivated people of antiq- 
uity, the Greeks, may have possessed (we 
know very little of it), can in no way be 
compared with that art, whose first germs 
developed themselves in the so-called dark 
mediaeval times, to grow up, in the course of 
a few centuries, to that wonderful tree which 
now, with thousand branches, stands before 
our astonished gaze, and, like a Christmas 
tree overshadowing the world, is hung with 
fruits of every kind. 

The many kinds which the totality of this 
art embraces, when divided according to the 
reproductive means required to bring its pro- 
ductions into outward manifestation, may be 
rubricked in three classes : purely vocal, 
purely instrumental music, and that for who^e 
execution the instrument lent to man by nat- 
ure (although developed first by culture), 
must be combined with that invented by 
him. 

Vocal music reached certain high steps of 
development much earlier than instrumental 
music, — a phenomenon easily comprehended 
with a little reflection. Already in the six- 
teenth century the art of music had climbed 
up to a summit of perfection, and especially 
in Italy, where as such it has remained, un- 
reached by later times ; other summits formed 
themselves by the side of that ; and there is 
no question that the art element in later 
centuries, above all iu the German countries, 
including Austria, has developed itself much 
more universally and fre*ely ; but the outlook 
one enjoys from that summit is so sublime, 
so wonderful, that one is glad to return, even 
from the Dhawalagiris, which have formed 
themselves later, as well as from the friendly 
hills and valleys which lie imbedded between 
them, duwn the more or less connected mount- 
ain chains to that particular one to which he 
himself belongs. 



But in these centuries, — down to the 
seventeenth, iu the beginning of which the 
proper development of the Opera falU, — 
music as art stood altogether in the service of 
the church ; as all art development in its l>e- 
giunlngs is closely connected with the relig- 
ious cultus, which in one of them, the so- 
called plastic art, early bore the most perfect 
and the ripest fruit. The great composers of 
the fifteenth, sixteenth, and even most of 
those of the setenteenth century, had all de- 
voted their artistic activity mainly to the 
church. In choral song that epoch shows its 
peculiar grandeur and beauty. The instru-^ 
mental music produced in those times will 
not compare iu artistic importance with those 
grandiose, magnificent creations, although 
they moved within the limits of a narrow 
style. Instruments, to be sure, were used in 
various ways even at that time to accom- 
pany the choral song, but mostly without 
any independent significance (even iu Haii- 
del's oratorios this is small '), and the 
cooperation of several instruments iu a higher 
musical art work was yet unknown. 

Only when music became more emanci- 
pated from the church, only when the solo 
singing of the drama was developed, did in- 
strumental music first begin to put forth its 
blossoms, destined in due time to ripen to 
such astonishing fruits. 

One single instrument has a literature of 
earlier date to show, one which still retains 
its artistic importance, namely, the organ, 
which properly is not a single instrument, but 
rather a true pandemonium of pipe instru- 
ments combined into an organic whole. It 
is natural that in those times the organ, 
among all instruments, should have main- 
tained the greatest artistic importance; for, 
iuHsmuch as art stood mostly in the service 
of the church, it is readily comprehended that 
the most cultivation was devoted to that in- 
strument for which the church alone afiforded 
room. The organ, too, as an instrument, had 
already reached a high degree of develop- 
ment, while the clavier still lay in the swad- 
dling clothes of infancy ; the ^ piano-forte " 
of to-day was not then even born ; and it re- 
ceived its name from the fact that upon it the 
tone can be produced in all degrees of 
strength at pleasure, which was utterly im- 
possible upon the old claviers, or '* clave- 
cins;" these permitted a crescendo and de* 
crescendo quite as little as the organ. The 
organ and clavier (or piano-forte) are the 
only instruments which sufiice by themselves, 
alone, to bring a complete musical work of art 
to a oomplete outward manifestation. Hence 
their study is the most rewarding, most im- 
portant, for musical culture, while their litera- 
ture is by far the richest in an artistic sense. 
In the latter respect, to be sure, the davi- 
chord and the more modern piano-forte have 
far outstripped the organ, — a natural conse- 
quence of the whole art development, which 
(as it happens everywhere and always in the 
course of time) lost more and more the severe 
earnestness, the tendency to the solemn and 
sublime, which characterizes the earlier stages 
of art, and for which the organ seems to be 
by far the most appropriate art instrument ; a 

i The writo* seems not to have read and weighed what 
Robert Fraoz has written about Handel's accompanimeiito. 



AoausT 16, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



131 



natural consequence also of the fact that the 
piano-forte, after it was once invented and 
had reached a high development, offered an 
incomparably wider field of play, admitted of 
the finest shades of touch, and was available 
for all modes of expression which the modern 
art requires ; whereas the organ, by its very 
nature, must remain restricted to a more nar- 
row sphere, the more severe the style in 
which it is treated, and can never reach the 
many-sidedness of expression accorded to the 
piano-forte. 

After these introductory remarks, which 
could not be avoided, I turn now to my 
special theme, the development of piano-forte 
music from Sebastian Bach, that grand mas- 
ter of the art, who in himself alone summed 
up the development of whole centuries, and 
went immeasurably beyond it, down to Robert 
Schumann, the most genial representative of 
the youngest art epoch. This I would char- 
acterize in outline, so far as it is prHCticable 
within the very narrow limits of a single lect- 
ure. 

The history of every art shows certain 
form developments similar to those we rec- 
ognize in natural history ; only that in the 
former, the process of origination and of reso- 
lution passes infinitely more rapidly than in 
the latter. Certain forms grow up and reach 
a high point of development ; then lose them- 
selves, or resolve themselves into new forms 
shaped out of the same elements. Within 
these shifting forms the whole artistic (indeed 
the whole human) sum and substance of the 
feelings and ideas of every epoch, — so far as 
such may be more or less sharply marked off, 
— comes to expression ; but this, the farther 
art progresses (in an ascending and descend- 
ing spiral line !), becomes more and more in- 
dividualized, whereas in the earlier stages the 
masters of the art show comparatively slight 
individual differences, just as in the earlier, 
simpler stages, the human type exhibits less 
variety. All the earlier art shows a certain 
hardness, since it is still wrestling with the 
material ; but finally, when this has become 
entirely soft and ductile, so as to receive all 
impressions, it melts away in luxurious deli- 
cacy. Imagination as well as feeling in the 
earlier art epochs appears still fettered by 
the severe labor which the understanding has 
to perform, and which claims the whole ar- 
tistic energy, until at last the collective art 
materia] has acquired such softness as to ren- 
der the moulding of forms mere play to the 
more gifted artist. Now for the first time 
the imagination develops its full power and 
becomes the energizing factor in the plastic 
processes of art, until finally it acquires su- 
preme control, and in its glowing heat melts 
all the strictness of form, which nevertheless 
remains the foundation of all genuine art, in 

its crucible. 

{To he eontinved.) 



MUSICAL INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 

SCHOOLS. 

BT DR. W. LANOHAN0 (OF BERLIN). 

** A BCHOOLM\8TER must be able to sing, or 
I will not look at him." Such arc the words of 
Martin Luther, which, together with many an- 
other pithy saying of the reformer respecting the 
necessity of a musical education for the young. 



have not been spoken unheeded by his own coun- 
try. It is true that the present age, with its 
one-sided bias in favor of the development of the 
purely mental faculties, has little in common with 
the enthusiasm with which musical art was cul- 
tivated in German schools during: the sixteenth 
century, when a Johann Walther (then capeil- 
meister of Frederick the Wise, and musical coad- 
jutor of Luther in his reform of congregational 
singing) was enjoined, according to the provis- 
ions of the Siichsische Scliulordnung, " to devote 
three hours to musical instruction weekly, as well 
as two hours to the practice of singing.'' ** Be- 
sides which," continues the document referred to, 
'* be shall give instruction three times a week, at 
his own house, to the singers employed in the 
choir, and finally, during the weeks preceding 
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, he shall 
practice singing with the boys in the school daily 
at tlie hour of noon." Compared with this, the 
musical instruction included in our modurn school- 
system, amounting as it does to no more than two, 
or, at the most, three lessons during the week, 
occupies a somewhat subordinate position, and 
more especially in the higher class public schools, 
where purely mental training U gaining from 
year to year greater predominance. But even 
there the results obtained by the existing musical 
instruction bear sufficient evidence of an intelli- 
gent appreciation of the art, both on the part of 
the pupils and tlieir teachers. As an example of 
this may be quoted the well-known Gymnasium 
'^ zum grauen Kloster " at Berlin, an institution 
which in its scientific activity need not shun com- 
parison with any other German grammar-school, 
and which at the same time assigns a prominent 
place to the conscientious cultivation of music. 
Here, more efiectively than in any other of the 
fourteen similar educational establishments of the 
capital, the ultimate object of vocal instruction 
is kept in view, namely, to kindle among all the 
pupils a sense of appreciation of good, serious 
music, and to develop as far as possible their sus- 
ceptibilities of the idiomatic, rhythmical, and 
harmonic relations of vocal compositions. This 
desired end is sought to be obtained by theoret- 
ical instruction and the practicing of standard 
vocal pieces by both old and new masters ; and 
the high aims in this direction of the institution 
in question, and the noble results which it has 
already achieved under the zealous guidance of 
Its musical instructor, Professor Heinrich Beller- 
mann, will be sufficiently apparent from the fol- 
lowing extract taken from the Annual Report of 
the Gymnasium. 

In the lowest form (Sexta) the rudiments of 
harmonic and rhythmical proportions are taught 
in conjunction with musical notation, while scales, 
solfeggios, chorals, and easy songs (Volkslieder) 
are practiced in unison and their structure ex- 
plained, the entire class either singing together at 
a convenient pitch, or the altos and sopranos al- 
ternately. In the next form (Unter-Quinta) the 
pupils are specially divided into sopranos and 
altos, with whom chorals, songs, motets, psalms, 
etc., by different masters (such as Palestrina, 
Graun, Marcello) are practiced unisono in each 
division separately. In the two second singing 
classes proper, easy two-part songs, chorals, and 
motets are introduced ; whereas in the first or 
choral class compositions for four, five, six, and 
eig)it voices, by masters of the sixteenth and fol- 
lowing centuries, are being practiced a eapella, 
besides other works written with orchestral ac- 
companiments, especially the choruses from Han- 
del's oratorios, which never fail to exercise a 
stimulating influence upon the pupils. But the 
principal portion of our time remains devoted to 
a capella singing, so that every singing lesson in 
which the full chorus is assembled is at least 
commenced by a four or five-part choral, or a 



motet written in the severer style. The only 
instruction book in use is Bcllermann's ** An- 
fangsgriinde der Musik fur den ersten Singunter- 
richt auf Gyninasien und Realschulen '* (seventh 
edition), which is intended for the younger pu- 
pils only, as a brief guide in their study of the 
elementary part of the art, and which contains 
moreover a number of simple solfeggios and 
hymn-tunes. The music in use at the Gymna- 
sium is either printed or copied out in separate 
vocal parts, it not being considered advisable to 
adopt the compressed score, or rather piano-forte 
arrangements, given in nearly all the collections 
of songs and chorals published expressly for 
school purposes, and by which the clear percep- 
tion of the melody to be sung by him is unneces- 
sarily rendered more difficult to the pupil. 

But neither the excellent method alone, nor 
the ability of the teachers (Professor Bellermann 
being assisted in tlie vocal instruction by another 
of the staff of masters, Dr. Miiller), nor the seven- 
teen hours of teaching during the week, can suf- 
ficiently explain the extraordinary success attend- 
ing the vocal study at the Gymnasium " zura 
grauen Kloster ; '* its ultimate reason must be 
looked for rather in the older artistic traditions 
associated with this institution, which exercise 
a direct influence upon all connected with it, 
including even those who have no immediate 
sympathy with the cause. For it cannot, unfor- 
tunately, be denied that the majority of leading 
pedagogues in this country, trained as they are in 
the dominant utilitarian principles of the age, oc- 
cupy an indifferent and even hostile position with 
regard to art-instruction in bchools, to the devel- 
opment of which many obstacles are, as a matter 
of fact, though not avowedly, presented on their 
part. It is owing to this opposition that, with the 
exception of the institution referred to, scarcely one 
of the Berlin Stat« grammar-schools may be said 
to produce such satisfactory results, vocally, as 
the ability and zeal of the respective teachers — 
without exception professional musicians of emi- 
nence — would entitle us to expect. On the 
other hand, a better chance of success is offered 
wherever the singing-master also takes part in 
other branches of iostruction whiub are consid- 
ered mora important by the ruling caste of phi- 
lologians, a combination which is, however, met 
with in smaller towns only where there is a want 
of able resident professors. Thus at Toigau, a 
town of some 10,000 inhabitants. Dr. Otto Tau- 
bert, professor of ancient languages, and at the 
same time vocal instructor of the local Gymna- 
sium, has succeeded in forming a choir among his 
pupils scarcely inferior to that of the " grauen 
Kloster " of Berlin, and the occasional special 
performances of which invariably attract a nu- 
merous audience, including visitors from the larger 
neighboring towns. It is owing to the exertions 
of this in many ways gifled teacher that the an- 
cient musical glory of Torgau has gained fresh lus- 
tre in our day ; for it was here where the spirit of 
Protestantism found its earliest musical expres- 
sion in the founding of the first municipal ^* Can- 
torei-Gesellschafl " (1530), and where, a hundred 
years later (1627), the then novel art-form but 
lately discovered in Italy — namely, modern Opera 
— was first introduced upon German ground by the 
production at the Court of the Elector, Johann 
Georg L, of the Opera " Daphne,*' fashioned 
after the Italian model, with the text written by 
Opitz and the music by Schiitz. 

The present flourishing condition of singing at 
the Torgau Gymnasium proves at least this, that 
the twofold capacity of a teacher placed as it 
were between art and science, anomalous though 
such a position be in this age of specialism, is 
nevertheless not without its distinct advantages, 
inasmuch as it invests the singing-master at a 
school with an authority which, but for his 



132 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[yoi. XXXIX. - No. 1000. 



doable voice in the council of professors, he 
would not otherwise possess, and which enables 
him to resist the elements adverse to his cause 
existing among the general teaching body. And 
this leads us to the middle and lower class 
schools, the ''Real" and '* Yolksschulen/' of 
which the former in some cases, particularly in 
the larger towns, possess a specially appointed 
singing-master, while the latter have to shift 
without. If nevertheless the condition of school- 
singing is comparatively and on the whole more 
satisfactory in these than in the higher-class es- 
tablishments, the reason must be sought for in 
the fact that the state, which regai*ds art-instruc- 
tion at the Gymnasia with perfect unconcern, 
exercises a direct influence upon vocal develop- 
ment in the Volksschule by exacting a certain 
degree of musical capacity on the part of its 
teachers as a condition of their appointment. 
All teachers of elementary schools (Volksschu- 
len) emanale, it should be added, from Govern- 
ment training colleges or seminaries, in which 
music is taurrht as an obli<;atorv branch of in- 
struction, embracing not singing only, but also 
piano-forte, organ, and -violin playing, as well as 
theoretical instruction, comprising harmony, sim- 
ple counterpoint, and the elements of composition. 
Not that the future teacher of the Volksschule is 
expected to impart all his musical knowledge to 
his pupils; these are merely taught to sing; and 
as regards the theory of the art it is considered 
sufficient to make them acquainted with the 
notes, the intervals, and the rhythmical division. 
But the musical proficiency obtained in the sem- 
inary will not fail to prove of considerable service 
to the elementary teacher in another direction. 
A certain familiarity with piano-forte and organ 
enables him to combine, in the smallest places 
or in villages, the office of organist with that of 
schoolmaster. His violin, on the other hand, is 
of the utmost importance to him in his singing 
lessons, where the aid of some instrument is in- 
dispensable, while in most instances it is difficult 
to procure a piano-forte — to say nothing of the 
additiontfi advantage over the latter instrument 
possessed by the violin in its capacity to pro<luce 
absolutely true musical intervals, which the mech- 
anism of the keyed instrument is incapable of, 
and the playing of which, moreover, necessitates 
the teacher's remaining in one place during the 
lesson, while with violin in hand he is able to 
move about the school-room and thus more easily 
to maintain discipline among the pupils. Taking 
into consideration, together with the above facts, 
the circumstance that the obligatory attendance 
at singing lesFons, prescribed by the state on 
principle for all schools alike, is far more rig- 
orously enforced in the Volksschule than in the 
Gymnasium, we need not be surprised if, as 
already stated, the results of the teaching are 
on the whole more satisfactory at the former 
branches of our system than at the latter. It 
should not be overlooked, however, that it is also 
far more practicable to insist upon the vocal in- 
struction of all pupils in the Volksschule, seeing 
that compulsory education is only extended to 
the completion of the age of fourteen, t. e., before 
the period of the mutation of the voice has com- 
menced, which in the case of the scholars at 
the Gymnasium causes frequent interruptions of 
vocal study. Thus in the humblest village-school 
songs for two voices may constantly be heard, 
while not unfrequently also three and four-part 
Liefier will be correctly rendered by the children. 
In this respect Berlin again takes the lead, where 
in 105 schools more than 80,000 children are 
being instructed at the expense of Government. 
Respecting the musical influence of these schools 
a striking exhibition was presented last year to 
the public of the capital, on the occasion of the 
inauguration of the hundredth local elementary 



school. Among the festive proceedings in con- 
nection with the event was included a musical 
performance instituted and conducted by Rector 
Th. Krause, one of the few pedagogues who have 
to the fullest extent acted upon the maxim laid 
down by Martin Luther which we have placed 
at the commencement of this article. The per- 
formance referred to consisted of the rendering, 
on the part of 1,200 pupils and SOO of their teach- 
ers, of a psalm composed by the conductor, and 
executed with the utmost purity and precision. 
The occurrence has attracted public attention to 
the grreat merit of Rector Krause, whose excep- 
tional capacity as a musical pedagogue is more- 
over well known, and the desire is very generally 
expressed that he should be raised from his 
position as director of the leading Volksschule 
of Berlin to an office which would aflTord ade- 
quate scope for the exercise of his eminent tal- 
ents. 

Such an office, however, would have to be 
specially created, since it does not yet, unfortu- 
nately, exist in Germany, namely, that of a ** Gen- 
eral Inspector of School-Singing." A certain 
control is indeed exercised by the Gk>vemment 
over musical instruction in public schools, in the 
first place by the School Council (Schulrath), 
among the members of which one at least inva- 
riably possesses a sound- musical knowledge, and, 
in the next instance, by the musical instructors 
of the training colleges who have passed the 
state examination, and upon whom also devolves 
the duty of periodically visiting their respective 
provinees for the purpose of inquiry into the con- 
dition of school-singing and reporting thereon 
to the Government. The latter, moreover, pos- 
sesses an additional guarantee for the proper 
carrying out of the existing regulations in favor 
of vocal instruction at schools in the so-called 
^'Institut fiir Kirchenmusik." This institution, 
founded in the year 1822, and connected with 
the Royal Academy of Arts, has for its object to 
convey such additional musical instruction to 
organists, cantors, and other professional mu- 
sicians, as would enable them to take positions 
at the higher educational establishments of tlie 
country, special preference being given to pupils 
at the seminaries who have shown manifest tal- 
ent for the art, and to whom an opportunity is 
thereby afforded for its more extensive cultiva- 
tion. Thus the tendency of the institution in 
question is one of almost ideal excellence ; but 
the sphere of its activity is unfortunately limited 
to insignificant proportions as long as the subsidy 
derived by it from the state amounts, as it act- 
ually does, to no more than about 9,600 marks 
(not quite £500), the professors giving their 
services gratis. In spite, however, of its pecun- 
iary restrictions, upwards of ninety cantors and 
organists have during the past ten years reaped 
the benefits ofi*ered by the institution ; and the 
great merits of its zealous director, Professor 
llaupt, have met with at least an indirect recog. 
nition on the part of the Conservatoires of Vienna 
and Prague, who, in the reorganization of their 
respective organ-schools, have adopted the insti-* 
tution conducted by him as a model. Consider- 
ing, then, that the above-mentioned insignificant 
sum, together with the moderate salaries paid to 
the musical teachers at the government semina- 
ries (2,400 to 3.000 marks, besides free residence, 
their number being 121), make up the sum total 
of the direct state grants for the purpose of 
vocal instruction at schools, it seems not un- 
reasonable to anticipate a further extension of 
government subsidies for the appointment of 
well-paid inspectors of this branch of national 
education, whose first duty it would be to remove 
the manifold defects in the prevailing system, 
with which the existing supervision has proved 
itself unable to cope, and to prepare the way for 



the adoption of » universal method of vocal 
teaching in German schools (so constantly in- 
sisted upon at the periodical meetings of tlic Gen- 
eral Association of German Musicians), which 
would serve as guidance alike to the teachers of 
the Volksschule and to the directors of the mil- 
itary choirs established throughout the entire 
German army. This question, though not as yet 
taken up by the state, has at least advanced a 
step nearer to its solution by the recent publica- 
tion of a work entitled " Tafeln fiir den Schulge- 
sang-Unterricht " (Tables for Vocal Instruction 
at Schools), by the Berlin organist Hermann 
Hauer, the excellence of which for practical pur- 
poses may be inferred from the fact that it has 
already been introduced into 400 schools. Nor 
have the members of the General Association of 
German Musicians, nothing daunted by the all 
but indiflerent attitude of the Government, been 
remiss of late in tlieir zealous advocacy of the cause 
of reform of school-singing ; and it is only a few 
weeks ago that a pamphlet was issued, at the 
expense of the Association, from the pen of 
Albert Tottmann (the leader of the reformatory 
movement in this direction in Saxony), pointing 
out in an able and eloquent manner the impor- 
tance of this branch of popular instruction in 
its hygienic, psychological, and ethical aspects. 
The suggestions contained in this pamphlet de- 
mand the greater attention, since they are the 
result, not of abstract theoretical speculation, but 
of an extensive practical experiencb, the author 
having been fur years the highly successful vocal 
professor at one of tlie leading girls' schools of 
Leipzig, the periodical musical performances of 
which bear witness to his great ability as a 
teacher of singing. His example, in fact, as well 
as the no less successful activity of Musik-direc- 
tor Alexis HolliLnder, of the Victoria Girls* 
School at Berlin, furnish moreover sufficient 
evidence of the capacity of female youth, pro- 
vided it be ably instructed, to vie with the male 
in the production of valuable artistic results. 

The southern states of the Empire, though 
more productive in musical talent than the North, 
have as yet remained considerably behind the 
latter in matters of organization and general 
practical results as regards vocal instruction in 
schools. Much activity has, however, been dis- 
played of late years, especially in Bavaria, witJi 
a view to a general reform of school-singing. In 
this respect valuable service has been rendered 
by F. Grell, of Munich, whose admirable collec- 
tion of Volkslieder was introduced some nine 
years ago into all Bavarian Government schools. 
At Munich, obligatory vocal instruction at the 
elementary schools has only been adopted since 
1869. Before that period, however, there existed 
at every school a so-called *' central singing class," 
which all the pupils were enabled to join upon a 
small extra payment. Although obligatory sing- 
ing lessons have now rendered the majority of 
these institutions superfluous, there still exists at 
Munich a " Central- Singschule,** founded more 
than fifty years ago, where children from all 
parts of the town may receive vocal training. 
At the annual public examinations of this estab 
lishment choral compositions for four and more 
voices by the best masters are sung (with the as- 
sistance of the choristers from the Opera for the 
tenor and bass parts), and the general excellence 
of the peiformances furnishes unmistakable evi- 
dence of the earnestness and zeal with which the 
vocal study is conducted. Similar results are to 
be expected of the Bavarian elementary schools, 
where GrelPs method of teaching, already adopt- 
ed in principle by the Government, is gradually 
becoming more generally introduced. This 
method has much in common with that of the 
vocal instructor of tlie Berlin Gymnasium, ** zum 
grauen Kloster," H. Bellermann, of whom men- 



Adoust 16, 1879.J 



DWIQHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



133 



tion has already been made. Grell's system in- 
sists upon combining]; instruction in speaking with 
the singin^r lesson during the first years of study. 
The healthy development of the vocal organs 
being moreover essential for the successful culti- 
vation of the oratorical faculties, sin(;ing is to be 
taught as an art, that is, acconling to scientific 
principles, particidarly as regards the formation 
of the voice, the pronunciation of the vowels an<l 
consonants, etc. ; and this cannot fail to prove, 
in its turn, a most valuable aid to the pupil in his 
reading lessons, while facilitating also his study 
of orthography. Not till after the third or fourth 
•chooUyear is the pupil allowed to sing from 
notes, Uie subsequent course of musical instruc- 
lion being dependent upon the number of lessons 
placed at the disposal of the teacher during the 
week ; but, according to Grell's opinion, vocal 
instruction at the elementary schools should be 
confined to two-part or at the most three-part 
singing. A vocal instruction-book from the pen 
of this excellent musical professor, and wherein 
his method is more fully expounded, will be pub- 
lished during the present year. 

The foregoing observations may suffice to com- 
plete our sketch of the condition of musical or 
more especially vocal instruction in Grerman 
schools. That the existing organization is, on 
the whole, a satisfactory one will scarcely be de- 
nied. But this well-developed organism lacks as 
yet a central motive power, and will continue to 
do so as long as the sUte fails to recognize the 
perfect equality of music with purely mental cult- 
ure as a means of education — above ail at the 
Gymnasia or state grammar-schools, from whence 
a newly awakened art-appreciation would natu- 
rally spreail to the elementary schools also. If, 
therefore, the authorities can be brought to 
perceive the necessity of elevating the musical 
fiiculty at state establishments to the position 
indicated, or of the preliminary introduction at 
least of a universal system of vocal teaching 
under the supervision of able, professionally 
trained inspectors, Germany will doubtless con- 
tinue to maintain the great reputation in matters 
musical which she enjoys outside her boundaries. 
If not, our neighbors will anticipate us in the 
adoption of these essential national measures, and 
will erelong have superseded us in the matter of 
school-singing. For every nation represents in 
itself the general type of humanity, upon which 

— apart, of course, from individual distinctions 

— the Creator has bestowed his gifts with an 
impartial hand. And if by chance one of the 
civilizing nations has remained behind in the 
development of this or that element of human 
culture, the reason must be sought for, not indeed 
in the want of natural ability, but rather in un- 
fiivorable outward circumstances. All that is 
needed, then, is the determination to remove 
these obstacles and to choose the proper rem- 
edies, and it will follow as a matter of course 
that what has hitherto been neglected will speed- 
ily grow into healthy existence ; and the results 
thus obtained will not compare unfavorably with 
the best achievements of any other nation. — 
London Muiical Times. 



TALKS ON ART. — SECOND SERIES.* 

VBOM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 



XL 



We are so delighted with the idea of Equality 
in this country that we try to subject Art to it. 
We try to teach everybody just the same thing. 
If something grows up above the common, we 

1 Copyright, 1879, by Hden M. Knowlton. 



find it out at once and promptly smash it. Our 
motto ought to be Equality and Imbecility. 

People look at pictures, not to enjoy them, but 
to find out something clever to say about them. 
They roll up a great ball of opinions, like a boy's 
snow-ball, and there is nothing accomplished in 
it. It is about something, but it is nothing. And 
everybody admires them on that account. 

** Then you think that people's ideas are more 
liberal in Europe ? " 

Yes, about Art. When I was a boy of nine- 
teen I sent my picture to the Salon. They took 
it and hung it well, and the older artists said, 
" Bravo 1 you 're going on well I '* That kind of 
thing does n't happen here. They really love 
Art there for itself. But here, although there 's 
plenty of ambition, there 's little love. If Paga- 
nini were to appear, people would listen to him 
with their mouths open for a few days, and then 
not care to hear any more. But request him to 
give their children some lessons! And when 
the girls had learned to hold the bow in the 
right hand and bend the elbow, they would 
think they knew as much as he. 

People like better to be first than second. 
Have you ever noticed how the wild-geese fly ? 
The leader is always some way ahead. He feels 
it proper to keep the others at a little distance. 
And there are plenty of people like him in this 
country. But tliey are more apt to be cold in 
their backs than in front. They can't have too 
many warm friends behind, but they don't want 
anybody before them. 

What are called weaknesses are often helps 
to character. Strength, without any weakness 
at all, is too hard ; as hard as diamond or steel. 
And you don't make an impression with mere 
hard force. That smashes a hole, which is not 
what you want 

I believe that the natures of animals, tigers, 
monkeys, and all, come together in man. 

I believe in production, in doers and doing. 
The poverty of to-day comes from the fact that 
people leave producing and go to cheating each 
other. All the result of production is invested 
in locomotives and in telegraphs. To get them, 
money is taken from the people and put into the 
pockets of the corporations. 

Taine suggests ; Ruskin dogmatizes. Taine 
does n't pretend to give receipts. The cook-books 
are full of receipts for making bread, but not one 
woman in a thousand can make goo<l bread. 

" Rousseau's idea of finish 1 " He had a receipt 
for it, but he spoilt bis whole existence by using 
that kind of finish. The definition is good, but 
the picture is spoilt^ 

It don't take many of Ruskin's ** added 
truths " to make a lie. 

Keep all that you feel for your work. 

Remember why. 

A bird is finished when he can fly. 
Memory-sketch every day. 



Don't put in too much detail t What 's that 
stuff they put into scalloped oysters ? 
" Mace ? " 
Yes, mace. Detail is like that. 

It took Coleridge to teach Allston, with his 
gentle nature, that real criticism should be the 
judging of a work by its qualities, and not by its 
faults. 

If there 's such a thing as Eternity, there 'a 
such a thing as Inspiration. 



mm^t'fi Slournal of inujattc< 



SATURDAY. AUGUST" 16, 1879. 



SINGING CLUBS: REPORT OF THE 
PRESIDENT OF THE CECILIA. 

The numerous' choral and part-song clubs 
which have sprung up within a few years have 
be-come an important phase of the musical aCf 
tivity, and we may say musical culture, — at all 
events here in Boston. The earliest and sim- 
plest organizations of the kind were little social 
knots of singers, who contented themselves with 
English glees, and found great delight in Call- 
cott, Bishop, and the several generations of s«:ch 
clever writers. Then it became not uncommon 
for small circles to meet at one another's houses 
for the practice of the Mass compositions of 
Haydn and Mozart; lovers of religious music 
naturally seeking some such means of escape 
from the dry, humdrum monotony of the old 
psalm tune — a type multiplied in injinitum by 
the money-seeking makers of continually new 
** collections ; " for at that time the German 
chorale, with the wonderful harmony of Bach and 
others, had not begun to be known here. Then 
came the part-song clubs, at first confined to our 
German fellow-citizens, who, under the general 
names of Liedertafeln, Miinnerchore, Manner- 
gcsangvereine, or more special titles, such as 
Orpheus, Arion, etc., made us acquainted with 
the many beautiful German part-songs, — above 
all those by Mendelssohn and Weber, — and who 
sang them with such fervor that all caught the 
spirit, and the English glees went out of fashion. 
No doubt much love of- vocal harmony was 
kindled and spread far and wide by these clubs 
of German part-song singers. But with persons 
of refined musical taste the charm of this, top, 
soon began to pall. In the first place, the four- 
part harmony of mere male voices of itself was 
sure to grow monotonous after the first hour of 
listening, and then the crowding of mere tenor 
and bass parts within such narrow compass re- 
duced the range of possible variety of composition 
within such limits that the type became virtually 
exhausted ; within the few ever recurring forms 
of sentimental love songs, spring songs, war 
songs, etc., all began to sound alike. With the 
combination of male and female voices, with the 
choir of ** mixed " voices, the range became in- 
calculably wider, and the repertoire of interesting 
and inspiring choral music, representing all the 
individuality of the masters of real creative 
genius, was not likely to run short. 

Now choral societies of mixed voices are the 
order of tlie day, and those which have taken 
the lead among us, like the Cecilia, the Boylston 
Club, and others that might be named, are un- 
mistakably a great help to the cause of music in 
an artistic sense, lliey are strong enough in 
numbers, and yet sufiSciently select in quality of 
voices, sensitiveness of ear and faculty of reading 
at sight, to make it possible to bring out really 
important works by the best masters, and to do 
them justice. Such things as Schumann's Para- 
dise and the Peri^ or his Manfred and Faust 
scenes, Mendelssohn's Waipurgis Night and AOd- 
summer Night* s Dreamy Handel's L* Allegro ed 
U PensieroMo, even the Cantatas of Sebastian 
Bach, the Masses of Palestrina, are but a few of 
the great works which may be done and have 
been, done in tliis way. These clubs also, by 
the nature of their organization, contain a cer^ 
tain guaranty of disinterestedness in what they 
do for art ; they make not merchandise of art ; 
there is no speculating impresario to dictate what 
they shall or shall not sing; they do not sell 
tickets, they sing to invited audiences and in a 
firiendly atmosphere ; their treasury is kept full 



134 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX- -No. 1000. 



by subscribing ** associate members/' and sympa- 
thizing volunteers and backers, who delight to 
" assist " at concerts and rehearsals. 

One important element, however, for a long 
time was wanting to the completeness of such 
performances, and that was the orchestra. Such 
works as we have above name<l do not convey 
the intention of the composer without that ; the 
orchestral accompaniment is part and parcel of 
the work, nay, is of the very soul and spirit of 
the work, with such masters, just as much as the 
voice parts. In some of the club performances 
of the last two years tliis want has been tolerably 
well supplied, and those singers who once com- 
plained of not being able to hear their own 
voices behind the mass of instruments, have be- 
come gradually but surely converted to a faith 
in orchestral accompaniment. In one or two in- 
stances a work has been given first with orches- 
tra with triumphant effect, and then repeated 
(on grounds of economy) with nothing but piano- 
forte accompaniment, and the second performance 
fell so flat that everybody felt that the orchestra 
must be a sine qua non from this time forward. 

Fortunate is the club which has such wise 
management and guidance, especially such a 
president, in these questions of selection and per- 
formance, as the Cecilia, which has now com- 
pleted its third year. The annual report of its 
president, Mr. S. Lothrop Thorndike, made at 
the annual meeting in June last, is so full of 
good suggestions, worthy of the thoughtful con- 
sideration of all vocal clubs, that we cannot for- 
bear presenting the entire document to our read- 
ers. Particularly must we commend all that he 
says about orchestral accompaniment, and about 
the importance of (he study of the vocal works 
of Bach and Handel. 

For the third time, contrary to my expectation of lust 
jeur; I have the honor to present, as i^resideiit of the Ce- 
cilia, the animal report of its affiurs. 

The active membenhip has been tomewhat larger than in 
pravious ycaiB, and the attendance more ■atisfiMtory. Few 
lesigiiationt have occurred, and few disminiab for kck of 
attendance or other catuei. The vacancies have been read- 
ilj filled from the hurge number of applicants for admis- 
sion. 

The rules regarding constancy and punctuality have been, 
in accordance with my recommendation of last year, more 
strictly enforced than before, and the result is very encour- 
aging* 

Tlie Club has given nx public performances. One pro- 

gramme was presented November 25 and repeated Novem- 
ber 29; a second February 7, repeated February 10; a third 
April 21 without repetition; and a fourth filay 8. 

lu our selections we have followed the course indicated in 
my last report, and have in the main carried it out. One 
or two works there mentioned have, it is true, necessarily 
lain over for another year. Art is long, and time (at least 
the time of the average concert season) very short indeed. 

For our first pair of concerts, given with piano accompa- 
niment, we had an attractive programme, comprising Rhein- 
berger's ** Toggenburg '* ballad, for the first time in Amer- 
ica; a chorus fi:om Lisrt's "Prometheus;'^ a march and 
chorus from Beethoven's " Ruins of Athens; " a quiet and 
beautiful part-sont;, by Hiller; one of the Bristol prise- 
madrigals, in which Mr. Leslie has followed so well the 
spirit and form of the old madrigallsts; four of the Italian 
canons of Hauptmann, the same which gave so much pleas- 
ure two years ago at the Harvard Concerts; Mendelssohn's 
song, ** By Celia's Arbor; *' and two piano pieces by way of 
overtures, — one being an eight-hand arrangement of the 
Allegro of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, and the other 
** Les Contrastes *' of Moecheles. Tempting as this pro- 
gramme was in promise, in performance it was somehow a 
disappointment. Much pams had been taken to make it 
varied and interesting in selection and arrangement. The 
music had been carefully rehearsed, and was well conducted 
and sung. The piano pieces were given with great life and 
effect. SUll it is to be feared that both singers and audi- 
ence felt the evening, as a whole, to be dull and spiritless. 
The reason is hard to find. One critic suggests that the 
laudable effort for variety had been a little too obliging. 
But variety can hardly be overdone where all the compo- 
nents are good and wdl combined and contrasted, and the 
quantity not excessive. Another says that the concert 
needed an orchestra. But none of the vocal pieces were 
written for an orchestra except the Lisat and Beethoven 
numbers. So we must fall back upon atmospheric influ- 
ences, and conclude that the moment was, for some unknown 
cause, huuispictous. This reflection is the fismiliar consola- 
tion when the best-laid plans go astray, ~ an experience 



which often occurs to persons who try to entertain tlieir fel- 
low-mortals, whether by a concert, a ball, or a dinner. 

Our second pair of concerts contained but two numbers, 
each of them of the best: a half of Bach's ^* Ich hatte viel 
Bekiimmemiss," and the whole of Gade's " Crusaders " 
For an account of the fir^t performance of this prugranime 
wiUi orchestra, the excellence of the choral and orchestral 
work, and the admirable singint; of Bfrs. Adams and Mnt. 
Noyes in the first piece and Miss Gage in the second, with 
Dr. Langmaid and Dr. Bullard hi both, I must refer you to 
the local critics, the alilest of whom pronounced this the 
Cecilia's finest concert tlius far, in the course of its three 
seasons. The repetition had to be given, on the score of 
expense, with accompaniment of piano and organ, and the 
contrast with the previous evening was depressuig, — an- 
other occasion to point the moral that it will not answer to 
divorce works wedded to instrummits from their lawful al- 
liance, and a hopeful sign, in that the violence done wss 
felt by every one in the balL 

Of the third programme (the fifth performance of the 
season), the first half consisted of twenty one numbers from 
Handel's '* L' Allegro ed il Pensieroso," which were sung, 
says a pleasant newspaper criticism, ** in a way to show the 
fascinating composition in so favorable a light that none 
save the most inveterate llandd-hater could have listened to 
it uncharmed." Handel's orchestral score was, of course, 
reinforced by Robert Franz's additional accompaniments. 
For the solos we were indebted to Miss Mary A. Turner, 
one of the best pupils of Madame Rudersdorff, and to Mr. 
George I^ Osgood, so identified with tlie cause of good 
music in Boston, and with the production of this particular 
work on both sides of the water. In the second part of the 
concert Miss Welsh retieated, with female chorus, her capi- 
tal rendering of Rubinstein's " Nixie," this time with its 
exquuite orchestration ; Mr. Wilkie sang " II mio tesoro " 
most creditably, and the Club sang the new prize glee, 
*' Humpty-Dumpty." and Gade's lovely *• Spring-greeting." 

The fourth programme (the sixth performance of the sea- 
son) presented the entire musical setting by Mendelssohn of 
Shakespeare's "Mldsumrao'* Night's Dream," the ph&y it- 
self being read by Mr. George liiddle, the Harvard teacher 
of elocution. It was scarcely a performance by the Cecilia 
as a Club ; but, if we may believe the unanimous vuice of 
our associates and invited guests, it was one of the most 
charming entertainments which could possibly be oflfered. 
The orchestra, under Mr. Lang's able lead, gave tlieir num- 
bers better than they have ever been given in Boston, the 
solos by Mrs. Hooper and Miss Gage and the felry choruses 
were admirably sung, and Mr. Riddle's reading, in all the 
various phases of the text, — heroic and sentimental, elfin 
and comic, — showed him a master of his profession. His 
sympathy with and adaption to his musical accompaniment 
wee especially noteworthy. And so our third season ended 
joyously and delightfully, leaving us, 1 am sure, encouraged 
and inspired for our future work. 

Pardon me a word or two upon a sutyect which I have 
already mentioned in previous reports. We have given dur- 
ing the season music by both l^ch and Handel. Many of 
us have doubtless been obliged to justify this course in an- 
swer to the Inquiries of our friends. The answer is and 
must be always the same. We sing' this music because of 
its intrinsic wMth, --.a worth which sounds through and 
above the figures and fisshions in which it is dressed. The 
figures in vogue in the day of Bach and Handel are strange 
to us now. The fiuhion of the dress is past. Perhaps — 
who can teU ? — some day it may come up again. But 
whether it returns or not, the music which underlies it must 
always have its word to say to him who has ears to hear. 
(}arrick, a century ago, used to play Hamlet hi a hioed coat, 
knee-t»eeches, and fiill-bottonied wig; but beneath the for- 
mal clothes and wig was stiU the Hamlet of Shakespeare. 

And it is no longer necessary to speak quite so apol<^et- 
ksally as awhile ago in defense of this old music. It finds 
a growing interest among performers and listeners. Music- 
lovers, not only in Germany, but in England and America, 
are devoting to it labor and zeal. Mr. Henry Leslie's choir 
constantly sings cantatas by Handel and Bach. A Bach 
choir of amateurs was formed three years ago in London, 
which sings Handel and Palestrina as well. And here in 
Boston the Boylston Club, among its many notable good 
deeds of the past year, has responded to an imperative de- 
mand for a repetition of Palestrina's beautiful Requiem, and 
the Handel and Haydn Society has drawn ti^ether an im- 
mense audience, which sat through a long afternoon and 
evening, all attentive and many spell-bound, under the im- 
mortal strains of the Matthew.Pasuon of Sebastian Bach. 
All this is significant of a real awakening interest; for our 
people do not go to concerts in a spirit of antiquarian curi- 
osity, but to be delighted and edified by that which appeals 
to the living tastes and sympathies of the present. It shows 
that these ok! composers belong to what Ourlyle, in the best 
definition of a classic ever given, calls " that select number 
whose works belong not wholly to any age or nation, but 
who, baring instructed their own contemporaries, are claimed 
as instructors by the great family of mankind, and set i4iart 
for many centuries fi^m the common oblivion which soon 
overtakes the mass of authors, as it does the mass of other 
men." 

I cannot forget, when venturing to pass judgment upon 
the musical work of ourselves or of others, that I am only 
an amateur speaking to amateurs. My criticisms may seem 
crude and inadequate to those whose very lifis is music. 



They may ask wh:it this man can know of the real merits of 
the questions upon which he presume* to speak. So, per- 
haps, to such as these, the whole study and performance of 
a dub like oun seems as to us the singing of tlie public- 
school children or of a country choir, l^t us Uierefore be 
modest, and submit ourselves to our spiritual pasturs and 
masters as inipUcitly as we may. It is good for us to be 
wonhipers even in the outer courts of the temple, and to 
catch broken glimpses of the mysteries that are passing 
within. For most, if not all, of us music must be a small 
part of our weekly occupation. We are busy in our shops 
or offi(»s or fectories or farms. Our life is spent not so 
much in living as getting means to live. But every man 
who has any aspirations above the mere drudgery of the 
world manages to find time in every week for a life some- 
what truer and higher than his bread-and-butter earning 
existence, — (me in his books, another in his pictures, an- 
other in his church, another in his garden. And It augun 
well for the musical pn^ress of the age that so many men 
and women, and more every year, find satisfaction and de- 
light in devoting the leisure they have won and the culture 
they have acquired to the pursuit of music, not as an amuse- 
ment but as an art. We do not hope or expect to become 
artists ; but we do hope and expect to grow day by day in 
taste, appreciation, and musical feeling. 

The Treasurer's report is most satinfactory, and shows the 
Club still ill good financial condition. But the report is .a 
sad one to receive, for he who should have presented it has 
left us. When our season was nearly over, -^ but a few 
weeks ago, — I'homas Franklin Reed set out upon a short 
voyage in search of health. He found, instead, his death 
two weeks after landing at Para. Associated with this Club 
from its commencement, associated with many of us for a 
much longer period in pursuits of business, or art, or social 
life; commanding the respect of every one by his fidelity to 
duty and his executive ability; winning the love of all who 
knew him by his genial and aflfectionate nature, — he has 
left a void not easy to fill. 

In accordance with usage, I have to submit at this meet- 
ing any suggestions for the future. We shall, of course, 
follow Uie same general pbin as heretofore, giving as great a 
number and variety of things, both new and old, as our 
time and means will alfow. We have in our library, un- 
touched, or scarcely touched, the Faust and the Manfked of 
Schumann, one of the shorter cantatas of Bach, and many 
part-songs, madrigals, etc. We have also under considera- 
tion the Odysseus of Max Bruch, and a repetition of his 
*' Fair Ellen." llie detail of the coming season can hardly 
be stated now, but must be left for future announcement. 
One point, nevertheless, must be decided speedily. The ex- 
periaice of two years has confirmed us, both active and as. 
sociate members, iu the belief, alluded to in this and previ- 
ous reports, of the constant, or at least fluent, necessity 
of an orchestra. An orchestra costs a great deaLof money. 
Shall we meet the demand by raisuig our assessments, or 
shall we give admission to a greater number of associate 
members, and let each member be content with a somewhat 
smaller number of tickets than during the last two years ? 
I'hia sul^ect I submit to your careful consideration. 

In conclusion, I beg to express to you my sincere thanks 
for the constant support and kindness shown me during my 
three terms of office, my best wishes fbr the oontinaed suc- 
cess of the Club, and my full belief that it has before it a 
Umg career of usefulness and honor. 



THE THEATRICAL " TREMOLO" FIEND. 

In speaking, in our last number, of the bore 
of having to hear so much irrelevant music be- 
tween the acts of plays in all our theatres, we 
forgot to mention a still worse infliction, which 
has grown into a theatrical custom of late years, 
namely, the uneasy interference of the orchestra 
all through the play. A year ago we alluded to 
this vicious, vulgar, unartistic jnractice, in about 
the following terms : — 

Thb modern way, particularly in harrowing 
sensational dramas, though it is no longer con- 
fined to these, of setting up a nervous tremolo 
pianissimo accompaniment in the strings at every 
entrance of a dark or mysterious personage, or 
at the approach of any critical moment, or 
throughout a very sentimental and pathetic scene 
or passage, is simply an abomination and a nui- 
sance. It is a vulgar trick of effect, reducing 
tragedy and comedy alike to cheap melodrama. 
It is not really music; it is only a senseless irri- 
tation of the nerves, intolerable to any sensitive 
and refined listener, be he musical or not. Why 
do they do so ? What good end is gained by it ? 
Does it make the tragedy more tragical? the 
villain of the plot more terrible ? the meeting or 
the parting, however fateful, of the lovers, more 
heart-rending ? No ; it only tempts you to ex- 



AOOD8T 16, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



135 



claim, like Othello : Silence, those dreadful vio- 
lins I This pestilent accompaniment, this quiv- 
ering, quaking undertone of nervous dread or 
mystery, this hysterical tittering tremolo of strings, 
80 utterly uncalled for, only robs the scene of any 
semblance of' reality. If the scene be one to 
thrill and make us shudder, we don't want the 
shuddering done for tM in the orchestra I And 
while we fight that off and shrink from it, as 
from the hum of persecuting insects, our sympa- 
thies are withdrawn from the play itself. It is 
as if the people in the pit or gallery should begin 
to sing, and hum, and whistle ; until it is sup- 
pressed, you only think of that annoyance, and 
not of what is passing on the stage. Why strive 
fo turn the play into a quasi opera, a thing nei- 
ther fish, flesh, nor fowl ? All these cheap arts 
of heightening Uie effect, only enfeeble it, and 
vulgarize the whole performance. We do not wish 
to be told when we must thrill with awe, when 
We must tremble with expectation. These 'sig- 
nals are officious and impertinent. If the play 
Itself be not ** the thing to catch the conscience 
of the king," will your cheap advertising dodge 
of " tremolo ** be apt to do it ? 

— In the opera, of course, the case is different. 
There music is the chief element of expression ; 
there music is principal, and employs all its 
means of voices and of instruments to prepare 
the hearer's mind, and to intensify expression. 
But this vague, creeping tremolo, these whis- 
pered indefinite hints of melody, — mere pale 
ghosts of music, — really express nothing ; nor 
can we imagine any feeling, any ^tate of mind 
which they can fitly accompany, unless it may be, 
possibly, die so-called ** stage fright " of young, 
nervous actors, unaccustomed to the foot-lights. 

These soil volunteer accompaniments seem to 
be a sort of impromptu burlesque Wagnerism ; 
they treat you ad nauseam to ever recurring 
" LfCit-motiven," though of a most impalpable 
and flimsy texture. We fancy the great Rich- 
ard would hardly care to see himself so carica- 
tured, his crack invention so abused. 

But afler all it is a fashion, and, like all fash- 
ions, it will pass away. We do not know to what 
length it has been carried, or whether even 
Shakespeare is still held sacred. So far as our 
own limited experience goes, we do not remem- 
ber to have encountered this tremolo fiend in 
the murder scene in Macbeth, or where Banquo's 
ghost rises, or lurking behind the ghost in Ham- 
let. But the tendency at present seems to be 
all that way. Heaven save us from the fiend 1 



School of Vocal Art in Philadelphia. 
— Mme. Emma Seller, to whose zeal and energy 
this now flourishing institution — almost a Col- 
lege of Music in itself — owes its origin and its 
success, writes us at the end of its fourth year 
as follows : — 

. . . ** For the firrt time we had a graduating clais 
of puplb who had pasted through the full course of four 
yean, as the school has existed only since 1876. Some of 
the gfaduates already have positioua in academies in other 
dtiee as singing teachers, some will be retained in the school 
as such, while others of them prefer to remain longer and to 
go on fiirther with their studies. 

** The number of the pupils this year was again larger than 
in tlie pKTioas year, allowing an increasing interest in the 
sehool on the part of .the public. 

"During the last year tl^^re was added to the other 
bnnehci ^ musical studies a class for the Rudiments of 
Music and Slght-Reading ; also an orchestra was formed and 
taught for the purpose of afibrduig pupils a chance to prao- 
tiee singing Iti operas and oratorios with orchestral aocom- 
paaiment. For the next season olssscs for all instruments 
have been arranged, and advanced pupils will have the ad- 
vantage of playing in the orchestra. 

•'Among Uie operas performed during the hut winter, 
upon my improved stage, were: The Water Carrier^ by 
Cherubini; The Night in Granada^ The Elixir of Love, 
etc. In the oratorio class were studied Mendelssoho's /fynm 
of Praiiej The Seven SUtpere, by Loewe, ete. 



I 

** Especially in the weeldy concerts of the school could be | 
observed a constant progress of the pupils. The monthly ' 
concerts, open for the friends of the school, were more and 
more favored with appreciative audiences, and many more 
tickets were asked for than could be granted. Several quar- 
tet clubs were formed One of them, * The American Imt 
dies' Quartette,* is now on a concert tour, and is received 
everywhere with much applause. Some of these young sing- 
ers are so Cur advanced in composition that they compose 
very pretty original quartets, and harmonise the songs for 
their own use. Some of the pupils had last winter success- 
ful operatic engagements, others have reaped praise on the 
concert stage, wbUe the church choir class has taken a lead- 
ing place. 

** My constant thought and care is to improve the school, 
notwithstanding the iiicrease of labor it will give to the 
already great task of faithfully overlooking the work, while 
engaged In teaching the greater part of the day. But I hope 
that my strength and health will last until I have raised the 
school to the ideal I carry in my mind, and till I have edu- 
cated valuable teachers who can carry on the woric when my 
strength and myself are gone." 

MUSIC IN CHICAGO: SEASON OF 

1878-1879. 

The Chicago Sunday Tribune (July 27) con- 
tains the following remarkable exhibit of a year's 
music-making in that enterprising city, from the 
pen of Mr. George P. Upton : — 

During the season, which commenced June 1, 1878, there 
have been 347 concerts and 827 representations of opera. 
The concert programmes include 2919 numbers, represent- 
ing 542 diflferent oompoeers. The total number of perform- 
ances, concert and opera, is as follows: 

Pinafore representations 162 Schubert Institute . . 4 

Other operas .... 165 ApoUo Club .... 4 

Eddy organ recitals . . 40 Werrenrath .... 4 

TunierHall .... 83 Amy Fay . . . . .8 

Hersbey School ... 81 LitU 8 

Church concerts ... 22 Pratt Symphony . . 3 

Personal testimonials . 21 Chicago Orchestra Sym. 

Charity concerts ... 11 phony 8 

Tennesseeans .... 10 Abt Society .... 8 

Musical College ... 8 Athencum .... 8 

Beethoven Society . . 8 Kemenyi 8 

Wilheln\) 6 MisoeUaneous . . . . 108 

Sherwood 6 

Germania Maennerchor . 6 Total. . • . .664 

Kellogg and Cary . . 4 

THE PROOBAMMES. 

For the last six years Mendelssohn*s music has been given 
more frequently than that of any other composer, but in the 
season of 1878-79 Schumann heads the list with 115 num- 
bers, Chopin is second with 104, Mendelssohn third with 98, 
and Beethoven fourth with 94. The othtf prominent com- 
posers follow in this order: Liszt, 90; Schubot, 87; Bach 
(Sebastian), 76; Handel, 46; Mosart, 43; Rubinstein. 40; 
Meyerbeer, 34; Lecocq, 34; Wagner, Gounod, and Abt, 37 
each; Verdi, 36; AVeber, 35; Johann Strauss and Dudley 
Buck, 34 each; Doniaetti, 30; Merkel, 29; Franz and Raff, 
28eaeh; Flotow, 27; Supp^ and Sullivan, 25 each; Guil- 
mant and Uatton, 22 each; Benedict, 21; Battiste, 19; 
Rossini, 18; Ambroise Thomaa, 17; Pratt, Planquette, and 
Macfarren, 16 each; Wieniawski and Gottschalk, 15 each; 
Volckmar, Haydn, and Ernst, 14 each ; V ieuztemps, Koel- 
ling, Balfe, and Goldbeck, 13 each; Bach (C), Cowen, De 
Beriot, Lemmens, and Ruecken, 12 each; Brahms, SUlas, 
Smart, KuUak, and WaUace, 11 each; Bizet, Campana, Hil- 
ler. Pease, and Socdermann, 10 each; Spohr, Saint-Saens, 
Raiid^gger, Offenbach, Bellini, Coeta, and Blumenthal, 9 
each; Aubisr, Bishop, Gumbert, FieM, and Rheinb«ger, 8 
each; Tours, Thiele, Schreiber, Best, Reinecke, Mason, Lach- 
ner, Jensen, Hamm, Henselt, Garrett, Faure, and Barnby, 
7 each; Boccherint, Conradi, Luzzi, Loeschom, Molloy, Mer- 
cadante, Rosenbecker, Tschdkowsky, and Ulrich, 6 each; 
Widor, Yogel, Taubcrt, Schultie, Spooholtz, Rittec, Rink, 
Resch, MilUrd, Mills, Masse, Levy, Lux, Lassen, Kreutzer, 
Kuhnstedt, Hesse, Hoffmann, Hememann, Gluck, Gsde, 
Gleason, Grieg, Faust, l)eLAnge, Dow, Bilse, Calkin, Braga, 
Dana, Bradbury, Adam, and Archer, 5 each. In addition 
to these there have been twenty five represented by four num- 
bers; twenty-nine by tiuee numbers; seventy-one by two 
numbers; and no less than 286 oompoeers have had but one 
reprssentation on the programmes of the year. 

OPERA SEASOlfS. 

There have been ten opera seasons (exclusive of "^Pina- 
fore '* sesaons), as compared with five last year. The first 
was the Di Murska season at Haverly's, Jidy 8, 9, and in- 
cluded two performances; the second, the European opera- 
boufie season at the New Chicago, Oct. 28-Nov. 2, including 
^ight performances; the third, the Strakoach season at Mo- 
Vicker^s, Nov. 11-23, including fourteen performances; the 
fourth, the Thicy Titus season at McVicker's, [)ec. 80-Jan. 
4, including seven performances; the fifth, Um Hess season 
at Uooley*s, Jan. 6kll, including eight pierformanoes; the 
sixth, the Mapleson seasmi at Haverly's, Jan. 13-25, includ- 
ing fourteen performances; the seventh, the Oates sesaoo at 



Haveriy*s, Feb. 8-15, hicluding fourteen performances; the 
dghtb, the Strakosch season at MoVieker^s, March 17-22, 
including seven performances; the nnith, the Hess season at 
Hooley*s, April 7-12, including eight i)erfomiances ; the 
tenth, the Aim^ season at Uaverley's, June 23-2U, including 
nine performances. In addition to these, Uie Rice party has 
gi\'en two seasons of burlesque opera at McVicker's and Hav- 
erly's, and an amateur troupe gave The Doctor of Alcan- 
tarriy May 8, at the West End Opera House. The operas 
performed have been as follows, including the number of per- 
formances: Dim FcuquaUy 1; GxroJl€-Girofia,9\ Masked 
Ball, 2; Faust, 5; Alda, 1; Tixtviata, 2; Mignon, 4; 
Lucia, 4 ; Carmen, 5 ; Martha, 2 ; Trovatore, 8 ; FavoHta, 
1; Chimes of Nurtnandg, 15; Fra Diavolo, 1; Bohemian 
Girl, 1; Maritatta, 1; SonnanU»tla, 2; Le Notze di Fi- 
garo, 1; Rigoletto, 2; Magic Flute, 1; Puritani, 1; Hu- 
guenots, 2 ; Le Petit Due (new), 21 ; La Marfdaine^ 1 ; 
La Perichole, 1; Der lAdteetrank (new), 1; Paul and 
Virginia (new), 8; Bose of Castile, 1; Doctor of Aleas^ 
tara, 1; Cinderella, 4; Mme, Fatart (new), 8; Les Bri- 
g'tnd^ 2 ; La Jolie Parfumeuse, 1 ; Grand Duchees, 1 ; 
Fatinitza (new), 16; and Trial by Jury, 4. In addition 
to these the following burlesques have been given : Bobineon 
Crutoe, 11: Babes in the Wood, 12: Horrors, 4; Hiawa- 
tha, 4 ; Piff'Paff, 3 ; and a burlesque of Pint^ore^ 6. 

" PWAFORR." 

How deeply seated the ** Pinafore " erase has become may 
be inferred from the following statement It has been per- 
formed 162 times, the various seasons and number of repre>. 
sentations in each being as follows : 

Boston Pinafore Company . January 27-February 1 . 8 

Amateurs February 24— March 8 . 14 

Amateurs March 17-22 .... 7 

Duff Troupe March 24-April 12 . . 28 

Pauline Markham . . . March 31- April 5 . . . 9 

Amateurs April 29-May 3 . . . 7 

Pauline Markham . . . May 19-24 7 

Madrigal 'IVoupe .... May 26-June 1 . . . 7 

Comic Opera (Company . . May 26 -July 5 ... 82 

Juvenile IVoupe .... June 2-14 16 

Church Choir Company . June 9-July 26 ... 82 



Total 



162 



FIRST APpEARAKCES. 

During the season the following first appearances of pro- 
fessional artists have been made in this city. Sopranos: 
Mrs. E. A. Osgood, Catarina &Iarco, Mile. Litta, Catharine 
Lewis, Mme. Sinioo, Mile. RoUiati, Marie Stone, Etelka 
(jerster, Mile. Lido, Mme. Koelling, Gertrude Franklin, Ma- 
ria L. Swift, and Florence Ellis. Altos: Mme. Lablache, 
Laura Joyce, Mme. Galimberti, Morence Rice-Knox. Ten- 
ors: Sig. RosnatI, Weatbeig, Las Zarini, Grazzi, FranceschI, 
FrapoUi, and Gillandi. Banos: Remmerts, Foli, Mc^nald, 
Thierry. Baritones: D. Y. Bell, Makin, Biagan, Pant*, 
leoni, Moranski, Galassi, and Werrenrath. PUnbts: Leila 
W. (Sraves, Max Pmner, Walton Perkins, and Max Yogrich. 
Yiolinists: Wilheln^J, Remenyi, Zeline Mantey, Kaiser, mod 
Otto A. Schmidt. 

IMPORTAirr WORKS. 

The following Important works have been performed during 
the season: 

Symphonies, — For oigan, C minor. No. 1 D, No. 2, £ 
minor, No. 3, F minor, No. 4, of Widor, by H. C. Eddy ; 
C minor, No. 5, Beethoven, D minor, No. 8, Schubert, and 
the "Italian," Mendelssohn, by Pratt's Orchestra; B flat. 
No. 1, Schumann, op. 11, Burgmuller, " Pastoral," Beet- 
hovai, " Battle Symphony,*' Beethoven, Rosenbecker*s Or- 
chestra. 

Miscellaneous — God in Nature, Schubert, Apollo (]IIub; 
Ninety-frst Paalm, Meyerbeer, Apollo Club; God in the 
Tempest, Schubert, Apollo Club; Phaeton, Saint-Saens, 
Chicago Orchestra; Orpheus, Liszt, H. C. Eddy; Walpur- 
gis Nadht, Mendelssohn, Beethoven Society ; Acts and Ga- 
latea, Handel, Apollo Club; St. Paul, Mendelssohn, Apollo 
Club; Les Preludes, Liszt, Pratt's Orchestra; Fi-ithjof 
Brucb, Apolk) Club; Odysseus, Bruch, Beethoven Society; 
Die Tranung, Piutti, H. C. Eddy; Fable of tlie Fairest 
Melusine, Hofflnann, Beethoven Society ; Elegit, Raff, 
Beethoven Society; Song of the Spirits, Hiller, Beethoven 
Society; Messiah, Apollo Club; Manzoni Beguiem, Beet- 
hoven Society. 

In addition to these works there have l^een given 4 con- 
certos, 4 sonatas, 2 preludes and fugues, and 1 trio of Slai- 
delssohn ; 3 sonatas, 2 trios, and 2 ftigues of Merkel ; 4 con- 
certoe, 1 toccata, 19 choral preludes, 9 fugues, 1 gavotte, 
2 trios, 2 preludes, 1 sarabaiide, 2 choral fantasies, and 1 
adagio of Bach ; 1 fugue of Thiele; 1 concerto and 1 fugue 
of IJszt; 1 concerto, 2 sonatas, 1 fugue, 2 trios, and 2 qiiin- 
teti of Raff; 1 trio of Gleason ; 2 sonatas of Rubinstein ; 1 
quartet and 3 sonatas of Rhdnberger; 1 trio and 2 sonatas 
of Mozart; 1 trio of Haydn; 2 trios of Schubert; 4 sonatas 
and 1 fugue of De Lange; 2 trios of Ambroise Thomas; 
1 trio of Durand; 1 trio of.BruU: 1 fugue of Guilmant; 1 
fugue of Hicbter; 1 sonata and 2 fantasies of Lemmeits; 1 
fugue of Bernard ; 1 concerto, 8 fugues, and 2 quartets of 
Schumann; 1 fugue of Buxterhude; 1 fugue of Kreblis; 8 
concertos, 15 sonatas, and 3 trios of Beethoven ; 1 fugue of 
Rlnck, and several minor compositions in this department of 
ehambo* music. 



136 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXI X. — No. 1000. 



8UMMAST. 

The remariotble progren of muBio daring the put six 
yeMi majr be best appiwuited by the folbwing comparative 
atatenient: 



Conoerte. 


Opexaii. 


Nmnben. 


CompoMn 


187»-1874 138 


69 


866 


198 


1874-1875 184 


69 


1,4M 


284 


1876-187G 237 


79 


2,008 


300 


1876-1877 270 


99 


2,322 


461 


1877-1878 2d8 


64 


2,618 


464 


1878-1879 847 


827 


2,919 


542 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Prucoetox, Ind., Aug. 6 — As jrour Chieago oorre- 
spoodeiit has aooepted au engagement to give instruction in 
a ** Normal Music School" during part of the summer va- 
cation, he takes the liberty of sending jrou a eommunioation 
in regard to the worlungs of the school, as well as upon the 
state of munc in this part of the country. « 

Prinoeton is one of the oldest towns in this State, having 
been settled in 1812, and is legarded by its people with no 
little veneration, not only on account of its age, but because 
its dtisens possess a high degree of culture and a love of 
refinement, which alone are representatives of the true kind 
of growth. In njatters of education the little city seems 
progressive, and its schools affintl good opportunities for the 
youth to prepare himself for his bsitle with the worid. 

Musically, there has been an attempt at organization, for 
I find a choral society, numbering some eighty voices, which 
has had a rsguhr conductor for the past year, and has de- 
voted itself to the study of four-part songs and choruses. 
The Normal School for the study of music, if rightly con- 
ducted, becomes an impMiant fiietor in the development of 
the musical talent of the West. For scattered through these 
smaller towns are numbers of music teachers wlio have little 
time, and, in roost cases, not money enough, to come to the 
large cities during the musical see sou, and keep tbemsdves 
abreast with' the progress of the worid. Thut we find a seem- 
ing necessity for theie difbrent musical elements, — from tlie 
la^ cities and the smaller inbnd towns, — to mingle with 
each other, imparting and receiving instruction, as ^e case 
may be. Oftentimes misguided talent is given a poeitive 
start in the true direction of development, and the seeds of a 
correct taste phnted, which, after a season, bring forth fruit 
worthy of Nal art. Choral organhtation also foUowa, and a 
better idea of what dass of mosie is worthy of study is given 
tlie singeri than they ever had before, until they learn to 
love the gprand choruses of tfie oratorios, and an incentive is 
given thmn to go forward in the direeUoo of true musical 
progress. 

In this present school, there are four instruotors, one of 
whom, Mr. J. P. Weston, comes iran Boston. The others, 
Mr. B. F. PMers, Mr Crosier, and the writer, are from 
Western cities. We number some seventy -five private pu- 
pils, with a btfger* number in classes, and an evening class 
of some e^hty singers, which engages in the study of ora- 
torio clionises and other choral work. 

It is one of the pleasing features to me to observe that 
whenever good music is given in the song and piano-forte re- 
citals it seems to meet with appreciation and excites mter- 
est. The student who had devoted his time to commonplace 
music seems to find in the works of the old masters a new 
and wonderful field for study, and is induced to reform his 
touch that he may, in time, be able to make Mendelseohn^s 
** songs without words" sing under his own fhigen; while 
a sonata of Beethoven will (rften excite musical interest to 
such a degree that a long course of technical Etude$ are 
undertaken with the aim of reaching the grand music of this 
master as a reward for the perustent study. 

When musical talent is dormant for want of an opportu- 
nity to manifest itself, it is the duty of every true musician 
to give it what aid he can while it is under his influence. 
In regard to vocal music, I think that the American people 
have more material in good voices than we are yet aware of; 
for I have been plessed to find that the average voice of the 
chorus singer in these country places has a native quality 
which, even with a short training, makes it for from disa- 
greeable. There are for more soprano than alto singers, 
while the basses far outimmber the tenors; but the average 
quality of the vdces is much richer in tone than one would 
suppose. 

I must mention one young lad who came to us from the 
for-away forming districts. He had never seen a piano- forte 
until be came to this school, but had given himself what 
home study he could through the idd of a little portable or- 
gan that was in his fotheKs house. I found, to my aston- 
ishment, thai he could read vocal music at sight, and, more 
than this, could name any note that was sung to him, hav- 
ing a correct ear for positive pitch. I sang a numiier of 
impromptu exercises to him, asldng him to name the notes, 
which he did without any mistake. Upon questioning him, 
I found that he was fond of music, and* that wlien he leuiied 
that our school was to be near to him (a matter of thirty 
miles), be had taken the trouble to earn the mooey to enable 
him to be one of the pupils. Yet his taste for music had 
led him to do much c^ the hard work — of learning to read 
correctly at sight — unaided at home. What a lesson of in- 
dustry such a picture is, and what an example to many city 
students, who fritter both their Ume and opportunity away, 
veAiaing to muitc that sincere and persistent e0brt that afoue 



win enable talent to ripen with something af^Moaching per- 
foction. Tlie real acooniplishments of art and culture must 
be bought with patient work and conscientious endeavor. 

C U. B. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Albebt Weber, the New York piano manufacturer, 
who died on the morning of June 30, came to America a 
poor lad, and by his own iiidefotii{al)le industry and enter- 
prise gained a high reputation among the piano manofoct- 
urers of this country, and amassed a fortune estimated at 
9500,000. He was horn in a small town in Bavaria in 1829. 
His fother was a doctor, and it is not known that either bis 
fiUher or his mother had even ordinary musical taste and 
talent, but the son played on the organ and on the ptsno at 
four years of age. He was almost equally quick in his other 
studies, and when he was hardly sixteen was graduated at 
the Gymnasium. It was his aim to be a school teacher. In 
his seventeenth year he came to America, and findbig that 
music teaching was a lucrative calling, obtained pupils and 
went to work. Then he conceived the idea of becoming a 
piano manufactnrar. He learned the trade of Mr. Van 
Wynkle and Mr. Holder, manufacturers of that time, and 
while working with them continued to give music lessons in 
the evening. 

In 1852 he had saved $1,000, .nd concluded to start in 
business fbr himself, hiring rooms at No. 103 West Broad- 
way. For a few months he had had a room in White Street, 
wheie he repaired pianoa. His growing establishment was 
burned to the ground in 1854, the year in which he married 
a Port Chester lady. He next took a store at No. 165 West 
Broadway, where he enlarged the business to the production 
of four or five pianos a WMk. In 1865 he moved to Broome 
and Crosby streets, and was soon making six pianos a week. 
This was then considered a Urge business, but now the manu- 
factory turns out forty a week. While he was in Broome 
Street he built, in 1868, the manufactory in Seventh Avenue, 
which, in 1876, was eiilai^ to a flrontage of 262 feet on 
Seventeenth Street, and of 104 fieet on the avenue. About 
400 men are regularly empfoyed, and the yearly product is 
now between 1,8u0 and 2,000 instruments. Mr. Weber gave 
his personal supervision to the manufocture of 14,500 ptanoe. 

He left Broome Street in 1869 for the present spacious 
warerooms at Fifth Avenue and Sixteenth Street. Besides 
being his business headquarters, these rooms were also pUces 
of social gathering for musicians and singers, and several 
reunions were held there. Bir. Weber belonged to the Lotos, 
Manhattan (Arcadian while it existed), and Palette Qubs, 
and was also a member of the liederkranz and Arion Socie- 
ties. 

Mr. Weber always ascribed his first marked success in 
business to the rivalry which early grew up between him and 
another firm, and which was carried on to the last, bis com- 
petitors in l>usiness baring served papers on him in a suit 
for alleged infringement of patent only a few weeks ago. He 
was tireless in his work, frequently giving his time to it txotn 
eight ill the morning till one o'clock at night, especially ba- 
f<Ne his reputation waa fully established. His aim always 
seemed to be to make the next piano better tiian the hat 
IIm business will go forward as heretofore, with the excep- 
tion that Albert Weber, the son, assumes the proprietorship. 

We learn that the late lamented Lewis B. Monroe, Dean 
of the School of Oratory in Boston University, is to be suc- 
ceeded in that function by his widow, who is a sister of the 
singer, George L. Osgood, and is said to be ftally qualified for 
the important work. ___^ 

The Children's <* Pinafore '* is still running every evening 
at the Boston Museum. 

A GRAND sacred concert was given Sunday afternoon at 
Gahi's Pond, in Berlin, Mass., by Mme. Erminia RudersdorfT 
and a number of her young lady pupils. The affiur was a 
benefit entotainment in aid of Edgar Larkin of Hudson, who 
wss tlie contractor for building Mme. Rudersdorft*s barn at 
Lakeside, which was demolished by the tornado of July 16. 

Thkeb is a talk of Mr. Gye invading the United States 
in rivalry to his great competitor, Mapleson. Gye has been 
in America, and, while his main olject was to look after 
Albani's interests, he managed to spy out the land and make 
notes. His company is intended to include Patti, Albaiii, 
Scalchi, Valleria, and Zare Thalherg, but this amugemeut 
will depend a good deal on Patti's engagement in Paris. 



FOREIGN. 

The arrangements for the Birmingham Festival are now 
completed, and it has been settled that the novelties shall 
lie produced as foUows : Herr Max Bnich's cantata, «* The 
Lay of the Bell,** has been fixed for the first evening pro- 
gramme on August 26 ; M. Samt-Saens* ^ The Lyre and 
the Harp" will be produced on the following Thursday 
evening, and Sir Michael Costa*s ** Date Sonitum " will b^ 
given on Friday morning. The artists will be Mesdames 
Gerster, Sherrington, Patey, and Trebelli, Miss Anna Will- 
iams, Messrs. Uoyd, Cummings, Mass, Vernon Rigby, 
Saiitley, i|nd Henschel, Sir Michael Costa bemg the oon- 
dvetor. The chief Items of the programme of the festival 



at Hereford are given bdow, and the leading vocalists will 
lie Mesdauies AJIjaiii, Patey, and Euriquex; Misses Kmma 
Tliur«by, Anna Williams, and I>e Fonblaiique BCessrs. 
Cummiiigs, McGuckiti, Saiitky, and Tliuriey Beale; the 
Cathedral mpmist, Mr. I^igdon Colbome, being tbeeon- 
ductor. 

TiiK full prc^;ramme for the Hereford Festival has not 
yet lieen' settled, at any rate so far ss the daily chorsl serv- 
ices in the Cathedrsl and the secular concerts in the Shire 
Hall are concenied. In the Festival proper, the ." El^ '* 
is fixed for the first day, September 9 ; on the Wednesday 
a misoeUaneous programme will include I'lirodl^s **Te 
Deum " in D, the first two porU of Bach's •« Christmas" 
oratorio, Handel's » Esther" overture and *'Zadock tba 
Priest,'* Spohr's 84th Psalm, and the" Pignus Future'* 
from Moxart's Litany in B-flat. In the eveuuig, Mendda- 
sohn's 95th Psalm and ^ Hear my Prayer,** and Rossini'a 
*• Stabat Ifater," will be given. On the Thursday the pto- 
gramme will include Sullivan's '* The light of the World,** 
and Haydn's «* Imperial Mass ; " and on Friday the '' Mes- 
siah " will be given. The symphonies selected for perform- 
ance at the Shire HaU are the " Scottish '* and the *« Eioica;*' 
and the Festival will condnde on September 12 with a cham- 
ber concert. A new organ has been erected for these per- 
formances by Messrs. Briiidley and Foster, of Sheffiekl, and 
the orchestra, under fiCr. Langdou Colbonie, will be led by 
Mr. H. Weist Hill. 

Poor Henrt Smabt (we copy fivm Figaro July 12) 
lias not kmg agoyed the pension of X 100 recently bestowed 
upon him out of the Civil list. On Sunday night, to the 
great grief of a wide cirde of friends, and to the deep regret 
of all fovers of genuine music, he paswd away at tlie mature 
age of sixty-six. Henry Smart came of a truly musical family. 
IBs uncle. Sir George Smart, and his fother, one of the 
most reelected members of our metropolitan orchestras, 
must both have imbued him with a taste for music. There- 
fore, although we find him early in life apprenticed to the 
law, it astonished no one that he threw up his articles and 
Joined a band of honest art-workers who have done mndi to 
phuse our country in the position it now occujues in the 
musical commouwealtli. For Henry Smart was no creature 
of the boor, content to write for publishers in the folMor de- 
based style demanded by the fosfakm of themoment If his 
works are not phenometuJ, if he attained less celebrity than 
some of his contemporaries have done, he had the proud 
satisfaction of knowing that he never deviated firom the true 
principles of high art. Hoir^ Smart's mors important com- 
positions, his opera, " The Gnome of Hartcboig,*' hie ean- 
UU » Jacob," and his ** Bride of Dunkerron," the kst writ- 
ten for (he Birmingham Festival, are schokriy works; but it 
is for his church sendees, his organ [^eces, and Ui songi thai 
he will be chiefly remembered. His momine Serviee in F, 
** llie Lady of the Sea,*' » From Greeohuid*s ley Mount- 
ains," and ** Haste, ye ftlaidens,** will live when many of 
the more ephemeral works of some of his better known ooo- 
temporsries will be forgotten. As an organist, Henry Smart 
had few, as an extemporiser, probably no equalin this eonn- 

fy. 

AcooRDiNO to VArt MvmcUl^ amon^ the new works M. 
Yaucorbeil has before him, for the Paris Opera, are Gounod'f 
'« Le Tributde Zamora,'* Massenet'a '' Herodtade,** Ambraee 
Thomas's **Francesca de Rimini,** Salvayre's ** Richard 
HI.," Godard's « Uue ConjnraUon de Fieeque,** Lafo*s " Le 
Roi de Lys,** Dias's » Benvenuto Cdlini,** Guiraod's «* Le 
Feu," Beyer's » Sigurd,** Masse's » Cleopatre,** and Offen- 
bach's " Contes d'Hofftnann." The director is also pledged 
to revive an opera by Gluck. 



Leipzig. — The operss performed here during the month 
of Biay were: Boeeaodo^hy Supp^, three times; Norma 
twice; Lortsing's Undine^ twice; and the folfowing once 
caeh : Mosart's Seraglio^ Nozu di Figaro^ Zanberfi^, and 
Don Juan; Meyerbeer's VAfricaine; Verdi's TroonUirt; 
Nessier's Der JRattenfdnger mm Hamdn ; Wagner's Der 
Ring des Nibtlungen, all four parts. There were eighteen 
opera uighta. ______ 

The Leipsig SignaUf in its report of the annual eiaml- 
nations at the Conservatory of Music, speaks of a string 
Quartet and an Overture by Mr. George W. Chadwiek, of 
Boston, as among the best spedmens of original eompo- 
dtion offered by the pupils. We trandate: » The Quartet 
by Mr. Chadwick shows, together with natnral and hedthy 
invention, an aheady respectable power of plastic form.** 
. . . . » Of the Overtures, we must prononnce that by Mr. 
Chadwick, to the American«legend of Rip van Winkle, by 
for the best; it presents tteah subject-matter, well articulated 
form and structure, and skillful orchestration." 



The Sacred Musie Assodation of Cologne, under the di- 
rection of Professor E. Mertke, bitdy gave a performanee of 
Cherubini*s Bequiem. 

A perform AKCE of Yerdi's Requiem has been given in 
the Scab, Milan, in aid of sufferers from the inundations of 
thePoandtheeruitioaof Mount Etna. Verdi himsdf eoo- 

ducted. 



j^DOusT 30, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



137 



BOSTON, AUGUST SO, 1879. 

Xat«red at the Post Offleo »t Boston %* •aeond'CUM mfttter. 

CONTENTS. 

Sahuo. Shtart Sttrtu 187 

ToB DgrsLOPMiHT or Pxamo-Fobti Musxo, pmm BaOR to 

ScavMAVM . From tho GonBikn of Carl Van Britfek . . 187 
Ths Bkaut im PiAHO Flatimi. W. 8. B. Matkewi ... 189 
Tbb Baububq Musical Fbstival. BtUmard Haiuliek . . 189 
A WoBA OP Waxhiko. The Perils of Younf Ameciean Glris 

in Btuopeen Cilios Ul 

Talks on Aet: Bmond Sbubs. From Instruotions of Mr. 

WiUlMtt M. Hunt to his Pupils. XII 141 

Boos Rbtiiws 141 

The PUlosopbj of Mosle. — Tumctb Flffurlnes. 
HiBiiAmr^OBT): His Cantata, "N<B.^u" 143 

MOSIOAL COKKUPONDINCB 143 

DeBenee, 0. — PhUsdslpbU. 

NOTBS ANB GLBANIN«8 144 



la tkt orHdeM nel tndiud to otktr puHUahons wrt exprtaM^ 
wriumfar tkii JomnuU 



PiMUked fwtnigkUg by HouoHTON, OsaooD anb Compant, 
220 Devnshin Stn«t, Boston, Frioe^ 10 conU • nmmbor ; $2M 
ftr year. 

For sole in Boston hy Oabl Pmtbpbb, 30 West Street, A. Will- 
iams & Co., 283 Washington Strtet, A. K. Urin«, 369 Wash, 
ington Street, and by iMe FubUsJurs,- in New York by A. Bebn- 
TAXo, Je., 39 Union Sqmare, and IIouomoN, Osoooft & Co., 
21 Astor Plaee; in PkOodrtpkia by W. U. BoNia A Co., 1102 
Ck'stnmt Street; in Ckieago by tke CuoAAo Musio Company, 
612 SiaU Strtot. 



n 



SANZiO. 

BY 8TUAIXT 8TKIUIB, AUTHOB OP ** AXGELO. 

(Continued from pace 180.) . 

TitB antunin with its Ming, mswt leaves, 

Aiid clouded suns and ehilljr rains, had oome, 

And then Uie winter with brief, dreary dajs, 

And kmg, durk nights, stomi-toesed and starlem oA, 

And Benedetta lingered on and on; 

Nor she nor Sanzto questioning earnestly 

How kNig, how short, glad life might ihna endure. 

He well eoutent she never uttered now 

The words that first had someiiniea startled him, 

^ I cannot stay here ever, Sansio tnhie! *' 

But when the quickening breath of early spring 

Stirred in the air with infinite sweet promise, 

tihe said one day, ** My S«nzM>, let me so 

Back to my home fttr but a liUle whUe! 

My heart has hungered long to see onoe more 

The dear old spots I know and love so well. 

Where we had passed so many happy years, 

Grsudaui and I, and where she lived and died. 

And the good neighbon that were kind to us, — 

I pray you, say not no! '* 



Saniio kM>ked grieved, 
And then, not full of cheer as onoa before. 
But with gnve earnestness, he said, ^ But, Love, 
You must come back to me, for you have grown 
More than the joy and sunshine of my days; 
You are a part of all my deepest life! " 

She promised with a willing heart, and went; 
Yet tarried two whole weeks, but sent a message: 
*' Tlie ndghbon are most kind and have much work. 
That keeps nie, but I shall be with you soon. 
I lore you, and 1 dream of you all night ! *' 

She came at length, but even then she said, 
" I (ear me mUch I must away onoe more,' 
Though it is sad to leare you, Sanzio mine! 
This is a buay time out In the woods, 
And it is snrdy right tliai I help those 
Who ever proved our friends ! '* 

He made no aiiswcr, 
And, glancing up, she read in his deep ejes. 
The light of that unuttenble joy, 
Some new, immortal work had kindled there. 
Was it but this, perchance, and the swift flush 
Of gladness on his brow, at sight of her. 
Wherefore she mariwd not now a stnnge, deep change 
In his beloved features? " Come! " he said, 
And ksd her to the work-room, and before 
A fresh, great canvas there. 

A group of figures 
Upon a hin, and In their midst the Christ, 
Who rose, with upturned face and ontstretehed hands, 
Into the heavens that opened in his path, 
FkMted and borne ak>fl by waves of light 
lliat streamed about Uim, fed ss fkom a spring 
»om out his form and oouutenance divine; 
Shedding a golden radiance all aroimd, — 
So great a glory tliat the few elect 
Who Lad drawn ck)se about their Master's feet 



Shrank back afirighted from the blinding glow. 
And bid their feeea. Further still bdow 
Other disciples, and with them a woman. 
Who, kneding, pointed to a struggling boy, 
Possessed by demons. 

Benedetta fong 
Stood rapt and speechless, and with bated breath. 
Gazing upon the Saviour, for she seemed 
To see naught else; then suddenly bowed her head. 
And, ooveriiig up her fece, began to weep, ••- 
Not in loud sobs, as Saiizio heard her first, 
But with a moaning, low, heart-broken sound. 
That pierced him to the souL His own eyes -filled. 
As tenderly he drew her trembling form 
Close to his heart, and gently asked, *• My Own, 
My Benedetta, — nay, wherefore these tears? 



>« 



She could not answer for a moment; then, 

Kaisiiig her head, said slowly, '* Ob, my Sansio, 

It is so passing great and l)eautiful. 

My fertile lips scarce dare to gire it praise ! 

But yet I know not ! — when I saw it fint 

A strange, swift pain seized on my heart, a pang 

Hiat would not pass, but sharpened more and more. 

Until at length it drew these foolish team. 

IVay you, forgire me, — it is o\er now ! " 

And, growing calm, she turned to look again 
Upon the wondrous work, yet lifted not 
Her eyes this Ume to the Kedeemor's form, 
But, poitituig to the kneeling woman, asked, 
•* And who is this?" 

His brow contracted daridy; 
" It is the face of her," he said, and spoke 
Unwillingly, she fancied, ** whom I knew, «• 
It seems to me it was lung yean ago, — 
Ere you had oome. And I hare put her here. 
As one who even on an hour like this, 
FiUod with the glory of the Lord, breaks hi 
With the unhallowed, jarring sounds ol earth ! " 

«« Yet she Is passing lair! " said Benedetta, 
And sighed, and tl^n was silent. 

^ See," be said, 
When she prepared at hat to bid fenweQ, 
** What I hare carved for you, while you were gone; 
Take it, dear heart! " and put into her hands 
A crucifix of finest ebony, 
Hung by a delicate silver chain. 

Alook, 
Long, deep, aiMl fender, thanked him more than words; 
She kissed the cross and hid it In her bosom. 
And promised she would snrdy soon return. 
And thus they parted. 

Sanzio, left alone, 
Took up his brush again, resolved to work, 
But laid it down ere long, with drooping hands 
And a strange, sudden sinking of the heart. 
A drop, unuttenble weariness, 
A sense of bleakest, hopeless desolation. 
Crept like a numbness, clogging e%'ery limb 
With leaden weight, up firom bis very feet. 
And slowly spread itself o'er heart and brain. 
Was this, — he thought and shuddered ss he felt 
An icy stream pour through each shivering rein. 
While his brow burned and throbbed, — was thb, great 

God! 
The chill of disenchantment in the blood. 
Before whose stony eye the ecstssies 
Of lore itself should wither and grow dumb, — 
Withui whose poison breath should fede and die 
The light and gfow of all things beautiful? 
The ecstasies of love, — where were they now, 
Where all the qilendor of thoae proud creations 
The whole wide work! applauded ? He glanced np 
At the great canvas and about the room; 
The glory of the Savfour was no more, — 
Vale, dim, and ookNrless, the works he wrought 
Seemed blindly to return his gaze. His hold 
Sank heavily upon his heaving breast. 
Oh, wherefore, wherefore, cried his inmost soul. 
All this hot UhI and efiurt, — all this straining 
Up rugged paths, beneath a burning sun, 
With thorn-pricked, bleifding feet, and with the pangs 
Of a great thirst iio spring could quench ? Wherdbre 
All ih>t and fever of this fleeting life? 
Even they, his noblest works, to whom he gare 
All his best heartVbk>od, fireely, joyfully. 
And with it, as he fondly fended onoe. 
Immortal life, — even they should perish soon, 
Crumble into grey dust sjid barren ashea. 
Oh, he had said too well, that ancient king, 
All was but emptiness and vanity ! 

He turned to rest his head upon his arm, 
And as he closed his eyes he thought once more, — 
Thus pauses all the glory of the world ! 

( To bt continued.) 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FROM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

FROM THB OBBMAN OF CARL YAK BRUTCK. 

(Continued from page 181.) 

As the chief representative of the older 
piftDO-forte music appears indisputably Sebas- 
tian Bach, that altogether extraordinary, 
wonderful, one might say fabulous, artist and 
genius, who by his productions — truly giant 
works — throws into deep shadow almost all 
that has been done before him and beside 
him upon Grerman soil ; and one may say 
that whoever has studied his works has fairly 
taken up into himself the sum and quintes- 
sence of all that German art down to his day 
was able to accomplish. The centre of grav- 
ity of Bach's gigantic, phenomenal art activ- 
ity lies not, to be sure, in bis very numerous 
and extremely pregnant and significant piano 
and other purely instrumentul works (the piano 
in his time was still a very meagre instru- 
ment), but in his Cantatas (mostly for the 
church, of which he has written more than 
two hundred), his great f^assion-Music (more 
than one), his Motets, and I may add his Or- 
gan compositions, which are unexampled in 
their grandeur ; but even in the former field 
he stands altogether above all that was pro- 
duced before and during hi.s day. The^e 
works, too, although some things among them 
appear antiquated (as is also the case with 
some of the Cantatas), will hold their im- 
measurable artistic worth so long as there shall 
be a musical art at all, and the capacity to ap- 
preciate and comprehend it. 

It will be understood, of course, that even 
on this field much that was excellent and im- 
portant had been achieved already before 
Bach (he had, for example, in the person of 
an uncle, Christian Bach, a very significant 
forerunner in the Cantata) ; for even the 
greatest genius never can create entirely ex 
ovo an art complete and perfect in itself. 
Wherever we behold any art at a high stage 
of progress, we may confidently assume that 
a long period of development has gone before, 
even if nothing at all be known to us about it. 
Thus Shakespeare, for example, as a dra- 
matic poet far surpasses all that has appeared 
in modem times, even on British soil ; yet he 
had several very remarkable, nay important, 
predecessors, who, much as he excelled them, 
and genuine to the inmost core as his incom- 
parable magic works appear, yet were not 
without influence on his development. But 
I believe I do not err when I maintain that 
in case of need one may safely ignore all that 
was produced before and during Bach's time 
in piauo-forte music (which is our special 
theme), and yet gain from bis works alone a 
complete idea of the condition of the whole 
art development of that time, besides some- 
thing more that is altogether peculiar to 
Bach's own genius. 

We may here and there find some single 
little form worked out to a more perfect fin- 
ish, as in the productions bequeathed to us 
by Domenico Scarlatti, Couperin, and some 
others ; we may compare the ^ Suites '' which 
we possess by Handel to those by Bach ; 
but one will hardly be able to maintain and 
prove that Bach's piano works (and here I 
speak of these alone), taken together, on the 
whole have been surpassed, or even equaled, 



138 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 1001. 



by any one of his predecessors or contempo- 
raries. 

Instrnmental music hitherto has developed 
only two great art forms, namely, the so-called 
Suite and the Sonata. The Concerto be- 
longs essentially to the latter art form, and 
is distinguished from it almost solely by the 
one peculiarity that it usually consists of only 
three movements, whereas most sonatas have 
four. The so-called Fantasia (by no means 
a modem invention, but already occurring 
with Bach, — one needs only to remind him- 
self of that grand example, his ** Chromatic 
Phantasie ") shows by its name that in it 
the composer to a certain degree dispenses 
with that greater strictness of form, to which 
otherwise he is more or less bound ; indeed, 
the second part of the Bach Fantasia just 
named consists of a Fugue of as strict and 
measured form as the great master has com- 
posed. I speak here, first of all and chiefly, 
only of the larger art forms, in which the 
artistic development properly completes itself, 
and pass by for the present the numerous 
smaller forms, of which I will give special 
prominence only to the Variation. I could 
and would also omit discussion of the Fugue, 
inasmuch as this form is not peculiar to in- 
strumental music, but is also very much etn- 
ployed in vocal music Yet I must consider 
it expressly, not only because it is one of the 
highest (as well as the strictest) forms of art, 
but because precisely in the Fugue has Bach 
achieved the most incomparable success, — be- 
cause in it he, and he alone (one might almost 
say), is a " specialty ; " and on this field, to 
borrow an expression from " world exposi- 
tions," he stands in a certain manner hare de 
concoure^ somewhat as Beethoven stands in 
the symphony, Schubert in the Lied, Shakes- 
peare in the modern drama (modern as con- 
trasted with ' the antique), and Walter Scott 
in the romance. 

The " Suite " is an art form which devel- 
oped itself in the course of the seventeenth 
century, perhaps somewhat earlier. One feels 
almost tempted not to recognize it for an art 
form in the higher, stricter sense ; at all events, 
in this regard it stands far below the more 
lately developed " Sonata ; " for in fact it 
consists merely of a succession (a suite) of 
smaller musical pieces, originating mostly 
from old dances (known by the names, Alle- 
mande, Sarabande, Gigue, Lourd, Bourr^e, 
and many more), and naturally retaining their 
rhythm; but they appear so far idealized 
through art that for the most part they 
would have satisfied the real dancing wishes 
and requirements of our ancestors as little as 
the sonata-minuets, the art-waltzes, or the 
Landlers of our day. But anyhow this first 
larger, broadly laid out form, although not 
distinctively an art form, and very far from 
perfect, shows the original and intimate con- 
nection of all instrumental music, as on the 
one hand with song, so on the other hand 
with the dance. But those little tone-pictures, 
of which they used to string together five or 
six into a quasi-whole, by no means show 
that artistic mastery of form, that rich and 
ample build, which distinguishes the larger 
** movements" of the later sonatas, nor that 
inner organic connection which characterizes 
the master-works of the latter kind, particu- 
larly those which sprang from the lofty soul 



of Beethoven. But the greatest disadvan- 
tage of the Suite, as compared with the later 
Sonata, is that all the single movements of 
which it is made up play in the same key, 
and so wholly lack the rich variety of modu- 
lation which distinguishes our Sonata both 
as a whole and in the single pa^ts. In spite 
of all this, however, the Bach Suites (as well 
as those by Handel, which are almost their 
peers) contain a fullness of most precious 
pictures. Fugues proper do not occur in 
them ; yet even in them Bach uses the fugued 
form in many ways, for that was the uni 
versal art style of the period. But many 
pieces are found even here of the most sipiple 
structure, of the most graceful melodic charm, 
of an enchanting and (espedally in the Sara- 
bands) deep sentiment, nay, of the most de- 
lectable, transporting humor ; for, indeed, we 
may remark this by the way. Bach, next to 
Beethoven, is the greatest humorist in the 
realm of music (a side of him which perhaps 
is the least generally recognized) ; and he 
confirms the old truth, that the richest full- 
ness of this quickening and refreshing gift of 
God is apt to dwell within the most deeply 
earnest natures, of which we have such an 
illustrious and far-shining example in the do- 
main of poetry in Shakespeare. 

One other art form might be named along- 
side of the Suite and the Sonata, which, his- 
torically, should be inserted between these 
two, as standing somewhat nearer to the later 
Sonata ; and yet, on the whole, it is to be 
counted more decidedly with the Suite tribe, 
I mean the so-called Partita, of which we 
possess several by Bach, and which in grand- 
eur far surpass the Suites. An anthology of 
the most magnificent tone-pictures might be 
made up of these alone. 

But Bach appears complete in all his 
greatness, with a mastership never again 
reached, or approached but from afar, in his 
celebrated <* Thirty Variations," and his still 
more celebrated fugue-samples under the 
name of the Well-tempered Clavichord, each 
of the two parts of which contains 24 fugues, 
introduced by preludes, in all the major and 
minor keys; this stands unique in the whole 
literature of musical art. I can properly for- 
bear to add more to the praise of this aston- 
ishing double work, inasmuch as I have al- 
ready done my part towards it in a larger 
writing, especially devoted to this work, which 
appeared twelve years ago in book form from 
the press of Breitkopf & Hartel. Bach as a 
fugue composer (speaking, of course, always 
in the general, and without wishing in the least 
to draw too near to the master creations of 
earlier or later times) is as unique and in 
certain respects incomparable (hors de con- 
cours) as Beethoven in his Sonatas and 
Symphonies, Schubert in his Songs, and Mo- 
zart " whilom " {bislangy as an opera com- 
poser. And the same mark (of the very 
highest creative energy) characterizes in like 
manner each of these corypheuses of music in 
his own respective field, — this, namely : that 
every one of their creations appears com- 
pletely individualized, so that no one of them 
is like another, either in outward form or 
spirit, and each (with vanishing exceptions) 
presents itself as a special, clearly distinct or- 
ganism. If one wishes to form a conception 

1 It this an ironical oompliment to Wagner ? — Ed. 



of what a fullness of the richest, liveliest 
play of fancy, soul, and feeling this fugue 
form, so frequently condemned as ' I and 
dry, can take up into itself, let him gain it, 
as he can and will if he have any suscepti- 
bility, from the study of this imperishable 
work, — in which, moreover, little as one 
might expect it, the great humorist not sel- 
dom takes up the word. To be sure, this 
study, in whatever way pursued, has its difii- 
culties, and presupposes a considerable prep- 
aration, as well theoretical as practical. 

Strictly taken, his Well-tempered Clavichord 
cannot properly be classed with the piano* 
forte literature, at least in so far as Bach in 
his conception of it hardly thought of its ex- 
ecution on the ''clavichord.*' Rather do 
these two-, three-, four-, and five-part fugues 
s^em quite ideally conceived (with the Pre- 
ludes, which precede them, the case is different, 
to be sure) ; they might be executed just as 
well, and even better, by stringed instruments, 
since the strict separation of the single, indi- 
vidual voices (parts), with their strictly poly- 
phonic leading, is well-nigh impossible o\\ the 
piano; when each voice is assigned to h par- 
ticular instrument, it comes out more clearly 
and appreciably ; and then the technical ex- 
ecution is subject to no such great difiiculty as 
on the piano, which presupposes, at least in 
the tied (legato) style, a high degree of virtu- 
osity, since it not only requires great fluency, 
with perfect independence of the several fingers, 
but in the over-rich polyphony of the move- 
ment and the limitations it induces often 
calls for the most ingenious fingering, to say 
nothing of the broader and higher artistic 
conditions implied in a satisfactory rendering. 
(Already Mozart, led probably by the recog- 
nition of this fact, had transcribed some of 
these fugue pieces for bow instruments ; and 
I have myself followed this example, having, 
through Breitkopf & Hartel, published eight 
of them in such an arrangement) 

And just as this fugue work stands uni- 
versally recognized for something unique and 
alone in the whole art literature of music, an 
imperishable monument of a gigantic mind, 
to which the most complicated tone oombina* 
tions were an easy play of fancy, so too we 
may boldly claim as such a unicum the 
above-named set of Variations, in spite of all 
the great and splendid works which later 
masters have produced in this form. A large 
part of these Variations is wrought in poly- 
phonic canon form, this quite in the manner 
of Bach, through all the intervals, from the 
prime to the tenth. And with all the aston- 
ishing art with which these pictures are exe- 
cuted, at the same time what ease, leaving all 
this expenditure of art scarcely perceptible 1 
What grace ! What overflowing life and spirit I 
What deep feeling ! This work is at the 
same time one of the most beautiful and most 
euphonious of the wonderful, sublime master. 
For, we may remark in passing, pure beauty, 
sensuous beatUy of. sound, is one of the quali- 
ties comparatively most seldom found in the 
otherwise so astonishing, powerful, and in 
many ways transporting and enchanting crea- 
tions of this incomparable genius. The in- 
describably h'gh, inward, and profound enjoy- 
ment they afford to listeners who are suscep- 
tible is often more of the intellectual, spiritual 
sort, and such as stirs the inmost soul, rather 



AuoDST 80, 1879.] 



DWIOST'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



139 



than such as gratifies the ear with that pure 
euphony which springs only from the equi- 
librium of h11 the art factors ; whereas in 
Bach, generally speaking, the technical ele- 
ment preponderates, though in the most thor- 
oughly inspired form. On the one hand, his 
delight in the technical, in pure musical forms, 
on the other, the lofty, mighty sweep of his 
ideas, rendered him less susceptible to that 
sensuous euphony which we find so ravishing 
in the works of his great followers. And 
his, too, was the stand-point of the whole art 
culture of that time. 

( 2b be ntUinutd.) 



THE BRAIN IN PIANO PLAYING. 

I HAD not long ago a conversation with my 
friend, Dr. J. S. Jewell, one of the best informed 
men regarding mental and nervous action that this 
country contains. He tells me that the nerves 
of sense-perception terminate in the cortex (or 
outer coat) of the brain, every kind of sense- 
perception having its own group of cells. These 
groups of celb in diflferent parts of the brain 
communicate with each other by means of com- 
missural fibres. Ideation (as I understand him) 
is supposed to be the result of a comparison or 
reaction of the impressions of one cell or group 
with another or oUiers, carried on by means of 
these connecting fibres. 

In fcetal life the cortex of the brain is scarcely, 
if at all, occupied by cells, and in childhood but 
sparsely so. Every added thought or knowl- 
edge signifies the addition of new ceils and the 
connecting fibres necessary to coordinate the 
ideas composing the knowledge, or to coordinate 
the motions if the new acquisition is a matter of 
mechanical skilL Such an addition to the think- 
ing material of the brain is the physical accom- 
paniment of every advance in knowledge, as, tor 
instance, the acquisition of a strange language. 
This kind of growth goes on with more and 
more difficulty as the individual advances in life 
and nutrition falls below current demands. Hence 
the difficulty of learning when one is old. 

Passing with mere mention the corollary that 
this view makes the mind the stimulant and in 
fact the creator of the thinking organism, I call 
attentioir to the light it throws on certain well- 
known facts pertaining to piano playing : — 

(1.) Technique acquired in childhood is of a 
much more satis&ctory and complete kind than 
that first obtained afler the body has approached 
maturity. (Because, in childhood, nutrition is 
ready in large surplus, and there is as yet plenty 
of spare room in the upper story for finishing off 
new apartments.) 

(8.) So also in regard to the practical mastery 
of rhythms. Whoever studies Mason's Piano- 
forte Technics carefully will observe a certain 
want of correspondence between the chapters on 
rhythm and the practical exercises among the 
scales and arpeggios. The defect, if defect it 
be, happened in consequence of the practical ex- 
ercises having been first written with a view of 
including only the most useful forms for practice. 
But subsequently, in preparing the explanatory 
chapters on rhythm, I discovered that all direct 
rhythms (t. «., all rhythms arising firom the uni- 
form subdivision of the units) could be reduced 
to twos and threes, and that therefore they must 
be built up out of twos and threes. For al- 
though a smart pupil might well enough leap at 
once into the very midst of things and play a 
rhythm of nines and twelves without difficulty, 
I was constantly finding pupils unable to compute, 
for example, sixes as two threes, though perfectly 
able to compute them as three twos. The dif- 
ficulty evidently is in not being able to compute 



in threes. It is therefore necessary for them to 
play for some time in triple measure, counting 
" one, two, three," and afterwards << one," omit- 
ting to count the two and three, until the triplet 
is established as the unit of measurement. Now 
in this process very curious inabilities appear. 
For example, this very day I had a pupil unable 
to play the scale in triplets. After some time in 
counting one to each tone she became able to 
play triplets counting only " one " with the first 
note of each triplet. I tiien tried to have her 
play the scale in sixes, but she made it ** sixes 
and sevens " by putting in four in place of the 
second triplet in about every alternate measure. 
I then tried to have her play triplets, saying 
'< two " as she struck the first note of each. This 
she was entirely unable to do, although I directed 
her to try it, counting " two %nd a " with each 
triplet, as well as in figures ** ttoo, two, three." 
The two demoralized her completely. Her math- 
ematical instinct seemed to cry out, '<Two in 
three you can't." Now when I get her able to 
play triplets, counting only " two," I shall carry 
it on until she can play them counting '< three," 
** four," and so on. 

Rhythmic accentuation and the accompany- 
ing computation Dr. Jewell thinks is done from 
the cerebellum. Pupils having difficulty with 
these rhythmic computations have in general a 
defective sense of number, and experience sim- 
ilar difficulty in arithmetic and mathematics gen- 
erally. 

Those who have not thought of it will be 
surprised tp observe how much of the climax in 
great works rests on rhythmic foundations. That 
is to say, in orchestral works especially one finds 
that each repetition of the theme brings with it a 
higher rhythmic motion ; so that it is not unusual 
to find a compound rhythm wherein the leading 
voice has one tone to a unit, one part of the ac- 
companiment two notes to one of the melody, 
and another part three or four to one of these. 
In Beethoven's Sonata in C minor, Op. Ill, there 
is a three times three of this kind, that is, an ac- 
companiment in triplets, and another in triplets 
to that 

(8.) This also throws light on the process of 
learning a new piece. Every concert player or 
advanced teacher knows that a difficult piece is 
not to be taken up and mastered at a gulp. But 
it is repeatedly practiced for a while, and then 
laid aside for a time; and in this way only is 
it to be brought to thorough finish. Now this 
signifies, evidently, the fiunl that a piece eontain- 
ing something essentially new requires new cells, 
or at least new communicating fibres in the 
brain. These are established more and more 
completely with each new study of the piece, 
until finally it is fully mastered and belongs to 
the common stock of every-day music-thinking. 

(4.) This also shows why new ideas are not 
more readily received, no matter how true they 
are. Indeed, I am not sure but a false idea is 
more easily received by the generality. For a 
lie goes dodging about the brain, helping itself 
to any line of communication, while poor honest 
truth has to wait until slow-moving conservatism 
builds the needed bridge. Folks can't think new 
thoughts all at once. They have n't the tools. 
Schumann's music had to wut for a generation 
to be built with brains to receive it, and Wag- 
ner has fared much the same. 

^And to wind up with an illustrious example, the 
Lord of Life and Glory has been all these six 
thousand years or more trying to get up a pat- 
tern of human brains in which truth and honesty 
would always keep the track, whUe lies and 
cheating would always go into the ditch. 
(5.) Habit has a physical basis. 

W. S. B. Mathews. 
Chicago, III., 1879. 



THE SALZBURG MUSICAL FESTIVAL. 

[Krom Uie Vienaa NeiM Frala Pnnt.] 



It is not raining ! This will suffice for every 
one who knows Salzburg. It is tantamount to 
reminding him of one of the most beautiful sights 
on earth. The splendid town, exciting the ec- 
stasy or the rage of all travelers, according as 
it glints in the sunshine or sulks in eternities 
of rain, lies to-day stretched out luxuriously un- 
der a clear blue sky and a bright sun. At a 
very early hour I felt impelled to ascend the 
Capuzinerberg, that enchanting rock, which, as 
the inscription carved in stone announces, was 
assigned as a retreat by an undoubtedly rich and 
probably unhappy archbishop to the ** paupero 
ac felici Cappucino." While wandering about 
on the hill of the poor and happy Capuchin 
monk, and reveling in one view after another, I 
was thiniring of anyihing but the Festival con- 
cert. Or at any rate, I thought that we ought 
to greet thankfully any motive, and consequently 
the present musical one, which brought so many 
human beings, with a sense of die beautiful and 
a longing for freedom, out of their hot work- 
rooms and the <* crushing narrowness of the 
streets," and enable them to drink in, ?rith full 
draughts and to their hearts' content, the beau- 
ties of such a landscape. If^ after such a de- 
lightful day's work, you feel inclined to gratify 
yourself and others with some music in the even- 
ing, translating, so to speak, into . tune the im- 
pressions of nature you have enjoyed during the 
day, all the better. This landscapy-pictur- 
esque point of view, whence the Salzburg Musical 
Festival is beheld as the goal of a musical pleas- 
ure trip, is not only the most inviting, but per- 
haps the only one, for any person writing an ac- 
count of the • proceedings. Quite in keeping 
with the character of an artist's country outing 
were, to begin with, the concerts with which 
some members of the orchestra delighted certain 
small towns, as they passed through them, so to 
say, on their pilgrimage hither. Thus, for in- 
stance, Schantel, the player on the French horn, 
and Moser, the harpist, gave a most crowded 
concert at Waidhofen on the Ybbs, the feat being 
rendered possible by the existence there of a 
zealous Liedertqfel, admirably trained by Fried- 
rich SchiiTner. 

A critic bound merely to supply the Viennese 
public with new and interesting musical infor- 
mation respecting this Festival, which includes 
nothing but well-known compositions executed 
in the well-known manner, would have finished 
almost ere he began. He would simply have to 
copy out the programme, and add in a tone of 
unclouded satisfaction : *' Everything went off 
without a finuit and also without rain." At 
the first concert on Thursday evening, the mem- 
bers of the Vienna Philharmonic, under Hanns 
Bichter's experienced guidance, performed the 
overtures to Die ZauberJUUe and Man/red ; 
Schubert's B minor Symphony of two move>- 
ments; and Beethoven's Seventh. Herr Joseph 
Hellmesberger (the hereditary prince) played 
with uncommon elegance and correctness Bach's 
Violin Concerto, so often — nay, almost exclu- 
sively — selected by him. Mme. Clementine 
Schuch-Proeka chose two Mozartean airs, one of 
which (finom Idomaneo) moves in a simple and 
expressive cantilefML^ while the other (that of the 
Queen of Night) contains the most brilliant spec- 
imens of scale and staccato iramara in the high- 
est notes. The lady's voice sounded full and 
fresh through the hall, which possesses excellent 
acoustic qualities, and her artistic delivery, re- 
markable for its good taste, elicited a storm of 
applause. The arrangements in the spacious bat 
somewhat bare Aula of the Salzburg Gymnt^ 
slum were the same as they were two years agp^ 



MO 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1001. 



and perfectly satisfactory. The applause could 
not have been warmer or more proIonge<]. The 
attendance, however, especially in the foreuiost 
and dearest reserved seats, was unfortunately 
not so numerous as it should have been on the 
occasion of such a pleasing event, simply of in- 
calculable value to Salzburg, as the performance 
of the Philharmonic. That a large portion of the 
local nobility and of the high clergy should omit 
to seize the opportunity of proving their sense 
for art was an especial subject of regret. 

The second concert (Fri<]ay*8) failed, on the 
whole, to go off BO successfully as the first, and 
could hardly be heard to the end without a con- 
siderable feeling of weariness. In the first place, 
a summer's evening is not favorable to grand 
concerts ; the heat soon becomes oppressive, and 
the artificial illumination, struggling with the 
dnylight from without, looks dull and gloomy. 
Ot' all the pi<'ct*ii in the programme, by far the 
strongest impression was produced — as on so 
very many previous occasions — by Beethoven's 
Leanore Overture, Na 3. Coming immediately 
after this fiery stream of tone, Mozart's Concerto 
for Two Pianos was inevitably too pale. It is 
pleasing society-music, for the most part conven- 
tional in purport, and of a style of virtuosity 
long since left behind ; at any rate, the first 
movement would have been quite sufficient in so 
very long a programme. The charming con- 
certed playing of the Brothers Thern could not 
prevent the work in its entirety from wearying 
the audience, the more especially, as there was 
rather a good deal of Mozart played in lucceft- 
aion : the Piano-forte Concerto in three move- 
ments, Susanna's '* Garden Air," which Mme. 
Schuch-Plroska repeated by desire, and the E- 
flat major Symphony in four movements. To 
these must be added Beethoven's Violin Con- 
certo, so nearly related in form and expression 
to the style of Mozart Herr M. Graun, the 
CaneertmeiMter, exhibited astounding dash and 
lasting power in two grand cadences, but unfort- 
unately often fiill foul of pure intonation. Dur- 
ing the whole Festival Richard Wagner was rep- 
resented by only two short pieces : the prelude 
to the tfainl act of Die Meiitenittger and Hanns 
Sachs's monologue, ** Was duftelt doch der Flie- 
der." Including as they do so many more im- 
portant and more effective compositions by Wag- 
ner among their stock pieces, the members of the 
Philharmonic might have been expected to make 
a more appropriate selection. Hanns Sachs's 
monologue belongs, it is true, to the purest and 
most characteristic scenes of the opera, but in a 
concert-room is very unthankful for the vocalist 
and not very intelligible to an audience unfitmil- 
iar with Die Meisiersinger, Still more unintelligi- 
ble, when torn out of the opera, must be the short 
prelude to the third act. But supposing the two 
pieees to be once set down fin* the second concert, 
the prelude ought meet undoubtedly to have been 
given immediately after the monologue, and thus 
they would have mutually expl«ned and enhanced 
each other. Why Herr Richter inserted between 
these two Afeuttersinger firagments an air by Mo- 
zart and Beethoven's Violin Concerto is not very 
clear to us. The singer charged to give the 
Hanns Sachs monologue was Dr. Emil Eraus, 
formerly a member of the Imperial Opera House, 
Vienna, and now first baritone at the Cologne 
Theatre. He acquitted himself of his difficult 
and not very thankful task in a masterly manner. 
We found his voice stronger and more ringing, 
and his style more expressive, than during his 
Vienna engagement, and the capital is most truly 
a loser by his secession. He would be a valu- 
able acquisition not merely for the Opera House, 
but for oratorios and concerts in Vienna. 

The third and last concert of the Festival was 
restricted to the domain of chamber-music, piano- 



forte compositions, and songs, the orchestra tak- 
ing no part in it. Two ladies — the Count«ss 
Spaur, a virtuo8a on the harp, and a Mile. 
Briinnicke, a concert-singer from Magdeburg — 
sent apologies for their abrenco through indis- 
position, M> Mme. Schiich-Proska reigned even 
more than on the previous evening as undisputed 
queen. Ater giving two well-known songs by 
Schumann and Mendelssohn, with pleasing ex- 
pression, but a not over-intelligible style of pro- 
nunciation, she was led on, amid continuous ap- 
plause, by Dr. Kraus, with whom she sang the 
duet ^* Reich' mir die Hand, mein Leben," from 
Don Juan. This piece, not included in the pro- 
gramme, and, so to speak, something extempore, 
was naturally welcomed here above all places with 
unbounded satisfaction. Dr. Kraus achieved, 
too, with his songs (Brahms, Robert Franz, and 
J. Sucher) complete success. The string-quartet 
was represented by Hcrren Griin, Karl Hcfmann, 
Zollner, and Giller, of Vienna, and the piano by 
the Brothers Them, who executed, in masterly 
fashion, on two pianos, Schumann's Andante with 
Variations, Beethoven's Turkish March, and a 
Waltz by Chopin. This matinee was of a more 
unpretending and more homely character than 
the two evening concerts ; it seemed, however, to 
satisfy the audience none the less for that, but, 
on the contrary, to suit their taste exceptionally 
welL 

A grand musical gathering, with concerts on 
three days, and festive arrangements of every 
description, may certainly with perfect justice be 
entitled a Musical Festival. But the local oi^n 
of the *' International Mozart Institute " is in 
error when it claims for that Institute the merit 
of having been the first *' to pave the way for 
naturalizing in Austria musical festivals such as 
have long been living realities on the banks of the 
Rhine^ in Gennanyr The Salzburg Festival 
has neither the character nor the importance of 
the German meetings. These are carried out by 
the combined efforts of all the musical resources 
of an entire province. For instance, all the 
orchestral and vocal associations of the surround- 
ing country cooperate in the musical festivals of 
the Lower Rhine, which are held alternately at 
Diisseldorf, Cologne, and Aix-la-Chapelle ; every 
musician or amateur is ready with his voice or 
his instrument, and the different choral unions, 
of which the female members, married and un- 
married, belong to the best classes, study all 
through the winter the oratorios chosen for the 
following Whitsuntide. On this account the 
Grerman Musical Festivals are important events 
for the whole population, and a means of national 
musical education of incalculable value. Here 
in Salzburg, on the contrary, the cooperation of 
home-artists and amateurs is entirely wanting; 
as at the first, so at this second, festival, there 
appears to have been a certain marked intention 
to exclude local instrumentalists and ringers. As 
long as the so-called *' Way-Paver " does not 
employ local executants and complete the pro- 
grammes by grand choral music, we can properly 
speak only of Philharmonic jConcerts given in 
Salzburg by the band of the Imperial Opera 
House, Vienna, supplemented by two or three so- 
lobts. The inhabitants of the Rhenish Provinces 
take part themselves in the performance, while 
the ^dzburgers listen to others, — that is the dif- 
ference. When Baron Stemeck succeeds in 
musically educating the population of Salzbivg 
— nationally, and not internationally — we will 
willingly call him a " Way-Paver " for Mozart 
The '* International Mozart Institute" has, on 
the occasion of this second Musical Festival, is- 
sued a report, carefully and zealously prepared 
by its secretary, Herr Johann £v. Engl. The 
report is headed by a biography and portrait of 
the president of the ** International Mozart In- 



stitute," Baron Carl von Sterneck, Imperial and 
Royal Su|>erior Finance Inspector, on the Re- 
tired List, for Salzburg. Then conies an ex- 
haustive statement of the financial position of the 
Institute from 1869 to 1879. Two years ago I 
frankly expressed in these columns certain miir- 
givings caused in my mind by the exceedingly 
numerous and high-fiying — but at the same time 
obscure — plans of the association. It was 
therefore with all the greater interest that I took 
up the last report, which of course shows offi- 
cially what, afier ten years' existence, the ** In- 
ternational Mozart Institute " has realized of its 
lofty plans, — what it has positively effected. 

I own that, from the strong tone of self-satis- 
faction taken by the '* Mozart Institute," I ex- 
pected some important practical results. But 
though the minute accounts of the Festival-Re- 
port afford evidence of astounding and indefati- 
gable zeal on the part of the committee in making 
the " International Mozart Institute " known and 
famous throughout, and even beyond the limits 
of Europe, they leave us in a romantic semi- 
obscurity as to what we really owe the Institute. 
We are informed that a fully empowered agent 
of the Institute undertook two long *' canvassing 
journeys " through Germany ; that a second such 
agent went as far as Paris, London, and Egypt ; 
that ** applications were made to the directors of 
German railways for free traveling in the serv- 
ice of the Institute ; " and that <' artistically 
ornamented applications were sent to reigning 
princes that they would be pleased to subsidize 
the Institute." Recourse is had to *< advertising 
placards for watering-places, hotels, and railway 
stations ; " '* honorary diplomas in artistic enve- 
lopes " to Baron Hofmann, Minister of State, to 
Count Benst, and others ; " petitions to the Em- 
bassies and Consulates in Germany, Holland, 
Italy, and America," etc. We may well con- 
gratulate the <* International Mozart Institute" 
on the zeal, on the persevering and courageous 
efforts, of its accredited agents and canvassers, 
who have already gathered in some fine, ringing 
crops. The Institute succeeded even in getting 
up a concert in London, with the cooperation «^ 
Mme. Patti. It possesses now a capital of 
nearly 28,000 florins. But in the financial re- 
turns for the last ten years we have not found the 
slightest hint tliat as much as a single kreutzer 
has been expended for ** the support of poor 
musicians." Yet this humane task is, *< with the 
foundation of a Conservatory," set forth as the 
most important of the many missions of the ** In- 
ternational Mozart Institute." We fiiar that the 
epithet of " International " will be fatal, and 
with its boastful sound everywhere prove preju- 
dicial to the dearest and most necessary national 
interests of the Institute. As the *< appeal " an- 
nounces, the association is to become a " Schiller 
Institute " fi>r musicians. But the gentlemen 
know very well that the Schiller Institute cares 
only for German poets and authors, and never 
thinks of assisting also the authors of England, 
Spain, or any other foreign country. The Schil- 
ler Institute confines itself to ons object, which 
it keeps well in view and consistently follows. 
Nor does it think of organizing prize competi- 
tions, or of erecting an International Hieatrical 
Academy at Marbach, simply because Schiller 
was bom there, and because, in addition, the 
surrounding country is beautifuL Hie project of 
establishing in Salzburg (side by side with the 
already existing public school of music, the Mo- 
zarteum) a new and independent Conservatory, 
an <^ International " Conservatory in the grand 
style, is based on a strong self-delusion of the 
committee, and there is something downright 
childish about the reason assigned (at page 59 of 
the pamphlet), that " by its wonderful po^ition, 
placed by Humboldt on an equality with that of 



AnoDST 30, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



141 



Naples and that of Constantinople, and its cheap- 
ness, Salzburg offers the Conservatory the most 
favorable conditions of succiiss." It is only a 
large town, possessing an opera-house, an active 
concert system, and a considerable public fond of 
music, which can attract and retain the elements 
of a good Conservatory, and offer guarantees for 
the highest art-education of the young musician. 
This subject must be mooted again in these col- 
umns, because it occupies a first place among the 
international fancies entertained by the founders 
of the Salzburg Institute. But there does not 
seem to be any hurry, and I think I may quietly 
reserve for future years the continuation* of my 
strictures. Edouard Hamslick. — Lond. Mus. 

World. 

• 

A WORD OP WARNING. 

THE PERILS OF TOUNO AMBBIOAN OIRLS IN 
EUROPEAN CITIES. 

[From the AnMriean (Ftolf ) fiogiater.] 

Two very able letters in the New York Her- 
ald have recently called attention to the peculiar 
trials and temptations attendant on the career of 
a female student of singing in Milan. The ac- 
complished correspondent evidently was well ac- 
quainted with the facts of the case, and set them 
forth in a vivid and effective manner. Yet it 
does not need a residence in Milan itself to awaken 
the American dweller in Europe to a sense of the 
very striking objections that exist to the sojourn 
of a young American girl, alone and unprotected, 
in any of the large cities of continental Europe. 
To send a young girl to any one of those cities to 
study singing under these conditions is simply to 
place her on the high road to perdition. She may 
not journey to that dreadful goaL We are proud 
to say that there are many brave hearts and pure 
Boub among our young girl students of singing 
that can encounter unscathed the perils of even 
so terrible an ordeal. But those perils exist, and, 
instead of Ignoring them, it is the duty of all 
those who become acquainted with them to point 
them out and render them visible to the eyes of 
those who may be called upon to encounter them. 
Our American girls, possessing the traditional 
beauty of their hationality, and with their frank, 
free ways, gained in the one land on earth where 
innocence is its own safeguard, and the weakness 
of womanhood is its own best protection, are pe- 
culiarly unfitted to cope with the ways and wiles 
of European cities. An American gentleman, for 
instance, who was long a student of singing at 
Milan, once told the writer of these lines that 
there existed in that city a band of men who made 
it their business to sit in front of the caf^s of that 
city to watch for the newly arrived American 
girls, as a hunter watches for the pheasant or the 
stag that he intends to slay. And these men 
being, as a rule, handsome, accomplished, and 
fascinating, they are all the better prepared to 
hunt down their prey. 

Let us imagine the would-be prima dmma as 
she comes abroad, alone, unguarded, armed only 
with her fair face, her fresh, young voice and the 
inexperience of her twenty years. These years 
have probably been passed in the tranquil seclu- 
sion of some New England town or Western vil- 
lage. She has been the star of the principal 
church choir, and the reigning musical sensation 
at all the tea-parties. Her voice is considered 
equal to that cMf Nilsson by those who have heard 
the Swedish songstress, and consequently are well 
prepared to give an opinion. It is thought a 
shame that such talent and such gifls should be 
left undeveloped. Sympathizing friends make up 
a parse for the young singer, or some one wealthy 
amateur generously undec^es to defray the ex- 
penses of her musical education. She comes to 
Milan, and without preparation or transition she I 



finds herself at once swept into the whirl of the 
corrupt, brilliant life of a great European city. 
Poor, frail, helpless bark, launched rudderless and 
captainless upon a stormy sea, what wonder is it 
if disaster and wreck overtake it ? And her lit- 
tle store of money is just so much bait to have the 
pirate crew of impresarios and teachers set all 
sail in pursuit. It is, too, an undeniable fact that 
the manners and habits of American girls, inno- 
cent as their harmless freedoms of speech and 
manners may be, are such as to repel the best 
classes of Italian women. The respectable Italian 
girl, of the middle classes especially, is bred up 
in almost Oriental seclusion, surpassing in' that 
respect even her French contemporary. She sits 
in the house knitting stockings or studying her 
breviary, and she looks with reprehension on the 
fair^faced, free-mannered foreigners, with their 
gay attire and coquettish ways. Thus are the 
new-comers shut out from companionship that 
might aid them in learning the ways and man- 
ners of the stranger land. On the contrary, they 
are thrown in contact with a fast set, both from 
England and the United States, who have come 
to Italy ostensibly to study, but in reality to 
have ^ a good time." And the consequences of 
such association can better be imagined than de- 
scribed. 

We repeat that we do not mean to say that 
there are not many American girls who go to 
study music in Milan, and who, nevertheless, pass 
triumphant and unscathed through all the trials 
and temptations of their career. We can, on the 
contrary, point with pride to such ornaments to 
their sex and their chosen profession as Mme. 
Emma Albani. Miss Thursby, and Miss Abbott. 
But the fact remains the same as set forth by the 
Milan correspondent They are patent to any 
resident in Europe who is interested in the career 
of his or her young countrywomen who go to that 
city to study music. 



coal, oil, water-color, varnish, and a frame. A 
great saving of time and materials. Look at it 
half an hour every day, and you could paint it. 
If you gaze at a thing with any kind of thought 
you get an impression. 

Perfect simplicity of expression I In this 
country only martyrs attain to it. Abraham 
Lincoln had it. John Brown had it. I saw the 
latter refuse oysters once at a party, because '* he 
was not hungry." I said to a friend, — and Brown 
was not celebrated then, not having been hanged I 
— '< There 's something remarkable about that 
man 1 Did you ever know a man to refuse oys- 
ters at a party because he was not hungry?'* 
He did not take champagne because he was 
** not thirsty." Held the glass as you would 
hold a doll for a baby. Was not going to gorge 
himself, -— a man with such a destiny and such 
a work before him I 



TALKS ON ART. - SECOND SERIES.^ 



FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF 
HUNT TO HIS 

xn. 



MR. WILLIAM 
PUPILS. 



What are you doing ? 

*< Trying to draw that tea-pot.'' 

There 's a great deal of time wasted in trying. 

«< But I can't get it right" 

Make up your mind that you can't get it 
right. Don't try to get it so very exact At 
the same time you need not try inot to. You 
can't do your best when you 're trying. You 
act as if this were your last chance for redemp- 
tion. Make a joke of it, — a recreation. 

It is n't what yon #««, but what you feel^ that 
will make your work interesting. You can look 
at a thing and see it, but that 's nothing. You 
can look at something which may give yon an 
emotion. That 's feeling 1 

Facts don't amount to anything. Cyclope- 
dias are full of them. It 's an individual's expres- 
sion of a thing that 's interesting. 



Paint as if putting on plaster ; here, there, 
there. Let it lie. Then unite with a clean 
brush. 

You could paint that face in fifteen minutes if 
you knew what to do, which shows what tremen- 
dous margin you can allow your mind without 
taxing it If you know the form of that face 
you can draw it See how you draw from mem- 
ory I You don't think of that sonata which you 
heard yesterday aflernoon. We always move 
one peg along. You can sit and look at that 
face and learn just as well as if you had char- 

^ Copyright, 1879, by Hden M. Kiiowlton. 



You could draw that spinning-wheel so that 
it would make you buzz to look at it It ought 
to sing with the play of light and color. Millet 
would have done it with the utmost simplicity, 
but with extreme care. Draw it, in every de- 
tail, with perfect accuracy, and then simplify it. 
Make it Xoo^l/oL 

That portrait was painted almost wholly with 
terre-verte bruleef which is so neutral that if you 
add white you get a tender yellow. It has the 
umbery quality, like the shadow of gold. Har- 
monizes with anything. Can work it into every- 
thing, it is so tender and sympathetic You can 
change it to almost everything. 

It takes no longer to make a memory-sketch 
than to tie up your shoe-strings ; and it is just 
as much an object for yon to draw as to put on 
your shoes. 

You keep your hands going, going. If you 
knew how to paint as you know how to make an 
8, you could do it 

I don't believe in the modern French school. 
The true French masters came in a grea^ wave, 
which began with G^ricault, and ended with 
Daubigny. All the facile doing of the men of 
to-day counts not at all, and never will It is 
merely a mercantile development. These men 
might have painted difierently. It is this look- 
ing after perfection that 1 tell you not to do. Do 
tohat you do while you do it/ with thumbs dt el- 
bows. There 's going to be painting that is per- 
fectly simple, — the simple expression of simple 
forms. To do this a man must be tremendously 
strong. 

^tsig^t fi SiOttmal of iKujsic. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 1879. 

BOOK REVIEWS. 

Thb PrnioeoPHT or fifusic. By William Pole, Mas. 
Doe., Ozoo., eto. BoitoD : Houghton, Oigood A Co. 
1879. 

This handsome duodecimo of 816 pages con- 
tains the substance of a course of lectures de- 
livered at the Boyal Institution of Great Britain 
in February and March, 1877. It is an attempt to 
construct a philosophy of music upon the basis of 
the important discoveries of the profound German 
physicist Helmholtz, as embodied in his great 
work <*Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen," 
etc. {The Doctrine of the Perception of Musical 
Sounds, considered as a Physiological Basis for 
the Theory of Music,) Dr. Pole has evidently a 
scientific turn of mind, is skeptical of mere tradi- 



142 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1001. 



Uons and conjectures, trusts no idealisms, but fol* 
lows Helmholtz's critical method of inquiry in get- 
ting at the natural facts and laws which underlie 
the questions and the practices of musical art, be- 
ing particularly bent on finding the division line 
between what is dictated by natural laws, and 
what must be relegated to the vagne region of ses- 
thetics. We could wish that he were a little 
clearer in his definition of aesthetics, and that he 
had also entered into the possibly firuitful inquiry, 
whether that also hat not its philosophy, its nat- 
ural laws. Indeed, from the way in which he dis- 
misses several questions, we rather get the impres- 
sion that he uses the term authetic as tantamount 
"» arbitrary, and mere matter of shifling taste and 
custom. Be this as it may, the book is full of 
valuable suggestion and instruction ; and in a 
singularly clear and readable way presents the 
history of these inquiries, sums up the results of 
what others have written, such men as Ramcau, 
Hauplmann, etc., and is really a complete, 
though brief, survey of all that is essential to an 
intelligent general idea of that very subtle, com- 
plicated art called Music. 

He treats the subject under three heads : I. 
The Material of Music, t. «., musical sounds. IL 
Elementary Arrangements of the Material, u 6., 
the selection out of the infinite variety of sounds, 
and the arrangement into scales of such sounds 
as may be available for use. III. The Structure 
of Music, including Melody, Harmony, Counter- 
point, in fact, musical composition of whatever 
form. 

Under the first head he enumerates the im- 
portant works on Acoustics ; shows how sound is 
produced, transmitted, and perceived ; what are 
the special characteristics of musical sounds, their 
pitch, their strength, their individual character 
(color, timbre), explaining this last from the 
grand discovery of Helmholtz, his doctrine of 
'* overtones " (harmonics) ; ending with a very 
interesting chapter on the theoretical nature of 
the sounds of all the varioua kinds of musical in- 
struments, including the various qualities of hu- 
man voices, matters upon which Helmholtz has 
shed a vast deal of light. We cannot see how 
all this portion of the task could have been more 
satisf%3torily executed within such limits. 

Part II. treats, of course, of musical intervals 
and scales; traces the history of the musical 
scale ; inquires into the theoretical nature of the 
diatonic scale (both the ancient and the mod- 
em), and to what extent it is founded on nat- 
ural laws ; discusses the Greek and the Church 
modes, the modem tonality, and the modern 
diatonic scale as influenced by harmony; the 
chromatic and the minor scale, systems of tem- 
perament, etc., ending with a chapter on Time, 
Rhythm, and Musical Form. 

In all this there is much that is sound and 
excellent ; but it ia just here that we meet with 
symptoms of what seems to us an undue leaning 
to the skeptical and empirical way of dealing 
with the question. We say (he question, for the 
true theory of the musical scale is the question 
whose solution solves all the other questions here 
involved. Now the author, while he cautions us 
against the one extreme of supposing the succes- 
sion of sounds in the scale to be entirely empiri- 
cal and arbitrary, speaks of the opposite error of 
<< deducins all the notes of the scale from bar- 
monic relations," and seems to find sufficient 
ground for calling this an error in the fact that 
scales existed before harmony was known. He 
admits the natural origin of two Intervals, the 
octave and \h» fifth; but declares that the other 
steps are " irregular," and *' were originally set- 
tled by artificial means." They may have been 
originally settled so; practice in most matters 
precedes theory ; instinct gropes its way to uses 
long before the laws underlying them can be de- 



termined. But does this prove that the musical 
scale — our modern diatonic scale — is not 
founded in natural laws of sound ? What is the 
beautiful law of " overtones," then, good for ? 
The scale is a trinity ; all its tones spring from 
three roots (to use a term to which Dr. Pole 
seems to have an unreasonable aversion). Those 
three roots, or fundamentals, are indispensable to 
any music ; without them no unity, no musical 
progression, melodic or harmonic, is possible. 
Every melody must have its central tone, or 
tonic, or keynote ; but melody must move, and 
its first step must be to some tone, which is 
either one of its own simplest harmonics, or one 
of the harmonics of its fifth or dominani, or of 
that tone of which it is itself in the same way 
the fifth, that is, the subdominant. Now the 
first overtones of the tonic give us the third and 
fifth of the scale ; those of the dominant give the 
second and the seventh ; the subdominant, with 
its overtones, gives the fourth and the sixth. 
There we have all the tones of the scale. Why 
is this not a natural origin ? All that strikes us 
as artificial or empirical about it is the limitation 
of the scale to the conveniences of use. It were 
easy to imagine a much lengthier scale of many 
more degrees by taking in the higher overtones. 
It would facilitate the right understanding of the 
matter if we would write our scale differently ; 
t. e., if, instead of rising from C to its octave, we 
should put the keynote in the centre and go 
from F, subdominant, up to C, then from C up 
to 6 dominant. This is music reduced to the 
simplest practicable system. But the semitones 
(chromatics, accidentals) have equally a natural 
origin. For in the first place we must never 
forget that all melody implies harmony. Now, if 
in passing from the tonic harmony, or centre of 
rest, into a tone belonging to another root, as 
the dominant, say 6, we conclude to stay there' 
for a while, making that the keynote and centre, 
then come» in an accidental ; the seventh must 
be sharped; or if we pay F a visit and abide 
there, we need a flattened fourth, and so on from 
key to key until we have all the semitones and 
the chromatic scale. The old Greek scales, or 
modes, were only gropings afler the true ideal 
scale which is founded in nature. As Goethe 
saw in a fish only a sheathed man, not having got 
its legs and arms out, so the Greek scale, lack- 
ing the semitones while harmony remained un- 
known, was only an imperfect, *' sheathed " scale, 
waiting to get its legs and arms out, or its means 
of freer movement and of modulation. Really its 
several *' modes," Lydian, Dorian, etc., were all 
one scale, only beginning at different points, and 
that the same as our diatonic scale, but unavail- 
able for modulation. This may not be a scien- 
tific (for we are no scientist), but it does seem to 
i]s to be a rational, a natural, a simple explana- 
tion of the matter. Of course we can only touch 
upon one or two of the questions arising in this 
part of the work. 

Part lU. is after all the most important, treat- 
ing as it does of the actual structure of music, — ' 
musical art as such. ' Its chapters on Melody 
(which it rightly calls the oldest form, but how 
can he say the " essential basis " of music ?) ; on 
the history of Harmony, its theoretical rules and 
systems, its elementary and its compound com- 
binations, or chords, with Helmholtz's physical 
theory of consonances and dissonances ; on Har- 
monic Progressions, etc., are all extremely valu- 
able> although we might still take issue here and 
there with the empirical spirit to which we have 
already alluded. For instance, the rale forbid- 
ding parallel fifths and octaves in the progression 
of parts in l^rmony, which all musicians hold. to 
be so essential, and which is commonly taught 
among the first things in the treatises on har- 
mony, is here ignored until almost the very end 



of the book ; and then, scarcely regarding the 
simple and obvious reason for the rule, which is 
that such fifths rudely break ofi" the relations of 
tonality, he seeks in vain for better reasons. In 
regard to octaves he finds a good enough reason 
in the fact that these add nothing to the musical 
statement, — are a sort of musical tautology, we 
might say. But it is strange that the author 
cites a series of fifths (triads upon each note of 
the scale), and asserts that there is no reason in 
nature why they should not sound agreeably, and 
that in fact it is all a matter of habit that we 
do not find them quite as pleasing as any other 
chord progression I Indeed, it seems to be our 
author's cue to oust nature wherever it is possi-* 
ble, and put the whole responsibility for the rules 
and practices, the forms and the results, of music 
upon the shoulders of the sesthetic element, the 
taste of periods, and peoples, and the inventive 
genius of the composers. And for this he claims 
justification and ground of pride when he says, 
near the end of his summing up : " One thing, 
when well considered, ought to further the ac- 
ceptance of the [these] ** philosophical yiews ; 
namely, how much they tend to exalt the art of 
music, and the merits of the great composers. 
The ordinary belief, that everything that a great 
musician writes ought to be 'accounted for,' 
t. e., brought into conformity with some imagined 
natural rule, is no very complimentary tribute to 
his genius ; it is infinitely more ennobling to be- 
lieve, as the philosophical theory leads us to be- 
lieve, that the musical forms are really the out- 
come of the composer's own art, — the offspring 
of his prolific imagination." A pleasant though^ 
indeed, and creditable to the author's sincere 
musical enthusiasm ; but does it prove that sci- 
ence and imagination, any more than science and 
religion, ever need to quarrel ? Law may cover 
aU the ground, and still imagination will have 
** ample room and verge enough." Genius asks 
no limitary favors in the race. 

But it is in his chapter on Counterpoint that 
our author appears to best advantage, and has 
our fullest sympathy. He pays a noble tribute 
to the transcendent worth and beauty of that old 
art of weaving independent (or rather indi- 
vidual) melodies of the four or more parts into 
a wondroua web of harmony, which Palestrina, 
and then Bach and Handel, carried to a pitch of 
almost divine perfection. And he mourns over 
the neglect into which this highest style of com- 
position has fallen in our day. Especially would 
we thank him for the pregnant sentences which 
he translates from Hauptmann's Letters to Hau- 
ser, of which we have room at present only for 
this one : — 

" The true mMoing of bannoo j is, that it ariaes fhom a 
oomUnation of mdodiea Bounded ttmaltaneoualy. Thin, 
which waa the moat important thing in olden times, ii now 
neglected. In good modem writing, the baas ia indeed 
given good rdatione to the melody, hot the middle parte 
an filled in with nibbiah limplj to complete the chorda. 
The lifted pedal will then bind the whole into a compact 
maea, but any organization in it ia oat of the question. I 
have nothing to saj against all this, but would rather have 
nothing to do with it. 

In conclusion we can only say, that these lect- 
ures by Dr. Pole on « The Philosophy of Music " 
form a book which no intelligent student of music 
can afibrd not to read and ponder. 

Tanagra Fioubihes. Boston : Honghtoo, Osgood A 
Co. 1879. 

A r ASCiNATiNO subject, very pleasantly and 
instructively handled. Every lover of art, who 
has seen those charming little clay figures (twenty- 
two of them) presented to the Boston Art Mu- 
seum by T. G. Appleton, Esq., must have felt 
a keen desire to know more about them, of their 
date and origin, the age and people that pro- 
duced, the motive that inspired them, and the 



AuousT 30, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



143 



uses for which Uiey were intended. It is, as the 
author says, '*a singular and hitherto unsus- 
pected branch of Greek art, but newly divulged, 
and already popularized In Europe," Uiat is here 
investigated. About one thousand of these fig- 
urines have been taken from the two thousand 
tombs which within the last forty years have 
been explored in the old fortified town of Tana- 
gra, in Boeotia, and distributed through the Mu- 
seums of the Louvre, of Berlin, and of Great Brit- 
ain, as well as in private collections. They are 
the admiration of all who have seen them. Lit- 
tle realistic figures of from six to twelve inches 
in length, full of grace and beauty, bearing the 
marks of having been originally colored and 
even gilded, showing the costume and the airs and 
manners of their place and time, they speak un- 
mistakably of a period of high development in 
plastic art. And indeed Tanagra, although 
Boeotian, — a name that has become a byword 
for what is rustic, dull, and stupid, — stood on 
the borders of Attica, near Athens, near Thebes 
and Aulis (1) where the Greeks embarked for 
the siege of Troy ; and these miniature exam- 
ples of ancient " picto-sculpture " were coeval 
with the high period of Attic sculpture between 
three and four centuries before Christ. 

It is singular th^t in all this time Thebes and 
Athens were in chronic warfiire, and Tanagra 
was frequently their battle ground ; but the ar- 
tistic tie with Athens was none the less strong. 
Several other things are singular about these little 
images. One thing is, that nearly all of them 
are female figures, and draped ; only a very few 
are nude, or semi-nude, or figures of men. Then 
they are nearly all so realistic ; they seem like 
portraits of actual people of the time, as you 
might meet them in the streets, in the very cos- 
tume that they wore, their curious heart-shaped 
fans, strange parasol-like coverings of the^ead, 
their life-like attitudes, their way of folding their 
arms under the dress, etc. In only a few in- 
stances is any ideal design apparent, anything 
mythological, emblematic, or patriotic. These 
few suggest to the author the question whether 
possibly they may not all be memorials of some 
great national religious festival. But the stran- 
gest trait in common with them all is, that they 
are nearly all cheerful in expression. '* Tanagra 
figurines are often very pensive, but grief, and 
all dark passions, are banished from their com- 
pany. It is strange not to find in the house of 
death anything kindred to the legends of Niobe 
and Laocoon, no armor or implements of war 
where the din of armies resounded so familiarly. 
Even the Huntress Queen appears with an empty 
quiver, and Eros, the laughing, winged boy,' 
comes quite disarmed. Search through the en- 
tire known list of Tanagra ceramics, and you 
will not find a note discordant with the expres- 
sion of peace, gladness, sportiveness, tempered 
with a mood of pleased attention, or repose. Do 
not all these figures appear as if forming parts of 
some dramatic combination, either as actors or 
as spectators in a joyful celebration ? " 

^Vhatever the solution of the enigma, we must 
all be thankful to the authoress — who, we are 
told, is a Bo.^ton lady who has resided much in 
Paris — for the valuable information and the fine 
description which she has embodied in this at- 
tractive little volume. It contains good photo- 
graphs of thirteen of the figurines. 



HERMANN GOETZ : HIS CANTATA, 

" N(ENL\." 

The genius of this lamented young German 
composer seems to be more and more recognized 
abroad, especially in London. First we heard 
of him through his comic opera on Shakespeare's 
** Taming of the Shi'ew," which we believe Carl 



Bosa will introduce into his next season's pro- 
gramme. Then came his Symphony in F (post- 
humous), admired and played repeatedly in 
Germany and England, and which it is the in- 
tention of the Harvard Musical Association to 
present in our next season of symphony con- 
certs. This was followed by various works of 
instrumental chamber music, all mentioned with 
praise in the London musical journals. More 
recently a couple of choral works have been pro- 
duced and published there. The first, a psalm, 
" By the Waters of Babylon," and now " Noe- 
nia," set to a short lament in hexameter and 
pentameter verses by Schiller, have excited such 
attention that our own Boyiston Club thinks of 
performing one or both of them next winter. 
The latter is reviewed in the London Musical 
Times as follows : — 

NocNiA (Poem by Schiller). For Chonu snd Orchestra. 
Composed by Hermann Gobtz (Op. 10). The Eng- 
lish' version by the Kev. J. Troutbkck, M. A. Novello, 
Ewer & Co. 

When, some short while ago, this work was performed 
at a concert given by an amateur choral society, we dwelt at 
such length upon its character and merits that very little 
remains now to be said. We could not, however, refuse a 
formal review to a thing of so much beauty and worth, 
while the fact is incontestable by anybody who has seen this 
music that public attention caimot, in reason, be too per- 
sistently demanded for it. Of one thing we are sure, which 
is that no amateur who heard Goets's Psalm, ** By the 
Waters of Babylon," at the initial concert of the London 
Musical Society, will fail to turn to the work now before us 
with eager expectation and high hope. The' cantata is 
worthy of the psalm, as the psalm is worthy of any genius 
vouchsafed to us in modem times. In both there are sur- 
prising power, masterful knowledge of technical means and 
eflbct, and that incommunicable and inexplicable something 
which constitutes the quality of greatness. Alas ! that we 
so early lost this master of music, and did not know what 
a treasure we possessed till after he had been called to rest 
from his brief and 01-requited labors. But this, in our art, 
is the real " old, old story,*' — one that will probably go on 
till the end of time. 

The cantata sets out, after a lengthened and most at- 
tractive orchestral preamble, with the motto of the whole 
work, ** And the Beautiful must Perish," enondated by the 
chorus in unaccompanied harmony, and followed by a con- 
trapuntal movement, " What vanquishes men and immor- 
tals? " Here the conspicuous freedom with which Goets 
wrote mider such conditions is folly asserted, but the music 
is never open to the charge of being merely schohutie. Like 
a true master, Goets ever kept in view the highest function 
of his art as an expression of fe^ng, and could subordinate 
all things to it. The chorus ctoses with. a repetition of the 
(» motto," and then a tenor solo, qmm recitativo^ followed 
by another (or alto, and yet another for boss, makes refer- 
ence to a case fh>n» dassio lore in which no poww could re- 
deem the dead from the grave. One is reminded here of 
the grace and beauty with which Mendelssohn illustrated 
the tragedies of Soj^ocles; and, indeed, the whole work 
proves Goeti to have been no stranger to the form and 
spirit that composer may be said to have invented in ** An- 
tigone." At tiie close of the recitatives we have a chorus 
in C sharp minor, " But forth she came fh>m the sea," 
which is firom first to hut instinct with charm. It would 
be impossible for us to convey in mere words an idea of the 
pure k>veline88 here found. One thinks of Mendelssohn at 
his best when reading these pages, while all the time con- 
scious of an element which only Goeta could have supplied. 
The chorus is long extended, but not too long. We can 
afford to linger over such beauty, and even then feel regret 
that "the beautiful must perish." In due course, the 
chorus leads directly to a kind of epifogue (also choral), 
whareiu we find consolation for the evanescence of noble 
and lovely lives. ^ Yet a death song upraised by the lips of 
affection is glorious," sings the poet, adding, *< He that Is 
mean and liase p asses unsung to the grave." Here Goeta 
draws together all his energies for a supreme effort, and the 
result is grand. What earnest, exalted, and expressive 
music have we now ! It is both strong and tender, like all 
great things in art. Take, for example, the passage, " He 
that is mean and base," etc., wherein, by the way, we see 
another reflection of Mendelssohn's spirit. We know but 
little that is more powerfully true to poetic purport than 
this, but, indeed, a like observation is applicable to the 
whole cantata, which should henceforth be a precious pos- 
session in the hands of English amateurs. If it be said 
that we have written a rhapsody instead of a review, our 
only answer is. that everybody who makes the acquaintance 
of this work will admit the inevitableness of a rhapsody, and 
grant the needlessness of a review. 



A NEW symphonio composition, Franceaoa da Rimini^ 
by Baszlni, was performed at the thirty-third Popular Con- 
cert in Turin. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Defiance, 0., Aug. 16. — The Musical Institute in 
session here this summer, under the direction of Prof. 8. 
H. Blakeslee and J. B. Leslie, assisted by Mrs. Ida B. BUkes- 
lee, Mrs. J. B. Leslie, Prof. George A. Andrews, and J. 
M. Blakeslee, dosed on Friday, August 8, with a concerti 
presenting the following programme: — 

Part I. 
Yon Breeds German CantaU ^ Saint Cecelia's Day." 

Part H. 
Violin, De Berjpt's 6th Air De Beriot, 

Mr. George Andrews. 
Sob, " Spring Flowers " JUinecke. 

Miss Vie Bevington. 
Violin Obligato. 

Mr. Geoi^ Andrews. 
C-mlnor Concerto {Beethoven)^ with Cadenza . JUinecke. 

Mrs. Ida Blakeslee. 
Orchestral part upon second piano. 

Mr. Geoi^ Andrews. 
Vocal Solo, " Waiting " Millard. 

Mrs. F. G. Brown. 
Violin Obligato. 

Mr. George Andrews. 
Fiano Duet, ^ Invitation a la Danse " . . Von Weber. 

Mr. and Mrs. Leslie, Mr. and Bin. Blakeslee. 
Chorus, Soldiers' Chorus, *» Faust." 

For us this was a pretty solid programme; but its ad- 
mirable execution rendered it very enjoyable. 

The Cantata, with a chorus of sixty voices, supported by 
two pianos, and with Mr. S. H. Blake«lee as director, went 
off finely from the first to the last note. 

Mr. Andrews in his *< 6th Air" showed himself a thor- 
ough student, a master of his instrument. 

Of course the great event of the evening was the C-minor 
Concerto with the Cadenza ; first, because it was the first 
time such a composition has ever been performed in this 
city; and second, because the selection showed the lady's 
splendid technique to the best advantage. The Concerto 
was played in a beautiful and artistic style, and the Csdensa 
with a steady repose, yet a fire and determination fully 
worthy of it, while the octave passage was terrific (!) 

Tlie work throughout the entire term has been most sat- 
isfeetory. The membership in tlie various classes averaged 
in voice culture, 40; sight reading and psalmody, 40; &- 
mony, 30; teachers* class, 20; chorus, 65; pupils in private 
classes, 43. Surely this marks ao epoch in our musical 
history. " The Philharmonics " begin rq^ular practice Sq>- 
tembo* 1. 

Philadelphia, Aug. 30. — A new horror has appeared 
in the musical world. As if amateur and church choir 
opera companies had not d^praded performance and criticism 
to a sufficientiy low level, we must have added to our list of 
horrors Uiia new one of the " Baby Opera Troupe," brought 
out under the management of the American padrone^ Mr. 
J. T. Ford, at the South Broad Street Theatre. 

The *«Baby Pinafore '* paid so well that it has been fol- 
bwed by a ** Baby Fatinitso," and there is no setting limits 
just now to the future fomily of Baby Operas. As long as 
the public supports by its presence, and the press indorses 
by its criticism, these crude and unwholesome performances 
will doubtless continue, for the only question to be answered 
is, does it pay ? All this indicates a low taste in the public, 
and ao tgnonuice in the critics, which is as hiexeusable as 
lamentable. There may be *« millions in it," but there is 
also a crowd of evils — moral, artistic, physical, and educa- 
tional — which should demand a halt! in such enterprises 
from our phikuithropists, moralists, teachers, and physicians. 

Some little flurry has visited our quiet town in these dog- 
days over the removal of the " Permanent Exhibition " 
building ordered by the Park Commission. The general 
verdict with reflecting minds is that the Park Commission 
has done right. The ^ Exhibition " has never eqjpyed the 
confidence or sympathy of our public, and has now degen> 
erated into a mean show on Sundays and a doubtful bail on 
Wednesdays. 

Carl Santy with bis military bond has had a suocessAil 
season at the Miinnerehor Garden Concerts given nightiy, 
and will continue a few weeks yet. 

The festivals of the Swiss, Turners, and Bavarians have 
given great delight to the participants, but did not develop 
anything new or interesting enough in music worth chron- 
icling in this oorrespoodaice. 

Alms's Opera Bouffo Company is announced at the 
North Broad Street Theatxe; Alice Gates' troupe at Arch 
Street Theatre, but no impmrtant movements in music have 
yet been made known publicly. There may be a local or- 
chestra established either by a revived Musiod Fund Society, 
a r^uvenated Germania Society, or perhaps by a grand com* 
binotion of talent, wealth, and influence, the locale to be the 
Academy of Music This latter movement is yet in embcyo, 
but, if it is started, will be attended with a prestige suffi- 
cientiy powerful to give it a good send-off, and surround its 
entertainments with success and ^dat Man cannot be 
said at present, as circumstances may change the pro^ 
gramme. 

The small value of the critiques in our local papers, with 
a few noble exceptions, has taught the musical portion of the 
public that they must resort to the journals devoted to th?s 
specialty tot a truthful and exhaustive treatment of art sub- 



144 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



\yoh. XXXIX. — No. 1001. 



Jeeta, and henoa there is, with us at least, a mora generons 
support of such enterprises. Among profeasional ladiee and 
gentlemen this class of Journals has grown in appreciation, 
and has become to them a necessity. Amkricub. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Mr. Max Stbakosch has completed his arrangements 
fbr the £idl and winter season of Italian opera in the United 
Stales. They promise a series of representaUons of unusual 
brilliancy. Mr. Strakoeoh's prima donma drnmaden is 
Mme. Teresa Singer, an artist whose Italian career has been 
r em a rk ably successful. Mme. Singer's hist engagement was 
fulfilled in Kome, and the diUetanti of the Eternal City — 
who make up the most critical audience in Italy — were 
unanimous in their admiration of the lateat representative of 
Norma and Alda. l*he soprano of the company is Signo- 
rina Bianca Labbuiche, a young prima donna of American 
birth, who has won great distinction in Italy, and especially 
in Naples Mile. Utta, the prima donna so|»mno, whose 
brilliant d^but in Paris caused Mr. Strakoeeh to secure her 
services for America last year, has been reengaged for the 
approachuig season. Mile. Anna de Beiocca, a very gifted 
and beautiful songstress, whose progress in- her art has been 
continuous since her first appearance in London, is the con- 
tralto of the company. Mr. Strakoeeh is quits as wdl pro- 
vided for in respect of male arUsts. Signer Ricardo Peiro- 
vieh, a performer of European reputation, lieads the list of 
tenors, which includes, besides Signor Baldania and Signer 
Lassarini, two young and promi^ng singers. Signor Storti 
and Signor Gottschalk an the baritones, Signor Castlemaiy 
the bariUmo baao^ and Mr. Carl Formes the principal baas. 
The novelties aimounced an BcAio^s M^iktftlt and Gold, 
mark's CJiweit t\f Sheba, and the repertoire is also to be 
enriched by several of the grand oompositkHis of the old 
school, which an become almost unfamiliar in the New 
World, as Mme. Singer is the first dramatic songstress who 
has been heard there for a good many years. — London 
Mmical World, 



SiHOiNO Is one of the healthiest exercises in which men, 
women, and children can engage. The Medical Wochtn- 
9ehr\fl^ of St. Petersburg, has an article baaed upon ex- 
haustive res ea w hes made by Professor Monassein during the 
autumn of 1878, when he examined S2S sinffers ranging be- 
tween the ages of nine and fifty-three. He uid chief weight 
upon the growth and absolute droumference of the chest, 
upon the compantlve relation of the latter to the tallnen of 
the sulgeei, and upon the pneumatometrie and spirometrio 
condition oif the singer. It appean to be an ascertained 
fact finom Dr. Monassein's experime n ts that the rebUlve, and 
even the absolute, droumference of chest is greater among 
singen than among thoee who do not ung, and that it in- 
creases with the growth and age of the singer. The profes- 
sor even says that singing may be pbced physically as the 
autithesb of drinking spirituous liquon. The latter hinders, 
while the former promotes, the development of the chest 
While milder forms of catarrh an frequent among dngeri, 
bronchial catarrh ia exceedingly rare. The niMtality of 
dngere from phthisis is nnfrequent. Bright's disease, on 
the contrary, is not unfirequent among them, which is also 
the case with non-drinken. Nervous and impatient mor- 
tals, whose tempen are set on edge whenever the young 
woman next door seeks nAage in well-meant but too vehe- 
nittit song, will do well to bear in mind that nnging is to 
be commended as a valuable prophybctic for persons who 
phthisicaUy inclined! 



Thkatbigal Orchkstrab. — The following " remariu " 
are fhnn the Philaddphia BuUetin: " The lover of dramatic 
art who likes to thiijc, amid the warmth of this summer 
weather, that playwrights and managen and acton are hard 
at work preparing for his entertainment treats which he will 
richly eiyoy when the cold winds of autumn come, and 
when the air of the dty, now tremulous with totrid heat, 
ahall be full of firostiness, experiences a pang as he remem- 
ben that all the leaden of the theatrical oidaestrss also are 
making toilsome preparations for the season. And not only 
are these persons hunting among the comic songs and the 
comic opieras ibr ain which they will work into OMdleys with 
dreadful variations, but there is an awful posubUity that the 
men who play the comet an filling themselves with wind at 
the sea side, and that the drumnien are gathering health in 
the mountains, or mayhap acquiring new stren^ of mus- 
cle by performing gymnastic evolutions at the Tumen* pic- 
nic. The editor of Dwighfs Journal of Mnme recenUy 
urged that *even to the poorest opera we can grant one 
virtue, if it had no other, namdy, the silence between the 
acts.' It is possible to concdve of a theatrical orehcstre 
which migbt under certain conditions contribute something 
to the pleasure of an evening that is spent in a theatre. 
There might be a collection of skilled muncfauui who should 
produce, under good leadership, music which sliould be so 
nicely fitted to the sentiment of the drama as to oontribnte 
something to its interpretation. It is, however, likely that 
even such an orebestre would often do more to mar than to 
hdp the eiitertaiiinient. But the orduiary theatrical or- 
chestra ia not first-rate in quality, and the music with which 
it supplies the public is insolentiy independent of any of the 
motives of the drama, llien are honorable exceptions 
even in this city, but the practice of managen is to procure 



the cheapest orehestre that can be had, and to reduce the 
number of playen so fiu* that the leader is oompdled fint to 
beat time a Utile and then to fiddle a little, so as to help 
to swell the harmony. As a rule, the music supplied by 
the leader is selected with spedal reference to tiie tastes of 
the third tier. If 'Sweet By-and-By' is popular upon 
the street, he will serve np * Sweet By-and-By,' first as a 
sdo tot the cornet player with superhuman lungs, then as a 
duet for the flutes, aud then as a theme ibr the violins; 
then be will take * Sweet By-and-By * and ravel it out, and 
twist it around, and double it up, and frill it with trills, and 
run it up the scale and down the scale, and bang it out with 
the cymbals, and rattls it off upon the drums, winding up 
with a grand crash upon all the instruments. If all the 
boot-blacks are whIstUng » Grandfether's Clock,' he wiU 
serve that dismal tune up in more ways than those in which 
a French cook can dress a dish of hadi, and he will troll it 
out with an obligato of beds finom the audience in the gal- 
lery. * Pinafore * hardly reached this country before the 
lca<len of the theatre orchestras dashed at it, disemboweled 
it, and tooted and twanged and thumped its mek)dies night 
after night between the acts of comedies, fiurws, tragedies, 
burlesques, extrevagancas, aud sentimentd dramas ; and we 
venture to say that half of the leaden have been s^reltering 
all the summer with eflurts to devise new combinations of 
those old mdodies: to construct new infemd machines to 
pop and Jingle amid the rattle of the music, and to Invent 
contrivances which will penuade the small boy up-stain to 
rest a moment from the crunching of the peanut, and to ex- 
prm his ddigbt by a more vehement whistling upon his fin • 
gen. The vrriter of this once went with a* highly.gifted 
musician to a theatre to see a great actress in a great dnuna. 
The music between the acts was singularly poor and inapt, 
and when the mudcian was asked how he endured it, he 
sakl, * I made up ray mind not to listen to it.' Poedbly 
the minority of persons who have musical sense and musical 
knowledge make an efibrt to get by the difficulty in the same 
manner." 



FOREIGN. 

Handei/s Will and Othbr Beucs. — The London 
Musical Timet of August 1 has the foUowing report of a 
remarkable auction sale of the " Snoxell Collection," in- 
cluding Uandd's will and many Handdiao rdics: — 

Messn. Puttick and Simpson have lecenUy soM a re- 
markable collection of curiodties under the above title. At 
the fint day's sale (June 9) they disposed of the miniatures 
and enamels, more than 900 k«s, including a few poitrdts 
of deceased muddana. On the second day about 200 fote of 
paintings and medallions, bronaes, china, etc., were sold. 
Many of these wen interesting to musicd amateurs, nota- 
bly an oil-pdnting by Wollfgang, repreeeuting George FVed- 
eric Handd; dthough the reaemblauce to other portraits 
of Handd was not striking, the picture waa engnved dmoet 
immediatdy after it was painted, and it was therefore hiter- 
esting to compare the somewhat scarce eograring with its 
origind. On the thhd day of the sale neariy 200 foU of 
** mechauicd automata, mudcd instruments, Quiddian rd- 
ica, docks and watches, ormolu ornaments, etc.," were 
brought under the auctioneer's hammer. A more extraor- 
dinary collection of articles it woukl be difficult to find — 
automaton rop^^aucers, musicians, life-size peribrming or- 
ganists, loping bullfinches, a phamix pecking her breast and 
feeding her young with blood, dancing bean, magicians, fly- 
ing bhds, drummer-boys, performing elephants, and " The 
original anvil and hammer of the ffarmonioui BlnektmHh 
from whkK Bandel composed hit celebrated air.** It was 
somewhat depreasing to find this worn-out piece of impost- 
ure and monument of enthusiastic ignorance and credulity 
still hi existence, and it was wonderful to note that it add 
for j£l3 ; but as the purduuen were Messrs. Maskdyne and 
'Cooke, wdl known for their clever fbats of sldght-of-hand 
and deception, it is to be hoped they will be able to turn 
the miserable lump of dd iron to profitable account. We 
would suggest that they should arrange to have Handd's 
celebrated air performed on the anvil %rith a trumpet obli- 
gato by Fanfare, The fourth day's sale hnduded musicd 
instruments, statuary, theatried dresses. Jewelry, etc. The 
books, mude, and engravings were soM on several succeed- 
ing days; and finally, on the 21st ult., the autographs and 
manuscripts were dispersed. Great interest was att iched to 
the hut day's sale, as it had been announced that Handd's 
will, m his own autograph, would be included in the cata- 
logue. It was very generally known that Mr. Snoxell had 
been for yean the posiessor of this relic of the great com- 
poser, reference having been made to it by M. Schmlcher in 
his life of Handd; much speculation waa therefore rife as to 
whether the coveted prise would be bought by some of our 
nationd trustees, or whether the German Handel Society 
would secure it, but it was purehased by Mr. W. H. Cum- 
mings for j£5d. How it came to pass that various imtiond 
and focd institutions allowed such an opportunity to slip, 
it would be vain to inquire. The will is wholly hi English, 
and is entirely in Handd's handwriting, with a fine bold 
signature, ** George Frideric Handd," ikb date of the docu- 
ment bdng June, 1760; this is followed by a codicil dated 
August, 1756, not in Handd's autograph, but the signature, 
whieh is his, ** George Frederic Handd," ss before, at once 
suggests why he did not write the codicil himsdf — it is the 
signature of a blind man, A second codicil, signed by 



Handd, gives color to the supposition that at the date, 
Mardi, 1757, he had partidly recovered his sight; in a 
third eodidJ, dated August of the same year, the sigiwture 
agdn appean as if written by one quite blind ; and a fourth 
codicil, dictated and signed on the Itth of April, 1759, only 
three days before he died, is subscribed in a IsJtering. and 
feeble hand, "G. V. Handd." TbU hot is witnessed by 
Kudd and Handd's amanuensis, J. Christopher Smith; aud 
it is hiteresting to note that by this document, made almoat 
m artieulo mortie^ the " Boyd Society of Musidans," of 
which Handd was a member, recdved a legacy of one thou- 
sand pounds, and kistnictions are given tor the expenditure 
of a sum *« not esceediug six hundrsd pounds," to arsot a 
monument in Westminster Abbey. 

The hut day's sale included the hivcntory of Handd*s 
household goods taken immediatdy after his decease: this 
curious document was also bought by Mr. Commfaigs. 
Handd's wateh, with his name e^praved on the caae^ waa 
bought by an anonymous pnrehaser. 

Mr. Snoxell, the late owner of the propertiea wa have 
enumerated, waa an amateur vfolinist, and waa for many 
yean assoeiated with the Sacred Harmonic Society in thai 
capadty. He alao essayed to become a oompoeer, but, judg- 
ing trom a published volume of his oompodtions now lying 
before us, succeeded but indifiiirentiy hi his endeavon; for, 
dthough fsiriy free fh>m error, they are wanting in interest, 
and eddbit no indication of talent. 



Ov June Mth a new Lohengrin was presented In M. 
Candidus, the American tenor, who had previoudy. a re- 
markable succeis as Fforestano, in Beethoven's Fidetio, M. 
Candidus proved himsdf the best Lohengrin ever seen on 
the stage in England. He executed high notes with eaae 
and eortdnty, ami without the slightest tendency to Crein- 
olo ; and his phradng waa of the most finished kind. Ha 
waa warmly a|^ilanded, and he must be oousidered a most 
vduable addition to Her Mi^y's Opera. — Ofisefrer, June 
88<A. 

Miss Claba Louisb Kkllogo will soon kare London 
fbr Itdy, returning before the winter sets in. She purposes 
remdnmg in Europe for some time, and will probably turn 
her attention to oratorio. 



Hkbs BriTKB, the new German minister of finance, is 
well known as the author of severd vduable works relating 
to music. In 1865, he published his book entitied, Jok, 
Seb. Bach; m 1866, Moaarf* Don Juan und GUtctt 
Ipkiffo^i hi 1869, Ueber Gervimu, MOmdel, wnd Shake- 
apeare ; in 1872, Beitrage fur GetddehU dee Oratornunef 
and also in 1872, Vorbeuerte UebertetMung des Don Juan, 
From this list it will be peredved that the new minister be- 
longs to the clasrical achool, and is no follower of the music 
of Um future. In 1875, it was he who called into existence 
the Schleswig-Hobtein musicd festivda. H«r Bitter is 
decorated wi& the Iron Cross and ssvecd other orders. 



Lkipzio. — During the resent seriM of operatic perform- 
anoea givsn at Ldpdg by the company of the Hamburg 
Stadt-Theatre, mudi enthusiasm was created by the pro- 
duction of Handd's opera Mmira^ the eariiest of the com- 
poser's many dmilar stags worka. Almira was written at 
Hamburg in 1704 to Gervsan words by Feustking, and was 
produced on the Hamburg stags (then the leading one in 
Germany in operatic mattered in the foUowing year. His 
successAil revivd of the worx in onr days is the more note- 
worthy u testifying to the vitality poasessed by a spedes of 
music generally isgarded as obsokits. 



Ratisbon. — The gsneral congress of the CedUa Sods- 
taes of Germany was ImU this yesr at Batisbon on the 4th, 
5th, and 6th of Aqgust The object of thcee societies is to 
eflbet a reform of t£d mude in the Roman Catiiolic churehea, 
and to bring it back to the more severe style of which Pd- 
estrina and his schod are types. It is the usage at theee 
German annud meetings to perform eome specimen works, 
both of the more important and minor khid, of the eariicr 
church composen; and ss the number of dngen is dways 
considerable, and all hare been well trdued, the eflect of 
emembUf which is one of the great features in these works, 
is dways sure to be well rendered. There were chord eerv- 
ices aiwl other performances of church mude both iu the 
forenoons and aftenionns of the 5th and 6th of August in 
the Cdhedrd of Ratisbon, and the Dominican Church and 
the Chureh of St. Emmerau. The chief sdectiou of musio 
of the eariy composen was on the afternoon of the 6th. 



Pakis. — M. HaUnster resigned his functions ss director 
of the Puis Grand Op^ on the 15th ult., having eonduded 
the performances given under his regime with Meyerbeer's 
Lea HuguenoU on the prerious day, when he took kare of 
the pereonnel of the establishment His succes s o r , M. Yan- 
corbdl, inaugurated his new office by a performance of H»- 
l^vy's La Juive, in the presence of the president of the re- 
public and a crowded audience. M. Gr6vy, on the occaakn 
in question, had a prolonged interview with the new di- 
rector, hi the course of which he assured him of the lively 
intemt he took in the conduct and prosperity of the leading 
lyricd stage of France. 



Sbptbhbek 13, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



145 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER IS, 1879. 

■attred at the Poat OSm at Boston ai seeond-elaM matter. 

CONTENTS. 

Suino. Stwvt 8ttm$ 146 

Taa DsTiLOPMBXT or Piaxo-Foeti Muiic, raoK B4011 to 

SoHOMAMN. From the Qerinan of Carl YtM Brnpek . . 146 

AETHOa SVLLlf AV 146 

Mimical Clcbi op Daevaes : Tie Pueiae Sodalitt . . 147 
The Oeioin or Kmgush Opkea. John Gaj aod hb ** Beg- 

gar^eOpera/* the Vorerunaerof*' Piaafore" ... .148 
Taui on Abt: Bbcoed Seeiu. Froui Inatmeiioiia of H r. 

William M. Hunt to hU Papile. XIII 148 

Save TUB Music Hall! 160 

MdIICAL COEEBSrOKDBNCB 161 

8t. Louie. — Milwaukee. 
Notes axp Qleahwob 161 



AU th* artieUs not er$diud to other pubUeaiunu w*r« expretsly 
writton/or this Jomrmal 



PiMisked forinightijf bjf Houqbtoh, Owood amd Cokpaet, 
220 Dtvomthin <Slre«l, Boston. Prict, 10 cents a number; $2.50 
per^etr. 

For smle in Boston 6y Gael Peobtbe, 30 We*t Strnet^ A. Will- 
iams St Co., 283 Washington Street, A. K. Loeino, 369 Wash- 
imgton Street, and fry the Publishers; in Nrw York bjf A. Bebn- 
tabo, Je., 39 Union Square, and UocoHTOii, Osgood A Co., 
21 Astor Place; in Philadelphia bp W. U. Boeee A Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street; in Chicago bg the Coicaqo Music Coxpaxt, 
512 State Street. 



SANZiO. 
BT STUART STKHITK, AUTHOR OF ** AXOKU).'* 

(Continued from page 187.) 

Again the new 3'oung Spring, 
With hEppy, sunlit eyea End golden hair, 
With garlands crowned and scattering flowen before him, 
Had come into tlie worlrl and filled the air 
With hsXmj odors, and from out his hand 
Ijet fly his singing birds to build tlieir nests, 
And with his joyous voice aod smile made glad 
Even the gray, old streets. And yet a cloud 
Hung darkly o'er the city, every heart 
Wai grieved and heavy as with coming tears. 
For, as upon the wind's uivisible wings, 
Had the sore news gone forth and swiftly spread, — 
Sansio, the pride of all the land, l>eloved 
Of high and low, lay ill of some hot fever, 
So ill, that soon the wise men, hastily called 
To learned council, drew their slioulders up, 
And gravely shook their heads. 

Prom morn till night 
Were his fttmiliar doors besieged by those 
Who asked with eager lips for latest news, 
And poor old Nina most unwillingly 
Uust leave at last the care of her sweet boy 
To the good sister from the Hill, who came 
To tend and soothe and help, while she herself 
Answered the questioners, and sufiered none 
To enter, save perchance a few old friends 
And first lunoiig them all *t was Baldassar, 
Who flew to Sanzio's side, and for au hour 
Sat chatting near him, with a cheerful brow, 
Concealing 'neath his wonted gayety 
A Heart that bled at sight of that dear face. 
So changed from what he knew it once. 

** One thhig, — 
One thing before >ou go, my best of friends! " 
Siid Sanzio as he rose to take bis lea^-e, 
*• Said for my little sister, so," but marking 
Tliat a faint smile passed o'er the other's lips 
And he drew up his eyebrows, he cried out 
In a deep voice quivering with earnestness, 
*" Nay, Baldassare, pray you doubt it not! 
I swear to you even by my aoul's salvation, 
And as I hope for everlasting life. 
She was no mora to me than this ! — tliough scaroe, — 
Perclianoe if she, — if I, — yet let that pass, 
It matters little now, ami sinks away 
As other eartlily things ! I tell you, friend. 
She is a flower of such fine exquisite mould, 
Of such divine simplicity and grace, 
Such sacred innocence and purity, 
Methinks the breath of passion stained and marred 
The heai-euly filimeas of her virgui heart, 
It were a pity and a sin *' — 

" Saiudo," 
Said Baldassar moat gravely, " I beliei-e. 
Surely believe you on your simple worI, 
Witliout such solemn pledge ! Eternal life 
Is what men call on in their dying hours " — 

M Then is it time for me ! " said Sanzio softly. 
But Baldassare, heeding not, went on, 
** And they, plinise God, are yet far off for you ! " 
And then more lightly, •* Aye, the hours when we 
Give up our sullied souls to some kind priest. 



To purify and make them fit for heaven, — 
But you have yet full time euough ! '* 

«* That hour 
Has come for me, friend ! *' Sanzio said agahi. 
Gentle yet firm. ** Wherefore would you deceive me, 
K'en were that possible ! I am not quite 
Unready nor unwilling to depart. 
But send for Benedetta, — I would see 
Her sweeteat fiioe onoe more ! Send for her aoon, — 
At once, — methinks I have not long to wait ! ** 

*' I will ride out to her this very eve. 

So with the early mom she may be here." 

" Thanks, thanks, my Baklassar ! And then, I pray. 
Nay, I beieech you, by the generous love 
You ever bore me, — by the undoubting fttlth 
Our friendship ever knew, — when I am gone 
Watch o*er her you, and have a care of her 
To whom the last love of my life was given ! 
I have no friend but you to whose pure hands 
I venture to confide this priceless ohaige. 
This too you promise ? " 

" Aye, with all my heart ! 
Yet no, my Sanzio! — Yon and I will yet 
Have many a long, glad ride across the hills ! " 

Sanzio shook his bowed head. ** I nevermore 

Shall ride across the hills I " he said unfaltering, 

Yet with a shade of sadness in his voice, 

Though Baldas-vtre would not be dismayed. 

And parted from him with a brave, bright smile. 

But when he closed the door and wandered off 

Down the long corridor, he suddenly paused 

With heavy feet, and covering np his firuse. 

His strong frame shaken by convulsive sobs. 

Cried out, » Great God, I fear he speaks the truth! " 

The morning came, and with it Benedetta. 
As she sped breathless up the well-kaowu stairs. 
She met a holy fiither, and in haste 
Received his benediction ; then flew on 
To Sanzio's chamber. 

He lay hack, awake 
But weary, on the cushions of his couch. 
Yet turned his head and mutely greeted her 
By a fiunt, happy smile. 

Without a word 
She hastened to his side, sank on her knees. 
And clasped in hers, and kissed the burning hands 
That looked so white and fine. He sufiSsred it. 
Still gazing down upon her tenderly. 
For one brief moment, then he gently drew 
One hand away to lay it on her head. 
And said m husky tonea, — 

" Hy Benedetta, 
My blessed one ! Oh you were wisely named ! 
To me you were in truth a messenger 
Sent down from hea«'en, ~~ the peace and hope and hdp 
Of a life brief in years but long in sin ! 
Thou purest star that ever smiled on me. 
Thou sweetest dream of all my wayward days, 
My own, my sister, — more than friend or k>ve, — 
Would I could tell thee in a single breath 
All thou hast been to me, — what deep content. 
What joy untold, I drauk from the fresh spring 
Of thy dear fove! " 

And through the whole bug day. 
Though he spakp little more, be fixed on her 
Eyes strangely radiant, yet so firm and calm, 
That Benedetta, full of trusting hope. 
Thought, surely, surety he will soon grow wdl ! 
As many times she clasped her hands in pn»yer. 
But when she asked him once, he only said, 
*' Love, that shall be as the dear Lord decrees, — 
He ordereth all, and ordereth all things well ; 
His will be done! " And thus the anxious hours 
Crept slowly by. 

( Conclusion in next number). 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FROM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

FROM THE OKRMAX OF CAUL VAN BRUYCK. 
(Continued from page 139.) 

Having thus briefly spoken of the Suite, 
the Partita, the Fugue, aud the Varialion, I 
have yet to say a few words about the So- 
nata and the Concerto, the consideration of 
which will lead us immediately to the next 
following art period. 

As the name of that earlier form, the Suite, 
points to a French, so does that, of the later 
Sonata point to an Italian, origin. In facs 
the most promuient piano compositions we 



possess by Italian masters of the Bach period, 
those of Domenico Scarlatti, are already en- 
titled Sonatas, without bearing the least re- 
semblance in their spirit, style, or whole form 
and structure, to that art form which since 
the Haydn-Mozart epoch has become the 
standard for the idea of the Sonata. Tli^'y 
are iu great part genial compositions (of 
only one movement), pervaded mostly by a 
fiery, nay, a bold and reckless, almost ex- 
travagant spirit, (oo often hurried away into 
nonsensical musical jokes ; yet often, on the 
other hand, they show a very fine and tender 
feeling. They form, for that epoch, a strik- 
ing, even an isolated and remarkable phenom- 
enon, the like of which, at that time, had not 
come to light on German soil. By their in- 
dividuality and by the artistic value they 
possess in single instances, they belong to the 
little which has kept itself in vogue out of 
the Italian art productions of this kind. 

The name ^* Sonata " seems at its origin to 
have had no characteristic signification, but 
only to have been invented in order, gener- 
ally, and without designating thereby any 
precise form, to distinguish instrumental from 
vocal music Thus, for example, even with 
Bach we find very short (though most maa- 
terly) compositions — of which I shall speak 
hereafter — entitled ** Symphonies." And 
so, too, we meet with a not inconsiderable 
number of Bach*s works — important ones — 
which he has nuperscribed as Sonatas : six for 
piano and violin (which might well take the 
highest place among all), the same number for 
the violin and the violoncello alone (the first 
in the highest degree remarkable), several for 
the organ, ali»o for the fiute and viola-di- 
gamba with piano. But even these Sonatas, 
although of several movements, distinguish 
themselves from the Suite only through the 
smaller number of movements (two Allegros 
and an Adagio), and through their on the 
whole more earnest and severe style, while 
in them the polyphonic, mostly thefugued 
stylc^ predominates, and the lighter dance form 
seems to have departed. But in their struct- 
ure these Sonatas, too, are wholly different 
from the later art form, while their several 
movements all have, as in the Suite, the same 
key. 

Of Bach's Concertos, of which we possess 
some for the piano, as well as for other in- 
struments, — among them the most powerful, 
at any rate the best known, is perhaps the 
one in D minor, — • we need but repeat in 
general what has been expressed already. 

Hence it only now remains to mention a 
series of thirty little piano compositions, which 
Bach has left us under the title of ** Inven- 
tions '* and of '* Symphonies," since Bach 
probably wrote them for the definite end of 
serving for the instruction of his pupils, as 
even the aforenamed six Partitas, which in 
their fully free and purely artistic mould be- 
tray not the slightest intention of any use in 
school, are included under the extremely 
modest general title of '* Pianoforte Practice." 
Of that series of compositions, the so-called 
" Inventions " are written purely in two, the 
^' Symphonies" in three parts, mostly in con- 
trapuntal, even fugued, style ; the latter par- 
ticularly (perhaps called " Symphonies ** on 
account of their richer fullness of sound) are 
true cabinet pieces of fine, sou'ful work, in- 



146 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - Ko. 1002. 



spired by all the Muses and the Graces. I 
simply mention them because they, together 
with the Partitas and a Ck)ncerto known as 
the ^ Italian," which contains a most remark- 
able and wonderful Adagio, to which I shall 
return again, seem to have been written by 
Bach with the same express purpose with 
which later authors have composed their 
Etudes^ which, for the most part, 'wear their 
pedagogical design quite unmistakably upon 
their forehead, and in many cases have no 
further urtisitic significance. 

It is well known that Sebastian Bach, who, 
taken all in all, so far as the purely musical 
faculty of form, especially of combination, is 
concerned (tiiough by no means in this di- 
rection alone !), may be called the mightiest 
tone-master of all times, properly concludes 
the epoch of the so-called strict, contrapuntal 
style, which also in Italy was already, in the 
seventeenth century, approaching its dissolu- 
tion, and concludes it in the grandest way 
conceivable. Music, under the influence of 
the new mental and moral direction of the 
times, as we have before remarked, was step- 
ping more and more out of the service of the 
church, and in so far as it still remained 
within it was losing more and more that 
lofty earnestness, that serious sentiment, with 
which the earlier masters were inspired. At 
the same time the fondness for the play of 
tone combinations, as such, exhausted iself ; 
and composers strove for greater freedom 
both of form and movement. Bach himself, 
with his high, profoun<lIy earnest striving, 
filled with the very soul of art and of human- 
ity, stood there in his time and upon German 
ground entirely isolated. Nor, with all the 
lofty fame which cert-iinly surrounded him 
durii^ his life, did he by any means acquire 
the popularity which other composers, far in- 
ferior to him, although remarkable, like Tele- 
mann and the opera composer Hasse, won. 
On the whole, we may designate the truly 
German (ur-deutsche) art of Bach aa the 
highest triumph of the Christian spirit, w^iich 
lived in this exalted genius in all its purity 
and deep inward beauty. 

It is an interesting fact that one of Baches 
immediate offspring, one of his numerous 
sons, all destined and educated by him for art, 
Philip Emanuel Bach, had a great influence 
on the change of form which music, particu- 
larly instrumental and piano-forte music, un- 
derwent. It seems to us, indeed, as if more 
of the powerful spirit of the great father 
were transmitted to another of these sons, the 
unfortunate Friedemann (who was by no 
means a ** Friedensmaim," or man of peace), 
than to the thoroughly gentle, and, so far as 
I can judge, rather weak Emanuel, — at 
least, in comparison with the rock-splitting, 
fiery spirit of Sebastian. Of Friedemann 
we possess, among other things, some exceed- 
ingly attractive, deep-souled so-called ^ Polo- 
naises ; " but under this name we must in 
no sense think of such music as we know 
in Chopin's Polonaises. But Emanuel, be- 
ing of a firmer and more balanced character 
than his erratic brother, reached a purer eth- 
ical, as well as artisticnl, completeness in him- 
self. While, with happy talent, he struck 
into a new direction, of which the elements, 
to be sure, lay all prepared before him 
(largely through Kuhnau, the predecessor of 



Sebastian Bach in the Thomas School at 
Leipzig), he beciime of great importance to 
the further development of art, particularly 
by the fact that through his efforts the youth- 
ful genius of Haydn was first inspired. Fol- 
lowing the path which he had opened, llaydn 
developed into the great artist that he was ; 
so that he can be designated as the ^ father " 
of the new art period, which embraced, be- 
sides himself, Mo:£art and Beethoven as its 
chief representatives ; although Haydn him- 
self, in his amiable way, so full of filial piety, 
used to say in his later years, ^ He [Eman- 
uel] is the father, and we are the — Iwys." 
He would not pass himself off for the Eman- 
uel, or Immtinuel, of the new art, but claime<l 
this title for the other. 

In fact, the amiable '* Sonatas " of Eman- 
uel Bach, even to this day valued and re- 
spected, in spite of their rococo character, 
approach essentially the form now in vogue, 
although this reached its last formal develop- 
ment through Haydn ; and then, first through 
Haydn himself, but finally through Beethoven, 
the form was filled with an ever higher, freer, 
and more mighty spirit. 

As in the seventeenth century the " Suite," 
so in the eighteenth the " Sonata," became 
the reigiiing larger art form in instrumental 
music, and in piano-forte music especially. I 
do not enter here into a description or a char- 
acterization of it, because it is generally well 
known ; it is described at length in numer- 
ous theoretical works and treatises (for ex- 
ample, in Dommer*s " Musical Lexicon "), 
and it is not ditiicult to deduce its character- 
istics through analysis of actual specimens. 
Oidy so much must I here remark : that in 
this new art form strict contrapuntal work 
retreats more into the background, and free 
melodic invention comes more to the front; 
that the polyphonous gives way to the ho- 
mophonous style, the contrapuntal to the har- 
monic treatment ; and that the great law of 
contrast comes in play not only in the work- 
ing out and richer modulation of the single 
movement^ of whiih the Sonata commonly 
counts four, but al^o in the alternation of kevs 
(of course related ones). Thus greater free- 
dom and a much wider field are given to im- 
agination, to the plastic faculty ; and now 
soul and feeling, which also demand expres- 
sion in tones, as well as the more intellectual 
ideal life, no longer held in check within the 
narrow limits of the earlier art, can resound 
and vibrate with full power. The forms as 
a whole become wider and broader, in de- 
tail softer, more flexible, more beautiful ; the 
spirit that pervades the tone-pictures takes an 
ever freer, bolder flight In the highest pro- 
ductions of this new art, the purely musical 
working or shaping is scarcely noticed or 
considered, although it is not less great, nor 
has it changed its ua'ure, and it still remains 
the main thing, at all events the foundation ; 
for now the forms have become altogether an 
expression of the soul's life, whereas before 
they claimed validity too much upon their 
own account. Upon the whole, therefore, in 
spite of the special excellences which are pe- 
culiar to other earlier, more restric ed forms, 
especially the fugue, the Sonata seems to be 
the highest, richest, ripest art form which in- 
strumental music so far has developed. And 
it shows itself in its full splendor in the 



works of Bekthovrn, who first, with titanic 
power, cai ried on to the end the grand new 
ar; -creation vihich Haydn had begun. But 
the reader must bear in mind that, when we 
speak of Beethoven's Sonata creations, we 
think first, to bo sure, of hi'* piano-forte Sona- 
tas, but that all his Duos, Trios, and Quatuors, 
even to the Symphonies, belong to the same 
art kind, inasmuch as their formal build is 
thoroughly alike in fundamental outlines, and 
only the different material for which the art- 
ist works requires certain special peculiari- 
ties of style ; so that, for example, a Quartet 
/or string (or bow) instruments, or an orches- 
tral Symphony, will always show, ceteris par- 
ibuSf a richer, stricter polyphony than a solo 
piano-forte Sonata. Now this Sonata, from 
that of the piano solo to the Concerto and 
the Symphony, formed for about a century 
the focus of the whole activity of art on the 
domain of instrumental music ; and decidedly 
its greatest representative was Beethoven, 
about whom the other eminent masters iu 
this kind of art stand naturally grouped. 

{To be CtfR/inueJ.) 



ARTHUR SULLIVAN. 

Sullivan was born in 1844 in London, 
and inherite<l his musicid taste from his father, 
who was a teacher of music in Kneller Hall, 
a training school for baml-masters in the 
army. His precocity may be judged by the 
fact that when only three years old he was 
a singer in the Royal Chapel, and at four- 
teen received the Mendelssohn medal, being 
the flrst to be ih\i^ honored. He was at first 
taught by his father, a- d afterward pursued 
his studies at the Royal Academy under John 
Gloss and Sterndale Bennett, and at the 
Leipsic Conservatory under Rietz, Ilaupt- 
mann, and Moscheles. The latter took a 
great fancy to him, and pronounced him ^* a 
lad of great promise," and one who he was 
" sure would do credit to England." When 
seventeen years old his music (Op. 1) to 
Shakespeare's '^Tempest," performed at a 
trial concert, created quite a sensation, and 
much delighted Prof. Moscheles, who saw in 
the work good promise of the fruit of his 
predictions. In 1862 his "Enchanted Isle" 
was brought out at Covent Garden, and was 
received with much favor. His cantata of 
" Kenilworth '" was given at the Birmingham 
Festival in 1864, and in 1865 a -Te Deum" 
of his was given to the public About this 
time a number of excellent song^ and an an- 
them were published ; also a few piano solos, 
one of which was performed by Mme. Schiller 
in Boston, in 1874. In 1869 his " Pr'odigal 
Son ** WHS performed in Worcester, England, 
and a selection fn^m it has often been sung 
in concert by Mr. John F. Winch. "On 
Shore and Sea" was written for and pro- 
duced at the International Exhibition, London, 
1871, and was sung in Chicago, in 1877, at 
an Apollo club concert. The ** Light of the 
World" was brought out in Birmingham in 
1873, and the Pastoral Symphony and Over- 
ture of it have l^cen given in America. His 
" Miller and his Men " was comprised in 1874. 
He has written many duets and part-songs 
for male voices, and his compositions of this 
class are great favorites with concert peoplt 
everywhere. Of his published works, we 



Septembkr 13, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



147 



refer last to his dramatic compositions, which 
all l)elon^ to the scliool of comic opera. We 
believe they are nil included under the titles 
of "Thespis," '^II CofitrabandiHta," •* Sorcer- 
er," " Box and Cox," « Trial by Jury," and, 
** H. M. S. Pinafore." The last three are 
well known, " Box and Cox " being often 
heard, and ** Trial by Jury ** has become a 
general favorite, certainly in this country, hav- 
ing been performed at numerous theatres since 
it was first given here at the Globe, in 1876, 
by the Soldene Troupe. In the recent per- 
formance of his "III Memoriam" overture 
by the Paris Socidt^ des Concerts du Con- 
servatoire, Mr. Sullivan has received a com- 
pliment which is said to be the first of the 
kind ever accorded to a Uvin>; pjiiglishman 
by this national institution. The work gave 
entire satisfaction. " H. M. S. Pinafore" has 
been raor^ instrumental than all the others 
in mnkiug his name known to the whole 
world. Ju fact a sort of lunacy seems to 
have taken possession of the public in lis ad- 
miration of this sprightly work. Mr. Sul- 
livan holds two honorable and responsible 
positions in England : that of Principal of 
the National School of Music at South Ken- 
Hingtoii, and Professorship of Harmony at 
the Royal Academy of Music. He is a Doc- 
tor of Music by virtue of a degree of the 
Cambridge University, and is highly esteemed, 
not only as a succesdful composer, but as a 
friend and companion. In disposition and 
character, he is said to be of the most genial 
and generous kind. We have a somewhat 
positive assurance that he will visit America 
in Octolier, and should he do so, he may ex- 
pect such a welcome from all bis *^»<i8ters 
and his cousins and his aunftt " on this side 
the salt pond as is — hardly ever — acconled 
to any but our most distinguished visitors. — 
KunkeVs Musical Review. 



MUSICAL CLUBS OF HARVARD: THE 
PIERIAN SODALITY. 

[From The Harrard Book, 1875.] 

The musical clubs of Harvard, although they 
may contribute nothing lo the history of music, 
have always formed a pleasant element in the 
college social atmosphere, and, on the whole, 
however frivolous at times, have had a really re- 
fining: influence amonc; the students. Their rec- 
ord, could it be ftdly written, would be full of 
interest. But that is by no means an easy task, 
nor do the materials for such a narrative, save to 
a very limited extent, exist. It would be useless 
to attempt, in this brief space, anything more 
than a very general sketch. 

There doubtless had been musical clubs in col- 
lege at various times before the most enduring 
one, the Pierian Sodality, was founded. Evi- 
dence of one, at least, we find in a curious little 
book containing ^ The Accoropts of the Treasurer 
of the Singing Club of Harvard College," begun 
November 9, 1786, and continued to May, 1803. 
How much earlier or later this club may have 
flourished, we have no means of knowing. The 
little oblong, leather-bound, well-worn, and yel- 
lowed volume, in shape resembling a common 
psalm-tune book of pocket size, shows from year 
to year the dues and payments of the several 
members, all set down in shillings and pence, — 
pounds seldom figuring, — until the Federal cur- 
rency comes in, in 1797. From such entries as 
these, — "3 vols. Worcester Collection, 4th ed., 
15 shillings;" " Uolden's Music, 8 shillings;'' 



'* Harmonia Sacra ; " " Harmonia Americana ; " 
*' Law's small Collection," etc., — it is clear 
that the Singing Club mainly, if not exclusively, 
courted the muse of old New England psalmody ; 
while several mentions of incredibly small sums 
(£2, or so) spent for a bass-viol, and frequent 
pence and shillings for strings and bows, inti- 
mate that the vocal consenius was not altogether 
without instrumental accompaniment. The writer 
well remembers one of those old 'cellos standincr 
in tlie corner under the paternal roof, where it 
was still cherished in his boyhood's years. Some 
honored names appear in this old record : in 
1786, for instance. President Kirkland, Judge 
Samuel Putnam; in 1799, Leverett Saltonstall, 
etc., etc. 

Of clubs or bands for instrumental, or " pure," 
music, we know of none earlier than the most fa- 
mous an<l long-lived among them, which still 
flourishes, The Pierian Sodality, founded in 1808. 
The secretary's records for the first twenty-four 
years of its checkered experiences have strangely 
disappeared. For all that period our only sources 
of information (though doubtless one who could 
devote himself with singleness of purpose and 
with one-ideaed persister.cy and zeal to such a 
task, mitrht g.ither quite a mass of pleasant rem- 
iniscences from veteran survivors) are an old 
MS. voltnnc of music, dating back to the founda- 
tion, and a printed catalotrue of officers and mem- 
bers down to the class of 1850. From this last it 
appears that the " founders " were Alpheus Bige- 
low, Benjamin D. Bartlett, Joseph Eaton, John 
Gardner and Frederic Kinloch, all of the class of 
1810, and all Ion <; since enrolled amons; the Stelli- 
geriy as well as their associates of that and several 
succeeding classes, with the single exception of 
Nathaniel Deering (oldest surviving Pierian), 
who still lives in Portland, Me. Among Pieri- 
ans of 1811 we find the names of Thomas G. Cary, 
William Powell Mason, and the Rev. Samuel 
Oilman, author of ** Fair Harvard ; " of 1812, the 
Rev. Dr. Henry Ware and Bishop Wainwright ; 
of 1816, William Ware (author of the "Palmyra 
Letters," " Zenobia," etc.) ; of 1817, George B. 
Emerson and General H. K. Oliver, the latter still 
among the most active and entliusiastic spirits in 
the musical life of Eastern Massachusetts. But 
we forbear to single out more names from the rich 
catalogue. 

The writer's personal recollection of the club 
begins with the year 1827-28. What it had been 
socially, as a sodality^ down to that time, appears 
moat creditably from a perusal of the catalogue 
of names. What it was musically is for the most 
part matter of conjecture. Probably it varied in 
form and color, as in degrees of excellence, from 
year to year ; your musical undergraduate is but 
a bird of passage. The old book of copied mu- 
sic, however, appears to contain the club's es- 
sential repertoire (at least fair samples of it) from 
the year 1808 to 1822. A long string of once 
popular marches comes first (Swiss Guards', Val- 
entine's, Grand Slow March in C, Massachusetts, 
Dirge in the Oratory (sic) of Saul, Cadets' 
March, March in the Overture of Lodoiska, Buo- 
naparte's March, etc., etc.). These are all writ- 
ten out in regular orchestral score for Prima and 
Secondo (doubtless violins), OboCj Corni^ primo 
and secondoy Tenor, and Bassoon. Some of these 
scores, however, show above ihe first and second 
violins another "primo" and "secondo" (per- 
haps flutes). Evidently the little band originally 
took a more orchestral form (with violins) than 
it had afterwards for many years in the long flut- 
ing and serenading, — what ^ we may call the 
middle — period of the Pierian career. We find 
also Rondos by Haydn and Pleyel, interspersed 
among more marches ; the Downfall of Paris ; 
waltzes ; a Divertimento by Pleyel, with pairs 
of flutes and clarinets, besides the .strings ; a 



portion of Handel's Water Music ; airs, like 
Robin Adair, Yellow-Haired Laddie, Fleuve da 
Tage, Aria in the Brazen Mask, etc. (These, of 
the more sentijnental kind, occur more frequently 
as we come further down ; doubtless the tender 
melodies were mingled with many a student's 
finer dreams — and many a maiden's.) The 
name of the copyist — possibly in some cases he 
was also the arranger — is aflixed to each piece. 
Some of these copyists survive, and could, we 
doubt not, tell us more of the musical complex- 
ion and accomplishment of the Pierians of their 
day. 

When the "Sodality began to play at college 
exhibitions, or when the flutes came in, and, with 
those soil, persuasive instruments, of course the 
serenading, we are not informed. Both practices 
were fully in vogue whenwe first heard the Pie- 
rians, in 1827-28 (the days of E. S. Dixwell, and 
of Winthrop, and the late lamented F. C. Lor- 
ing), and were kept up, with occasional short in- 
terruptions, for many a year afterwards. Shall 
we forget tlie scene of Exhibition Day, when the 
Latin School boy, on the eve of entering college, 
eager to catch a glimpse beforehand of the prom- 
ised land, went out to University Hall, and for 
the first time heard and saw, up there in the side 
(north) gallery, the little group of Pierians, with 
their ribbons and their medals, and their shining 
instruments, among them that protruding, long, 
and lengthening monster, the trombone, wielded 
with an air of gravity and dignity by one who 
now ranks among our most distinguished schol- 
ars, orators, and statesmen? Had any strains 
of band or orchestra ever sounded quite so sweet 
to the expectant Freshman's ears as those ? And 
was not he, too, captivated and converted to the 
gospel of the college flute, as the transcendent 
and most eloquent of instruments ? Nevertheless 
within a year or two he cho^e the reedy clarinet, 
wherewith to lead a little preparatory dub, — 
the purgatory which half-fledged musicians of his 
own ilk had to pass through before they could be 
candidates for the Pierian paradise. This was 
called the Arionic Society, and if its utmost skill 
was discord, the struggle of its members for pro- 
motion into the higher order was persistent. We 
think it was founded some years later than the 
Sodality, for which it. was in some sense the noisy 
nursery ; how long it lasted we know not. The 
Sodality in our day (1830-82), under the pres- 
idency of accomplished flutists (Isaac Appleton 
Jewett, Boott, and Gorham), wa^ comparatively 
rich in instruments ; besides the flutes (first, sec- 
ond, third, and several of each) we had the clar- 
inet, a pair of French horns, violoncello, and 
part of the time a nondescript bass horn. But 
with the graduation of the class of 1832 the band 
was suddenly reduced to a single member, who 
held all the offices and faithfully performed the 
duties, meeting and practicing (his flute parts) 
on the stated evenings, and so keeping the frail 
deserted shell above the waves, until one by one 
a little ^rew had joined him. On such a slen- 
der thread did the existence of the proud Sodal- 
ity once hang ! Perhaps more than once, be- 
fore and since. 

Plainly, the club was not at all times in a con- 
dition to respond at exhibitions to the expeciaiur 
musica of the venerable Prseses. But the records, 
from 1882 down, show that to biding themselves 
into fit condition for that service, and thereby 
shine in the good graces of the fair ones, as well 
as of their fellow-students, on that day assembled, 
was all tlie time the highest mark of their am- 
bition ; and oftentimes they borrowed aid from 
ex-Pierians, or amateur musicians from without, 
to eke out the. harmony and help tliem through 
the task. For the same cause the serenadinsr 
joys and glories were in like manner intermittent ; 
there was now and then a season when the sum- 



148 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1002. 



mer nights of Cambridge nnd vicinity were as 
full of melodies as Prosptsro's island. 

We are saved the necessity of enteving into 
any details of the»e things by the reminiscences 
of a Pierian of the class of 1839, which furnish 
a vivid inside view of the Pierian life during: his 
time. We append it as a representative descrip- 
tion equally good for any time in twenty years 
or more. 

In July, 1837, several ex-Pierians passed a 
pleasant social hour with the actual members of 
the club after an exhibition. It was at a room 
in Holworthy, and then and there was tlie first 
suggestion made, and the first steps were taken, 
for the formation of the Harvard Musical Associ- 
ation, which, for a few years, was composed of 
past and present members of the So<lality ; but 
afterwards the connection was dissolved, and the 
Association has carried on its separate life in 
Boston, replenishing its membership from year 
to year, however, principally from the graduate 
Pierians. The Harvard Musical Association has 
always had among its chief objects to promote 
musical culture in the University ; and it is in 
great measure due to its appeals and influ<;nce 
that the college has, for fifteen years or more, 
employed a learned and accomplished musical 
instructor, on whom it has only during this last 
year conferred the rank of Assi»tant Professor 
(now Professor) of Music. 

So much of what we have called the mitldle 
period of the Pierian history, — the flutini;, ser- 
enading, exhibition-playing perio<l. We may re- 
mark, however, tliat music has its shifting fash- 
ions, anil that there was a time (about the year 
1844) when a new sentimental brazen siren, un- 
der the various forms of cornet-a-piston, post-horn, 
etc., |K)sses8ed the fancy of the college amateur, 
and was in vogue for some years, like the ilute, 
between which and the heroic trumpet it was a 
sort of ambiguous cross ; but it has had its day 
as the ** instruutent for gentlemen." Perhaps it 
was the germ that culminated in the great mon- 
ster '* Jubilee " of Gilmore I 

With the year 1857-58 we may consider the 
third and present period to have begun. This 
was the time when violins were reinstated in the 
place of honor, and when the band was led by 
players of the violin, among whom was young Rob- 
ert 6. Shaw, heroic martyr of tHe late war ; there 
was also Crowninshield's 'cello, a double-bass, and 
a piano-forte to fill out the harmony. Since tlion 
the tendency of the club has been more and more 
toward the character and the proportions of a 
bond fide orchestra. And, naturally, the classic 
instrument ( ** fiddle " no longer) brought in with 
it intermittent aspirations for a higher kind of 
music, though the chief occupation of the club 
has always been with music light and popular, 
and of the day. Thus in the record of a meet- 
ing in May, 1859, we read as follows : ** We had 
obtained from the library of tlie Harvard Musi- 
cal Association of Boston (an aftergrowth of the 
Pierian Sodality) copies of twelve of .Haydn's 
Grand Symphonies, arranged for piano, two vio* 
lins, 'cello, and fiute; and, after our regular 
pieces for full orchestra, we procee<led to try 
these, and became so infatuated by their harmony 
that we continued playing until one o'clock in the 
morning." 

We believe terenadiug soon went out alto- 
gether ; and in the place thereof, the brave little 
band began to feel its strength sufficiently to vent- 
ure (with the Glee Club) upon the giving of 
concerts in Lyceum Hall to crowded audiences 
of their invited friends ; and from that day to 
this the practice has been continued ; more 
than once have Boston and the neighboring lander 
towns enjoyed the favor of such concerts. 

This period has been also marked by the sus- 
pension of the college exhibitions ; for a num- 



ber of years the field of glory has no longer fas- 
cinated the young college amateur's*imagi nation. 
Tot uuLwanl motive there remains to the Pierians 
the concerts, and for an inward and abiding 8[iring 
(may we not hope ?) a sincere zeal for music, 
and in a somewhat higher sense than heretofore. 
Probably the band was never in so good a con- 
dition, musically, as it was last spring, when it 
numbered two first and two second violins, one 
or two violas, two 'cellos, and a double-bass, be- 
sides flutes (reduced to the ortho<]ox pair), a clar- 
inet, a trum|)et (if we remember rifihtly), and 
serviceable hands at the piano in the background. 
Their performance, at a concert with the Har- 
vard Glee Club, under their energetic comluctor 
of the year before, now a member of the Law 
School, was said to be ** in point of spirit and pre- 
cision creditable, alt.houg;h it will cost more ex[ie- 
rience to keep the winil in exact tune with the 
strings." Already they hnve gone so far as to try 
their powers upon a Haydn Symphony, a Mozart 
Overture, etc., and with encouraging results ; and 
possibly we have here the germ of what may one 
day be a proper college orchestra. J. S. D. 

{To bt continued. ) 



THE ORIGIN OF ENGLISH OPERA. 

JOHN OAT AND HIS '* BEGGAR'S OPERA," THE 
FORERUNNER OF ^* PINAFORE." 

[From tb« Sprin^eld RapublleaD.] 

The unexpected and very great success of 
** Pinafore " is not unprecedented in the history 
of English opera. The first work of the kind, 
" The Beggar's Oi^era," was also a happy com- 
bination of wit, nielo<ly, and satire, that hit the 
fancy of mankind and set them to laughing and 
humming. 

Tlus was one hundred and fifty years ago. 
Walpole, Chesterfield, Pope, Swift, Congrcve, 
Gibber, and others were the great names of the 
day. Addison was but lately dead, and his 
brother essayist, Steele, was stricken with paral- 
ysis ; the second ^ snuffy drone from the German 
hive " had just come to the throne, a disreputable, 
ignorant, passionate Hanoverian ; Parliament was 
corrupt, and Walpole, for a quarter of a century 
prime minister, "judged human nature so meanly 
that one b ashamed to own that he was right ; " 
but under this dissolute, boozing, card-playing 
government there was peace, plenty, and the three 
per cents nearly at par. England, torn for h%lf 
a century by (questions of loyalty (how history 
repeats itself), prerogative, church, religious free- 
dom, and whatever cries of stalwart partisanship, 
was settling into peace, ease, and freedom. Wal- 
pole made no pretension to morality, public or 
private, but he knew that prosperity repressed 
the rage of faction ; he sought no glory abroad, 
but by moderation and lenity he promoted the 
happinesj of the people at home. 

It was the *' Merrie England " of song and 
story. London had not then, like a great wen, 
as Tliackeray says, drawn all the blood from 
country life. Gentlemen lived on their own es- 
tates, rarely going to town, hated foreigners, and 
indulgeil in hearty sports and simple amusements. 
Travelling was not easy, for the roads were quag- 
mires the greater part of the year, in that oozy 
climate, and the lonely heaths were infested by 
bold highwaymen who *' took to the road " when 
fortune frowned at the gaming table; but there 
was sport enough at home, every large town had 
its assemblies, race-meetings, cocking mains, and 
every hamlet its games. There was- much sound 
of junketing and fiddling all over the land ; a 
coarse, hard-riding, loud-bawling people are pretty 
good drinkers ; the opinions of the time are well 
expressed in a stanza of a song that was sung in 
the comedy of »* The Provoked Wife " : — 



«« What a pother of hta 

Have they kept in the state. 
About •ettiii^our coiiscienocs free! 

A bottle has more 

Dispentatioiis in store 
Than the king and the state can decree." 

The court of the first George had been inclined 
to much junketing, gaming, and riot. The King 
brought over a train of Germans, male and fe- 
male, who were determined to get all they could 
while tlie game lasted. Italian 'opera, that had 
crept in during the reign of Anne, was much 
patronized. Tlie Prince of Wales, who hated 
his father almost as much as he afterward de- 
toted his own son, like many other inharmo- 
nious, quarrelsome {leople, was tlevotcd to mu^ic, 
and subscribed handsomely to the opera ; in thia 
he was followed by people of fashion and by the 
travelled aristocracy ; but the general body of 
play goers hated the foreign innovation ; it was 
not only the constant subject of the ridicule of 
wits and jesters, but it was also denounced in 
the gravest manner by various censors of the 
public morals. 

John Gay, poet and wit, patronized by the 
powerful duke and duchess of Queensberry, had 
written charming verses, and some successful 
** pastorale," idyls of the bucolic sort, in which 
imaginary shepherd lads and lasses disported 
tliems^clvcs as they seem to be doing in china 
inantel-piece ornaments. Gay was one of the 
men that are fortunate in being much beloved ; 
I imagine that he had a sympathetic feeling for 
others and did not spend his time in talking about 
himself and his own affairs. Cold, se-f-engrosi^ed 
men grow rich often! iD!es, wear purple and fine 
linen, but they are not loved and petted as John 
Gay was. Among his other conquests he had 
found a soft spot in the cynical, bitter heart of 
Dean Swift, who, with his usual contempt and 
scorn of human nature, suggested to Gay that he 
thoiild write a " pastoral,'* introducing hi;!hway- 
men, thieves, informers, and such other rogues as 
made the population of Newgate prison. Gay 
took the idea readily and wrote a comedy with 
songs ; unlike the Italian opera it had no recita- 
tive, but it was the exact form in which English 
opera has remained to this day, a combination of 
singing and speaking ; what might more properly 
have been called at first, ballad comedy. 

The production was intended to satirize Ital- 
ian opera, and it is rather a funny coincidence 
that the class of people who speak of Sir Joseph 
Porter as "the Admiral," say that "Pinafore" 
was written to ridicule Italian Opera. Gay's 
satire is mostly in the name of the production, 
** The' Beggar's Opera,** and in the prologue, 
spoken by a beggar, which contains a very stupid 
story of its origin. Tliere was, however, pointed 
and clever satire upon the ministers of the crown 
and politicians in general, and the whole tiling is 
a more terrific exposition of tlie administration 
of criminal law than Gay intended, or than his 
audience could understand. Gay's friends were 
deeply interested in the work and gave him their 
assistance ; Dean Swift wrote the song, — 

*• When you oensme the age ; " 

Sir Charles Hanbury Williams contributed, — 
» Tligins are like the fair fkmer in its lustre ; ** 

The great Lord Chesterfield wrote the song 
Macheath sings to the air " Lillibullero,** — " The 
Modes of the Court," while Fortescue, the mat- 
ter of tJie rolls, wrote the precious produc- 
tion, — 

<* Gtmesters and lawyers are Jogglers alike." 

Dr. Pepusch composed an overture that is good 
music and set the many songs to popular airs. 
When all was done, cold water began to come — 
Dean Swift shook his head about it; Gibber, 
manager of Drury Lane, refused to produce it ; 



Septembkb 13, 1879.] 



DWIQHT'8 JOUBNAL OF MUSIC. 



149 



Congreve, who was crowned with the lays of a 
literary success never surpassed, oracularly de- 
clared that tlie piece would succeed greatly or be 
confoundedly damned. Failing to gut inside the 
charmed circle of Drury Lane« they were com- 
pelled to go to Rich, Uio manager of Lincoln's 
Inn Fields, the house then celebrated for panto- 
mime, in which Rich excelled as '* Harlequin ; '' 
this manager is immortalized in Pope's ** Dun- 
ciad" as one of Uie ministers of Dullness, — . 

** ImmortiU Rich ! how calm he sits at eiue, 
Midst niowM of paper and fierce hail of peat. 
And, proud bis mistreM* order to perform, 
Rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm." 

Rich was, like most of the theatrical managers 
of our times, a vulgar, ignorant showman, ready 
for anything, and he took up Gay's work because 
it was powerfully supported. Lincoln's Inn 
Fields was one of the ** Patent " theatres, and 
enjoyed equal privileges with Drury Lane ; it 
had a fine company of actors, at the head of 
which was Quin. 

At that time to be an actor meant more than 
it means now. Players were not divided into 
tragedians, comedians, eccentrics, etc. ; there 
were no *' one part " men who, making special 
studies of idiocy, drunkenness, or what not, wan- 
dered about year at1;er year until their perfurm- 
ances became as dry and perfunctory as tji0!<e 
of Sothern or Jefferson ; there were no tramping 
tragedians, patronizing Shakespeare by reciting 
half a dozen "rdles," until they become hard, 
cold, and vacant as the benches which the pub- 
lic refuse to fill. The actors of the last cent- 
ury have left a record of scholarship, wit, and 
accomplislmient that we do not parallel. They 
acted before the same audiences for years, con- 
tinually studying new parts and cast in a wide 
range of tragedy, comedy, and faive. If we be- 
lieve their written lives, the hi^tory of literature, 
and the more trivial reconis of gossip and letters, 
they filled an important place in social life, and 
when Garnck died, the grave»t and greatest lit- 
erary authority declared that in the event ** the 
gayety of nations was eclipsed." 

Qui^ was the head of Rich's company, and 
though easily the second best trage<lian of the 
day, he filled all important jmrts of comedy, and 
it was not strange thnt he should be cast for 
Captain Mai-heath. When the first copies of 
Pinafore came to this country there ^as not a 
theatrical company in America that could pro- 
duce it except that of the Boston Museum. I 
record this to the honor of that management. 
It was there cast, sung, and acted, without an ad- 
dition to the company, and the performance was 
the very best, take it all in all, that the public 
saw. Mr. Wiliion's performance of Sir Joseph 
was perfect in conception and rendering, and the 
other performers ** acted up '* to him. When 
the piece became a success other managers 
'* faked it up " by taking on people from bur- 
lesque troupes, minstrels, church- singers, and a 
heterogenous lot that could sing but not act, or 
act but not sing, so that .no performance any- 
where equaled that at the Museum. Does not 
this show that the management and company of 
the Boston Museum is for general theatrical pur- 
poses the very best in America? It certainly 
proves it to me. But we will leave the last 
opera and glide back through the many years to 
the scenes that heralded the birth of the first. 

We lefl Gay and the actors rehearsing the 
opera, all doubtful and prophetic of evil. Quin 
disliked his part ; one morning a sweet, fre^^h 
voice behind the scene was heard trolling easily 
the music of Macheath. Quin remarked: ** There 
ia a man, Mr. Gay, can do you more justice than 
I can,** and forthwith called in a manly, hand- 
some fellow whom he presented as Tom Walker, 
an actor whose name is on the scroll of fame 



connected with the success of Macheath. Other 
changes were made, but it was not until the last 
rehearsal that it was resolved to accompany the 
songs with the music of ^* the band," as the or- 
chestra was then called, and as it should now be 
called. 

Probably a curtain never rose on a more un- 
certain houseful than when the scene of The 
Beggar*s Opera was revealed and Hippesle^, as 
Peachum, opened with a song, — 

*' Through all tlie employments of life 
Each neighbor abuses his brother." 

The audience n^mained cold and silent until the 
srand chorus at the end of the second act, *' Let 
us take to the road," which was taken, scene and 
music, from the opera of It inaldo, with accompani- 
ment of drums and trumpets. At this the hith- 
erto stolid audience burst into applause that 
soon became general, and the success of English 
opera was secured. Among the audience were 
Pope, the Duke of Argyle, Sir Robert Walpole, 
and his rival in the king's ministry, I^rd Towns- 
hend; it was generally thought that the quar^ 
rel scene between Peachum and Lockitt, in the 
play, rt^ferred to a row in the ministry l)etween 
these two statesmen, which went so far that they 
drew their swords. 

It has always seemed strange to me that the 
success of this play and the remarkable event 
that it really was make so small a feature in 
the literature of the time. It. is mentioned in 
Swift's letters (who happened to be in Ireland 
upon its production), and in the notes to the 
•* Dunc»ad." Gibber's " apology " for his life, 
the luoht complete dramatic history ever written, 
and one of the most entertaining books, says 
little about it ; probably because Gibber was 
mortified that he had refu^ed it at his theatre. 
Dibdin's comprehen.<<ive " History of the Stage," 
does not reco^^nize that it was the invention of a 
new and brilliant entertainment, and Doran in 
his famous ** Annals " is er|ually obtuse. Victor's 
Ri'gister makes slight mention of it, and Thack- 
eray, in his lecture upon Prior, Gay, and Pope, 
scarcely alludes to it. None of these writers 
looked upon it as important that a new form of 
entertainment had been invented, because until 
the production of Pinafore, English opiira has 
not been important, nor is there a work of the 
kind between The Begtfar*s Opera and Pinafore 
except Sheridan's opera of The Duenna, that is 
of consetjuence. 

It' happened fortunately that Macklin wai pres- 
ent at tlie first performance ; he had also wit- 
nessed the rehearsals, he lived seventy years 
after it, seeing two centuries and almost touching 
the third (he was born in 1699 and died in 1797) ; 
and he is the source of most of the infonnation 
that we have about the first performance. The 
success after the first night was unbounded, the 
town was wild about it ; it wad acted all over 
Great Britain, and like Pinafore was sung by 
amateurs and children. I have before me, in a 
copy of 1 728, a cast of " Lilliputians " (Swift was 
then at the height of his fame), in which the va- 
rious parts of thieves, highwaymen, prostitutes, 
etc., that compose the dramatis persons are 
taken by young misses ! Italian opera, that had 
borne all down before it, was silenced ; the 
shameless songs of The Beggar's Opera weie in 
all mouths, printed on fans, and the scenes repre- 
sented upon screens and chintzes. 

But the world was not all of a mind ; there 
were sober, decent people like Arbuthnot, the 
archbishop of Canterbury, and others, who de- 
nounced its cynical spirit and course brutality. 
Sir John Fielding declared it was a school for 
highwaymen, and that the number of them rap- 
idly increased. But the public laughed and 
vowed that the success had ** made Gay rich and 
Rich gay." On the seventy-second night of the 



performance,' Rich, at the wing, noticed that 
Walker, as Macheath, was imperfect in his part, 
and as he came off attacked him : ** Sir, I should 
think your memory ought to be good by this 
time." " Zounds sir 1 " cried Tom, " do you expect 
my memory to last forever ! " 

The ^reat luck of the performance fell to Miss 
Fen ton, the beautiful Polly ; the Duke of Bolton 
fell in love with her, and in Swifl's letters the 
blessed dean writes : ** The Duke of Bolton hath 
run away with Polly Peachum, having settled 
four hundred a year upon her during pleasure 
and two hundred upon disagreement," but dis- 
agreement never came, for she lived with the 
duke twenty-three years, when, the Duchess of 
Bolton dying, he had the good sense to marry 
his faithful and beloved mistress, who had borne 
him several ante-nuptial children. She was a 
beautiful woman, a fine actress, and a sweet 
singer ; in one of Dr. Warton's notes subjoined 
to a letter from Dean Swifl to Gay, he says she 
had wit, gooil sense, a just taste in literature, 
and was much admired by the first men of the 
age. 

Of course with the changes of manners and 
customs, I'he Beggar's Opera has become merely 
a curiosity ; it was the origin of English opera, 
and it gives us a yery cleaf view of the brutality, 
coarseness, and indecency of manners in the first 
half of the last century. No audience of our 
time could endure a single scene of it as it was 
originally written, yet we coolly look upon scenes 
that our ancestors would have hooted from the 
stage : ** Autres temps, autres mceurs," — that is 
all. The plot and story would now be insuffer- 
ably dull. We have no interest in highwaymen ; 
the people who get away witli our money are an 
unromantic, plodding set whom we trust in a 
fiduciary capacity. 

After Gay's triumph he was more loved and 
petted than ever, for he was then not only amia- 
ble and clever but successful and rich. He was 
self-indulgent and a great eater. Congreve in a 
letter to Pope says : ** As the French philosopher 
used to prove his existence by, * I think, there- 
fore I am,' the greatest proof of Gay's existence 
is, he eats, therefore he is." But ease, eating, 
drinking, and much petting made an end to 
John Gay. Few men have been so mourned 
as he was; for though he wrote The Beggar's 
Opera and " Trivia," he had also written the 
charming ballads of " 'T was when the seas were 
roaring," " Black-Eyed Susan," and many other 
sweet and tender things that had the touch of 
nature in them. They buried him in the abbey, 
where England has gathered her illustrious dead, 
and his ashes mingle with those of kings and 
heroes. On the stone that marks the spot are 
graven the worst lines he ever wrote : — 

*« Life is a jest, and all things show it, 
I thought BO oDce, but now I know it" 

WiLDAIR. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

FKOM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
BUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XIIL 

In this country it is seldom that we get an ar- 
tist's best work, because the critics growl so. 
People will never get their money's worth until 
they take things for what they are intended. 

You will all find among your acquaintances a 
class of people who consider themselves of vital 
imix)rtance, and whose lives have never proved 
them to be of any utility to anybody. They are 
always foremost in their remarks to decry this 
and to discourage that. You must judge such 

1 Copyright, 1879, by Helen M. Knowlton. 



150 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



fVoL. XXXIX. — No. 1002. 



people's opinions according to the amount of love 
which they have shown to humanity. 

No one who has not devoted his life and soul 
to the pursuit of art can feel the same exultation 
in its brightest ornaments and loftiest triumphs 
that an artist does. *' Where the treasure it^ there 
the heart is also" 

In all our criticisms of art very little attention 
seems to be paid to what I should call Wit in 
Painting. I mean the effect produced by rapid, 
electrical work. When Stuart Newton was in- 
vited by an English gentleman to see his collec- 
tion of pictures, and did not seem much pleased 
with them, the owner said, " Mr. Newton, at any 
rate it is a tolerable collection ? ** Stuart Newton 
replied, " How do you like a tolerable egg ? " 
The argument of a day would not contain the 
pith of these few words. 

By the same process in painting, three lines 
made by capacity, with conviction, will some- 
times produce more effect than ayear'ti painstak- 
ing tinkering. Labor is not necessarily effective. 
It is like damp powder, which kindles slowly, con- 
scientiously, and surely, one grain at a time. 

It IS the suddenness of the explosion of powder 
which gives the irresistible power to the cannon- 
ball. Most men's work is like damp powder, and 
burns one grain at a time. There is a great 
smoke and a great smell, and the rock is not 
blasted. 

It bores some people to think that any one can 
work except throtigh their own long processes ; 
and nothing so irritates a community as to wit- 
ness rapid success. 



Do your own work in your own way. Don't 
embroider other people's work upon your own, or 
you make an extinguisher to put out your own 
light. You can't have tdl the good qualities — 
the drawing of Raphael and the color of Titian ! 
You may witih to draw like this one and pnint 
like that one, but you can't work better than jou 
know. So you must be content to sing your own 
song in your own way. Be content with one 
quality. I know how hard you are going to find 
it. Corot could not have develo(>ed himself in 
this country. He would have been snubbed and 
laughed at, and advised to paint like this one and 
that one, until he would have been pushed out of 
his own direction. 

Why put a line under that eye when there is 
none? You put it there because you thought 
it ought to be there. Well, so it ought ; but the 
maker of that cast did n't think so, so you won't 
have to make it. Let me tell you a secret. 
Don't tell anybody, but the best way to learn to 
draw is, To draw only what you see! 

I lend you these heliotypes and photographs, 
and ask you to take as much care of them as you 
would of one of your own handkerchiefs that you 
had had washed for eight cents. 

Don't try to paint better than any one else ! 
Try to have other people paint better than you. 
That will help you to paint. Wc go on only by 
being among our superiors. 

In preparing grounds to paint on, remember to 
paint light on dark, cold on warm, warm on cold. 
You want the struggle of opposites. 

Nobody ever lived who began to be the color- 
ist that Diaz was. 



j^tDigl^tjat 3;ourtTal of i^u&ic. 



Mmk. Nilsson has signed an engagement with M. Yau- 
corbeil, the new Director of the Porii Opera House, for two 
jeari, beginning early next spring. She will ** create " the 
part of Francucn in M. Ambroise Thomas's furthcoming 
opera of " Fraoeesca di Kimini,'* and will possibly also take 
the principal part in M. Massenet's ** Herodias," for which 
MM. Meilliae and Halevj have supplied the poem. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1879. 

SAVE THE MUSIC HALL I 

Music, in our great cities, and just now in 
Boston particularly, stands in need of two tliinj^s : 
organization, and liberal endowment on the part 
of men of means. Musical culture — at all 
events the love and taste for music, and for the. 
higher forms of art — now interests society as 
never before ; it is one of the great topics of the 
times, as every newspaper of every day will show. 
At the same time music, like all refining public 
influences, now meets an enemy more dan«;erous, 
more ruthless and destructive than it ever knew 
before. That enemy is the soulless, grns|)in(;, 
and insatiable spirit of mere money-making busi- 
ness, as represented by a certain restless set of 
men whose highest ideal of a great city is a vast 
wilderness of trade., a dead level of mere busi- 
ness streets, one like another, all monotonou?, on- 



intcreifting, wearisome. No matter tor that so 
long as there is room enough for ^* business.'* For 
^* bees'niss is bees*ntss," saith the Jew, and that 
is all their argument. All that there is of pict- 
uresque and charming in an old town, all that 
attracts the feet of travelers towards it, all its 
historic monument!*, all its fine buildings reared 
in tiie interests of art and education, ail its 
cheerful, wholesome, and refreshing parks and 
shady avenues of trees, all that a city prides it 
self upon and that its children love, all. in short, 
that makes one phice ditierent from or better 
than another, all its individuality, its peculiar 
character and glory, must be sacrificed, razed to 
the ground the moment any little knot of ava- 
ricious, money-making people take it into their 
heads that the " interests of trade '* requiiv a new 
street running right through the Music Hall, the 
Art Museum, the high school, or the venerable 
church which happens to stand so as to *^ ob- 
struct " their hankering for an increased valua- 
tion upon their private estates. At this moment 
it is our beautiful and noble Boston Music Hall 
which is the special object of attack ; but the 
movement, rather say the dark conspiracy, is all 
part and panel of a wider and a wilder dream, 
which contemplates the de:«truction of the Com- 
mon, the digging down of Beacon Hill, the rob- 
bing Boston of its lungs and breathing spaces, of 
all its noble institutions and buildings, of all that 
in any way relieves the vulgar dead monotony of 
trade. It would in fact obliterate all that distinctr 
tively and properly is Boston. Probably there 
are some native-born sons of Boston whose souls 
are not superior to schemes and dreams like this ; 
but doubtless the sti'ength of all such movements 
lies in the increase of population from abroad, 
whereby we have a majority of voters who know 
not Boston, who feel no interest in its preserva- 
tion and its honor, and who are only drawn here 
as to a great market-place where tliey may earn 
a livelihood and possibly get rich. 

It is true that the narrow limits of this penin- 
sula on which our fathers built are small for the 
present population and its active industry and 
trade. But why shall a short man compete in 
stature with a man that is tall ? Why not com- 
pete in something else, and something that is bet- 
ter ? Why will not Boston be content with being 
Boston ? Wliy not make the most of our pecul 
iar advantages, cherish the good things we have 
got, and not try to be Chicago or New York ? Is 
Florence any the less glorious because it is not so 
vast a city as London ? Is Leipzig a less im- 
portant fact of European civilization than Ber- 
lin ? But to come to the immediate point. 

Cincinnati appears just now to possess both the 
requirements which music lacks in Boston. She 



has rich men who give Isrgely of their wealth for 
the sup]K)rt of music. There music has a music 
hall on a grand scale given outright to music, and 
not likely to l>e floated down into the stock-mar- 
ket. It will probably be held in ptTmanence sa- 
cred to the cause of music. With that hall for a 
nucleus and centre, the so called ** College of Mu- 
sic " has been successfully organized, and appar- 
ently almost the whole musical activity of Cin- 
cinnati pivots mainly upon that. This, or some 
such unitary, comprehensive and consistent or- 
ganization, is what Boston needs for music. But 
music, now a more important interest than ever 
before, lacks the material means for further prog- 
ress in this large organic sense.* Worst of all, 
and very mortifying, it seems to lack the means 
of holding what it has got. We have a Music 
Hall, which we all fondly fancied was to he a 
permanent possession and stronghold of the mu- 
sical art in Boston. . It was built by those who 
intended it for that. To be sure it is private 
property and held in shares ; but those who sub- 
scribed to its stock originally, did so for music's 
sake and with no ex(K*ctation of reaping a pecun- 
iary profit. But alas I the plan was faulty ; it 
hhuuld have been a gifi to art outright ; tliere 
was debt incurred to make up the amount re- 
<piired ; and r<o there were plenty of holes through 
which the Evil One, in the shape of the stock-job- 
ber; could creep in and undermine. Its shares be- 
gan by little and little to change hands; the sales 
were quoted in the reports cunxiut of the stock- 
market, with all sorts of fluctuations, and some- 
times factitious, fancy prices. In fact the Music 
Hall, 6iipi>osing it to be a sensitive being, with a 
sort of moral con:»ciousness of its own oriviual 

o 

dcsi;*!!, almost ceased to know itself, it was so 
bandied about in the stock market and ** mixed 
up " with other *' bal>es." Once, when speculat- 
ing outsiders, on a " still hunt/' were picking up 
its shares with the ho]>e of controlling the prop- 
erty and converting the buihiing to mercantile 
purposes, the stock went up for a brief time to a 
fabulous height, although the hall l^ad never paid 
a dividend. In that emei'gency it was saved for 
music through the generous investment by two of 
its friends in its stock, to an extent which gave 
them a controlling interest. Both of these friends 
are dead, their heir has failed in business, and, 
although anxious to have the hall preserved, is 
compelled to act in the interest of creditors to 
whom the Music Hall, as such, is of no concern 
compared with the income to be derived from it, 
whether by selling it to the city for the extension 
of Hamilton Place, or by any other means. Such 
is the streng thof the enemy that seeketh to de- 
stroy, and such the weakness of the fortress. 

How can the Music Hall be saved ? The dan- 
ger is immediate. The tiling requii<ed is that tlie 
controlling interest in its stock should pass into 
hands that will hold it for music and refuse to 
sell for any vandal purposes like that now con- 
templated. 

It would seem, then, that the case appeals dis- 
tinctly to the wealthier friends of munic in our 
city. With them rests the responsibility of the 
salvation or destruction of the Music HalL 
Money alone can save it. Some one true friend 
of music, or a number of such combined, must 
purchase the five hundred plus a few more of the 
one thou.«and shares of its capital stock, and re- 
fuse to sell them for the threatened Hamilton 
Place extension, or for anything that would di- 
vert the Hall from its original and legitimate 
uses. Cincinnati has her Springer and her other 
generous donors of the ftinds for her great music 
hall and college ; has not Boston men as rich, as 
public spirited, as generous in a thousand ways, 
and some of them as deeply interesteil in muMC 
as an important element in social culture ? Surely 
her " merchant princes " are proverbial for their 



Septkhber 13, 1879.] 



DWIQHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



151 



manificeiit endowment of all kinds of noble, hu- 
mane, or artistic institutions. Tliey giv« roost 
freely to found professorships even in branches of 
learning and of science which can expect only a 
handful (comparatively) of students. They (;ive 
for all the other arts, for art museums, sculpture 
g.-illerics, schools of art ; but unaccountable as it 
may seem, no one has yet appeared who cjrives 
a handsome sum to Music, — music, which inter- 
ests the whole comutunity, and in its taste for 
which, in its halls and oratorios and concerts of 



cannot even save wlipt we have built up, not even 
the place which makes grand muttic possible 
among us, for want of money enough to outbid 
the desti'oyers ! We do not say that it is the 
best muitic hall conceivable ; or that we do not 
need one or more new halls in addition to the one 
we have (all the more now that Tremont Teuiple 
has been burned down) ; but we do need this 
one, and in the present emergency it is all-im- 
portant to our mu^ical interests that wo *• hold 
the fortress." It would not cost a hundred thou- 
sand dollars, perhaps not half that, to secure and 
hold that larger half of the Music Hall stock 
which otherwise will join the march of the de- 
stroyers. Doubtless there are a dozen men, and 
more, in this city, who could do this single- 
handed, nivn who have some zeal for music. If 
not, let several men, and generous wealthy 
women, too, combine to do it. Or, were it not 
that the danger is so imminent, and time so short, 
it would seem tio be an easy tabk to raise the re- 
quired amount in single shares, widely distributed 
among musical jjeople of moderate means. At all 
events it should be done ; and these mere mer- 
cantile and selfish onslaughts upon institutions 
whiith are the ornament and pride of our good 
old city, should be signally rebuked. 

And when this is done, when the stock of the 
Music Hall Is once more held by the right sort 
of people, purely in the interests of music, then 
at once will vanish all those objectionable feat- 
ures in the administration of the Hall, which 
have made not a few of our most musical citi- 
zens indifferent to its preservation. Then it will 
no more be desecrated by dog shows, poultry 
shows, stupid and interminable walking matches, 
and even brutal and disgusting prize fights ; nor 
will the Hall itself, directly or indirectly, compete 
with its own customers (musical societies who hire 
it) in the matter of concert giving. We want 
the Music Hall kept pure ; we want it kept out 
of the stock-market ; we want it held sacred to 
Art, unpurchasable and unassailable, as much as 
Harvard University, or Trinity Church, or the 
Art Museum, or the Capitol. 

Quesiions of other poshible and better halls, 
of other locatilies, etc., appear to us irrelevant 
just now. When we have saved what we have 
got, we may begin to think what more we might 
have. 

These remarks perhaps require apology to 
many of our readers as being mostly of mere lo- 
cal interest, confined to. Boston. But they in« 
Tolve principles with regard to tlie ris:ht organi- 
zation and endowment of the public music, which 
worthy of consideration in all other cities. 



profession, or how esger a number of musical lovers may 
be for good home music, yet wilbuut concerted action for 
the suppoit of musical enterpriies, it is impoesible to ad- 
VAiice the art to a sure position. It has been said by a wise 
writer on tbe subject of education, tliat to educate a person 
fully was simply to lift him from " a state of dependence to 
one which gave him tlie full power over his faculties and of 
himself.*' So it seems to me tliat every city tliat pretends 
to have a love of culture, and desires to advance tlie arts, 
untst make herself independeiit of ull other places, by sup- 
porting within her limits all those artists who can best 
carry out all enterprises that have this aim in view. In St 
Louis 1 find tlie material for a much greater degree of 
advancement than is at present indicated. In the other 
arts much enterprise is manifested, and the Washington 



the highest kind, Boston so prides itself. Yet here 

^ J, 1 I * *i *T : -«.-,:* *i.-fr .«. University, with its comprehensive views of education, has 

we are reduced to tlic mortifymg strait, that wes »^'"'^»»"'Ji . ,. . ^ ., :.„•;.. «.„ »«„-iJ - —if 

•' ^ ' an art department that is shaping its way toward a seU- 



sical companionship; I found also, stimulating lectures, or 
rather, off-hand talks, by Mr. Mathews and otberi, and 
equally stimulating and interesting recitals of the best music, 
both songs and piauo-forte. 

There were some twenty of these recitals in all. The 
iong recitals were given by Miss Grace A. Hilts, of Chicago, 
a pupil of BIrs. Hershey-Eddy. I subjoin one of her pro- 
grammes, and must ezpressfmy hearty approval of the way 
it was sung. Miss Uiltz has evidently been thoroughly 
well taught; and though she has still a good deal to learn, 
she sang much of this programme in a way that left noth- 
ing to be desired. Her singing of the Schubert and F^tns 
songs, was especially delightful. But see what a fine pro- 
gramme this is! 



supporting independence. They have fine collections of 
picturtfs, casts, and artistic treasures, while cultivated artisbi 
give instruction in all branches of this art. Yearly courses 
of illustrated lectures are given ; and sketch clubs and other 
enterprises are succesftfully carried^out for the advancement 
of this branch of culture. It pleased me to learn that Mr. 
Ives, the gentleman who is the professor of Art at tlie Uni. 
versity, had arranged a number of classical recitals of piano- 
forte music, which were git^n before tlie students of the in- 
stitution, tlms signifying his love of the sister art of music. 

TtM Beethoven Conservatory of Music is the kurgest in- 
stitution of a musical character in this city, and it gives in- 
struction to a ktrge number of students. Mr. W. Melmen^, 
the gentleniaidy correspondent of many musical papers, has 
a music-school that is doing earnest work. Mr.. Hobei^ 
Goldbeck also has an institution of like character under his 
direction. He is also conductor of a choral organization 
bearing the name of the ^^ Harmonic Society." The Ger- 
man Musical Club — called the Arion — is one of the largest 
societies that the city contains. It gives a number of con - 
cert4 each season. The '^Operatic Society" also gave a 
number of operas during the past season, all the singers 
being Iroin home talent. Their performances were most 
highly spoken of. I have had the pleasure of hearing a 
Unre number of the home vocalista of this city, and find 
that it is rich in voices of a good character; and indeed 
some of the singers have organs that have given them a 
uiuch wider reputation than comes from simple local fame. 

In orchestral matters St. Louis, like Chicago, suffers, and 
no home organization for symphony concerts exists, although 
tli«re are a number of good men with whom to form a band, 
should a well-directed effort be made. 

In regard to the public support given to musical enter- 
prises of a home nature I heard much complaint, and was 
informed that nearly every endeavor made fur the advance- 
ment of oratorio, or symphony concerts, failed for want of 
financial aid. Yet it must not be supposed that St. Louis 
does not contain music-lovers, for a most appreciative audi- 
ence is often assembled to give welcome to some great artist 
who may visit the city. Yet it seems to me that the whole 
matter of its want of activity in music rests mostly upon 
the fact that it goes outside of itself for its dependence. If 
the musical profession would organize with the intent of ad- 
vancing their art, by the formation of societies that could 
give in an adequate manner symphony, oratorio, and chamber 
concerts, and collectively try to awaken the public to the 
realization that tlie home-talent was in earnest iu its en- 
deavors to cultivate a love for good music, I think the city 
wouki take a pride in her own, and give them of her wealth 
to support their undertakings. There might follow the 
large festivals after a season, and the city would draw from 
the outside world, and music-lovers would come to pay 
homage to tlie shrine of art. The dependent would find 
their own powers, and use them with a self-satisfying cer- 
tainty. There are golden opportunities for the earnest lovers 
of art, if they will only concentrate their endeavors until 
they are stamped with a true purpose. 

St. Louis 15 the home of Dr. W. T. Harris, the learned 
editor of the Jownnl of Sptculative Philutophy^ and his 
pen has been active for music, in so thoughtful and brilliant 
a manner as to call the attention of the great minds of the 
country to new reflections upon tliis wonderful art. llie 
oneness of tlie beautiful in all arts, the aim of all culture 
toward the elevation of the spirit of man to the Infinite in 
perfection, should so eidist the minds of all earnest thinkers 
everywhere, that coiperation in endeavor would win that 
recognition that comes from a cause that is universal in its 
intent to promote the true and this good. C. U. B. 



■•■••! 

>. 71, No. 2,) 



MtndtUaohn, 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

St. Louis, Mo., Auo. 25 Your Chicago correspond 

ent, in his vaeaUon meauderings, finds himself in this old 

and wealthy city; and as he has enjoyed the opportunity of 

fiimiliarizing himself with some of the musical affairs of the 

pbce, as well as making the acquaintance of many of tlie 

musical people, be ukea the liberty of transmitting some of | a good deal It is k>ng since I have been in such a thor- 

bia reflections to the Joukn.m*. The musical art often > oughly musical atmosphere. I found there numbers of 



MiLWAUKKE, Wis., Sept. 8. — I have been silent a 
long time, mainly because there has been no music here 
the record of which need take up tlie valuable space of 
Dwigiit's Jouio'AL. The summer conc^ts have had their 
interest, but mainly for the seeker after hot weather recrea- 
-tion. The programmes, however well giveu, have all been 
light, as befits the season. 

But I ought not U) omit recording the work of Air. W. 
S. B. Mathews's Normal School at E\-anston, of which I saw 



Buflfcrs in its progress in a city on acrount of the want of a 
coneetitratiqu of effort on the part of those interested in it; 
for no matter how earnest are the mdividual members of the 



eaniest, thoughtful, enthusiastic teachers and their pupils, 
who had come to get what could be got out of five weeks 
of work, under tbe stimulus of excellent teaching, and of mu- 



1. (a) *« On wmgs of Music " 
(ft) «< Zuleika " . . 
(c) *( Song of Spring," Op. 

2. Five Songs, from the ** Poet's Love ** . Sekumam^. 
(a) »' 'T was in the lo^'ely month of May." 

(6) '( Where fall my bitter tear-drops." 

(c) " The Koae and the Lily." 

{d) ** When gazing on thy beauteous eyes." 

(e) *< A Young Man loves a Maiden." 

8. " Blonders Song " Schumann, 

4. Nine Songs Franz, 

(a) " Dance Song In May," Op. 1, No. 6. 

(6) " In Vain," Op. 10, No. 6. 

(c) «* Two Faded Uoees," Op. 18, No. 1. 

(<f) (< May Song," Op. 33, No. 3. 

(e) " The Lotus Flower," Op. 1, No. .8. 

(/) »» Rosemary," Op. 13, No. 4. 

(^) *< Slumber Song,'* Op. 1, No. 10. 

(A) " Oh tell roe is my wandering Love," Op. 40, No. 1. 

(i ) *» The Woods," Op. 14, No. 3. 
6. Five Songs Schhbevi, 

(a) «* Thou art the Rest." 

(6) »' Hark! Hark tbe Lark." 

(c) " Faith in Spring." 

Id) " Barcarolle." 

(e) " Whither." 

A good many of the piano recitals were given by Miss 
Lydia S. Harris, a pupil of Mr. Mathews, and a young Udy 
who will 1)6 heard from by and by. Her most satisfactory 
work to me was her playing of the E-miiior concerto of 
Chopin ; a difficult work, but done so well that many artists 
of more pretensions need not have been ashamed to have 
played it as she did. There were abo several pupil recitals, 
among which, one by a Miss Jones, a pupil of Miss E. W. 
Scott of Cincinnati, was especially creditable. There was 
also one by Miss Amy Fay, which I did not hear; one by 
Aliss Bertha Surge, a pupil of Carl Reinecke, and an excel- 
lent pianist of tlie classical school, and one by Mr. Emil 
Liebling, a pianist, who has great execution. I ought not 
to omit to mention the vocal teaching and chorus directing 
of Mr, Wm. B. Chamlierlain, a pupil of Mme. Emma Seller, 
and a teacher in the Conservatory of Music of Oberlin Col- 
lie. So far as I can judge, his methods are thoroughly 
scientific, and his work is certainly eflfectlve. 

Altogether, I am certain this '* Normal " did a greal deal 
of good. J. C. F. 

NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

New York and Brooklyn have the prospect of an 
abundant supply of Symphony Concerts, Oratorios, etc., 
during the coming season, according to the following schedule 
in the Tribune: — 

NoUiing is known as yet of what the principal composi- 
tions will consist that the different societies will select, but 
each announces, as is the wont of such societies, that it has 
important novelties for production. The concerts will be 
given at tlie usu.ol places, the New York Philharmonic at 
the Academy of 3Iusic, the Symphony Society and the Or- 
atorio Society at Steinway Hall, Mr. Carlberg's concerts at 
Chickering Hall, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the 
Brooklyn Academy. The Philharmonic Societies of New 
York and Brooklyn will be conducted by Theodore Tliomas, 
tbd Symphony and Oratorio Societies by Dr. Damrosch, and 
the Chickering Hall ConcerU by Mr. Gotthold Carlbeig. 
'I1ie dates of the rehearsals and eoncerts will be as follows : — 
No^'eniber 6 and 8, Symphony Society. 

13 and 15, Carlberg Concert. 

17 and 18, Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. 

21 and 22, New York Philhannonic Society. 

28 and |9, Oratorio Society. 
December 4 and 6, Symphony Society. 

11 and 13, Carlberg Concert 

16 and 16, Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. 

19 and 20, New York Philhai-monic Society. 
26 and 27, Oratorio Society. 

January 8 and 10, Carlbeig Concert. 

15 and 17, Symphony Society. 

23 and 24, New York Philharmonic Society. 

29 and 30, Carlberg Concert. 
February 6 and 7, Oratorio Society. 

12 and 14, Symphony Society. 

16 and 17, Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. 

20 and 21, New York Philharmonic Society. 
26 and 28, Cariberg Society. 



162 



DWIOHTa JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



rvoL. XXXIX.-N0. 1002. 



Jihreh 11 and 13, Symphony Soeiety. 

15 mkI 16, Brookl)ii Philhmrmoiiio Soeiety. 
19 and 20, New York Philharmonic Society. 

Apnl 1 and 3, Symphony Soeiety. 
8 and 10, Carlberg Concert. 

16 and 17, Oratorio Soeiety. 

19 and 20, BrooUyn Philharmonic Soeiety. 
83 and 24, New York Phtlharmonie Society. 

MXB. JOLIA Bivtf-KiKO, aasiited by Mme. Anna 
Diwdil, will give leeitali in Boeton and other cities this 
■eason, eomiueneing in October. 

Mdc Maretxek has selected the S4th of September for the 
initial performance of bis new opera of ^ Sleepy Hollow " at 
the Academy of Music, the same date as that of the Ant 
eonesit of the CarlotU Patti Company. 



Mr. W. R. Deutsch, who has Just arriTed home from 
Europe, makes known the (kct that he has enicaflped for the 
ensuing season a musical company composed of twenty-two 
penons, and styled the •* Estodiantina Figaro.'* The 
English name will be ** The Spanish StudenU.** This com- 
pany is, in &ct, a band made up entirely of guitars and 
mandoUos. The performance tliat it gives is said to be 
poetical, delicate, and charming, and also to be extraordinary 
for the attribute of unanimity. The spectator, in fact, sees 
these tweiity-two musicians, as tlie poet Wordsworth saw 
the cattle, when he said *• there are forty feeding like one." 
— J^. y. TrUnuu. 

Miss Abbib CARBixoTO.f , a Boston lady, who has been 
singing in Blibui with cousiderable success, was introduced 
a short time since to an invited audience in Boston at the 
rooms of Henry F. Miller. The Tranteript says of her: 
•* Her voice is a clear and powerful soprano, as^reeable and 
uniform in quality, its upper notes lieing better developed 
than those of the lower roister, wbibt her execution, even 
in the most trying passages, is exceptionally fine. Her de- 
livery is marked by earnest expression, intense dramatic 
feeling and distinct utterance, her attack of high notes ad- 
mirable, and her intonation correct and satisfactory. A1-. 
though she has yet to demonstrate her ability as a dramatic 
artiste, enough was shown last evening to prove that she 
has decided talent in that direction." 



A B08TOH Vocalist, who was especially esteemed and 
valued here some few yean ago on account of her musical 
ability, as well as for ber personal character and worth — 
we refer to Caliste M. Huntley, now Signon PiecioH, of 
Mibm, -^ will return next month to her cit/and home, siler 
a twdve-yean* absence. During this period she has acquired 
a vo-mJ and operatic experience and recognition that an not 
often so well accorded to our native artists hi the profifssbn 
abroad. Since Miss Huntley (for so we must really recall 
her in remembrance) left Boston she has sung in opera and 
concerts, principally in Mthui, but also in the chief musical 
cities and centres of Germany; fulfilled operatic engagemenU 
in Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Dublin, and, eroesing and rs- 
citMsing the Atlantic twice, made successful trips to South 
America, singing in opera at Buaios Ayres and Montevideo, 
winning in every place the best commendation for her lyric 
gifts aiid capabilities of vocal expression. Now, with a 
longing desire to risit her reUtives and former friends, and 
musical companions and associates, she will return to Boston 
for a time. So many of our musical httbUua will recollect 
her vocal ability in ber fine participatioii in the firat Boston 
performance of Mendelssohn's " Hymii of I'raise,** under 
Mr. B. J. Lang's enterprise and directorahip; in her stibM- 
quait accomplishment of the exacting soprano part in 
Schumann's •* Parsdise and tbe Peri," when Mr. J. C. D. 
Parker first introduced it to musical Boston; and furtlier, 
in her successes in a more fk>rid and operatic school of 
vocalism under Sigiior Bendelari's practiced style and teach- 
ing, that there can be no mistake about the pleasurable 
interest that will be taken by musical people in tbe hidy's 
presence again in her home-city, and among familiar musical 
seeiies Tt-atucript. ^ 

Tns New Yorii Timei says: "New York is not likely 
to sufler during the coming season from a Uck of pianbt*. 
In additKMi to the hosts of aspirants for artistic fiune, and 
the binumerable performen of the second and third rank, 
whom it will hardly do to name in this connection, we are 
certain to have ample opportunities to hear Messra. Franz 
Bummel, S. B. Mills, Max Pinner JosefB, Ketten, W. H. 
Sherwood, Mn. Julia Riv^-King, and Mme. Teresa Careno. 
Miss Anna Mehlig has it in mind to revisit this dty, where 
she foraieriy won both feme and money, but as yet she has 
not made any definite arrangement kwldng to this end. The 
announcement which has been several tames made that 
Nieolaus Rubinstein was to come to New York in the season 
of 1880-^1 is pronounced, on good authority, to be at least 
premature, lliis fiunoos artist cannot leave Moscow, owing 
to his engagement as director of the concerts of the * Friends 
of Music * and at the Moscow Conservatoire.'* 



OuB TocAL Clubs. — The Herald of last Sunday has 
the following: — 

M The season with the Boybton Club begins on the 19th 
of this month. The cbonis promises to be finer than that 
of last year, mhI the eoncerts, so far as their character has 
BOW beso detenuined, not only more interesting, but more 



important. Tbe fint concert will occur on the Uth of No- 
vember. Its leading feature will be the performance, for the 
first time here, of Astorga's wortd-renowned ** Stabat Ma- 
ter.'* It is very likely that the chief objects of iuiportance 
in the remaining concerts of the year will be, *• By the 
Waten of liabylon," by the muchkmented gifted composer, 
Hsnnaim Goeti; some one of the more notewortliy psabns 
of Oriando di Lasso; and, poesil4y, Max Bruch's new setr 
ting of the " Lay of the Bell " New part-sonics by Rhein- 
berger, Herberger, Rubinstein, and Raff, will make up the 
balance of the woric Among the novelties of tlie first con- 
cert will lie the famous madrigal, in ten parts, by De Pear- 
sail, entitled, *Sir Patrick Spens,** a new song for tlie fe- 
mafe chorus by Raff, ** Now tiie day is at last departing," 
and Schubert's " Nachthelle " for the men. 

The ApoUo Club will, as usual, present many novelties in 
the way <^ compositione for male voices, though the selec- 
tions are, as yet, undecided upon. The leading work of the 
year will he tlie *' (Edipus " of Mendelssohn, which will be 
given complete, with orchestra and reader, Am' tbe first time 
in this country. 

** The Cecilia will give but four concerts during the sea- 
son, but they will each be of an unusually attractive char- 
acter, even fur this society. Some additions to the honorary 
membership will Im made, and tbe music committee pro- 
poses to fully maintain the high staiulard of excellence 
reaclieil by the memben in their concerts last season.** 

We may add that the Cecilia sent out orden for the mubic 
of Goetz's two cantatas ('* By the Waten of Babyfon," and 
•* Nfluiia '*) some months ago. 

TiiK musical festival at Worcester, Mass , will be held this 
year on tlie 2dd, a4th, 25th. and ^th of Septemlwr. Oon- 
no<rs *• Cecilia Mass'* will be given in full, and the " Mes- 
siah,** besides six smaller choral seleetioiis. llenrietLi 
Beebe. Annie Uuise Cary, Ida W. liubhetl, Mrs H. M. 
Smith. Jennie Sargeant, Theodore Toodt, Alfred Wilkie, W. 
U Beckett, Clarence King, D. M. Babcock, and many othen 
appear. ^^^^ 

Boston's Opkratic Pbospkcts an thus presented by 
the Herald : — 

The " Home Opera Company ** will open the season of 
this chus of attractions with the ** Ideal Pinafore," at the 
Boston llieatre, Monday, Sept. 29. The cast of last Reason 
will be presoited, with slight variations, Miss Adelaide 
Phillips assuming the role of Buttercup, and Mr. W. H Fes- 
senden that of Kalph. Similar changes will be made in the 
cast of ** Fatinitxa,** which follows in the engagement, and a 
third opera will be shortly put in reheareal to be- presented 
during the season. The exceptional success H^hich nttended 
this company's performances last season seems to warrant a 
belief that it will become a permanent organization, to which 
the murical public of this city can look for the presenta- 
tion of standard operas of the lighter and m<^ popuhar style. 
It is more than probable tliat, beginning the musical season 
in this way, tliis company will repeat its successes at the 
close of the Boston Theatre season, when musical entertain- 
ments of a light character are so popular. 

The EuiDU Abbott English opera company begin a two 
weeks* season at the Park Theatre Oct. 20, opening with 
Masse's " Paul and Virginia." an opera which had a de- 
cided success on its production in Pari* with Capoul and 
Blile. HeUbron in tbe title roles Here Mr. William Castle 
wUl be the Paul, and Miss AbhoU the Virginm. An Eng. 
lish verrioo of ** Carmen '* will probably also be produced 
during the season, with Mra. Zelda Seguin in the title part, 
as well as an English venioii of Gounod's " Romeo and Ju- 
liet" The troupe will include Mesdames Abbott, Marie 
Stone, Seguin, and Pauline Maural, and hiessn Tom Kari, 
Castle. MacDonald, Stoddard, Ryse, and Edward Seguin. 
Mr. Caryl Florio wiU be the musical director, and Messrs. 
PratC and Morrissey the managvn. 

In the way of grand opera the probabilities point to only 
one season of two or four weeks, by tbe Mapleson company, 
the date being as yet undecided. thoii<;h tlie chances are that 
it will foUow the opening season in New York, as last year. 
Manager Mapleson's plans are as yet rather vaguely outlined, 
but should he come with even his List year's company he will 
receive a hearty welcome and profitable patronage from the 
musical public of this city. A risit from Manager Stra- 
kosh Is also one of the doubtful matten as yet undecided, 
tliough the chances are that Boston will not hear his new or- 
ganization during their season. The route contempLited for 
the company now will locate them in the Southeni cities dur- 
ing the best part of tlie season North, after the Christmas 
holidays, and their dates mitil Christmas are definitely fixed 
in the Wcetem cities. 

New Arrivals. — Among the artists who will probably 
make their appearance here earh in the season, we may men- 
tion a young Polish violinist, Timothy d'Adamowski, a grad- 
uate of the Warsaw Conservatory in 1874, where he took the 
firat prize. During the Ust few yean he has held high rank 
among the resident musicians in Paris, and his name fre- 
quently occure in programmes of the best concerts there 
His tastes and style are classical. He is full of youthful 
fenor, has a thoroughly musical tempemmeiit, and a sin- 
cere, earnest, winnint; manner. We hare Iwd the plt^»iire 
of hearing him in private, when he played the MendeLisohii 
Concerto, some o( the violin solos of Bach, and a very difii- 
edt and very interesting Sonata- Duo of Gri^ with Mr. 



Lang. He has a large, rich toiie, a remarkable legato, and 
he plays with fire, witlt pure intonation, fine execution and 
expiession, entirely Ave from ali the cheap tricks and false 
sentiment of mere concert rirtuosos. 

— Mme. Chatt4srtoii-Bohrer, a distinguished solo harp, 
ist, has been in Boston this week, and will proliably appear 
ill ooncerU here and hi New York during the season. She 
is a daughter of tlie English composer and harpist. J. B. 
Chatterton, who succeedeil Bochsa as profirssor of the harp 
at the Royal Academy, and In 1844 was appointed harpist to 
the C^eeo. She has recently been giriug concerts in Canada 
with great success. She is accompanied by her busliand. a 
classical pianist, who is a son of Max Bohrer, the violoncello- 
virtuoso, who visited this country at least thirty yean ago. 

— Mme. Penn Bell Campanari, who will be remembered 
as one of the first and tbe most brilliant fruits of Mr. Kicfa- 
berg's violin school, and who used to pUy the Bach Ckaamne 
so well, returns to Boston concert halls as a soprano singer. 
Sig. L^iidro Campanari accompanies his wife, and Is opeo 
to engagements as solo violinist, ooming iudoned by Sir 
Julius Benedict of London. 



FOREIGN. 

TiiB famous " Harmonious Blacksmith ** of Ilandd has 
had numberless stories told of tlie origin of its name, most 
of which hare been poetical, and all of tliem more or lesa 
false. The folfowing imeresting iofonuation concerning this 
well-known air is given by a correspondent of The LomJon 
Ti/nee, and would seem on the fooe of it to be true: " The 
famous au* in No. 5 of the * Suites de Pieces pour le CUve- 
ein,* was originally named * The Harmonious Bfaieksroith * 
by Lintott, a music publisher at Bath, who, on being asked 
why he so called his edition erf the muaic, replied that his 
fatlier was a blacksmitli, and that it was one of his farurite 
tunes. In 1820, one hundred yean after the piece was first 
pubiislied, a newspaper writer of the time concocted the tala 
of the bbeksmith's shop, and Mr. Richard CLirke was de- 
ceived by the fiction. Mr. Clarke went to Edgware, found 
out the descendant of Powell, tlie blacksmith, whose shop 
was near Canons Park, bought the anvil, and satisfied him- 
self that he had verified tiie newspaper writer's aecomit of 
an incident in Handel's hh. A more alisord delusioa never 
existed. As Sch(«lchrr, Handel's biographer, says, *the 
*' Harmonious Blacksmith ** has been published a Uiousand 
times under that title, but Handel himself never called It so; 
the name is modem.* The air is fottnd in a collection of 
French songs printed by one Christoplier Ballard, in 1665. 
It is not likely tliat an English bbu:ksiiiith erer heard it, and 
still less probable that Handel, with his love of finery and 
dignified manners, would have adopted an air heard under 
the circumstances believed bi by Mr. Clarke.*' 



A Musical Trkasurk-Thovb. — An authentic poitrsit 
of Mocart has just been made accessible to the German pub- 
lic by photographic multiplication. The fortunate possessor 
is one M &:kert. a Beriin bandmaster, who received it as a 
present from his foster-fiather. Frauds Fcnter. the friend and 
companion of the poet-ei»ldier, Theodore Kiii^ier. Forster 
had obtained it from Komer's mother, whose sister, Doris 
Stock, was the artist. The st>le dilien from the usual por- 
traits of the great musician, but is Csr more striking and 
elTectire. The reverse bean two inscriptions. One, ^ Given 
to Fiinter,** written by Konier's mother; and the other, 
"This likeness of Mozart, drawn from Ufe by Dmis Stodc, 
in liresden, 1787, was given to me by Theodore Komer*8 
mother, and by me to Karl Eckert. Beriin, 32 May, 1850. 
F. Finter.** The portrait is in crayons, a half length, in 
a small oral, and reprvsents Moxart hi tbe dre<s of the period, 
with wide coUan, frill, and hair brushed back and united m 
the queue. Tlie features are more finely cut than those of 
the usual portraits and bust, and bear a slightly hectic 
stamp. The nose is rather laige, and. with the entire fewer 
half of the face, somewhat prominent. The mouth has a 
peaceful, pleasant expression. But the impress! re features 
are the fine and ample forehead and the enchanting eyes. 



Mr. HuLUlii, in his report to the British Education De- 
partment on Music on tlie Continent, sa}-s a very unexpected 
thing. He is pleased with the system of teaching in Hol- 
land, and of some instances in Be^um; but as for Germany, 
he is of opinion that tlie instruction given is worse than use- 
less, and its results absolutely notliing. In Switzerland, 
Mr. Hiilhili says, the natural aptitude for musical instruc 
tion seems low, while in Belgium, though taste and inclina- 
tion both foster the study of musie, tlie sehools where it Is 
most appreciated, are not rich enough to obtain the high 
instruction they desenre. Mr. HolLih is so pleased with 
tlie results of musical instrucUon in Holland, that it is con- 
sidered probable that he will unte upon the English the 
ad<^)tion of a system modeled «i the Dutch. 

TiiR contra- Wagnerian movement, ahneady powerful in 
Germany, has been invested with fresh force by the propoeed 
Mozartlan programme to be set forth by Herr Jauuer, of 
Vienna. Tlie whole of Mocart's operas are to be mounted, 
the Wagnerian artists are dismined, and Mme. Pauline 
Lucca, Mme. Schucb-Proska. and Mile. Bianchi are to be 
retained in theu* stead. On the other hand, for the benefit 
of the tourists, the whole of the " Niebeluiigen Ring *' is to 
be performed at that Wagnerian stronghold, Mmiieh| be- 
tween August 23 and 28. 



September 27, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



153 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER ^7, 1879. 

Entered »t the Foft Ofllee at Boston a« aecond«cl«M nuttter. 



CONTENTS. 

Samzio. Stuart Stenu 168 

Thi Dctblopmimt or Piano-Forti Music, from Bach to 
ScnuMAMM. From tho Ocnnan of Carl Yam Bruj/ck . . 154 

BXMIHiaCKKCKS Of TUB BiRMINOIXAV FSSTITAL (1879). MaX 

Braeh'H lAy of Ui« Hell 165 

Musical Clubs or Harvard : The Pibruh Sodalitt. Rem- 

iDifoencen of an Ex- Pierian. J. S. D. 165 

Rral akd Iobal uf Frbncb Art. W, F. A 157 

Talks oh Art : Sbcoxd Sbrics. From InstructiooB of Mr. 

William M. Hunt to his Paplls. XIII 157 

WlLUAM MoRRIi IIUMT 157 

Tax BiRMIXOaAK FXSTITAL 158 

" Samsio " 159 

Ltcbuv Burbau Co.nobrts 15tf 

Musical CoRRXsrojroxxcx 16U 

l(OTaS AJT2> QlAUIIVOB 160 

Alt the artieUs not ertdited to otAer publications wtre a^tuly 
wrUtenfor this Journal 

PuUishtd fortnightlf by IIouohtoh, Osgood ard Covpaht, 
220 Dnonshirs Sirett, Boston. Prico, 10 cents a number; $2.60 
per year. 

For saU in Boston by Carl Pruxpxr, 30 West Street y A. Will- 
iams & Co., 283 Washington Street^ A. K. [k)RIK«, 309 Wash- 
ington Street^ and by the Publishers; in New York by A. BRXif- 
taxo, Jr., 39 Union Square^ and Houohtox, Osgood & Co., 
2 J Astor Ptaee; in Philadelphia by W. II. Bombr & Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the CaiCAGO Music Cokpaxt, 
612 State Street, 



SANZiO. 

BT STUART STKKME, AUTHOR OF *« ANGBU>." 

(Conclndod from page 145.) 

It was the third daj now 
Since Benedetta had beeii called, and fiw 
Into the lonely nii{ht. The helpful Slater — 
Obediait to her doiater's rigid rules, 
To hasten back into its walls at eve ~> 
Had long departed ; poor old Nina, too, 
Gone for an hour to seek much-ueeded rest, 
As Benedetta urged, who sat alone 
Near Saiixio's couch. 

He moved bat rarelj, rapt 
In peaceful, dreamless slumber, it appeared, 
With quiet breath, and placid lip and brow. 
The room was silent, and the slwded bunp 
Cast bat a feeble light, and so at length, 
Wearied with much unwonted care and watching, 
She hud her head upon her arm, for but 
A moment's rest; yet soon unwittini(ly 
The heavy eyelida fell, unoonaciousness 
Stole over all her senses, and she slept 
In peace untroubled. Slept so long and deep, 
She beard and saw no more, and heeded not 
That time rolled swiftly onward ; never knew 
That from the city churches far and near 
Hour after hour pealed out, and how towards midnight 
A gradual change, a fitful restlessness. 
Came upon Sanzio, — that he moaned and tossed, 
With trembling lips and a contracted brow. 
And grasped at things unseen, with feeble hands. 
Later a hush Call on him; he lay still. 
And in a moment opoied huge, clear eyes. 
That slowly gazing round rested on her; 
And suddenly he roee up, and stretching out 
His anns to her, called softly, **fienedetu! 
Then he fell back, —1 his eyes ck)sed, a great light 
Psssed like a burst of glory o*er his face 
And swiftly faded, and a long-drawn sigh 
Broke from his lips. 

It was the eariy morning, 
Whose ray wdl-nigh put out the ydlow lamp, 
When BenedetU woke, startled at last 
By a strange, sombre dream. She walked akme 
On a long, weary road with aching feet, 
Tet ever on before, and leading her 
Further and further, flew a snow-white dove, 
Until the city towers rose in her sight, 
And her guide paused, alighting on a roof. 
And looking up she found 't wss Sanzio*s house, 
And the white dove transformed into a raven, 
Whose wings o'ershsdowed it from top to base. 
She started hastily up, and glanced about 
Tlie unfamiliar room in vague surprise. 
Then flew to Sanzio^s side with anxious heart 

dehy, 
His arms still half outstretched, yet motionless, 
The soft, brown hair clustering about his brow 
And drooping on his shoulders, and his face 
Turned towards the window, through whose undrawn cur- 
tains 
The first sweet flash of dawn stole gently in, 
Ilnting his cheeks with a faint gk>w of life. 
While the closed lips and eyes had caught and kept 
A dim reflection of that burst of light 
In whose transfiguring glory he had psssed ; 



♦» 



And on his pallid brow serenest calm, 

A full, unutterably deep content 

Had quenched the sadness of that yearning look 

That once had cast its sober shadow tliere. 

Yet something in the peace on that still brow 

Awoke a sudden, awful pang of fear 

In Uenedetta's heart, and she bent down 

To kiss the smiling lips. 

But as she touched them, 
A great, wild cry rang through the silent house, 
A cry wherein it seemed unto herself 
Her soul leaped from its reoded tenement, 
And left an empty, crumbling shell behind ; 
As in a dizzy vision she beheld 
A lifeless figure that was not her own, 
Fail prostrate over Sanzio's quiet form, 
Burying her face upon his breast, unmoved 
By any faintest breath or pulse of life, 
And twine her arm round his unbending neck. 
While a mad gush of tears burst from her eyes. 

O Sanzio, Sanzio ! Oh, my love, my love ! 

Oh, even in the night and while I slept, 

Must thou go from me, and alone, alone, 

Set out upon thy fearful way, my soul ! 

Were the wild words that rang incessantly 

Through swooning heart and brain, that had no thought 

For God or life eternah, when onoe more 

Slowly her reeltnK consciousness returned, 

And the lost spirit, coming from afar, 

Crept shivering back through every aching sense. 

Before her, as she lay wHh eyes still closed. 

Above, below, around on every side, 

There roiled and "whirled and tossed in mad confusion 

A chaos of block, shadowy, shifting clouds, 

A night in whose blind darkness naught was dear. 

Save that a fierce, intolerable fire, 

A piercing anguish, like a living flame. 

Was burning up her heart, and that Uie tears 

Whose flood streamed on and on resistlessly. 

Were hot and sharp and bitter past endurance, 

And seemed to sear the heavy, smarting lids. 

Whence tliey must burst a passage out. 

How long 
She thus bung over him with quivering frame 
And fevered brow, she knew not ; but at last, 
As tliough the fountains of her grief were drained, 
And in them all her life had flowed away, 
Her tears ran dry, and she lay motionless. 
Even as the dead himself, but turned her head 
And pressed her cheek to his. And gazing now 
Upon the troubled waters surging round, 
In the dim, far-off[ distance, she perceived, 
A feeble speck of whiteness, more than light; 
Yet it grew larger, brighter, drew more near. 
Until it'swelled into a luminous point. 
And then a shining star, that stood quite close 
Above her, yet receding into space, — 
And suddenly it seemed as though the earth 
Had sunk away below her, and she floated 
Upward into the air, so gently first 
She could not tell when it be^an, Imt soon 
With softly, swifter motion gradtially, 
Folkwing the star, which streamed from out its heart 
A mild, yet ever deep and deeper radiance. 
That all the space around with brightness filled. 
Till the star vanished and dissolved at last 
In the wide golden glow, and she was borne. 
As through a sea of moving, throbbing light. 
Vast, measureless, unfathomed, without end, 
Without beginning, whose small, countless waves 
Lapping eadi other, spread in beaming circles, 
Still gathering fullnr glory on their way. 
Further and ftirther, UU they lost themselves 
In purpling, dim infinitudes. And still 
Her flight went on and on, she ever rose 
Higher and yet higher, till suddenly, dose above 
And swiftly floating downward, she beheld 
A heavenly form, — clad in white, flowing robes, 
A golden halo round his head, that shone 
Still brightly even through this flood of light, — 
Who bent a smiling countenance on her. 
Was it the Saviour, — the dear Lord Himsdf ? 
She thought, and a great thrill passed through her soul. 
Or could it be, — Oh, Heaven, the features changed 
And shifted strangely, — Sanzio, Sanzio, mayhap ? 
And k faint cry of joy sprang to her lips. 
As she stretched out her hands. 

She saw them seized, 
Fdt herself folded to a throbbing heart. 
And a mute kiss upon her brow, and then 
In deep, unutterable ecstasy, 
Fancied she cloeed her eyes, and knew no more 
Through long, unconscious hours. 

When she awoke 
The mellow evening light was in the room. 
Her own small chamber, where she lay alone 
Upon her eouch; yet a deep, peaceful calm 
Filled all her senses, and she thought of him. 
Of his white, smiling lips, without a pang; 
Even the swift tears, that would flow fori^ again 
As that last image rose within her sight, 



Seemed sweet and soothing. " Oh, my Love, my Sanzio! *' 

She whispered, «* Aye, I understand thee now, 

And what it was in my unconscious heart, 

My childish love, that could not satisfy 

The deeper needs of thy immortal soul! 

But yet thou wilt forgive me where I fidled! 

I loved tliee^ith what feeble power I knew, 

I gave thee all the simple soul I had, 

Thou first and only love of ail my life! '* 

And with a joy unspeakable, remembered 

How he had told her still, he was made gUd 

By their dear love, that she had been to him 

The brightest dream of all his wayward da}'s. 

Remembered, too, those other woHs of his, — 

" He ordereth all, and ordereth all things well. 

His will be done! *' — and meekly dasped her hands. 

But oh, where was he! — thought she then. Wherefore 

Have they thus psrted us ! 

In one dark night 
Sanxio's sweet bud had burst into full flower. 
But what a storm-tossed, broken form was that 
Which slowly rose, and with unsteady stq>s 
And ouUpread hands, like one half-blind, who fiseis 
More tlian he sees his path, groped her dim way 
Out through the door ! 

Not fisr ttom it she came 
On the good Sister, who put out her liand. 
And kuidly said, •* You here, my poor, desr child ! 
I came to see if you wero yet awake.** 

But Benedetta, sinking on her knees, 
CVied out, '* Oh,1hother, sister, friend ! take me 
To your still home! I have nought left to live for 
Save memory and God ! '* 

And raising her, 
The Sister fondly clasped the fresh, young life, 
So wrung with sorrow, to the sged heart 
That long had done with tears. Then silently 
Led forward her who bowed her weary head 
Upon the friendly shoulder. Yet she asked, 
" Will you not come and kwk upon his face? " 
As turning down a corridor, they saw 
At its far end a chamber hung in black, 
Through whose wide doors streamed a sweet efeud of per- 
fume, 
The breath of flowers and incense blent. A throng 
Of weeping mourners pressed about the bier. 
That stood with roses and dartc vk>lets strewn. 
And many glimmering tapm set around. 
While at its head rose up the last great work, 
Whereat the busy hands had paus«! forever. 
Leaving it incomplete, yet shining fax 
In undimmed gbry, — the transfigured I^ord. 

A quiver passed through Benedetta*s firame, — 
Oh, now she understood the strange, sharp pang 
lliat seized upon her unsiupeoting soul. 
When she beheldit first! 

"Oh, no,*' she said. 
And shuddering tamed away, '* He is not there I " 
And the new wound began to bleed afresh. 



For yet a third time, joyous as of old. 

Had come the hope of summer, when two friends 

Rode through the gates of the Eternal City. 

Another spring, another setUng sun. 

An eve like that — and yet, great God, how changed! 

Was the mute thought of both, and looking back. 

One with a passionate gesture stretched his arms 

Towards the gray town they speedily left behind. 

And cried aloud, •* City, where is thy king ! " 

Then dropped them listless by his side, his head 

Sinking upon his breast. 

"Nay, Bsldsssar," — 
The ether gently asked, and touched his hand; 
" Can you not yet forget, — be comforted 
Even for a little while?" 

<* Forget, Giovanni, — 
In such an hour as this ! *' he cried again, — 
" Forget, — oh, never, never! All the world 
Is darker since he left it! '* 

Thas they rode 
Long in unbroken silence, heedlessly 
Sufibring thdr steeds to choose the way, who dimbed 
Of their free will the gently rising path. 
Near the gray Cloister on the Hill. Again 
The pious women two by4wo walked forth, 
lu the last golden light of fading day ; 
Again thdr murmured chants rose softly up. 
And a sweet bell fh>m somewhere far away 
Sent out its fitiiit, vibrating sounds, that died 
On the deu* air but slowly. Yet those two 
Saw naught, nor heard, when suddenly PaHasBsr 
Cried in a hasty whisper, " Hold, look there! '* 
And putting out his hand, stayed his companion. 

They checked their horses. Further up the road, 

On a small hillock near a Virgin's shrine. 

Sat a young sister, round whose slender form 

The rosy evening glow played lovingly. 

'llie k>ng, white veil that framed the beauteoos fisoe 

And floated round her shoulders, half ooncealed 



164 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



{you XXXIX. — No. 1003. 



The nmple, dark-hued cloister garb; her hauda 

Laj lightly folded in her lap, and claiped 

An ebony crucifix, hong from her girdle 

By a fine silver cbAin. Prorouud repose, 

Yet something of brave, bright, fuU-flowiug life, 

And strength unbroken, in her ikoe and form. 

She rested motionless, — so si ill, it seemefl 

A breath scarce stirred the gently heaving Inreast, — 

With a faint smile on the half-parted lips. 

And a soil radiance on the up -turned face. 

While a deep light beamed in the eyes she fixed 

Upon the first great, tremulous star, high up 

In the flushed heavens above her. 

**Benedetta!" 
Said Baldassare, in low tones at hist, 
When he had gazed upon \i& image long, — 
u Madonna — plead and make thy prayers for us ! 
Forget not on those shining, heavenly heights 
Tliy soul has gained, that our sore hearts still grope 
In pathways full of darkness ! Thou, sweet sunt. 
Surely hast need of mortal aid no more ! *' 
Then added sk>wly, ** She has found the peace 
That passeth understanding ! Let us go ! " 
And turning back, they rode away unseen. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FROM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

FROM THE GERMAN OF CARL VAN BUUYCK. 
(Continued from page 146.) 

Haydn and Mozart are names which the 
world likes to couple with Beethoven, and 
designate as masters of the " Vienna school." 
Their piano works indeed contain much that 
is beautiful and excellent, including some 
things reallj significant (for example, the A- 
minor Sonata, the C-mtnor Fantasia, the G- 
mjnor Quartet, and ]?everal of the Concertos of 
Mozart). But all that these two great mas- 
ters have created in piano-forte music seems 
of subordinate importance compared with their 
extraordinary activity in the whole wide 
field of music. Especially is this the case 
with Haydn, who was but a mediocre piano 
player himself, whereas Mozart can be counted 
among the most important virtuosos of his 
time. Moreover, Haydn found the instru- 
ment itself, which had not then begun to be 
very much in fashion, a still more meagre one 
than that used by his great successor, who 
came upon the stage of the world and of art 
some decades later. His chief aim was di- 
rected to the orchestra, which owes to him, 
above all men, its more modern (not the 
newest !) development. Hence it is easily 
conceivable that the thin-toned clavichord of 
that day could not stimulate his artistic fancy 
to the same degree as the so-called string- 
Quartet and the orchestral Symphony, in 
which it unfolded the most splendid blossoms. 

On the other hand we must here name, in 
the period mostly preceding Beethoven, at 
least one mai)ter artist, Clementi, who in many 
of his very numerous Sonatas had already de- 
veloped the resources of the instrument in a 
high degree, and who was himself still more 
of a virtuoso than Mozart, whom he long out- 
lived. In this art form (the Piano Solo So- 
nata), which he cultivated* exclusively, so far 
as I know, he produced much that is uncom- 
monly fine, charming, lovely, full of soul, in- 
cluding some things quite incomparable in this 
way. I need only cite the two Sonatas in 
C, and that in D major (Nos. 40, 53, and 55, 
in the Breitkopf and Hartel collection of sixty- 
four Sonatas), as examples, which every piano 
player ought to have in his repertoire. The 
fancy of this artist was mostly directed to the 
gracefol, the refined, the tender, and the hu- 
morous. But a passionate vein also pulsates 



in his music, which makes him sometimes 
aspire to the grandiose and rise to a mightier 
expression, as in his B-minor Sonata (No. 57), 
partly, also, in the one in G-minor (No. 64), 
which is superscribed ** Didone abbandonata.'* 
Several of his Adagios have an enchanting 
tenderness and thrilling depth of expression. 
His form is close, precise, so that in this re- 
spect his works for tiie mo^t part may pass 
for classic models. On the other hand, it must 
not be concealed that this master is very un- 
equal in his works, and that a great, perhaps 
the greater, number of his Sonatas seem to 
be rather weak, sketchy, fugitive productions, 
incapable of life to-day , beside which those 
other genuine children of a genial inspiration 
shine in all the more brilliaut light, and de- 
serve to be all the more cherished. 

Unquestionably, taken as a whole, the works 
of Beethoven form the crown of all that has 
been done, since Bach, in instrumental, and 
particularly in piano-forte music, above all in 
this form of art (the Sonata). Beethoven, — 
that hero of the musical art, whom Hans von 
Billow once called, with an expression which 
sounds extravagant, yet not entirely ill-chosen, 
the ^'inciirnale god of music," and to whom 
Cornelius, the great painter, referred with the 
admiring words : *' That was an artist,'* a word 
which in all its plainness from such a mouth 
meant as much as when the first Napoleon, 
after an interview with Goethe, exclaimed to 
those about him : '* Voila un homme 1 " To 
characterize the incommensurable greatness 
which Beethoven's art unfolded before the 
eyes and ears of the astonisiied world during 
the three decades (about) in which he wrought, 
would here be quite impossible ; but fortu- 
nately I may spare myself the mere attempt, 
since it has already been made in countless 
writings, to which it has been my privilege to 
contribute here and there a mite in the course 
of my life. Let it suffice here to say, that, 
after and with the works of Bach, those of 
Beethoven must form the principal study of 
those who wish to gain artistic culture through 
the study of piano playing, and who feel the 
impulse to take up into themselves the noblest 
and the highest which art has produced in this 
department 

But there is one element in this exceeding 
greatness of Beethoven, which is recognized 
by nearly all the parties into which the musi- 
cal world is as much divided as the political ; 
and that is his (comparative) universality ^ — 
just the same peculiarity that characterizes 
the greatest poets of modern times : Shake- 
speare, and the next greatest, Goethe, and 
that has made this trefoil of genius a true 
light of a whole age. This (I repeat it, rel- 
ative) universality, which includes all tones 
of the human breast, from the most tender to 
the most powerful and thrilling ; which wan- 
ders through the whole scale of human feeling, 
so far as it may reveal itself in tones (and in 
what art has it revealed it:$elf with more 
power and depth !) ; which conjures up be- 
fore us now a lovely idyl, then again a picture 
of the boldest humor (Beethoven was master 
of that in all its shades), only to lift us again 
to the highest heights and plunge us into the 
deepest depths of tragedy ; which smiles on 
us with the innocent eyes of childhood, and 
anon comes roaring in the storm of demoni- 
acal powers and forces (spirits, however, always 



chained by art !) ; which now sinks into the 
soul of the people and sings their simplest mel- 
odies, and then again, as iu the cycle of songs 
"" To the distant loved one," soars to Ui« sub- 
limest heights of feeling ; which in Fidelio 
has sung to us iu heavenly tones the song of 
changeless constancy, as in the Adagio of 
the Ninth Symi)hony the song of worhl-em- 
bracing love : this primeval power, which 
with giant arms has sucked into itself the 
marrow of the earth, crystallized into tones, 
and then, in unexampled estrangement from 
the world, dies away in the ethereal bliss of 
self-dissolution (so to speak) : this harmoni- 
ous mood, which embraces all positive ideals 
of humanity (gleaming so clearly through his 
compositions) with a loving and a reverent 
fervor, and then again with world-annihilating 
humor files away beyond them all : this un- 
exampled and immense Protean power, by 
the side of which stood an equally gigantic, 
an exhaui4tless, purely musical inventive, plas- 
tic faculty : this exceeding power anc] full- 
ness, this harmony be: ween extremest oppo- 
sites, is what 1 would lay the chief stress on, 
in considering, or in merely mentioning, the 
works of Beethoven. 

Of Beethoven's works, taken collectively, 
the same thing holds that has been said of 
Shakespeare's, and iu general, too, of Goethe's*, 
that no one of his works is like another; 
each describes its magic circle more or less 
from a distinct centre. This is the case with 
nearly all his Sonatas for piano-forte solo, only 
a few excepted. They stand, collectively, 
alike from the ideal, the poetic, and from the 
purely musical stand-point, incomparably high 
above all that has been created in this field 
by earlier or later masters. They indicate 
the highest perfection of this kind of art, to 
which the Sonata works of Haydn and Mo- 
zart, and of course also those of Clementi, 
are mere preliminary steps, just as Bach's 
repeatedly mentioned great fugue work (which 
contains* the gist of all creations of the sort) 
appears the supreme canon of that kind of 
art. And the same is true, also, of all his 
Duos, Trios, Qnatuors, and not less of his 
Concertos, among which I might designate 
the Piano Concerto in E-flat, and the Violin 
Concerto, as the highest ideal of the kind. 

The form of the Sonata under Beethoven's 
hands shows no essential change from that 
which it received through his great predeces- 
sors ; only he has given it great expansion 
through the mighty soul which he breathed 
into it, so much so that from his first to his last 
works of this kind it has grown continually, 
until the ideal contents (Inhak) with which 
he filled it in some of his last Sonatas, like 
the gigantic Op. 106, and the entirely unique, 
sphynx-like Ninth Symphony, at last actually 
overstepped all artistic bounds, — at least in 
the final movements, which seem already like 
forerunners of the anarchy, which more re- 
cently has broken into the domain of art. I 
can but iillude to those extensive, broad Ada- 
gios, swollen with mightiest respirations ; there 
is but little, at all events, in this whole field 
of art that can compare with them in soul- 
ful depth and inwardness. Also the Scherzo, 
which Beethoven for the most part puts in 
the place of the earlier Minuet, deserves 
special mention, since this form of expression 
seems entirely a product of the Beethoven 



Skptembbb 27, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



156 



genius, in which he reallj is unapproach- 
able. 

And there is still one more form to which 
Beethoven has given the highest perfection, 
namely, the Variation. This — both in his 
greater work«, where it appears only as an in- 
tegral part of a greater whole, and in some 
independent works of thi^ kind — he has en- 
dowed witli a richness of invention and treated 
with a freedom, with which there is little to 
be compared iu the works of his great pred- 
ecessors (if we except the mighty Variation 
works of Bach which we have mentioned), 
a freedom which indeed becomes almost will- 
ful in the Thirty- three Variations on a Waltz 
by Diabelli, but which, in the Variations on a 
theme from the Slnfonia Eroica, has pro- 
duced, perhaps the noblest, the most genial, 
most brilliant work of this kind, — one which, 
moreover, seems remarkable on account of its 
well-nigh ^ modern " virtuoso treatment of the 
piano-forte technique. 

{Xo be continued.) 



KEMINISCENCES OF THE BIRMINGHAM 
FESTIVAL (1B79). 

If AX BRUCIl'S LAY OF THE DELL. 

Beverting to Herr Max Bruch's Lay of the 
Bell, the question first arises whether the com- 
poser was altogether happy in his choice of a 
theme. We are growing somewhat more critical 
than heretofore on this matter. At one time 
anything was thought good enough to be — as 
Wagner would put it — set to music. Pathos 
or bathos, an expression of seotiuient or a loga- 
rithmic table, — all was one to composers content 
to tack on strains which their nominal subject 
neither inspired nor befitted. But this deplora- 
ble age has passed, and though the faults of our 
own time are many we have at least come to 
demand that woixls used for music shall be such 
as are adapted for — nay, such as require — mu- 
sical expres.«ion. The perception of such words, 
however, is a gift which does not appear to be 
bestowed upon everybody. Apropos, there is a 
very pregnant passage in one of Mendelssohn's 
letters to his sister. Referring to a composition 
from her clever pen, the master said.: — 

" At the beginning of the air alone are the 
words vigorous and spirited, and from them 
emanated the whole of your lovely piece of mu- 
sic. The music of the choruses is, of course, 
good, for it is written by you, but it seems to me 
.... as if it were not necessarily what it is ; 
indeed, as if it might have been difl*erently com- 
posed. This arises from the poetry not demand- 
iug any particular music. ... I would advise 
you to be more cautious«in the choice of your 
words, because, after all, it is not everything in 
the Bible, even if it suits the theme, that is sug- 
gestive of music." 

Here we have Wagner's theory on the same 
subject before Wagner announced it, and here 
also a true test by which to judge the fitness of 
a composer's theme. Words must suggest music, 
and that with such definiteness that the music 
mtist be necessarily what it is. Applying this 
test to Herr Bruch's choice of Schiller's poem, 
the result b not satisfactory. Beyond question 
there are many passages in Das Lied von der 
Glocke which ask for musical expression in irre- 
sistible accents, but there are many others which 
do nothing of the kind — passages such as the 
old Italian composers of operas would have given 
to ** speaking recitative," or which the Germans, 
leaving them to dialogue, would pass over. What, 
for instance, is the music demanded by such 
lines as these ? — 



u Wie sich wbon die Pfetfito brannen! 
DicMs Stiibeheii tauch* ieh ein ; 
Seh*n wir*« iibergbuH erwheinen, 
Wird*B zum Gutse zeitig seiu." 

One may hit this verse anywhere without getting 
a musical ring out of it, and if Herr Bruch's can- 
tata be a dull one it is principally because he 
had to deal with so many like it, and solemnly 
brought to bear the whole apparatus of his art, 
grinding the wind with a vast amount of noise 
and whirling wheels. When the composer has 
to do with reallv musical words he is often 
happy, but otherwise he simply affords an illus- 
tration of the fao^ that you cannot grow grapes 
on a thorn-tree, nor pick figs from a thistle. In 
saying this, I do not lose sight of the fact that 
Romlserg set music to the same poem, and that 
his work still lives in the enjoyment of wide- 
spread favor. But Romberg treated the theme 
in a much simpler fashion than Herr Bruch — 
an observer of modern custom — could well fol- 
low, passing lightly over the unmusical portions 
of his text, and fastening upon those really lyr- 
ical or dramatic. Thus, Romberg had an ad- 
vantage not enjoyed by BriTch. A composer 
must now be *' intense," or nothing, and roil his 
eyes in a fine frenzy, even if he set to music the 
multiplication table. 

Herr Bruch is very intense, throughout this 
Lay of the Bell, His fires are as lurid as those 
which dart from the melting furnace, and the 
poor master-workman is not allowed to say, 
*' Well, we '11 now begin the casting," without a 
degree of *' agonizing " which must materially 
add to the heat of his labors. Vainly do we ask, 
as the cantata goes on, for some repose. How 
the repose should come we do not stipulate. Let 
it be a commonplace duet in thirds and sixths, 
or a little instrumental episode, with a pretty 
accompanied melody for the violins. Anything 
you please, Herr Bruch, to relieve the ear from 
that ponderous orchestration, and the eye from 
those gladiatorial strivings. But, no! Herr 
Bruch thunders away like a general who depends 
upon his heavy artillery, and there is a great 
deal of resultant noise, together with much smoke. 
Herein, however, the composer is but a victim 
to fashion. Music is nowadays very much an 
affair of nerves, and everybody knows that stim- 
ulants soon lose their effect unless the dose be 
from time to time increased. So, no doubt, our 
orchestras will continue to grow, and our compos- 
ers to devise combinations more and more thrill- 
ing, till the nerves can respond no longer, and 
some one discovers that the real purpose of music 
is to affect the mind and heart rather than the 
ganglionic centres whence issue the "creeps." 

Let us now see what is good in Herr Bruch's 
work. In the first place, it shows a knowledge 
how to produce orchestral effects^ even if that 
knowledge be not always judiciously used. This, 
however, is a very common merit, because it is 
more easily acquired now than in the past, when 
the resources available were smaller. Herr 
Bruch's scoring is essentially modern, — in other 
words, a play of color rather than of graceful 
or striking fopms, the color always as brilliant 
as he can make it. The result diverts the eye 
in a great measure from aught else, and whether, 
in a work of the kind, orchestra or voices should 
have the first place is a question needless to dis- 
cuss. Nevertheless, the fact that Herr Bruch 
holds rank as a successful colorist should be men- 
tioned for such credit as it may deeerve. It is 
even more essential to point out that his treat- 
ment of lyrical subjects, especially those which 
are very tender in sentiment, shows real feeling 
and aptitude. To pa»8ion he is seldom equal, 
but when not required to fathom its depths he 
commands a large meed of approval. In this 
Lay of the Bellffgr instance, we have a chorus. 



referring to the joy of a child's birth, admirable 
alike in workmanship and expression. So with 
a tenor solo and chorus concerning the days of 
youth and love, and, for the same reason, a trio, 
*' Peace benignant, gentle concord," should be 
classed among beautiful things, while a largely 
developed chorus, " Hallowed order," is mas- 
terly in construction and suggestive in char- 
acter. On Uie level of tliese elForts Herr Bruch 
is at his best. Here he writes with true feeling, 
and reaches our hearts. As a master of melody, 
he never, perhaps, asserts himself with the full- 
ness to be desired, but his phrases, when sponta- 
neous, lack neither sentiment nor beauty. Hav- 
ing to ascend higher or go lower, he gives us less 
pleasure. Herr Bruch, as we now see him, is 
not fit for the ** Ercles vein." 

Dramatic vigor with him becomes mere empty 
clamor, while his cry de profundis is too often la- 
bored and dull. The fire chorus, for example, and 
that in which the horrors of civil strife are depicted, 
have no genuine power. The music would serve 
for anything else requiring noise, and is but an 
uproar in rhythm. With regard to the compos- 
er's treatment of the more profound and solemn 
portions of his text, it is clear that he does not 
atone for going out of his depth by elaboration 
of manner. Herr Bruch seems to have a horror 
of being simple ; yet simplicity would have served 
his turn better here than any amount of studied 
effort. When Handel, in his Messiah^ approached 
the mystery of Incarnation, he, giant as he was, 
put the sacred words, " Behold a Virgin shall 
conceive," into recitative. Herr Bruch, appar- 
ently, would have stormed around them with his 
entire force, and, atler all, lefk them untouched. 

Another characteristic of tliis music is its po- 
lyphony. Our composer is not a mere chord 
monger. He has a fancy for "real parts," and 
goes on writing them, not only with ekill, but 
with indiscriminateness. In the solos the com- 
plexity of the orchestral accompaniment is often 
a cause of embarrassment, while the more im- 
portant choruses are rendered needlessly diffictdt 
by a movement of parts without apparent object 
or obvious result. Intricate details are some- 
times necessary to the working out of a compos- 
er's themes, and then they exist for their own 
sake, and stand in the first place. But when 
they are non-essential, or buried beneath other 
matter, they are superfluous. In music, as else- 
where, everything should have a reason, and for 
things without reason there can be no defense. 

To sum up, Herr Bruch's Lay of the Bell is 
not a success. It has beauties, but they are out- 
weighed by defects ; and, as the composer writes 
in no particular manner, because that alone is his, 
it seems a pity that he did not live earlier, when 
lyrical gifls, exercised with simplicity and taste, 
might have served him well. For the present Herr 
Bruch has been blown away by his own storm, 
rent in pieces by his own *' intensity." Romberg 
may sleep in peace. — Lond, Mum. World. 



MUSICAL CLUBS OF HARVARD: THE 
PIERIAN SODALITY. 

(Conttnucd firom paf* ^^O 
REMINISCENCES OF AN EX-PIEBIAN. 

Among all the advertising-boards which met 
the eye of the student as he ascended the steps 
of University Hall to evening prayers, notifying 
the meetings of the different college societies, 
none so arrested the attention of one of tlie 
youth who entered the college in 183-, as that 
which announced every Monday the rehearsals 
of the Pierian So<laUty. Whatever of intellect- 
ual or convivial entertainment " Institute of 
1770," "I. O. H.," "Porcellian Club," « Hasty 
Pudding Club," might promise, this signified to 
him thaty amid the severer pursuits of university 



156 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



fVoL. XXXIX. - No. 1003. 



life, some place would be permitted for the con- 
tinued cultivation of the cherished art of music. 
At that time the flute was almost the only instru- 
ment played by gentlemen. The violin was held 
in small repute ; so small, indeed, that one which 
the lad brought with him was very soon laid 
aside for the' more popular instrument, to learn 
which was an almost indispensable accomplish- 
ment. Scarcely a sound but of flutes was heard. 
From these the gentle murmurings or liquid trills 
rose from every side of the quadrangle the mo- 
ment the bell at twelve rang the close of morn- 
ing study hours. A single piano, at which a 
graduate, a devoted amateur, rooming in Massa- 
chusetts, studied Beethoven's Sonatas, then just 
beginning to become known, seems now, with its 
superior character and capabilities, fitly to sym- 
bolize the advanced position already occupied by 
the critic who has ever since held the most in- 
fluential musical pen in this community. The 
violin above referred to, and one other, with a 
violoncello, all by chance in the same class, and 
all aiVerwards associated together in the Sodality, 
were the only stringed instruments known among 
the students during the whole four years -of the 
writer's college life. There had once been a 
serpent in the society ; but as far back as 1833, 
no one having been found to play it for several 
years, it had been exchanged for a French horn. 
For this how a player was sonictimys sought may 

be seen by the following vote : '* Mr. was 

proposed as a member ; but, it being stated that 
he wished to try the French horn before he was 
proposed and see how he liked it, we agreed to 
put off* voting for him till next meeting, and 
to keep our old French horn a week longer for 
him." 

On one occasion, in 1833, a double bass-viol 
was introduced by a gentleman, afterwards a 
judge, of which it is recorded, *' it had a good 
effecit, and was a great addition to the music of 
the club." There had also been bass-horns. 
One, spoken of as a *' semi-brass monster," was 
exchanged for a ^ copper-brass horn," in 1834. 
Bass was always the prevailing want ; and to 
supply it this instrument was from time to time 
placed in the hands of almo.-t any one enterpris- 
ing enough to learn the less than half a dozen 
notes required for the simple harmonies. But 
this was not alwavs successful. In one instance, 
at least, it was dispensed with, because it ^ did 
not chord with the flutes." But at the time of 
the writer's connection with the club all these, 
double-bass, serpent, French horn, and bass-horn, 
had disappeared fit>m the rcene,^ and nothing 
broke the monotony of the flutes excepting a 
single clarinet, which came in 1836 or 1837, and 
a trombone which one of the violinists had been 
ibrced to take up, the violoncello being not al- 
ways available. It was not strange, perhaps, 
that this instrument should have exposed the 
performer to the charge of disturbing the quiet 
of his entry in Holworthy by his practice of the 
airs, with variations, from which he sought to ac- 
quire &cility in its use ; but it certainly betrayed 
an imperfect knowledge of the trombone in the 
president, when he gravely, with searching eye, 
interrogated the offender, — had he not been 
amusing himself by ** blowing it the wrong way ? " 

The Pierians held their rehearsals in Numb^ 
6 University Hall. The faculty at one time for^ 
bade them the use of this room, having ordered 
the doors of the hall to be closed in the evening 
on account of tome damage done within the 
building by the ** Euphradians." But a remon- 
strance was sent up and the privilege restored. 
For unexcused absence a small fine was imposed. 

> Of th* QltliDftt* fcto of thcM iosininicnti th« writer has do 
koowlodtf* ; but ttawra r«m«lM » tnMlitlon of one of the French 
bomi lb«t, ftft«r hATinf bwn for fom« time micfdof. It wm di*- 
eovarid, on tho dapvCare of lu lut plftjror, In Inglocious ropoto 
In bit apnl-elOMi. 



To govern the playing cannot have been a difii- 
cult task. In 1838 Uiey once made trial of a 
metronome, which, thought the secretary, " is 
likely to do us much good in keeping time, when 
we get used to it" It may be gathered from the 
records that the musicians, either from love of 
fun, or under the influence of enthusiasm, would 
sometimes take liberties with, or go astray from, 
their notes in a manner which could not be al- 
lowed in a well regulated orchestra. Now and 
Uien a visitor, perhaps from the ^* Pierian Glee 
Club," entertained them with a song ; as when 
** Mr. H sang with great applause the beau- 
tiful air of * The Mellow Horn,' accompanied by 
— and on flutes." 

No small pleasure was it after one of these re- 
hearsals to come out under the piazza and give 
their fellow students a touch of their quality ; 
and then the sudden swell of music floating from 
in front of University Hall across the silent yard 
would be echoed back with hearty hand- clap- 
pings all along the windows of the buildings op- 
posite. 

Special delight the Pierians took in their more 
elaborate serenades. These were not confined 
to Cambridge, but extended to Watertown, 
Brookline, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Boston, etc. 
Excursions of this sort would, of necessity, be 
protracted far into the night. Not seldom, in- 
deed, long aflcr daybreak, ** the chiding of the 
sharp-tongued bell " for morning prayers was 
heard by the returning vagrants, summoning 
them, just within sight of their longed-for rooms, 
with tired limbs, to the duties of a new day. 
For these exi)editions even the chill air of March 
and April was not too harsh ; but in the balmy 
nights of curly summer the rural quiet of the 
old village, not yet dreaming of street-cars and 
a thickly peopled Dana HilJ, with the scarcely 
less unbroken stillness of Otis, Winthrop, and 
Chauncy Places, of Franklin Street, of Beacon 
Street, wherever, in short, dwelt celebrated belles, 
was interrupted by the delicate strains of the 
little group of players, who found a sufficient re- 
ward in the sound of a window raised, a blind 
thrown open, or any other indication that the 
sleepers were alert. The recollection of every 
one who took part in them will supply him with 
abundant incidents of these romantic excursions, 
oftentimes sufficiently amusing ; such as the lav- 
ishing of the tender strains at the wrong house 
(as when once the leader, not familiar with the 
arsenal yard, drew up the band before the gun- 
room instead of the commander's quarters) ; or 
upon the ears of the servant-maids when the 
ladies were away (as when Judge Y's family 
had not yet come firom the party at Judge Z's) ; 
the encountering of another company of sere- 
naders (as happened once in Brookline, where 
the jealous later comers diverted themselves by 
taking a drive Tith the carriage and horses of 
their rivals); the disappointments, fatigues, hopes, 
exultations numberless ; and many a hospitable 
mansion can tell how it welcomed in to a hastily 
improvised repast the players that had stolen 
upon its inmates with such sweet harmony as the 
night becomes. 

But it was upon exhibition days the Pierians 
sought to achieve their highest honors. The or- 
der of exercises on these days usually gave ten 
or twelve parts to the declamations and three 
to music, besides the introductory performance 
while the fisusulty were taking their seats. July 
17, 1839, when, having had a large accession to 
their stock of tunes, they iiere ambitious to dis- 
play them, and managed to introduce an unusual 
number into the programme, they were charged 
by the corrector of the proof with making an 
**" innovation ; " but, says the secretary, " the 
audience did not attempt to finown out of coun- 
tenance the innovation, nor has it come to our 



ears since that any one thought we played too 
much." 

In preparation for the day, the pieces, which 
had been selected by a committee for perform- 
ance were diligently practiced at extra meetings 
as well as on the stated evenings, commonly also 
once just before the day in the organ loft, be- 
tween twelve and one o'clock, and again in the 
morning before the hour of Ix^inning the exer- 
cises. These were held in the chapel in Univer- 
sity Hall ; and the dignity of the occasion to all 
the musicians, especially to him whose distinction 
it happened to be in the capacity of first flute to 
leafl the band, cannot easily be overrated, at the 
present moment, when from behind the green 
curtains of their little gallery the procession, 
headed by President Quincy in cap and gown, 
was seen to enter at the southerly door, the line 
of half a dozen flutes itretchinj; along the front 
seat struck up the grand march in £1 Hyder, es- 
teemed the most imposing of all their introduc- 
tory pieces. From Helicon's harmonious rills no 
richer stream of music flowed along. On mel- 
ody like that the Muses from their sacred seats 
with favor might look down. Here are the first 
bars of the grand march in £1 Hyder : — 




This stately opening was followed by some 
piece in livelier time (the selections at each play- 
ing consisted always of one slow and one quick 
movement), a waltz, or quickstep, in the same 
key. £very one who attended exhibitions in 
those days must often have heard a quickstep by 
Walsch that began in this way : — 



^^^^^^ 



^I^S^ ^ ^^ 



and may remember how charmingly it dropped 
directly upon the chord of £-fl9t : — 



^f fe^^gg^^^ ^ 



and returned again to its key : — 




r ^^ f^f^rr l^ 



And this waltz : — 





[Sgi 



And this, which wss No. 58 : — 

-8 




N 

One of these went by the name of Twelfth 
Waltz ; but why twelfUi, or whose, who can tell ? 
In all this the part of third flute was not very 
exacting. Beyond the sense of fulfilling a duty, 
there could have been little satisfaction, one 



Skptbmbeb 27, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



157 



would think, in playing whole pagee of han like 
thU:» 



^gg^ 





▼aried only by the change of time or key. It is 
amusing to recall what elegant and costly flutes, 
with long extent of silver-keyed magnificence, 
were put to this seemingly uninteresting though 
indispensable service ; yet Jlauto terzo, beyond a 
doubt, would look back to these monotonous bars 
with as true pleasure as prhno. The violins, it 
may be mentioned, afterwards helped to supply 
this " light time," as we called it, with good ef- 
fect. 

The musicians' gallery projected from the 
northerly wall, high up near the ceiling, and di- 
rectly over the pulpit where the president took 
his scat, the platform for the speakers being just 
below him. The entree to the gallery was a cov- 
eted privilege, not alone because the occupants 
bore so important a part in the services, but also 
because from between tlie curtains the eye could 
range unobserved over the assembled beauty that 
graced the benches of the hall below, or the 
pews in the professors' gallery opposite, where 
were congregated in large numbers, to witness 
the de'btUs of their young friends, the fashionable 
dames and damsels of Cambridge and vicinity. 

Once there was a narrow escape from a miss 
in the praludium^ from the tarrying too long at 
the wine : *' An hour before exliibition we met in 
the organ-loft to see how it sounded. We were 
delighted with our playing, and to prove our de- 
light we adjourned to the PrsBses* room to pledge 
each other in a bumper and also to take courage. 
Whilst we were pleasantly chatting we heard 
the bell toll for the entrance of the faculty. We 
ran as hard as we could to get into the loft be- 
fore they could get in the chapel, but unfortu- 
nately they had the shortest distance to go and 
were already seated when (out of breath) we 
seized our instruments and began to blow as 
hard as the state of our lungs permitted ; but 
Madame Discord had already taken possession of 
our instruments and made us perform horribly. 
We were in despair, and sneaked off without be- 
ing seen by the audience. In our first tune we 
ielt a great deal the absence of the first horn. 
The rest of the playing went off pretty well, and 
made up, in some degree, for our bad playing." 

( 7b b* eaneliuUd.) 



selves so much with what is vile. Zola's dirt and 
squalid misery are human and refreshing after 
foundationless fine sentiment and aimless enthu- 
simoosy. Only it must admitted that the realists 
look at life too much from below, like the sloth, 
which passes its life on the under-side of branches. 
Let it seem qatural for man to look up, rather 
than down, even as his face is turned to the sky. 
If the idealists, who spend so much of their time 
in the air, would only sometimes look downward, 
they might do the world good service ; but they 
don*t ; theystill keep their faces turned skyward, 
and, as Hauff very rightly says, they see — noth' 
ing. 

Of the French heroic painters, Dayid seems 
to me to be the most pleasing. He is too grand- 
iloquent, but he has genuine sincerity and a great 
deal of elegance ; he moreover preserves the im- 
portance of his figures, and does not waste his 
powder on mise-eri'Sclne. His pictures have a 
focus. Of the classic masters, Raphael pleases 
me less and less, compared with his companions. 
If Andrea del Sarto had not been bedevilled 
by his beast of a wife, he would have been able 
to put Raphael in his pocket I A man who 
could paint children as 'ho did must have had a 
good fund of purity in him. W. F. A. 



REAL AND IDEAL IN FRENCH ART. 

(From » PriTftto Letter.) 

AMYTHiMO more celestial than our sail from Gre- 
neva to Vevey, cannot be imagined. The smell 
of the lindens and orange blossoms that pours in 
at oar window now is a sort of chrism in itself. I 
don't think there can be a better preparation for 
the enjoyment of nature than a slight course of 
French Art. It seems to me the French had 
better stick to naturalism and realism ; in that 
they are masters. Zola is an epoch making man, 
and will suffice to counterbalance all the ideal- 
ists can do for twenty years to come ; Cherbuliez 
cannot touch him. The modern idealists do not 
seem to feel that idealism must have a real ba- 
sis ; that to be a good idealist, you must be a 
realist and something more. The French ideal- 
ists swim vaguely in mid-air, and talk only 
words, lliey have too little real meaning in them ; 
it is not true idealism, but mere fantasticism and 
sentimentality. Hugo is the latest man who 
could start from the earth and really soar ; the 
others climb up on a ladder of sentiment ; when 
they have got to the top, they knock it out from 
beneath themselves, and then down they come. 
I dp not wonder that the realists occupy them- 



TALKS ON ART. — SECOND SERIES.* 

mOM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XIIL 

(On a Criticism of Millet and French Art.) 

Art is not an exotic, and wc must receive it 
through the channels by which it has come to 
us. America has no opinion — has not gone far 
enough ; has no place in the art-world ; is a 
student and a beginner, and is always hanilled 
with the greatest gentleness on account of her 
youth. If we are going to turn up our noses 
against nations that have done everything, we go 
against our advantage. Our acts will be like 
those of an idiotic monkey, who, because he can't 
crack a cocoa-nut shell, throws it awav. It is 
dangerous for a young nation to turn anything to 
ridicule. To develop Art, the first thing is to 
shut our eyes and not think of it, instead of being 
so forth-putting, and spending our enex^y in broil- 
ing about 

What rank does America hold in the art-world 
to-day as art-critic? Before a nation slurs a 
country like France, it ought to have a reputa- 
tion. There is no criticism here. There is a 
good deal of growling and talking against French 
Art, but nobody takes up the subject and handles 
it with any intelligence. 

One test of an art-criticism is that it shall be 
valuable anywhere in the world. Nothing should 
be written against masters without being weighed. 

** Now, little boys, look at your books. Don't 
open your eyes and look over there at French 
Art t I have seen it, and I know that it is not 
good." 

A man who has studied Art in France and 
been familiar with the French way of studying 
it, ought to know something of the subject. I 
don't believe there is one man capable of earning 
his living with his brush who has n't the greatest 
respect for Art as it is understood in France. It 
is not absurd for a Frenchman to say anything 
against American Art, but it is absurd for an 
American to say anything against French Art. 

If we want prune-boxes painted, we can't get 
them done here. It is so much cheaper for a 
man to say that he does n't like Shakespeare or 
Michel Angelo than it is to write a poem or 
paint a picture. We have had enough of this 
kind of talk. We want men capable of making 
I Copyright, 1879, by Helsa M. Knowltoo. 



things that will be received in any part of the 
world. 

We don't want our critics to be diminutives of 
Ruskin. We can tolerate a good deal from Mr. 
Ruskin, because he gives us so much that is beau- 
til'ul and interesting ; and his knowledge of Nature 
and his interest in Art are great. 

But let us paint our opinion on canvas, and 
not on the newspapers. It is very easy to avoid 
painting the way that Millet and Delacroix paint. 
In fiict it would not be very easy to paint as 
Veronese painted. 

William Blake says that the best of the Eng- 
lish engravers were not capable of making their 
first etchings. They were always made and laid 
in by Frenchmen. 

We don't say that the French are Greeks or 
Venetians ; but if ever anybody handled a sub- 
ject well, it was Jean Francois Millet 

Now, come 1 We are a young nation ; we are 
trying to learn something, and we are perfectly 
aware that, as a people, we are rankly ignorant 
of Art. Would it not be better to let alone the 
different " schools *' of the past, and go on, striv- 
ing to learn something, so that we can be able to 
make a living, than to turn ourselves suddenly 
into judges of nations more capable than we 
are? 

France might wish to be judged by her peers. 
She ought to have a chance. We assume to be 
her superiors. Why can't we show our work on 
canvas, and criticise French Art by making an 
art so superior to theirs that there 'II be a call for 
it in Spain — or New Zealand ? 

The only way to arrive anywhere is to be 
modest. If we ever expect- to be anything, we 
must keep our future open, so that we may learn 
from what is best. Imagine a fireshman instructed, 
in his first lesson, to turn up his nose at French 
Art ! That will not make a Michel Angelo of 
him when he comes to be a sophomore. There 
are a certain number of people in this world who 
find French Art good for something. 

You have given your advice ; I 'II give mine. 
If you wish to teach drawing, go straight to 
France ; and, when yob 've come to be so smart 
that you can teach there^ I '11 pay your expenses. 

^tDigl^t'0 3|ournal of iHuistc. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1879. 

WILLIAM MORRIS HUNT. 

[Bora Bfarch 31, 1884; died September 8, 1879.] 

What genius is, people have not found 
out yet. It has been styled a "• capacity for 
taking pains ; '■ but a man without it may 
take a great deal of pains and not convince 
us he has it. 

It is intensity, a power of coming close to 
Nature and Life, and its bottom fact is Love. 

But whatever it may be, we all feel that 
William Hunt had it He did not have it 
in its usual American form, a gift of inven- 
tion, or audacious speculation, for he was no 
Philistine. His was the old consecrated kind 
of genius, creative only io painting with a 
sympathetic charm which reached all who 
cared for what he did. This gift is so rare 
with the Anglo-Saxon race, and especially in 
America, that it will be long ere the fullness 
of our loss will be felt. It is the extinction 
of a great light ; a fervent hand is cold ; and 
the warmth which glowed through so many 
friends and disciples is like a trodden ember 
extinguished. -» 

I Already many appreciative sketches of the 



168 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vor. XXXIX. - No. 1008. 



master have been published, and more will 
follow, as friends find the leisure from grief 
to analyze and describe his powers. 

Mournful as we are at su. li a removal, we 
must not forget to remember how opportune 
bis life was. He partly created here, and 
partly found, that longing for arl^istic culture 
which is one of the striking facts of our day. 
lie helped when help was most needed ; and 
acting directly as he did upon so many minds, 
the pain and distress of his loss is felt as those 
indifferent to art can hardly imagine. 

I shall not seek to characterize, now, his 
genius or his method of work. By what he 
did, by what he said, by what he wrote, that 
is largely apprehended. But I would notice 
one or two points of his career which nat- 
urally escape general observation. 

From his earliest years his inclination for 
form 'showed itself, as soon as the penknife 
was laid aside, by cutting, in shell-cameo, 
portraits which were often faithful and beau- 
tiful. This led liim, when he went abroad 
with his brothers, to select sculpture as the 
natural issue of his skill. But whether it 
be that the marble he invoked chilled his ar- 
dent nature, or that something within him 
was keeping him for otlier fields, he has left 
us little of imp irtance in that branch of art. 
He studied with Pradier, a Genovese, who, 
more Parisian than any Frenchman, delighted 
the world with figures who e charm was their 
graceful naturalness. His chief work is the 
mo.iumeut to Moliere, where two female fig> 
ures equaled all that was hoped of his skill, 
and will carry entwined with the name of 
Moliere his own to future generations. 

Afier a journey to the East, and during 
the sad days of depression in the cholera-in- 
fected air of Paris, the good genius of Mr. 
Hunt took from his hand the chisel, and 
placed there the brush. He found in Thomas 
Couture a manly and simple method for paint- 
ing, which, with the acquaintance later with 
the profounder genius of Millet, made the 
school in which he grew to the noble artist 
we all admired. Something he had of these 
two men ; but happily also much of his own, 
without which he could not have influenced 
as he did. His method was large, suggest- 
ive, of great breadth and simplicity. He 
never was a great colorist, nor would one 
call Millet such; but they both aimed at 
character, and attained it. 

His temperament was wholly artistic. He 
saw, he felt, he created. There was the same 
flash in his touch that there was in his speak- 
ing eye, the same emphasis that there was in 
his cordial and ringing voice. He was all 
over not only a man, but one different from 
others, a nature not repeated, copied from 
none, and one to be found nowhere else. 

It has not been remarked, 1 believe, how 
much the early habit of modelling from the 
form has been of use to him through life. 
He did not think of an object as a fiat, as 
many do, but of something which one can 
walk rounQ. We feel the same thing in the 
Sistine figures of Michel Angelo. 

His electric temper forbade " niggling." 
He could not even finish as a more equable 
nature migiit have done. He felt tliis, but 
he was loyal to his own temperament, and 
would not accommodate the public with 
9mootb and uninspired work. When he had 



done, he left a picture. It was done by a 
jet, and he would not piece the fiery mould 
with the cold metal of a later hour. 

In conclusion, I will nierely say that in 
F'rance, where art is so honored, it is thn cus- 
tom, when a grext painter dies, to collect hi^ 
work*, no possessor of them daring to re- 
fuse, in a single exhibition, — a monument 
and an ovation at the same lime, to one of 
Heaven*s choicest gifts, — a noble nature and 
a genius which continues to inspire, hmg years 
after the remorseless grave has seized and 
made what was perishable its own. 

T. G. A. 

Nahakt, September 15, 1879. 



These words, from one most competent to write 
on suoh a theme, — a theme so rich, so sad, — 
are better than anything which we could write 
of our great painter (who also had much music 
in his nature), whose death is felt so deeply f nd 
so widely by all who knew him as an anisi of 
rare genius, and as a genial, cordial, frank, and 
independent man, — one with whom to love the 
beautiful was to create, to reproduce, — one 
whose presence, like his work, was cheering and 
inspiring. 

Happily, ** though dead, he yet speakcth,'* not 
only through his masterly creations, but in these 
very columns, through those pregnant, quicken- 
ing, and frequently original words which sprang 
from him in the course of his instructions to his 
pu[)ils, and which one of the most devoted and 
intelligent of ihe^e. Miss Helen M. KnowUon, 
has so faithfully recorded, and is now contribut- 
ing to each number of our Journal. These 
'* Talks on Art " took place mostly a few years 
ago, but they now app.>ar in print for the first 
time, and they are as fresh as if uttered to day. 
Miss Knowlton's stock of notes is not yet ex- 
hausted, and tlie ** Talks " will still continue to 
enrich our columns. ■ Naturally they will be 
sought and read with a new interest henceforth. 

Gladly would we fill a whole number of the 
paper with the many tender and appreciative 
tributes which have been paid to the dearii'iend 
and noble artist, — the master, if we had one, in 
his art, — in almost every paper that we open. 
For the present we select the following, which 
will interest many of our readers who may not 
have seen it in the Courier of September 14. 

THB LAST TEAR OF WILLIAM HUMT'S LIFE. 

The month of June, 1878, found him at Niajprant Falls, 
painting sketches of great power and even sublimity. The 
trip was taken as a needed recreation after a long winter's 
work in the studio. It was his intention, after leaving Ni- 
agara, to go to Europe for a short stav ; but this plan was 
given up on the arrival of the commission to paint two lai^e 
panels for the new Assembly Chamber at Albany. At first, 
Mr. Hunt seriously objected to undertaking the work. He 
bad not the health and strength, neither had he pursued 
such a course of study as would enable him to complete so 
important a work in so short a period of time. He constantly 
replied, ^'I am not the man; *' but lieutenant- Governor Dor- 
sheimer was not to be thwarted in his splendid plan, and 
Mr. Hunt was at last persuaded to submit his designs to the 
committee, who received them with enthusiasm. He left 
Niagara and went to Boston, where he spent the entire sum- 
mer, studying bis compositions for the great panels. Few 
people are aware of the immense amount of work required 
fur the preliminary study of such large paintings, and most 
any other artist would have demanded two years for the com- 
pletion of the work. 

It was expected that the staging would be ready for him 
by the first of September, and he strained every nerve to be 
able to meet the occasion. People who saw him at that 
time found him literally ** on the heights,** in a severe, 
classical mood. More than one said, '* In a year s time he 
will not lie alive/' 

September 1, 1878, found him with characteristic punctu- 
ality, ready to i;o to Albany, the two compositions painted 
on large canvases with an ef!ect that he boped to reproduce 
in grand size on the somewhat ill- lighted panels of Ihe As- 
sembly Chamber. But a Ureaome delay occurred, by which 
the necessary staging could not be made ready for him until 
after the middle of October, thus allowing the artist less 



than sixty worldng days in which to complete the great 
work. 

Mr. Hunt was earnestly besought not to undertake such 
a sniierliunian ta«k: and, for a time, expected to lie able only 
to bnmilly sketch in tlie designs, and to leave tliem cur. 
taiaed durini; the inauguration. But thone who knew him 
can undertttind how lie threw himself into the work with tre- 
nieiidons energy, temiiered by intense thought and keenly 
critical taste, and would see how im|i>i8sil>ks it was for him 
to rest for u moment while the spell waM on him. Work 
went on, sometimes even in the nis;ht. and Suntlays only 
were given to drivini; and cli: ng* of some. One Itrief vaca- 
tion of two or tliree d.\vs saw liim in Boston, keenly alieorb- 
in<; Michael Angela's D 'y. studying the ttini and fore- 
shortening of the foot, which caught his eje and seemed to 
remind him of the foot of the sleeping niotlier in his own 
Flitjkt of Niyht, *« Uiirsting.*' as he said, '' for knowledge 
which he so mtich needed," feelhig how little be knew and 
how great tlie work be had undertaken. Never forgetting 
to express his delight in the woric which he enjoyed as only 
a man can enjoy who possessed so eminoitly the creative 
faculty. Never forgetting to speak with delight of his co- 
workers ia Albany, and of tlie helpfulness of every one con. 
cemed. Of the committee he aiid, ** Their applause makes 
me modestly hopeful of success.*' 

And success came. Even professional enemies and 
carpers were sileuoed. No other living man oould have 
done it. 

Feeiin<r never so well, ne%'er so ready for work, be took 
no rest afler tliis great exertion, but settled down in his Bos- 
ton studio, and, in Jamiary and Febnury, painted his last 
portraits — one, fortunately, of himself. 

As spring came on, his energy faileil, and nervous prostra- 
tion followed, from which he never recovered. With the 
liest of care he lingered on, month afler nuMith, unable to 
do more tlian occasionally write some budneas note, and feel- 
ing that he '* should never touch a brush again.** To him 
life meant work, and work meant life, and notwithstanding 
his cheerfulness and apparent hopefulness, tlicre was an 
underlying current of sorrow at the thought that his woric 
was done. 

Whether his drowning was accidental or not m.iy cer- 
tainly never be kno^n. But enough has not been said of 
his extremely weak phjeical condition, with depression so 
great as to closely border on possible insanity. 

Uelejc M. Kkowlton. 



THE BIRMINGIIA'M FESTIVAL. 

TnK thirty-third of these famous triunnial mu* 
sical festivals, which took place on the 26 ih, 27ih, 
28th, and 29ih of August, seems to have shou-n 
some falling off in interest. A correspondent of 
the Tendon Times complains of three things in 
which reform has long been needed. He says 
(1) that " repetition of a few works, master- 
pieces though they be, appears absolutely unwar- 
rantable ; " (2) that, " besides a single Sym- 
phony of Beethoven, the splendid body of musi- 
cians was independently employed only in the 
performance of a few of the most familiar over- 
tures, such as arc heard at every promenade 
concert ; " and (3) that " the dignity of the 
festival was not increased by the amount of 
time granted to the singers for the purpose of 
mere vocal display." Elijah, the Messiah, and 
Israel in Egypt were the oratorios, — the first 
two everybody knows by heart in England. With 
the former the festival opened on Tuesday morn- 
ing, and, strange to say, tlio local critics write 
about it through several long newspaper columns 
as if it were something wholly new, giving its 
whole history from its first production at the 
same festival in 1846. Yet the sale of tickets 
this time fell much below that of the festivaf 
three years ago. Even Elijah is becoming an 
old story even to John Bull ! Or at least he is 
learning to feel that there can be too much even 
of a good thing (unless it be of Bach or Beet- 
hoven) 1 The performance seems to have been 
in all respects satisfactory. The principal solo 
singers were : Sopratio, Mme. Gerster ; con- 
tralto, Mme. Trebelli-Bettini and Mme. Patey ; 
tenor, Mr. E. Lloyd and Mr. Vernon Rigby ; 
ban, Mr. Santley. Mme. Gerster was heard 
for the first time in oratorio, at least in the Eng- 
lish language. The Times says : — 

On this account her decided succeu was all the more re- 
markable. At the beginning her voice seemed to suffi*r a 
little from the effect of nervousness, but too natural in the 
circumstances, bat no traoe of this remuncd as sooa as hbt 



Septbhbkr 27, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



159 



flnt solo, *« What have I to do with ihee?^' was reached. 
Tlie benutirul uielotlj, in which tlie widow of Zarepiiath 
inplorps the prophet's help for her son, wns delivered with 
ail iiiipressive sini])licity as truly dramntic as it was free 
from ail operatic exagtieratioii. Alihou{;h far removed from 
the bravura s(,\le in which Madame Gen>ter excek, the music 
is well adapted to her voice, and l:er declamation also was 
deserving of hii;h praise, especially if the novelty of the 
idiuni is considered. The same remarks of unreserved oom- 
meudation apply to the delivery of the aoprano air, " Hear 
je, Israel/*. at the commencement of the second part; but, 
perhaiM, even more remarkable than eitlier was the purity 
of intonation with which the, in that respect, extremely dif- 
ficult utterances of the Youth, " There is nothing, etc ," 
were delivered." Accurduig to the etiquette obtaining at the 
sacred concerts, no marks of approval were given by the 
audience, but the impression produced by Madame Gerster, 
and, indeed, by moat of the other artista, was nevertheleas 
distinctly discernible. 

In the evening was given one of the two prin- 
cipal novelties of the festival, Max Bruch's Can- 
tata : " The Lay of the Bell " (Schiller), con- 
ducted by himself. In another column we have 
copied what appears to be a very just critici*^^m 
of tlie work, which, though new to Binninj^ham, 
was first heard (as Op. 45) in May, 1878, at 
Cologne. The solos were sung by Mine. Leni- 
mens-SIierrington, Mme. Trebelli, Mr. Klgby, 
and Ilerr Henschel (as Master Founder). The 
Musical Standard says : — 

At the first bearing we were convinced of Herr Druch's 
complete mastery of the art of writing for the orchestra ; 
his intimacy witli the most elaborate contrapuntal resources ; 
his felicity in descriptive WTlting for voices, for instruments, 
and for lioth combined: his genuine and deep appreciation 
of his subject, and of his determination not to write down 
to tlie public, but to endeavor to lift his hearers to the con- 
templation of 'art pure and simple. ' We felt, however, that 
in the solo parts tliere is a kick of anytliing individual or 
striking, and the solos seemed to us to hax-e been written al- 
moat expressly for the purpose of uniting the links of the 
stor}' ; the cantata is also overburdened witli recitative. One 
of our Uimiingham contemporaries suggests that Herr 
Bruch has been o\*er anxious to show that he belonged to 
the rigidly classical scIkwI; we think, rather, that he has 
sat humbly, though still moat effectually, at the feet of 
Richard Wagner. Tne brief Ltitmoth^ with which the 
Maiter Fimnder is allied — like that of fJerevrmxl in Mr. 
Prout's new cantata — wouhl suirgest this, if nothing else 
did; but the long recitative passages, and the absence of 
any single solo with a clearly-defined and well'developed 
subject, suggest still more emplutticnlly the erratic Mtister 
who, after tfrowing weary of the hardness of heart and per- 
sistent unbelief of the old world, is pathetically appeal.ng to 
the new one. The solos are some of them very beautiful, 
but they are valuable only because they are linka in a strong 
iron chMn, and do not seem to us to be forf^ of such 
precious mettl that they would be eagerly sought for whether 
in the chain or alone. This may not lie a fault — we do 
not say tliat it is, and of course a composer has a perfect 
right to do what to him seems best ; hut the solos in ** The 
Ijkj of the Bell " are not all or nearly all beautiful, in the 
sense that the ad^^oe of Beethoven's or l^Iozart's piano 
sonatas, or the andantes of Spohr's violin concertos, aie beau< 
tiful. The choruses are broad and grand — those descrip- 
tive of the house-burning, and of the rising of the lawless 
mob, are sublime — at any rate, they had a sublime eifiict as 
performed by the Birmingham baud and chorus. 

The second part of the concert offered a 
miscellaneous and hackneyed selection : Overtures 
to Stmiramide and Fra Diavolo ; Air, " Nymphcs 
attentives," from Gounod's Polyeucte (Mr. 
Lloyd) ; Duet from // Giuramento (Miss Will- 
iams and Mme. Patey) ; Air from The Magic 
Flute : *• Gli angui dlnferno " (Mme. Gerster) ; 
Air, '* Caro mio ben," Giordan! (Mme. Patey) ; 
" Robert, toi que j'aime " (Miss Williams) ; 
Duet from Balfe's Talismano (Mme. Gerster and 
Mr. Lloyd). 

Wednesday morning was occupied with Ros- 
sini's sensuous and melodious Opera of Moses in 
Egypt metamorphosed into an English Oratorio 
(!), of which, perhaps, the less said the better 
here, since we have known it in the same nonde- 
script form only too well ourselves in times gone 
by. The singers at Birn)ingham were Mme. 
Sherrington, as Anais ; Mme. Trebelli, as Zll- 
lah ; Miss Anna Williams, as Sinais ; Mr. Sant- 
ley, Moses ; Herr Henschel, Pharaoh ; Mr. Lloyd, 
Amenophis ; Mr. W. H. Cummings, Aaron, and 
Mr. Bridson, Osiris. The evening concert pre- 



sented the same vocal solo artists in the follow- 
ing mixed and leogthy programme : — 

Symphony, (No. 7) Beethoven, 

Song, *' Anges du Paradis " (Mireille) . Couuod. 

Song, " Che fnro " (Orleo) .... Cluck. 

Trio, '• Qual Volutta " (I Lombardi) . Verdi, 

Air, " Celeste Aida " Verdi. 

Trio, " Tremati, empi, tremate '* . . Beethoven. 
Air, " In veder i'amata stanza" (Mig- 

Don) Tliomas. 

Finale, *' Ah non credea mirarti " (Son- 

nambuhi) Bellini. 

Part Song, " ITie Silent I-and " . . . A. R. Gaul. 

Overture, Concert overture, in F . . , Dr. C. H. Heap. 

Duo, '< Ah se di mali miei " (Tancredi) Jtvttini. 
Solo and chorus, " Where the puie-trees 

wave" (Faust) Schumann. 

Air, " Dalhk sua pace " (Don Giovanni) Mozart. 

Duo, '< CanU la SerenaU " (Mefistofele) Boito. 
Air, ** Au bruits des lourds marteauz " 

(Philemon et Baucis) Gounod. 

Song, " Mi tradi " (Don Giovanni) . . Motart. 

Ballad, »» My love far away " . . . . Ba/fe. 

Duo, •' Dove vai ? " (Guillaume Tell) . Riwini. 

Quartet, " A te o oara " (I Puritani) . Bellini. 

The new feature of the programme was the 
0\'erture, in F, by Dr. C. Swinnerton Heap, 
who was ft '^ Mendelssohn scholar," at Leipzig. 

The Standard says of it : — 

It opens with an introduction of a placid character; con 
poco allegro, the horns giving out the dominant pianissimo, 
followed lit the last beat in the liar by the strings umted. 
Some very tasteful polyphonic writing folk)ws, relieved by 
light passages for the wood wind, while a short figure as- 
signed first to the clarinet and bassoon, then to the flute, 
oboes, and horns, prepares the ear for the first principal sub- 
ject, which enters at the twenty-nhith bar, the measure 
changing to 12-8, the time to allegro grazioso. 'litis theme 
is very graceful and melodious, and is started by the strings, 
with coloring passages for the softer wind instruments. 
Some development follows, and the subject is repeated forte, 
the trumpets, trombones, and drums entering with fine efiF.ct, 
while contrast is obtained by beautiful, epibodical pawsages, 
piano. The whole is of a very animated character, which, 
m preparing the entry for the second theme, gradually sub- 
sides into quiet chords for the wind, with strings puzicato; 
tlie first liassoou gives a farewell fragment of the first theme 
as the strings enter the dominant of the new key (C); the 
first violins play alone a syncopated passage, ushering in a 
new theme, equally graceful with the first, which is taken up 
by tlie flutes, tbllowed by the strings a thinl lower; this is. 
followed by a subordinate theme of a difl!erent character — 
a true canUbile ~ given out by the 'cello and ol)oe, accom- 
panied wiUi a short figure, which, divided between the first 
and second violins, is very flowing; the theme is then worked 
out with much skill, and the fir«t part is brought to a close 
with a brilliant climax. The thematic development, or free 
fantasia, as it is generally called, which follows, is very mas- 
terly from the musician's stand -point, and most interesting 
to the listener; the second theme is mostly employed, a very 
skilliul application of the latter portion thereof giving great 
animation to this part, and the efl«ct is increased by a 
striking moduhition of the remote key of F sharp. The or- 
chestral treatment is throughout exceedingly good. This 
portion ends with a pedal passage of twelve ban, poco tran- 
quillo, during which parts of the second theme are heanl 
Irom the bassoon, clarinet, and first violin ; aOer a pause the 
first theme is resumed, and the proper reeapituhitiou follows; 
there is varied orchestral treatment, the climax is more ex- 
tended, and is followed by a coda vivace — really presto — 
introducing a new motive, which brings the overture to a 
close in a most spirited and brilliant manner. Dr. Heap, 
who conducted, met with a hearty round of applause on ap- 
pearing in the orchestra, and was honored with a ncall at 
the conoluuon of the performance. 

Handel's Messiah formed the crowning height, 
the Mont Blanc, in the middle of the festival 
(Thursday morning). The solo artists were Miss 
Anna Williams and Mme. Sherrington, Mmes. 
Trebelli and Patey ; Mr. Joseph Maas ; Jierr Hen- 
schel and Mr. Santley. It goes without saying 
that the Messiah is always grandly given at Bir- 
mingham. We see that some of the critics of the 
London press complain of being slighted by the 
management in sending them no tickets for tlie 
Messiah and Elijah ; was it not considerate on 
the part of the management not to put these 
veteran reporters under any implied obligation 
to hear and write long, fulsome columns about 
great works of which they have said their say 
a hundred times ? 

The evening programme offered the new Can- 
tata, composed for the festival by Saint-Saens, 
sandwiched between several thicknesses of the 



.«ame sort of miscellany as in the previous even- 
ings, to wit : — 

Ox-erture, »» Merry Wives of Windsor" . . Nieolau 

Duet, " Pronta io son " (" Don pMsqunle " ) Donixttti, 

Song, «* Biaiica al par " ('» Gli Ut;onotti ") Meyerbeer, 

Part Song, ** The sea hath its pearls '* . . Piusuti, 



CantaU, "The Lyre and the Harp" 



Saint-Sains. 

Romni. 
Mount. 

Wagner. 

Weber, 

Meyei-bter, 

Gounod, 

Bttet. 

Schumann, 

Doniutti, 

Mozart. 



Overture, " WiUiam Tell " 

Air, «' Un aura amorosa '* (•* Coai fan tutte ") 
Duo, '* Una remoU vaga (remembranza '«' ) 

('^Fliegender Holliiiider") 

Air, '« Oh, t is a glorious sight ** ('' Oberon '*) 
Song, " Ombra leggiera *' (" Dinorah ") . 
Trio, " Che fate qui Signor " (»♦ t aust ") . 
Air, ".La Habanera" (»• Carmen ") . . . 

Air, " Die xwei Grenadiere ** 

Duo, "Mille pbcer** ("Favorite") . . . 
Quuitet, " Sento oh Dio " (" Cou fan tutte *') 

Of the Cantata by the brilliant Frenchman 
we have no room to copy a description now, but 
may do so hereafter. 

Friday, the fourth and last day, was after all 
the great day of the festival, if we measure by 
the solidity and sterling quality of the selections. 
These were : in the morning, Cherubini*s Requiem 
in C minor, and Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise, 
separated by Schubert's Solve Regina^{Op, 47), 
and the Offertorium, Date Sonitum, by Sir Mi- 
chael Costa, the veteran conductor of these trien- 
nial festivals for many years. 



" Sakzio." — The beautiful poem, which has 
occupied the first page of our journal continu- 
ously for four month.4, comes to an end to-day ; 
and we fancy many of our readers, who are 
lovers of fine poetry, will regret the non-cpntinu- 
ance of its fortnightly installments. Its theme 
is Raphael in the last years of his life, and 
his ** Fornarina," here called Benedetta. The 
poem is not without historical foundation, al- 
though it is mainly the product of the poet's 
own imagination. It forms a worthy companion 
piece to "Angelo," which celebrates the love of 
Michel Angelo and Vittoria Colonna, by the 
Hauie author, which was published in a beautiful 
small volume by Houghton, Osgood & Co., about 
two years ago. We trust that *' Stuart Sternu " 
(whose prose name is Miss Gertrude Bloede, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y.) will be induced to republish 
''Sanzio" in the same form. Wo have received 
many assurances from appreciative men and 
women of the sincere pleasure they have found 
in reading it. Just now, this last in<»talment, 
describing the gloom which fell over all Rome 
on the death of Raphael, may be read here with 
peculiar interest; its solemn music chimes too 
well with what we all feel, suddenly bereft of 
our own noble *artist. 



Lyceum Bureau Concerts. — The time 
was when the " Lyceum " was a sober, useful, 
New England Institution, in all the large and 
many of the small towns, devoted purely to the 
instruction and improvement of the people. The 
best thinkers and men of literature and science 
were engaged to lecture, not for the sake of ex- 
hibiting the men, and gratifying an idle curiosity 
to see each notoriety in person, but for the sake 
of the solid, quickening patter which the lecture 
might contain. Perhaps the practice grew mo- 
notonous and needed a new stimulus, an infusion 
of new life, — " attraction ** is what the show- 
men call it. At all events the Lyceum has fallen 
into the bands of the showmen, who, under the 
name of Bureaux, have for some years made it a 
field for speculation. Not only do they act as 
lecture brokers, taking commission from the lect- 
urer on the one hand and the audiences on the 
other, but they have substituted amusement for 
instruction, personal exhibition for intrinsic worth 
of matter (or, as the Germans have it, intellect- 



160 



D WIGHT a JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1008. 



ual Inhalt, ideal contents), and sensational " at- 
traction " for wholesome, mental food. 

Of late they have gone much further, and not 
content with reducing the lecture to a mere in- 
cidental figure in the programmes, and even then 
invitins a man to lecture to us not for what he 
has to tell us, hut onljr to give as a chance to 
gaze at him, they have undertaken a certain 
nondescript style of concert-giving. Here, too, 
it is not music as such, music for its own sake, 
that is held up to tempt us, but only the array 
of brilliant galaxies of star performers, virtuosos, 
famous singers, violinists, or pianists ; it is the 
artists, not the art. What the programmes, are 
is easily imagined. 

So the Lyceum has lost its legitimacy as a lect- 
ure institution, while it has taken up music in a 
way not less equivocal, in spite of the many 
names of famous artists paraded in its advertise- 
ments. We doubt whether the lecture business, 
as now administered, does much good ; and we 
feel sure that the true cause of music, of musical 
taste and progress among our people, is more put 
back than forwarded by these sensational and 
miscellaneous displays of prima donnas out of 
place. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Chicago, September 18. — After* long interval, I am 
■gain in the home city, and happj to send a little note, with 
greeting, to the Joukxal. September calls the musicians 
back to their various duties, and actiritjr once more is the 
happj condition of the musical world. On all sides I hear 
the pleasing indications of new life and promise; tat our 
musical sodeties are preparing for the coming season, the 
music schools are opening, and conductors, teachers, and 
singers are awakening to fresh and hearty eflurts for the art 
they k»ve. The outkwk is good, and I can safely predict 
more fine music, and a laiger number of musical entertaiu- 
roenU than we have ever IumI bdore in the same length of 
time. 

The Beethoven Society is preparing for its winter's work, 
and has undertaken the production of the following conipo-< 
sitJons: Max Bruch*s latest work, illustrating Schiller's 
" The Lay of the BeU; '* " CinderrUa," by Heinrich Hott> 
man; **Pltfadiae Lost," by Kubinsteiu; Parker's <«Kcw 
demptiou Hymn;" and Goklmark's "Festival Blarch," 
from the " Queen of Sheba." All these works will be nov- 
elties in Chicago, and as they will be pi«iented with orehto- 
tral accompaniments, I think they will prove very iutetesting 
and eigoyable. Beskles the three large concerts during the 
season, tliis society will give monthly reunions, devoted to 
chamlier music, at which we are to have, besides the quar- 
tets of the old classic masters, ntany new things, such as, — 
a quintet by Seambote; a quartet by Robert Fuchs; and 
quinteU by Kaifand Saint-Saens. Knowing of tlie hearty 
efforts of thu sodety to make this season a notable one, we 
can well look forward to tlie production of the works se- 
lected with the expeetalKMi of much pleasure. 

The Apolb Club Is not one whit behind its sister soetety, 
for the chorus membership b complete, and they are hard at 
work in preparing for the coming season. They will give 
the Memak at Christmas time, and possibly The Cretitkm 
before. The complete Ust for the eeason* will not be an- 
nounced until all- their engagements with solo talent are 
made. It is not unlikely, however, that they will also give 
a work by Max Bruch, either a repetatkm of The Fiidthjof 
Snffa, which they gave so finely bst yew, or a new compo- 
sition. Tliey vrill have an orchestral accompaniment at 
each concert, and from their uniform excellent work in the 
past, we all anticipate even greater thhigs from them this 



A new impetus is being given to musical enterprises in our 
city, from the fsctthat a large Music Hall will be completed 
this fall, and fill a need that we have felt quite seriously ever 
since our great fire. The new hall is centnJly k)cat«d on 
the eonier of State and Randolph streets, on the south side 
of our. city, and from its imposing appearance promises to 
be a fine building. The hall will hold comfortably some two 
thousand people. It is to contain a large organ, and will 
thus be of grnt service to our choral societies. I am prom- 
ised an early view of the inside of the hall, and it will be 
my pleasure to transmit a pen-picture of it to the readers of 
the Journal. 

At Uershey Hall, we are to have a number of organ re- 
citals by Mr. H. Chuenee Eddy, and also some chamber 
concerts. 'Iliis new departure, in the introduction of cham- 
ber music, is a step in the right direcUoo ; and as the man- 
agement of the Herahey School have such a pretty little hall 
at their dbposal, I am sure that if this undertaking b wisely 
carried oat, it will fill a want that hss been kmg experienced 
in our city. Mr. Emil UeUing will shortly give a number 
of piano-forte recitals, and as I have seen an outline of his 



programme, I can menUon that they include works from the 
representative composers from the old masters to the new 
compositions of living "men, and are rich in variety as well 
as excellent in teste. 

In regard to Opera, we are promised visits from the Maple- 
son and the Strakoech companies, while the English trou{ies, 
" The Emma Abbott," and the ** American Opera Com- 
pany,*' will surely oome too, as will Opera Bouffe and Pi/ia- 
jTore companies, ad infinitum. The weak point in our mu- 
sical season seems to be in regard to symphony concerts. 
As yet the organisation that was formed for this end has 
been unaUe to agree to any positive pkn by which an ade- 
quate orchestra may be formed, a conductor engaged, and a 
programme for the year hud out. Too many difl^mit opin* 
ions seem to be at variance with one another; and, while no 
one can be blamed indiridually, it is a foct that, collectively, 
the members are at- Csult, if they are really in earnest in 
theur expressed dedre to promote the cause of good music in 
our city. It is to be hoped, however, that a concerted eflfort 
will yet be made to establish an orchestra that shall be able 
to supply our needs in regard to symphony concerts. With 
continued and well directed eflforts the banner of success may 
yet gUdden the earnest workers, who are yet but struggling 
for a foothold for what is best in their art. 

A new school, called the '* Drexall Academy of Musical 
Art,'* has oome into being during tlie summer. Mr. James 
Gill, Mr. Heman Alien, Mr. Von Klenge, Miss Lowell, Miss 
Carey, and the writer, have its interests at heart. Our hope 
is to do a good woric, and promote a taste for what Is beau- 
tiful in music among the students intrusted to our direction. 
From bumble beginnings, perhaps, shall arise the foundation 
of a permanent work. C. U. B. 



bell, soprano; l|iss Annie Louise Cary, contralto; Theo. J. 
Toedt, tenor; John F. Winch, basso. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Mr. Arthur Sullxvam will visit the United States in 
November, and during his stay here will durect the perform- 
ance of one or more of his works at a concert by the Handel 
and Haydn Society, about Thank^ring time. 



Worcester, Mass. — The twenty-second Annual Festi- 
val of the Worcester County Musical Association has been 
the focus of general interest in the " Heart of the Common- 
wealth *' during the five days from Monday to Friday of the 
week now past; indeed it has attracted thither numerous 
pilgrims from Boston and more distant places. It opened 
with a very large attendance, and with every promise oif suc- 
cess. We hope to give a full report hereafter. 

The following artists and vocal and inatruaiental organi- 
zations were expected to take part: — 

Sopranos — Miss Hairietta Beebe, Mrs. Anna Granger 
Dow, Miss Gertrude Franklin, Mrs. H. F. Knowles, Bilss 
Ida W. llubbell, Mrs. H. M. Smith, Mbs Edith Abell. 

Contrsltos — Miss Annie Louise Cary, Mrs. Louise Finch 
Hardenburg, Mrs. IsabelU Pahuer Fassett, Mrs. A W. Poi^ 
ter. 

Tenors — Theo. J. Toedt, Alfivd WUkie, A. D. Wood- 
ruff, Geoiige Ellard, G. J. Paricer, G. W. Want. 

Baritones and Basses — W. H. Beckett, John F. Winch, 
D. M. Babcock, CUrenoe £. Hay, L. H. Chubbuck, W. C. 
Baird. 

The New Tork Glee Club — A. D. Woodruff, W. C. 
Baird, George EUard, G. E. Aiken. 

The Schubert Quartette — G. J. Parker, G. W. Want, 
L. H. Chubbuck, D. M. Babcock. 

Senor Dias Albertini, violinist; Miss Lettie Launder, 
violinist; Herr S. Uebling, pianist: E. B. Perry, pianist. 

Eichberg Quartette (Instrumental) — Miss Lillian Chand- 
ler, Miss Lettie Lamider, Miss Abbie Shepardson, Miss 
Lillian Shattuek. 

The Germania Orchestra — Thirty performers. 

Piano and Organ Accompanists — B. D. Allen, £. B. 
Story, G. W. Sumner. 

Carl Zerrahn, Conductor. 

And this was the order of the concerts: — 

Monday aftemooo. Sept 22, — Eichberg Quartette, Mrs. 
H. F. Knowles, soprano; Mrs. A. W. Porter, contralto; 
Mr. C. E. Hay, basso; Miss Lettie Launder, sob violinist. 

Tuesday afternoon, — Schubert Quartette, Miss Gertrude 
Franklin, soprano; Mrs. I^ouise Finch Hardenburg, con- 
tralto; Messrs. Sumner and Allen, organists. 

Wednesday afternoon,— The New York Glee Oub, Miss 
Edith Abell, soprano; Mrs. IsabeUa Palmer Fassett, con- 
tralto; Mr. E. B. Perry, eolo pianist 

Wednesday evening, — Grand Chorus of the Festival, 
New York Glee Club, Miss Henrietta Beebe, soprano ; Mrs. 
Louise Finch Hardenburig, contralto; Mr. Alfrwl Wilkie, 
tenor; Senor Duu Albertini, solo vk>lioist 

Thursday afternoon, — Gounod's *< Messe Solenelle." 
Grand Chorus, Mrs. H. M. Smith, soprano; Mr. A. Wilkie, 
tenor; Mr. W. H. Beckett, basso; Germsnia Orchestra. 

Thursday evening, — Grand Chorus, G««rmanla Orches- 
tra; Mrs. Anna Granger Dow, soprano; Miss Annie Louise 
Caij, contralto; Mr. T. J. Toedt, tenor ; Mr. W. H. Beck- 
ett, basso. 

Friday afternoon, — Symphony Concert Germania Or- 
chestra, Grand Chorus, Miss Henrietta Beebe, Mr. Alfred 
Wilkie, Herr S. Llebling, solo pianist 

Friday evening, — Handel's Oratorio, " The Messiah." 
Grand Chorus; Germania Orchestra; Miss Ida W. Hub- 



New York. — A correspondent of the Adttrtiter writes : 
In the way of orchestral music, although it is decided that 
Theodore Thomas is not dissatisfied with Ciiicinnati, and 
will not come bock to live in New York, he will come every 
month to lead the Philharmonic concerts of Brooklyn and 
of New York, so that our venerable Pbilhanuonic Society, 
which has |teiidily been losing ground for the last ten years, 
may regain, periiaps, something of its old £sme. . Dr. Dam- 
roech will give six orchestral conoots, and so will Mr. Cari- 
bei|;. This makes eighteen symphony concerts and eighteen 
public afternoon rehttrssls. TbMB Oratorio Society will give 
its usual four concerts, besides which our vocal societies will 
give their usual entertahimenCs. 



About Opera, the London /Y^-o informs us: Llent-Col. 
Mapleson has settled his troupe for the United' SUtes as 
follows: Sopranos, Madame Gerstcr, Misses Valleria and 
Ambre; contraltos. Misses Cary and Kobiati, and Madame 
D^meric Lablaehe; tenors, MM. Campanini and Unncio; 
basses, MM. Galasai, Del Poeiite, David, and perhaps, Beh. 
rens, and Signor Arditi as conductor. The company will 
probably be added to before it sails eariy next month, llie 
chief operss to be performed will be '< Lohengrin,** " Talis- 
mano," and " Alda," the bat with duplicates of the scenery 
and costumes devised for Her M^|esty's Tlieatre by Signor 
Magnani. 

Tub performances of the Max Strskosch Italian Opera 
troupe for the season of 1879-80 wiU begin on Monday, 
October 6, at the Academy of Music, Philadelphu, with 
Mme. Theresa Singer, Miles. Bianca Labhuiche and Marie 
Latta, as sopranos; Mile. Amia de Befooea, contralto; Sig- 
nori KIcardo, Petrovlteh, Boldansa, and Laixarini, tenon; 
SIgnori Enrico Stocti and Gottschalk, baritones; and Slg- 
nori Castlemary and Cari Formca, bassos. Engagemenu 
have also been made with Miss Lancaster, Mr. W. H. TUk, 
Signor Strini, and SIgnorina Aroona. The conductors are 
to be Mr. S. Behrens and Signor de Novellis. Of the for- 
mer company Miss Kellogg remains in Europe, Mr. Cooby 
johis Mr. Cari Uosa, and Signor Pantaleoni, Mr. Mapleson. 



CiMCUCKATi The foil term of the College of Musle, 

Theodore lliomas. Musical Director, with a Faculty of some 
thirty teachers, begins October 14. Dining the season of 
1879-80, there wiUhe eight Symphony Concerts, eight pub- 
lic rehearsals of the same, and six Chamber Concerts by 
the String Quartette of the CoUege. ll|e programmes of 
the Symphony Concerts, so for as j-et complied, are as fol- 
lows: — 

Firtt Conctrt, Nov. 6, 1879. 
Symphony, No. 1, B-flat, Op. 88 .... S^umntm. 

Recitative and Aria, " Faust " 8pohr. 

Triple Concerto, Op. 66 Betthovem. 

(For Pianoforte, Violin, YiobnceUo, and Orchestra ) 

Vocal Number, '» Siegfried " Wagner, 

Kayser Manch Wojftter, 

(Orebestia and Chorus.) 

Second Qmcert, Dec. 4, 1879. 
Ode, u St. CecUia*s Day ** . . . . . HamUL 

(Sofoists, Chorus, Orchestra, and Organ.) 
Symphony, No. 5, C minor, Op. (57 ... . Beethoven, 

Third Concert^ Dec 25, 1879. 

Oratorio, "Messiah'' Handel, 

(Soloists, (Chorus, Orchestra, and Organ.) 

Fomrih Concert, Jan, 8, 1880. 
Seoond Sym^iony, D roijor. Op. 73 ... . Brahmt. 

(With other works.) 

Fifth Concert, Feb, 6, 1880. 

Symphony, £-flat Motart. 

(With other works.) 

Sixth Concert, March 4, 1880. 

^^*^ ]«(5ods Time is the Best" f ^***" 

(Sohiists, Chorus, Orchestra, and Or^Uk.) 
Symphony, No. 4, B-flat, Op. 60 ... . Beeikooen, 
Choruses, " Meistersinger von Niimberg ** . . Wagner. 

Seventh Concert, March 25, 1880. 

Overture, " Anacreon " Cherubini. 

Aria 

Symphony (Concertante) MomrL 

(For Violin, Viohs and Orchestra.) 

Aria 

Symphony, No. 3, **Im WaUe** ('«In the 

Woods*'), Op. 153 Baf. 

Eighth Concert, Apr'^ 8, 1880. 

Symphony Haydn, 

Scenes torn » Alceste " Ghiek. 

(Solos, Chorus, and Orchestra.) 
Symphony, ** Landliche Hochzeit '*.... Goldmark, 

m 

The cathedral at Baltimore has abandoned the exdurive 
use of the Gr^orian music, and will at once return to the 
modem style. The music of Gregory and Palestrina has 
formed the entire repertory of the choir for two .yean, the 
kts Archbishop Bailey having xlevoted especial attention, to 
its culture. 



OCTOBBR 11, 1879.] 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



161 



BOSTON, OCTOBER 11, 1S79. 

JBntered •% th« Poit OIBm »t Boston as Moond-elius matter. 

CONTENTS. 
Tn Itemonim or PiABo-Fosn Mutio, pmm Back *o 

SoHOMAmr. from the 0«nnan of Oart Tan Bntgek . . 161 
BixniuciiraH or thb Bieiiiiioham Fmhtal (1879). " The 

Ljre and the Harp." D. T. 162 

MoiiOAL Guma or HAmvAaD : Thi Pmuii Sodalst. from 

the Harfacd Book, 1875. Bemiiikeeoeee of ao Bz-Pleriaa. 

a. J. 168 

MAnnr Lmen as a Musioiam . 164 

Taikb oh An: Sicohd Siuu. From Inetmetlonsof Mr. 

WlUka M. Hunt to his PvpUs. XIV. 164 

FAsnoir n Mnsio. W,F.A 166 

CoMOim 166 

Bedpath Boston LyoAum. — Mendslssohii Qnlntotto 
aab.— irellselsj Gollsge. 

TbB WOBOaSTEB TSSTITAL 166 

Musical Imiuiaiiroi .... 168 



Att tJu ariidSM iMl eratfilstf to other j^ublieaiiMU wert txpntdjf 
writUnfir tku Journal, 

PtMUkod fomugkaif bjf HoranoH, Osaoo» Ain Oompaitt, 
220 DtvonsUn Stnet^ BoMtom. Friu, 10 eomtt a nmmbor ; $2JfO 
fMryaor. 

For $oU <» BmImk 6ff Oabi PmnE, 30 W**t Stmt, A. Wol- 
lAMt A Co., 2S3 WuhiHgton Streot, A. K. Loeiho, 309 WeuAr 
mgtom Stnetf and bjf tJu F»Mi$kgrsf in New York bf A. Baiv- 
TAW>, Jm., 39 Umion Stptarg, mnd Hooomoir, OsoooD A Co., 
21 Astor Plaet; m Philadelphia fry W. H. Boma A Co., 1102 
Ck«*tnmt Str§tt; in Chicago bf tho CnoAoo Music Cokpaxt, 
612 StaU Strut. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FBOM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

VBOM THS GERMAN OF CARL VAN BRUTCX. 

(Coatfnaed from page 166.) 

Among the piano-forte Sonata oomposeiB of 
this period, next to Beethoven the most note- 
worthy and influential were Hummel, Cramer, 
and Field. These were no ^ geniuses ^ in 
comparison with him, but they had very great 
talents, each provided with his own peculiar 
excellences. The firdt named would s&m to 
be the most important of the three ; but at 
the same time, through his fondness for ex- 
ternals, for effect, through the introduction of 
a certain modem rococo into the art, through 
tbe preponderance of elegant and tasteful 
phrases in his works, with all the great re- 
spect in which he was justly held, he con- 
tributed much to the corruption into which 
the art soon fell after the death of Beetho- 
ven, and which may be generally designated 
as the reign of virtuosity. Hummel himself 
was a much admired virtuoso, and his works, 
with all their wealth of musical substance, 
with all the clever, sterling quality of the 
work (albeit frequently somewhat prolix iu 
form), are for the most part planned too pur- 
posely, too obviously for bringing out the tech- 
nical facility of the player, to allow one to 
find a wholly pure artistic pleasure in them. 
This is the case even with those works 
which have remained most in vogue to this 
day, — the great Septet in D-minor, and the 
two great and still favorite Concertos in A 
and B-minor. It limits, also, the artistic ef- 
fect of a work otherwise grandly laid out, 
like the Sonata in F-sharp minor. On the 
contrary, perhaps the least obfuscated by this 
esthetic shadow (which, perhaps, plays over 
it from ethical regions) is the very beautiful 
four-hand Sonata in A-flat, which is laid out 
almost in the noble contours of a Grecian 
temple. Nevertheless the above-named gen- 
ial and tasteful works, to which I might also 
add the solo Sonatas in D (with a very orig- 
inal scherzo and a splendidly wrought finale), 
in £-flat and F-minor, the Fantasia in E-flat 



major, and the Trios in £ and £-fiat major, 
maintain their artistic worth to-day, and are 
not to be underrated. Hummel might almost 
be called our musical Wieland, with whom he 
(as court capellmeister in Weimar) breathed 
the same breath of life. Hummel has also 
done good service in the composition of a pi- 
ano-forte school, which, like Qementi's " Gra- 
dus ad Famassum," is still much used for the 
basis of instruction. 

Cramer, likewise, has furnished a series of 
studies (^Ettides), the first parts of which hap- 
pily combine a certain musical value with the 
technically pedagogic aim, which is less the 
case with the later parts. In the regard 
of the present piano-playing generation he 
lives almost solely through these studies, and 
it is now scarcely known or thought of any 
account that we have a whole series of Con- 
certos by this very gifted author. Some of 
these 1 am inclined to consider not only equal 
to those by Hummel, but in many respects 
superior, although in them, as seems almost 
unavoidable in this art form, considering its 
practical destination, there is too luxurious 
an overgrowth of phrases ; but such passage 
work with him seems to be more inspired 
than it is apt to be iu Hummers works. 
Beethoven's genius alone could steer clear of 
this rock almost entirely. We also possess 
some very precious sonatas and smaller piano 
compositions by Cramer, which are about as 
little, known, and which occasionally strike a 
tone that might almost remind one of Schu- 
mann. If the practice were as common in 
musical as it is in poetical literature, a new 
edition of this author's works would seem 
very welcome ; but only with careful selec- 
tion, since among his later works, in which 
he more and more subserved fashion and the 
love of money, even more than with Cle- 
menti, we find much that is weak and even 
uuenjoyable, hastily written off in self satis- 
fied vanity, or only from mere outward mo- 
tives. 

Finally, John Field, who had the most in- 
fiuence on his contemporaries as an executive 
virtuoso, shares the same fate with Cramer, 
in so far as his name appears now almost ex- 
clusively in connection with the daiuty (so- 
called) Nocturnes, which he is said to have 
played so incomparably him:«elf, and which 
alone have reached a new edition. But 
partly, no doubt owing to the overwhelming 
impression left by Beethoven's creations, no 
one any longer speaks of his incomparably 
more important, and in some instances even 
genial Sonatas ; and so, too, .a brilliant work 
like his £-major Concerto, which delighted 
Schumann (and my humble self likewise), 
seems to be pretty much forgotten. 

And what I have here remarked of Field 
may also be said of another contemporary 
composer, Tomaschek, in whose Sonatas one 
willing to examine them would find many 
a precious little treasure, as well as in many 
of his very numerous smaller compositions 
(£clogues. Rhapsodies, etc.), of which only 
a very small part (and as it seems to me 
not altogether the most valuable part) has 
sustained itself above high water-mark, after 
the deluge in which immeasurably the greater 
portion even of what is best in musical lit- 
erature sinks after a certain time. 

Of still higher endowment than those just 



named was C M. von Weber, although more 
so on another field, the Opera, in which h» 
actually made an epoch, while as an instru- 
mental composer he occupies no equally prom- 
inent position. But his Piano Sonatas, al- 
though they do not bear the classical Beet- 
hoven stamp, are extremely genial, fascinating, 
lovely compositions, in which there pulsates 
the same fiery spirit that pervaded tiie com- 
poser of the Freyschiltz, Oberon, and Bury- 
anthe. His genial littie tone-poem, ''The 
Invitation to tiie Dance," has remained to this 
day a favorite piece of the piano-playing 
world, and gives, as well as the Sonatas, con- 
siderable scope for the modem ** bravura," so 
that an over- varnished arrangement of it, like 
that by Tausig, seems superfluous, and even 
to be deprecated. 

And still another genius was vouchsafed to 
the world at this epoch, just on the boundary 
line between two centuries, a not less aston- 
ishing phenomenon in his way than a Sebas- 
tian Bach, in original musical genius fully 
equal to him, although this genius developed 
itself in a wholly different direction. In the 
great forms of instrumental music he did not . 
reach the pure perfection of art, which makes 
his great predecessors the types and models 
in this kind of art, but yet he shone a won- 
derfully resplendent ' meteor. I speak of 
Franz Schubert, the beloved, in his way in- 
comparable tone-poet, the only one of the im- 
mortals who had his physical birthplace in 
Vienna itself, where they have erected a mon- 
ument to him flrst of all, on a spot which 
could not have been more happily chosen. 
For his creations seem like a blooming garden 
full of the most multifarious and odoriferous 
growth ; and now in such a garden this god 
of songs in effigy is throned, surrounded by 
Flora's charming children, and amid the cheer- 
ful song of birds. If in Beethoven we have, 
as Billow said, the *' incarnate god of music," 
so Schubert may be called our '' god of songs," 
Apollo by the side of Jupiter. In fact, when 
we survey the abundant products of his in- 
exhaustible creative power within so short a 
span of life, the highest, purest praise must 
on the whole be always given to his song 
creations ; for on this field he seems peculiarly 
to have paved the way, and to have outstripped 
all competition, even of the greatest of his 
successors, Robert Schumann.^ 

Schubert's imagination was so immeasu- 
rably rich (not one of our tone-heroes has 
possessed a richer), that it could not live out 
iu life in so narrow a bed, comparatively, as 
song composition offers, but reached out after 
all the forms of art which he found in prac- 
tice around him. 

But here I must limit myself to a few 
words about Schubert's piano-forte composi- 
tions. They are so numerous and so valua- 
ble, that they would suffice almost of them- 
selves alone, to earn for their author (who, it 
must be remembered, hardly survived the pe- 
riod of youth) the reputation of a strong pro- 
ductivity and to secure for him a brilliant 
place in the literature of art, — although 
they almost vanish in the immeasurable, ahd 
for those brief ten years hardly conceivable 
mass of his productions. Among them I will 
only specify the ten Piano solo Sonatas, the 
Fantasia in C, the two Trios in £-flat and 
1 Not a word of Rob«t Fnms! — Bd. 



162 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 1004 



B-flat; and among the four-band pieces the 
*i Lehenssturme," the Divertissement Hon- 
groise, the Marches and Dances, and of his 
smaller tone-pictures the Impromptus and 
^ Moments Musicales." Almost without ex- 
ception we meet in nearly all these works the 
deepest, tenderest feeling, and ^gi exceedingly 
rich, luxuriant fancy, — a fancy whose exu- 
berance the young tone-poet had hard work 
to confine within those moderate bounds which 
the laws of musical form, not the merely con- 
ventional ones, require, to awaken in us the 
impression of that rounded and complete ar- 
tistic unity which dwells in the works of 
Beethoven, particularly those of his middle 
period, in so incomparable a manner, with all 
their richness of ideas, and all their splendor 
and their breadth of structure. Most masterly, 
therefore, because least obscured by such ses- 
thetic faults, does Schubert appear in the small- 
er pictures above named, and in his more rhap- 
sodical compositions, like the Divertissement 
Hotigraise, in which last work especially the 
melodic and rhythmical charm that dwells iu 
the Paszta strains is carried to a more ar- 
tistically genial, brilliant, and sonorous pitch 
than in any other work of the kind, — for 
even Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, brilliant 
as they are on the side of technique and high 
coloring, are not to be compared with it. 

But Marches and Dances (I mean the 
** German Dances " and the ** Valses nobles ") 
of such genial invention, and so all alive with 
the essential rhythmical significance of these 
forms, are not elsewhere found in the whole 
literature of music, or at least not too many 
such. The above named Fantasia in C 
(a product of his earlier youth), which Liszt 
adapted to the orchestra, appears as a proto- 
type for that boisterous impetuosity of this 
bigl^lj genial spirit, which often hurried him 
away through labyrinthine aberrations and to 
actual monstrosities. But the hi<;h worth 
and charm of the Sonatas and the two Trios 
rests, on the whole, more upon the beauty of 
single parts, the flow of melody, which streams 
through them, and the wonderful (esi>ecial]y 
harmonic) derails of the working out, than 
on the t* composition " as such, in whose luxu- 
riant loose stratification we miss the firm, con- 
pact power of form. I might, as I have called 
Hummel our musical Wieland, and Beethoven 
our musical Shakespeare, call Schubert our 
musical Walter Scott. In these two geniuses 
we remark a similar almost unlimited fullness 
of imaginative force, coupled with nearly the 
same incapacity of severe concentration. The 
productions of both are characterized by that 
spring-like, blooming freshness of youth, 
through which the poet and the musician (for 
a long time at least !) have been the admira- 
tion and delight of youth. 

(To be eontinusd.) 



[Vrom Om London Mnrieal World.] 

REMINISCENCES OF THE BIRMINGHAM 
FESTIVAL (1879). 



(( 



THE LYRE AND THE HARP. 



n 



'The Lyre and the Harp certainly ranks among 
M. Saint-Saens' best works, and, being also his 
latest, encourages hope of its composer. Hardly 
could the result have been otherwise, assuming 
the musician's susceptibility to a poetic theme 
of unusual beauty. Readers of Victor Hugo re- 



quire no exposition of his charming poem '' La 
Lyre et la Harpe," but it is needful, for the sake 
of those unfamiliar with the illustrious author, to 
explain his argument somewhat in detail. The 
main idea of the work — that of opposite influ- 
ences contending for the possession of a human 
soul — has appeared in many forms and been il- 
lustrated by every art. Poet, painter, and musi- 
cian have dealt with it in one or other of its 
Protean shapes, but that chosen by Victor Hugo 
is certainly the most beautiful of all. He sup- 
poses a gifted youth, himself a poet, lying pas- 
sive between the genius of Paganism on the one 
hand and the genius of Christianity on the other, 
the first typified by a lyre, the second by a harp. 
The lyre begins in voluptuous strains. ** Sleep 
and rest," it says, " the Muses have crowned 
thee." But the harp interposes with a different 
strain : " Awake, child of misery, dreams are 
misleading thee. At thy door a suffering brother 
calls for help." Then the lyre : " A radiant 
name and immortal memory belong to thee. 
Fear not the malevolent deities. They are 
harmless, for the poets created them." And then 
the harp : '* Remember that in sorrow thy mother 
bore thee, and that God hath traced thy path to 
the tomb." " Come away from the busy world," 
once more urges the opposing voice. " Jupiter 
reigns, so rest thee amid the flowers and in cool- 
est shades." Sternly responds the harp : <* Go 
forth into the wicked world and tell them of an 
angry Judge ; lift up thy voice above the city's 
roar." " See," cries the lyre again, " how Jove's 
eagle flies through the air upon the lightnings, 
lord of life and death ! " But the harp points to 
the Christian Dove, and when the lyre, iii se- 
ductive accents, sings, ** Give thyself up to love ; 
follow thy every desire," exclaims, " Cleave thou 
to one pure heart, and be ye both on earth as 
angels exiled from heaven." Yet again the lyre : 
" The river of life flows onward to great dark- 
ness. Float, then, gayly on its surface ; *' but 
the harp answers, ** Weep with those who weep, 
sustain thy brother in affliction, and keep the 
end in view." All this the poet hears, and, wak- 
ing from his lethargy, answers, though in trem- 
bling accents, to the echoes of the Pagan strain 
with a hymn of CarmeL A theme more sugges- 
tive in character or more exalted in its poetic 
beauty than this composer never chose, while 
never did musician find words that craved for 
union with his art more ardently than the sono- 
rous verSe of Victor Hugo. 

In setting the original poem to music the 
course of M. Saint-Saens was clear. First of 
all, he had the easy task of broadly distinguish- 
ing between the musical representation of the 
opposing forces, just as in Tannhduser it was a 
facile thing for Wagner to place the sensuous 
strains of the Venusberg against the gravity of 
the Pilgrims' Hymn. Hence we have throughout 
an impressive contrast ; the serious tones of the 
organ representing the Christian influence, and a 
wild, flinciful passage for the orchestra — tremu- 
lous strings, with ** excursions " for the wind ob- 
viously bonx)wed from Wagner — doing service 
for the contrary force. I cannot, however, wholly 
approve the choice which M. Saint-Saens has 
made of representative themes, and I contrast 
them very unfavorably with those which Men- 
delssohn would have adopted under the same 
circumstances. Both, as a matter of course, are 
displayed in the prelude, that for the organ be- 
ing an unaccompanied melody in E-flat minor, 
subsequently used for the first utterances of the 
harp, *' Eveille-toi, jeune homme, enfant dc la 
mis^re." In this there is no special character, 
and it resembles most of the other themes as re- 
gards a want of tuneful charm. The Pagan mo- 
tive, besides being a plagiarism from Tannhduser, 
misrepresents the spirit of the faith with which 



it is here associated. Paganism was not all 
lewdness and riot, and the forms of it most likely 
to seduce a son of Apollo would be musically 
represented in fuller perfection by the chaste 
and graceful strains of the religious choruses in 
Gluck's classical operas, or tl^ more serious parts 
of Mendelssohn's ^n%on« and (Edipus. Among 
the many sins which Wagner has to answer for 
is his characteristic representation of the atmos- 
phere surrounding the Pagan deities. They were 
not in all things perfect, I admit, but, at the 
same time, the gods whom the mighty sages of 
the elder world revered are symbolized better by 
the Doric simplicity of Gluck than by the vo- 
luptuousness of his successor. It may be added 
that, when the Christian theme is repeated in 
the prelude, M. Saint-Saens awards it contra- 
puntal treatment, and so far a more complete 
vraisemblance is secured ; but the counterpoint 
here, as elsewhere in the work, excites no very 
profound admiration. Indeed, it is of an ele- 
mentary character, and could not possibly have 
been introduced for its own sake, though for the 
siake of what else the keenest eyes fail to discern. 
The opening chorus, '* Fils d'Apollon," is by no 
means without beauty, although the instrumental 
introduction presents, for no apparent reason, 
the following dislocating sequence : G major, F 
minor, E-flat, A-flat ipinor, G-flat major, then 
by enharmonic change F-sharp major, and so on 
to the dominant of E-flat, in which key the voices 
enter. Why M. Saint-Saens should thus make 
a round of visits on a lot of keys before deciding 
with which to dwell, is one of the mysteries that 
" higher development " so plentifully ofi*ers to a 
puzzled world. But when the voices enter there 
is a good deal to admire, the parts moving in 
simple massive harmony, and the accompaniment 
having appropriate significance without obtrusive- 
ness. The first utterances of the harp, ** Eveille- 
toi," set as a short solo, reproduces the contra- 
puntal treatment of the Christian theme, and 
may be dismissed without further remark ; but 
not so the succeeding chorus of the lyre, " Ton 
jeune ft^e est cher k la gloire." Passing over 
some rudimentary counterpoint, which any half- 
educated student would recognize as on his own 
level, it must be said this number is wortliy of 
the classic faith. Its music may be poor, its 
character, at all events, is appropriate. The 
next number, " Homme, une femme fut ta m^re," 
is allotted to contralto and bass soli, and made 
remarkable by a very curious alternation of an 
arpegfjfio chord of the sixth on B natural, with 
the dominant seventh chord of the key (E-flat). 
In other respects it calls for little notice, the 
voice parts being singularly uninteresting. This, 
however, is one of the dkses in which a mere 
trick, more curious than beautiful, serves the in- 
genious composer when he finds a resort to 
trickery useful. In the next number for soli 
and chorus, " Chante, Jupiter r%gne," the lyre 
becomes more impassioned, bringing forward its 
representative theme, and fluttering the orchestra 
with rapid and suggestive passages. Here, 
again, M. Saint-Saens is good enough to become 
contrapuntal, and when the bass voices announce 
a well-marked theme in C-sharp minor, '* IjCS 
immortels du couchant k I'aurore," confiding 
listeners expect a set fugue, but the facetious 
author of the Danse Maccahre loves a sly joke as 
well as the open laughableness of skeleton antics, 
and the anticipated fugue, secundem artem, dies 
away, or, better, is swallowed up in an expansion 
of the movement with which the fugue has noth- 
ing to do. Of this it is only requisite to say, 
that a two-part episode, ** Venus embrasse Mars," 
is Wagner in pinchbeck, pretty enough in its 
way, but very shallow. Let me add that the 
key is D major, and that the last few bars are 
taken up by tonic, and heard in alternation with 



OCTOBBB 11, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



163 



the second inversion of the chonl of C-oharp 
major. Why, in the name of all that is shock- 
ing, why? The harp speaks next through a 
tenor solo and chorus, '* O Dieu par qui tout 
for fait s'expie." Hero M. Saint-Saens appears 
to more advantage. The theme of the solo is a 
real tunc, and the accompaniments musicianly, 
while the brief chorus has a breadth of style 
which commands instant approval. How our 
composer treats the reference to Jove's eagle 
may be imagined. There is strength in his set- 
ting of the lines upon the Christian dove, marred 
though it be by an absurd effort to imitate through 
a flute the cooing of the innocent bird. Why did 
not M. Saint-Saens represent the scream of the 
eagle also, as Mendelssohn certainly has done in 
his " Scotch " Symphony ? Neglect of this may 
well be resented by the royal bird. The next 
number, devoted to Pagan love and arranged 
for soprano, contralto, and chorus of female 
voices, is altogether charming, though simplicity 
itself in point of construction, the voices moving 
for the most part in thirds and sixths. Nothing 
could better suit the subject, or so conclusively 
prove that the highest results in music are inde- 
pendent of elaborate means and phrenetic effort ; 
but the next number for contralto and tenor soli, 
^ L' Amour divin," is perhaps even more beauti- 
ful, the charm lying in the orchestra rather than 
with tlie voices. True, M. Saint-Saens here re- 
peats himself a good deal, but not in excess of 
what his subject will bear. The principal or- 
'cbestral phrase runs tli rough the entire piece, 
while combined with it at intervals is anothei of 
the most graceful and pleasing character. 

Tliis, beyond question, is true music, spontane- 
ous and pure, like the waters that well up from 
a mountain spring, and its flrst audience were 
more than justified in bestowing warm applause. 
Yet another good number is the flag baritone 
solo, '* Jouis, c'est au fleuve des ombres," an ap- 
propriately careless, not to say reckless, strain, 
conceived in the spirit of <* Let us eat and drink, 
for to-morrow we die." Violently contrasting 
with it comes the solemn quartet, " Soutiens ton 
fr^re qui chancelle," the last and victorious ap- 
peal of the harp to the young poet whom it would 
conquer to the side of truth. A certain severity 
marks this concerted piece, as though the com- 
poser sought to show that, when the balance is 
trembling, Christianity can afford to be most ex- 
acting. From it we pass to the finale^ where 
the threads of the argument are, so to speak, 
gathered up, and the triumph of the purer faith 
is confirmed in solemn strains. Now to sum up. 
The value of M. Saint-Saens* work does not lie 
in the texture and quality of his music, which is 
often flimsy, albeit hiding its flimsiness under the 
cloak of a free and, to some extent, novel style. 
But The Lyre and the Harp will command atten- 
tion because it is essentially poetic — seeking 
first of all to offer music fitted to the words, and 
leaving the rest to fiite. The music of this can- 
tata is not the result of a desire to win popular 
applause at any cost, otherwise it would have 
been much more full than it is of cheap claptrap. 
M. Saint-Saens has honestly striven to treat his 
theme as an artist should who is conscious of the 
dignity of his work, and, though the result be not 
great, the obvious intention should secure sub- 
stantial reward. D. T. 



Amrkican girls and young men who may think of coming 
to Italy to study siiiginiif may feel interested to know that 
before very long there will be a musical academy in Pesaro 
which will beat Milan and Bologna out of the field. Ros- 
sini left all his fortune for this; his widow did the same. 
The academy will have 1(H),000 francs a year with which to 
pay its professors. Moreover, all the copyrights of the illus- 
trious master bdmig to the academy, and msn are several 
works which have not yet been mbUshed. — Fhiladeb^ia 
ButUtUu 



MUSICAL CLUBS OF HARVARD : THE 
PIERIAN SODALITY. 

FROM THE HARVARD BOOK, 1875. 

(Concladsd firom page 167.) 

REMIKISCBNCB8 OF AK BX-PIBRIAN. 

But the Pierians, either from lack of numbers 
or of proficiency, were not always equal to the 
task. The annual losses were at times repaired 
with difficulty. Thus, in 1882, at the beginning 
of the college year, on reentering the rehearsal- 
room, they could count but three names on their 
roll. "Present, G , P , R , sopho- 
mores, who are the only members at present com- 
posing the Sodality." In July, 1883, it was " voted 
that as the Sodality cannot be always fully sus- 
tained by the undergraduates alone, members of 
the Law and Divinity Schools may belong to it.*' 
But, two months later, they receded from this, find- 
ing their ranks once more fulL So at another time 
allusion is found to " the precious trio, the scanty 
remains of the once renowned," etc. Worse than 
this was their state when reduced to a single act- 
ive member, as was the case when Mr. G ' 

held the meetings regularly alone, not forgetting, 
it is said, to put up die advertising-board for his 
own sole notification each week ; callinsr himself 
to order, and proceeding conscientiously with his 
solitary rehearsal, practicing upon his flute his 
accustomed part till the hour of duty was com- 
plete, and so striving, not in vain, to keep the sa- 
cred flame alive. 

And mark what wise forethought was taken, 
in June, 1839, for the situation of the one mem- 
ber about to be lefl behind by his fellows, who 
were all of the senior class, then on the very eve 
of graduating : " It being announced that there 
were some funds in the treasury, and that it was 
expedient for the present members to use them 
and not bequeath them to our forlorn successor to 
squander in solitary riot." 

When their fortunes were at so low an ebb as 
this, and to furnish the music at Exhibition was 
impossible, a half-dozen band-men from the city 
were sometimes posted in that favorite perch. 
October 16, 1832, there were to be seen looking 
down on the astonished spectators " six strange 
and bearded faces, the owners of which were clad 
in the uniform of the Boston Brigade Band." "It 
is said," wrote the secretary, " that President 
Quincy is obliged to pay them from his own pock- 
et, the Faculty refusing to do it on account of 
the enormous expense." He is generous, the sec- 
retary, in his estimate of the playing of the six 
stranger professionals, and admits that <* the mu- 
sic, although not performed by the Pierians, was 
attractive and beautiful." 

Sometimes the organ 'alone was depended 
upon ; once, as it is related, with so unexpected 
a result as to give to a stranger, then attending a 
Cambridge Exhibition for the first time, the im- 
pression that the music proceeded, not from the 
real instrument which he observed standing in the 
lofl, but from a hand-oi^an, which, to his great 
surprise, he fancied had been carried up there and 
used in its stead. 

One extraordinary occasion on which the serv- 
ices of the Pierians were called into requisition 
is perhaps worth mention for the novel excuse in 
connection with it which one of the members vent- 
ured to offer for non-attendance at a recitation. 
Towards the close of the senior year, when the 
time had arrived for the distribution of Commence- 
ment parts, and those selected for honors had been 
notified to attend at the President's study, it was 
proposed that the class go in procession with the 
Sodality for musical escort. Accordingly, the 
"Navy Club" (Qu. ignavi),^oi which all not 
included in the President's call were members, as 
it were, ex officio^ — forming in advance, the 
class, preceded by the band, moved, two by two, 



from in front of Holworthy through the yard» 
passing out by the great gate near Massachusetts, 
and over the sidewalk till it halted onder the 
President's windows, having by this time attracted 
a considerable concourse of the curious townspeo- 
ple. At the moment of passing Massachusetts 
one of the Sodality, a Junior, who had not been 
apprised of the movement, had descended from 
his room, book in hand, on his way to recitation. 
Hailed by his brother musicians and inquiring 
the meaning of the unexpected call to duty, he 
ran back into the building, dropped his book to 
snatch up his flute, and hurrying down took his 
place in the ranks. The sound of the advanc- 
ing instruments — four flutes, a clarinet, a vio- 
lin, and trombone, emphabized by a tambourine 
beaten by a volunteer — penetrated to the Pres- 
ident's sanctum. As they wore approaching, it 
is related that the President, puzzled at the un- 
usual character of this demonstration, and some- 
what apprehensive lest it might imply insubordi- 
nation, sent down a messenger to observe the tem- 
per of the students, who was enabled speedily to 
bring back report that no signs of disaffection were 
manifest. And the column, the purpose of the 
march being accomplished, returned to the start- 
ing-point, where, after the customary call and 
cheering of names, the class dispersed. When 
the Junior had occasion to present afterwards 
his excuse for absenting himself from the recita- 
tion, with a show of ingenuousness he proceeded 
to justify himself as having yielded only to an 
instantaneous impulse to render his assbtance 
with his comrades in carrying out the time-hon- 
ored custom — " Time-honored custom .! " inter- 
rupted in his emphatic manner the astonished 
President, who, with all his advantage of years, 
had never before heard of the like foolery. 

The Sodality was by no means made up al- 
ways of men of inferior rank in their class : so 
it was not strange if some one of them should now 
and then be called to the honor of performing a 
double part on Exhibition Day. To pay in such 
a case a passing compliment to his fellows who 
were watching him from overhead would be but 
natural. By chanpe, having been led to repeat 
from recollection a passage of this description 
from his oration, a Pierian, thus distinguished, 
now a well-known city official of the place some- 
times called Charlesbrioge, consents to submit it, 
thus rescued from undeserved oblivion. He says, 
never having seen his manuscript since, he can 
recall one sentence only of it, which was fix<Hl in 
in his memory undoubtedly by its allusion to the 
musical portion of the exercises of the day. 

" Utinam amorem sciential hos omnes hodie in 
banc aulam attraxisse credere possem! Cum 
vero tot sodales in illis superioribus comtemplor, 
aut ad fores oculis errantibus stantes, fortasse so- 
dalitatis sermones suaves voci mess anteponentes, 
et banc orationem prselongam segre ferentes, qui 
tamen, me egrediente, has parietes magno plausu 
concutient, aliqua alia causa eos actos esse noo 
confiteri non possum." 

And what one of Sodales or Alumni who may 
read these felicitous periods, even admitting 
that the melodies descending from that elevation 
were more enchanting to the ear than the oratio 
in linffua Latino, will hesitate to declare the ap- 
plause well bestowed which followed him, modest 
scholar, orator, first flute, retiring, as he descended 
from the platform and hastened through the en- 
try to the organ-loft, with flowing robe still about 
him, " to add his flute part to the suaves sermones 
which were next in order " ? 

Nor, perhaps, will the orator object to the men- 
tion of Uie anecdote he related on repeating this 
passage, illustrative of the nice scholarship of that 
learned professor and punctilious gentleman, Dr. 
Beck, who, on revising the student's composition 
as prepared for delivery, finding the words he had 



164 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



I Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1004. 



made use of to expren tbe ** sweet strains *' of the 
Sodality not altogether the best adapted to con- 
vey the meaning intended , suggested these two 
as more suitable ; and so let that graceful phrase, 
iuaoes iermonu^ stand to denote the soft discours- 
ings of the Pierian Sodality of forty years ago. 

One might suppose that during the period al- 
luded to there must have been a remarkable 
dearth of musical talent. In a class of over sixty, 
six oonld play the flute. One other played the 
'cello. Four or five sang'; as many more, per- 
haps, could hum a tune correctly. An examina- 
tion of the list of names in the classes of the two 
previous years shows that out of them the Sodal- 
ity or Glee Club could have hardly enlisted a 
larger number. Eight or ten, therefore, may be 
judged to be about the average number of such 
as could in any way be called musical men in each 
class, say firom fifteen to twenty per cent, of the 
whole. 

The entire number of members of the Sodal- 
ity, drawn from all the classes, at about this pe- 
riod, say, for instance, in 1887, was ten or twelve. 
Such persons as gave evidence of suitable mu- 
sical attainments were chosen, in each success- 
ive year, to supply the vacancies left with every 
recurring Commencement Day. Juniors and 
Seniors in general made up the society, the quali- 
fications of the men in the lower classes not al- 
ways coming se early into notice, and the want 
of freedom of association between the more ad- 
vanced students and the Sophomore and Fresh- 
man having a tendency, it may be, to exclude 
them. 

Perhaps the most interesting portion of a sketch 
like this would be the list of tunes that were 
played. Pleasant it would be to read again the 
little slips of music-paper, to handle the forgotten 
books. A small number only of the airs can be 
recalled with certainty. The records most fre- 
quently give them by their number. For instance, 
October 17, 1839« they played at serenading ** 69, 
53, and 18 ; " then they moved on and played 
<< 18, 58, and 69 ; " and again, at the next place, 
« 58, 69, 18, and 81 ; "* and finally, '< 81, 69, 18, 
and 58.*' ^ But the copied part-s and the books 
are lost, and the lapse of years has quite effaced 
from the memory of at least one trio who blew 
flute and drew bow, as well as recited side by 
sid • in the same division throughout college life, 
all the meaning of these numerals, so that they 
are now no better than an unknown tongue. 
Some, however, are occasionally named in the 
records. ** O Nannie, wilt thou gang wi* me ? " 
is mentioned as arranged by Mr. Comer, together 
with" Spring-time of Year," in 1888 : which last, 
the secretary wrote, "went splendidly, and all 
were extremely well pleased with it. We played 
several other tunes in fine style, but the Spring- 
time seemed to be the universal favorite.'' Comer 
was also employed to arrange the " Popular £x- 
travaganza called Jim Crow." There were Roy's 
Wife, Einlock of Kinlock, most of the charming 
"Moore's Melodies," "Oft in the stilly night," 
" Come rest in this bosom," " Araby's Daughter," 
" The harp that once thro' Tara's halls," " My 
lodging is on the cold ground," a name which had 
not yet given place to " Believe me, if all those 
endearing young charms," still less been quite 
superseded, as it may now be said to be, by " Fair 
Harvard," to the first public singing of which at 
the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary 
in 1886, the undergraduates of that time may 
take some pride in saying they were among those 
who listened. 

Of the popular airs of the day, such as seemed 
most readily to lend themselves to adaptation for 
so scanty an orchestra. were selected firom time to 
time to be added to the small repertoire. In this 
way were contributed in the writer's time Zilii, 

^ Get. 5, 1840, *< 8«l«cted 144 for th« Facnlty to march in by.'' 



xUti, a waltz in C by Mozart, airs finom Caliph of 
Bagdad and from Le Dieu et la Bayadere, some* 
thing by Von Weber called the Witches' Dance, 
Celeste's Dance, and many others. It was even 
presumed to attempt to compress the Overture to 
Le Nozze di Figaro within those narrow limits. 
As for Strauss, it is odd to recall that his sun had 
scarcely yet risen in New Fngland. The Duke of 
Reichstadt's Waltz is remembered as a sunburst 
of beauty and brilliancy, after the old-fashioned 
" Buy a Broom," and Waltz from WiUiam TeU, 
which used to do duty in the slow-moving round 
dances. The Cracovienne and Cachucha in their 
turn came in a little later, with the Fanny Ells- 
ler furore. Among these favorite pieces was one 
which, mentioned in the records by the very in- 
definite title of Celebrated Air by Haydn, did not 
at once recur to recollection ; but litU^ effort of 
memory has brought back the following pleasing 
melody, which is appended as a most fitting con- 
elusion. Scattered Pierians of 188 -, do you hear 
the President's call ? — Expectatur musiea ! 
Andante, dolce. First flute Part. 8va, 




r m^F^ 




Fine. 




MARTIN LUTHER AS A MUSICIAN. 

Thb Revue et Gazette Musicale recently pub- 
lished two most interesting letters, the discovery 
of which is due to M. Edouard Fdtis. They 
were addressed by a musician named Jerome De 
Cockx to his " venerable master, Jean van Stie- 
gen, at Antwerp," and treat of Martin Luther, 
wjth whom, at Wittenberg, the Flemish traveler 
often conversed on musical topics. 

Cockx on first entering the house of the cele- 
brated reformer was rather astonished at perceiv- 
ing, among some diversely arranged pipes, a flute 
and a guitar. " Here," said Luther to his vis- 
itor, " are my two companions. When I am 
fatigued with writing, when my brain is dull, or 
tirhen the devil comes to annoy me with his 
pranks, I take my flute and play some caprice. 
My ideas are soon refreshed like newly-watered 
flowers,, the devil vanishes, and I return to my 
work with renewed vigor. Music is a divine 
revelation; it is the language of angels in 
heaven, and on the earth that of the prophets of 
old." 

" Luther drank the health of the musicians of 
our country," continues Cockx, " and especially 
that of the celebrated master, Josquin, of whom 
he formed this opinion : * Josquin governs notes 
whilst others are governed by them.' And he 
further says : ' I like not those who do not care 
for music, that celestial art by which one dissi- 
pates the inquietude and troubles of the heart. 
Singl sing often 1 All schoolmasters ought to 
be musicians, and each preacher should not 
mount the pulpit, until he has learnt to sol-fa.' " 

In his second letter, Cockx refers to an even- 



ing spent at an inn, the Aigle Noir, "which re- 
sembles our taverns in Antwerp." Luther was 
there surrounded by his disciples (some of whom 
had composed " a few canticles, which were not 
sung, and doubtless, never will be sung in our 
Catholic Flanders "), all drinking the native wine 
or beer. " The master drank the latter, and the 
name was given to it of * Pope-beer,' from his hav- 
ing said that he was a Fleming and a musician, 
and that every one showed their fiiendship for 
him and drank his health . . • Luther showed 
his honor for the musical art, for he said, ' Kings 
and princes ought to encourage music, for it is their 
duty to protect the liberal arts as well as the 
sciences. . . Music is a course of discipline and 
a schoolmistress ; it teaches us to be more amia- 
ble and sweet, more modest and intelligent. Bad 
musicians and bad singers contrast greatly with 
that which is the true art of music, and are to be 
held in the same relationship as dirt and rubbish 
have with cleanliness and parity. If we sing, 
the devil will have less power with us ; for, as 
I have already said, he likes disorder and trouble, 
and hates music, which is the symbol of harmo- 
nious order. Sing, then, with all your hearts 
and with your best voices, and join with me in 
singing Mensch wilUt du leben.' 

" All the disciples assembled around their mas- 
ter and blended their voices with his, singing 
the melody he had previously indicated to them. 
What beautiful singing! What splendid har- 
mony I Never had I listened to music with such 
pleasure as then. The tears came into my eyes, 
which the doctor perceiving, held out his hand 
to me, which I took, though it was that of a 
heretic. After the termination of the before- 
mentioned composition, Martin whbpered some- 
thing to those who were near him, and they then 
commenced another piece, which I knew firom 
the first notes to be a madrigal by Roland de 
Lattre. It was to please me that this work, 
written by a compatriot, was executed in my 
presence; and what a compatriot I One who 
was the prince of musicians of his time. When 
these gentlemen were finished, I gave them my 
best thanks for their courtesy, and also com- 
mended them for their fine voices, having rarely 
heard the like before, even among the vocalists 
of our cathedral." 

"... I know what opinions posterity will 
have of Martin Luther concerning his treatment 
of the Catholic Church, in which he was born 
and brought up, and which he afterwards de- 
serted, but I think and believe he will be known 
and long considered a great musician." • • . 



TALKS ON ART. — SECOND SEHIES.^ 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XIV. 

If you want a rule for painting, try to repre- 
sent the color at once, frankly and fully. If you 
can't do this,' put in every object in hfroUie of lo- 
cal icolor. If this seems right in any pbhce, put 
it in solidly. Make it suggest the color, and 
then paint it with a full brush. 

I like your little woman in brocade and satin. 
Ton could n't have done it if you had n't painted 
still-life, — especially mutton-chops 1 Two years' 
work on figures wocdd not have done it. 

So you used chrome yellow in that sunset .And 
it's true enough ; use chrome when you see chrome. 
You can't begin to get the vivid colw of nature 
at sunset 

After Indicating an eye or a mouth, try, with 
1 Conrright, 1879, bj Helen M. KdowUod. 



OOTOBKB 11, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



165 



a pen, to see how much you know of its form. If 
you get to making a picture by yalues, you must 
work the harder for form. 

Your figure has pretty moyement and expres- 
sion, but it lacks firmness, hardness. Too molU ! 
Tou are so afraid of hard lines 1 You need not 
make them thin and wiry. Make* them broad 
and full. In drawing a hand, make a firm, hard 
outliiie. Put a white paper behind, in order 
to see it. Bear on hard, and in time you will 
fetl the hand as if it were your own. You 11 feel 
it in your bones. 

Try it on something that you don't care for. 
Draw, persistently, an outline that is hard and se- 
vere. Shading up to it will lose all unnecessary 
hardness. 

You have put too much high-light business 
on that forehead. You saw the picture that the lit- 
tle fellow made in that position ; and, in order to 
keep it, you mnst make the face look as if painted 
with one sweep. Not leave it in pans. 

If yon think that a form is round draw it again 
and again, until you see the straight lines and an- 
gles, and all the forms that run into (hat form. A 
shoulder into an arm, for instance. 
(Sketch of a house.) The action of that house is 
good. Everything in the world has its action. 

Put five miles of atmosphere between yourself 
and the mountain, and do it with color ; not black. 

Have been reading Mrs. Merrifield's book, and 
it revives recollections of Europe. Everything in 
this country tends too much towards photographic 
effect, to niggling and surface-work. Why niggle 
over anything if you can arrive at a result im- 
mediately ? 

One picture, I remember, by Correggio, has 
an arm, life-size, painted from shoulder to wrist 
with one stroke of the brush; and ^fuU brush, 
of course. One leg, too, painted firom hip to an- 
kle in the same manner. 

In charcoal, and in paint, draw witn a fhU 
brush. Get effects by feeling ; and be careful not 
to destroy what you have thus obtained. 

If you wish to work on that head a second 
time, paint it in gray, keeping it lighter than it 
is to be when done. When fully dry, paint cool 
colors into a wMm JrouSe, Or you might try Bu- 
bens's method. 

There have been very few great painters : Ve- 
lasques, Untoretto, Paul Veronese. Titian almost 
became one. Beautiful color, but he had not 
the grandeur of the others. 

Michael Angelo was second only to the Al- 
mighty. ** A disappointed man ? " Pshaw I I 
know that, when he had his plaster all wet, and 
he was ready to put those designs on the Sistine 
ceiling, he was happy as no one else could be 
happy. The happiness of being almost a Creator. 

Look at the Madonna in his Adam touched 
by Jehovah I All other madonnas seem conscious 
by the side of this one. She is not even conscious 
of the Child, but looks far on, into the future. 

Michael Angelo's types are of the grandest. 
You see them now in Italy ; in women washing, 
or in the market-places. 



T^a London Figaro mj% : « Mr. Carl Bo«^ who htm 
itifted with Us proTineial«eon|Nuij for Dablin, hsa made • 
mrj importaDt eogagament for his London isason in the per- 
son of Hot Anton Sehott, fiiit tenorat the Imperial Opera 
of Hambnig, aod who aooompaoied Dr. Voa Biilow to Loo- 
doo this snmmer ^I mean this season. Herr Sehott will 
pbj bat two roles, those of Lohengrin and RieDsi, two parts 
for which his fine stage preeenoe aod his histrionic and vocal 
capabilities seem to be exactly adapted. Mr. Maas, Mr. Bo- 
sa*s other principal teoor, has been assigned the parts of 
Bhadamcs in AUa aod William hi m^non, in both of 
whieh he may be expected to show his high talents toVdTan- 
tags." 



^tDtgl^fjat 9|ournal of inuistc.. 

s 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1879. 

FASmON IN MUSIC. 

It might seem to a thinking person to-day 
as if many art-loving individuals had hecome 
so filled with respect for the iufluence which 
fashion exerts upon art as really to believe 
that fashion is well-nigh all-powerful in art 
matters. One can hardly venture to expati- 
ate upon the beauties of a work of art be- 
longing to a by-gone period, in the presence 
of some people, without being met with a 
depreciative shrug of the shoulders, and a 
^ Notts avons changi tout cela/* The work is 
after an obsolete fashion, and ergo obsolete 
of itself. If this sort of deduction is sound, 
one is tempted to believe in the utter fri- 
volity of art, a field where 'a Haydn can 
destroy a Bach, a Beethoven annihilate a 
Haydn, and a Brahms, o^ Raff, forever erase 
the footsteps of a Beethoven, jnst as trousers 
can rout knee-breeches, or crinolines be put to 
flight by gored skirts. But is it so ? Does 
the old fashion of a work of art, — say a com- 
position — make the composition itself old- 
fashioned and obsolete, as mere wearing ap- 
parel is after the second season ? If it is 
true, one can say truly that music, or any 
other art, is something fit for only cobblers 
and tailors to expend their energies upon, and 
that men of genius had better take to the ex- 
act sciences or political economy. No, it is 
not so; it is not true. The influence that 
the art-fashion of any given epoch in the 
world's history has upon the art of that 
epoch is strong indeed, but no stronger than 
the fashion of clothes has upon the man who 
wears them, if he be not a mere forked in- 
strument whose whole mission in life is to 
exhibit wearing apparel. We would not un- 
derrate the power of dress. To nine tenths 
of those he met John Sebastian Bach was 
but a mere perambulating wig, full-slcirted 
coat, knee-breeches and hose; a wholly re- 
spectable apparition, but capable of becoming 
hugely ridiculous in fifty years or so. Yet 
there was something under that wig and coat 
which would have been the same under any 
covering, and which wais beyond the power 
of tailors and barbers to modify. Just so 
with Bach's music; its external cut was 
according to the fashion of his day, a fashion 
now long since gone by, and probably never 
to be revived again ; but the true gist of it — 
^ das Genie, ich meine den Geist " — belonged 
little more especially to his time than to any 
other. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony cuuld 
no more touch a hair of the St. Matthew 
Passion (in an aggressive sense) than it could 
shunt our globe off from its track. It is one 
of the glories of art — perhaps its chief glory 
— that whenever a man does anything truly 
great in it, he does it for all time. A great 
composition is practically eternal, and the 
changes of fashion leave it unscathed. 

It is the poorest of poor arguments to say 
that if Falestrina only lived now he would 
write in a very different style from what he 
actually did. Of course he would ; there 
cannot be the faintest shadow of a doubt of 
it; it is equally indubitable that, if Homer 
lived to-day, he would wear trousers. It has 



nothing to do with the question. No one in 
his senses wishes Falestrina's or Bach's style 
to be revived now, even if such a thing were 
possible. That fashion — as a fashion — is 
dead as dead can be. But shall we forever 
lose the grandeur, beauty, and soul of Fales- 
trina's works merely because of their peculiar 
form ? We have but one choice left us ; 
we must accept either the form, or lose the 
works. 

Some persons may say, too thoughtlessly, 
that we can afford to lose the works ; that 
there is enough fine music in the world with- 
out them, and music written in a style more 
in accordance with the present prevailing 
taste. To this we can never agree. In the 
first place, the world can in no wise afford to 
lose anything that is truly great ; the human 
race has need of all its real achievements ; it 
cannot spare one of them. We are by nat- 
ure insatiable, and need all that we can get 
that is good, and must keep all that we al- 
ready have. 

In the next place, admitting, for the sake 
of argument, that more modern or the most 
modern music is intrinsically as fine, or even 
finer than that of a more remote period, there 
is one essential element in the older music 
that we look for in vain in the compositions 
of our own day. and which is so priceless that 
we can in no way afford to lose it ; the very 
fact that it is practically obsolete renders it 
only the more worthy of being jealously and 
carefully preserved. We mean the element 
of truly grand and spontaneous simplicity. 

This is no mere external, ^ fashionable " at- 
tribute ; it lies at the very heart of the old 
music. Nowadays no one can be trulff simple ; 
our life, our thought, our very faith are com- 
plex and involved. If an artist — most of all 
a musician — attempt simplicity to-day, it is 
either an affectation or an imitation ; it is 
not genuine ; it lacks the true ring ; its want 
of spontaneity is transparent as glass. And 
let us say here, by the way, that we greatly 
mistrust the truth of a very common criticism 
upon modem music, that it lacks spontaneity 
because it is involved, complex in purpose, 
and often bewildering. It seems to us, on 
the contrary, that men like Brahms, Wag- 
ner, Berlioz, Liszt, and others are, as a rule, 
spontaneous only when they are complex and 
involved. Complexity of thought is their nat- 
ural element, and in it they are more or less 
easily at home ; it is when they attempt the 
simple that they painfully labor, and become 
affected and mannered. But the straightfor- 
ward, unaffected simplicity of the old com- 
posers is something entirely by itself. Our 
complexity may be better and higher ; that is 
not the question ; the old simplicity is some- 
thing true and genuine, and, moreover, some- 
thing that is utterly inimitable, and not to be 
reproduced. And, be it said emphadoally, it 
is something that we absolutely need, were it 
only as a foil to ourselves. 

As it is wholesome for a man who can only 
doubt to look upon a man who honestly and 
wholly believes, and refresh his troubled mind 
with the assurance that belief of some sort 
is possible in this world ; so is it wholesome 
for us, whose thought and expression are nec- 
essarily complex, to be brought face to face 
with thought that is essentially simple and 
complete. It rests us, and gives us fresh 



166 



DWIOHTB JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 1004. 



strength fmd vigor. The true and beautiful 
are always inspiring. 

The composer to-daj who, after listening 
to a Palestrina Gloria^ only feels himself in- 
spired to write a piece of vocal counterpoint 
in one of the old church-modes, cannot have 
listened to much purpose, and his counter- 
point will be but a very uninspiring sham. 
But the wondrous, simple spirit of the grand 
old music, so sure of its own purpose, might 
well inspire him to try to express his own 
highest ideal in his own spontaneous way ; 
and whether he sets to work upon an opera 
finale or upon a symphonic poem, he will 
work with better heart and more fervid in- 
spiration for the hearing of iL 

Fashion is great and powerful, but works 
only surface deep. Tbe man whose heart it 
reaches has a shallow heart at best, and no 
one would wish to look up to him as a law- 
giver on anything - higher than etiquette or 
clothing. The man whose eye cannot pierce 
through fashion may be 8et down as morally 
purblind, and no safe guide. 

Yet let us say this : he who cannot, or will 
not, go beyond the fashions of his own day, 
has at least one grain of respectability; he 
is to a certain extent a man of the time, and 
reflects honestly much of the true spirit of 
the age he lives iq. But hfs hapless brother 
who willingly buries himself under the effete 
modes and fashions of a by-gone age, simply 
because they are old; who goes about like 
an aesthetic dustman, tediously collecting the 
shot rubbish of centuries, is a man of no age 
and no time, and reflects the spirit of noth- 
ing whatever. If a man must pin his faith 
to a fashion, let him at least take a living one 
that has not been worn threadbare. 

W. F. A. 



CONCERTS. 

Rrdpath Boston Lyceum. — The first con- 
cert of this popular course of concerts and lect- 
ures took place on Tuesday evening of this 
week. The Music Hall was full, the audience 
delighted with all they heard and saw, and the 
stage end of the hall was richly adorned with 
fiowers and evergreens. The'^programme, too, 
was printed with rare taste. It was a miscella- 
neous concert. There was a small orchestra 
(the Germania), which, under Carl Zerrahn's di- 
rection, accompanied the more important arias 
nicely and effectively, and played the overture to 
ZanettOf the quaint little Turkish march by Mi- 
chaelis, which was encored, and selections firom 
Gounod's FauMt, There were solos on the harp 
by Mme. Cbatterton Bohrer, who has brilliant, 
tasteful execution, and was well received. There 
was the inevitable comet solo also — in this 
instance a remarkably good one (** Grand Rus- 
sian Air " with variations), and remarkably well 
played, both in the expressive singing passages, 
which were given in a chaste, pure style, and in 
the fine precision of the rapid florid business. 

The rest was all vocal solos and duets. The 
chief star was Miss Marie Litta, of the Strakosch 
Italian Opera Company, who has a very pure and 
flexible soprano voice, of good power, and of a 
sweet and tender quality, and who sang Bellini's 
" Qui la voce " "in a highly satbfactory and 
charming manner. She was persistently recalled, 
and answered with a smaller piece. One such 
prima donna was enough, one would think, for 
any concert ; but there was another, of almost 
equal excellence, Mrs. Abbie B. Carrington, — 



her first appearance in America after studying in 
Italy. She, too, pleased decidedly by the sweet, 
true, flexible voice, and the graceful ease and 
fluency with which she sang the ^ Shadow Song " 
in Meyerbeer's Dinorah, and something requiring 
the same bright play of execution, which she 
gave for an encore. Another lady, set down as 
a tenor (!), Mile. Selvi, sang the ** Cantique de 
Noel," by Adam, in a voice certainly of excep- 
tional depth and fullness, and in even, simple 
style; she sang in English, and altogether, in 
spite of the Italian name, seemed like an English- 
woman. Signers Baldanza, who has a smooth, 
sweet tenor, and Papini, a large man, of the 
unctuous, free and easy buffo quality (both of 
them members of the Strakosch troupe), gave 
the Duet from Donizetti's Eluir cPAmore in a 
felicitous and artistic manner. 

We did not wait to get the answer to Miss 
Litta's conundrum : *' Why are Roses red ? " a 
song by Claude Melnotte, for nothing so fags out 
our listening faculties as a long, miscellaneous 
series of unconnected solo pieces. And so we 
lost Sig. Baldanza's Romanza fix>m Luisa Miller, 
'* Hear ye Israel," fipm Elijah, which we should 
like to hear Mrs. Carrington sing, Mme. Bohrer's 
second harp solo, the Duet from Dan PiuquaUy 
by Miss Litta and Mme. Selvi, and the Paugt 
selections. When the thick of the concert sea- 
son comes, such entertainments will have to be 
despatched more briefly, or noticed but occasion- 
ally. 

Mendelssohn Quintette Club. — A small 
roomful of musical people were invited last 
week to Chickering's warerooms, to hear a couple 
of string Quartets played by the club as newly 
organized ; the places of Messrs. Listemann and 
Hennig being now supplied by two young artists 
recently imported. Mr. Heimendal, from Han- 
over, a youthful looking man, of refined, intelli- 
gent and earnest mien, takes the first violin ; and 
Mr. Geise, a Hollander, the violoncello. Mr. 
Dannreuther still holds the second violin, so that 
the Quartet has a very youthful aspect, Mr. 
Ryan looking like the father of the three. The 
quartets selected were a well-known one by 
Haydn, in B-flat, and the third (in A) of the 
three by Schumann. Enough to say that it was 
some of the best quartet playing we have had in 
this city. The unity was remarkably perfect, each 
individual instrument duly loyal to the whole as 
one. The intonation of the new violinist is sin- 
gularly pure, his tone fine, and he phrases like a 
master. The 'Cellist has a very rich tone, and 
plays with great execution and with feeling. He 
also played as solos the Aria from Bach's Or- 
chestral Suite in D, and a Bach Sarabande and 
Gavotte to great acceptance. We hope we may 
hear the Quintette Club, in its rejuvenated con- 
dition, at some of the Euterpe Concerts during 
the season. 

Welleslet College. — Last Saturday the 
68th concert was given before the young ladies 
of this institution. The solo performer was Mr. 
E. B. Perry, the very accomplished pianist, who 
needs no allowance on the ground of blindness 
with which he has been afilicted from childhood. 
He interpreted the following selections : — 

Beethoven: Boudo, from Souata, Op. 63. 
SchamaoD : 

(a.) Att£Kbwung, Op. lS-2. 

(&.) Warum? Op. lS-8. 

(c) Tnumeewiireo, Op. 12-7. 
{d.) Nacbtrituck, Op. 23. 

(e.) Novellette, Op. 21-4, £ mi^. 
Hoiaelt: Song of the Gondolier, C^. 13-2. 
Von Billow : Intermezso, fkt»n ** Carnival of Milan." 
Perry : Nocturne, Op. 6. 
KuUak: U GazeUe, Pitee CharacteriaUque. 
Chopin: 

(a.) Noetome, F minor, Op. 55. 

(6.) Yalae, D-flat nuyor, Op. 64-1. 
' (c) BeroeuM, Op. 57. 

(d) Ballade in A-flat, Op. 47. 



THE WORCESTER FESTIVAL. 

By all accounts the twenty-second Annual 
Festiyal of the Worcester County Musical Asso- 
ciation, held in Mechanics' Hall during the five 
days from Sept. 22 to 26 inclusive, surpassed all 
the preceding festivals, both in artistic interest 
and in the remarkable material support rendered 
by the music lovers d[ the " Heart " of the old 
Commonwealth, who eagerly bought up all the 
tickets even at a premium. These *^ Festivals " 
have developed out of the old-fashioned *^ con- 
ventions," or meetings of choristers and others 
for a week of joint practice in psalmody ; they 
were also markets for the '* working off " of some 
new hymn tune book, or '< collection " prepared 
by the conductor of the convention. Many such 
conventions, in various parts of the country, still 
retain this mercantile feature. But in some 
places, notably in Worcester, they have grown 
into annual festivals of music of a more important 
and artistic character. Worcester seems well 
situated for becoming in some sense the musical 
Birmingham of New England, at least of Massa- 
chusetts. We have already mentioned the some- 
what formidable array of vocal and instrumental 
forces employed in this last and crowning effort. 
Now we must gather from programmes and re- 
ports some brief riiumi of what was done. The 
first concert (Monday afternoon) was miscellane- 
ous, and was opened by the four young ladies of 
the Eichbetg String Quartet (Misses Lillian Chan- 
dler, Lillian Shattuck, Lettie Launder, and Ab- 
bie Shepardson), who played the Andante and 
Presto from Mendebsohn's Fourth Quartet, fol- 
lowed by a Minuet of Boccherini, and very cred- 
itably for such young artists. A Scdve Maria by 
Mercadante, for contralto, was sung by Mrs. A. 
W. Porter. Then the bass aria : '* Honor and 
Arms " from Handel's Samson, to which Mr. C. 
E. Hay, of Boston, is quite adequate. The 
Prayer and Aria from Der FreyschUlz (accredited 
to Bellini on the programme book 1) was sung 
by Mrs. H. F. Knowles. Next came Wieniaw- 
ski's difficult Polonaise for violin solo, played by 
Miss Launder ; the Aria '' Vado ben spesso " by 
Salvator Rosa, sung by Mr. Hays ; two duets by 
Gade ( " Spring's Greetinff/' and '< The Rose on 
the Heath "), sung by Mrs.^Enowles and Mrs. Por- 
ter, and finally, Mr. Eichberg's Concertante for 
four violins, played by the same four clever pu- 
pils of his who opened the concert. 

The morning of the second day was devoted to 
rehearsal of Gounod's SL Cecilia Mass, and in 
the afternoon concert, the following programme 
was performed, with Mr. B. D. Allen as accom- 
panist : — 

Part Song, " The Letter " Hattm, 

Schubert Quartette (Mr. 6. J. Parker, lir. 
G. W. Want, Mr. L. H. Chubbuelc, Mr. 
D. M. Baboook). 
Theme and variationa ....*... Aode. 

Min Gertrude Franklin. 

Song, >« Homeward " AU, 

Mr. G. F. Parker. 
Organ duo. Symphony, " Hymn of Praise," Men deln olm, 

Mr. G. W. Sumner, Mr. B. D. AUen. 
Quartet, ««The Long Day Cloaee" .... SmlUmm. 

Schubert Quartette. 

Song, " Ezpeetancy '* J). BucL 

Mrs. Louiie Finch Hardenbnrgh. 

Song, <<Heaveu*t Chorister'* FitmUL 

Mr. D. M. Baboock. 

Song, ** It was a Dream " Cowem. 

MiMFhmklin. 

Quartet," Italian Sahd'*- Omie, 

Schubert Qpartette. 

A correspondent of the Advertiser says of this 
concert : — 

<* The quartet sang very well, earned abun- 
dant plaudits, and were twice recalled, giving, 
after Hatton's bright song. Bishop's glee, ' Sleep, 
Gentle Lady,' and repeating at the close of the 
concert ft portion of Genu's masterpiece of bur- 
lesqtle. Miss Franklin, who is a new candidate 



October 11, 1879.] 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



]67 



for the honors of the concert room, proved to be 
a skilful executant, with a bright and clear Toice, 
in all respects reflecting credit on her careful 
training by Mme. La Grange. She sings with 
taste and a certain amount of feeling, but has 
not yet acquired the art of expressing sentiment 
and passion so completely as to conceal the means. 
It is rather as an executant than as a dramatic 
singer that she is at present to be rated. For 
an encore after her first song she gave *■ II prima 
dtamort* by Widor. Mrs. Hardenburgh is well 
known to Boston audiences under her maiden 
name, Miss Louise Finch. It is enough to say 
that her performances showed her familiar char- 
acteristics of finifh and refined delivery to excel- 
lent advantage. Mr. Babcock's sonorous voice 
and impressive delivery were well suited to Pin- 
8uti*s song and to the piece given on a recall, — 
Mozart's * Who treads the path of duty.' Mr. 
Babcock has steadily improved within a year or 
two." 

On Wednesday there were two concerts, af- 
ternoon and evening, besides a morning rehear- 
sal of the more difficult choruses in the Messiah, 
The afternoon programme was miscellaneous, and 
without orchestra, as on the two days before', to 
wit : — 

Glee, " Health to my Dear '* Bpofforth, 

New York 61m Club. 
(Mr. A. D. Woodruff, Mr. 6. EllanI, Mr. W. C. Baiid, 

Mr. G. £. Aiken.) 

Aria, ** Laada eh* k> pianga '* ffandd. 

Mrs. laabeUa Phlmer Faaaett 
Song, «* The Anchor's Weighed" .... Brahanu 

Mr. George Ellard. 
Aria, " Al Dedo " from «> Figaro '*.... MosarL 

Mtas Edith AbeU. 
Piano loloa, Rondo from Sonata, op. S8 . . Beetkovet^. 

GaTotte, £ minor Silat. 

Mr. £. B. Perry, 

Part Song, " The Snow-Drop *' Bamby. 

Glee Qub. 

Song, *t The King of Thule " lAsA, 

MiatFaneU. 

Songs, *« The DbUnt Shore " SulUvan. 

"Jaclt'aYam" IHehL 

Mr. W. C. Baird. 

Song, "St. Agnea^Eve*' SuOivan. 

Mies AbeU. 

Glse, A Franklyn't Dogge Mackenzie. 

Glee Qub. 

The New York Glee Club seems to have sus- 
tained its old reputation for fine part-singing. 
Two of its members, Messrs. Woodruff and Ellard, 
are new, at least they have not yet been heard 
in Boston. Their tasteful singing of Barnby's 
delicate song won an encore. Mrs. Fassett, ac- 
cording to the correspondent already quoted, 
*' is a contralto of excellent parts ; ** her voice 
*' strong, deep, and of a very rich quality,'* and 
she made **a decided impression." Miss Abell 
confirmed the good impression which she made 
last spring in Boston. Mr. Perry is the blind 
pianist, of whose sensitive, yet strong and brill- 
iant interpretation of Schumann, we had occa- 
sion to speak last summer. He was recalled and 
gave Schumann's *' Traumeswirren." 

In the evening, for the first time, the chorus 
appeared, with Carl Zerrahn as conductor, and 
for accompaniment the organ (6. W. Sumner), 
and piano-forte (E. B. Story). The chorus opened 
and closed the concert, singing, " with great pre- 
cision and firmness," Sullivan's Anthem : *' I will 
meiUion the loving-kindnesses," with Mr. Alfred 
Wilkie as soloist, and a chorus by Calkin : ** Re- 
joice in the Lord." The intervening numl)ers 

were these : — 

SlomberSong Fratu, 

Mrs. Louise Fineh Hardenburgh. 

Glee, M BeUvn, my love ** ffortUv. 

New York Glee Club. 
"^Iln solo, <«Sonyentr de Bade" .... Leonhard, 

Seiior Aibertini. 

Glee, *« The Belle of St liiehael*s Tower " . Stewart. 

Mim Henrietta Beebe, Mrs. Hardenburgh, 

Meian. Woodruff, Baird, and Ailcen. 

Duet, ^*thB laurel and the rooe*' .... Greil. 

Mr. Woodruff, Mr. EUard. 



Glee, M When shall we three meet again '* . HenUy, 

Mies Beebe, Mn. Hardenburgh, Bfr. Aiken. 
Pkurt long, '* Oh, who will o'er the downs so free." 

PeartaU, 
Glee aub. 

«Song, ^ Come Uts with me '* Biakop, 

MisiBeebe. 
Violin eolo. Andante e Polonaise .... Vievaiempt, 

Seiior Diaz Aibertini. 

Glee, *( A knight there came*' Cocke. 

Mias Beebe, Mr. Woodnifl^ Mr. EUaid, 
Mr. Aiken. 
Duet, " Song of the summer birds ** . . . Rvbinitein. 
Mias Beebe, Mn. Uardenbuigh. 

Glee, (^HumptyDumpty'* CaldioUt. 

Mim Beebe, Bire. Hardenburgh, Mr. Wood- 
ruff, Mr. Aiken. 

The Glee Club quartet, this time of mixed 

voices, and the solo songs by Miss Beebe and 

Mrs. Hardenburgh, were much admired. Of the 

violinist, Sefior Aibertini, we are told : — 

His tone is thin and light, but pure and true, and hit exe- 
cution very brilliant. He it a young man, a Cuban by birth, 
and has not beTore appeared in America. He can hardly 
CeuI to command the popular &vor as soon as his merits 
shall have become more generally known. Aibertini is only 
twenty-two years old. At an cftu-ly age he dispbtyed great 
musieal talent and skill as a violinist; attracted the atten- 
tion of Gottscbalk while still a chiU; hegui studying at 
Havana in 1865. His whole name is Ra&el Diaz Aibertini 
Urioste. Klayed m New York in private In 1868, and at- 
tracted the attention of critics there. In 1871 entered the 
Pttris Conservatory; won there the first "aooessit;" then 
the second prize; then the Medal of Honor in 1875 on 
graduating in 1875. Has made successAil concert tours in 
Europe and given a series of concerts hi Havana. Been 
decorated with several orders in Spain and elsewhere. After 
his first pieoe to-night he was recalled and gave ** Chanson 
de Mignon " by Jules Garein. After his second piece, be- 
ing again recalled, he gave <* St. Patrick's Day " with vari»- 
tbns, by Vieostemps. Again recalled, he repeated part of 
the variations. 

So far the performances have all been without 
orchestra, and the programmes miscellaneous and 
for the most part light, yet not hackneyed, cer- 
tainly not vulgar, but on the whole put together 
with taste, and more select than many of the even- 
ing concerts after the oratorios at the great festivals 
in England. On Thursday afternoon a small yet 
efficient orchestra, firm Boston, was on hand, — 
an orchestra of thirty members, including among 
its first violins Mr. Bernhard Listemann, and our 
old friend Carl Meisel, who has returned from 
Germany. Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass, which 
high auUiorities esteem the greatest of his eccle- 
siastical music, formed the first part of the con- 
cert. The solos were taken by Mrs. H. M. Smith, 
Mr. Alfred Wilkie, and Mr. W. H. Beckett. The 
Advertiser correspondent thus describes it : — 

The first movement, Kyriej is an humble and tonchhig 
prayer; a figure for the violins in the accompaniment is con- 
ceived and carried out with a charming graee. The Gloria 
is a piece of genuine, pious enthusiasm — the enthusiasm, 
that is, of a de\'otee who, feeling himself filled with tlie glory 
of the Most High, utters his praises in a subdued and rav- 
erential tone, unaccompanied by an orchestral fan/are. 
There is a charming passage in this movement assigned to 
the female voices, and accompanied by harpe, violins tremolo 
and wind instruments muflled, — an aerial oivhestimtion, so 
to speak. At the versides. Qui toUie, etc., the music has 
a character of tender supplication, and at the Quomam tu 
IjO^jJl^ takes on an air of august and mystical pomp. The 
^npria, as of right it should be, the most impressive por- 
tion of the mass. The mysticism of belief is gipniwsed here 
in a grave, mi^estic march by the basses, while the chorus 
passes in review aU the articles of faith. At the Et Jncnr- 
f%ata» the expression of adoration is admhrabie. The resur- 
rection, so often treated by composers with an almost fierce 
energy, is here gently proclaimed by female voices. Then 
the basses in the Credo motive, persistently adhered to, lead 
us to the £< vitam venturi teeuU, where the compoeer in 
heavenly harmonies lifts a corner of the veil and shows from 
alar the gk>ries of the celestial Jerusalem. Gounod has 
written a delightful orchestral interlude lor the oflertory, the 
instrumentation of whieh is in bis best style. The Sanctm 
never fiuls to make a deep impression. The crescendo at 
the dose is a magnificent stroke of genius, and very remark- 
able is the efftet produced by the bass drum. Again, in the 
Benedkitts, the Agwus Dei and Domine^ non sum dignus, 
Gounod reasserts his masteriy skill ha expression. From 
this hasty and altogether insufficient description there has 
been omitted all mention of the method of treatment pur- 
sued by the oompoeer — the system of division, that is, with 
solos and concerted movements. The execution of the work 
was very fine, after making proper allowance for the limited 
opportonitics for rehearsal of chorus and orchestra. 



After the Mass, the following selections formed 

the second part : — 

Overture, "ZanetU" ! . . .^iiftsr. 

Orchestra^ 

Song, <* SanU Maria " Faure, 

Mr. W. H. Beckett 

Aria,««GratiasagimusUbi" GugHehd. 

Mrs. H. M. Smith. Flute obligsto. 
Song, *( Tell me, Biary, how to woo thee " . Hodsom, 

Mr. Alfred Wilkie. 
Potpourri, "Faust** Oomod, 

The Thursday evening concert, also with cho- 
rus and orchestra, had more of ** the dignity of 
a festival occasion " than the preceding miscel- 
laneous concerts. This was the programme : — - 

Overture, ** TSnnhiiuser " Wagner. 

Orchestra. 

Aria, firom"fifiMked Ball/* VerdL 

Mr. W. H. Beckett 

Aria, «• Qui k voce *• BeUini. 

Mrs. Anna Granger Dow. 
Cavatina, *« Salve dimora," torn " Faust '* . . Gowsod, 

Mr. T. J. Toedt 
Vintagers* Chorus, fivm »* Loreley '* . . . Me/ndelssohn. 

Besses and tenors of chorus. 

Aria, *' Oh, don fstale,** from ** Don Carkw ** . Verdi. 

Miss Annie Louise Gary. 

Song, « I love thee** Bnde, 

Mr. Beckett 

Song, >« What are they to do?'* Bandegger. 

Bfrs. Dow. 
Duet, » Si la stancheesa,'* fit>m " n Trovatore *' VerdL 

Mias Gary, Mr. Toedt 

Polonaise, from ** Stniensee '* Meyeiiteer, 

Orchestra. 
Recitative, '* Awake, Satumia,** and aria, " Iris, 

hence away,*' from ^ Semele *' Handel. 

Miss Gary. 

Song, " The Harbor-Bay ** J. F. Bameti. 

Mr. Toedt 
Canon-qnartette, from ** Fiddio *' .... Btetkuven. 

Mr. Dow, Miss Gary, Mr. Toedt, Mr. Beckett. 
Solo and chorus, " Crowned with the Tempest,'* 

from«<£mani*' Veidi. 

Sok> by Mr. Beckett. 

Miss Gary's rendering of the noble Aria from 
Handel's Semele, as well as of the very dramatic 
aria by Verdi; the Quartet from Fidelia, the 
Vintagers' Chorus from the Loreley, and the two 
orchestral pieces, must have been well worth 
hearing. 

Friday (Sept 26) was the last and great day 
of the Festival, which appears to have improved 
both in the matter and the manner of perform- 
ance, as well as in public interest, as it went on. 
The seventh concert (aflernoon) offered a really 
interesting programme : — 

Overture, " Anaereon " Cherubim. 

Orehestra. 

Ave Blaria, fit>m "Loreley '* Mendelssohn. 

Miss Henrietta Beebe, and chorus of ladies. 
Aria, " Cvgus Animam,** from " SUbat Mater *' Rotsini. 

Mr. Alfred Wilkie. 

Symphony, No. 8 Beethoven, 

Orchestra. 
Duet, " Oh, Ffower of the verdant Sea,*' torn 

'tRebekah** Bnmby. 

Miss Beebe and Mr. Wilkie. 

Piano sonata, op. 7 Grieg. 

Mr. S. Uebling. 
Aria, " As when the Dove,'* from " Ads and 

Galatea** Handel. 

Miss Beebe. 

Polonaise, from "Struensee** Meyerbeer, 

OrdiesUn. 
Aria, <* Let us eat and drink," from >< The Prod- 
igal Son ** Suliiean. 

Mr. WUkie and Chorus. 

Tn the evening the Festival reached its climax 
in a very creditable performance of Handel's 
Messiah, under the bflton, of course, of Carl Zer- 
rahn, who had made numerous trips to Worces- 
ter to drill into unity the four or five hundred 
voices of the various societies and choirs from all 
parts of the country. The solo singers were 
Miss Ida W. Hubbell, Miss Annie Louise Gary, 
Mr. Theo. J. Toedt, and Mr. John F. Winch. 
We need not to be told bow well the Alto and 
Bass recitatives and arias were sung. For the 
rest we will again cite the Advertiser: — 

*'Mis8 Hubbell proved to be a pleasing and 
well-trained vocalist. Her voice is of a delight- 



168 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



fVoL. XXXIX. — No. 1004. 



fnl quality, aad her delirery showed good judg- 
ment throughout. She ■eeins to be one of those 
rare singing birds who are endowed with a strong 
musical feeling, to which cultivation has only 
added a finish without a sacrifice of the gUl of 
nature. The declamatory parts in the portions 
describing the scene in the fields at Bethlehem 
were given in excellent style, as was also the aria, 
< Rejoice greatly.' That she could also express 
the delicate emotions was sadsfactorily shown in 
her execution of ' Come unto me/ The audi- 
ence was interested and generous in applause, 
but no encores were granted. Mr. Toedt con- 
firmed and strengthened the excellent impression 
made last evening. The opening recitative and 
aria were sung with a most refined taste, espe- 
cially in the matter of phrasing. His enunciation 
deserves equal admiration for its distinctness. 
All of hb work, in a word, was done in a most 
artistic manner. Mr. Sumner's organ accompa- 
niments were judiciously played, and orchestra 
and chorus refiected the highest credit on Mr. 
Zerrahn's training. The hall was crowded to 
its utmost capacity by an interested and closely 
attentive audience. The association had never 
before sung the JlfesnoA, though- it had beeti 
given by the local society which forms the nu- 
cleus of the association. Several of the choruses 
were, however, entirely new to all but a very 
small proportion of the choir." 



MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE. 

Mux. Cappiani, the MoompUabed prima donna and no- 
eenftil voeal teadMr, has retamad to her namcrom pupils, 
at her rooms In Winter Street. The call lior her lenricea b 
10 great in New Tork that she will tcaeh there on Saturday 
and Monday every week, and in Boeton from Tuesday to 
Friday Indiuivs. 

Hany, too, will weleome the return to our dty of Mme. 
Erm IKA RuDEBSDOBFF, after her great sueoesses in New 
York. There is room enough finr both, and enough for 
them' to do hi properly educsting young singen for eoneert, 
oratocio, and opera. 

Mr. William H. Sherwood, the pianist, is In mueh de- 
mand for eoneerts In New York sad elsewhere. In Boetoo 
he has re m oTud flrom his musle rooms in West Street to 167 
IVemont Street, nest door to Chiekering's warerooms. — 
His elevar pupil, Mr. H. S. Hanehett, 1ms sseured rooms 
for teaohing in the same building. 



The fint of the five popubu* eoneerts by Mr. Listemann*s 
« Phllharmoiiie Orchestra," will be given in the Music Hall, 
October 25. Here Is a list of some of the pleees in the i^ 
.pcrtoire: — 

Beethoven: Symphony In F. Selections. 

Overture, «* Egmont." 

Overture, « Leonore No. S.** 
Schumann: Symphony In D minor. Sdeetioos. 

Overture, *« Manfred." 

Symphonic In O. Scberso and Adagio. 

*< Evening Song." Adapted for orchestra by Raff. 
Saff: Leonora Symphony. Sefeetions. 
Spohr: Overture, " Jeaeoiida." 

Mendelssohn: Overture, **Mldeummer Night*s Dream." 
Wagner: Overture, ** Tannhauscr." 

Introduction to Lohengrin. 
Bach: Air and Gavotte. 

Chaoonne. Adapted for orchestra by Saint-SaSns. 
Schubert: Unllnished Symphony in B minor. 
Usst: Preludee. 

Hungarian Rhapsodies. 

PokMutlse in E. 

** Faust " Symphony, Gretchen movement. 

^ Tasso.'* Symphonhiue Poem. 
Monii: Overture, '* Magic l<bta." 

*< A Huslca] Joke.** For strings and two horns. 
Zopff: Serenade.for wind instruments. 
Weber : Overture, «< Oberon.'* 

>* Invitation kh Danes." 
SaintSagns: " Dense Macabn." 

««Le Ronet d*Omphale." 
Teehaikoweki: Andante for string orchestra. 
LitoUf : Overture, '< Robsspierrs." 
VoOunann: Serenade for string orohestra. 
Dvorak: *• Slavonic Dances." 
Srendsen: ** Carnival fai Paria.*' 
Yieuztempe: Fantasie-Caprice for orohestra. 
Johann Strauss, «* WaltMS.*' 

English Opera. The seaaoo of English opera at the 
Fktfk Theatre will begin Monday evening, October 13. Mice 
Emn» Abbott is the/^rtsia domma of the troupe, which aleo 



Indudee Mrs. Seguin and otheca of rspule. An Impottant 
feature of the aeaaoo will be the production of Mease's Fond 
and Virgima. 

The Gk>be Theatre will open for the seaaoo on Monday 
night, October 13, with Auber's bright and charming opera 
cf Croum XHamondt. The company will indnde Miss Laura 
Schlrmer, Mies Clara Poole, Mr. Charles R. Adams, Mr. 
Alfred WUkie, lir. Henry Peakes, and othera. Gounod's 
Jiodk Doctor will probably be produced during the 



One of the coming musical evente that will attract eepe- 
rial attention will be' the visit of Gariotta Patti. She wUl 
be acc(Hnpanied by the same artists who have aesistcd her in 
New York, two of whom, Mr. Henry Ketten, the Hungarian 
pianiat, and Mr. Emeet De Munck, the vtokmceUiat, are 
apoken of in terme of high praise. Sig. Oampl-CeUiy and 
Mr. L. A. Phdpe are ueo membera of the troupe. The 
former b a baritone of the modem Italian achool, and the 
bitter a tenor, who baa passed some yeara hi Europe. The 
concerta will be given in Muaic Hall on the eveniqga of Oc- 
tober 15 and 17, and the afteraoon of October 18 Com. 

rier. 

The foUowing Information concerning tlie purpoees of The 
Cecilia for the coming seaaon haa been publidied: Four 
concerts will be given, no one of which will be repeated. The 
fint two cODCcfte will be hi Music Hall, and at the first, to be 
given probably December 83, (Mysteitt, a cantata by Mmx 
Bruch, will be sung, with orchestral accompaniment The 
second concert will probably be given February 9, and Its 
programme vrill be made up of one of Bacb*B aborter oaota- 
taa, part^mga, and madrigals, aad (rfecea for sok> voices. 
The remaimng concerts of the seaaon will be in April and 
May. The programmes for theee concerts cannot be an- 
nounced definitely ea yet, but one of them will undoubtedly 
contain Schnmann'a mualc to Manured with oreheatra, the 
dhdogue bebg given by a reader. — Ibid. 



The Albany Musical Assodation have engaged Tweddle 
Hall for two nighta hi the early part of December, the first 
night for the oratorio of St, Paul^ and the second for a mie- 
oellaoeous concert. Miss Fanny Kellogg, Myron W. Whit- 
ney, and Wm. H. Fessenden cf Boetoo, and Mrs. Faeeett 
of Albany, are to be the eobiata, and the Germania orahee- 
tra of Boston, Bernard TJstemann leader, will Aimish the 
aeeompaniment. 

Nsw York. ~- The concert given by Theodore Tliomae 
laat night, on the occaakm of the reopening of Stdnway 
Hall, might afanoat be called a foativaL The room was 
crowded, and a bright and aympathetic audience testified by 
kmd and lotig appfaiuee the popular gratlfloatkm at Thomas's 
rstum. With a fine programme, a noble performance, and 
a brilliant aaeembhge of liateners, nothing wae baking to 
the soccsss of the evening. The old orchestra was there, 
very ttttle changed in iU permmtel; and when the conductor 
took hia old phwe at the deck a atorm of welcome broke out. 
The foUowing was the bill: — 

Symphony No. S Buthoven. 

Air, from the suite bi D J, 8, Bach, 

Pfamo-forta Concerto Schuw^ann, 

Mr. F. BummeL 

Slavonic Dance Dvorak, 

SwgfrWWjl Wagner, 

Fantaahi on Hungarian Airs IauL 

Mr. F. RnmmeL 

There wae one abeolute novelty hi this list, namely, the 
Slavonic Dance, in mhiuet time, the fourth of a eerice of 
eight, by Anton Dvorak. It Is a composition of consider- 
able strength and orlghiality, ftdl of pomp and splendor, and 
betraying the ebaracterietic national taete for a aenii-bat^ 
baric magnificence. The Siegfried Idyl, foednatlng to hear, 
difficult to eieoute or hiterpret, haa been played here by 
Thomaa before, but it b little known. Mr. Rummd |riayed 
the Schumann Concerto with force, freedom, and a fine 
technique, and made a etill mere marked impreeakm by hia 
apirited rendering of Lisst*s heroic Faiitaala, the oreheatra in 
both pieeea lending him an admirable eupport. 

The great fcaturee of the concert, however, were the Sym- 
phony and the Bach Aur; the firet was enthusiastically ap- 
pUnded after every movement; the second wae re-demanded. 
~- Tribunej Oct, 7. 

Of the orchestral prospects generaDy, «DelU '* writee as 
foUows to the Tramaer^: MThe piogramme of the first 
concert of the New York Philharmonb ooniprieee BerUoa's 
( mag Lear * overture, Wagner's *Rlde of the Walkyrica,' 
and < Siegfried*s Death,* the Fifth Symi^iony cf Beethoven, 
and, with the aid of Mr. Fkans Rummel, the TWhaikowaky 
Concerto. The programmee of the Brooklyn aoeiety will 
probably be almilar to those in New York, and a lai^ or- 
chestra than ever before will be emnbyed. It wae to the 
enterprise of the Brooklyn society that the public was hi- 
debted hat winter for the opportunity of seefaig Mr. Thomas 
aa conductor cf an oreheatra hi thia vicfailty,and it la by the 
coorteey of the same eodety, hi changhig the k»g-eetab- 
lished evenhigs of Its eonoerta, that Mr. TlmnM b now able 
to ^pear In New York. 

" Mr. Gotthold Garlberg'B anccaee wKh the eouBe of aym- 
phony concerta, given at Chickeruig Hall kwt acMon, wae 
ao dedded as to encourage the management to give another 
eerice of six reheareah and aiz concerta, beglnnhig in Novem- 
ber. A number of orebeetral noreltiea ai« promlaed, hidnd- 



iiw Hugo Ubieh'a * Symphonic Triomphale,* Anton Dvo. 
rak's * Firet SUvonic Rh^isody,' the entire music to the 
drama < Stniensee,' by Meyerbeer, and Techaikowsky's lateet 
symphonic work. Mr. Caribeiig Is an accompUahed muai- 
dan and an esceUent conductor, his oreheetra, forty-five 
in number, ia a thoroughly competent one, and the concerta 
will doubtliBeB prove to be, aa they were last aeeeon, attract- 
ive and entertaining. 

'* Dr. Leopold Damroeeh will, aa uaoal, conduct the or- 
eheetra of the Symphony Society of New York durli« the 
coming aeeeon. Sis reheareala and aix coueerta uill be 
given by the eodety at Steinway Hall, and It will have the 
assistance of the chorue of the Oratorio Society, and of the 
male choms of the Arion Society, the beet of our GermsB 
mueical otganlaationa. Tlie Ninth Symphony cf Beethoven 
and Berlica'e *DamnatIon of Fanat* will be given during 
the week, and eeveral new worka of intereet will aleo be 
brought out The aeaaon b aure to be a p ro e pero u a cocl** 

The Oratorto Society haa already begun ite reheareah 
and under the charge of Dr. Damroeeh, aome excellent work 
may be expected frmnit at theconcerteand public reheareala 
to be given during the aeeeon. Elifak, the Memak, and 
Bach*s Bt, Matthew Paman music are among the works to 
be produced, and it Is probable that for the eolo parts the 
aid of Mme. Gerster and of Mlaa Thursby will baeeenred. — 
Ibid, 

Of pfamlata and their promieeB the name la legion, and 
the eataloffue tWaiMif muat form a tonic br itadf — «*'*i»«^ 



The Salem Oratorio Society will give two concctta the 
coming aeaaon. At the firat, Menddaaohn'a Wa^mrgii 
Night will be rendered, and at the eecond, Haydn*B iSeo- 



FOREIGN. 

Db. voir BuLOw, like a ghmt refreebed, returned to hia 
woriE aa conductor of the Hanover Open Hooee hwt week. 
The Doctor reedved to gire the Hanoveriana a taste of his 
quality, so hs oflhred them the *(^nhiuieer,'* <« Don Gto- 
vannl," »<Der Frslechilts,** and **Le ProphMe** In one 
week. Furthermore, finding that " Cennen ** had for acme 
reeeon or other been neglected by many German open 
houeea, he hae reedved to gire it, it la atated, for the fint 
time In Germany, with Fran Koch ee the heroine. Berlioa' 
M Beatrice and Benedick*' will aleo be given. In November 
the Doctor will gire two recitals at Cdogne, and will then 
hare a abort concert tour through Germany, afterwarda 
coming to England. — Figaro^ 8^ IS. 

Oir Monday Mr. Arthur Sullivan, having returned from 
hia Swiss bolkby, appeared at the Promen^ Concerta and 
conducted the C minor aymphony of Beethoven. On Thura- 
day he was expected at Hereford to conduct ** The light of 
the World.*' Madame Esdpoff is still the great attraction 
of Meesrs. Gatti's concerts, where she will be succeeded to- 
night by Mr. Chariee HalU. The het Eng^ programnae 
indnded a brilUantly written March from the pen of Mr. 
Durivier, the prdude from a cantata, " Hagobert," by Mr. 
Burnett; and a aymphony In G minor from the pen of Mr. 
HamQton Clarke. The laat-named work b a neatly written 
apedmen on the old modda, remarkable more for the excd- 
lenee of the workmanship than for any psrtienlar display of 
individuality. Both Mr. Oarke and Mr. Durivier conducted 
thdr own compodtiona. The piY^gramroe on Tuesday in- 
dnded a gavotte in F by Mr. Hamaton Cbrke, the ** Siege 
of RocheUe '* overture of Balfo, and the *« Hebridca " over- 
ture of Mendelaaohn. On Wedneeday the dasucal pro- 
gramme induded the " Jupiter '* aymphony of Moaart and 
Metiddssohn's concerto in G minor, played by Madame 
Esdpoff. — Figarv, 8tpl, 13. 



Pakis, Sept. 14 Guetere Hippdyte Roger, the fomoos 

French tenor, is dead at the age of dxty-four. 

He was bom near Paria, Auguat 87, 1816. He atudied 
at the Coneervatoire, and was engaged as a tenor at the 
Open Comique from 1838 to 1846, efter which he accompa- 
nied Jenny Und to London. Subeequentiy he appeared bi 
grand opera, but was not ae succeeefiil in that line ee on the 
comic stage. In Berlin he woo favor in ** Lee Huguenots ** 
and in *< La Dame BUnche ; ** in Munich In *< La Juire," and 
hi Hamburg in « La Prophete,** when he sang in German. 
He wae i^n at the Paria Grand Open from 18M to 1860. 
In the hitter year he loet an arm while hunting, and al- 
though he aubeequenUy appeared with an artiftdal arm he 
never acquired hii former popularity. In 1868 he 
pohited Profoasor cf Shiging at the Ptaia Coiiaervatdre. 



Hbkb Waohsr announcea hi the BagrenAor BldUtr 
that the fint repwaentatlon of hb' new opera, •« Psnttd,*' 
cannot take place hi 1880, ee he hoped, and that he Is da- 
pendent on the state of the subeeription Det In pimi e as ba- 
fore he can reanme the •« Bflbnenfeeteplde.** 

Mad. Clara Schumaxit cddOTted her dxtieth birth- 
day on the 13th September. 



JoAcnnt and Brahma hare taken advantage cf a holiday 
trip in IVanaylvanbt to g^ve concerta together In the prind- 
I pal towns thioe. 



October 25, 1879.] 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



169 



BOSTON, OCTOBER 25, 1879. 

Kntored at th« Poit Office at Boston m aeoond-oUss matter. 

CONTENTS. 
Tu Dbtklopmiiit or Piaho-Vobti Muiic, vbom Baor to 
ScHDiiAiiM. From the Qermaa of Cart Ycm Bru^ek . . 160 

How RotllHI WROTI ** OnUO '* At ULATKD BY ALBSAHDBB 

DuKAi. M W.F 170 

RiOHASO Waqhbb to TBI Nbw Wobu>. D. T. 171 

MoaiOAL Mattbbs. fbom Fab amb Nbab. J}f. B-iward Hsuu- 

Uek in 

Mb. JosBrrr's Dbbot n Nbw Tobk 172 

Talkb on Art : Sbcomd Sbbibs. Fcodi Inj>truetioiiB of Ur. 

WUllam M. Hunt to his FapUs. XV 172 

OuB Plajis 178 

Is RoBBBT Fbabs A Faoubb? W. F. A 178 

A Cautobicia MmiOAi ImrnmoM. The Bow Piano and the 

VIoUn FUdo 174 

Minio nr Bostoii 174 

Oonoertii of Mme. Cariotta Patti, Sig. Ounpanari, and 
Bedpath I^eeom. 

HUSIOAL InBLU«BllCB 176 

Oao^s RscuPTS or thb Thbatbbs abb otubb Plaobs or 
Amosbmbsit nr Pabis 176 

JkU th* ortMes not eredittd to ether pubttratioiu wtrt «xpr**^ff 
wrttttH/or this Journal. 

PiMUhed fortnighUy bf IIooohtom, Osgood ahd Cokpawt, 
220 DevoHshirt Street, Boston. Pries, 10 esnU a number; $2.60 
per year 

Far saU in Boston 6y Cabl PavtrBB, 30 Wf*t Street, A. Will- 
iams A Co., 2S3 Washington Street, A. K. LoaiMO, 369 Wash- 
imfton Street, and by ike fttblishers; in N'W York by A. BBIR' 
TANO, Jb., 39 Union Square^ and ItoooilTOif, Omood Jfc Co., 
21 Astor Place; in PhiUuhlphiaby W. II. BoflSR & Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street; in Ckieago by tht Cbioaoo Mutfic COMrAHT, 
612 State Street. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PIANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FROM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

FROH THE OBRMAX OF CARL VAN BRUYCK. 
(Continued from pace 162.) 

At about the end of the third decade of 
the present century, those two great geniuses, 
Beethoven and Schubert, had completed their 
artistic career. For a full century the mu- 
sical movement which began with Haydn, 
from a new point of departure (the free un- 
folding of the melodic-harmonic style), had 
Its field mostly m south Germany, especially 
in Austria, and still more especially within 
the city of Vienna. On the contrary, the 
two most prominent masters who continued 
the same movement, and, led by their own 
genius, strove to turn it into new paths, Fe- 
lix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Robert Schu- 
mann, belong again to the north. They 
found the art, as generally practiced, shallow 
apd degenerate. Beethoven and Schumann 
had already suffered under the influence, and 
Schumann for ten long years waged war 
against it even with the weapons of the word. 
The very ascendency of piano-forte music on 
the one hand, and of Italian opera on the 
other, as well as the direction taken by the 
most respected representatives of piano music, 
with Hummel at their head$ conduced to this 
degeneration. All art threatened to go under 
in a shallow, empty stringing out of phrases, 
in a merely sensuous jingle ; and virtuosity 
began, particularly since the appearance of 
Liszt and Thalberg, to play the first part 
and to harvest the laurels (and not laurels 
merely !) which had been much more sparingly 
bestowed upon the great creative geniuses, to 
say nothing more. 

With all the earnestness of a genuine ar- 
tistic nature, Mendelssohn set himself against 
this running wild of art; and he it was, too, 
who did most to revive the half extinct in- 
terest in Sebastian Bach, in many r^pects 
the greatest musician of all times. He, as 
well as hb genial and slightly younger * con- 
temporary, Schumann, introduced certain new 
elements into music, which (as Wagner justly 
maintains) had already completed its great 



orbit, for every art exhausts itself at last. 
In the domain of Piano music these new ele- 
ments are even more decidedly prominent in 
the productions of Schumann, especially the 
smaller works, than in those of Mendelssohn. 

But before passing to a summary consider- 
ation of what these two most prominent rep- 
resentatives of the newest phase of music 
(with whom in some respects Chopin also 
should be coupled) have done in art, I will 
first mention, for the sake of greater com- 
pleteness, two artists, one of whom, both as 
composer, and as virtuoso and teacher, ex- 
ercised through several decades an impor- 
tant influence, namely, Ignaz Moscheles ; the 
other, Ludwig Berger, to be sure, became of 
no remarkable importance for the general 
development of art, yet, on the part of the 
piano-playing world at least, deserves more 
consideration than seems ever to have fallen 
to his lot. 

Moscheles as a Piano composer, belongs 
on the whole to the direction in which Hum- 
mel led off, and his Concerto in G-niinor may 
be called one of its noblest products. His 
clever, interesting Concert phantcLstique, on 
the contrary, breathes a warmer, more im- 
paAsioned tone than we commonly find in 
Hummers compositions, since even those of a 
pathetic subject seldom deny a certain aca- 
demic character. The Mudes by Moscheles 
have become favorites on account of their 
technical utility, and because this book of 
Studies unites the utile cum dulci in a felici- 
tous and tasteful manner ; it may be counted 
among the most excellent and most commend- 
able works of its kind, — a kind which un- 
fortunately through several decades has been 
altogether too much exploited, and has pro- 
duced many weeds, among them Czerny's 
Etudei, which, devoid of all musical charm 
and ideal contents, degrade the young player 
to a mere rude machine. In the third part 
of the Moscheles Etudes, we remark already 
that striving after characteristic expression,' 
so-called, which has become so important for 
the newer and still more the newest phase 
of art, and which we are accustomed to call 
*' programme music" But on the whole this 
third part is inferior to the first two, and runs 
very much into the turgid style. 

Of Berger I must be content here with 
merely mentioning the name, with the fiict 
that of him too we possess some (in part) 
exceedingly fine Sonatas, and above all an 
Etude work of real genius, which, while it is 
« very useful for practice," at the same time 
aflTords rare artistic enjoyment — musical 
champagne — such as we get still more spark- 
ling to be sure in these later days. 

Less so from Mendelssohn, whose works on 
the whole bear a far more staid, collected 
character, than those of Schumann, especially 
his youthful proiluctions, or those of Chopin, 
the Pole who was ripened in the Champagne 
province, whose muse shows now a dreamy, 
melancholy, gloomily impassioned, now an 
excessively bold and even a coquettbh coun- 
tenancef and in sheer nervous irritability is 
prone to welter in the sensuous charms of 
sound. 

Mendelssohn, like Moscheles, of Jewish 
origin, seems of less conspicuous, or ^* epoch- 
making " importance for a history of piano- 
forte music (although he has ^ made a school " 



decidedly), inasmuch as it can hardly be said 
that he has introduced an essentially new ele^ 
ment on this field of art, although he did de- 
velop a certain individuality of stylo which 
found imitators on all sides. Moreover, Men- 
delssohn never concentrated his great artistic 
energies upon the piano-forte, as Chopin did, 
who spent nearly his whole foroQ on that, or 
as Schumann did in his first period. One of 
his most brilliant firstlings was an orchestral 
work, the altogether charming, highly genial 
Overture to Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights 
Dream. In his admired and famous Songs 
without Words, for the piano-forte, he has 
indeed in a certain sense given a new form. 
Yet not unfitly may, for example, the Adagio 
in Beethoven's C-sharp minor (<' Moonlight ") 
Sonata, and Field's Nocturnes, be designated 
also as Songs without Words ; in fact the pre- 
dominance of Gantilena, and a more homoph- 
onous structure altogether, forms the distinct- 
ive characteristic of the more modem instru- 
mental mu.<«ic. Under the influence of song 
writing, it has already become decidedly prom- 
inent in Schubert, just as in the works of 
Haydn, Mozart, and Beetiioven, compared to 
those of Bach, the contrapuntal, polyphonous 
element recedes into the background before 
the melodic-harmonic, homophonous manner. 
Mendelssohn, although a very rich mind, yet 
much inferior in inventive faculty to Beetho- 
ven, the incomparable, had formed for himself 
a quite peculiar phraseology, which, although 
with ingenious variations, recurs continually 
in most of his instrumental, at any rate his 
piano -forte works, whereby they acquire a 
certain mannerism, — which, by the way, may 
also be remarked in Mozart (much more than 
in Haydn), and from which, among all the 
epochal composers and tone-poets of old or 
modern times, only Beethoven and Schubert 
seem to be wholly free. 

There also reigns in Mendelssohn's piano 
music, taken as a whole, a certain senti- 
mental elegiac trait on the one hand, and a 
nervous passionate excitement on the other, 
which has become a fundamental feature of 
all modem art. The plastic repose, the 
lovely, beatific harmony, in which Haydn's 
and Mozart's, and for the most part, too, 
Beethoven's creations glide away like silver 
swans, or like the eagle, in majestic flight, 
sailing through the sea of clouds, has vanished 
out of art The blooming muse betrays a 
sickly tendency, and her announcements show 
at times a great resemblance to feverish 
dreams. While the triad of the three great 
masters, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, can 
be considered almost as a unity, whose ele- 
ments have strengthened in a century's devel- 
opment, it may be said that the Melody so 
firmly founded by these masters has since 
fallen into an unquiet, wavering condition, 
and has more and more given way to ingen- 
ious but vague restless phrases floating up and 
down. Mu'^ic is undergoing the same trans- 
formation that we see also in the phases of 
Painting; drawing steps back, the outlines of 
the forms melt more and more away, while the 
element of color presses into the foreground. 
This change was already prepared, on various 
sides, through Beethoven, in the works of his 
last period, and through Schubert, on the one 
hand) as it was through Hummel and the vir- 
tuoso tendency on the other, and it has been 



170 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1005. 



furthered by the general coarse of mental, 
moraly and artistic culture. And it stood out 
in the most marked manner, both on the posi- 
tive and the negative side, precisely in the 
works of Schumann, of whom I have yet to 
speak somewhat more fully. 

Of Mendelssohn's piano-forte works, there- 
fore, I must content myself with remarking 
that, far as they fall behind the productions 
of his great overpowering and unapproachable 
predecessor, Beethoven, still they have in them 
a rich fullness of fascinating, genial tone-life. 
I will only name expressly, and wholly by 
way of example, the Concerto in D-minor ; 
the superb Variations in £-flat ; the beautiful 
Sonata in D for piano and violoncello ; the 
Fugue compositions, not strict in form, to be 
sure, but full of life and soul, and always to 
be counted among the noblest products of the 
muse of tones ; and perhaps, also, those very 
lovely and interesting inventions, the Lieder 
ohne Worte, on account of the important in- 
fluence they have exerted in more ways than 
one. But it was the elfin, fairy element which 
the great artist succeeded in expressing in 
the most admirable and genial way; hence 
we find this manner of expression so fre- 
quently recurring with him, as it predomi- 
nated in his surprisingly early and wonderful 
Midfummer NtgkCi Dream Overture. In 
poetry and painting, likewise, at that time, 
there was a fond reawakening of these phan- 
toms of elves and water nixies ; with Men- 
delssohn they made their triumphant and 
most brilliant entry into the tone-realm, which 
possesses just the fittest means of expression 
for these airy creatures bom of human fancy. 
( ConelutUm m next number, ) 



HOW ROSSmi WROTE « OTELLO," AS 
RELATED BT ALEXANDER DUMAS. 

(TniMlatod from fifwo, Puii.) 

Rossini had just arrived at Naples, already 
preceded by a great reputation. Tlie first per- 
son he met after leaving his carriage was, as 
might have been expected, the impresario of San 
Carla Barbaja was in front of the maestro, 
arms and heart open, and without giving him 
time to advance a step or speak a word, said : — 

*^ I come to make you three offers, and I hope 
you will refuse no one of them." 

<< I will luten to them," replied Rossini, with 
that delicate smile that you know. 

*' I offer you my house for yourself and your 
attendants." 

«* I accept." 

^ I offer yon my table for yourself and your 
fnends." 

« I accept." 

^ I make you an offer to write for me and my 
theatre a new opera." 

*• I don't accept ! " 

** How ? You refuse to work for me ? " 

** Neither for you nor for anybody. I am not 
going to write any more music." 

'* Tou are mad, my dear sir." 

" It is as I have the honor to assure you." 

" And what did you come to Naples for ? " 

" To eat maccaroni and sip ices. It is my de- 
light." 

" I will have ices prepared for you by my li- 
manadieTf who is the first of Toledo ; and I my- 
self will cook maccaroni for you that will make 
your mouth water." 

** Diable 1 that becomes enticing." 

** But you will give me an opera in exchange ? " 

«* We will see." 



*' Take a month, two months, six months, all 
the time you desire." 

" Say six months, then." 

'< It is understood." 

*< Let us go to supper." 

From that evening the Barbaja palace was 
placed at the disposition of Rossini. The proprie- 
tor completely eclipsed himself; and the celebrated 
maestro was enabled to feel quite at home, in the 
strictest acceptation of the word. All his fnends, 
or even simple acquaintances that he met in his 
promenades, he unceremoniously invited to Bar- 
baja's table, to whom Rossini did the honors with 
perfect ease. 

As to Barbaja, faithfiil to the rdle of cook that 
he had imposed upon himself, he every day in- 
vented some new dish, opened the oldest bottles 
of wine in his cellar, and treated all the strangers 
that Rossini brought to his house as if they had 
been the best friends of his father. Only, to- 
ward the end of the repast, in a careless way, 
and his lips weathed with smiles, ho would slip 
between the fruit and the cheese some allusions 
to the forthcoming opera, and the brilliant suc- 
cess it must have. But whatever oratorical pre- 
caution the honest Impresario made use of to re- 
mind his guest of the obligation he had contracted 
produced no more effect than would the three 
words at the feast of Belshazzar. These inci- 
dental reminders by Barbaja became unpleasant 
to Rossini, and he finally politely requested him 
to.withdraw in the future from the desert ! 

Meantime the months rolled away ; the libretto 
had been long time finished, and as yet nothing 
signified that the composer had set himself at 
work. To dinners succeeded country parties, — 
the chase, fishing, horseback riding, etc. Bar- 
baja was in a fury twenty times a day, and burst- 
ing with the envy of eclat. He controlled him- 
self, however, for nobody had greater faith than 
himself in the incomparable genius of Rossini. 

For five months Barbaja kept silent with ex- 
emplary resignation. But the morning of the 
first day of the sixth month, seeing that there 
was no more time to lose, he drew the maestro 
aside and held the following conversation with 
him : — 

<* Ah, my dear sir, do you know that it only 
lacks twenty-nine days for the fixed epoch ? " 

" What epoch ? " asked Rossini with the sur- 
prise of a man to whom one has addressed an 
incom pi ehensible question, intended for another. 

** The 80th of May." 

«* The 30th of May ? " 

Same pantomime. 

" Did jTou not promise me a new opera to be 
produced on that date ? 

**' Ah, did I promise ? 

'* 'Tis all nonsense now to pretend astonish- 
ment," cried the impresario, whose patience was 
at an end. ^ I have awaited the utmost delay, 
counting upon your genius and the extreme facil- 
ity in work with which €rod has endowed you. 
Now it is impossible for me to wait longer ; I 
must have my opera." 

^ Can*t some old opera be arranged with a 
new name ? " 

" Tou think that possible ? — and the artists 
expressly engaged to sing in a neio opera ? " 

'* You can put them under fine." 

*» And the public ? " 

'* Tou can close the theatre." 

" And the king ? " 

" Tou can hand in your resignation." 

*' All that is true to a certain point. But if 
neither the artists, the public, nor the king can 
keep me to my promise, I have given my word, 
sir, and Domenico Barbaja has never failed in 
his word of honor." 

*^ That makes a difference 1 " 

'* Then promise me to begin to-morrow ? " 



»> 



»f 



" To-morrow, impossible ; I have a fishing 
party at Fusaro." 

" Very well," said Barbaja, thrusting his hands 
in his pockets, *' we 'U talk no longer about it. I 
will see what part it remains for me to take." 

And he lefb without another word. 

That evening Rossini ate his supper with a 
good appetite, and doing the honors at the im- 
presario's table as if he had entirely forgotten the 
discussion of the morning. In withdrawing, he 
charged his servant to awaken him at daybreak, 
and to have the boat ready for Fusaro. He then 
went to his room and slept the sleep of the just. 

Next day, the five hundred clocks which the 
blessed city of Naples possesses struck twelve, 
and Rossini's servant had not yet made an ap- 
pearance ; the sun darted his rays through the 
shutters. Rossini awoke with a bound, half rose 
in bed, rubbed his eyes and rang 1 — the bell rope 
remained in his hand. 

He called through the window that looked into 
the court, — not a sound to be heard. 

He shook the door of his room ; it resisted all 
his efforts, being walled up on the outside. 

Then Rossini, returning to the window, began 
to shout for help. He had not even the conso- 
lation of the response of an echo, the Barbaja 
palace being the deafest building in the world. 

Only one resource remainecl to him : to jump 
from the fourth story window ; but to the praise 
of Rossini it must be said that he never for one 
moment thought to do that. 

After the lapse of a full hour, Barbaja showed 
his cotton cap at a window of the third floor. 
Rossini, who still stood at his own window, felt 
like flinging a tile at him ; he contented himrelf, 
however, in overwhelming him with imprecations. 

'* Do yoa wish anything ? " sang up the impi^e- 
sario in a wheedling tone. 

** I wish to get out of tliis room at once ! " 

" Tou will get out when your opera 'u done." 

'* But this is arbitrary Imprisonment 1 " 

'* Arbitrary if you like it : but I must have my 
opera." 

'* I will complain of this to all the artbts, and 
we will see." 

'* I will put the artists under fine." 

*< I will inform the public I " 

** I will close the theatre." 

<< I will go even to the kin}; 1 " 

** 1 will resign tny position." 

Rossini perceived that he was caught in his 
own net. Also, as a clever roan, he changed his 
tone and manner, and said in a calm voice : — 

** 1 accept the joke and will not be angry. But 
may I know when 1 am to have my liberty ? " 

*' When the last scene of the opera is in my 
hands," replied Barbaja, lifting his cap. 

'< All right ; send this evening for the overture." 

At night Barbaja promptly received a sheet of 
music, upon which was written in large letters, 
« Overture of Otello.'* 

The salon of Barbaja was filled with musical 
celebrities at the moment when he received the 
first installment from his prisoner. One of them 
immediately sat down to the piano to decipher the 
new chef ifcBuvre, and concluded that Rossini 
was not a man, but that, like a god, he created 
without effort and without work, by the sole 
power of the will. Barbaja, rendered neariy fran- 
tic with joy, tore the sheet from ihe *hands of 
the admirers and sent it to he copied. The next 
day he received another installment, on which 
was written " First Act of Otello." This, like 
the other, was immediately sent to the copyists, 
who f»erformed their work with the mute passive- 
ness that Barbaja had accustomed them to. 

At the end of three days, the partition of 
OteUo had been delivered and copied. The im- 
presario could not calmly abide his happiness. 
He embraced Rossini, made the most touching 



October 25, 1879. ] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



171 



and sincere excuses for the stratagem he had 
employed, and begged him to conclude his work 
by attending the rehearsals. *' I will go myself 
to (he artists," replied Rossini lightly, **and hear 
them sing their rdles. As to the orchestra, I will 
hear them at my rooms." 

•* Very well, my dear, make your own arrange- 
ments. My presence is not* necessary, and I will 
admire your masterpiece at the general rehearsal. 
Yet once again, I beg you to pardon the way in 
which I have behaved." 

" Not a word more of that, or / shcUl be an- 

** Then at the general rehearsal ? " 
«** At the general rehearsal." 

The day of the general rehearsal finally came : 
it was the evening prior to this famous SOth of 
May, which had cost Barbaja so many panics. 
The singers were at their posta, the musicians 
took their places in the orchestra, Rossini sat at 
the piano. 

A few elegant ladies and privileged men occu- 
pied the proscenium boxes. Barbaja, radiant and 
triumphant, rubbed his hands, and walked back 
and forth, whistling. The overture was first 
played ; wild applause shook the arches of San 
Carlo. Rossini arose and bowed. 

s" Bravo I " cried Barbaja. '* Let us have the 
cavatina of the tenor." 

Rossini reseated himself at the piano; every- 
body was silent ; the first violinist raised his bow, 
and all re-began to play the overture. The same 
applauses, yet even more enthusiastic if possible, 
broke forth at its conclusion. 

Rossini rose and bowed. 

" Bravo I Bravo 1 " repeated Barbaja ; *' now 
let us pass to the cavatina." 

The orchestra began for the third time to play 
the overture. 

<' Ah, there," cried Barbaja exasperated, ** all 
that is delightful ; but we have n't the time to play 
that from now till to-morrow 1 Begin the cava- 
tina!" 

But despite the injunction of the impresario, 
the orchestra continued none the less to play the 
overture. Barbaja threw himself upon the first 
violinist, and taking him by the collar, shouted 
in his ear : *' Why ihe devil have you kept play- 
ing this for the last hour ? " 

*' Why," he replied with a phlegm that would 
have done honor to a German, ** we play what 
has been given us." 

** But turn over the leaves, imbeciles ! " 

*< We turn and turn, and find only the over- 
ture," 

*• How ? only the overture 1 " cried the im- 
presario paling, *'it is then an atrocious mystifi- 
cation ? " 

Rossini rose and bowed. 

But Barbaja had fallen motionless in an arm- 
chair. The prima donna, the tenor, everybody 
crowded around him. For a moment it was 
feared that he was stricken with apoplexy. 

Rossini, grieved that his joke had taken so 
serious a turn, approached him with real anxiety. 

But at sight of him, Barbaja bounded like a 
lion, roaring at him : -^ 

** Away from here, traitor, or you suffer harm." 

" TiCt ns see I Let us see I " said Rossini smil- 
ing, " if there be no remedy." 

** What remedy, villain ? To-morrow is the day 
for the first representation I " 

<* What if the prima donna should be suddenly 
ill ? " murmured Rossini in a low voice in the 
impresario's ear. 

'* Impossible 1 she would never be willing to 
draw upon herself the vengeance and sourness 
of the public." 

** Tou might persuade her a little to it." 

*«That would be useless. You don't know 
Colbran." 



" I thought you on the best terms wiih her." 

" All the more reason." 

« Will you permit me to try ? " 

** Do whatever you like : but I warn you that 
it will be lost time." 

" Perhaps." 

On the following day, the announcement ap- 
peared on the doors of the Saint-Charles that the 
first representation of Ot^Uo was postponed on ac- 
count of the indisposition of the prima donna. 

Eight days later, Otello was given. 

Everybody to-day knows this opera : we have 
nothing to add. Eight days had been enough 
for Rossini to make Shakespeare's che/tTceuore 
forgotten. 

After the fall of the curtain, Barbaja, weeping 
with emotion, sought the maestro everywhere in 
order to press him to his heart; but Rossini, 
yielding doubtlessly to that modesty which is so 
becoming to success, had hidden himself from the 
ovation of the crowd. 

The next day Domenico Barbaja rang for his 
prompter, who also filled the rdle of valet de 
chamhre, and being full of impatience sent him to 
present to his guest the felicitations of the pre- 



vious evening. 



The prompter appeared. 

*' Go and pray Rossini to come down here," 
he said. 

** Rossini is gone away," replied the prompter. 

** How 1 gone away ?*" 

** Leifl for Bologna at daybreak." 

" Without a word to me? " 

" Yes, Monsieur 1 he lefl you his adienx." 

" Then go and ask Colbran if she will allow 
me to call upon her." 

« Colbran ? " 

** Yes, Colbran I Are you deaf this morning ? " 

<* Excuse me, but Colbran is gone." 

<< Impossible 1 " 

*< They lefl in the same carriage." 

'* The wretch I . . . . She has left me to be 
Rossini's mistress." 

^ Pardon, sir, she is his wife.** 

" Ah, I am avenged 1 " aaid Barbaja with a 
peculiar smile. M. W. F. 



RICHARD WAGNER TO THE NEW 

WORLD. 

lUe terrarufii mihi prster omnes 
Angulus ridet 

Herr Richard Waonrr thinks — and prob- 
ably some people agree with him — that he has 
■aid enough in European hearing about his artistic 
aims. " The Old World," he tells us, ** and es- 
pecially that part of it^ included in our new Ger- 
many, will hear no more from me directly on this 
subject." Herr Wagner, however, has consider- 
ately exempted the New World from the pains 
and penalties of his silence, and he has now 
written, for the North American Retrieto^ a pa- 
per, « The Work and Mission of my Life " which 
he leads us to believe no European editor could 
have torn from him with wild horses. Happy 
America I But why this preference ? In the 
first place, because the Old World is hopeless. 
Beethoven was a giant, but afVer him came ** the 
Jew Meyerbeer," with his coarseness and trivi- 
ality ; Mendelssohn, who could do no more than 
introduce into music a ** graceful good society 
element;" and Sdiumann, '* a tasteful composer 
of little, spirited, and pleasant songs and pieces 
for the piano," who took to writing symphonies, 
oratorios, and operas. Under the auspices of 
these men, and others like them, ** the German 
intellect degenerated into a complete unproduc- 
tiveness in art, severing the living and active 
bonds that bound it to a great national past, and 
undertaking to ere ite, unaided, an art intended 
only for ' amateurs ' and * connoisseurs.' " Dis- 



gusted at all this, Herr Wagner looks I^opefully 
to America as the place where the Grerman spirit 
will soon reach *' untrammeled development," 
for in that land the Xxerman mind can swell out 
in freedom, " unoppressed bjf the wretched burdens 
left upon it by a melancholy history.** This, and 
much more like it, will please the master's trans- 
atlantic readers, and it really sounds very big 
and grand; but when we call to remembrance 
that the fullest Wagnerian expansion of the Ger- 
man art-spirit is represented by a drama com- 
pounded of gods, giants, dwarfs, talking birds 
and beasts, a magic ring, a flavor of incest, and 
a good deal of dreary music, the temptation arises 
to suggest an expansion of American protective 
duties in the form of a heavy poll-tax on German 
immigrants. — D. T. in London Musical WorUL 



MUSICAL MATTERS FROM FAR AND 

NEAR. 

BT DR. EDUARD HAN8LIGK. 

On returning home, after a longish absence, 
we often find on our writing-table something 
which has altogether refused to turn up during 
our journey : materials for a feuilleton. Thus I 
was welcomed back by a neat pile of new musi- 
cal works, newspapers, and letters, among which 
I found a great deal calculated to interest my 
readers as well as myself. Above all, there were 
several communications from Paris, where there 
is never any want of activity in the domain of 
music. 

HISTORICAL BALLETS IN PARIS. 

In a letter from a friend I find a description 
of the fite recently given by Gambetta, as Presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Deputies. The news- 
papers have supplied their readers with plenty 
of particulars. But one part of it strikes roe as 
sufficiently new and important to have attention 
again directed to it ; I allude to the execution of 
various old dances, Gambetta had dances of 
the time of the Revolution executed in his salons 
with the original muric and in the costume of 
the period. The first realization of this original 
idea, which rises far above mere amusement, I 
myself witnessed last year in Paris, and still re- 
tain a fresh and lively impression of it. The 
Paris Exhibitions, it must be acknowledged, 
greatly excelled in one respect all other under- 
takings of a similar nature ; namely, in the ex- 
traordinary hospitality and unbounded sociable- 
ness displayed towards every visitor. Nowhere 
else had a foreigner, with good recommendations, 
a juror, a government commissary, or an exhib- 
itor, enjoyed such ample opportunities for attend- 
ing brilliant private parties as he enjoyed in 
Paris. The first dignitaries of the state and of 
the city, and, above all, the ministers, considered 
it their duty (a duty utterly isnored in other 
countries) to do the honors of Paris to foreign- 
ers. Almost every week one or other of the 
ministers gave a brilliant evening party, at which 
you heard the most celebrated singers and virtu- 
osos. As a proof of the well-nigh unsurpassable 
richness and variety of the programmes on such 
occasions in the year 1867, I will mention an 
evening party given by Marshal Vaillant, Minis- 
ter of Fine Arts, when a one-act comedy, an old 
comic operetta, and some unpublished operatic 
fragments of Meyerbeer*s were performed in cos- 
tume by the leading members of the Th^Atre- 
Fran^ais, the Of)^ra-Comique, and the Grand 
Opera. It seemed as if the best displays of the 
kind were exhausted in the palmy year of the 
Second Empire, and that nothing was left for the 
gatherings during the Exhibition of 1878. But 
the French always discover something new. On 
the 11th June last year, M. Bardoux, Minister of 



172 



DWIOHTB JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[You XXXJX. — No. 1005. 



Public Instruction, offered his guests an entirely 
original and charming entertaininent, namely, 
a historical concert in dances. This certainly 
comes under the category of novel surprises, and 
should excite emulation in other quarters. But 
such an idea cannot be carried out so easily, for 
it requires two persons with whom we do not 
often meet: a scholar conversant with dances, 
and a dans^fue who is also a scholar. The min- 
ister found the former in Theodore de Lajarte, a 
man thoroughly well versed in the history of mu- 
sic, and the latter in Mile. Laura Fonta, of the 
Grantl Opera. The two between them arranged 
the whole entertainment in conformity with old 
choreographic drawings, pictures, and scores. 
We 6r»t witnessed, on a pretty stage at the ex- 
treme end of the large apartment, two much 
talked-of dances of the sixteenth century, the 
Pavane and the Voliet executed, in French Court 
co^itume of the period, by three female and three 
male dancers from the Opera. The Volte was 
one of the most popular, if not exactly the most 
moral, dances. It was requisite that the male 
dancer should bo a strong man, a cavalier gall' 
lard ; he had to whirl his partner round several 
times and then lift her high up in the air. Yet 
the Volte was danced at all Court balls, and 
Queen Margot was celebrated as a famous Vol- 
teuse. Completely unlike the Fo/te, the Pavane 
was full of ceremonious dignity, and danced by 
the gentlemen with cloak, sword, and covered 
head. For the first time in our lives we saw all 
this, like some old picture vivified, with our own 
eyes. The whole wound up with the famous 
** Flower Ballet ** firom Bameau's Irules Galantejt 
(1758). Mademoiselle Fonta and twelve other 
ladies represented the flowers, round which blus- 
tered and sighed two male dancers under the 
masks of " Boreas and Zephyr." No descrip- 
tion can convey, even approxiouitely, a notion of 
the exceptionally charming picture, so historically 
true as regards costume, dances, and music. As 
already mentioned, Theodore de Lajarte, the 
learned keeper of the archives at the Grand 
Opera, superintended the musical part, which he 
had executed by merely five violins and a piano. 
This accompaniment proved much too small for 
the dimensions of the large apartment, which 
was acoustically bad ; the music sounded some- 
what as though it had come telephonically firom 
Brussels or London. 

A HISTORY OF INSTRUMENTATION. 

The remark of some one near me that even 
LuUy had employed 24 violins (^'Les 24 violons 
du Roy ") was the signal for a conversation on 
the different handling of the orchestra at differ- 
ent periods, and drew firom me an expression of 
regret at our not yet possessing a History of In' 
eirumentation. I remarked that, in the labors of 
Coussemaker, F^tis, Chrysander, and Ambros, 
we had merely valuable contributions for such a 
work, as far as regarded more especially oldish 
music, but no systematic account, coming down 
to our own days, of how men used to score at 
different periods and in different countries and 
schools. I did not know that a gentleman seated 
quite near me was then engaged on precisely 
such a work. His name was Henri Lavoix 
(Fils), and his book, just published in Paris by 
F. Didot, is called Hittoire de r Instrumentation 
depute le l^idme stkcle jusqu*h nos jours. The 
work fills up a gap in the literature of musical 
hbtory, and is not the first instance of the 
French anticipating the Germans in musical eru- 
dition. Lavoiz's Histoire de V Instrumentation 
supplements and admirably illustrates G. Chou- 
quet's History of French OperOf and Lajarte's 
Catalogue raisonnd of the Grand Opera, to speak 
only of works of the most recent date. It con- 



tains a mine of information set forth lucidly and 
pleasingly. It traces the origin of instruments 
back to the Middle Ages, and follows their de- 
velopment down to the scores of Richard Wag- 
ner, while it admirably characterizes the style of 
instrumentation patronized by various nations 
and their most eminent composers. If there is 
anything we miss in the book it is tables with 
musical examples and diagrams. The later are 
best found in the richly illustrated new work, 
Les Instruments h Archet, by A. Vidal, and the 
former in Berlioz. These works have recently 
been supplemented, too, by an admirable and 
welcome monograph, Les Types dee Instruments^ 
published in the Gazette Mwtieale by that thor- 
oughly profound and clever Parisian critic, Jean 
Weber. — Lond. Mus. World, 

{To te eoiUimued,) 



MR. JOSEFFrS DEBUT IN NEW YORK. 

The young Hungarian pianist, Rafiiel Joseffy, 
who made at Chickering Hall last night his first 
appearance in America, achieved an instant and 
brilliant success. If little has been heard about 
him here, it is because hitherto he has almost 
confined his sphere of activity to Vienna, and 
musical news is longer and more uncertain in 
reaching us from Vienna than from any other 
part of the world. Musicians and connoisseurs, 
however, were not ignorant of his popularity in 
the Austrian capital ; and the concert last night 
was attended by a throng of accomplished and 
expectant listeners who watched the performance 
with the most criUcal care. In the applause of 
such an audience an artist finds the best ratifica- 
tion of his title to fame. 

To most of the assemblage we presume that 
Joseffy was a great surprise. When we hear of 
a phenomenal young pianist, .especially of the 
modern school, we usually think of a " pounder." 
Joseffy is anything but that. He is brilliant, yet 
not noisy, dashing without clatter. Neither does 
he dazzle us with flashes of irregular splendor, or- 
overoome us with outbursts of passion and tem- 
pest. His playing, full as it is x>f light, of life, 
of glowing color and of strong feeling, is justly 
measured and exquisitely symmetrical. Indeed, 
't is most brilliant when 't is most delicate. It is 
when Joseffy executes the softest passages of 
Chopin that we feel surest in declaring him the 
most dashing of all pianists. His execution i^ 
not more remarkable for its &cility than for its 
nicety. There is perhaps no pianist now living 
whose work is so clean. Every note has its 
exact value and makes its exact effect. Every 
phrase. is so clear that it shines ; and every little 
embellishment keeps its outlines perfect. Nor is 
his precision the result of mere mechanical prac- 
tice. It seems, on the contrary, to be the sim- 
plest expression of a poetical nature highly en- 
dowed with a sense of the beauty of form and 
proportion. Coupled with this elegance of ex- 
ecution is a wonderful -^ we are tempted to say 
an unparalleled — beauty of touch. By touch 
we mean the sensuous quality of the tone evoked 
from the instrument through some indefinable art 
in striking the key, — an art wholly distinct from 
that of execution, which has to do with combina- 
tions and successions of notes rather than with 
the timbre of each one. If Joseffy's style was 
a surprise, his tone was a revelation. Few of 
us believed that the piano could produce sounds 
so sweet and so varied. Whenever he pressed 
the key-board he dropped jewels from his fin- 
gers. 

He played last night with the assistance of an 
orchestra sympathetically and adroitly conducted 
by Dr. Damrosch. His first selection was 
Chopin's beautiful Concerto in £ minor. The 
opening Allegro was played with extreme ele- 



gance and a composure that seemed to give the 
audience some astonishment. The Romanza 
was warmer. In the Rondo the blood of the 
artist coursed still more rapidly, and here we 
had one of the most remarkable exhibitions of 
virtuosity on the pianoforte that we can call to 
mind. It roused a storm of enthusiasm, and the 
performer was recalled again and again. Next 
came a group of solo pieces ; in Bach*s Chromatic 
Fantasia and Fugue Mr. Joseffy's style did not 
differ very materially from that of other interpre- 
ters ; in two of his own transcriptions, or Etudes, 
based on Boccherini's Minuet and Chopin's Walti 
in D-flat, he displayed some of the choicest 
graces of his execution, although it must be com- 
fesse<l that he added little of value to the themes 
chosen for embellishment, and that he robbed 
them of characteristic charms. For a recall ho 
played *' La Danza," firom Liszt's Venezia e 
Napolu Lastly, in Liszt's £-flat Concerto, he 
manifested powers in a more stately vein than 
the first part of the entertainment had called 
forth, and so he kept the delight of the audience 
increasing to the very end. 

The last test of an artist is in the ability to 
interpret the deepest thoughts of the grandest 
composers. It is in this that Von Biilow is 
great. What Joseffy may be in this respect 
cannot be determined from the selections pre- 
sented last night. — Trihune, Oct. 14. 



TALKS ON ART. -SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XV. 

Tour picture is not quiet enough. Things 
don't keep their place. A picture that 's running 
around might as well be a mouse. You make 
too much point of everything. You make every- 
thing count. Look I there 's a whole I Your 
picture is not. It is all in parts. Things tor- 
ment you. Don't hook your eye upon an object 
and draw it up here just as a lobster catches his 
food. Don't begin by making exceptions 1 Begin 
with your rule. Better have things under-cooked 
than over-done. Food over-done is not fit to 
give to a beggar. 

Be critical ; and keep things where they are. 
Keep them in the frame. Hang what people 
say -^ *' That head stands out to well — from 
the frame I " 

Painting is the representation of things that 
are away fi:om yon. You paint what is beyond 
yon. First, the sky ; then the distance ; next, 
middle ground; last, foreground, with figures, 
perhaps. Don't make things too visible ! Give 
people spectacles ; but don't spoil your work 1 

You would all paint better if you did n't think 
so much of what other people will say about your 
work. Suggestion is the biggest thing in the 
world. It is a great deal bigger than a fact. 
Paint the vague something that you see. Don't 
try to be smarter than pature. 

Distance never lends anything but enchant- 
ment Don't lose your distance I Crack ahead I 
Yon 're a little bit too conscientious ; I mean 
about painting. I want to see you get vague- 
ness, distance, the subjections which one thing has 
to another. Learn to sacrifice one thin^ to sur- 
rounding objects 1 You see a calf staring over a 
fence. You paint your calf as he looks to yon ; 
but if you paint the sky as you think you see it, 
without any refisrence to its relation to the calf, 
you '11 find your sky stuck fast to his ears, instead 
of being four thousand miles away. But I'm not 
going to bother you any more. Yours truly 1 

1 Copyright, 1879, by Hekn M. Knowltoo. 



OOTOBBB 25, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



173 



Get your mind off of yoar work for a minute 
and then go at it like a cataract. 

I 'ye carried that portrait as fiur as I can carry 
it lafely. I know that I am ambitious ; and I 
know that I should like to go on with it as long 
as I could see anything to do. But I know that 
if I did so I should carry it steadily backwards ; 
so I oblige myself to stop where I am. I tried 
to represent an impression. I have done that ; 
and to go and get other qualities that I should 
like would be to sacrifice somethbg of the sim- 
plicity and dignity of the whole. 

If you want to make an impression, you must 
sacrifice as many details as possible. Keep your 
figure strong, and undisturbed by little things 
that hinder, not help, and it will strike the hb- 
holder like an apparition. If you are going to 
paint a ghost, you don't give him sixteen rows 
of buttons. A great sweep of vague drapery, 
and a figure in it.. 

But some people would never be satisfied with 
thaL Afler a Beethoven Symphony they want 
a little Jim Croto tucked on to the end of it to 
make it pretty. 

Your background is too yellow. It makes you 
think of paint. Anybody would know tliat you 
painted it with yellow-ochre. The best thing 
you can do is to paint it right out with black 
and white and cobalt, and paint your yellow tints 
into that. Dou*t bury your figures under a 
tombstone of yellow ochre, so that afler a year's 
time, when they come to light^ they look wrig- 
gling and distressed, as if they had been buried 
alive. 

YoQ gret a thing yellow by painting it of some 
other color, and then using the yellow only where 
it is needed. If you are painting a tiara of gold, 
paint the band solidly with black and white, and 
then touch in the yellow-ochre, full and frankly, 
and the tremble of the blue or black will help 
the color of the gold. 

YoQ most *' go in " for something I You can*t 
go in for nothing at all. 

It isn 't always the thing you see that 's the 
best. Put in all the pretty things that please 
your fiuicy, and you destroy the simplicity of the 
whole. 

You must n*t be so ambitions I 

'< How can I help it ? " 

You can't. 

'* I was told when in Europe, to ' work, work.' 
So I began to paint early in the morning, almost 
before l^hf — 

An excellent time to paint — when you can't 
eee color I 

^ Yes ; and I painted all day, sometimes with- 
out eating, even working late at night by gas- 
light. I did that seven years, until I lost my 
health." 

And now for seven years you ought to go out 
of doors, sit under a pine-tree, and say, '* What a 
fooll What a fool 1" 




OUR PLANS. 

As with the waning year the musical season 
gprows apace, threatening to be more absorbing 
and more multifisirious than ever, we feel the need 
of all the room our little sheet affords for doing 
anything like justice to the musical interests and 
topics of the day. Our columns, therefore, will 
be henceforth devoted almost exclusively to mu- 
sical subjects, although we are not bound always 
to exclude a brief contribution upon other arts, 
or even of a purely literary character, — for in- 
stance, a short poem now and then, if very good I 
The literary element so far has hardly amounted 
to enough, in quantity at least, to justify its in- 
troduction in a paper like this, while we have 
wanted all the space it occupied for matters 
purely musical or in some way related to music 
Miss Knowlton's interesting reports of the la- 
mented Wm. M. Hunt's *< Talks on Art " will still 
go on until her stock of notes is exhausted ; but 
beyond this we can make no promises regarding 
any art but music. We look for more of those 
readable and instructive articles from Mrs. 
Ritter, in continuance of the series so charmingly 
begun with her ^ Study " on George Sand and 
Chopin. That was music, poetry, art, nature, 
»U in one I Mr. W. -F. Apthorp will still be a 
frequent contributor, sometimes fumbhing, as he 
has so well done before, an editorial ** leader." 
Nor will any of our valued correspondents and 
contributors be wanting, while new writers will 
be coming to the front. 

Just now we want more room particularly, — > 
and we intend to take it, — first, for musical in- 
telligence, a summary of events in all parts of 
the musical world ; and secondly, for brief re- 
views of the more important musical publications. 
*We have still further plans in petto to be mar 
tured before the expiration of Uie present year 
and volume, for enlarging the scope of this 
journal, so as to make it more fully an exponent 
of the musical activity that centres here in 
Boston, while it will keep an outlook upon what 
is passing elsewhere, and make more fall report 
of it than heretofore. 



The Hflrefbrd FetCivml (166th meeting of the three Choln 
of Hereford, Gloiicester, end Woroeeter) bcgui September 9, 
with a eerriee, followed by Elijah^ with Mme. Alhmi, Miie 
Amia Willimns, Mmee. Euilques sod Pktey, Messre. Mo- 
GnekiD, W. H. Comminici, end SMiUey te eoloUts. Sec- 
ond d«7, PoroeU's Te Dtum^ and Baeh*s Chritttnas Ora- 
torio (ptfti 1 end S), with Miee Thanby, Mme. PftUy, Mr. 
Cummingt, etc., end Spohr*s Petlm: <*How lovely ere thy 
dweUioge." Third day, Dr. Arthur SuUivm*s Oratorio, 
The Light of the World (Miee Thortby, Mme. Petey, Meewe. 
CanimhigB end McGndun for tenon, end Mr. Sentley, 
bees; after whfeh, Haydn*s Imperial Mau. Hiere were 
aleo erening mleodlaneoos coooerte, end a eonoert of eham- 
ber moeio. 



IS ROBERT FRANZ A FAILURE ? 

I RAVK heen much surprised, since I wrote an 
article on *' Additional Accompaniments to Bach 
and Handel Scores,** which was published in the 
Atlantic Monthly for Auguet, 1878, to find a 
great divergence in opinion on this subject among 
musicians I liave chanced to talk with. I had 
thought Franz's position in this matter as undis- 
puted among unprejudiced musicians as I now 
think it unassailable. The opponents of Franz 
in Germany can be fairly ranked in two classes : 
those of the first class are not musicians, abd 
those of the second are composers, much of whose 
work in the same field has been so severely (and 
to my mind so justly) criticised by Franz and 
his friends, that their attitude toward him must 
needs have a polemical character. In the wholly 
rabid condition of what might be called *' musi- 
cal politics " in Germany, it was humanly un- 
avoidable that such a publication as Franz*s not- 
able <' Open Letter to Dr. Eduard Hanslick " 
should estrange from him both Johannes Brahms 
and Josef Joachim, and their legion of sworn 
admirers. 

But certain private expressions of opinion by 
musicians who have no manner of personal con- 
nection with the quarrel between Franz and 
Julius Schaefier, on one side, an*? the I^ipziger 



Bach-Verein, on the other, have struck me as "O 
well worthy of couMderation, from their wholly 
unpartisan origin, that I would here try to an- 
swer at least some of them. 

Much stress has been laid upon the un- 
doubted fact that, with the exception of the <^ St 
Matthew-Passion," the Franz scores of Bach Can- 
tatas that have been performed in Boston (the 
''Magnificat** and the •< Christmas Oratorio") 
ihade a very unsatisfactory effect. This is cer- 
tainly ;>rtma facie evidence against Franz. But 
it would have been nothing short of miraculous 
if these Cantatas had made a satisfying efiect, 
given under the conditions they then were given 
under. I would not be thought for a moment 
to hint at any incompetency in the musicians 
(singers and pUyers) who took part in these 
performances ; the difficulty did not He there in 
the least. The difficulty lay wholly in' either a 
total want of appreciation, or a total disregan], 
of the fiMt that the musical conditions these 
scores demand are difi*erent, tato ecs/o, from those 
demanded by the works oar choral societies 
habitually produce. It is well known that Bach*s 
Chdreh Cantatas were written for yerj small 
vocal masses; even the slightest study of his 
scores will show that his treatment of orchestral 
instruments, in respect to their mutual dynamic 
relations, differed totally from that of composers 
of a later period. In his style of instrumenta- 
tion Bach shows little or no regard fw that 
superior power of the strings over the wooden 
wind which was the basis of orehestration in 
Mozart's and Haydn*8 day. In fact, Bach*s or- 
chestral scores look much more like chamber- 
music than they do like what is nowadays con- 
sidered as orchestral writing. Even \v^ forte 
passages his oboe or flute parts have an^mpor- 
tance in the contrapuntal web of the music such 
as no composer of a later period would have 
thought of giving theuL Each separate voice in 
Bach's orchestra is as important musically, and 
should be made so dynamically, as the others. 
It is very evident that the modem practice of 
doubling the violin and viola parts, so as to give 
them the supremaicy in the orchestra, cannot give 
his scores their due effect. Now Franz has 
scored his ^ additional accompaniments *' wholly 
in harmony with Bach's style, and the rules that 
apply to the proper production of a Bach score 
apply with equal force to the production of 
Franz's arrangements. 

The dynamic relation between orchestra and 
chorus is also an important matter. It is quite 
plain that choral compositions in which not only 
the orchestra as a whole, but every single instru- 
mental part, plays so important a role as in 
Bach's, will suffer greatly by having the choir so 
large and powerful as virtually to overbalance 
the instruments. The true conditions for the 
proper performance of a Bach Cantata are to 
have every vocal and instrumental part equally, 
or very nearly equally, strong. It is almost 
needless to say that these conditions have never 
been observed here. Our orchestra has been 
composed in the same way, and has borne the 
same relation to the chorus, as in performances 
of '< Elijah," *" The Creation," and other works 
which are scored on a totally different principle. 
The flutes, oboes, and clarinets have been wholly 
unable to assert themselves against the strings, 
and have been, moreover, rendered doubly im- 
potent by their position on the stage, surrounded 
and deadened as they were by laige choral 
masses, and by having their tone reach the audi- 
ence filtered through that of the violins and 
violas, a process which is admirably adapted to 
give full effect to Beethoven symphonies, but 
which works much ruin with Bach. 

W,F.A. 

(7*0 h9 eominm^.) 



174 



BWIOHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXJX. — No. 1005. 



A CALIFORNIA MUSICAL mVENTION. 

THE DOW PIANO AND THB VIOLIN PIANO. 

The following history and description of a cu- 
rious, possibly a valuable musical instrument, 
which many will remember to have seen at the 
Philadelphia Exposition, we print for what it is 
worth. Not having witnessed it ourselves, we 
cannot judge of its importance. The article, as 
we received it from a writer in California, who 
is well informed uponthe subject, u introduced by 
brief historical accounts of the various bow instru- 
Loents of the violin family, and of the piano-forte 
by itsel£ But this is matter so familiar as to be 
unessential to an understanding of the new inven- 
tion, so that, considering the length of the article 
lor our small space, we make bold to omit it, and 
come to the point at once. We have no doubt 
of the great ingenuity of the invention, but only 
time and artists can decide whether it be a real 
gain to music as an art. Whether it is not bet- 
ter that the violin should be a violin, and the 
piano a piano,, each filling the distinctive sphere 
in art which it has always done, is a question 
which will force itself upon our mind. The me- 
chanical invention may be very interesting in it- 
self^ but the esthetic, the artistic question is the 
one on which the whole matter turns. Whether 
pianists will compose better music, and perform 
it better, by having a quasi violin, or viol, or 
violoncello ingrafted on their Chickering or 
Steinway " Grand," — that seems to be the ques- 
tion. As a general experience, all such mongrel 
products of the marriage of instruments of dif- 
ferent temperament and genius have proved very 
unsatisfactory to true artists and musicians, But 
now hear our correspondent : — 

THB BOW riAXO. 

The first sttempt st making a ^ bow piano " was made in 
1610, wlien Hans Haydcn of Nnembei^ in Germaiij turned 
out an inatrument which he called " Gamba w<M>k.** This 
new initniment had a finger-board and was shaped like a pi- 
ano of tliat time. It was supplied with gut airings, and by 
pressure on 'the kejs these strings were thrown agMost 
small woodso roUen covered with parehment and rubbed 
with min. These roUen, connected by a very narrow belt, 
were goremed by a larger wheel, ana a pedal connected 
with the larger wheel put the whole apparatus in motioQ 
and, by means of friction, produced the sounds. Hayden*s 
bow piano was improved upon by Jobann HohlfeU <^ Ber- 
lin in 1757, and his Improvement consisted simply in cover- 
ing the roUen, instead of parchment, with horae-hair alio 
nibbed with resin, against which the strings were prened 
by tlis same means. Alter Holilfeld, seven or eight perwns 
inade experiments with the view of oonstmoting a bow piano, 
but DO record exists of what they succeeded in perfecting. J. 
Carl Greincr, one of the best piano-maken of hia time, revived 
the idea of a bow piano, and in the free town of Wetzlar, now 
belonging to Pmsifa^ in 1783, invented one which had two 
key-boaHs, the upper to play the piano and the lower the 
bow piano. It was three feet dght inches long, one foot 
elgfat inches broad, and one foot high.i 

Grdner was the fint who made an endless bow of parch- 
ment operating over rollers, the strings being pressed against 
the bow. It is not known how far it was a success. Caii 
Greiner, at his death, was succeeded in his business by his 
cousin Hana Grriner, the fether of Frederic and Geoige Grei- 
ner, but he was so occupied with the maou&ctnre of piano- 
fortea that he paid no attention to the bow piano. The idea 
rested from 1782 till 1835, when Frederic and George began 
to experiment on the bow {Hano. Many of their experi- 
ments were very costly, and at length thebrothen came to 
the conclusion that only by using the natural shape of the 
violin, viola, violoncello and bass, which had not bdfore been 
tested, could the sound of the violin be properly imitat4wl by 
means of four endless hone-hair bows passing over roUen. 

The new idea proved the correct one, and the new instru- 
ment was pronounced a decided success. This bow |Hano 
was snanged in this way: A double bass, a violoncdk), a 
viola, and a violin, were festeued in such a wi^ that one fol- 
lowed the other according to size. These instruments were 
then surrounded by a f^me ^ving the whole the appearance 
of a small grand piano, and furnished with gut strings, ren- 
dering notes from the lowest bass to the bJghest treble, at 
that time intended for but six octaves. The key-board was 
so arranged that on pressing down the keys a small lever, 
resting on the hind part of the key and at the same time 
eoonected upward with the gut, presssd the string against 
the bow. Each of the four instruments had its how made 

1 Reference is made to Edward BemsdorTs <« Universsl Les- 
ieon of Mttsie *' poblishsd in Dresdso, 1857, page 334. 



of hone-hair, endless in Its action, and passing over two roU- 
en. These four bows were put in action by a fly-wheel 
connected with the rollers^ the fly-wheel being governed by a 
treadle. Each of the four violins had four bridges, aud over 
these sixteen bridges seventy-three strings passed. 

The sound was produced in the same manner as in a 
piano-forte, namely, by pressing the keys, but on the bow 
piano the sounds could be prolonged indefinitely by simply 
continuing the pressure on the keys, an attribute not pos- 
sessed by the piano-forte. The performer was able, by grnter 
or less preuure ou the keys, to regulate the volume of sound 
and render the notes with more or less expression. On 
completing the new instrument, the Greiuen gave concerts 
in Wetclw, their native town, in the neighboring towns, in 
Frankfort-on -the- Main, and at many of the most fashioiutble 
bathing-places, where they were received with the greatest 
fevor by the aristocracy and musical authorities. At Fk«nk- 
fort the cdebrated composer and musician, Aloys Schmitt, 
frequently played on it, and expressed himself as highly de- 
lighted with the bow piano. He complimented the invent- 
on on the success of their experiments, which had exceeded 
all expectations. Schmitt recommended the brothen Grei- 
ner to Emil Steinkiihler, his most proficient scholar, and the 
latter, who is now a musical director aud composer in Lille 
in the northern part of France, and received from Louis Na- 
poleon the highest dUtlnctaon, the ** Golden Medal of Merit,*' 
played on the instrument very frequently, and spoke of it in 
unmessured terms of praise. 

In Weisbaden the Duchess of Nassau sent for the invent- 
on to bring the bow piano to her castle. The lady was 
delighted at the performance of Stelnkubler on this instru- 
ment. At Ems, the Queen of Greece heard the bow piano, 
and exfHessed great satisfection. Prince Fiintenberg, an 
excellent Judge and patron of music, was much delighted 
with it. By an Eiigliahmaii, George Greiner was Induced 
to take his invention to Englaiid, where it proved a great 
attraction, and was highly approved by the compoeer. Mo- 
schdes. On returning to Germany, Greiner and his brother 
resumed the manufacture of piano-fortes, and continued 
it till 1848, when George left for America, leaving the bow 
piano with his brother in Genpany. After some years, 
Geofge received a letter from his brother stating that the* 
guUstrings getting so dry had loet their elasticity and broke, 
and that to replace so many strings appeared to him too 
costly and tedious an undertaking, eren for once in two years, 
for many persons. Ou hearing this George Greiner took no 
mora pains with the bow ptsno, but discarding the whole 
idea turned his attention, while in America, to the inven- 
tion of a more dureble and simple histrument, to solve the 
question whether there could not be constructed sn instru- 
ment having steel wire instead of gut-strings, and simple 
uprigbt-movmg horse-hair bows, producing sounds similar 
to those of other bow instruments. 

THB TIOUH PEAMO. 

After completing hu plans and dnwings, 6. Grreiner left 
Sacramento, Califomia,in Juue, 1871, and visited his native 
town in Germany, and there, with his own hands, made the 
new ^ Vk»lin Piano," having steel wires and upright-moving 
horse-hair bows. During the progress of the work new ideas 
of improrenient so constantly presented themselves that five 
yean passed away before the violin piano reached its present 
degree of perfection, and was a aatisfactioQ to its inventor. 
T^ news of its completion drew crowds of the nobility to 
his rooms, and he was invited to visit Frankfort^on-the-Main 
and give there a concert, but he was unable to accept, as the 
Centennial Exposition was close at hand. In 1876 the new 
instrument was expoeed at the Exhibition in Philadelphia, 
and a few months after its srrival a part of the roof of the 
main buUding fiBll in, and as it was raining heavily in the 
night time, ^ violin piano and quantities of other goods 
were more or less injured. At the ckMc of the Centennial, 
the instrument, after being thoroughly overhauled and re- 
paired, was removed the following spring to Chicago, and 
thence to Sacramento, thus showing satisfectorily that it can 
stand all fetigues of transportation and any change of cli- 
nwte. At the ExposiUon the riolin piano was constantly 
the attraction for admiring crowds who seemed never to 
weary of liatening to its notes, and predicted a handsome 
fortune for the penevcring inventor. During the progress 
of the CentennUl Exhibition, six months, idl the Eastern 
pa^en of any prominence made favoreble notice of the vio- 
lin piano. Emil Seifert — a performer on the violin and a 
musical critic of established ability, acknowledging that there 
had been felt for a long time a desire to pix)duoe, on the 
piano, continuous sounds similar to those of the vioUn — 
writing to the Phibulelphi* Pvblic Ltdytr^ thus speaks of 
the new instrument: — 

"Geoige Greiner, of Sacramento, Califiomia, exhibits a 
unique and interesting instrument, of which he is the in- 
ventor, that is, a violin piano, or a piano which, in addition 
to tlie ordiiutfy tone, gives a prolonged note similar to a 
vwlin or a *cello, and produced by the same meaiia, that is, 
drawing the bow of horse-hair across the strings. The 
form is similar to that of a grand piano, but the principle 
can be introduced in any shaped piano. The stringing con- 
sists of ordinary steel piano-strings of seven octaves. Each 
tone hss a string, and each string has an upright riolin bow. 
The bow arrangement is made of a steel frame, between 
which the violin bows are placed. This fhune, with the 
endosed bows, is put in motion by a pedal evisiug a perpen- 
dioolar movement of the bows. The mechanism of the 



action is constructed so that a small upright lever festened 
in the hind part of the key presses against the bent lever 
with a sm^ roller, and this against the bow in order to 
produce the tone. The power of this tone depends upon the 
pressure upon the keys. Above the strings tliree wodden 
forms are suspended, which can be raised or lowered through 
dlfiereiit pedals. In these form, damping buttons are placed 
which rest upon certain points of the string, thus originat- 
ing flageolet-tones. In the first form, by which the dampen 
touch the centre of the string, the octave In fligeolet tone 
Is produced. In the second form the damper touches the 
third part of the string, and produces the fifth. In the 
third form the damper touches the fifth part of the string, 
producing the upper third. The entire three flageolet pedals 
are governed by the left foot." 

In June hut, Professor Kemenyl, the cdebrated Hunga- 
rian violinist, visited Sacramento and gare several concerts. 
While in that city he visited Grsiner's rooms for the purpose 
of eeeing and hearing the violin piano. He expreesed him- 
self as highly delighted and gratified with the grand and 
genial idot, and with the beautiful tones produMd by the 
steel wires and violin bows. He sincerely wished that the 
new instrument would soon be generally introduced. 

The vfolin piano can be used as a solo instrument, like the 
inano-forte. It can be used in churches, in private residences, 
and as an accompaniment to any kind of musical instru- 
ment, and also the human voice, when it gives very general 
aatisfiiotion. As yet, no composer has written music in- 
tended parUcularly for this instrument, but there is now a 
large fUid for such composition. As the violin piano is ca- 
pable of prolonged sounds, it will be found much easier to 
produce rich-sounding music for it than for the common 
piano, the full eound of which is of but momentary duration. 
The key.board of the violia piano u the same as that of the 
piano-forte, but the touch of the fin^en is entirely different. 
In the former the player presses on the keys, produdng a 
stronger or softer sound as he may wish, whUe on the com- 
mon piano the fingering is a succession of strokes or ham- 
mering. The pedal which controls the bow fr«me of the 
violin piano can be moved by the perfumer's foot or by 
means of a crank governed by aiiotlier person, or by clock- 
work if it should not be convenient tot him to move the 
pedal for himself. At first all piano pbyen find it difficult 
to pby on the riolin piano for the reason that they yre ae- 
customed to strike in a hammering way, whereas the per. 
former on a violin piano must learn to prea hu fingen on 
the keys as the riolinist does hu bow on the strings. The 
true beauty and perfection of the riolin piano can only be 
shown by a performer who thoroughly understands the in- 
strument. To expect them flnom othen would be as useless 
as to look fior the latent beauties of the genuine Cremona 
from a novice whoee knowledge of the vioUn causes him to 
be a welcome visitor at a negro break-down. 

The action of the violui piano is much simpler than Uiat 
of the piano-forte, and can be used a great length of time 
without requiring any repairing. The friction c? the horse- 
hair on the polished steel wires is so slight that the bows 
can be used for yean without the Iocs of a single hair, a 
resin of peculiar compoeitioii being used for sharpening Uie 
bows. Should clreumstances require the insertion of a new 
bow, it can readily be done, and the same eharecter of 
sound will be retained; while in the caae of the piano-forte, 
should a new hammer be required, it is difficult to produce 
the same eharsetsr. The eound of the violin piano, like the 
riolin itself, improves the longer it is pbyed upon. 

From what has been abore written eoncemijig it, it will 
be apparei|t that there is no rsason why the violin piano 
should not become a leading musical instrument. This at- 
tention of manufaeturen is called to the fact that the in- 
struments differ so widely that the manu&eture of violin 
pianos will not interfere with that of piano-fortes, and that 
the general introduction of the former will establish a new 
and important industry, giring employment to thousands of 
artisans in fectories, which may be carried on in oonnectioo 
with piano-forte establishments. It wouU be a matter of re- 
gret should the riolin piano remain tonger withheld fh>m 
the musical world. In the riolin piano there is a new and 
interesting field in which composen who thoroughly under- 
stand the instrument may display their genius and ability. 

The writer feeb satisfied that the riolin piano is destined 
to become a general ferorite with all lovers of music, and 
that should one or more piano-maken pnrehaae the invent- 
(nt's patent and enter upon the msnufeeture of violin pianos, 
they would be well rewarded for their labtw and outlay, be- 
sides receiving the gratitude of the muaio-loving public. 
Sacbambmto, Cal., 8epi, S4« Pacific. 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

This is the season when those little vtkarU of fire to ssven 
migntory artiats, which go waltzmg over our wide country 
nevly all the year, come down upon the dty to engage a 
little brief attention before the bigger pknetary bodies that 
gire concerts, the regular organisations, hare got the steam 
up for their annual revolutions- (There 's mixed metaphor for 
you!) But many of these little concert companies are like 
planets, too. In that they are satellites about some central star; 
one of them actually ti^es the name of '* Pleiades ; " whether 
the ** lost Pleiad ** is among them we are not informed. In 
plain proee Boston has been visited of late by various small 
concert companies, who give us the old misosllaneous sort of 



OcTOBBB 25, 1879.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



175* 



■olo progmnmcs, atringi of lolos, each calculated to entrap ao 
encore. 

We have had. the Carlotta Patti tioape three times, with 
the great Muiic Hall hardly half filled. Bat the humor of 
applause prevailed with plentiful encoring. Mme. Patti ii 
what she always was, a very brilliant, finished, and la every 
technical way accomplished vocalist She can make perfect 
runs and trills, and she can flash arpeggios, every note dis- 
tinct and bright, throughoat a wide soprano compass; she 
can execute with the precision of an instrument the most 
difficult and florid passages; she can hold out a high tone, 
swelling and diminishing its volume to a marvelous degree, 
and she is very fond of doing it. In fiset she is a complete 
music box in perfect order. Everybody knows it, and every- 
body says it; there is but one mind about her; so that our 
humble opinion can hardly go astray in this. But the sing- 
ing is without one spark of soul or feeling; the only exprea- 
sion is a certain genial good-uaturedness, the same in all she 
does. The Aria from RigoUtUt^ therefore, and that other 
bright but souUess Verdi melcdy, Emani^ invoiamij found 
the right interpreter in her. Vr. Arne's '* Where the bee 
sucks " was given with a playful grace. And her Spanish 
tongs, though some of those wild shouts were coarsely over- 
powering, were given with a dash and freedom, as well as a 
fine execution, that pleased her audience mightily. 

For support Mme. PatU had Sig. Ciampi-Cellai, apparently 
a Frenchman, of good presence, whose ^ttioe is a baritone of 
good quality, afflicted with tremoto. He sang well worn 
Arias by Vtfdi, Faure, Mattel, etc., but made no strong 
impression. The pianist, Mr. Henry Ketten, is remariuble 
in some respects. There is great decision, certainty, dis- 
tinctness in his touch, and in his phrasing; every detail 
eomes most cleariy out. He has great execution, and great 
strength, which shows itself as much in his delicate pas- 
sages as in his flnequently too boisterous fbrtassimos. Liszt's 
Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2, wss very effictively rendered. 
For an encore he played Liszt*s transcription of Beethoven's 
Turkish March, with clock-like precision of time and accent 
(rightly so), and admirably in all' respects. His own little 
genre compositions (** Margaret at the spinning wheel," 
^ Spanish Serenade," and '< CastagnetU " ) showed a delicate 
fisncy and were exquisitely played. His paraphrase on Fautt^ 
too, was clever in its way. But we were less pleased with 
his interpretations of Chopin, particulariy the Polonuse in 
A-flat, in which the heroic temper ran too wild and fierce; 
it was extremely nouy. 

Decidedly the finest artbt of the group was the violonoel- 
liat, Mr. Ernest De Munck, whose tone, style, feeling, exe- 
cution, place him among the real masten of his (when so 
handled) most expressive instrument. He made a fine- im- 
pression with Piatti's Fantasia oa the SonnavUnda, intro- 
ducing that ever beautiful " Phantom chorus.'* Sohubert's 
" Le Desir," also made a capital theme for the instrument, 
but Servais's variations, in Uieir forced transformations for 
efieet, to show off the player, were not all in keeping with 
it, as Beethoven's variations always are, however unex- 
pected. 



October 21), which certainly was, in one pobt of view, a re- 
markable sign of the times, — a sign of progress, if things 
are what they seem. It was simply a classical Chamber 
Concert (Violin (Quartets, etc.), in the great Music Hall 
(an unfit place, of course), and actually listened to with re- 
spectful sUenoe, and heartily applauded after every number 
by two thousand people! Such things were never seen six 
years ago. The managen had announced Mme. Center for 
that evening, but ill health delayed her coming over to this 
country, and the whole programme had to be changed. It 
was an original thought to engage an excellent Quintet 
Club from New York, consisting of Miss Lana Anton, pian- 
ist, and the Herren Kichter and Van Odder, violinists, 
Kisch for vioU, and Miiller, 'oelfo. Also Miss Matilda 
Phillipps, the contralto, and Signer Buncio, a fine tenor, 
one of the fiew members of Col. Mapleson's opera troupe. 
The vocal selections, though well sung, were of a hackneyed 
kind compared to the instrumental, which wen : A beauti- 
ful String Quartet of Haydn (Op. 64, No. 5 in D); Beet- 
hoven's Komanzain F; Violin Solo by Herr Rlehter; piano 
solo : a tarantella and the great Toccata and Fugue in D minor 
by Bach, very creditably rendered by Miss Anton; a slow 
movement from Rubinstein's Quartet hi E-flat (Op. 17, No. 
2); the Canzonetta from Mendelssohn's Quartet, Op. 12; 
an Adagio and a Schlummerlied (Carl Schubert and F. 
Rics) for 'oeUo sob; and three movements of the Schu- 
mann Quintet with piano. Verily a bountiful quantity, coo- 
sidering the quality, for the digestion of a great popular 
audience ! 

Here our review must pause for want of room. There is 
more to speak of which occurred that evening. 



Miss Penis Bell will be remembered here as a strong and 
healthy Western girl, who became one of the fbremost of 
Mr. Cjohberg's violin pupils, placing the Bach Chacotmey 
and works of like calibre, ia a way that astonished people. 
Several yean since she went abroad for further study and 
DOW comes back married, a well trained singer with a sweet 
voice, as well as a vioUnist. Sig. XiCandro Qwnpanari, and 
bis wife, Persis Bell CJampanari, gave their fint concert last 
Moqjday evening at Union Hall, before an audience apprecia- 
tive but fisr hwk numerous. The Slgn<Nr is a young man, 
of small and delicate mouU, with face <* sicklied o'er with 
the pale cast of thought," evidently of a sensitive nature, 
who plays the violin with great parity and sweetness of tone, 
and a good deal of exeeutioa. His tone is not large, and he 
inclines mora to the emotional than to a vigorous, manly 
style, seeming most in his element ia the <' El^ie " by Baa- 
sini and the ** Sonata*' (Heaven save the mark!) by Pag- 
anini. Yet there is something poetic In his feeling, which 
was shown to more advantage in the Andante and Polonaise 
by Vieuxtemps, of which he played the latter movement with 
great fire and verve. In the great Schumann Quintet (fint 
movement) with Pianoforte by Bfr. Lang, and Messn. Allen 
and the brothen Hdndl, he led a good pwformance with spirit 
and intelligenoe; so, too, the delightful Quartet by Haydn, 
in B-flat, Op. 20, No. 2, which clowd the entertainment. 

Mme. Omapanari showed such sustained power and mas- 
tery in her violin solo, the Air briUant by Vieuxtemps, that 
we wondered at her seeking a new career as singer. She 
has a good voice, sweet and full, with a pleasant timbre or 
tone-color, and she sang three little songs by Gounod in a 
style simple and expressive. But Rossini's ** Una voce *' is 
somewhat beyond her power of easy execution ; in the high 
passage* her voice seetncd strained, and there was a certain 
pupil-like uncertainty in the whole eflfort. 

Mr. Lang, beskies fab masterly piano phying in the Schu • 
maun (Quintet, played the first movement of Rubinstun's 
Concerto, Op. 45, which is of a highly romantic and Fantasia- 
like Sonata form, and very interesting, Mr. Fenallosa sketch, 
ing in the orehestral accompaniment on a second piano. 

We trust this artist couple will be heard i^ain, and by a 
laiger anaienoe. 

The Redpath Lyeeaii^ crowd has ei\joyed two mora con- 
certs. We can speak otily of the last (Tuesday evening, 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

CiiiCAOo, Oct. 15 — Our musical season has been some- 
what tardy in commendng this year, and although we have 
had a number of concerts, they were mostly of minor impor- 
tance. Yet in the near future a number of fine entertain- 
ments are coming to us, and as early as next week the 
Strakoech Italian Opera Troupe wUl vidt our city. It will 
be an honor for me to transmit to the Jouiwal word-echoes 
of our mudc, accompanied by such r^ections as are called 
up hi the mind by the tone>pictures that will be given in 
my hearing. In this Western land, where all is activity, 
and the rush of the money-maken lends an exdtement to 
the scene, our mudcal circles are often affected by spasmodic 
influences, sometimes disadvantageous to our steady progress. 
The love of change and novdty ofBfcn enten into the public 
liking to such a degree as to make us seem capridous in our 
taste. What the public will support most enthusiastically one 
season will pass without much uotioe the next, and some 
new fimcy will be the idol of the hour. In mattera of home 
effort this micertunty of public taste is often a serious hin- 
drance to podtive advancement. Many mudcal organizations 
have hdd thdr own for a short period upon the tidal wave 
of success, only to find themsdves engulfed by the changing 
currents of public disapprobation, which the breath of a new 
sensation called bito bdng. lu the musical dreles, when 
considered in thdr widest sense, there is no fixed standard 
of judgment, but the emotiond element of caprice seems to 
be, to a laige extent, the prevuling element. As long as 
this condition is a foct, so bug will then be ao uncertainty 
in regard to the public support given to praiseworthy un- 
dertakings for the advancement of art. 

During the past season our home organisaUons had to 
make every effort to keep themselves financially strong 
enough to live, and dthough they offered to the public in- 
teresting concerts at which noble works were performed, 
their success^ was but that uncertdu one that a breath can 
sweep away. Yet our public gare $58,000 for an opera 
season of two weeks, which surdy indicated that money was 
plenty enough. As I look out upon the opening season, and 
watch the acUve preparations that are bdng made by our 
borne mudcal sodeties for the public's pleasure, I can but 
wish that they will recdve that appreciation and hearty 
supp(Hl which they so richly merit. But uncertdnty must 
be made to give way before a steadfast standard of taste on 
the part of the puUic, which will support that which is ex- 
cellent and beautiful because they love it, before oui mudcal 
enterprises obtain a healthy, life-sustuning existence. To 
do this, there is but one way, namely, to educate the public 
mudcally, until they appreciate what is beautiful by know- 
inff why it is so. This education can only become generally 
operatira when the wedthy music-lovers are wUling to 
offer tribute to the art they call beautiful by paying some- 
thing toward its su|^K)rt. When we see that some of our 
rich people aid in tbe advancement of music by hdping to 
support liberdly the undertakings of our home societies, 
then we will realiae that the art is taking a positira hold in 
their regard. Then mudcd culture will no longer be an 
affection but a redlty. 

From these reflections I turn to notice briefly some of the 
concert* of the month. The first of any note was a Piano- 
forte redtd by Miss £. M. Huntington of New York. She 
had the assistance of Mrs. C D. Stacy, Mr. James Gill, and 
Mr. Frank Bahnd. The pianoforte sdections were <* Ende 
vom Lied," Schumann; Polonaise In A-flat, Chopin; 1st 
movement of the Concerto in C minor, RaJflT; " Rhapso- 
dic " No. 10, Liszt; and smaller pieces by Henselt, Rubm- 
stdn, and Scharweoka. While the bdy's phying indicated 
study, and showed a fine technique, and in the brilliant 



numben there was a splendid dispby of power, yet the re- 
finement, and sentiment that the mudcal listener loves to 
observe was lacking. 

On Saturday, October 4, Mr H. Clarence Eddy gave his 
fint oigan recital with the following pnigramme: — 
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (Book U., No 4). 

Bach (1686-1760). 

** Allegretto" in B-flat Z^emmefM (1823-). 

Introductions and Variations, Op. 45, . Merkel (1827-). 
(Theme from Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonata in £, cip. 109). 
Songs: (a)'»EswardnTraum" .. I , 

(b) »• Du mdne Sede " . J ^*^* (1813-). 
Mr. James Gill. 
Organ Symphony in G minor, No. 6, Op. 42, 

(New) CM, Widor. 

I. Allegro, — II. Adagio, — III. JnUrmermetWf 
Allegro, — IV. Allegretto, V. Finale . . Vicaee. 
(First time in this country.) 
Aria: » ruddier than the Charj " (ftom ^ Ads 

and Galatea") i/amM (1685-1759). 

Mr. James GiU 
" Orpheus," a Symphonic Poem . . . lAtzt (1811-). 
Concert-Sats hi £.flat minor . . Tkiele (1816-1848). 
Mr. Eddy was greeted enthudastically by the audience, 
and his playing was so artistic as to win for him stall greater 
appreciation. The programme was well arranged to show 
the ability of the organist. Perhaps the interest may be 
sdd to centra in the New ** Organ Symphony " of Widor. 
It is a work of much beauty, dthough rather long to come 
hte on a programme. It brings out new eflects in organ 
playuig, however, and will interest musidans, even if it may 
not claim public admiration from the first hearing. Mr. 
James Gill sang tbe pretty songs of Lasssn hi an enjoyable 
manner, and he made a marked success Of tbe Handel Aria. 
I have never heard the gentleman sing with a better ap- 
preciation of the different shades of sentiment than at this 
redtd. 

Mr. S. G. Pratt gave a pianoforte redtal under the aua- 
pices of Park Institute, preeenting selections from Bach, 
Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Dupont, and Liszt. He had 
an appreciative audience which seemed to eigoy his pbying 
very much. Between the numben came some songs from 
;Schumann, Frimz, Scbondorf, and one by Mr. Pratt. They 
were sung by a tenor voice. 

At Hoshey Hall on Saturday last we had the fint Cham- 
ber Concert of the season by Mr. Eddy, Mr. Lewis, and 
Mr. Eichbdm, sssisted by Miss Densmore, soprano, 'i hey 
played tbe Trio No. 6, of Haydn, and the Trio Op. 1, No. 1, 
of Beethoven. Blr. Lewis played, besides, a Romauze fh>m 
Op. 27, by Rles; and Miss Densmore sang three songs 
by Rubinstdn and one by Kirdiner. As this was tbe firet 
appearance of these gentlemen in trio pUying this sesson, 
they were not as fuUy in sympathy with one another as they 
will be after more opportunity of practice together. While 
their performance had many enjoyable points, it was not 
such as to caity the critical liiieuer beyond the limits of 
qualified praise. 

Mr. Emil Uebling has underlined fbr a number of ** Mu- 
dcd Evenings " to be given by himsdf and pupils. I at- 
tended the first one, and saw the results of his teaching in 
some intelligent pUying by his pupila. 

Mr. W. S. B. Mathews will shortly give a number of 
lectures upon musicd subjects, illustrated by good pianoforte 
pUying from the works of the representative compoeen. He 
has been very successful in this line of work, and is creating 
and extending musicd interests, in a way cdcuUted to ad- 
vance a fove fbr what is best in art. C. H. B. 



Baltimore, October 21. — Since the beginning of 
the mcmth we have had several concerts, the Itdian Opera 
has but just departed, and the Peabody Conservatory has 
opened; so that the season may be sdd to have fdrly com- 
menced. 

Important additions are to be made to the Conservatory 
programme. A chorus is now being formed which will 
meet once a week during the winter for the cultivation of 
oratorio mudc with a view to producing an oratorio in the 
spring, if practicable. There will also be a series of twenty- 
three string quartets (weekly) fbr the specid benefit of the 
memben of the chcMiis. All tbis will be under the direction of 
Prof. Frita Fincke, who has been appointed vocd instructor 
(for German music, Prof. Baraldi continuing to teach accord- 
ing to the Italian method). Prof. Fincke is fh>m the good lit- 
tle dty of Wismar, near Schwerin, the capitd of Mecklenburg, 
and brings with him the most saUsfactory credentials from 
Dr. Langhans, and other ouinent fordgu authorises. He 
has been for some yean director of three singing societies, 
two in Wismar, and one in Schwerin, is a good violinist and 
organist, and biw earned some reputation inroad as a critic 
and lecturer on musicd topics. Besides taking chai^ of 
the chorus and string quartets, Mr. Fincke will lead tlie vio- 
lins in the orohestra. The symphony concerts are to be put 
on a mora reliable footing this winter — pecuniarily. Sub- 
scriptions will be taken as usud, but there will be a sufiSoient 
approfHriatfon ftcm tbe Institute to insure a larger orchestra 
than that of last season. Annud membership tickets are 
again being sold at the rate (^ $10, admitting the holder to 
dght symphony concerts, dght public rehearsals, twenty- 
time string quartets, the lectures of the director, and to 
the Peabody chorus if qualified. Ortdnly a good many 
privileges for ten doUan ! 



176 



B WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1008. 



Seuon tlckflli fsr thm aymphonj coooerte are put at $5, 
admitting one penoa to eight oonoerta and to the pablic re. 
heanak; double season tidtets, admitting two persoos, $8. 
I doubt lerj muoh whether a symphony orohestra ean be 
had anywhere for less than these figures. The programme 
for these has not yet been decided on, as the orchestra will 
not begin reheardng until December. 

The Wednesday Club, of #hieh I wrote yoa last winter, 
propoees to pay considerable more attention to musio here- 
after tlum it has done. 

The new hall of the ohib (whieh is in a moit prosperous 
condition financially) is almost eomplsted, and it is intended 
to give a number ot small opcrse and concerts for the bene- 
fit of iu memben. A chorus is also being formed, to con- 
sist of one hundred voices, which will soon begin regular 
weekly prsoiioe under the dire<^ion of Mr. Fln^e. 

Of the concerts hiely given here that of Mist Katie Cecilia 
Gaul deserves special mention. This young lady returned to 
Baltimore, her uatiii» city, after an abeenoe of aome eight 
yean, which wire ibainly spent at the Stuttgart Conserva- 
tory. She was also under the tuition of Liszt, at Weimar. 
Her playing shows the careful attentiQn to d^ail and the 
fine phrasing for which the Stuttgart school is so celebrated. 
After giving her concert here Miss Gaul left for New York 
to give one perfoonanoe, and then proceeded to Cincinnati, 
where she has been engaged by Mr. Thomas to pUy in con- 
cert during the coming season. 

The ItiJiau opera, under Mas Strakoech, gave four per- 
formances Isflt week to [wor houses, owing, no doubt, to the 
exceedingly dose weather, for the leading characters are very 
good, and the fiwt that the evcrlasUng Trooatoref Lmoa^ and 
Traviata were sdeeted should have made it the more popu- 
lar. The Alda performance vras the only one which caUs 
for special attention. The troupe is probably the best, as re- 
gards the leading performers, that Max Stiakosch lias ever 
had. The Mimes Smger, and De BehMxa, and the Messrs. 
Petrovich, Storti, and Castelmary each combine, more or 
lees, a good voiee with true histrionic instincts. They ren- 
dered Verdt^B last opera in a manner deeerving the highest 
eommendatlOD. 

Hie single concert recently given here by Cariotta Patti 
was a moat inartistie affidr thrmighout, if we except the *cello 
pkying of Mr. De Munok, the seleetions for the most part 
being of the extremely fiivoknis order. 

Last evening your oocre ap ondent had the pleasure of 
bearing Mr. Anton Strelciki, the recently arrii^ pianist. 
Piano Recitals are of rare ooeurrenoe here. Mr. Stre- 
leaki pUyed from memory the following rather lengthy pro- 
gramme, and in a manner to keep the interest alive to the 
doee: — 
Toccata and Fugue D minor .... Back — TawXy. 

Kondo A minor Motnri. 

Giga A migor HandeL 

Sonata D minor Op. 81, No 9 . . . Beethoven. 

Barcarolle, Vabe A-flat, Nocturne C-eharp, Bal- 
lade, G minor, Etude Op- 10, No. 8,Pok>naiae 

A-flat Ckcpin, 

Caprice Russe Teehaikpwtki 

Faschuigiohwank aus Wien .... Sekumaim, 

La Keveuse SzemeUmyi, 

Minuetto HclMbert, 

Elsa's Brautgang, (Lohengrin) . . . Wagner — LitaL 

Galop jeuMMteta. 

He is a young man, only twenty-two years of age, of fine 
healthy /lAyn^tie, and his touch is both powerflil and subtile. 
His most saUifoetoty performances were the Beethoven So- 
nata, the Nocturne in C-sharp, and the BaUad from Chopin, 
and the Ttehaikowski, Schumann and Wagner selections 
The Russhm caprice exhibited a fobuknu technique, and the 
break-neck speed of the Rubinstein galop was somethiug 
wonderful to liaten to. Musicus. 



Rafabl JoeBPFT, the Hungarian pianist, fiuned for the 
delicacy of his pUying, wiU give three recitals in Horticul- 
tural Hall, Oct. 30, 31, and Nov. 1. 



MUSICAL INTf^LIGENCE. 

LOCAL. 

Mb. Abthur Sulutan is really coming, and will con- 
duct a performance of several of his compositions {The Prod- 
igal Son, probably In Memoriam, and other works) at the 
flnt Handel and Haydn Concert for the season, Sunday 
evening, Nov. S3, Rehearsals have commenced with uiiusual 

ahcrity, nearly 600 singers in the chorua The Memah 

will be given Dec 28, and larad m Egypt on Easter 
Sunday. — Miss Emma Thursby is definitively engaged for 
the triennfad Festival in May. 



Thb programme of the second Philharmonlo Concert 
(Listemaiurs Orchestra) will be found among our advertiee- 
ments. 



Trb Eoterpe has decided to give five Concerts this seaeon: 
namely, on the third Wednesday of December, January, Feb- 
ruary, March, and April, as before, iu Mechanics- HalL The 
New York artists of but year are engaged for two of the 
Concerts and the Mendelnohn Quintette C3ub for three. 
The programmee will consist always of two pieces, string 
Quartets or Qubntets, namely three by Beethoven, two by Mo- 
sart, and one each by Haydn, Cherubini, MenddJisohn, Schu- 
mann, and Raff. 



Mr. Stetsoic will b^n a scries of operatic performances 
at the Globe 'llieatre, October 97, by a company consisting 
ahnoet entirely of resident musicians. Anber's Crown DUu 
monde wiD be given by the foltowing well known singers: 
Miss Laura Sehirmer, Miss Clara Poole, Mr. Charles R. 
Adams, Mr. Alfred WUkie, Blr. Frank Moultoo, Mr. Henry 
G. Peakes, Mr. Clarence £. Hay. There will be a chorus 
of forty, and Mr. John C. Mullaly will be the muaical di- 
rector. 



Opbba. -> Fatinitza had delighted aodienoea at the Boa- 
ton Theatre hwt week, and this week has been succeeded by 
a return to Ptw^fore, both by the <* Ideal (!) Opera Com. 
pany,** whksh consists, however, of real singen, not shad- 
owy sprites and nbdes, to wit: Miss Adelaide Phillippa, Miss 
Mary Beebe, Messrs. M. W. Whitney, Fesnnden, Bar. 
naby, and others. — The Emma Abbott Company opened at 
the Park Theatre on Monday evening with Gounod's /Vims/, 
Miss Abbott as Marguerite, Mrs. Seguin as Siefad, Mr. W. H. 
Maedoiiald as Mephisto, A. £. Stoddard as Valentine, and 
Tom Karl as Faust. On IViesday, the Bohemian Girl; 
Wednesday, Mignon; Thursday, Friday, and to-day's mat- 
ing, Pavl and Virginia (first time); this evening, the 
Chimes of Normandy, 

FOREIGN. 

Ix)Ni>oir. The scheme of the 24th series of Saturday 
concerts at the Ck-ystal Pakoe is announced. Ther« wiU be 
twenty- three conoerU, eleven before and twelve after Christ- 
mas, commencittg October 4. Mr. Augustus Manns con- 
tinuee as conductor. Among the important foaturea will be 
theee: — 

Beethoven: The nine Symphonies, played in their chrono- 
logical order (at the last nine Concerts of the Series). 
The Firrt Moeement of an unfinished VIoUn Concerto. 

Haydn: Symphony in E-flat, No. 8 of Safomon Set (fint 
time at these concerts). Symphony in D, <« La Chasse," 
No. 5 of Rieter-Biedermann's New Edition (flnt time at 
these concerts). 

Moaart: Symphony fai C (No. 6). Serenade for Stringa, 
«* cine kleine Naehtmuaik," compo^ hi 1787 (first time 
at these concerto). Ballet Music to "Idonieneo** (fint 
time at these concerto). 

Schumann: The four Symphonies, played in their chrono- 
fogical order (before Christmas). 

Mendelssohn: *• Antigone" (with oondenaed reading), the 
choral parto to be sung by L«slie's Choir. The concert 
will be conducted by Mr. Henry Leslie, and hb celebrated 
choir will on this occasion smg several of ito most fiivorito 
unaooompankd pieces. Scotch Symphony. Octet for 
Strings. 

Schubert: A « Schubert Progrsmme " will open the after- 
Christmae series, on the 31st January, in conunemoratkm 
of Schubert's birthday. 

Wagner: « Faust Overture." <« Siegfried-IdyD." 

Brahms: YariatkMia on a llieme by Haydn. Plano-forto 
Concerto. 



Amongst the works which are new to our programmes an 
the folfowing: — 

H. Hofifaiann: Symphony, "Frithjof." 
Raff: M Spring Symphony (No. 8, in A). 
Listo: Symphonic Poem, No. 13, " The Ideal ^* (after Schil- 
ler). 

Wagner: Scenes firom "Die Mebterringer,** as arranged 
for the Concert-room by the compoeer. 

Verdi: Ballet Music, *' The Four Seasons" (from I Vespri 
Siciliani " ). Overture to " Aroldo.'* 

Rubinstein : Symphonic Dramatique.** 

Ponehlelli: "Danza delle Ore" (from «< La Gioconda"). 

Mandnelli: Overture and Selection fix>m the Incidental Mu- 
sic to '* acopatra." 

Baxzini : Overture to <* King Lear." 

Forani: O>noert Overture, No. 1, in C. 

Berlios: Selections fiiom «*Bom^ et Juliette*' and **1m, 
Damnation de Faust'* 

(Sounod: *< Procession Sacr^*' and Selection from the Bil- 
let Music to " Pdyeuete.'* 

Delibes: Cort^ da Baoehua and Divertissement fivm the 
BaUet" Sylvia." 

Sauit-Sagns: » Le Rouet d'Omphale." 

Svendsen: *• Camaval de Ptois *' and Rhapeodie Norr^^ienne 
No. 4. 

Dv6rak: Shtvonian Dances, Second Series. 
Among the works of the English School Uitended to be 

brought forward are: Prelude and Funeral Marvh from 

«* Ak»«" by Stemdale Bennett; Prelude and Fugue for Or- 
chestra, by G. E. Davenport; Schem, by A. C. Mackenzie; 

a Concerto for Piano-forte, by C. H. H. Parry (Pianist, Mr. 

Dannreutber); and an Instrumental Piece by each of the 

four compoeers who have held Uie Mendelssohn sehobuvhip: 

Dr. Arthur SuUlvan, Dr. C. Swinnerton Heap, Mr. WillUm 

Shakespeare, Mr. Frsnds Corder. 
In addition to the important works enumerated, the pro- 

grammes will be intenpersed with lighter pieces, the special 



fovoritee of the Cfyatal Fklace audience, amongst which 
may be named : _ 

Funeral March of a Marionette Gounod, 

Mignon Gavotte Ambroiee Thomnt. 

Minuet for Strings BoccherinL 

Air de Ballet and Shepherd Mek)dy .... Schubert, 
Two Minueta (from SereuMle No. 1) . . . . Brahms, 

Dance of Nymphs and Reapers SuUican, 

Air and (Htvotto (Suite hi D) Bach, 

Gavotte for Strings Baaini. 

I^argo Handel. 

Vonpiel to Third Act, King Manfred .... Reinecke. 
Dance of Pcnian Sbves (Le Boi da Lshort) . . MasseneL 

Our brief resume (Sept 97) of the Bhmuigfaam Festival, 
was accidentally clipped of ito hut two linea, and eo omitted 
to mention Israel m £gypt as the grand oonchiding featura 
of tiie festival. 



Hbbr Richard Waonbr Is a person terrifying to the li- 
brettist Roche's deecription of a day passed with the com- 
poeer, the former hammering out the words, the latter the 
music, is very entertaining. Wagner arrived at aeien 
o'clock, and th^ worked without nepite until midcUy: 
Roche bent over his desk, writing and erasing; Wagner 
strode to and fro, bright of eye, vehement of geeture, shout- 
ing, singfaig, striking the piano, and eonstantiy bidding poor 
Roche *«Go on! Go on!" An hour or two after noon 
Roche, hungry and ezhauated, let fiUl his pen, almost foint 
ing. " What 's the matter? ** aakcd the oompoeer. I am 
hungry.** "Thie; I had forgotten all about that; let us 
have a hurried snack and go on agaiu.*' Night came and 
found them still at work. « I was shatteivd, stupe6ed,'* 
says Roche, "My head burned, my temples throbbed. I 
was half mad with my wihl search after strange words to fit 
the strange music. He was erect still, rigorous and fresh as 
when we commenced our taak, walkhig up a^d down, strik- 
hig his hifemal piano, terrifying me at taet, as I perceive d 
dancing about me on every side his eccentric shadow, cast 
by the lantastic reflections of the hunp, and crying to me 
ever, «(xo on ! go on! * while trumpeting hi my ears caba. 
listie words and supernatural muaie. 



GROSS RECEIPTS OF 
OTHER PLACES OF 
FOB_ 



Opera . 

Th^fttre-FVanfais 

Op^ra-Comique 

Italiene 

Od^on 

Lyrique (Galt^) 

Gymnaae 

Vanderille . 

PaUis-Royal 

Yari^t^ 

Porte-Sahit-Martin 



THE THEATRES AND 
AMUSEMENT IN PARIS 



ChAtdet 

Historique . 

Boufles-Parisiens 

Anibigtt 

Foliea-Dramatiqaea 

Taltbout 

Atii^n^ 

Cluny 

Menua-Plaisirs 

Ch&teau-d'Eau 

8e Th^atre-Franfais 

Fantaisies (Beanmarohais) 

Foliee-Marigny 

Grand-Th^&tre-Ptfisien 

Portfr-Saint-Denia 

Folies-Bcrgtees 

Th^re-Mmiatnre 

D^hssementa-Coffliques 

Nouveaut^ 

S CSrques Franconi 

(Cirque Fernando . 

Cirque Am^ricain 

Hippodrome 

ThatredeBdleriDe 

dee BatignoBes 
deCJreneUe 
dee (Sobelins 
Montmartre 
Montpamasse 
dela Villetto 

Poliea Belleville . 

Th^Atre Roesbi . 
•( Obcrkampf 
•« Robert Hondhi 

Panorama (C9i.-El.) 

Athdndum . 



u 
u 



u 



M 



Sum total 



Anmuttt 



1878. 

ftanca. 

8,670,570 
2,889,981 
1,898,084 
890,408 
841,712 
1,081,816 
748,882 
1,107,618 
046,770 
1,712,110 
1,821,883 
1,668.861 
1,618,881 
700,120 
688,800 
678*481 
1,208,624 
28,227 
248,178 
178,137 
113,866 
270,409 
179,238 
143,208 
83,131 
11,909 
8,616 
1,226,838 
14.327 
2,761 
818,258 
938,914 
193,614 
289,226 
2,403,076 
189,423 
177,843 
87,727 
110,306 
114,618 
82,998 
81,438 
80,167 
4,282 
9,878 
73,003 
439,416 
13,667 



1877. 



8,084,888 

1,838,780 

1,037,181 

689,638 

448,238 

1,180,748 

983,380 

988,071 

842,618 

1,030.484 

1,062,817 

796,937 

1,267,830 

672.820 

461,608 

324,928 

780.821 

119,448 

218,115 

183,288 

114,626 

281,648 

112,800 

146,068 

26,300 

26,279 

17,167 

616,228 

28,760 

191,668 

843,543 

210,119 

808,150 

460,669 

188.941 

161,228 

86,748 

102,560 

181,238 

76,221 

11,569 

10,088 

3,086 

6,509 

86.048 

130,196 

10,610 



30,658,600 21,655.792 
'« SlatisHque de la France. 



NOVBMBBR 8, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



177 



BOSTON, NOVEMBER 8, 1879. 

Xatored at Um Post Offloe at Bofton a4 »6eoDd-ela88 matter. 



CONTENTS. 

TBI DfTuoPHKiT or Puiro-PoaTB Music, raox Bach to 
ScaOMARR. Prom the Oennaa of Ovl Van Brupck . . 177 

0« ROBBET SCBVKAini'S "MlTBlO AND MUitlCUlfS." F. L. 

RiUtr ^ 178 

MotiOAi. PoBv : Palsb Nonox* op Oeioir autt .... 179 

MAUaaAN. J.M. 180 

Talks o.^ AaT: tlBCOSiD Ssaiis. Prom InKtructlona of M r. 

WlUlaai H. Hunt to his Paplls. XVI ISl 

Mosio isr BosTOR 181 

Boston Philhvmonle Orehesna. -^ Ilrrr Ralhel Jooefl^. 

Is BoBBKT Pa.i!ii A Pailubb ^ II. W. F. A 183 

HUSIOAL OOaEBSPORDDfOI 188 

Chicago. — MUwaakee. 

MOSfOAL ISTKLUaKNCK 184 



AU the aniettt not ermUttd to other piMieatioiu wtr* txpre*alff 
mrittem/or this JowntU. 

PmWtheU /ortMgktlg by nouaBTOR, Omiood ard Compart, 
9Z0 IhvoHMhin Sbreet, Botton. Prict, 10 cenU a nmmbtr ; f2.S0 



Fjr nk in BotloH 6jr Ga&l Pbobpbb, 30 Wut Strmet^ A. Wol- 
lAMS A Co., 2S3 WaUmgton Strtet, A. K. LoatR«. 369 Wask^ 
imgton Street^ and by tk* PubiiMktrs; in N^w York bf A. BaiR- 
TARo, Ja., 39 Union S^uar*^ and Houortox, Qsoood & Co., 
21 Auor Ftaeo; in Pkiladelphia bf W. II. Bo.xca A Co., 1102 
Cb^Mtnnt Strtti; in CSueago by tka Cbioaoo Mu^io Compart, 
612 StaU Street. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PrANO-FORTE 
MUSIC, FROM BACH TO SCHUMANN. 

FROM THE ORRMAN OP CARL VAX BRUTCK. 
(CoDcInded from page 170.) 

That period of intimate union lietvpeen 
poetry and music which began with this cent- 
ury, and which now seems near its end, is 
commonly designated as the ^^Yomantic." 
The opposition of the so-called classical and 
romantic schools consists in the predominance 
of the plastic formal eTemont, the measured, 
even flow of composition and expression in 
the former, as contrasted with the tendency 
to vague and shadowy outlines, and a super- 
abundance of emotional expression in the 
latter. In this sense composers like Handel, 
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in his first 
two periods are classical. On the contrary, 
the venerable old Bach has in him a strong 
romantic element, which is most singularly 
shown, for instance, in the Adagio of his 
** Italian Concerto." In the works of Beet- 
hoven's third period, as in those of Schul)ert, 
thiH spirit of romance reveals its mystical and 
demoniacal depths on the one hand, while on 
the other it displays its brilliant richness and 
variety of color. 

Full of this romantic spirit are the little 
tone-pictures, frequently mere breaths, of 
Chopin, scion of the chivalrous, ill-fated 
Polish nation, its most important representa- 
tive in the musical domain of art. I say **the 
little " pictures, because in them lies the centre 
of gravity of his artistic significance ; because 
these smaller forms, which he has chiefly cul- 
tivated, were the best adapted to his very 
one-sided, yet, within narrow limits, truly 
genial endowment. Thoroughly a son of his 
fatherland, his brilliant, highly-coIoreH Polo- 
naises and his now bold and fiery, now 
dreamy, melancholy Mazurkas form the 
bright side of his wholly idiosyncratic, but 
often morbidly affected,* and immeasurably 
crisped and curled productions. Yet it would 
be unjust not to speak also of his Concertos, 
especially the one in £ minor, whose orches- 
tral introduction is so deeply conceived, and 



filled with such a noble, serene spirit, that 
even Beethoven might have written it; as, 
strange to s>iy, among the works of Beet- 
hoven, wlio otherwise has not the least in com- 
mon with Chopin, there is at lea«t one piece 
(not to mention the Adagio of the C-sharp 
minor Sonata) which might have sprung 
from Chopin ; namely, the very short Adagio 
of the G-major Concerto, which breathes (I 
might say) that faint and deathlike spirit 
which we feel so frequently in Ciiopin's 
ethereal tone-pictures, for which nuance of 
mood the French possess the significant ex- 
pression, langxii»»ant. 

On the other hand there are many other 
works of this composer which are anything 
hut *' ethereal," and which require in the 
player*s hands muscles and cords of iron, to- 
gether with an exceptional physical elasticity 
and power of stretching. This is true, for 
example, of his twelve grand, and for the 
most part very poetic and inspired. Etudes, 
which represent tolerably well the very Chim- 
borazo of technical difficulty, and might form 
the culminating point of a Grcidut ad Par- 
nasMum for to-day. But much as we may 
Jament this fantastical luxuriance of tone- 
phrasing, and wish to exclude it from the art, 
on the other hand it cannot be denied that 
this elemeht (for example in the Concerto 
above named, which might be called a musical 
Klingsor) has been handled with an exquisite, 
enchanting fineness. Like a cascade of pearly 
champagne foam, these musical waterspouts 
soar aloft and sink back again into the basin 
full of gold fishes; the silver moonbeams 
sparkle and glisten through them ; it is the 
** moonlit magic night" of (he romantic into 
which we gaze, or, rather, which rings out 
from these tone-images. 

But the romanticist par excellence is that 
wonderful artist and tone-poet, Robert Schu* 
mann. ... In his first artist period, which 
seems iif many respects the most remarkable 
of all, Schumann devoted himself entirely to 
the composition of piano music and of songs. 
At the same time it seems characteristic that 
his genius chose by preference the smaller 
forms, although often connected together in 
cycles of several pieces, for the expression of 
his inmost musical and human life of intel- 
lect, imagination, and emotion. We have, to 
be sure, also out of his first period, two solo 
Sonatas in F-sharp and 6 minor, and then a 
third work (in F minor), which he at first 
superscribed ** Concerto without orchestra," 
but afterguards as a Sonata, — all three ex- 
tremely remarkable composition^*, in which a 
boundless genial tone-faculty reveals itself, 
but partly also, almost more, the wild erup- 
tions of an excited Faust-like spirit, strug- 
gling in the maelstrom of a dark and stormy 
imagination after some settled form. Es- 
pecially the F-sharp minor Sonata is a real 
musical volcano crater, thoroughly pervaded 
with this demoniacal glow, although from the 
midst of the flames there sound out now and 
then most lovely siren voices, as well as sport- 
ive shouts of cobolds, especially in the Adagio, 
and in the middle portion of the Scherzo, 
with its striking, bold, and grotesque recita- 
tive passage. 

The Ooncert eons Orcheetrey with the won- 
derfully beautiful and deep-felt variations for 
a middle part, which certainly shows as little ' 



of the style-peculiarity of the Concerto as of 
the Sonata (hence his wavering in the choice 
of a title), contains, in its remarkable finale, a 
piece of such an individual stamp, and such a 
thoroughly peculiar spirit, that none like it 
can be found in the whole piano-forte liter- 
ature, — a magical play of shadows, vanish- 
ing away like the fancies of an opium intox- 
ication. But amid the waves and whirlpools 
of the mightily excited sea of tones, amid the 
now whispering, now gigantically swellinflf 
billows of the strangest harmonies (oSt of 
which, indeed, the old Bach peeps), there 
moves a solemn, measured, deep-felt song, — 
until at last the demons get the upper hand, 
and the work, already stormy on the whole, 
roars itself out in a tornado. Still a fourth 
larger work of this period, of equal wealth of 
fancy and of feeling, a Fantasia in C mnjor 
(dedicated to Liszt), may be particularly men- 
tioned here on account of the significant 
motto prefixed to it, namely, the verses of 
Friedrich Schlegel : — 

" Dur«h alle Tone tonat 
Im bunteo Erdaitraame 
Ein leiser Ton gMogen 
Fiir den, der beimlidi lauschet." 1 

^^ • 

There is also a great work of Variations 
(in C-sharp minor) which dates from this 
first period of Schumann's productivity, a 
work as sombre in its ground tone as those 
just named, but running out into a triumphant, 
jubilant finale, in which this form is treated 
both with genial (but not willful ! ) freedom, 
and with exceeding splendor, — a work in 
its way as grand and noble as the variation 
works of Bach and Handel, to which we have 
before alluded. Schumann calls it, to be 
sure, ** Etudes," with the qualifying adjective 
<* Symphoniques ; " bat he has chosen this 
title chiefly with regard to the technical (and 
other ! ) difficulty of their execution ; while 
the term ^* symphonic " denotes Schumann's, 
one Duty say, orchestral treatment of the 
piano-forte, which principally through him 
and Liszt became so universally predominant. 

It is also characteristic that Schumann, in 
this youthful period, felt himself drawn to 
make a piano-forte transcription of Paganini's 
violin Eludes, — as ingenious a one as could 
be expected from so rare aiid fine a head. 
It shows the interest which Schumann took 
at the same time in the technique of playing. 
In fact the development of technique, under 
the hands of the great virtuosos at that time, 
was not without influence on Schumann's art. 
His imagination would not, perhaps, have run 
riot in this direc ion in such an unlimited, un- 
bridled way, had there not been the hands 
(and heads to correspond) with power to 
execute such things, — for every composer 
must desire to have his works transferred 
from pa|ier into live existence, — therefore it 
must at least be possible. (For the rest, the 
process in the. history of art is just the re- 
verse; the development of practioal virtuosity 
is called forth by the increased means of art.) 
In fact, it is Schumann's works of this first 
period that unfold all the marvelous full play 
of the modern piano-forte, but, on the whole, 
in a thoroughly artistic and poetic way. 

1 *Mid all the chords that vibrate throagh 
Earth's strangeljr ohequerad dream. 
There mns a note, whoee gentle tone 
Is heard aright by him alme 
Who lists iHth care eitreme. 



178 



DWIOHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1006. 



These works, whatever else may be objected 
to them from certain rigorous and well-jus- 
tified aesthetic standpoints, contain such mag- 
ical, strange harmonies, that whoever has 
once been taken by their charm will not so 
easily and soon get free from it again. But 
I will also add that it is not altogether with- 
out danger to give one's self up without resist- 
ance and without reserve to this charm, and 
that one had better, at least in the presence 
of tender youth, station himself like a warn- 
ing '(and not a seductive!) Eckart before 
this — Veunsberg, whose grotto, to be sure, 
is overhung and decked with loveliest roses, 
but with the deadly nightshade also. The 
fragrance which rises from these tone-blossoms 
is 80 intoxicating, and weaker senses are so 
benumbed by it, that they too easily lose all 
sensibility for the chaste, simple beauty, the 
translucid clearness of the earlier art. 

I must naturally content myself here with 
this general characterization of the Schumann 
muse, as it appears most pregnantly in the 
works of his first period, although I have 
spoken more of their dusky splendor, and 
hardly at all yet of their more charming 
side, which they disclose i^artieularly in the 
smaller, cyclical tone-pictures, like the so- 
called ''David*s-Bundler- Dances," the *<Nov- 
ellettes,'* the singular ** Kreisleriana," the 
^ Kinder-Scenen " full of grace ; nor Jiave I 
dwelt upon the sparkling, bold, fantastic humor 
that surprises us, for example, in the '* Car- 
nival Scenes,** the ^ Faschings-Schwa*ik aus 
Wien,** and in Opus 20, which is expressly des- 
ignated by the title ^* Humoreske," although 
occasionally, perhaps, this humor is more 
startling than it is edifying. 

Striking as the juxtaposition may sound, 
nevertheless it may be said that the old master 
Bach and this most genial representative of 
the last completed phase f»f art, in all other 
respects so entirely heterogeneous, come close 
together in this, that these two are the 
greatest harmonists, as Haydn, Mozart, and 
Beethoven are the greatest melodists, that 
German art has produced, — only that this 
profound development of the wonderfully rich 
world of harmony in the two masters pro- 
ceeds upon a wholly difiFerent way, and hence 
with a wholly ditferent effect With Bach 
this superabundant wealth of harmonies 
(which naturally includes the boldest use of 
dissonances) appears more secondary in the 
course of his wonderful contrapuntal involu- 
tions, whereas with Schumann it appears as 
the primary element, determining the forms. 
Hence, with Bach, it often er striken the eye 
and inner hearing of the score-student than the 
immediate sense of hearing ; but with Scliu- 
mann it stands out most palpably, and of all 
the art-elements which blend in the impres- 
sion, it awakens the most strained att-ntion. 

19 or can the fact be overlooked, that this 
fineness of the harmonic as well as of the 
rhythmic element reaclie<l its extremest limit 
in Schumann, as did the power of coun- 
terpoint in Bach (witness some portions of 
his abstruse ^Art of Fugue*'); a** did the 
wonderful command of musical ideas in 
Beethoven, in the finale of whose Ninth 
Symphony, as in some of his last Quartets 
and Sonatas, there is scarcely any fixed and 
rounded art form perceptible. 

And Schumann seems to have felt this him- 



self, for his extremely critical sense for all 
kinds of art (as one may see in the two 
volumes of his collected writing^*) could not 
have been WMntini for his own aru Hence, 
in his second perio<l, he cultivated the great 
art forms handed down by the ^ masters " 
moi\3 assiduously; he reduced the use of 
technique to a someahat simpler measure; 
he emancipated himself more from the con- 
trol of the piano, and concentrate<l his super- 
abundant power in the great forms of orches- 
tral and vocal music, — alas ! only to over- 
strain it in the end, and fall hinueif a victim 
to the demons, with whom he had played so 
bold a game, and who, above all, in his 
M«nfred music, shot up cmce more such lurid 
tongues of flame. . . . 



ON ROBERT SCHUMANN'S "MUSIC AND 

MUSICIANS."* 

BT F. L. RITTBB. 

Among all recent English publications of 
writings on musical subjects, 1 know of none fit- 
ter to be placed in the hands of rising artists, 
and intelligent art- lovers, than those of Schumann, 
of which one series has lately been publishefl,' 
and a second series will soon appear. Though 
they were written uniler the immediate influence 
of the various artistic events occurrmg during a 
period of about ten years, — from 1834 to 1813, 
— and, be it remembered, for a weekly musical 
journal, which had to reconl and to portray the 
passing events of the musical world for the tem- 
|x>rary perusal and benefit of the reailer of the 
day, we meet in them with comparatively little 
that bears the mark of a tribute paid to the art 
taste of that time, or that has for us a merely 
historical importance. To be sure, Schumann es- 
tablished the Neue Zeitnehrift^ JUr Alusik, with 
no mercantile intention of bowing down to the 
undisciplined taste of blasds audiences, or tick- 
ling the unripe jui^ment of musical groundlingii, 
in order to make hiit enterprise succeed in a pe- 
cuniary way. Hiii purpose was a far nobler one. 
He started with the honest endeavor to make his 
paper the organ of the most intelligent minds of 
the German musical art world, antl by this means 
to exercise a beneficial artistic and oesthetic in- 
fluence over his readers. The great imperisha- 
ble musical treasures of Bach, Beethoven, Schu- 
bert, had to be made known to a public which 
reveled, knee-deep, in the musical sweetmeats of 
Italian confectionery. Herz and Hunten reigned 
supreme in the concert room as well as in the 
parlor. New assihetic problems had to be solved 
and explained. New art principles, as deduced 
from the immortal works of the great Viennese 
trio -^ Haydn, Moxart, Beethoven, — had to be 
expounded and live<l up to ; in short the para- 
dise of easy-going Phili8tinii»m had to be removed 
and replaced by a new art world, teeming with 
new, far-reaching ideas. New, vigorous, organic 
life had to be infused into the body of art ; in- 
difference, pedantry, ignorance, hail to be ex- 
posed in the pillory of ridicule, sarcasm, and 
honest indignation. The young, eager art world 
looked out for an intrepid, ideal leailer. Schu- 
mann stepped into the arena and, coiUe que coutey 
boldly took up the fight for the new cause. Around 
him a band of young enthusiastic warriors gath- 
ered, revolution on their banner, tearing down 
and scattering to the four winds the old stereo- 
t>|H:d fences that easy-going conservatism had 
built up, in order to hem in the new art spirit 
awakened especially by that deaf ffiaiU who, re- 
gardless of all theories consecrated by long habit, 

1 Published bj W. R«evM, Loudon; Edward Scbuberth 
A Co., New York. 



threatened to crush the carefully nourished butter- 
flies under tlie weight of his mighty steps. 

Music, as an art, was for Schumann, in its en- 
tire significance, a 8ubj<^*t of the deepest concern ; 
he attributed to it a sacre<l importance and an 
ethical function. He eonsidere<l it as the pro- 
moter of the purest and most ideal happiness. 
lie kept, while writing about art and artists, one 
principle in view, — to contribute with all his un- 
derstanding and energy to the purification and 
exaltation of musical art in all its phases. This 
is the fundamental key to all his articles, this 
is the motive power of all his criticism. He did 
not speak of the heroes of mui»ical art, in order 
to add trivial praise to their recognized greatness, 
but with a view to foster a clearer understandin*; 
of the ideal bearing of their glorious deeds. He 
did not criticise mediocre works of the mnsical 
time-servers, the '* one-day butterflies," merely to 
administer a just rebuke ; but, like ihe broad- 
mimled artist and critic that he was, he endeav- 
ored honestly and impartially to recognize the 
temporary good such deeds may possibly have in 
store, directing at the same time the attention 
of the striving artist to the deteriorating influence 
of that which he considered unworthv of the true 
musician. Highly instructive in this respect are 
the papers speaking of the works of Herz, Htin- 
ten, Kalkbrenner, Tlialberg, and others of tliis 
stamp. While recording the dazzling achieve- 
ments of bis great contemporarie:<, be never was 
carried away by mere personal admiration, to such 
an extent as to lose control over his better judg- 
menL Glorying, with all the openness of his gen- 
erous nature, in the enthusiastic recognition which 
these achievements received at the hands of an 
excited public, he was strong enough to preserve 
his manhood from such exaggerated adulation as 
we often 8e« exhibited with regard to mere *' busy 
mediocrity," as to success mostly due to smart 
managerial means and intrigues. 

He fearlessly expressed bis own opinion, and 
blamed where he found occasion to blame; but 
such opinion, such blame, was invariably couched 
in respectful, and often poetical language. Read, 
for instance, the pa|>crs on Mendelssohn, Heller, 
Liszt, Hiller, liensflt, Chopin, and Durgmiiller. 
But, of course, having been theirequal and in some 
respects their superior, though too modest an ar- 
tist to entertain such pretensions — (with what 
reverence did he not look up to Mendeliisohn's 
mastery over form, to Chopin's originality !) — he 
was well qualified to appreciate the whole bear- 
ing aufl importance of the deeds and works of 
these splendid artists. The interest of true art 
first, and then that of the artist. ** I love not 
the men whose lives are not in unison with their 
works ; ** and '* If talent of the second rank mas- 
ters tlie form it finds and makes use of, we are 
satisfied ; but from talent of the first rank we de- 
niaud that the form should be enlarged. Genius 
must bring forth in freedom.*' And then again : 
'* People say it pleai(e<l, or it <1 id not pleai^e. As 
if there were, nothing higher than the art of pleas- 
ing the public; '* fur " the artist ^hould be cheer- 
ful as a GriKzian god, in his intereourso with life 
and men, but when these dare to approach too 
near, he t>hould disappear, leaving nothing but 
clouds behind him." 

The paper on Meyerbeer's Hug**enofM will show 
how indignant, nay, how bitter he could become, 
^hcn, from bis lofty idea about art, he sees it used 
for the gratification of mere perconal vanity and 
8elfi^h ends. With deep indignation he writes, 
aft«r having assisted at the first piM-forniancc of the 
opera at Leipzig : ** 1 agreed at once with Flores- 
tan, who, shaking his fist towards the opera, let 
fall the words : ' In // Crociafo I still counted 
Meyerbeer among musicians ; in Robert Le Diabie 
I began to have my doubts ; in Le* HuguenuUt I 
place him at once among Frauconi's circus poo- 



NOTSMBKB 8, 1879.] 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



179 



pie.' I cannot express the aversion which the 
whole work Inspired in us ; we turned away from 
it, — we were weary and inattentive from anger/' 
These are hard words. Although Meyerbeer de- 
served, in many respects, the scathing rebuke, I 
think Schumann, in his holy anger, was unable, 
for the time being, to recognize the really grand 
and beautiful pages with which this finest of all 
Meyerbeer's scores abounds. It is, however, 
very rarely that we find tlie great artist and critic 
overstep his customary moderation in judging 
others, to the degree that borders on injustice. 
The paper has, however, another and deeper 
meaning for the unprejudiced reader, — a mean- 
ing which reaches farther than mere personal dis- 
gust at Meyerbeer's sins against true art. It 
proves, at the same time, with what high expec- 
tations these young German composers looked 
upon the production of a much praised new opera. 
They were dissatisfied with existing German 
operatic matters in general ; the then successful 
German opera composers, ignoring Beethoven, 
ignoring Weber, wrote in imitation of the Italians 
and the French. Schumann and his friends liad 
declared a war of extermination tt[ion all art en- 
deavors that claslied with their eminently Ger- 
man views. But in spite of their lofty theories 
about a real national German opera, the thing 
would not come forward. Although the *' Jnnge 
Brausekopfe " put hands to the plough them- 
selves, there was always something missing to 
prevent the expected success of their operatic 
creations. Hence the discouragement, the utter 
disappointment, with which they gave vent to 
their feelings, while experiencing the great suc- 
cess of works in which so much ran contrary to 
their artistic taste and ideal ; and still deeper must 
this displeasure have been, since they had reason 
to claim the compo>er of Les Huguenots as one 
of their nation ! 

Wagner understood the whole situation much 
better. Out of the great chaos of French-Ger- 
man-Italian modern operatic form, he cut the 
material for his " Musical Drama,'* ami enriched, 
intensified it by means of the symphonic con- 
quests of Beethoven's great instrumental works, 
throwing off, as he went on, step by step, all 
that appeared to him fort^.ign to his artistic in- 
tentions and dramatic aims. Ue succeeded 
finally in putting forward his new national Ger- 
man rausico-dramatic art-work. Ue again took 
up the old German war cry against all operatic 
elements hailing from Italy or Paris. But, as it 
is never given to any mortal to please everybody, 
especially when he is still alive, and so hot-headed 
an innovator as Wagner proves to be, — who, see- 
ing with the eyes of mere amusement seekers, is 
so unreasonable as to expect from the opera pub- 
lic any belief and faith in ideal art-principles, a 
hitherto unheard-of thing in the operatic world ? 
— the German people, and some of the most cul- 
tivated classes, fail to recognize the great na- 
tional importance of Wagner's musico-dramatic 
achievements. Ue and his friends meanwhile bat- 
tle on bravely, confident of future victory. 

To the young artist Schumann will ever remain 
a noble example. Uaving had many hard strug- 
gles to encounter, both from inward and outward 
causes, in order to penetrate* to and conquer that 
eminence which he subsequently held as an artist 
and a composer, he never once faltered with re- 
gard to the use of the noble means that gained 
for him his exalted place. Madame Bitter has 
justly said in the preface to the English edition 
of the above writings : *' It would be difficult to 
overestimate the value of Schumann's labor as 
a critic. His influence was not destructive or 
depressing ; it wa:i beneficent and inspiring.*' In 
this spirit the papers will still be read and re- 
read, infusing encouragement, hope, and cheer- 
fulness into many an artist's breast, when de- 



pressed jand weary firom the discouraging effects 
of temporarily unsuccessful battles with the Phari- 
sees and Philistines that pretentiously parade in 
the temple of art. 

It is highly interesting and instructive to fol- 
low up the bent and growth of Schumann's genius 
as shadowed in these writings, which afford a 
psychological glimpse into the inner workshop 
of the great artist. At the start the sacred en- 
thusiasm, but not yet purified and intensified by 
sufficient practical experience, the glowing rich- 
ness of his poetical nature, still gains supremacy 
over clear philosophical views. His fir^t papers 
(like his first works) display almost a tropical 
richness of imagery, from the entanglement of 
which it appears at times difficult to extricate the 
writer's meaning or aesthetic views. It is touch- 
ing to see htm inwardly struggle in order to grasp 
the SBstlietic importance and meaning of the great 
forms of Bach and Beethoven ; this goes hand in 
hand with his practical attempts to gain mastery 
over those forms. Schumann, the young critic, 
was an exacting master to Schumann the young 
composer. In many of his articles we can under- 
stand, between the lines, his happiness when suc- 
cess apparently crowned his arduous endeavors, 
or the teni]>orary diftcouragement when the goal 
of his deepest desires seemed to lie, as it were, 
beyond his roach. 

As the powers of his creative faculties ripen, 
his critical views become less clothed in poet- 
ical metaphor ; the sBstlietic vista becomes clearer 
and more definite, the judgment widens, wavering 
less between the different contrasting views of 
** Florestan, Eusebius, and master Raro." But 
arrived at tliis point in his career as a writer, he 
laid down his pen, having, for the time being, ful- 
filled his mission as a musical critic, leaving to 
other hands the precious duty of carrying out 
what he so gloriously, and at great sacrifice, had 
commenced. 

Uaving thus endeavored to point out the s;en- 
eral critical bearing and importance of these 
writings, I sha I make it my task in the following 
numbers to examine, so far as time and space will 
allow, wluit were Schumann's (the critic Schu- 
mann) sesthetic views regarding the ideal func- 
tions of music. Were these views, as hero and 
there expressed, in harmony with Jiis own method 
of composing, as well as with that of other com- 
posers ? 

{To he continued.) 



MUSICAL FORM: FALSE NOTIONS OF 

ORIGINALITY. 

Propessor Macfarren, in hi^ "Inaugural 
Address of the Fiay-Eighth Year (1679-80) '.' of 
the Royal Academy of Music, London, gives the 
following sound advice to young incipient com- 
posers. 

'<It has been the wont of recent criticism to 
rest very much upon the claim to be considered 
original, and some remarks upon the perform- 
ances of even the best among us have been to 
the purpose that such and such a composition 
wanted originality. Believe me, tliere never was 
so unsound a remark ahd so uncritical criticism 
upon the endeavors and upon the achievements 
of pupi s. One may look into the history of 
art and find upon proof that, whetlier in our 
beautiful music or in otiier manifestations of 
genius, beginners have wrought in the manner, 
in the idiom, in the phr^^scology of their time, 
and working in its accepted vernacular they 
have gained control of their own thoughts. 
Thoughts need manipulation, exercise, develop- 
ment, quite as much as do the fingerj of a player 
or the vocal organs of a singer ; and when one 
has learned to think, when one can dispose of 
one's thoughts at discretion, then if the mind of 



the thinker have some individuality itsel( have 
something difierentfrom the minds of other men, 
the means have been attained for the expression 
of that individuality ; but he who in the first 
instance aims to be unlike his fellows becomes 
eccentric, angular, peculiar, possibly ugly, but by 
all means unsenial. And we must be content If 
we can, as Shakespeare did in English, — begin 
writing the English of his contemporaries, branch- 
ing out afterwards into his great individuality ; 
as Mozart did in muHic, as Beethoven af er him, 
and as others have done of less note than those, 
begin by writing such phrases, by conducting 
our musical thoughts in such channels as form 
the language of those great men who have gone 
before us ; and then when we can conduct our 
thoughts, our own originality, if we possess it, 
will come out and will stamp the true musician a 
genius. 

** Of all things resist the persuasion that the 
great forms of music have been exhausted. 
Such, believe me, is not the case, — music would 
cease to demand our respe<:t and our confidence 
were it so ; but we must feel, on the contrary, 
that art hcos the strongest likeness to nature in 
this fiict, — that its works are formed upon a 
traceable plan. Tlie structure of a flower, the 
development of a fruit, the anatomy of every 
animal, show c*onsistency and coherence #f parts, 
and reason for every incident of the whole for- 
matioir having the exact place, the exact func- 
tion, the exact use that it has ; and in musical 
composition there is just the same necessity for 
regulation, fur onler, for adjustment. We look 
at the works of Uie great masters, and they seem 
so completely perfect as they stand, that it must 
have been impossible for them ever to have been 
otherwise than as we know them ; but wiUi the 
greatest of musicians the same care has been 
spent on the elaboration, the construction, the 
arrangement of their most pei-fect works that is 
necessary for the youngest student to apply to 
his first attempt. In some instancies, most es- 
pecially in the case of Beethoven, there is evi- 
dence of the process through which these works 
have grown into their perfection, for it was his 
habit to write down from moment to moment^ 
thoughts as they rose in his mind, and again 
from moment to moment to write down modifica- 
tions of these thoughts, and from his earliest 
entrance on the pursuit of art he carried every- 
where a note-book, resting or walking. Even 
at night this book was placed under his pillow, 
and if, in a restless hour, he was visited by a 
musical thought, instantly was this written in his 
book. Mostly it is tlie habit of a musician to 
conserve sui:h a thought in his mind till he has 
rounded it into the rhythmic order in which he 
chooses to present it ; but in this one case we 
see the whole process, and can as closely trace 
the formation of the thoughts of Beethoven as we 
can trace the flower from its seedling, tW>m its 
first germination in the earth, from its putting 
out its bud, to its springing into full blossom ; and 
the many, many changes which his thoughts 
undergo before they reach the form in which we 
find tliem, prove tljat with all his genius, with 
all his greatness, there was the still greater 
quality in him of striving ever for improvemenL 
Let us take from tliat a lesson : let us believe we 
never can be perfect, but let us aim at improve- 
ment, improvement, and improvement. And 
though we may not produce, either in composi- 
tion or in performance, a perfection, believe me 
that tru^ painstaking was never in vain, and the 
attempt which is accompanied with true heart, 
with goo<l will, and with a perfect wish for the 
best, will assuredly make its mark. Yes, it is 
not too much to say that the works of art which 
stand before the world for our veneration, for 
our reverence, for our imitation, it may be, -^ 



180 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



(Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1006. 



theae are the footprints of the Creator. He has 
put his stamp on the noblest of all \m creations 
— the mind of man, and left his image on the 
works that man prodaces ; however far from the 
attainment of the greatest, ever)- smaller thing 
that we attempt and that we accomplish, with a 
continual will to make at any rate our nearest 
approach to perfection, will assuredly tend to 
elicit for us the confidence of those we meet, 
and respect for all we do. The matter of origi- 
nality brings to consideration the freedom which 
every true artist must feel when he has mastered 
all those principles, which are not the fetters, 
,but the guides of his imagination, and the same 
freedom which is exeroised in the working of an 
artist must be exercised by the teachers of 
artists. No one can conscientiously teach by a 
prescribed and fixed system." 



MALIBRAN. 

[rrom QivnTn DkHoouj of Mario.] 

Malibrax, Maria Felicita, one of the 
most distinguished singers the world has ever 
seen, was born Mareh 24, 1808, at Paris, where 
her father, Manuel Garcia, had arrived only two 
months before. When three years old she was 
taken t* Italy, and at the age of five played a 
child's part in Paer's " Agnese " at the Fioren- 
tmi, Naples. So precociou.4 was she that, 'after a 
few nights of this opera, she actually began to 
sing the part of Agnese in the duet of the second 
Act, a piece of audacity which was applauded 
by the public. Two years Uler, she studied 
Mol/epgiwith Panseron, at Naples; and Harold, 
happening to arrive about the same time, pave 
her her first instruction on the piano. In 1816 
Garcia took her to Paris with the rest of his 
family, and thence to London in the autumn of 
1817. Alreaily speaking fluently Spani.-h, Ital- 
ian, and French, Maria pifke<l up a tolerable 
knowledge of English in Uie two and a half years 
she spent in London. Not long after, she learned 
Crerman with the same fHcility. Here, too, she 
had good teaching on the piano, and mnde such 
rapid progress that, on her return to Paris in 
1819, she was able to play J. S. Bach's clavier- 
works, which were great favorites witli her father. 
In this way she ac(|uired sound taste in music. 

At the early age of fifteen she was made by 
her father to learn singing under his own direc- 
tion ; and, in spite of tlie fear which his violent 
temper inspired, she soon showed the in<livi<lual- 
ity and originality of her genius. Two years 
had barely elapsed when (1824) Gareia allowed 
her to appear for the first time before a tnusical 
club which he had just establishetl. There she 
produced a great sensation, and her future suc- 
cess was confidently predicted. Two nionthi« 
later Gareia returned to London, where he was 
engaged as principal tenor ; and here he set on 
foot a singing-class, in which the education of 
Maria was continued, if not completed. F^tis' 
says that it was in conf^qnence of a sudden in- 
disposition of Mme. Pasta, that the first p blic 
appearance of Maria was unexpectedly made; 
but this account u not the same as that given by 
Ebers or by Lord Mount-Edgcumbe. The latter 
relates that, shortly after the repair of the King's 
Theatre, "the great favorite Pasta arrived for 
a limited number of nights. About the same 
time Konzi fell ill, and totally lost her voice, so 
that she was obliged to throw up her engan>e- 
ment and return to Itoly. Madame Vestris^'hav- 
ing seceded, and Caradori being unable for some 
time to perform, it became necessary to engage a 
young singer, the daughter of the tenor Garcia, 
who had sung here for several seasons. She was 
as yet a mere girl, and had never appeared on 
any public stage; but firom the first moment of 



her appearance she showed evident talents for it 
both as singer and actress. Her extreme youth, 
her pre*tiness, her pleasing voice, and sprightly, 
easy action, as Rosina in // Barhiere di Seviglia, 
in which part she made her dc«but, gained her 
general favor; but she was too highly extolled, 
and injudiciously put forward as a prima donna, 
when she was only a very promising debutante, 
who in time, by study and practice, would in all 
probability, under the tuition of her father, a 
good musician, but (to my ears, at least) a most 
disagreeable singer, rise to eminence in her pro- 
fession. But in tlie following year she went with 
her whole family (all of whom, old and young, 
are singers tant bons que tnauvau) to establish an 
Italian opera in America, where, it is said, she is 
married, so that she will probably never return 
to this country, if to Europe." Ebers says, " her 
voice was a contralto, and managed with great 
Uste." Her d^but took place June 7, 1825. 
She was immediately afterwards engaged for the 
remainder of the season (about six weelcs) at 
£500. On July 28, she sang Felicia in the first 
performance of Meyerbeer's Crociato, At the 
end of the season, Gareia went, with his daugh- 
ter, to the provincial festivals, and then embarked 
for New York. In this new sphere Maria rap- 
idly improved, and acquired confidence, experi- 
ence, and the habit of the stage. She appeared 
in Otello, Romeo, Don Giovanni, Tancret/i, Cene- 
rentola, and in two operas written for her by her 
father, Vamante axiuto, and La Figlia delC aria. 
She had scareely made her d^but when the en- 
thusiasm of the public knew no bounds; and, in 
the midst of her popularity, Gareia gave her in 
marriage to M. Malibran, an elderly and seem- 
ingly wealthy French merehant, in spite of her 
repugnance to the union. This marriage, cele- 
brated Mareh 26, 1826, was as unhappy as it was 
ill-assorted; a year had hardly elapsed before 
the young wife found herself, on Malibran's bank- 
ruptcy, free to leave him, and ^he at once seized 
the opportunity. In September, 1827, she had 
returned to France. Preceded by a bright rep- 
utation, she began by reaping a harvest of ap- 
plause in private concerts, followed in January, 
1828, by a great and genuine success at Galli's 
benefit, in Semiramide, Her genius for dramatic 
singing was at once recognized, though her style 
was marred by a questionable taste in her choice 
of ornament This she had, in Paris, the best 
opportunity of correcting, both by the advice of 
kindly critics and the example of accomplished 
singers. Engaged for the season at the Italian 
opera, she made her d^but April 8. The public, 
at first doubting, soon welcomed her as a really 
great singer, and were particularly struck with 
wonder and delight at the novelty and original- 
ity of her style. In the season of 1829 Malibran 
made her reappearance in London, where she 
shared the applaufe of the public with Sontag, 
and the same result followed her singing with 
that artist at Paris, in the autumn. Engaged 
again at the Italian opera in the same capital in 
January, 1830, she was paid frs. 1,075 for each 
representation. This was less than she had re- 
ceived ftt>m Laporte in London. For he had 
given her firs. 18,338.88 'a month, an odd sum, 
unless it meant firs. 40,000 for three months ; and 
she stipulated only to appear twice a week, mak- 
ing each of those appearances cost frs. 1,666.66, 
or about £66. Though she certainly continued 
to draw no higher salary at the Paris Opera in 
18.S0 and 1881, and her charge for sinrring at pri- 
vate concerts in London, 1829, was 25 guineas, 
yet Mr. Alfred Bunn engaged her, soon after, 
for nineteen nights at £l25 per uight, payable in 
adcnnce. 

Sontag marrying, and retiring from the stage 
early in 1880, left Malibran mistress of the field, 
and henceforth she had no rival, but continued 



to sing each seascfn in London and Paris with 
ever-increased eclat. In 1830 an attachment 
sprang up between her and De B^riot : and this 
ended only with her life. They built in 1831 a 
handsome villa in a suburb of Brussels, to vhich 
they returned after every operatic campaign. In 
the summer of 1882, a sudden inspiration took 
this impulsive artist to Italy in the company of 
Lablache, who happened to pass through Brus- 
sels ; and an Italian tour was improvised, which 
was a sort of triumphal prrgress. Milan, Rome, 
Naples, and Bologna were visited with equal sac- 
cess. 

On her return to Brussels in November, Mme. 
Malibran gave birth to a daughter, who did not 
live ; she had already a son. In the following 
spring she came to London, and sang at Drury 
Lane, in English Opera, receiving frs. 80,000 for 
40 representations, with two benefits which prtH 
duced not less than frs. 50,000. The prices of- 
fered t6 her increased each year to an unpr«ce» 
dented extent. She received at the Opera in 
London, during May and June 1885, £2,775 for 
24 appearances. Sums the like of which had 
not been heard of before in such cases were 
paid to her at the provincial festivals in Eng- 
land, and her last engagement at Naples was for 
frs. 80,000 for 40 nights, with two and a half 
benefits, while that which she had accepted at 
Milan from the' Duke Yisconti, the director of 
La Scala, was, exclusively of some other profita- 
ble conditions, frs. 450,000 for 185 performances, 
namely 75 in 1885-86, 75 in 1886-87, and 85 
in the autumn of 1888. 

Having played here in English versions of 
Sonnambula and Fidelia, Malibran returned to 
Naples, where she remained until May, 1884, 
proceeding then to Bologna, and thence to Milan. 
She soon came back, however, to London for a 
flying visit ; and was singing at Sinigaglia in 
July. On the 11th of the next month she went 
to Lubca^ where her horses were taken from her 
carriage, which was drawn to her hotel by en- 
thusiastic admirers after her last appearance. 
She next went to Milan, where she signed the 
above-mentioned $erittura, and thence to Naples, 
where she sang during the Carnival. Here she 
met with an accident, her carnage being upset 
at the corner of a street ; and she suflTered inju- 
ries which prevented her from appearing in public 
for a fortnight. Even then, she made her first 
appearance with her arm in a sling, which added 
to the interest of the occasion. From Naples 
she went, in the same triumphant manner, to 
Venice, her arrival being announced by fanfares 
of trumpets, lliere she was besieged with fresh 
enthusiasm, which followed her on her return to 
Paris and London. She returned in August to 
Lucca, where she played in Ines di Castro, writ- 
ten for her by Persian!, and in Maria Stuarda. 

At this juncture her marriage was annulled 
by the courts at Paris, and on Mareh 26, 2886, 
she married De B^riot, with whom she returned 
immediately to Brussels. 

In the following April, once more in London, 
Mme. Malibran de Beriot had a fall firom her 
horse. She was dragged some distance along the 
roaii, and received serious injuries. to her bead, 
from which she never entirely recovered ; but 
her wonderful energy enabled her for a time to 
disregard the consequences of this accident. She 
returned to Brussels, firom whence she went to 
Aix-la-Chapelle, and gave two concerts there 
with De Beriot. In September she had come to 
England again, for the Manchester Festival,— 
at which her short, brilliant life came to an end. 
She had arrived, with her husband, after a rapid 
journey from Paris, on Sunday, September 11, 
1836. On the following evening she sang in no 
less tlian fourteen pieces. On the Tuesday, though 
weak and Ul, she insisted on singing both mom- 



NOTKMBBR 8, 1879.] 



JDWIOST'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



181 



ing and evening. On Wednesday, the 14th» lier 
state was still more critical, but she contrived to 
sing the last sacred music in which she ever took 
part, " Sing ye to the Lord," with thrilling ef- 
fect; but that same evening her last notes in 
public were heard, in the Duet, with Muie. Cara- 
dori Allan, ^ Vanne se alberghi in petto," from 
Andronico. This was received with immense 
enthusiasm, the last movement was encored, and 
Malibran actually accomplished the task of re- 
peating it. It was her last effort. While the 
concert-room still rang with applause, she was 
fainting in the arms of her friends ; and a few 
moments later she was conveyed to her hotel. 
Here she died, after nine days of nervous fever, 
in the prostration which naturally followed upon 
the serious injuries her brain had received from 
the accident which had befallen her in the midst 
of a life of perpetual excitement. She died on Fri- 
day, Sept. 2S, 1836, about twenty minutes before 
midnight, under the care of her own doctor, a 
homoeopath, Belluomini, who had declined to act 
with the two regular physicians who had at first 
attended her. Two hours afVer her death, De 
B^riot was, with Belluomini, in a can'iage on his 
way to Brussels, to secure the property of his 
late wife. She was buried an Octolier 1, in the 
south aisle of the collegiate church, Manchester. 
She was but twenty-eight years of age when she 
died. Her remains were soon afterwards re- 
moved to Brussels, where they were reinterred in 
the cemetry of Lacken, where a mausoleum was 
erected by De B^riot, containing a bust of the 
great singer by the celebrated sculptor Geefs. 

It is difficult to appreciate the charm of a 
singer whom one has never heard. In the case 
of Maria Malibran it is exceptionally difficult, 
for the charm seems to have consisted chiefly in 
the peculiarity of timbre and unusual extent of 
her voice, in her excitable temperament which 
prompted her to improvise passages of strange 
audacity upon the stage, and on her strong mu- 
sical feeling which kept those improvisations 
nearly, but not quite, always within * the bounds 
of good taste. That her voice was not faultless, 
either in quality or uniformity, seems certain. It 
was a contralto, having much of the soprano reg- 
ister superadded, and with an interval of deail 
notes intervening, to conceal which she used 
great ingenuity, with almost perfect success. It 
was, after all, her mind that helped to enslave 
her audience; without that mental originality, 
her defective vocal organ would have failed to 
please where, in fact, it provoked raptures. She 
was a phenomenal singer ; and it is one misfort- 
une of the present generation that she died too 
young for them to hear her. 

Many portraits of Malibran have appeared, 
none very good. A large one, after Hayter, rep- 
resenting her with a harp, as ^* Desdemona," is 
usually accounted the best ; but it is only indif- 
ferent. Another, by R. J. Lane, A. R. A., show- 
ing her made up as <* Fidalma," and then, after- 
wards, in a stage-box, in her usual dress, is much 
better. 

Several biographies have appeared of this ex- 
traordinary person, with anecdotes of whom it 
would easy to fill a volume ; that which was 
written by the Comtesse Merlin is little better 
than a romance. Malibran composed and pub- 
lished many nocturnes, songs, and chanson nettes ; 
some of the unpublished pieces were collected 
and published by Troupenas at Paris under the 
name of *' Demi^res Peus^ musicale de Marie- 
F^iicit^ Garcia de B^iot," in 4to. J. m. 



Miss Jvlikt Fbxcdxbsor, whose singing was to well re- 
eeived at the Philharmonie symphony concert, is pursuing 
her stodiet with Eugene Thayer. She is reoeirlng numer- 
ous engagements, and later in the season will appear hi 



TALKS ON ART. - SECOND SERIES.^ 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAH M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XVL 

" How shall I finish this picture I " 

Call it finiithed. 

" But no one would buy it as it is." 

Would they buy it any quicker if it were fin- 
ished ? 

" Perhaps not. But if anybody talks of buy- 
ing one of my things the remark is always made, 
* I suppose that you intend to finish it more ! ' " 

Just say that the picture is in the market for 
finish, and that you will finish it to that extent 
for which the purchaser will pay. If you notice, 
you will find that the people who want you to 
*' finish " your pictures are not the people who 
will buy them. 

If you are determined to paint, you won't mind 
what kind of things you use to paint with. I 
remember when I sketched that ploughing-scene 
I had only a butter-box for a palette, a brush or 
two and a palette-knife. For rubbing in a vel- 
vet coat sometimes nothing works better than the 
palm of yoi^" hand. 

If you have a large surface to paint over, get 
sash-tools from the paint-shop, and do it at once. 
I believe that the old painters used these brushes, 
certainly for skies, backgrounds, and draperies. 
At any rate they paintnl broadly and frankly, 
and thev could n't have done it with such brushes 

w 

as we buy nowadays, — long, flimsy, weak things, 
or else stiff and unyielding. If you want to 
know what brushes to use, watch the painters 
at work on windows and doors. 

Be frank and fearless about your work ! Get 
rid 'of the timidity that makes you fear to hurt 
your drawing. 

"Yes; but" — 

Don't say but ! Swallow the word hut ! 
Why, how are you going to sketch out of doors 
if you are going to be so afraid ? You '11 fear 
that some one will go by and see you ! What if 
you had something to do right here in Boston ? 
I would sit down opposite the Tremont House 
if I wished to, — unless the horse-cars were 
coming. 

If you were copying in the Louvre, you'd 
plant your easel before a Raphael and go to 
work. What if people do stare ? If you 're 
busy you won't know it ; and then it has always 
been done and always will be. Go on as if you 
were in the desert of Sahara, and only a camel 
looking at you 1 

You '11 have to make a sacrifice of everything 
before you can draw. Especially, you 're not to 
mind everything that everybody says. Keep all 
that you feel for your work. 

It is n't by trying that you get on. It 's by 
not being afraid 1 People who question what 
you are doing will never pay your board. You 
will have to look at things differently from the 
way in which you have been in the habit of 
looking at them. Don't be troubled because I 
correct you ! Correct ? What is it to be cor- 
rected ? Is n't it to be helped ? If I get you 
where you are afraid to say ** but " you '11 go 
on welL You have too much conscience. It 
i^the New England habit, and it is always in 
the way of your drawing fearlessly. Come, put 
your drawing right up there near the model I 
Nobody will laugh at it. You are all in the 
same boat Consider this your own studio, and 
do as you please in it ! 

You can't do good work unless you are physi- 
cally in order for it. It requires as much strength 
to paint well as to plough. 

I 1 Copyright, 1879, bj Helen M. Knowltoo. 



^tDtgl^f ^journal of iHujaitc. 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8. 1879. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Boston Philharhonic Orchkstba. — The 
nucleus of the Harvard Symphony Orchestra, 
enrolled as a separate organization under the di- 
rection of Mp. Bernhard Listemann, made its 
first appearance in the Music Hall on Friday 
evening, Oct. 24. For so small a band (only 
82 instruments — 4 first violins, 2 'cellos and 2 
basses), — convenient for popular concerts here , 
and for mobilization among neighboring towns, — 
and considering that the programme was rather 
overweighted with brilliant, doisy, heavy speci- 
mens of the modern school of instrumentation 
(needing, more than the sincere and moilest older 
music, a large orchestra), tlie new Philharmonics, 
and their very competent and thorough leader, ren- 
dered excellent report of themselves. The fruits 
of unsparing critical rehearsal were obvious 
enough in the precision, the clearness, the good 
light and shade, and telling quality of each and 
every effort. A larger proportion of strings was 
of course desirable, particularly in the modem 
pieces, where Eurus, -Boreas, and all the wind 
gods, are so systematically set loose to scour the 
plain and swallow up the gentler sounds. Mr. 
Listemann, considering his nervous temperament, 
agreeably surprised us by the self-possession and 
the firm, quiet, but controlling and efficient man- 
ner with which he conducted the whole concert. 
The violins, with Mr. Allen at their head, were 
prompt and sure in their attack, and phrased 
with perfect unity, playing with spirit and with 
delicacy throughout. There were two or three 
younger new men among the violins, and a new 
and excellent clarinetist, — for the rest it was 
the nucleus of our usual orchestra, here kept in 
constant practice and cooperation for the larger 
uses when they come.. The programme was as 
follows : — 

Overture, ** Tannhiiuaer " Wiiffner, 

Cbaoonne. Adapted for Orehcetra by J. 

Riiff'(New).. Hack, 

M Ma la SoU,'* fh>m *' Beatrice di Tenda." . Donixetti. 

Miia Juliet E. Fendenoii. 

Concerto for Violin, " Andante and Finale." Mtndtlmnhn. 

Timothy d'Adamowtki. 

(Hia flnt appearaoee in America.) 

<*Tatao,** Lameiito e Trionfo, Symphonic 

Poem . IMzt. 

•« Caniival of Phrie," Episode (New) . . . J. Svendten, 
«< Catta Diva," with Recitative, from *' Nor- 
ma" BeOini. 

Miss Juliet E. Feudenon. 
Violin Solos, 

(a.) *t Nocturne " Chopin. 

(6.) ** Hungarian Dance" BraUm: 

Timothy d*Adamowski. 
Walts, " Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald " J. Stmuu, 
Torchlight Dance, No. 1, hi B-flat. . . . Meyerben: 

•The Tannhduser Overture has become rather 
hackneyed, but the first taste of the trim and 
lively quality of the brave little orche^tra was 
quickening to the sense ; and indeed it was re- 
freshing to hear an orchestra af>er so many 
months. Of the newer works Liszt's Tasto was 
the most poetic and imposing, in itself and in 
the presentation ; yet we think one such thing 
enough for any programme. Svendsen's " Car- 
nival " was a wild, outrageous, screaming Witches' 
Sabbath ; an ingenious, audacious, brilliant, and 
exceedingly difficult specimen of that sort of 
caricature of art which we could wish, with Dr. 
Johnson, were impossible. The Strauss Walts 
(Stories from the Vienna forest) was in refresh- 
ing contrast, and, but for the introduction of the 
insipid, sentimental cithern, welcome to all ears. 
The Meyerbeer ** Torchlight Dance," with ito 
grotesque, bloated melody on the bass tuba, 
showed how big a crash can be produced by a 



182 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 1006. 



few instruments. All these things were certainly 
played well. 

But now for gentler and sincerer strains ; now 
for the serene sky and the divine repose of 
older, truer Art, and more convincing, even with 
a ^ still, small voice." First and greatest was 
the Chaconne^ — Bach's grandest of ail solos for 
the violin, whose power and charn reside so in- 
trinsically in its musical ideas, and their most 
genial, masterly development, that the outlines 
can bear magnifying and coloring through u full 
orchestral transcription, such as R'tfT has here 
successfully made. The power and beauty of the 
work were admirably brought out, the color con- 
trasts heightened, and the crescendos and great 
climaxes intensified, but not exaggerated, in the 
writing and the rendering. Every plirnse and 
motive, and all the iK>lyphonic interweaving, was 
distinct and fine. The only thing which we 
could question was the soniuwliat too fast tempo 
of the middle portion, wliere the development 
becomes exciting, and the individual instruments 
have so much melodic work to do each in its 
own way. It gave an impression of uneasy, 
anxious effort to keep in. For the solo violinist 
such quickening of the pulse at times is natural 
and not offensive ; but the orchestral Ixxly needs 
a steadier movement. Tne piece was closely 
listened to and heartily enjoyed. 

Next, the two movements from the Mendels- 
sohn Concerto, in which the principal violin was 
nicely and judiciously accompanied. Mr. Ada- 
niowski, the young Pole of whom we have before 
spoken, won the general sympathy by his very 
presence, and his sincere, modest, graceful man- 
ner and bearing. His playing at once approved 
itself by its pure intonation, its fine, clear phras- 
ing, as well as breadth of st} le, intelligent con- 
ception, depth of feeling, an<l well-nigh fault- 
less execution. There was nothing meretricious 
about it; no false ornament nor affectation ; it 
was all simple, genuine, and manly. His tone is 
not of the largest, but yet powerful and search- 
ing. He is too young to have developed into a 
great violinist, but the promise is excellent ; and 
indeed his whole appearance and performance 
was most interesting. The audience could not 
refrain from open applause in the midst of each 
movement. Being recalled he played a graceful 
Serenade by Haydn, with good pianoforte ac- 
companiment by Mr. C. L. Capen. The Chopin 
Nocturne was exquisitely played, and the Hun- 
garian Dance was given with great fire and free- 
dom. 

Miss Fenderson has a rich and large soprano 
voice, which seems to be well trained, although 
tliere is a slight tendency to the tremolo. Her sing- 
ing is good, though not particularly sympathetic. 
We should prefer to hear her in more interest- 
ing selections. The recitative preceding *' Casta 
Diva " was the most impressive thing she did. 



Herr Rafael Josefft, the young Hunga- 
rian " piano virtuoso " (virtuoso in the best 
sense), after setting New York wild with musi- 
cal enthusiasm, came last week to us, — came 
and played and conquered. With tliis differ- 
ence : here no discordant sounds were mingled 
in the general chorus of delight; there some 
jealous croaks,were heard, promptly rebuked of 
course. The th)*ee concerts were given on 
Thursday and Friday evenings, and Saturday 
afternoon, in Horticultural Hall, a room of the 
right size for the best effect of the piano-forte. 
On the first evening Joseffy was accompanied in 
two pieces by a very small but select orchestra, 
uftder the able direction of Mr. B. J, Lang. This 
was the programme : — 

Ovoture, " Prometheui '* Beethoven, 

Concerto (E minor) Chopin, 

Htrr Joseffy and OrcbcttnL 



Allegro flrom the ** Italian Sjmphonjr " . Mendelmthn. 
Piano Solo: 
n. Chroroatiache Fantasie und Fuge . . J. S. Bick. 

b. Menuett, Tnuiicribed by K, Joaeffj . . Btuxherini. 

c. Etude on Cbopiira Valae (D-flat) , . . R. Jueeffy. 

lierr Joteffv. 

Hungarian Fautaale Ijitzt. 

Herr Joeeffy and Orchestra. • 

The two purely orchestral selections were 
nicety suited to the occasion, and were played 
with spirit and refinement, as wa^ also the long 
and pregnant introduction to the Chopin Con- 
certo. A very few bars sufficed to convince the 
audience of the marvelous /oucA of the pianist, 
as well as of a perfect terhnitfue, felt in the sim- 
plest passages and phrases quite as palpably as 
afterwards in the most elaborate and difficult or- 
namental development and bravura. Jndee<l, we 
daiHS not say that we have ever heard in any art- 
ist (Rubinstein, Von Billow, Essipoff, included) 
a more near approach to absolute perfection in 
every element of technique and of execution. 
The evenness and ease of all the runs and ar- 
peggios; the commanding, penetrating power, 
always expressively graduated and shaded ; the 
positive intensity (so different from *' pound- 
ing'') with which significant single tones were 
struck and made to vibrate through, and through 
the listener; the sinj^ularly soft and velvety ;E>i'a- 
nissimo.'t^ never blurred nor muffled, and with the 
finest discrimination of all degrees and shades 
between pianissimf) and piano ; on the other 
hand, <]ecided strength and power, wherever re- 
quired, whether sustained and broad, or startling 
and electric ; the staccato and legato alike per- 
fect; and the faultless style, proportion, unity 
throughout, — all the qualities, in short, of the. 
peerless executant were felt in this, as in every 
one of his performances. 

And the interpreter satisfied no less than*the 
executant. . He plays with soul and feeling, with 
a fine intelligence, making execution, technique, 
subonlinate to the expression of the composer's 
meaning, the perfected means to an ideal and 
artistic end. When have we had all the power 
and beauty of that Concerto so brought out ? 
Alike in the broad and noble Allegro, the soul- 
ful, exquisite Romanza, and the brilliant Rondo, 
flashing like diamonds in the sunlight? The 
only detail which we could have wished other- 
wi^, was the startling force and splendor given 
to the concluding cadence by the Taussig double 
octaves in place of the simpler original ; such 
tours de force are always questionable, at least 
unnecessary. 

But, to our mind, his most remarkable perform- 
ance was that of the Chromatic Fantasie and 
Fugue of Bach ; especially the Fantasie, which 
we never before have heard when it was kept so 
all alive, from beginning to end, through all its 
free fantastic coruscations of arpeggios and runs, 
its dainty parenthetic bits of flowering arabesque, 
and its great breadths of rich and massive chords. 
The Fugue, so prepared, followed in the most 
clear and delicate, poetic style. The naive, pretty 
Boccherini melody was marvelously transfigured, 
deckpd out and bejeweled in Joseffy's most sub- 
tle and ingenious transcription, where the artist 
reveled in the full, free play of inexhaustible em- 
bellishment. And the sensuous delight and won- 
der which this excited was enhanced with an al- 
most dizzy crescendo in his Etude on the Cho]%i 
Waltz ; that was virtuosity carried to a white 
heaL We are about tired of Hungarian Fan- 
tasies and Rhapsodies, and we do not think 
Liszt's orchestra improves them; but there can 
be no doubt that this was a most brilliant, char- 
acteristic, vivid illustration of those well-worn 
national melodies, songs, and dances, with all 
the local color that could be desired. 

That concert was a fresh sensation and sur- 
prise, eyen to old concert-goers. The result of 



it was the sreneral feeling that here is a man 
who unites all the qualities oi a complete pianist, 
wiUi no weakness, no flaw anywhere. He can 
do whatever he pleases with his instrument (in 
this case a wonderfully sweet, sonorous Chicker- 
ing), and his true musical instinct, his cultured 
taste, prompt him to do good things, and not 
wastte such faculties on trash. 

The second concert was without orchestra, and 
consisted wholly of piano solos, namely these : — 



(1) Soiiate Op. 53, C miuor 

(2) a. Fuga A minor \ J S B 
h. Btmrree J 



Beethoven, 
tch, 

e. Gavotte Padre Martim, 

d. Voicel ala Prophet (Bird as a Prophet), 

Novellette No. 9, D major .... Schutnnwn, 

e. Moment Musieal, A-flat niiyor . . . Schubert, 
f. Auf dem Waster ni dngeu (To aitif; on 

the water) Sdkubert — Litzt. 

(3) a. Etudes, Op. 10 (C-sharp minor, E miyor 

0-flat mi^r) Chopin. 

b. Nocturne . . . . • ** 

e. Valae, E minor <* 

d. Taozarabeake, No. 9 Jotefff, 

e, Spinnerlied (Flying Dutchman) . IVagner— IJatt, 

(4) Tarantella YenexiaeNapoU Listi. 

Only the greatest artists have given us so fine 
a rendering of that Beethoven sonata, which has 
been the stalkingMiorse for so many concert vir- 
tuosos. On this first hearing there was some- 
thing a little strange to us in his conception and 
his treatment of it which we could not <leflne to 
our own mind. Throughout we doubted whether 
Josefiy had the bread 'h, the depth, and the in- 
tensity of nature which fits one to be peculiarly 
an exponent of Bv'ethoven's music. His render- 
ing did not lack force or manliness, and yet it 
was the feminine side of the giant which seemed 
mostly to come out. All the finesse of the com- 
position — and there is a great deal of it, par- 
ticularly in the Hondo with its breathless, fiery 
speed, and almost fairy fancy — he exhibited in 
a clearer light and finer outline than we ever 
heard before. In those most trying passages 
for the fingers, where groups of twofold rhydim 
in the one hand struggle against those that are 
threefold in the other, each was heard with a dis- 
tinctness without any scrambling, the like of 
which we cannot recall. And where the theme 
is kept up in the upper octave, supported by a 
continuous trill in the same hand, while the left 
hand rushes up and down in rapid scales (staccato^ 
too), all the three parts asserted themselves at 
once most bravely and with equal vividness. The 
Prestissimo, too, of the Finale, was surpassingly 
quick and perfect Some, no doubt, wondered 
at so much pianissimo in so bold an<1 fiery a So- 
nata ; and so did we somewhat, until, having be- 
come at home more with his manner, when he 
repeated it in the matinde of the next day, we 
could accept bis renddring and yield ourselves 
up to it with much less reserve. * Some day we 
hope to hear him play some more, a good deal 
more, of Beethoven. 

The Fugue and Bourr^ of Bach, with florid 
themes, and woven into a most delicate and sub- 
tle tissue, were most exquisitely given ; could we 
only always hear Bach's things played as these 
were, and that Chromatic Fantasie, any audience 
would fall in love with them I The quaint Ga- 
votte by Martini was delightful both in matter 
and in manner. Schumann's little Bird reverie 
could not have been more exquisitely and feel- 
ingly expres^d ; and the Novellette^ a work of 
more pretension, was an eloquent interpretation. 
But what could be more delicious than Joseffy's 
rendering of the two Schubert pieces, particu- 
larly the Barcarole^ which is one of Liszt's hap- 
piest transcriptions ? 

We have not room to dwell on the admirable 
and characteristic rendering of the Chopin pieces. 
The remainder of the programme might all come 
under the rubric of the *' arabesque," as well as 



NOTKMBBB 8, 1879.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



183 



the artiit*8 own florid and extremely ornamental 
setting of Bome familiar Viennese dance tunes of 
the " Blue Danube " onler. Surely, light fingers 
never flew more deftly through all the labyrin- 
thine intricacies of such fairy frost-work. The 
Spinnerlied and Tarantella were, perhaps, too 
much of the same order to come all together. 
But that is a- vein in which Josefly seems to be 
supreme, and he can play upon the senses of an 
audience with it ad long as bis fancy listeth and 
the imputse lasts. We might call It musical lace 
work ; we examine a few specimens of fine lace 
and feel that we have seen all there is or can be 
of it ; with all its en«llf ss variation, it is essen- 
tially the same thing to the end of the chapter. 
But the ladies find it otherwise ! And so they 
did with t^ese tone-arabesques. 

This second programme was essentially re- 
peateil in the matinee of Saturday, oa which we 
suspend comment for the present, to allow a 
chance for afterthoughts and the supplying of 
any omissions in this hasty record of imprehslons. 



IS ROBERT FR.\NZ A FAILURE? 

II. 

It has been said of Franz's " additional ac 
eompaniments *' to Bach and Handel arias that 
they overload the original compositions with 
counterpoint, or, as I have heard it expressed, 
<^you cannot see the simply beautiful melody for 
the contrapuntal dust which surrounds it." This 
is indeed a grave charge, and requires to bo 
gravely met. I will attempt to answer it, to- 
g^tlier with the very .self-evident proposition 
that ** what Franz has added is not Bach." The 
gaps in Bach's scores absolutely need filling up in 
some way ; this is admitted on all hands, and 
may be considered a settled fact. Leaving aside, 
for the moment, the qnesdon whether this filling 
up is to be done on the organ or by orchestral 
instruments (a matter of quite secondary impor- 
tance), it. may be said that only two ways of 
writing the ** additional accompaniments '* have 
been suggested. The first, or Franz, method is 
to write these '* accompaniments " in a pure 
polyphonic style, working out contrapuntal fig- 
ure^that are to be found in the original parts, 
so as to make the Bach score and the added 
parts blend into an organic whole. The second, 
or anti-Franz, method is to fill out the gaps with 
the simplest plain harmony, thus throwing the 
original parts into the strongest possible relief. 
This second plan has one (to me questionable) 
advantage : it leaves the listener in no <loubt as 
what notes Bach actually wrote, and what has 
been added by modern hands. Bach's freely 
flowing parts, full of musical vitality as they are, 
stand out against the neutral harmonic back- 
ground with unmistakable distinctness. But I 
(Uil to see what is gained by this, beyond satisfy- 
ing a mere historico-archsBological curiosity in 
the listener. It does not give him any more of 
Bach than the other metho<l does (for the origi- 
nal parts are preserved intact in both), and gives 
it him accompanied in a way that we know both 
by tradition and by internal evidence to be dia- 
metrically opposed to Bach's style ; for all ac- 
counts unite in telling us that Bach himself was 
in the habit of treating all figured basses poly- 
phonically, and often in a very elal)orate contra- 
puntal style. It is evident to the meanest ca- 
pacity that no man can count upon the wholly 
inconsiderable chance of filling out the compos- 
er's figured, or un figured basses, exactly a» Bach 
hvMelf would ; such a thing is not to be thought 
of, an<l no one ever claimed that Franz has done 
it. But he has made such an exhaustive study 
of Bach's manner, his native genius has been 
00 firiictified by long approplnquity with Bach's 



works, that it may be fairly claimed for him 
that his additions are as near an approximation 
to Bach's style as we can look for to-day. This 
is so true that persons more anxious to obtain 
unquestioned authenticity than musical beauty 
have even reproached him with writing '* addi- 
tional accompaniments" that blend so nicely 
with the original parts, that the listener cannot 
tell which is Franz and which is Bach. That is 
indeed a reproach with a vengeance. Tell me 
till doomsday that a Franz-Bach score is not 
Bach, ])ure and simple, and I readily admit it ; 
but I answer that by far the greater number of 
Bach scores, filled out in mere plain harmony, 
are not Bach either, and, what is worse, they are 
not even in Bach's style — nay (speaking from 
my own personal musical convictions), they are 
not in any respectable style at all. As for 
*' Bach pure an<l simple," it is an article that in 
very many cases is not to be had for the asking, 
and we must content ourselves with a substitute. 
Let those individuals who are bent upon putting 
salt upon the tail of every note that came from 
Bach's pen, and pocketing it without fear of its 
pedigree being counterfeited, follow performances 
score in hand, and pick out what they find to be 
genuine. 

But is this, after all, the right spirit to listen to 
great music in ? Is music a thing to be enjoyed 
only aftier its authentic date and parentage has 
been settled — just like a collection of old coins? 
I think far otherwise. 

As for '* contrapuntal dust obscuring a beauti- 
ful melody," take any of the most elaborate of 
Franz's arrangements, say for instance, the tenor 
air ** Der Glaube ist das Ffand der Liebe " in 
the Cantata *' Wer da glaubet und getauft wird." 
Listening to it ^h even the dullest ears I can- 
not find that the melody is obscured in a single 
instance. Take the original parts, adding an ac- 
companiment of mere chords, and you have the 
beautiful melody in absolute rags against a back- 
ground that only serves to make its scant dress 
the more visible. 1 ask any musician to say 
frankly whether he can conceive of a great 
composer's really intending such anutter discrep- 
ancy in character between a melody and bass on 
the one hand, and the accompanying voices on 
the other. Is it possible that Bach, who has 
never tor'Uten out anything in this mongrel style, 
can have wished it to be applied to a large num- 
ber of his most glorious inspirations ? Speaking 
in terms of four-part writing, and imagining 
Bach's original parts to be sentient beings (that 
is truly no great stretch of fancy), what must be 
the state of mind of a treble or bass part at find- 
ing a dull modern tenor or alto refuse to follow 
its most beautiful suggestions, and torpidly hang 
around its neck, as it were, doing just enough to 
prevent actual cacophony! A leading voice 
wisheh to be followed, and followed willingly and 
intelligently ; Bach's parts sketch out designs for 
the others to execute ; they do not ask merely 
for support, they cry aloud for active cooperation ; 
they do not say to the accompaniment (in the old 
technical sense of the term), ** Take us upon 
your shouldera that we may the better disport our- 
selves in the eyes of men," but rather, '' Come, 
take your own active part in the work we are seek- 
ing to accomplish ; we cannot do it alone, but must 
have genial and skillful help from you; as you share 
in the work, so shall you share in the rewa.rd." 

In a word, — and this no unprejudiced person 
has yet denied, — Franz has developed the incom- 
plete scores of Bach into something that can 
stand forth as a coherent and finely organized 
whole ; every fibre in them is alive, and all parts 
work together by ihe same means to a common 
end. But the "greatest possible neutrality" 
school, with their plain harmonic filling out, have 
in no wise done this ; their *' accompaniments " 



do not blend with the original parts, they do not 
form an organic whole, but merely give us two 
incongruous parallel entities, which agree with 
each other only well enough to prevent actual 
mutual excoriation — and not always that. 

{To be continued.) 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Chicago, Oct. 20 Onr musical sesaon maj be said 

to be fiairly open, for we are now having two weeks of Italian 
Opera from the Strakoach Coropaoy. I have attended a 
number of performances, and heard aU the new artists several 
tiroes. 'Hie opening night gave us FauU with tlie follow- 
ing cast: — 

Mile. Lb Bhuiche . . as . . Marguerite. 

Miss Lancauter ... as ... . Siebel. 

Miss Arcone .... as ... . Marta. 

Signor Lazariui ... as ... . Faust. 

Sigiior Storti .... as . . Valentine. 

Monsieur Castelmary . as . Mepbistopheles. 

Mile. Ia Blanche (Miss Davenport) is a graceful joimg 
lady, with a good idea of acting; and her stage presence is 
always suggestive of the character that she may be r^re 
senUng, thus showing tliat she has given fiutbful study to 
the ideal of her roles. Her voice is not large, but of the 
light soprano character; sweet and sympatlietic in the high 
notes, although her lower tones are rather weak and uneven. 
She acted the part of Maiguerite much better than she sang 
it. Yet portions of her music were given very efiectively, 
and considering her limited experience she may take courage 
for the future from her efibrt. To color the various notes of 
the voice so that they may adequately manifest the emotions 
of the character is the aim of true art. Our fftir debutante 
gave more expression to her acting than to her singing. 
There was sympathy in t)^« voice, it is true, but tlie joyous 
ring of the liappy jnaideu was not there, nor did her sorrow 
in the later scenes of the opoa receive adequate vocal rep- 
resentation. In the jewel song particuburly, one felt her in- 
ability to give it with that joyous and sparkling tone which 
so well expresses the merry-hearted maUieu. The trill 
which opens the song was very poorly executed. Signer 
Storti, who took the small role of Valentine, is a baritone 
with an expressive voice of much power; and he sings well, 
while his acting was the best I have seen of the part. M . 
Castelmary made the role of Mephisto the central figure in 
the opera. His acting stamps him as a fine arUst, while 
his telling voice is used with a skill that indicates purpose 
and conception. He is one of the best artists in the com- 
pany. Signor Lazarini made a very weak Faust. Bliss 
Lancasto- made but little of Siebers music, llie chorus is 
one of the worst 1 ever had the misfortune to hear. 1 can 
imagine nothing more frightful ^an their appearance and 
— I must not say shigiug, for their discordant voices ha^'e 
no approach to anything musical. They come upon the 
stage and interrupt the music of tlie opera as a teirible 
nightmare destroys the lovely picture of sweet fiuicy's fairest 
dream, even by the spectre of its own hideousueaa. 

Tuesday evening gave us the time-worn Jl TVtmntore, 
which was only made notable by the first appearance of' the 
dramatic prima donna. Mile Singer. 

I regret that I cannot follow the critics of our daily press, 
and become enthusiastic over the vocal and dramatic abil- 
ities of Mile. Singer. She has a very large voice, extremely 
powerful in its carrying quality, and she may rightly claim 
the name of a dramatic prima donna. Yet she has a very 
mioorofortable treniolOf which she uses all the time, ex-en in 
the mtzza voce. In the chest notes her voice can exhibit 
great power, but the character of the sound is not strictly 
ttiusicaL In the ensemble singing she csn be heard above 
chorus and orchestra with a volume of tone that is aston- 
ishing to an audience, and completely awakens their entbu- 
siasm. Her appearance on the stage is stately, and her 
acting dramatic, while she may be said to belong to the 
emotional school. The constant use of the ^tmolo causes 
her intonation to be at times uncertain, and she foils from 
the key occasionally. As Leonora slie had plenty of oppor- 
tunity to show the emotional characteristic of her voice, and 
slie improved it so succeasfully ss to win applause. In the 
trio at the end of the flnt act her voice manifested its full 
power, and the people seemed to be delighted. To me it 
was a passion made so intense as to be beyond the limit of 
control, and if the term ranting may be applied to singing, 
it would perhaps stand hi place. Yet I would not say that 
she had but poor abilities, for her Alda, which I saw later, 
stamped het as mi artist of more than ordinary acoomplish- 
meiits. In the approach to the circle of the great artists of 
the worid she as yet atanda at the doorway, hindered, per- 
haps, by aome of the faulta I have named. 

MUe. de Bekicca ia a pretty little buly, with a rich mexzo< 
aoprano voice, which she tisea with smoothness and grace. 
Her acting was not dramatic enongh for the role of Azuoena, 
nor her voice large enough to suit the full requirements of 
the part. Yet her tones were sweet and sgreeable, particu- 
larly in the middle part of the voice. It is not a contralto 
voice, nor fitted for such a r&le as that of the gipsy. Sig. 
Petrovich proved himself to be a tenor with a good healthy 
voice of the robusto order. He took the high C in the ** cU 



184 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1006. 



qoeOft pin " with a ringing tone iliat was pure and Idling, 
aod won therebj the admiration of tlia aodienoe. In acting 
he is onlj mediocre, and hia singing cannot be regarded as 
strictlj artistic, although it has manj ezcelient qualities. 
Sig. Storti, as the Count, did some very fine singing. UU 
style ii good, and his voice smooth and rieli. He won his 
waj into &vor at onoe, and his acting and singing show 
him to be one of the most talented members of the oom- 
pwiy. 

Wednesday evening I listened to Mif/non^ Mile. Ijk 
Kanche taking tlie title role. Miss Litta was Fiiina, M. 
Castelmsry, LoCario, and Sig. Lasariui, Guglielmo. The 
part of Mignon contains music which is too low to suit 
Mile. La Blanche's voice; and, although she acted well, 
and loolied the character, the music was too tryhig for a 
voice of that kind. She was in sympathy with her role, 
however, and did her best to produce a picture of the im- 
pulsive child-woman that Groetbe painted in such warm 
ecHon. Miss Litta sang the music of the Fiiina part with 
fine execution, but she has not the abondan necessary to 
give the chariicter that dash and grace tliat should mark its 
representation. M. Casteluiary's niak»-up in the pert of 
Lotario was arUstic in the extreme, and bis acting and sing- 
ing was the best we have ever liad in this r^. He gave a 
manly dignity to the character, and his scenes with Mignon 
were very expressive, and highly enjoyalile. He had that 
sympathy that draws othen into its circle, and he won the 
audience by the power of his srt. 

Thursday gave us AUia, To say that Mile. Singer acted 
the role of Alda finely is only a Just record. Her concep- 
tion was intelligeiit and marked with a dignity of bearing 
fitting the character. The role of Alda is one particularly 
adapted to her voice, and as it gives full scope for the use of 
her emotioiMl and dramatic powen it is not surpriung that 
she makes it one of her very best parts. In the concerted 
music in the first act her voice was heard alwve the orches- 
tra, chorus, and other parts, with a power of tone tlirilling 
in its immense volume. In the scene in which she pictures 
her love for Badames, and at the same time her fisar for her 
fitther's safety in his encounter with the Ej^yptian hosts, the 
various emotions of a perplexed mfnd, and a troubled heart, 
were givai such truthful manifestations as to stamp them 
with the appearance of reality. In the duet with Amneris, 
where she discloses her love for Kadames, she was alio very 
expressive. She used the vtezta voce with pleasuig contrast 
to her larger tones. In the last scene she also sang and 
acted very efl&ctively. The great fault in her singing is the 
constant use of the tremolo. It mars her best ^orts, and 
gives a coloring to the voice not always agreeable to Wabea 
to. Passion of an intense character, and great volume of 
vmce she has, and her conceptkm of •character is worthy of 
an artist; but her method of singing will not win her the 
highest appreciation. Mile. de~ Bekicca sang Amneris 
agreealtly, but her voice wa« not dramatic nor Ivge enough 
to give to the character its best representation. Still Ae 
sings well. After Min Gary where shall we find an Amne- 
ris? Sig. Petrorich sang jhe part of Kadames with much 
power, and although he is not great, was not a weak point 
hi the cast. Sig. Storti and M. Castelmary gave their 
roles with the finish of accomplished artists. Commenda- 
tion can go no further. 

Friday evening Miis Litta lang Lucia. She was greeted 
with a large and enUiiisiastic house. She executed her 
music with much brilliancy, and in the mad scene won great 
applattse for her fine singing. In action she has improved 
very much since last year. Saturday we had Tntvintn^ 
with Mile. La Blanche. I mined the performance, but 
learn that the young' lady nuule her best etBxi of the week. 
A. number of concerts demand attention, also some mention 
of Mile. Singer as Norma, but my letter has already run 
beyond the proper limit, and these must wait until snother 
Ume. C. H. B. 

Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 31. — Since I wrote you bst, 
there have been two concerts w( rthy of record. The first 
on Oct. 14, was given by WilLelnij, ^hi connection with 
Bach's orchestra. The programme was as foibws : — 

Overture, V^ryanthe CM von Weber. 

Vorspiel, Lohengrin ......... Wagner, 

Concerto for Violin (with a Cadence by Wilhelmj), 

with Orchestra Ace Beethoven, 

Mr. WUhebi\i. 

Scene and Aria, Freischuetz, - Weber. 

Mme. Jenny Valley. 

Rhapsodic Hongroise, No. 14 Liazi. 

Overture, Mignon Thomas. 

{a. Andante and Intcrmesao, Solo for Violm with 
Orchestra Vogrich. 
b. Largo, So|p for Violin with Organ Ace. Hundel. 
Mr. Wilhelmj. 
Bridal Song, From the Symphony *' I.Aendliche 

Hochzelt*' • Goldmark, 

Air, Hongroise Erntt. 

Mr. Wilhelmj. 

Turicish Patrol Michnelu. 

I have nothing to add to tlie numerous commendations of 
the great viotinist. Unfortunately, he omitted the Handel 
Lnrtjo. The orchestra accompanied barlly, but in the other 
numbers surpassed itself. BInie. Valley's method u poor, 
and her style very unsatisfactory. 

Tlie Musical Society gave The Creation last night, Mr. 
Eugene Luening being conductor. The soloists were Mr. 



Frana Remmerts, who sang admirably, but sometimes over- 
sentimentalized bu part; Mr. Chas. Knorr, who has excel- 
lent points and u on the whole acceptable in spite of a bad 
or rather imperfect school; Miss Jennie Jerzykiewics, a 
young shiger fresh from seven years of study in Germany, 
with a light, purs, clear, well-trained voice and good style; 
and fifiss Susie Macauky, also a young soprano with consid- 
erable French snd Italian training, with a light voice, some- 
what nasal in quality, especially Mow and on certain vowels, 
but on the whole a very desirable singer. The chorus de- 
serves high praite, and Mr. Luening is to be congratulated 
on the very marked succeas of his work. J. C F. 



MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE. 

The score of the overture to " Rip van Winkle,*' by Mr. 
George W. Chad wick (of Lawrence, Mass.), a student at 
the Conservatorium in Leipaig, which won the palm there 
among all the compositions oflfored at the annual ezamina. 
tion, or Havgpt-Prifnng^ in June bst, is now in the hands 
of the Concert Committee of the Harvard Musical Associa- 
tion, and probably will be performed in the first Symphony 
Concert (Dec. 11). The programme of that concert also 
includes the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven, the Overture to 
Bommtrnde^ by Schubert, the " Marehe de Nuit " fixNH 
Berlioa's L'En/ance du ChrUt (first time), aod a Concerto 
not yet decided on. 

— The pbuis of the Euterpe are now completed. The 
programmes for the five concerts in Mechanic's Hall are 
as follows: — 

Dee. 10. — (Quartet, E-flat, Haydn ; Quintet^ Op. 29, 
aeethovesn. 

Jan. 14 Quartet, C mi^, Motari ; Quartet, Op. IIKI, 

No. 3, Raff. 

Feb. IL— Quartet, Op. 74, Beethoven; Quartet, Op. 
41, No. 3, Schumann, 

March 10. — Quartet, Op. 132, Beethoven; Quartet, Op. 
44, No. 1, JiiendeU$ohn. 

April 14. —Quartet, E-flat, Ckerubtni; (^ntet, G 
minor, Mozart. 

The Mendelssohn Quintette Club will open the season. 
The New York Philharmonic Club will play in the Isst two 
concerts. 

— Ernst Perabo has returned, after a seeond resideQee in 
Leipzig, not in such good healUi as his many friends had 
hoped to see him. He receives his punils at No. 10 Dene 
St The GaxetU lays: *> While abrfld, Mr. Perabo was 
not idle, as is evidenced by the music published by him in 
Leipzig. Among these are * Drri Studien,* for piano, 
brilliant and interesting works of a high <N>ler of merit, 
thoughtful and musiciaiily in treatment, and of value to 
students fhnn both an artistic and technical point of view. 
The seeond study is dedicated to Professor Wentcel, of the 
I^pzig Conservatory, and the third to Professor Ernst 
Friedrich Kchter. Among the other works are a series of 
short pieces under the title of ' After School/ the first five 
of which have appeared here, but the sixth, consisting of 
five more, under Uie tiUe * A Picnic,' are now printed for 
the first time. They are all charming and dainty in idea, 
and gracefully treated. These and the otliera of Mr. Pera* 
bo's foreign publications can be had of Mr. Arthur P. 
Schmidt.'' 

— Our noble Boston Music Hall is not yet out of dan- 
ger. We stated several weeks ago that the only hope of 
safety lay in the purchase by its friends of the controlling 
interest in its stock, now held by <»ie man and for the bene- 
fit of that man's creditors. Two parties have been coAipet- 
ing for the possession of those 560 shares, but with opposite 
motives. The first party sedc to buy on speculation, and 
would play into the haiidis of the would-be destroyers. But 
the present owner decUned to close with them, provided the 
friends of the Hall would subscribe for all bis shares at a 
fixed price, greatly above par, within a reasonable time. 
Such friends were not wanting, and, to our certain knowl- 
edge, (Ml Saturday, Oct. 25, the subscription for the 560 
shares was fully made up by gentlemen who wish to save 
the building for a Music Hall. Yet when the anulunt was 
formally oflTered, it appeared that some new sinister influ- 
ence had been at work, so strong as to induce the present 
holder to recede from his propoml, though he may yet re- 
lent. And then it now hangs trembling in the baUnce. 
The friends who so readily agreed to take the stock knew 
that they were paying much too high a price for it; but 
they only wished to save the Hall; they acted from a gener- 
ous sentiment, for the good of music, and for the honor of 
old Boston, and not from a hope of dividends, or from a 
willingness to specnkte upon the chance of its destruction. 
Shonld the property beetnne theirs, the interests and uses of 
the Hell could be In no better hands. 

— The season tickets for the Handel and Haydn Society's 
Concerts are in good demand. — Subscriptbn papers for the 
eight Harvard Symphony Concerts may be foimd at the 
Music Hall, at Chickeriog's, and st Ditson's, Priifer's, and 
Schmidt's music stores, until Dee. 1. The orchestra will 
have for its nucleus the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mr. Liste- 
mann, and it will be as much huger, wad the rehearssls as 
frequent and as thorough, as the number of subscribers Will 
permit. The same with regard to sob talent, vocal and in- 
strumental. The aooner the subscription lists are filled, the 
stronger will the committee be for carrying out their scheme 
of first-class concerts. 



— There is to be a series of five dassical concerts in Son- 
den Theatre, (Cambridge), this season, under the direction 
of i'rofeswr J. K. Paine. The etitire number will be given 
by the Boston Philharmonic Club, with Mr. Listemanu 
eooductor, and a symphony will, be produced at each con- 
cert. AiDOog the pieces performed will be' Beethoven's 
Symphonies m C minor and in F, Weber's overture to 
"Oberon," and *» Invitation a la Dense; " Moaart in E 
muMT, Goets*s new symphony, a work by Saint Saens, and 
compositions by Bach, Schhmaun, and Wagner. F!ap«rB are 
open for subscription. 

— The Boylston Club will give a ooncert in Mnsic Hall, 
November 14, when Astorga's Stabai Mater will be pro 
duced and Mr. Adamowsky will play. 

— Mr. John A. Preston will give a series of four piano 
recitals at Winchester, beginning November 24, sssisted by 
Mr. C. N. Allen, Mr. Wulf Fries, and others. 

— Graifs opera bouffis troupe will begin a season of two 
weeks at the Boston Theatre, next Monday evening, with La 
FiUe de Mme. Angot. Other operss of the week will be 
La Grande Ducheaee^ GirojU GiroJIa, and La Periehole. 
The company hidudes shigers of great repute, among them be- 
ing Mile. Paobt Marie, Mile. Aiigele, and M. Victor Capoul. 

— Vocal phibs will be glad to know that a new and so- 
perior reprint of the beantifiil Psalm of GoeU: ^ By the 
waters of Babylon,'* will pcesendy be published, by Carl 
Priifer, in West Stceet 



New Yobk First let us offer heartily the right hand 

of fdfowship to the new Mumcal lleview^ of which Messrs. 
A. MacBCartin, GusUv Kobb^, and J. C. Rodrignes are the 
editors aod proprietors. We congratulate New York on 
now having a respectable snd high-toned jonnial devoted to 
the art of music, and not trading on the interests of mere 
musto trade, relyhig for support and sympathy more on 
quality than overwhelming quantity of matter. The found- 
ers of the new Remew clearly have a high and worthy 
aim. They seek to promote the art of music as such, and 
to educate and raise the public taste. Their writing so far 
shows knowledge and ability, and a gentlemanly style and 
spirit. The paper u very handsomely printed, In conven- 
ient form, each weekly number consisting of twenty psges, 
and it has decidedly a look of refinement We understand 
that there is capital in the enterprise, ensnring independ- 
ence, and enabling the proprietors to employ good contribu- 
tors. Three numbers have appeared, richly stocked with 
matter well worth reading. Its articles about JoeefQr are 
almost exhaustive, reproducing criticisms fnm other soureea, 
and showing also that the " fledgling '* Review can strike 
a hard blow, if need be, in the way t^ it expoees the mo- 
tive of certain disparaging criticisms on this admirable pian- 
ist; for instance: ^ Mr. Josefiy pkys at Chickering Hall, 
and not at another hall; Mr. Joeeliy*s orchestra is led by 
Dr. Damrosch, and not by another conductor; Mr. Joeefiy's 
success hurts the aspirations of another dever and ambitions 
pianist who happens to be in the salary roll of another 
piano house. All these influences united work against Mr. 
JosefFy. In short, all this apparently artistic turmoil Is 
nothing but a mean, petty war of tlie managers of a hall, 
the manufacturers of a piano, and the empfoyen of a pi«niat, 
against the employers of another pianist and managers of 
another hall." To all which we say. Amen! 

— The Mapleson Opera season is p r ogres s ing feebly at the 
Academy of Music, bringing out old, threadbare operas like 
Traviatn, Trovaiore^ Rtguletio^ to h^n with, foltowed by 
Faust and Carmen. Geriter comes not, and is not ex- 
pected. And now it is sakl that Di Mnrska and Marie Koae 
are not to join the troupe, as was expected, after Christmas; 
but, as Mme. Trebelli-Bettini's London engagement ex- 
pires then, she may perhape come over here in January. The 
Mutioal Review (Oct. 3o) says: ~ 

M Even including the performance of Bizet^s Carmen on 
Monday night, Mr. Mapleson*s season has brought forth 
nothing of importance so far. Pretty much as it was at the 
beginning of the season kst year, when Miss Hank and Car- 
men were made to do duty for the absent Gerster, the sub- 
scribers ar« forced to wait for whatever may be fbrthooming 
as a compensation for the high prices Mr. Mapleeon exacts 
fh>m those who desbpe the pririlege of attending the perflbrm- 
ances at the Academy of Music. So for their compensation 
hss been meagre. The small army of nobodies in the oper- 
atic world brought hither will not be likely to satisfy the 
average operargoers, who above all things crave for an oper- 
atic star of the first magnitude. At present they are eiifoy. 
ing an opera season at Nilsson prices with half a dosan 
debutantes in place of a prima donna." 

It Is rumored that the Chickering Hall series of Sym- 
phony Concerts, jiiider the direction of Mr. Gottbohl iM- 
berg, will not be continued this season. 

The first ooncert of the Symphony Society, Dr. I*. 

Damrosch, conductor, ^kes pboe.this evening at Steinway 
Hall. The programme includes Beeitboven^s Seventh Sym- 
phony: Volkmann's, »To the Night," for alto solo (Miss 
Drasdil) and orchestra (new); RafT's » Walpurgis Night." 
for orchestra; "A Faust Overture,'' Wagner; Schuliert's 
"Home Sickness," Miss Drssdil; and Lissts '* Festival 
Sounds " (first time). 

CiKCiKNATi The College Orchestral Concerts promise 

a financial success, over eight hundred seats Itetng subscribed 
for on the first day of the sale. So it used to be hi Boston. 



S }/Ayi BBK 22, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



185 



BOSTON, NOVE\tBER 22, 1879. 

Bntond at the Poffe O0lo6 at Boaton as socond-claM mAtcer. 

CONTENTS. 

MosiOiL HATTxas raox Fa- and NsAa. TI. Lint on 

Chopin. A Wagnerian Attack on Sehuiuann. Dr. 

Riuard HansUck 186 

Tm '* OaiOLx or Kxglwii OvcaA." it. 1!^. T. 186 

LoiTBU M Asox. A. Vr. Tkayer 186 

Ox UoBsaT ScROJiAxa's " Music amd Husiciaxs.*' F. L. 

RiUtr 187 

AnoUA AKs HIS Stabat Uatbk 188 

▼ooAL CiaBs 188 

Mutio cc Boston 189 

Tho Klnt Cooeert of tha Boylnton Club. — 8«cond Cod- 
eert of tha I'hilharmouie Orchestra. — Reoiuls of 
Mr. Uaorj Q. Ilanohett. — KMital of Mr. KdwaxdB. 
ftrry. —Tho Boston Oonsttrratory's Mntiu^. 

Is ROBSRT VBANX a FAfLVBB? III. W. F. A 190 

Musical CoaaispoiiDSMOs 191 

Chicago. —Milwaukee. 
Musical Imtbuoobiigi 192 



Ml tkt artidet noi ertdUtd to olhtr pmbUeaiion* wtrt exprttslf 
writunfor this JeunuU. 



PMiskid /ortHightfy by IIouauTOH, OsaooD and Comtaht, 
220 D*von$kir€ Street, Boston, Pricey 10 cenu a tutmber; $2.50 
per pear. 

For aaU in Boston fry Gael PBCBPia, 30 Went Street, A. Will- 
iams & Co., 2S3 Washington Street, A. K. Lorivo, 360 Wath-. 
ington Street, and bjf the PtMishers; in New York by A. Bebh- 
TAKo, Je., 30 Union Synore, and Uouohton, Osgood A Co., 
21 Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. II. BOMBR Si Co., 1102 
Chtstnut Street; in Chicago by the Coioaoo Music Company, 
612 State Street. 



MUSICAL MATTERS FROM FAR AND 

NEAR. 

BY DB. EDUARD HAN8LICK. 
II. 
LISZT ON CHOPIN. 

A NEW edition of Liszt's book, Chopin, has 
been published in Jjeipsic by fireitkopf and 
Hartel. Not only is its language French, but 
its getting-up as well, — magnificent large t)pe 
on milk-whito paper. That German publishers 
can produce such volumes h la Firroin Didot, 
we knew long ago ; but we do not know why 
they so seldom and so exceptionally will do 
so. One relishes a book twice as much when it 
is handsome and well printed. As a rule, Ger- 
man books resemble ^vory food served up in 
coarse earthenware dishes upon a table without 
a cloth ; the readers of Breitkopf and Hartel's 
new edition eat off silver. The fare itelf — known 
and appreciated for twenty years — contains no 
new ingredients, but has remained unaltered. It 
is with sincere pleasure that we have glanced 
once more through this book of a clever and ami- 
able man. It is {)erhaps not given to everybody 
to go through it conscientiously line for lino ; for 
this, one must be something of a visionary, or, best 
of all, a woman. Liszt so loses himself at times 
in poetic descriptions and reflections, and strays 
so far from his theme, Chopin, that we almost 
grow alarmed lest he should not find his way 
back. As a master of the art of modulation, he 
does so, however, most agreeably ; afler long lyric 
fancies about love, the fair sex, art, Polish and 
French women, etc., he always returns to Cho- 
pfn, who, both as artist and as man, was espe- 
cially dear to him. It is a question whether any- 
body, unacquainted with Liszt's literary style 
would ever guess by whom the book was. written. 
From the numerous picturesque descriptions, 
such, for instance, ia the exceedingly exact and 
neat accounts of Polish dances and national cos- 
tumes, the reader might suppose the author to be 
a painter. To judge, however, by the diffuse 
philosophical arguments and poetic fancies, he 
should be a poet, a lyricist steeped in reflection. 
A musician is the last person we should suppose 
him to be. Even in a purely material sense, the 
musical element occupies the smallest amount of 
space in the book, though the latter is written by 
one diiitingui>hed musician on another. £vcn 



when characterizing Chopin's compositions and 
playing, Liszt nearly always employs pictorial 
and |K>etic means. He renounces every musical 
t<ign, and in the whole volume, extending over 
300 pages, does not intro<luce the shortest ex- 
ample in musical notation. Thus he has pur- 
sued the same method as in his famous book, Des 
BohemienH et de leur Musique en Hongrie, Our 
readers will recollect the work and the commo- 
tion it excited in Hungary. The assertion first 
put forth by Liszt, and supported with a degree 
of plausibility which bordered on proof, tlmt 
Hungarian national music was derived from the 
Gypsies, kindled against him a violent feeling of 
bitterness, though that feeling was wisely soon 
suppressed. It was in this book that I first felt 
struck by the intellectually sensitive manner, re- 
inindiug one of Lamartine, in which Liszt par- 
aphrases, so to speak, his theme. Such magnif- 
icent rhetorical fireworks, however, seemed to 
me provided at the expense of the information 
which we expect in a book concerning the sub- 
ject of which that book is suppo.<!ed to treat 
Liszt was then — exactly twenty years ago — 
kind enough to embody in a letter his views as 
to this part of my criticism. His words strike 
me as having an im[K)rtant bearing on all his 
literary labors, and shall, therefore, be rescued 
from oblivion. The principal portion, translated 
from the German, runs thus : '* The scientific side 
of my subject was in my eyes of subordiuaio im- 
|)ortance ; for that I should scarcely have taken 
up my pen. An ar ist, and, if you choose, a i)oet, 
I wanted to see and describe nothing of my sub- 
ject but its poetical and psychological side. I 
required from language that it should paint — 
with less fire and charm, it is true, but on that 
account with more precision than music — the 
impressions which, untouched by learning and 
polemics, come from the heart and speak to the 
imagination. Descriptive poetic prose is not very 
usual in Germany, and I can, therefore, under- 
stand that^ from tho title of my book, people ex- 
pected rather a lecture or an essay than a poem 
in prose. But what a small circle of readers 
would take an interest in the little which can he 
asserted with certainty on this topic 1 On the 
other hand, the expression of the most delicate 
and most profound feelings, whenever they are ca- 
pable of animating an entire art, is attractive 
enough for a wider circle, which embraces not 
musicians alone, but all persons who are suscep- 
tible to music.*' On this principle, Liszt gives 
us in his Chopin, also, a pohine en prose rather 
than a book on music, properly so called. Yet 
no one will listen without profiting largely to 
what this celebrated, this always well-bred and 
amiable man, has to say. The warmth of heart 
which invariably pierces through Liszt's writings 
invests them with a kind of sacred charm far ex- 
celling all grace of style. Liszt is ever full of 
love for his subject, whether ho be writing about 
Chopin, about R. Wagner, or about Robert 
Franz. Fired with enthusiasm, he leads ns all 
round their works, as in a garden, from flower 
to flower, and, should he happen to c-omo across 
a bed that is faded, or has run wild, he does not 
mention it upbraidingly, but in a tone of excuse. 
He only can love who knows how to^spare. 

A WAONBRIAK ATTACK ON SCHUMANN. 

There could not exist, probably, a more glar- 
ing contrast to Liszt's loving description of Cho- 
pin than the estimate of Robert Schumann in 
the latest number of Richard Wagner's Bay- 
reuther Bldtter, No one, we suppose, is deceived 
as to the person from whom the abusive article, 
signed, "Joseph Rubinstein," really emanated. 
A man who has favored the public with nine 
volumes of Collected Writings possesses a dan- 
gerous claim to be recognized by his style. In 



matter and form the article is exclusively Wag- 
nerian ; Joseph Rubinstein,' tho pianist, who, in 
a not very creditable manner, introduces himself 
to the public as whipping-boy, has probably at 
most had nothin<; to do with the matter but to 
beat up tlie pianoforte examples as the game for 
which the hunter so yearned. Who does not at 
once recognize Wagner's style, that knotted mass 
of creeping, poisonous, verbal serpents, so inde- 
fatigably darting out their tonguea in garrulous 
hate? Yes, the style is recognizable and clearly 
marked : ^* Es steht ihm an der Stim geschrieben, 
DoM er uicht mag eine Seele liehen.** * 

It is really the most laughable thing imagi- 
nable that tho same Richard Wagner, who not 
long since publicly declared once more that he 
despised jouTualhrnj should himself publish a jour- 
nal, and one which stands out as a remarkably 
black spot in the history of the press. As we 
know, his custom in tliese BagretUher BldUer is 
to indulge partly in adoration of himself and 
partly in depreciation of others. What position 
ought to be taken up towards the columns filled 
with most stinking self-praise is something which 
must be determined by every one according to 
his individual taste and sense of smell. But the 
case, I think, is different with respect to Wag- 
ner's journalistic efforts, running parallel with 
those columns, to befoul the Lleals of the Ger- 
man people, and render despicable and ridicu- 
lous Bralims one day and Schumann the next. 
These are not thin;;s on which we can be silent. 
The Bayreuth article comprises two heads. 
In the first place, an enumeration of the faults of 
every conceivable kind, which are said to disfig- 
ure Schumann's compositions, and then an ear- 
nest warning to public and artists to have as lit- 
tle to do as possible with the said compositions, 
" which distort taste and feeling." We will not 
go into the various details with which the writer 
of the article finds fault in Schumann ; if only 
because we would not encourage even the shadow 
of an opinion that no criticism must be pro- 
nounced on great artists, but that all they do should 
bimply be admired. On the contrary, the opin- 
ion we hold is that musical criticism and musical 
history are generally much too panegyrical to- 
wards great composers, and by no means analyze 
such men as Bach, Handel, Gluck, and Beet- 
hoven, with the unprejudiced freedom employed 
by our best literary historians in estimating 
Schiller or Goethe. We would not defend the 
feeling of toothless reverence which glorifies in- 
discriminately all the worst, as well as the best, 
which Schumann has written, and thus 'merely 
betrays the fact that it does not understand the 
best. ** The critics are always at perfect liberty 
to direct my attention to my faults," wrote Grill- 
parzer in hi? diary; " but, be it observed, hat in 
hand." This outwanl respect, so intentiobally 
outraged in the Bayreuth article, is the very least 
a genius of Schumann's rank has a right to de- 
mand from his critics. But we owe him much 
more than this. One of the noblest and most 
highly-gifled composers of whom Germany can 
boast, Robert Schumann reigns in the heart of 
every one who has any heart for music. The 
German nation looks on him as its most precious 
possession, and he alone who recognizes and feels 
all the worth of that possession has a right to 
judge severely any little details in it. By indulg- 
ing only in censui'e, and, moreover, sneering cen* 
sure, towai*ds Schumann, tlie author of the Bay- 
reuth article betrays himself, and shows that 
envy and jealousy have deprived him of his last 
remnant of critical power. Wagner rejects not 
only Schumann's weaker compositions, but act- 
ually the four Symphonies, the Pianoforte Quar- 

1 Which may be rendered : — 

" YeB, oil bis forehead is it written : 
With love for none was be e*'er Bmitteo." 



186 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 1007. 



let, the Manfred overture — they arc all *^ made 
up by arranging side by side almost untnttirrupt- 
ed rows simply of cobbler's patches" ** We find 
everywhere iu them/' we are told, " the same 
basiness with separate shreds and patches, which 
are pulled and stretched in all kinds of ways but 
to no purpose ; the attempt to change them into 
thoughts is nut successful.*' The B major Sym- 
phony, with its spring-like freshness, belongs, 
Wagner assures us, in style to '* ballet music,*' 
while he calls the gracefulness of its themes ** child- 
ish nothinfftiess,*' 

But what offends the reader more painfully^ 
than aught else is that not only Schumann's 
ability, but his character as an jirtist, his purity 
and honor, are audaciously assailed. It is as- 
serted that Schumann, who drew everything up 
from the depths of his own soul, was not *' true " 1 
His '* everlasting beating about ought," we are 
told, <^ to have procured ibr him at lea^^t the 
nimbus of exemplary intention and endeavor." 
Schumann deceived the world as to the funda- 
mental deficiencies of his music by means of '* de- 
vices with dazzled and piquant touches, which 
he does not hesitate to employ with the neces- 
sary profusion." Pursuing the contrary course 
to Franz Schubert, who was *' thoroughly honor- 
able," Schumann, by certain ** little expedients, 
gave himself a false appearance of profundity and 
primitive originality." The virtuoso style of the 
pianoforte compositions too, in Schumann's case, 
" become something thoroughly false and exter- 
nal," etc., etc. 

And why, we inquire, does Wagner now con- 
sider it necessary to make this spiteful attack on 
a composer whose works have only just succeeded 
in fighting their way to merited appreciation, 
afber their creator has been lying in his grave for 
twenty years ? Let every one listen I Because 
it is owing to a partiality for Schumann's works 
that '* the names of Haydn and of Mozart are 
now found but seldom adorning our concert pro- 
grammes " 1 This tender care for Haydn and 
Mozart is in Wagner's mouth a piece of ridicu- 
lous hypocrisy, and the assertion based upon it as 
absurd as would be the attempt to prevent the 
numerous performances of TannhduAer and Lo- 
hengrin because they kept back the operas of 
Gluck, Mozart, and Beethoven. What is new 
and full of vitality will always exercise its right 
side by side with what is classical and old, and 
men of prdgress should defend and not combat 
this right. But Wagner claims this right, the 
right of actual existence, exclusively for himself 
alone. The conclusion ■ of the article — a most 
unmistakable specimen, by die w»iy, of Wagner's 
most characteristic style — betrays in a pa8:»ing 
ebullition the real ground of the attack on Schu- 
mann. Here is this remarkable piece of writing : 
•• Thus we have found that even in the outward 
domain of our art it was not given to Schumann 
to be naif and true, and we concliide witli the 
wish that as many as possible may withdraw as 
speedily as possible from any intercourse with, 
and any influence of, an author who, according 
to what has been shown above, cannot fail to 
exert an injurious and distorting effect on taste 
and feeling, which is precisely what we, whf} are 
hoping for a new reoelation of the true spirit of 
art, cannot be too anxious to preserve pure and 
undefiled." ^y this imminent new revelation, 
in Bayreuth, of the true spirit of art, nothing else 
18, of course, meant than Wagner's Parsifal^ 
about the success of which we, in our turn, judg- 
ing fi'om the horrible book, '* cannot be too 
anxious." No I no new revelations of Wagner's 
will succeed in replacing the old revelations of 
Schumann I Not more seldom, but more fre- 
quently and more devoutly than before, sh<tU we 
listen to them; for, if one thing' was still wanting 
to complete the light thrown on Schumann, it 



was the sulphurous, fiafh of excommunication 
hurled at him from Bayreuth. — Land, Mus. 
World. 



THE " ORIGIN OF ENGLISH OPERA." 

The above is the title of an article which I 
find copied in Dwight's Journal, and which 
proves to be an account of Gay's *' Beggar's 
Opera." 

Now I have lying before me a copy of that 
play, '* the third edition, io which is added the 
overture in score, and the music prefixed to 
each song. London mdccxxxiii." 

The songs are fifty-eight in number, not one of 
wliich has music composed for it ; cdl were writ- 
ten to the popular melodies of that day. - Was 
this an "Opera"? 

Well, we do live and learn 1 

I had supposed that the masques of the day 
of Elizabeth, James, and Charles 1., were some- 
what of the nature of opera ; that Davenant's 
(died 1C68) entertainments "in Stilo rccitativo" 
— Siege of Rhodes, etc., — were really English 
operas, at least as the term was then under- 
stood ; and that works of Locke, Banister, Purcell, 
and their contemporaries, would even now be 
called by that title — not to mention Addison's 
" Rosamond." unfortunately set to music by a 
man with little talent and less genius, — Clayton. 
But if the " Beggar's Opera " was " the origin 
of English opera," it is clear that my supposi- 
tions were woful mistakes 1 A. W. T. 



LOWELL MASON. 



BT A. W. TIIATER. 



Lowell Mason, Doctor of Music, was born at 
the scattered hamlet of Medfield, some eighteen 
miles southwest of Boston, in Massachusetts, 
January 8, 1792, and died at Orange, in New 
Jersey, August 11, 1872. 

The population of New England was then 
small ; there were no cities, and very few places 
which in Europe would have been termed vil- 
lages, and the people were distributed over wide 
spaces. Temptations to vice and idleness were 
reduced to their lowest terms, and the boys, 
rarely enjoying the advantages of schooling more 
than two or three months in the winter, had 
abundant leisure to devote to their favorite pur- 
suits. The number of men of that generation, 
in tlie main self-taught, who became eminent in 
all walks of life is astonishing. Mason's passion 
was music. His small means were devoted to 
the purcl;ase of instruments and of the instruction 
books then in vogue, and his genius and perse- 
verance, unaided by teachers, conquered their 
difiiculties. He has recorded of himself that 
" he spent twenty years of his life in doing noth- 
ing save playing upon all manner of musical in- 
struments that came within his reach ; " but they 
were years, as it proved, well spent in preparing 
him for the great work of his life-— the purifica- 
tion and reformation of music in the churches, 
and the introduction of singing and reading of 
music as a regular branch of study in the public 
schools. Tfie local tradition of a village a few 
miles from Medfield records his appeai-ance as a 
visitor in the evening <* singing school," when 
about twenty years of age, enchanting the young 
people by his beauty and the tones of his violon- 
cello. 

At sixteen the youth was leader of the choir 
in the local church, and a teacher of singing 
classes. He even undertook the instruction of a 
band. At the first meeting appeared instru- 
ments entirely new to him; on the pretext of 
putting them in order and tune he retained them 
in his hands, and at the next weekly meeting 



he had niasrered them sufficiently to meet the 
demands upon him as instructor. 

A short digre>sion is here necessary. At the 
period of the American Revolution it may be 
almost literally said that ^there was neither 
popular poetry nor music in the English colonics, 
save psalmody and psalm tunes. Watts's psalms 
and hymns, sent in manuscript to the president 
of Harvard College, had in great measure super- 
seded Ainsworth, Stcrnhold and Hopkins, the 
Bay Psalm Book, and Tate and Bra«iy, and had 
been publiithed in Boston, one edition of a part 
of them by Dr. Franklin in Philadelphia ; but 
the melodies, so far as the present writer has 
been able to discover, had remained unchanged. 
Some of them, like the " Old Hundredth," were 
worthy of their place in public worship, but their 
constant ufe, without harmonies, and with no 
organ to support tliem, had deprived them of all 
life and interdict. It was at that period that a 
few tunes of lively rhythms and imitations, a sort 
of poor glee, with texts from the psalm books, 
were brought to Boston from England. The 
oldest known to the writer give the name 
Stephenson as composer. To sing them, choirs 
possessed of a certiiin amount of training were 
necessary ; and, where choirs in the New Eng- 
land churches did not already exist, they were 
soon formed and, in evening singing-classes, 
taught to sing in pa;*ts. The tuces of Tansur, 
A. Williams, J. Arnold, and other English com- 
posers were learned, but the glee tunes became 
the universal favorites ; and Willi^im Billings of 
Boston, a natural genius with no education, and 
others, made them models (1770-1810) of a host 
of similar compositions. These men neither had, 
nor could have, any knowledge of the principlea 
of musical composition, and, of course, offended 
every canon of criticism. Recent American 
writers have greatly exaggerated both tlie extent 
to which this class of tunes was used and their 
evil efi*ects upon the dignity and solemnity of 
public worship ; but true it is that they became 
a serious evil, and one which it seemed hardly 
possible to eradicate. As early as 1810-12 the 
large choir of Park Street Church, in Boston, out 
of which grew the Handel and Haydn Society of 
that city, had set its face and example against the 
so-called " fuguing tunes," while the Episcopal 
churches, in which organs are usually found, had 
never, it seems, used them. But isolated choirs 
in cities could produce no widespread and last- 
ing efiect ; a man of skill, knowledge, and judg- 
ment was needed, one who should take up the 
work as a vocation, a mission. Young Mason 
was to be the man, than whom no person living 
could have less foreseen the fact. 

In 1812, at twenty years of age, he accepted a 
position in a bank at Savannah in the State of 
Creorgia, where he immediately turned his mu^ical 
knowledge to advantage in leading and instruct- 
ing choirs. It was his good fortune to find there 
one thoroughly instructed musician, with whom 
he studied harmony and the art of composition. 
This man was F. L. Abel, a member of the we.]- 
known family of that name. Mason found him- 
self constantly impeded and embarrassed in his 
public musical labors by the want of a collection 
of psalm tunes in accordance with his taste and 
judgment ; and this led him, with the aid of 
Abel, to form a manuscript cdllection for his own 
use. The basis of this collection was the Sacred 
Melodies of William Gardiner — or, rather, its 
distinguishing feature, besides its correctly fig- 
ured bass, was a large selection from the exqui- 
site melodies which Gardiner had extracted from 
the instrumental works of Haydn, Mozart, Beet- 
hoven, and their contemporaries, and adapted 
to English psalms and hymns.^ The best clasiset 

1 One of the writer^a cherished autographs is a leaf from 
Mr. Blasou't original MS. ooutauting the violoncello solo in 



November 22, 1879.] 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



187 



of the psalm tanes then in vogue in Entrland 
were well represented ; and the few excursions 
l>eyond the limiis of good taste are excusable in 
a young man, and were introduced more for 
choir-practice than for use in the church. There 
was no printing office in tliat part of the United 
States of a capacity to produce a collection of 
music, and in 1821 Mr. Mason visited Boston, in 
hope of finding a publisher there. There were 
so many collections already before the public, 
that no one would venture to print it, although 
its author demanded nothing for the copyright, 
but such a supply as he needed for use in 
Savannali. Negotiations were then opened with 
the Directors of (he Handel and Haydn Society 
of Boston, now in the sixth year of its exis>tencc, 
and already famous in New England for its ora- 
torio performances, especially of Th^. MesMah and 
Creation, But it must not be forgotten tliat the 
population of Boston was then under 45,000, and 
the (jeople in the neighboring towns — within 
concert-going distance — were less than two thirds 
that number. The society was necessarily small, 
and, though established in the only cir.y of the 
United States in which it could have lived, irs 
income was limited, and the question pressed, 
whetlier it would be prudent to assume the risk of 
the undertaking. It wiis at length decided in favor 
of the (tlien) bold course. It was agreed that, if 
Dr. G. K. Jackson, the organist of the society, an 
Englishman thoroughly educated in the solid Eng- 
lish school, should bo able, after a complete and 
thorough examination, to give a certificate of his 
full approval of the work, the society would 
print and publish it as its own work, and (as is 
stated) would assume all costs and divide any 
profits equally with the compiler. Mr. Mason 
gave the writer an amusing account of his inter- 
views with Dr. Jackson. Ttie doctor, sipping 
from a bottle of gin, sat and listened to the tunes 
in regular succession, sometimes interrupting 
witli criticisms and suggestions, which the young 
man soon found he might adopt or not according 
to his own judgment, since at the next meeting 
they were all forgotten by Jackson. Some 
pieces by the doctor himself were inserted, and 
llic result was a certificate, closing with the 
words : " It is much the best book of the kind I 
have seen published in this country, and I do not 
hesitate to give it my most decided approbation." 
This, with a similar document from F. L. 
Abel, occupy a page of the original edition. 
The society took good care to add to the value 
of the Doctor's eulogium, by dedicating the work 
to him, '* As a testimony of the high estimation 
in which he is held fur his exquisite taste, [)ro- 
found knowledge, and unrivaled skill in the art 
and science of music." And so in 1821 (with 
date 1822) appeared the Boston Handel and 
Haydn Society collection of church music, etc., 
etc., copyrighted by Joseph Lewis, secretary of 
the society. It was a matter of policy for all 
who were pecuniarily concerned, that the book 
should come before the public as being actually 
the work of the society, and its preface, to those 
who know its real history, excites here and there 
a smile ; fur instance, the audacious statement 
(unless Mr. Mason in Savannah might be con- 
sidered as an important part of the association in 
Boston) that **the society have for some time 
been engaged, with much labor and at consider- 
able expense, in collecting materials for the 
present work.*' Again, speaking of the adap- 
tations of melodies from the great masters to 
the purposes of psalmody, we read : *' These 
works are among the materials to which the 
Handel and Haydn Society have had access, 
and they have exercised their best judgment in 
making such selections from them as would most 

Beethoven^s Trio, Opnii 11, beaiitiriilly adapted to a t«xt 
beginuiiig ** Now niglit in silent gr.uideur reigns.'* I 



enrich the present work. They consider them- 
selves as peculiarly fortunate in having had, for 
the accomplishment of tlieir purpose, the assist- 
ance of Mr. Lowell Mason, one of their members 
now resident in Savannah, whose taste and 
science have well fitted him for the employment, 
and whose zeal for the improvement of church 
music has led him to undertake an important 
part in selecting, arranging, and harmonizing the 
several compositions." 

The new book was introduced into the then 
universal New England evening " singing schools," 
and so into the choirs. The first edition was 
sold off with profit during the first year, and 
constantly enlarged editions, both in matter and 
number, to the tenth or eleventh followed in the 
course of the next dozen years. 

It was the profits of this book which enabled 
the Handel and Haydn Society to tide over the 
period of its youth, and establish itself as one of 
the distinguishing institutions of Boston, as it 
still remains ; it was the eflfect of this book which 
began the generation of a new, healthy, and 
purer taste in music throughout New England ; 
moreover it attracted attention to Mr. Mason, 
and the perfection of his Savannah choir, cul- 
tivated upon it, becoming known in Boston, a 
formal invitation was extended to him by "a 
large committee, consisting of ditferent denomi- 
nations of Christians," to return to Boston and 
** take a general charge of music in churches 
there." The invitation was accepted, and in 
1827, at the age of thirty-five, he established 

himself there. 

( Concluded in next nuv^r. ) 



ON ROBERT SCHUMANN'S " MUSIC AND 

MUSICIANS." 1 

BY F. L. RITTER. 

(ConUnued from page 179.) 

The representatives of music's aesthetic mean- 
ing may be divided into two classes : those who 
assign to music .no other aesthetic powers and 
functions than those of expressing a certain de- 
gree of formal beauty, as produced by means of 
a clever arrangement of musical (measured) 
sounds into pleasing melodies and harmonies, 
this latter element, however, being admitted only 
as a subordinate, and often importunate, servant 
^of tlie melody ; and those who assign to music, 
as one of its most important sesthetic qualities, 
the ideal function of expressing emotions and 
feelings often of such decided character as may 
be pointed out to tlie hearer by means of the 
more exact words of the poet. Among the first 
class we meet those critics who stand, in general, 
towards the practice of music, as amateurs, and 
who endeavor to get at music's aesthetic meaning 
by an abstract method of analysis ; but for want 
of sufiicient practical experience as composers, 
they are able to grasp only one part of the phe- 
nomena embodied in die musical art-work. 
Among the second class we find the composers, 
and the intelligent reproductive artists, who con- 
sider the musical art-work in its complexity and 
amplitude. Rhythm, Melody^ and Harmony^ the 
three fundamental elements of every com[)osi- 
tion, each one possessing, at certain moments, an 
independent aesthetic characteristic meaning, con- 
sequently are of equal importance to the com- 
poser ; or, as Schumann said, *' Music resembles 
chess. The Queen (melody) has the most power, 
but the King (harmony) turns the scale ; " and, 
we may add, the men (rhythm) direct the mean- 
ing of the steps (moves) of the first two. 

There was a time when J. J. Rousseau found 
occasion to say : '* Le mtksicien lit peu.** But that 
time has long gone by ; the musician of to-day 
not only reads much, but he also takes up the 



pen, and, like a well-armed warrior, fights battles 
in the intei-est of his art. He is no more satisfied 
with mere technical knowledge (harmony, counter- 
point) regarding composition, nor with the tradi- 
tional empirical on-diU about the aesthetic life of 
art. He courageously looks around him in the 
world of poetry, art, and science, and endeavors 
to investigate, philosophically, the intimate con- 
nection of his special art with the other arts, and 
with life in general. For who is better fitted to 
talk ahout the inner ideal life of music than he 
whose heart has felt most deeply the divine vi- 
tality of music's creations ? The dry scientist 
may satisfy his curiosity by counting and fixing 
the vibrations of the different sounds of the tone 
element, in order to be able to prove, mathemat- 
ically,^ that music does not express anything be- 
yond the mere production of beautifully arranged 
tones. The musically one-sided philosopher may 
see in those melodies and harmonies nothing but 
pleasing tone-forms, void of all ideal meaning; 
the mystic life of the tone-element may appear 
to him a fiction, and not well fitted for any ra- 
tional use. To the creative musician this tone 
element, in its mysterious richness and complex- 
ity, will ever remain the symbol of ideal life in 
its varied aspects, and the establishment of this 
fact will receive its fullest recognition at the 
hands of those only who are able to bring in aid 
of their philosophical investigation, not alone a 
method of abstract analysis, but also the inevita^ 
ble advantage of the practical experience of the 
composer. Hence the vain attempts of former, 
musically-uneducated philosophers to assign mu- 
sic its true place among the family of arts. To 
Leibnitz and Kant it was nothing but an agree- 
able combination of measured sounds. Hegel 
assigned to it the expression of mere outward, 
formal beauty. Voltaire said, sarcastically, that 
*' that which was not fit to be spoken was good 
enough to be sung." ^ Others confined them- 
selves to the mere mention of the existence of 
music, but avoided penetrating iuto its mysteri- 
ous aesthetic life. But the greater number of 
philosophers, ignoring the fact that the work of 
the composer is just as much the product of the 
mental powers as that of the painter, the sculp- 
tor, the architect, the poet, spoke disparagingly 
of the tone-art and its disciples. '< Sonate, que me 
veux^u,** exclaimed many, but, lacking the right 
musical understanding and thorough education, 
they were unable to catch the satisfactory an- 
swer. 

On the other hand, the musician who formerly 
exercised the functions of a critic, the ferocious 
knight of the abstract theoretical rules, was sat- 
isfied to examine a musical composition in order 
to sec whether it sinned against the almighty 
" thorongh bass ; " the discovery of a fault 
against musical grammar, as he understood it, 
was sufiicient to condemn the work and its au- 
thor. Thus the poet-composer stood between 
two fires. Carl Maria von Weber, not satisfied 
i^ith the existing situation, took up the pen a d 
furnished some good material from the point of 
view of the creative composer. Though he com- 
mitted the sin of recommending his master, Abt 
Vogler's corrections of some of Bach's harmo- 
nized chorals, his writings on music were, on the 
whole, a step forward. Fred. Rochlitz, the re- 
fined and genial editor of the once influential 
AUgemeine Musikalufche Zeitungj spoke many 
an encouraging word in the interest of a truer 
appreciation of musical art and artists. His 
work, Fiir Freunde der Tonkunstf contains many 
valuable papers that touch upon important aesr 
tbetic questions regarding music. The fantastic 
and highly original E. Th. A. Hoffmann wrote 
pages glowing with enthusiastic appreciation of 
the deep art-spirit, as revealed in the creations 

1 This is attributed aho to Denumarchals. 



188 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1007. 



of Rittcr Gluck, in Mozpi*t*s Don Giovanni, and 
in Beethoven's instrume ital works. He found 
in those composiiions more than merely agree- 
able melodies, more than thorough baas and 
counterpoint can teach. 

The spiritual and enthusiastic Marx founded 
his Berliner Musik ZeUung, and fought bravely 
in the interest of a worthier recognition of mn- 
sic's nobler eesthctic functions, in the sense of 
expressing definite emotions and feelings. In his 
'* Compositionslehre," ** Die Malerei der Ton- 
kunst," **Die Musik des 19ien Jahrhunderts/' 
and other important works, he prepared many a 
useful stone towards the erection of a truer ses- 
tbetio foundation. Schumann and his ** Davids- 
briindler" took up the cudgel and fought the 
Philistines on all sides. Berlioz, in France, 
swung a brave pen, and from his standpoint in- 
sisted upon the recognition of music's power to 
express more than mere vague emotions. Dr. 
Ambros, in his excellent (though, unfortunately, 
unfinished) " History of Mnsiic," in Die Grenzen 
der Musik unci Pohiej as well as in many other 
publications on musical art, spoke many a powers 
ful word in the interest of the same cause. Otto 
Jahn, though not a musician by profession, but 
a man well acquainted, theoretically and practi- 
cally, with the whole breadth of musical art, — 
he composed and published Lieder, — furniAhed, 
in his " Mozart," some highly valuable contribu- 
tions. To these, and mkny more departed writers 
and artists, as well as to tliose still in the harness, 
may be attributed, in more than one sense, the 
great change that has taken place during the 
last forty or fifty years regarding a truer appre- 
ciation of music's esthetic nature. Philosophers 
can no more afibrd to devote to musical art a 
few passing remarks only, or to pass it over in 
utter silence, not knowing how to get at its sub- 
lime vitality. 

Thus, the musicians, considering the short time 
since they stepped into the arena of musico-philo- 
sophical criticism, have reason to be satisfied 
with the good results so far obtained. The flimsy 
warnings of philosophical friends, that the crea- 
tive powers may be impaired by the exercise of 
critical powers, — " science will drive poetry out," 
we are told, — will bo accepted no lun<^er. The 
experience of the modern musician is, that the 
more broadly his mind is developed, the richer 
the experience of human life which surrounds 
him, the deeper and more universal his under- 
standing and enjoyment of art will be. But sup- 
posing, for a moment even, that the above asser- 
tions were true, then the answer of the musicians 
would be : Since you one-sided (musically) critics 
have tried for a long time in vain to lift the veil 
from the mystery of music's lesthetic meaning 
and function ; and since your philosophical pir- 
ouettes, everlastingly describing the same figure 
executed upon one leg, do not bring us one step 
nearer to the solution of the question, — without 
the material help of the musician, the creator of 
the work, let us, for the time being, sacrifice a 
few symphonies and operas, stored away in our 
minds, and let us help you to pull the heavily 
laden cart out of the swamp. You anxiously 
consult physiology, you fervently tap at the door 
of psychology, but neither of these sciences have 
lent you much help as yet. Your endeavors to 
explain the creator's (composer's) work by throw- 
ing doubt upon the nature of the means he em- 
ploys, in order to fashion his works acconling to 
the ideal as pictured in his imagination, will re- 
main unsuccessful indeed! You have so far 
pulled too long on the wrong end of the rope ; 
change your tactics, become composers for a time, 
merely for the useful experience of the thing, and 
surely a more harmonious understanding will be. 
the result of that change. The horizon once 
freed from confusing mists, musical art will live 



a still grander and less hampered existence. 
When this, by the musician so much wished, for, 
happier situation of art-life has been brought 
about, he will thoughtfully return again to his 
scores, and, instead of finding in the philosophiral 
critic a continual opponent, — a natural f nemy 
as it wore, everlastingly bent on misunderstand- 
ing the com[K>ser's aims, on discovering by means 
of a false method of criticism imagined faults, or 
busy breaking the tiles on the roof of the com- 
poser's art-temple, to see whether there is any- 
thing inside fit for rational use, — composer and 
art critic will walk hand in hand in mutual sym- 
pathy and understanding. Is this a mere illu- 
sion ? By no means. I..ook at the esthetic 
treatment of the other arts. The fundamental 
aesthetic laws are universally understood and ac- 
cepted (I mean by the connoisseur) ; here and 
there, in some minor points only, there may, as 
there always will, exist differences of opinion. 

To be sure the material of music is more sub- 
tle than that of the other arts ; its true philo- 
sophical appreciation offers the mind greater dif- 
ficulties, not insurmountable, however, in the end. 
llius far a comprehensive system of musical aes- 
thetics, renting on invariable foundations, has not 
been written, either by the musician or by the 
philosopher. We are still cutting stones for such 
a sound foundation. But in order to accomplish 
the task successfully the philosopher must be- 
come more of a musician, and the musician more 
of a philosopher. 

Many encouraging signs of the approach of 
such a wished-for epoch are already appearing 
on tlie horizon of modern musical culture ; and 
musical art, in more than one respect, will be the 
gainer by it. Musical criticism, now exercised 
to a large — too large — extent by half-educated 
musical amateurs, will then be raised to a nobler, 
a more dignified, position. Where we now ex- 
perience confusion and uncertainty of aesthetico- 
criticai views, — where servile favoritism fre- 
quently drives sterling merit into the background, 
— where the historical knowledge and memory of 
every newly appointed criiio does not reach 
farther than yesterday, — where fashion foolishly 
attempts to dictate laws in matters of art, — 
where the acquirement of the indispensable 
knowledge of the laws of composition in its en- 
tire meaning is most desired and least to be 
found, — where serious art principles are oilen 
pooh-poohed for want of faith and want of in« 
tellectual penetration, we shall hav« true criti- 
cism. All these drawbacks, which now weigh no 
heavily upon the healthy development of musi- 
cal art, will disappear as chaff disappears before 
the wind. That the golden age of critical jus- 
tice will then arrive is, of course, not to be ex- 
pected. But it will be more satisfactory to cross 
one*8 sword with a peer than to receive a dagger 
blow in the back from a poltroon. Tliere always 
will remain important questions to be solved, 
which will afford occasion enough for men not to 
be all of the same opinion about art and artists. 

{To be continued,) 



ASTORGA, AND HIS STABAT MATER.* 

Emanurlb, Baron d'Astoroa, born at Pa- 
lermo, 1681 ; died at the Schloss Raudnitz, in 
1736. . . . 

We know too little of his history to satisfy our 
curiosity ; but what we do know has a singularly 
tragic interest. When the curtain of the past is 
lifted, and wc are permitted to look upon so much 
of the drama of his life as history has preserved, 
our eyes are met, at the first, with a terrible 
sight, that of a son compelled to witness the ex- 

^ From the Prognunme of the Bojbton Club, Nov. 14, 
1879. 



eciition of his own father. That father, the Mar- 
ehe^e Capecc da Roffrano, unsuccessful in an 
insurrection against the contemptible tyranny of 
Philip Fifth of Spain, was condemned with many 
other Sicilian nobles to the scaffold, that son, tlie 
young Astorga, was led to the filace of execution, 
and there bountl and so held by the headsman's 
servants that he was forced to look upon the 
quivering corpse of his father. With senses par- 
alyzed by the awful scene, he lingered long around 
the spot, and his pale, grief-laden face was excit- 
ing in his countrymen abitterer resentment than 
any which their political troubles had aroused, 
when the Countess Ursini, more a friend to him 
and the world than she knew, was moved with 
pity and sent him to the Convent of Astorga in 
Spain. There, in the seclusion of the cloister, 
bereft of home, fortune, and even of family name, 
Mu^ic found him and claimed him for her own, 
and gave him a name and a patent of nobility 
beyond the reach of earthly power to affect. 

A few years later, on leaving this retreat and 
entering into the world, he obtained, by the in- 
fluence of his protectress, the title of Baron 
d' Astorga. The unfortunate end of a romantic 
attachment which he formed while on a diplo- 
matic mission at the Court of Parma, sent him to 
Vienna. There his pale, handsome face, his mild, 
quiet, and aristocratic bearing added to the at- 
tention which his rare musical gifts attracted, and 
made him the idol of a society which he adorned. 
Several yean were passed in a romantic life of 
travel, in the course of which he visited England, 
where he composed for the " Society of Anticnt 
Musick," London, in 1713, his world-renowned 
" Stabat Mater." 

This work is almost an autobiography. Through 
it all the influence of that great sorrow which 
overshadowed his youth is seen and felt ; and if 
at times, through the rifU in the cloud which 
rested on the spirit of tlie master, the sunshine 
comes in, the golden light is always tempered with 
a tint of sarlness. This roufic is the expression 
of a soul that had come out of great tribulation 
and was consecrated to Art by such a real, great 
grief that not even the anticipations of the glory* 
of Paradise could suppress the e<:ho of his early 
sadness. The serious, quiet, and unaffected de- 
livery of his pure musical thought, the truthful- 
ness with which his musical utterance expresses 
t-he story of the famous hymn, the graceful and 
original melody of the voices, the freedom from 
sentimentality, and the almost cloister-like reserve 
and tenderness which breathes through his meas- 
ures stamp the work before us as that of a pure, 
truthful, and devout child of art. Such music is 
not every-day music, but it is music for all time, 
and, from the intellectual straining after effect 
which pervades and poisons the literature and 
the art of the present day, to such ye turn with 
a grateful feeling of relief. In such music as 
Astorga's, God and Art speak to us alike, calling 
us to come and renew our strength at the fount- 
ain of perpetual youth. w. N. b. 



Vocal Clubi^. — Every true lover of music 
must watch with pleasure the rapid spread of 
Choral Societies, at the public concerts of which 
we have the results of the labor of many 
months, cheerfully given by the members, not 
only for their individual gratification, but- as we 
can testify ftom our own experience, really with 
an abstract desire to make known those works 
which are passed over by ordinary concert-givers, 
who are necessarily compelled to consult com- 
mercial rather than artistic value in the selection 
of their progranunes. But with every hope that 
such institutions may continue to flourish and in- 
crease, we should be glad if by their side well- 
organized private societies for the cultivation of 



NOVEHBBB 22, 1879.] 



DWIQHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



189 



either vocal or instniniental music could be more 
extensively formed. Thibaut, in his excellent 
work on '* Purity in Musical Art," after elo- 
quently advocating the establishment of these de- 
lightful social unions, especially dwells upon the 
necessity of guarding; against the intrusion of tliAt 
frivolity which too oflen creeps into such (sather- 
ings. *'The first and roost essential condition 
for such a society," he says, "is that the 
members are judiciously chosen, that genuine 
lovers of art combine together, that care is taken 
to secure an e()ual distrit ition of voices, and to 
nourish to tlie full the love and enjoyment of 
true art. Consequently an evening devoted to 
singing must take precedence of all ordinary 
eating and drinking engagements, and all the 
membei*s must feel that an association that re- 
quires their united efforts to form and main- 
tain must not be at the mercy of other ordinary 
pleasures, es])ecially as, while in other gatherings 
the absence of one is not much felt, here the ab- 
sence of a single voice may quite possibly bring 
the wh(^e thing to a dead lock, and this even in 
choruses, where a single efficient voice may be 
an indLspensable support to the rest." These 
words cannot be too much taken to heart ; and as 
we have now so many competent musical 
amateurs, and the means fur collecting a library 
are placed within easy reach, there can be no 
reason why such societies should languish for 
want of members or for material to carry on 
their good work. — London Muncal Times* 

*i^—^^-^— — ^^^— ^^^— ^^^^^»^^"^^i^^'^ ' ■■! » ■■■■^^^M [■■III I I ■ 

^tmgl^fjs 3iournal oC iiaujstc. 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1879. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

The Boylston Club gave the first concert 
of its seventh season in the Music Hall, on Fri- 
day evening, November 14. Of course the ball 
was crowded with its enthusiastic guests, unwill- 
ing to lose a note of the fine singing. The pro- 
gramme was as follows : — 

Staliat Mftter Attorga, 

Mixed ohonu, solos and oi^gui. 

Christinas Carol Osgood. 

Mixed chorus. 

The Gondolier, Op. 28 Reh\dwi. 

Male choms. 

<* The MouDtauis are Cold'* ) d i 

Italian fiaivarole, Op. 44 \ ^'^Am*. 

Female ehorus. 

Violin solos, Romania Jonckim. 

Scherzo SpuJtt\ 

Hmoth^ d'Adamonski. 

The Forest Mill, Op. 96, No. 2 Nttdtr, 

Male chorus. 
" Daj is at Last Departing," Op. 184, No. 1 . Hiff, 

Female chorus. 

»* The Long Day Closes " • . SuUtwm. 

Male chorus. 

Maj Dew, Op. 95, No. 1 Rhtinbergtr. 

Mixed chorus. 

The Foi)^me-not, Op. 533, No. 1 Abi. 

Male chorus. 

Glee, "Hsrk I how the Birds'* g Gahtf, 

Mixed chorus. 

Earnest lovers of the best in art may be truly 
grateful to this ClubYor consecrating a good half 
of its hours of practice, as it has done for sev- 
eral years, to the study of some solid, serious, 
noble work by some great old roaster, of whom 
we knew too little, if we were not wholly igno- 
rant, before. In this spirit the Club had already 
mastered, for the benefit and culture of true 
friends of music, the Requiem by Palestrina, an 
eight-part Motet by Bach, a Requiem by Cheru- 
binl and other works of high im})ort. And now 
we have to thank the conductor, Mr. O^ood, 
and his faithful choir, for a first hearing of this 
famous, though so little known, great work, the 
Stabat Afater, by Emanuel Aetorga. The strange, 
sail story of the man, born in Sicily, in 1681 — 



four years before the birth of Bach and Handel 
— was translated in this Journal, firom Kiehl's 
'* Musikalische Characterkopfe," thirteen years 
ago. From this and other sources the former 
president of the Boylston Club, Mr. W. N. 
Eayres, compiled the sketch so thoughtfully and 
chastely written, of T^hich we have copied the 
greater part on another page. Riehl closed his 
essay (1853) with these words : '* Admirers of 
Astorga have, within a few years, had his noblest 
work, the Stabat Afa^, engraved, not for the 
sake of gain, but to gratify their own enthusiasm 
enough to kindle something of the same in others. 
No publisher's name appears on the title page of 
the score ; it is only decorated by a simple cross ; " 
and then he adds, sarcastically : '* It is the cross, 
to which the ideal tone-poesy of the olden time 
has been nailed by modem music-makers 1 " 

The score, as it then existed, with only a string 
quartet accompaniment, to be filled out at dis- 
cretion by some one at the organ — who in fact 
had to supply nearly all the accompaniment to 
the solo numbers, — was hardly suited lor per- 
formance by choral societies. Robert Franz, in 
1864, gave it more nearly a complete orchestral 
instrumentation, representing the organ part by 
two clarinets and two bassoons, performing the 
pious task in the same reverent spirit, and with 
the same taste and judgment that he has shown 
in his sdd ition al accompaniments to scores of 
Bach and Handel. He also condensed the or- 
chestral parts in a piano-forte accompaniment, well 
suited to the organ, as appeared in the judicious 
and effective manner in which Mr. G. W. Sum- 
ner plajed it on the great organ of our Music 
Hall. 

The whole work (lasting an hour) is in a most 
serious, tender, noble vein ; learned, contrapuntal, 
full of feeling, full of meaning and of beauty. 
It was written out of tlie inmost heart and spirit 
of the composer, who was '* a man of sorrows, 
and acquainted with grief." But simply as mu- 
sic, as an inspired art-creation, it u a master- 
piece, which should be heard more than once to 
be appreciated, although it made a deep impres- 
sion on a very large proportion of the audience. 
An instrumental prelude of some length, of 
mournful character, with expressive polyphonic 
interweaving of melodic parts, leads in the open- 
ing chorus: Stabat Mater dolorosa^ etc., which 
unfolds with marvelous richness and impressive- 
aess. It is grief made musical, without the 
slightest taint of sentimental commonplace. At 
the words, Pertransivit gladiuty could we not all 
feel, as Riehl says, how ^ the basses stalk on 
demoniacally in chromatic paseages against the 
billowy upper voices, cutting as with a swonl of 
sharpness into their melodic web ? " '* Few com- 
posers, he adds, **80 send the martyr feeling 
through the bone and marrow of the hearer, as 
the otherwise so mild Astorga. This is the 
sword that went through the young man's soul 
on the place of execution, when it severed his 
father's life ; and, perhaps, he has here uncon- 
sciously set the history of his own agony in notes." 
This chorus was extremely well sung, the voices 
blending in rare euphony. 

No. 2, covering the two stanzaa: 0/ quam 
triftisy etc., is a beautiful Terzet for soprano, 
alto, and bass, in which the voices have a ten- 
derness, a spiritual melodic grace, worthy of 
Bach himself. The accompaniment, too, is high- 
ly interesting, the basses moving in a majestic 
figure of their own. The three singers, Mrs. 
J. W. Weston, Mr. W. H. Fessenden, and Mr. 
Clarence E. Hay, proved themselves equal to 
the truly musical, expressive rendering of their 
parts. 

8. A double duet, first of soprano and alto, 
followed by tenor and bass, in a somewhat livelier 
tempo (poco Andante, 8-8 measure), and for the 



first time in the major (E-flat), continues the 
hymn through four more stanzas {Quis est homo, 
and Pro peccatis). The two female voices seem 
to sustain and comfort one another in uncon- 
sciously ornate, sweet, sympathetic phrases. Here 
the contralto of Miss Welsh was heard in music 
well adapted to her. The tenor and bass pro- 
ceed each in solo for some time, and then unite. 
The bass part has a flowing movement, which 
was given with great evenness and rich volume 
by Mr. Hay ; and Mr. Fessonden's sweet tenor 
voice and refined style appeared to excellent 
advantage. 

4. Then follows an Alia Breve chorus, Eta 
Mater, which is perhaps the dry est portion of 
the work, yet dignified uid rich in contrapuntal 
harmony. The (mezzo) soprano aria (No. 5), 
Sancta Mater, has an intense dramatic pathos, 
which came out well in the rich and sympathetic 
voice of Mrs. WestoiS. No. 6, duet, Fac me te- 
cum, for alto and tenor, calls for no special re- 
mark. 

7. Chorus. The sombre hue of the work as 
a whole is momentarily enlivened by the tempo 
giusto and full major harmony upon the words: 

Virgo virginum prceclara, which yields, however, 
in the next sentence, to a sad minor motive at 
fac me tecum ptangere, with which it alternates. 
This is one of the most beautiful of the choruses. 

8. The bass aria, Fac me plagut (in B-flat 
major, Andantino, 8-8), is a noble melo<ly, a calm 
and cheerful aspiration for a share in the agonies 
and triumph of the cross. It includes the Inflam- 
matus, which it treats in the same temperate and 
even style, sincere and deep in fveling, get- 
ting up no great exciting conflagration, as Ros- 
sini does in bis most brilliant soprano aria on 
the same text. Truly is it said that this Stqbat 
Mater is not '* sensuous " music 1 It is quiet, 
chaste, and mostly sombre ; but it is sincere and 
deep, and in its very abstinence from stronpi out- 
ward color contrasts, in its reliance on the ex- 
pressive power of fine-felt, subtle counterpoint, 
and pure thematic development, is it not refresh- 
ing to cars continuiflly assaulted by the sensa- 
tional " effects," the clamorous appeals, of recent 
" musical reformers ? " 

9. The Requiem closes with a long, elaborate 
and varied chorus, in which a folemn Adagio in- 
troduces a lively imitative Allegro movement. It 
includes the words Quando corpus morietur^ and 
the Paradin gloriam, which are such striking 
features in Rossini's music, but does not treat 
them in any exceptional way ; the general musi- 
cal drift of the chorus as a whole is not changed 
to take advantage of these tempting words. Para- 
disi gloriam, strange to say, echoes in tlie minor 
the very strains just before sung in the major to 
the words palmam victorice. Riehl says : ** Is it 
not the soul steeped in sorrow, consecrated to 
Art by the depth of misfortune, which even in 
the glory of Paradise cannot suppress an echo 
of yearning sadness?" The Amen continues 
the same minor movement to great length, bring- 
ing the great work to a peaceful close through a 
beautiful harmonic cadence, ending with the ec- 
clesiastical major third of the tonic. 

Again we thank the Boylston Club for giving 
us a hearing of this noble work, so well inter- 
preted on the part of solo singers, chorus and 
organist. The latter showed great discrimina- 
tion in the choice of stops, sometimes reproduc- 
ing the sound of violins quite palpably. If any- 
thing was wanting it was now and then a greater 
weight of bass. In the singing the only defect 
noticeable was a want of uniformity in the pro- 
nunciation of the Latin text. 

The part-songs were fresh and choice selec- 
tions in the main. We could have wished, how- 
ever, that their number had been more limited; 
however beautiful, and however finely sung, afier 



190 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. -No. 1007. 



listening for two hours attention will fla<r, and 



the songs begin to sound all alike. But the sing- 
ing of most of them was as nearly perfect as we 
can well imagine. In sweet, pure quality of 
voices, in the balance of parts, in execution, 
phrasing, light and shade, etc., the Cluh sur- 
passed itself. Nothing could be more delicate, 
more sweet and musical thnn the sopranos in the 
female part-songs. That Italian Barcarole, with 
" Fidelin " for a refrain, was indeed a dainty bit. 
Mr. Osgood's Christmas Carol, too, was* a com- 
plete success and had to be repeated. Mr. Ada- 
mowski played his violin solos wi h all the un- 
affected grace and purity of stylo which he has 
sliown before, and, in answer to a warm recall, 
performed his own transcription of a Chopin 
Nocturne in E-flaf. 



Philharmonic Okchkstra. There was a 

considerably larger audience at the second concert 

(Nov. 7). The programme was as follows : — 

Overture, Leoiiore, No. 3, Op. 72 Bttthoven. 

** Le Itouet d'Onipbale." Sjrmpboiilque Poem, Op. 

31 Saint-SaStu. 

Conceit-Stuck, in F-raiiior, for Piano, Op. 

79 C. M.ff. Weber. 

Miss Henrietta Maorer. 

Songs: VVidninng SehuinaHn. 

' Gretchen and Spinnrade .... Schubert. 
Miss May Bryiiiit. 
" I.«onore," Symphonie, in E (two mnvcnients) . . Raff, 
Polonaise, No. 2, in R (adapted for orchestra by 

Carl Muller-Uerghaus) Liszt. 

Vwao Solo, t* Valae de Concert " . Jotf.ph Wieuutunki. 
Miss Henrietta Maurer. 

Fantasle, "Caprice'' Vieuxtemp$. 

Scotch Songs, with accompaniment of piano, 
violin and violoncello. Op. 108, Not. 7 

and 17 Beethoven. 

Miss May Bryant, Messrs. H. Strauchatier, C. 

N. Allen, and Wtdf Fries 

Two.SlavonicDances, Op. 42 Anion Doorak. 

No. 5, Allegro vivace. No. 6, AU^retto schensando. 

Here was tbe same preponderance of ** new- 
school " music as before. But the concert opened 
with the noblest of Overtures, which was re- 
ms^rkably well rendered for so small an orches- 
tra, four first violins, and other strings in pro- 
portion, being quite inadequate to the great 
crescendo near the end. Saint-Saens's queer 
and pretty fancy of a spinning-wheel Symphony, 
with Hercules for spinner, was executed to a 
charm; this fantastic -trifle had evidently had an 
exceptional amount of critical rehearsal spent 
upon it, and it tickled the listening sense so ihat 
a smile lit every face. As for Raff's Leonore 
Symphony, we could accept two parts as better 
than the whole, but we should baidly choose the 
March for one of them ; it is catching, but too 
tediously spun out. The arrangement of Liszt's 
showy Polonaise was a dazzling display of in- 
strumentation, full of color contrasts and strikinsr 
effects, which were most' skillfully and vividly 
brought out, — but is such a thing really worth 
the pains? The Fantasie^Caprice by Vieux- 
temps is a more natural and flowing sort of mu- 
sic ; it was well instrumented, but it seemed very 
lengthy at that late stage of the programme, — 
much more so than it does in Vieuxtemps' own 
solo violin performance. Tlic two Sclavonic 
Ddnces, though not particularly original, were 
graceful, bright, and characteristic. In all, the 
orchestra shows more and more the benefit of 
Mr. Listemann's thorough training and his sensi- 
tive and firm control. 

Miss Henrietta Maurer, who appears very 
young, with prepossessing girlish ways, has been 
studying for a number of years at the Conserva- 
tory in Moscow, under the direction of Nicolas 
Rubinstein. Her performance in Weber's brill- 
iant, well-worn show-piece, was highly creditable 
in the main ; her execution was clear and fluent, 
and yet in parts somewhat constrained and pupil- 
like, and lacking force. There was more freedom 
and more charm in her renderinc; of Wieniawski's 



Walu, and more particularly of Handel's " Har- 
monious Blacksmith " variations. She won the 
sympathy of her audience, however, from the 
firsL 

Miss May Bryant has much to recommend 
her as a singer ; a rich and sympathetic mezzo- 
soprano voice ; judicious method, and a tasteful 
style. Schumann's impassioned ** Dn meine Seele " 
seemed too much for her, nervous as she was, to 
beoin with ; it should be sung by a tenor, and 
perhaps we shall never again hear sung with so 
much real fire and Aandon as our lamented 
Kreissmann used to sing it. Nor was her 
'* Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel " a marked 
success. We enjoyed her much more in the two 
Scotch ballads ** The I^ovely Lass of Inv.-rness," 
and " Faithful Johnnie " with Beetlioven's beau- 
tiful accompaniments ; the latter was particularly 
charming, thoui^h there was no need of sin<nn<; so 
many verses, and both ballads would have sounded 
better in a smaller room. 



b. Intermezzo, from ** Carnival of Milan,*' Fon Bulow. 

c. Wliy? /;. B.Perry. 

d. \a Ciazclle. Pii^cc caracteristiqne . KulLiL. 
(i.) n. Berceuse, Op. 67 { 

b. liollade. Op. 47 J 



Clu'jnn. 



Mr. Hkxry G. Hanchett commenced a 
series of Recitals, on Tuesday evening, October 
21, at his Studio, No. 157 Tremont St. The in- 
vited company quite filled the room. Mrs. E. ^ 

Humphrey Allen sang. The programme was in- I playing in the great Schubert Trio ; and the 



Boston Cokskrvatory. The matinde, under 
the direction of Julius Eichberg, November 4, at 
Wesleyan Hall, offexed some things too rarely 
heard, which we were sorry to lose. This was 
the programme : — 

(1) Trio In £ flat ~ Op. 100 Scktiberi. 

Mesuv. llerm. P. Cheliiu, AUiert Van Raalle, and 

Wulf Fries. 

(2) Song. — "Al denio,'' from "Marriage of 

Figaro." MvmrL 

Mrs. Cbas. Lewii. 

(3) a. March fnnebre Chojnn. 

b. U Fileuae p^ Rnff 

c Nocturne in G minor ...... Chi^nn. 

d. Elaa's Brautzug Wagner — Liatz. 

e. Noctonie in D flat. ) . 
/. Pulonaiae in C sljarp minor, f • • • • Umptn. 

Mr. llenn. V. Ciielius. 

(4) Song. — " Above in her chanilier " (with 
Violin obligate.) Eidtberg. 

Mrs Cliai. I^ewis. 

(5) Quatre Grandee Marches Op. 74 . . Schu»nnnn. 

Allegro, Moderato, Miuntoeo, Allegro. 

Mr. Herm. P. Chelius. 

We have heard warm praise of Mr. Chelius's 



terestmg, to-wit: — 

Senate, Op. 63, in C mi^ Beethoven. 

Kecitativo, Giunee Alfin ii Momento ) ., 

Aria, Deh Dieni. ) ' ' '*^^'*'* 

MfB. Allen. 

Toccata in D-flat Op. 31, No. 2 Muyer. 

Etude in F, Op. 23, No. 1 ( n , • . • 

Barcarolle in G migor. } Rvinmtetn. 

Waldeirauachen lAszt. 

Oh that we two were maying Gounod. 

Nuit d'Etoilea Widor. 

Dame Nightingale Taubert 

Mrs. Allen. 

Fantasiestucke, Op. 1 Schaefftr. 

No. 1. Allegro, E-flat minor. 

No. 2. Adagio niolto, E-flat major. 

Berceuse, D-flat mi^or [ ^. . 

Polonaise, A-flat miyor. Op. 53 J • • • • thoptn. 

We were obliged to lose all but the last three 
numbers ; but we had a peculiar pleasure in 
hearing once more thotce genial little pieces by 
Schacifer, which years acjo were introduced to 
us in Mr. Dresel's concerts. These, and the 
Chopin pieces following, Mr. Hanchett rendered 
con amore^ the only fault being a certain lack of 
repose and evenness of st}-le. 

For Thursday evening, November 18, Mr. 
Hanchett had announced a second Recital, with 
anotlier Beethoven Sonata, and selections from 
Chopin, Rubinstein, Weber (Rondo Brilliant), 
Raff, and Liszt But the illness, for the week 
preceding, of the concert-giver prevented his 
playing more than a small portion of the pro- 
gramme. Of what he did give, wo found the 
" Eclogues " by Raff, Op. 106 (a form invented, 
we believe, by Thomaschek), rather interesting. 
The singer also, Mme. Cappiani, was disabled; 
so that the weather seemed to have tbe lion's 
share in the fulfillment of the programme. Ru- 
binstein's A minor Sonata for piano and violin is 
promised for a future recital. 



Schumann Marches, if they were the four vigor- 
ous and fiery ones which we know as Op. 76, 
showed that he knows how to go out of the 
beaten track for good selections. 



The continuation and completion of ** Talks on Art," by 
tlie late W. M. Hunt, is necessarily deferred to another 
number of the Judrkal. 



Mr. Edward B. Perrt, the blind pianist, 
gave a Recital of Piano Music, on the 12(h inttt, 
at Mr. Junius W. Hill's room in Tremont St 
Unfortunately we couUl not avail ourselves of 
the tempting invitation of so choice a programme 



as Mr. Perry : 

(1.) n. Aufscbwung, Op. 12, No. 2 

b. WarumV Op. 12, No. 3 

c. Traumeswirren, Op. 12, No. 7 

d. Nachtstueck, from Op. 23, 

e. Novellette, Op. 21, No. *, 
(2.) Sonata in B-flat niuior, Op. 35 



Sdiwnann. 



Grave — Doppio niovimeuto — Scherzo — 
Marcia Fnnehre — Presto. 



Chopin. 



(3.) a. Ia Gondola, Op. 13, No. 2 



HenaeU, 



IS ROBERT FRANZ A FAILURE? 

HI. 

Wkrk it not almost superfluous, I might sug- 
gest again (as I did in my article in the Atlantu: 
Monthly) that all tbe objections made to Franz's 
" additional accompaniments " on the ground of 
over-elaborate contrapuntal treatment, apjilies 
with equal force to Mozart's very celebratetl ac- 
companiments to the airs ^ O Thou, that tellest," 
and ^ The people tliat walked," in Handel's Met- 
siah. But it may be said that, in general, Franz 
has employed elaborate imitative counterpoint 
only where the character of the original parts 
absolutely demanded such treatment. In the 
tenor air, " UimvCmich Dir zu Eigen Urn" in the 
*' Saba-Cantata," for instance, Franz's accompani- 
ment is in the simplest four-part harmony, the 
easy and graceful leading of the voices alone dis- 
tinguishing it from common accords plaques. Here 
the very character of the composition itself de- 
manded simplicity of treatment; but, to take 
another example from the same cantata, a mere 
glance at the original bars and oboe-da-caccia 
parts in the air ** Gold aus Ophir Ut zu schlecht ** 
will show that such sustained simplicity is wholly 
out of the question here. The original parts are 
too elaborate to be wedded to a 'purely harmonic 
accompaniment. I cannot conceive how any one, 
really studying Franz's work in this air, can fail 
to see that it is not only a marvel of contrapuntal 
wtiting, but an equally fine example of artistic 
good taste. 

Another charge brought against Franz is, that 
he has made too large use of orchestral instru- 
ments in his accompaniments, instead of confin- 



as the following, with so artistic an interpreter ["'"'l: "' "" ^^-P-'""-^;"-. '"'^^"^ ^ «^"»n- 
M Mr P*»rrv • 1- 1 ^"8 himsclf to the organ. Inere can be no doubt 

that the organ was tised, and intended to be used, 



by Bach and Handel themselves, and to us^ it 
now would seem, at first sight, to be the na 
solution of the problem. It must be clearly > 
derstood, also, that Franz expresses no prci« 
ence for orchestral instruments over the orgh 
but uses them because he is, in a cirrtain senV 
forced to by circumstances. 'Jlie instrument used 



NoVEMBEIt 22, 187'.).] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



191 



by the composers tht^inselves in accompanying 
aire and recitatives was either a Reyal or a RUck- 
positif, an arran<;cment which enabletl the organ- 
1st, m one case, and both organist and organ-pipes 
in the other, to be stationed in immediate prox- 
imity to the singer. This is a matter of the 
greatest importance; without this proximity a 
fine mubical eflect is impossible, and to form an 
adequate idea of its paramount importance, one 
has only to conceive of the effect that would be 
produced by four men playing a Beethoven string- 
quartet, seated at the four corners of the Music 
lliill platform. Now there are very few concert 
halls in Germany which boast an organ of any 
sort ; the Regal (small, portable organ) has gone 
out of use, although it would be easy to have one 
made at any time, were the money only forthcom- 
ing. But until the powers that be show the same 
interest ^n Bach that was shown in Wagner at 
Bayreuth, and have small portable organs, with 
two manuals and pedal, built especially for the 
])erformance of his cantatas, nothing remains but 
to do as Franz has done, and choose the best 
practicable repre6entative of the organ, which 
is, in general, a quartet of clarinets and bas- 
soons. To show how little Franz insists upon 
the use of orchestral instruments in his ** addi- 
tional accompaniments," we have the fact that 
he ht» written two separate accompaniments to 
the " Sabar Cantata,** one for orchestral instru- 
ments and the other for the organ. Any one can 
take his choice in the matter, only, if the organ- 
part be Kelected, let it not be played on an in- 
Btniment like that in our Music Hall, where the 
action r'oes not hpeak promptly, and where both 
organist an<l pipes are at a great distance from 
tlic singir. 

But it has also been brought forward that, ad- 
mitting the use of orchestral instruments, Franz's 
instrumentation (regarded simply as a matter of 
scoring) is bad and ineffective. To this I can 
reply intelligently only afler hearing a Franz- 
Bach score performed as it was intended to be. 
Yet there are certain facts which are suggestive 
of nmch. At the performance last^ season of 
the St, Mallhew Passion ^ no one could have over- 
looked the fact that the soprano air ^^Aus Liebe 
will mtin Htiland sterben" accompanied by two 
flutes and a clarinet, made a more thoroughly 
. fine effect, in respect to the harmonious blending 
of voice and instruments, than did any other eolo 
number in which obligato wind instruments were 
used. Is this superior effect to be attributed to 
the fact that here we had only the original parts 
(which, in this instance, are complete in them- 
selves, there being no tasso coniinuo), and that 
Franz had had no hand in the matter? To my 
mind, it is simply and solely to be attributed to 
the very different fact that in this air, and in this 
air alone, the flute and clarinet players left their 
usual posts at the back of the orchestra, and 
placed themselves immediately beside the singer. 
In the other solo numbers, where obligato parts 
for wind instruments were played from the mid- 
dle or rear ranks of the orchestra, — that is, at 
a distance from the singer, — the effect of Bach's 
original parts was just as bad as that of Franz*s 
additional clarinet and bassoon parts. Let us 
once try the effect of placing Franz's reed quar- 
tet, together with the original obligato instru- 
ments, in a compact group around the singer, 
with one or two double-basses and 'celli imme- 
diately behind theiA, and then see whether Franz's 
scoring is bad or not 1 Until such an experiment 
has been made, no one has the right to judge it. 

It would be too much to claim for Franz to 
say that what he has done for Bach and Handel 
scores leaves nothing to be regretted. Perfec- 
tion is a hard thing to arrive at, especially in so 
extremely difficult a matter. Perhn^w in some 
iniiUinces he has allowed his native <;ei;ius to 



overstep the true limits — that is very possible. 
Yet cannot we pardon such excesses, when we 
realize the fact that none but a genius like his 
could have accomplished the admirable work he 
has done ? Writing ^* additional accompani- 
ments " in free counterpoint is not a thing that 
requires musical skill and training merely ; a 
man must have the true sacred fire in him to feel 
himself warranted to attempt such a task, and if 
he cannot at all times quite restrain his genius, 
let us be consoled by the thought that that genius 
alone could have done the great work at all. And, 
upon the whole, who, save Mozart, has done this 
sort of work so well as Franz, with all his occa- 
sional redundance ? 

And now a few earnest words to those persons 
who think that Franz'n admirers have exeicised, 
or tend to exercise, an unfortunate influence upon 
modern musical pnKluctiveness by their ])raise8 
of his work on Bach and Handel scores. It has 
been said that these men would put a check upon 
orisinal.coniposition, and have composers to-<iay 
seek tlieir highest glory in mere editor's back- 
work ; that Franz himself, a man of undoubtedly 
rare and high muf<ical gifts, has nothing to -how 
for himself but some t<ets of songs with pianoforte 
accompaniment, and his ** additional accompani- 
ments " to Bach and Handel. But tell me, in 
Heaven's name, have Brahms or Raff, by their 
symphonies, has Gounod, by his operas, or Wag- 
ner by his mut^ic-dramas, done the worhl of niUMC 
a Fervice that can be compared in value with that 
of putting the great St, Matthew Passion into a 
|K'rfbrmable shape? One thing they assuredly 
have done; they have won more glory for them- 
bclves. Brahms has set his stamp upon the times 
with his C-minor symphony ; Gounod is known 
as the composer of " Faust," whereas Franz is 
hut called the '* editor " of Bach. Not a very 
high-ifounding title, although we may remember 
what a mess Brahms once made of it when he 
turned his hand to this sort of *' editing." But 
it seems to me that this is looking at the ques- 
tion from a totally false point of view. Franz 
has done the world of music a very eminent 
service ; let that be enough, and let his glory 
take care of itself. So soon as a man writes 
music *^ for the sake of glory," ho has himself to 
look to ; that is not the world's business in the 
least ; if he thinks he can set his stamp upon the 
times, and feels that his stamp is worth setting, 
let him try his uttermost to do so, but he must 
work long and give strong and convincing proofs 
of his mettle before he can claim any encourage- 
ment from his contemporaries. A young musi- 
cian may have the ambition to write a s) m phony ; 
very well, let him do so if he please, but let him 
remember also that the world is in no want of 
symphonies unless they be supremely fine ones ; 
'that no living mortal, save his personal friends 
and his music-teacher, cares one jot whether he 
writes a symphony or not, and that the chances 
are strongly in favor of his contributing to that 
limbo of shot-rubbish which no one will care to 
pick over. Encourage him at the outset? Why 
he has no earthly claim upon encouragement, any 
more than I have upon the votes of the commu- 
nity at the next presidential election. But if that 
same young musician sets himself to write '* ad- 
ditional accompaniments " to a Bach or Handel 
score, we know in the beginning that his task is 
a high one ; the world of music absolutely needs 
as much of Bach and Handel as it can get, and 
he should be encouraged to the uttermost The 
chances of his doing the work well are not great, 
to be sure, but we cannot afford to lose even such 
chances as they are. I cannot think that per- 
sonal ambition in the fine arts is athing that can 
fairly claim sympathy or encouragement. It 
seems to me even that the man of genius who 
throws ))cr2)onal ambiiion to the dog^, and does 



his best to serve art, is a more respectable pennon 
than he who has the vanity to suppose the wel- 
fare of art to be identified with himself, and 
works for art cum gloria, rather than for art 

alone. w. F. A. 

iTo be amtiiiued.) 

MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Chicago, Nov. 15. -.- There was nothing particularly of 
interest, in the hut week of the Strakosch oiiera, except % 
lierfon nance of RigoUtto^ hi which Signor Siorte had the 
title role, and the appearance of MUe. Singer as Nm-ma, 
The daily presn here gave very entbuaiastic notices of her 
performance, and again I find myself unabk to follow them 
in their unqnalitied commendation. She gave the charac- 
ter a fine dramatic interpretation, but musically she did not 
afifurd me much pleasure. The use of the tremolo marred 
her execution, until in rapid passages it was almost impos - 
sible to follow the notes with a satisfying certainty. Her 
acting however fine, could hardly compensate for a false 
method of sini^ing. The lyric stage demands artists skilled 
vocally, as well as dramatically. A happy union of these 
two talents brings the possessor uito the higher ranks of ar- 
tistic life, and wins for him the admiration of the world. In 
these days Uie advent of a truly great dramatic prima donua 
would l)e an event to hail with delight, for we have far too 
few in the world's catalogue of artists. 

Thursday evening the Deethoven Society gave its first re- 
union, offering the following programme: — 

Adante and Variations, for Piano and 'Cello Mendelssohn, 
Messn. Wolfsohn and Eichheim. 

Quintet: " BethanU," for Voices lAtssen, 

Miss Dutton, Mrs. Johnson, Messrs. Knorr, 
Gill, and Morawski. 

Concerto Militaire, for Violin Btizzini. 

Mr. Mark Kuser. 
Aria: ** Honor and Arms," from *' Samson " . Uandtl, 

Mr. Ivan Morawski. 

( Lorely , Seeliny. 

I Toccata (Manuscript) Bmrufcis. 

Mr. Cari Wolisohn. 
Hon) Quartet: " Pilgrim's Chorus " .... Wftyner. 

(From Tannhmiser.) 

Messrs. Schantz, Beckuianur White and Bruus. 

Quartet, for Piano and String Instruniaits . Rhunbergtr. 

Messrs. Wolfsohn, Kosenbecker, Allen, and Eichheim. 

These reunions are given esery month by the sucirty to 
its patrons, and are intended to afford an opportunity for the 
performance of chamber niusic, while their larger concerts 
are devoted to great choral works. The Andante of Men- 
delssohn was well performed. The vocal Quintet by Lasseii 
is a very pretty composition, giving a solo to each voice, fol- 
lowed by a graceful refraui in which the voices blend with a 
harmonious nicety, that slill^admits of contrast. Mr. Ivan 
Morawski, a baritone, from New York, made his ftrst ap- 
pearance this season, singing the Aria from Handel's Sam- 
ton, in a correct style, and with a voice tliat was very agree- 
able to listen to. The Quartet by Hheinberger, which dosed 
tlie concert, was very happily performed, the gentlemen be- 
ing in sympathy with each other, and interested in the work 
they were interpreting. 

Wilhelmj and Herr Vogrich appeared at a concert in aid 
of the '' Alcxian Brothers* Hospital" The great violiuut 
played a concerto by Paganini; " Andante and IntermeEso " 
by Vogrich, and the **■ ilungarian daucra '' of Brahms. The 
musical world knows how grandly Wilhelmj plays, and it is 
only necessary to state that be made an appearance in pub- 
lic, for all lovers of tlie art to understand what pleasure had 
lieen given the audience. The violin conipottition by Mr. 
Vogrich was enthusiastically received. The audience gave 
the composer the honor of an acknowledgment by calling him 
before them to receive their applause. 

The Chamber Concert, at Heed's Temple of Music, oflered 
this programme: — 

(1.) Trio, No. 1 ffagdn. 

Miss IngersoU, Messrs. Lewis and Eichheim. 
(2. ) Romance from 2d Concerto, Op 27 . . Wieniaicati. 

Wm. Lewis. 
(3.) Andante from Trio, Op. 12 ...... Hummel, 

(4.) Komanza **AlkSteUaConfidente'' . . , Rubavdi. 

Mr. C. H. BpUan. 

CeUo ObUgato by Mr. Eichheim. 

(5.) Trio, Op. 102 ^ff^ 

The instrumental portion of the programme was very en- 
joyable, and the audience expressed their appreciation by a 
close attention, and by keeping that silence that shows that 
the charm of the music is the ruling power in the assem- 
blage. • 

The Chamber Concerts at Hershey Hall have given us 
the following trios: Mozart's in E No. 3; the " Ghost Trio,** 
Op. 70, Beetlio^'en; IVio in C minor (manuscript), F. 6. 
Gleason; and Trio m F, Op. 42, Gade. They were played 
by Messrs. Eddy, l^wis, and Eichheim. We fre having a 
larger number of concerts of tliis class tliitn ever before, and 
it gives the music student a fine opportunity to acquaint 
himself with wurks of this character. 



192 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1007. 



Moodftj erening IkmI, Mr. Emil lieUing gave hit fint re- 
cital of pianoforte umsio, preteoting these numbers : — 

(1.) Trio, D minor, Op. 63 Schumann. 

Bf essrs. Lieblingf Lewis, and Balatka. 
(S.) TencMT Aria. Crispino e La Comare .... RiccL 

Mr. Ed. Scbultze. 
f^. (a. Menuetto, Op. 17, No. 2 . . . Afo*zkow$ki. 

^^'* ] b. Gavotte, Op. 123, No. 1 Rtintcke. 

Emil Liebliiig. 

(4.) Sonata, Op. 7 Grieg. 

Emil Liebling. " 

(5.) Song. ** Impatience '* Schubert. 

Mr. Ed. Schultze. 

. . . Chopin. 



Scharieenka. 
Rubinstein. 



,^. la. Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 2 ) 
^^'f \ b. Barcarolle, Op. 60 J ' 

/ a. Polonaise, Op 12 ) 
(7.) \ b. Etude, Op. 27, No. 6 J ' * 

( c. Polonaise, Op. 14, No. 2 . . 

Mr. Liebling has a good technique, plenty of power, and 
he is what may be tenued a brilliant player. His concep- 
tion is marked by artistic intelligence, and many of liis in- 
terpretations have a charm about them tliat seems to come 
from his own idea rather than from following any purticu- 
hir school of pianoforte playing. With my own taste his 
ideas do not always accord, for 1 miss an inner sense hi his 
playing that should touch the fedings so truly that they 
would be drawn into a perfect sympathy with' the inteq>re- 
tatioo. One niAy admire the pianist who plays with ease, 
grsoe and brilliancy, but the pUyer whose music goes di- 
rectly to the heart makes a home there, even for himself. 

At tlte present time, while our city is all excitement on 
account of General Grant's visit, and while there is a per- 
fect rush of receptions, banquets, and army reunions, and 
the whole bshionable and business circle seems given up to 
rounds of gayety, comes Herr Joseflfy, the great pianist, to 
give some pianoforte recitals. Amid all this excitem^it it 
is not to be wondered that he is greeted by only small audi- 
ences, for it is only tlie faithful few who are mindful of the 
claims of this great pUyer, and who quietly pass bej'ond the 
din of military displays, and pay a willing homage to^ this 
able representative of high art. I have had the pleasure of 
listening to two concerts by Joeeffy, and would express one 
wofd of delight for the enjoyment he gave. The programmes 
were the same as those given in your city but a short time 
since, and I will not therefore transcribe them. It seems to 
me that human ability can go no further in regard to tech- 
nique; for delicacy, refinement, and well measured contrasts 
are manifested in such a' perfect manner as to deprive crit- 
icism of even a foundation for comment. The only way 
that I c»n regard the playing of .loeeflfy is to think that 
music, being a universal art, has many means for manifesting 
the beautiful in sound, and that in this remarkable phtying 
may be found tlie delicate shadings^ the softly caressing utn 
terances, and that brilliancy that is (airy-like in its grace, 
carried on to the utmost limit of human perfection. In that 
sphere of art where grace and delicacy are controlling pow- 
ers, one must place Joseffy, as their master. He does not 
represent the lieroic side, atler the manner of a llubiustein, 
perh^w, nor the intellectuality of Von Biilow, but the poetic 
grace of a nature attmied to the more delicate phases of art 
is manifested in such a remarkable way a« to class him with 
the most wonderful pUyers that the world has produced. 
As master of the delicate phases of pianoforte playing he 
seems to stand apart from all the rest of tlie world, not per- 
haps greater than others who have visited us before, but as 
an interpreter of a new and different character. 

*^ C. H. B. 



Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 15. — The Heine Quartette 
ga^-e a concert of chamber music here, Nov. 6, with the fol- 
towing programme: — 

(1.) String Quartet, Op. 17 Ruln/uleiu. 

(2.) Sonata, for Piano and Violin, Op. 8 . . . Grieg. 
(3.) Serenade for Violin, Viola, and 'Cello, Op. 8 Btethovtn. 
(4.) Piano Quartet, Op. 108, No. 2 ... Reiuiytr. 

(Two Movements.) 

The Rubinstein Quartet is an interesting but not a great 
work, for its themes, though treated in a musician-like way, 
are not instrinsically noble or inspiring. . He seems to be 
most at home in the invention of sentimental melodies of no 
great depth. — The Grieg Sonata is freaky and dwjointed. 
Grieg seems to be at his best in short piano pieces, " Char- 
acter-stufcke." — The Rdssiger Quartet was pleasing, even 
tJler Beethoven. The defiqpts of the performance were a tone 
lacking in breadth, and often more or less rough and scratchy, 
and the immaturity of conception here and there inseparable 
from the youth of the pUyen. Its merits were a clesr and 
sure execution and conscientious interpret^ion up to the 
limits of their present capacity. 

Grau's Opera Compcmy gave Fatinitza here Nov. 10, 11, 
12, and gave it very poorly. There was not a singer of any 
sreat merit, and this orchestnf was ridiculously sdmII. 

J. C F. 



MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE. 

The first conceK of the sixty-fifth season by the Han- 
del and Haydn Society will be given in Music Hall to-mor- 
low evening, when Mr. Arthur SuUivan will make his first 



appearance in the United States and direct the perform, 
aitce of his overture In Meutoriatn and his oratorio The 
Prodigal Son. The programme will also include the Halle- 
Icyah chorus trom Beethoven's The Mount of Olice* and 
Berlioz's The Flight into Egypt. The soloisU of the 
evening wiU be Miss Edith Abell, Miss May Bryant, Mr. 
W. J. Winch, and Mr. J. F. Winch. 

— The third concert of the Philharmonic Orehestra, Isat 
evening, offered: O^'erture to Man/red, Schumann; Sere- 
nade in D minor, Op. 69, for strings only, K. Volkmann 
('ceUo solo by Wulf Fries); Grieg's Puuio Concerto, Op. 
16, pUyed by Herr S. Liebling: Liszt's *" Iwes Preludoi; " 
" Danse Macabre," by Saint^Saiins ; Tivkish March, Mich- 
aelis; Poknaiae firom Meyerbeer's Struekue, Mr. liebling 
was down also for a Minuetlo by Schubert, anB a Pasqui- 
nade by Gottsehalk; and Miss Fanny Kellogg for two new 
songs: "Ever near thee," by Kaff, and ><0n a March 
night," by Taubert. 

— Mr. Arthur Foote hut Saturday evening gave an 
Organ Concert at the First Chureh, in which he played : 
Prelude and Fugue in C, by Bach ; Handel's second Con- 
certo, in B-flat; Mendelnohirs Sonata in F minor; Alle- 
gretto, by Gade, and a l^Iarch by Mosdieks. Vocal quar- 
tets were sung by Miss Louisa Gage, Mre. Jennie M. Noyes, 
Mr. W. II. Fessendeii, and Mr. C. E. Hay. Every seat in 
the chureh was occupied. 

— In the advertisement of the New England Conserva- 
tory of Music, in another column, the advantages of the 
Conservatory method of musical education are set forth 
tetintim and in full, llie reasons are clearly and concisely 
given, and cannot easily be gainsaid, whatever may be said 
in favor of separate individual instruction. 

— Suliecription lista for the fifteenth season of Har\-ard 
Symphony Concerts remain at the Music -Hall and music 
stores through the present month. Subscribers may select 
their seats and receive their tickets on the.first three days 
of December, after which the public sale will be opened, 
llie first concert will be DiKember 11. The orchestra will 
have for its nucleus the Philharmonic Orchestra, with about 
double its iiumlier of strings, and with Mr. Bernard Liste- 
mann at the head of the violins, Mr. Cari Zerraho conduct- 
ing. The first progamme ia as follows: — 

1. Overture to ** Rosamunde " Schubert. 

2. Triple Concerto, for piano, violin, and 'celfe Beethoven. 

3. Marche de Nuit, from " L'Enfance du Christ " Berlioz. 
4 0«vrtura to " Ulp van Winkle" (first time) 

(?. yV. Chadwick. 
5. Fifth Symphony (C minor) Beethoven. 

— Joeefiy will give three more concerts in Boaton early 
in the winter. 

— Mr. Charles R. Adams, who has bad so much expe- 
rience as leading tenor ui the Imperial Opera at Vienna, 
ofien to prepare pupils for the operatic stage, •>— certainly 
a rare opportunity. He also has a plan for establishing a 
local operatic society upon a solid footing in this city. The 
Sunday Herald tells us: "His plan contemplates the or- 
ganization of an operatic singing society upon a similar 
plan to that of the other singing socieUes, depending upon 
a list of subscription members to assume the expenses of 
the society, as in the Boylston, Apollo, and Cecilia clulis. 
The enjoyment offered in the study of operatic music will 
certainly attract an excellent membership for the actual 
work of the new mganlzation, and the opportunity to hear 
standard operas given by fresh voices from the ranks of Bow- 
ton singen will unquestionably prove attractive to patrons 
of other club oigauizaUons. Mr. Adams will, by his plan, 
practically give to Boston an operatic training school, and, 
with such an established institution, it seems hardly possi- 
ble that this city will be left without good English opera 
performances in the future, as it has bMn so hu^ly in the 
past. The success of Crown Diamondi showed what can 
be done in this direction, and Mr. Adams should meet 
witli generous supp<Ht in his new undertaking. Mr. Adams 
contemplates beginning work on Tannfiduser, or Lohengrin^ 
and foUowhig with Halevy's L'£:c^rtr and Herold's Le Pri 
aux C/erci." 

— Kemenyi, the Hungarian vioUnist, gave a concert at 
Wellesley College, Nor. 10, in which he pU>ed the Scenia 
CantdtUe of Spohr; transcriptions from Schubert and Cho- 
pin; his own **Val8e Noble;" the Chaconne of Bach; a 
Paganini Etude; and a transcription (his own, of course) of 
Uossini's " Laqp al fibctotum," with an introductory Ca- 
denza! __^__ 

New York. — The Oratorio Society, conducted by Dr. 
Leopok) Damrosch, announces its seventh season. Elijah 
will be given' at the first, and the Memah at the second, 
concert For the last concert is promised the first complete 
performance m New York of Bach's St. Matthew Patnon 
MuHC. This will be given in St George*s Church, and not, 
like the other oratorios, in Stdnway Hall. The soloisU 
already secured for the season are Miss Thursby, Miss Drss- 
dil, and Messn. Simpson, M. W. Whitney, and Remmertc. 

— Mr. Wilhelm Miiller, "Solo ViolonceUist to H. M. 
the Emperor of (Germany," announces a series of four cham- 
ber-music soir^ of which Mr. Miiller naively declares: 
t< In plan and character these soirto will be similar to those 
given in Berlin by tlie celebrated * Joachim Quartette,' of 
which the undersigned was a member." These soir^ will 
be given at Steinway Hall, and the dates will be November 
26th, December 23d, January 20th, and February 17th ; and 



Una Anton, and Messn. S. B. Mills, Max Pinner, and 
Franz Ruiiimel are promised as sdoi»tii. — Musicnl Review. 
— Of '* Her Blajesty's Opera" the Review my: "Al- 
ready eleven siibscription nights of tlie Opera season have 
dapeed, and, except some good repmcotations of Linda^ 
Fnuttj and Martha^ Mr. Mapleson has l>een unable to dis- 
chaige his promises to his subscribers and the public. Our 
Louilon correspondent was probably infomued by some of 
Mr. Bli4>leson's friends there that Mlk>. Marimon had been 
engaged and was soon to sail to tliis city. Then is good 
reason to believe tliat Mile. Marimon is lesdy to accept Mr. 
Mapleson 's ofiisr, provided that she could see some money in 
advance, and that Mr. Blapleson's agent failing to do that 
the lady refuses to leave. A ramor is also in dreulation to 
the eflect that Mr. Mapleson knew that Mme. £. Gerster 
was not coming to America this seas on when the manager 
of " Her Majesty's Opera " invited mtr pubUc to take seaU 
at the Academy at an advanced price. It seems that Mme. 
(serster is not altogetlier satisfied with the manner Mr. Ma- 
pleson discluurged his part of the late contract witli her. At 
any rate, it is time for Mr. Mapleson so make a formal an- 
nouncement of his iiiteiiUoiis. He has received a krge sum 
of money from us, promising to give us what he has not 
given us. His present comi»ny may be excellent, but he 
has pledged to give us more than that We hear that be 
is trying to raiw money here in order to satisfy Mile. Ma. 
rimon's demands. We hope he may succeed, and, finlher- 
more, we wish he would enable us to contradict all these 
rumors." 

— llie first of the five chamber-music soirtte of the Kew 
York Philharmonic Gub occurred on Wednesday evaiing 
of last week hi Chickering Hall. The programme included 
Beethoven's String Qtuntet, C major, Opus 29; Concerto, 
A minor, for pianoforte, flute, and violin, by Bach, with ac- 
companiment of string quintet; String (Quartet, G minor, 
by Grieg; a piano solo by Miu Florence Coplesion, who 
also played in the Bach concerto; and songs by Miss An- 
tonio Henne, soprano. 

-^ The season of the Brookl}-n Philharmonic Sodety has 
opened brilliantly. The Academy of Muaic was crowded at 
the first reheartal yesterday afternoon, and Mr. Theodore 
Tliomas, wlio returns as conductor, received a cordial greet- 
ing. Everything indicates that this will be the most brill- 
iant season in the history of the society. The sale of seals 
is unpreoedently large, and the musical fattures will be ex- 
ceptionally attractive, llie programme yesterday included 
the " King Lear " overture of Berlioz, the Tschalkowski 
Piano Concerto, phyed by Mr. Franz Rummd, Siegmund's 
Love Song, tnta Wagner's ** Walkiire," snng by Si^nor 
Campanini; "Siegfried's Death," from "Die Gotterdiim- 
meroiig," and the i^lfth Symphony of Beethoven. The firet 
concert will take place thu evening at the Brooklyn Acad- 
emy of Music Tribtine^ Nov. 18. 



FOREIGN. 

I^>XDON The fourth Crj-stal Palace Concert, Mr. 

Manns, conductor, oflered Schumann's Symphony In C, 
Aria (Queen of Night), from Mozart's ZauberfUite, sung by 
Mme. Schuch-Prwka; Allegro con brio, for violin and or- 
chestra (ill C), Beethoven, sok> violin, Mr. Cairodus; Ga- 
votte and Titauia's Aria fh>m Migmm ; Romance and Rondo, 
from Molique's Violin Concerto in A minor; and "X^anoe 
of the Hours," Bnllalnle, from " U Giooonda," by A. Poii- 
chidli (first time), llie event of the concert and the week 
was the performance of the first movement of the unfinished 
Violin Concerto by Beetho\'en, only reoently brought to 
light. Hellmesberger completed it, making use of tlte mo- 
tives and desifi:ns cmitaiued in the portion written, and it 
was produced for the first time in Vienna at the centeniiary 
of the birth of Beethoven. The MS. was preserved in the 
library of the Viennese Society of the Friends of Music. It 
is an early work, apparently contemporaneous with the Sep- 
tour, the Prometheus ballet, and the first Symphony (say 
1800); its principal theme indeed is strikingly analogous 
witli that of the Symphony in the same key. But it is of 
slight value compwed with the great Beethoven Concerto in 
D, and evidently Beethoven did not think it worth while to 
go on with it. It has only the interest of a curiosity. 

— Miss Ullian Bailey's success in London has laen very 
decided. After her ti^umph at the Monday popular con- 
cert on the 3d inst, she was at once engaged for the ora- 
torio of Judas MaccabeuSf at Manchester, and for a per- 
formance of Max Broch's Log of the Bell^ conducted by 
"Bruch himself. Miss Bidley, at the Monday popular con- 
cert, sang recitative and aria, " Lnsinghe piu cars," hj 
Handel, and the cavatiiia, " Und ob die Wolke," from 
Weber's Der FretaehUtz. The London Times says, " Miss 
Bailey tang extremely well, and was recalled after both 
songs." 



Lkipzio — Gewandhans Concert (October 9): Overture, 
"Genoreva" (Schumann); Violin Concerto, D minor 
(Spohr); Violin Suite (Reinecke); Symphony, "Eroica'* 
(Beethoven); Vocal Soli. Euterpe Concert (October 21): 
Overture, "Leonore" (Beethoven); Vidin Concerto (Men- 
delssohn); Symphony, A mi^ (Rubinstein); Vocal Soli. 
Gewandhans (Concert (October 21): Concerto for Violon- 
cello (Popper); Symphony, £ flat major (Haydn); Violon- 
cello Solo pieces (Chopin, Popper, Monsigny); Ah: fimn 
" Eoryanthe " (Weber), etc. 



DSCEMBEB 6, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



193 



BOSTON, DECEMBER 6, 1879. 
Xatend at tlu Poit OOet at Boston as Moond-clan matter. 

CONTENTS. 

** iMOUWMm '* ni VimiA. Eihtard HansUek 108 

Oa Boana 8oKiiiiAiia*i "Motto am» MonciAai.** F, L, 

Ritur 194 

Lown* Mam*. *A W. Tkaytr 196 

Tai.18 ox Aar : Saoovs SaaiM. Fran lottniotloM of Mr. 

WIllluB M. Uaot to hlB Pop'ls. XTII 197 

Haoraa Bsauoi't ** Thb Childhood or Chiist.'* W, F. 

A 196 

Mono isr Bonox 197 

riittOoDoert of thoIIantM and Eayda 8oet«t7.— 

Piaao-forta Bcdtal of Mr. Bdwanl B. Fnrry. — Fourth 

Oooetrt ct the ndlharmonle Oreheetra. 
MuKOAL CoaaitpoiiDnoi 198 

New Turk. — Baltimore. — Chfeafo. 
MoiiOAL Ihtbuwimoi 199 



writumfar Mi J^mnal, 



PMi$ktd fwtmgkU^ bjf Hovohtoh, Omood ahv Comtaht, 
ISO DeeeMyUpw AriMf , BMlen, FHe»,10e*ntimniimbtrj$2JiO 



Foir mU in Bottmt kff Oahi PauariB, SO We*t Street, A. Wux- 
UMI A Co., Z83 Wtuhrngton Street, A. K. LoamOf 369 Wash- 
imgtom Street, m»d by the PubUthers; in Neto York bf A. Baan- 
TAW), Ja., 39 ITaiea S^/mre, emd IIooaRToir, Osoood A Co., 
SI AUor FUue; in PkOvielphm 6y W. H. Boaaa A Co., 1102 
(%»$tnmt Street ; in Chieng0 6y the CHiOAflO Mono Cohtaht, 
612 StmU Street. 

"IDOMENEO" IN VIENNA.* 

A NOTABLE event took place the day be- 
fore yesterday at the Imperial Opera-House ; 
Mozart's grand heroic opera of Jdomeneo was 
performed Uiere. The words : ^ For the first 
time '* figuring in the playbill applied, bow- 
eyer, only to the new house. The real first 
performance of Jdomeneo in Vienna wa.H given 
on the 18th of May, 1806, and then, after 
fopr other representations, the work reposed 
for full thirteen years, down to 1819, when 
all attempts at reanimating it entirely ceased. 
It was not, consequently, for Vienna, but for 
the present race of those here who love mu- 
fic that Idomeneo passed fur the first time 
over the boards. The most venerable old 
gentlemen whose shiny white heads were 
scattered about the pit could, at most, only 
have been ^ taken " as • little boys when Ido- 
meneo was given here for the first time. 

Performances of this work are everywhere 
seldom, but Dresden, Munich, and Berlin 
long since set us a good example. In other 
cities the plan (now adopted here also) of 
performing in chronological succession all 
Mozart's operas led to the resumption of 
Idomeneo ; such was the case in Frankfort, 
where even the composer's Zaida was in- 
cluded in the series. The limits of this mu- 
sico-historical festival were extended in grand 
style two years ago at Cassel ; from a series 
of Mozart-performances there sprang an en- 
tire history of Grerman opera in eighteen 
stage-representations, the first work being 
Gluck's Iphigenxe and the last Wagner's 
Loftengrin. Between these came the most 
remarkable operas of Mozart, Dittersdorf, 
Winter, Weigl, Beethoven, Spohr, Weber, 
Marschner, Kreut«er, Meyerbeer, Schubert, 
Lortzing, Schumann, Nicolai, and Flotow. 
This was a brilliant and, moreover,, in the 
present deplorable dearth of novelties, a very 
practical notion. 

A performance of Idomeneo demands now- 
adays almost as much courage as trouble, 
1 Trandated in the Londoo Hnaical WorUL 



We offer, therefore, the management of the 
Imperial Opern-House our warm^t tlianks, 
for we had long since abandoned the hope of 
meeting the much- tried King of Crete else- 
M here than in the sc ^re. The feelings with 
which, after studying it afresh, I clapped-to 
that score, did not, I frankly confess, allow 
me to build very courageously and confi- 
dently on the success of the performance. I 
entered the theatre rather cast down, but 
found my ex|)ectation8 greatly exceeded both 
in the impresaion produced by the 0|)era on 
myself directly and in tlie effect it had on 
the public. Grave doubts as to the success 
of tlie work were fairly tiduiisstble. The 
mere fact that a grand opera like Jdomeneo^ 
dating from the period of its composer's great- 
est freshness, never could obtain a firm foot- 
ing anywhere, is a striking phenomenon, as is 
also the circumstance that, when the worship 
of Mozart was strongest, this same Jdomeneo 
was performed extremely seldom. This can- 
not be caused by external obstacles alone 
(such, for instance, as difficulty in casting, 
getting up, etc.) ; without some internal rea- 
son existing in the work itself, it appears to 
me inconceivable and abnormal that' the lat- 
ter would have been neglected in Vienna for 
over sixty years. As 1 sat anxiously .await- 
ing the performance, everything risky struck 
me as being doubly so. Is the opera possi- 
ble ? I kept asking myself. First conies the 
libretto ! That is the hource of all mischief. 
Ti)e book of Idomeneo is in bad taste, empty, 
wearisome, and all in tlie indescribably anti- 
quated garb proper to the mythological opera 
of gods and heroes. What s ereotyped stage 
figures ! The King is to sacrifice bis son for 
the purpose of appeasing the wrath of Nep- 
tune, but prefers laying down his own life, 
while the son offers himself for his father, 
and the son's beloved is ready to perish for 
the young man, till at last a tin-voiced orade 
cuts through this coil of noble sentiments, 
and re-unites, alive and contented, those who 
have so worried themselves for nothing. All 
these exalted kings, princes, princesses, and 
high priests, with their proud gestures and 
exaggerated phrases, smell mouldy. I would 
simply direct attention to the fact that the 
libretto, so antiquated for us-, was old-fash- 
ioned even when the Abb^ Varesco, of Salz- 
burg, cobbled it together for Mozart in 1780. 
Campra, the French composer, had set the 
same story seventy years previously, and had 
his ^ Tragidie lyriquey^ Idomenie^ performed 
at the Paris Grand Opera in 1712. It is 
incomprehensible how the old Italian Court 
festival opera, that artificial exotic, could keep 
its ground so long in Germany ; and it is in- 
comprehensible how these lifeless figures, with 
their hollow and pompous verses, could exist 
ten years after Goethe wrote his Gotz von 
JSerlichingen. 

And how injuriously the old libretto influ- 
enced the musical form of Idomeneo I The 
opera contains, exclusive of the very numer- 
ous and very long recitatives, six-and-twenty 
numbers ; with the exception of a duet, a 
trio, and a quartet, together with a few 
marches* and choral movements, these num- 
bers are all aire. Leaving out of considera- 
tion the subordinate part of the high priest, 
which is written for a bass, Idomeneo requires 
exclusively high voices. One tenor (Ido- 



meneo) is pitted against three soprano parts, 
for I daman te was r^sally intended for a cas- 
irato. These are arrangements which, utter- 
ly nndramatic, strike us nowadays as simply 
unnatural ; yet Mozart oonformed to these 
rules of the old opera setia, which appear 
only partially vivified and brightened np by 
French influences^ especially Gluck's. Thus, 
the music of Jdomeneo belongs partly to the 
weakly bravura style of Italian opera eeria^ 
and partly to .the stiff pathos of French 
tragedy. When one of the personages be- 
gins an air, it sounds as though he did so for 
the purpose of publicly making a speech about 
his feelings. Kven the motive is mostly set 
forth in a highly impressive, sharply defined 
manner, as though the speaker were under- 
taking to prove a thesis. The working out, 
too, of the theme is conducted with the same 
cumbersome regularity which the incipient 
rhetorician learns in his ^ Chris:" the broad- 
est development* numberless repetitions of 
words and sentences, and, finally, a bravura 
appendix as a CaptaUo henevolentUe. This 
kind of vocal solo is totally unknown to us 
in modern opera, and still more so to the 
singer of the present day, as he discovers in 
his despair. Yet, despite all this, we mnst 
repeat, Idomeneo produced an unexpectedly 
strong impression on the assembly. You felt 
under the spell of a high and noble artistic 
mind. Mozart's incomparable genius holds 
sway here like some irresistible force of nat- 
ure, bursting like the light and warmth of 
the sun through mouldering hedges and rot- 
ten hangings. When he wrote Idomeneo^ he 
was in all the strength of youth ; four-and- 
twenty in years, and fifty in his knowledge of 
art. He was able to fill the old operatic 
ft>rius with precious material ; he did not yet 
dare to put them on one side. How quickly, 
however, he free<l himself from the constraint 
of superannuated formulas is proved by Die 
EntfUhrung aut dem Seraily written the same 
year; in that work, the pathetic style of Con- 
stance is already surrounded by natural truth- 
fulness replete with life and healthy humor. 
And only fiTe years later he created Figaro 
and Dofi Juan^ those first and unequaled 
models of a musical style, at once ideal and 
realistic, wherein the sensual beauty of the 
mu*ic grows simultaneously with the most 
animated dramatic expression. This Was a 
newly discovered world of which former mu- 
sicians had no presentiment, ay, a world 
which even Mozart himself, when he wrote 
Jdomeneoj saw only as a dieam. Don Juan^ 
Figaro, and Die Zauberfloie — these are, 
properly speaking, the three mighty adver- 
saric't banded against Idomeneo. With these, 
the later Mozart supplanted the earlier. Di- 
rectly we experienced in Don Juan^ for the 
first time on tlie operatic stage, the glowing 
actuality of life, and distinguished in all the 
melo<lies the pulsation of Our own feelings and 
desires — from that moment, Idomeneo neces- 
sarily struck us as sti*ange, cold, and unin- 
telligible. Idomeneo represents that uninter- 
rupted, straight line of sublimity against which 
the mixture of tragedy and humor in J}on 
Juan stands out so refreshingly, like a drama 
by Shakespeare against one by Comeille or 
Racine. Idomeneo was driven back, — and 
for a long time, too, — but not set aside, by 
Mozart's later operas; works of this kind 



194 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1008. 



may be overshadowed, but certainly not an- 
nihilated. The more our musically unpro- 
ductive age, 80 poor in genius, busies itself 
with the masterpieces of a former period, the 
deeper and broader must become our interest 
in the historical connection of art, the more 
irresistibly is our attention directed to the for- 
gotten Idomeneo, 

Thus it came to pass that, on October 25th, 
every seat in the Opera-House, Vienna, was 
occupied by an Hudieuce who had brouf^ht 
with them not merely the proper reverential 
feeling, but, what is more, a delightful impreb- 
sionability, and who allowed themselves to be 
impartially influenced by every beauty in the 
work. A mere success of respect, such as 
we feared, fell to the lot of the first act alone ; 
the conclusion of the second act and the whole 
of the third found the public deeply moved. 
The triumph of young Mozart was here geu- 
nine and unconditional. The first act is that 
least calculated to enlist our sympathies ; its 
predominating features are a mouutonous suc- 
cession of long recitatives and airs, and the 
dragging clmracter of the ever pathetic, but 
effeminate melody. After what Mozait gavt^ 
us in Don Juariy we cannot consider, for in- 
stance, the moving situation, when Idomeneo 
first meets his son, as musically rendered with 
sufficient energy. In the concluding scene of 
the first act, the music would probably strike 
us as poor, had we not the very picturesque 
ballet whereon to feast our ^^ei&. We can- 
not say whether Alexander the Great would, 
as Oulibicheff assures us, have chosen no mu- 
sic save the D-major march for his entry into 
Babylon, but every one will remark with in- 
terest the enormous distance between the pale 
solemnity of the ceremonial music in [do- 
meneo and the swelling magnificence of our 
marches in Le Prophlte and Tannhduuer now- 
adays. The second act — just like the first 
and the third — is opened by Ilia with an 
air ; her sweet theme, ** Se il Padre perdei," 
exhibits at the very third bar a direct tend- 
ency to Tamino's ** Air with the Portrait,*' 
and a smile lighted up the faces of the audi- 
ence as though at a joyful and unexpected 
meeting. The succeeding celebrated pieces, 
Idomeneo's air in D major (from which the 
rich bravura work has been broken out down 
to the tiniest stone), and the grand trio, did 
not appear to quite equal the high expecta- 
tions which reverential readers had brought 
with them to the theatre after reading the 
masterly analyses of Otto Jahn and Oulibi- 
cheff. On the other hand, the grandiose final 
scene, with the storm and the appearance 
of the sea-monster, produced all due effect. 
This scene — a musico-historical monument 
from the way in which it was rendered with 
,a power hitherto unknown by the orchestra 
and chorus — carries us away, as though it 
had been composed only yesterday, and com- 
posed, be it observed, by Mozart. It is con- 
sidered the climax of the opera, and as such 
we, too, regarded it, till the animated per- 
formance revealed to us all the grandeur of 
the third act, before which everything that 
precedes, even the sea storm, must give way. 
The Raphael-like, serious beauty of the quar- 
tet, the exalted melancholy of the 6 minor 
chorus (with the high priest), and lastly, 
the whole of the grand scene of the sacrifice 
in the temple, produced a profound and grad- 



ually increasing effect. Nothing here re- 
minds us^f the rococo form and stilted style 
of the old heroic opera, but might without 
more ado take its place in Don Juan. 

The management of the Opera-House and 
the public brought to the performance of 
Idomeneo a laudable quality : respect for what 
is great and classical. Both were richly re- 
warded, since they derived from the opera a 
more lively impression than they anticipated. 
Even granting that Idomeneo, thuugh it«is the 
duty and the desire of every educated person 
to become acquainted with it, may not draw, 
its success will certainly not be inferior to 
that achieved by Die Folhiuger, Die Macca- 
bciei; and other similar works, while the man- 
agement of the Opera-riouse will, at least, 
have the consciousness of having fulfilled a 
noble duty — of having, in an ajsthetic sense, 
behaved properly. This holds good likewise 
of the way in which the opera was put on 
the stage. Most managers think that, when 
getting up old classical operas, they may be 
very close and economicnl ; that the music 
alone will do everything. For works of the 
Idomeneo school this would be an exceeding- 
ly pernicious maxim, which the management 
of the Imperial Opera-House has fortunately 
avoided. The mise-en'Scene was in every re- 
spect magnificent. Concerning the embodi- 
ment of the sea-monster alone, we have our 
serious doubts. There dances over the waves 
a kind of gigantic bnt, surmounted, to the sur- 
prise of every one, by a venerable head, with 
a long white beard. But the scene requires 
an actual and entire monster, and not one 
reaching merely to the neck ; let us have, 
therefore, a fire-tpitting dragon, instead of a 
winged rabbi. The principal characters were 
admirably cast. Of course, the style of Ido^ 
metieo, requiring as it does the art of broad 
sustained song quite as much as virtuoso-like 
bravura, is strange to, nnd partially beyond 
the reach of, our singers, brought up in the 
music of Meyerbeer, Verdi, and Wagner. 
Measured by a strict Mozart-standard, the 
singing was unquestionably not perfect. • We 
leave it to others to try offenders, and frankly 
own with respect to the relative excellence 
of all the leading artists charged with so dif- 
ficult a task that we were much pleased and 
.•«omewhat surprised. Mmes. Ehnn and Ma- 
tenia, Herren Muller and Labatt, fully de- 
served the applause so liberally bestowed on 
them. An especial acknowledgment is due, 
likewise, to the Capellmeister, Herr Fuchs, 
for shortenin/, with taste and skill, the score 
(no longer presentable in its original shape), 
simplifying some things and touching up 
others, as required, at one time by the idio- 
syncrasies of the singers, and, at another, by 
the exigencies of the operatic stage. Under 
his inspiriting guidance, the entire perform- 
ance went off admirably. 

Eduard Hanslick. 
ViBNirA, October 27. 



ON ROBERT SCHUMANN'S "MUSIC AND 

MUSICIANS." 



BY F. L. RITTER. 
(Contiiiued from page 188.) 
Madame Rittkr, in the preface to Schu- 
mann's "Music and Musicians," says: "From 
his reviews and criticisms — based as they are 
on the firm foundation of thorough knowledge 



enlivened by the vital breath of poetical and phil- 
02(ophical rcfleciion, and by such an occasional 
flash of humor as bheds clear light on many ques- 
tions, whose solution we may vainly seek by the 
gleam of the student lamp, a code of musical 
esthetics might be gathered." To this passage 
a writer in Macmillan's Magazine, Mr. E. Gur- 
ney, opposes his sssthetic views about music, and 
thinks " it will perhaps be tolerably clear* that 
a ' code of uiusical aesthetics,' such as the trans- 
Isilor of the book before us has imagined to be 
discoverable in Schumann's writings, is something 
of which it is very hard to see tlie meaning and 
probahility." Now, Mme. Ritter does not stand 
alone in the above opiniun ; others, and no lesser 
authorities than Dr. Franz Li»zt and Dr. Am- 
bros, imagined I hey had discovered excellent ma- 
terial for a code of musical aesthetics in Schu- 
mann's wriJings. However, Mr. Gurncy, as we 
nhall presently see, does not place much faith in 
the writings of musicians ; it will therefore, per- 
haps, be instructive to examine Mr. Gurney's 
claims as a mu-ical critic, especially as he '\^ one 
of that class of amateur musical writen whose 
sestlietic views btand in direct opposition to those 
of the professional umsician. 

In his article on Schunuinn's writings, in the 
above Magazine, he 8a>s : "It (music) is sup- 
posed to be a mjsterious art, and so technically 
abstruse that none but professors of it can know 
exactly what they are at, aiid be justified in 
speaking authoritatively on the subject; those 
who can write fugues must, it is thought, be in 
some way able to expound them." * Here le bout 
d'oreille of the amateur pierces visibly through ; 
the rtrader at once gains the presentiment that 
the authority of the profesKor on musical sub- 
jects will in future be greatly shaken by the 
searching and infallible criiicism of Mr. Gumey, 
who tells us distinctly that not much light is to be 
expected from (he criticism of the professor, for 
"modern Ufe," says Mr. Gurney, "which has 
fostered self-consciousness and introspection in 
many directions, doubtless furnishes examples of 
artists who have ventured on the perilous path 
of analysis ; but the results hardly seem to estab- 
lish, for the criticism of a creator, any special 
claim to clearness and acumen." 

Tho^e musicians who are under the impression 
that music cxpres>es more than Mr. Gurney's 
criticism is willing to allow, will not receive 
much countenance from this aesthetic writer. Ho 
says, in an article in the Nineteenth Century (« On 
Music and Musical Criticism ") : " Nor again will 
musicians be reduced by jealousy for the.«lignlty 
of their art to prop it up by unreal supports and 
connections ; and it is this latter temlency which 
I am most concerned to resist, inasmuch as mu- 
sic, like many other things, suffers most from its 
friends." Of course, in order to " prop up " bis 
theory on real " supports and connections," this 
writer finds it necessary first to attempt to fasli- 
ion some substantial pillars out of the elementary 
material of music. Amateur musical Sdtheti- 
cians are very fond of exhibiting their knowl- 
edge of musical theory; but, having acquired 
merely a smattering of the diflicult subject, their 
attempu in this direction are generally failures. 
Mr. Gurney's similar attempt, as we shall pres- 
ently see, has not been much of a success either. 
In the above article (Nineteenth Century) he 
tells us: "The central idea in my argument, 
1 In the aboye remark the writer evioced, noltnt vrWriw, 
an ineviutble truism. Ad industrious and rather well-read 
writer on music, but who apparently has not studied oom- 
positiou, seems to be in great perplexity Rgarding the wiii- 
mg of a fugue. Is it to be ckssified among luusieal foraw 
or not? lliat is the question. In his doubu Kganiing 
this double-faced thing he sought iiiformatiou from a well- 
known piano- teacher, who told him bokily that a fugue has 
no form, and on the strength of thu authority in musical 

theory, ^r. illumined the musical worid with a new 

sesthetic kw about the fugue having no form ! Neither of 
the two can write a fugue, hence the ludicrous dilemma. 



Dbcbicbkb 6, 1879.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



195 



which will affect iU bearing in every detail, is 
the independent and isolated position of the emo- 
tions caused by music ; and this I shall try to 
present both as a deduction and as a fact." Now 
let us examine, so far as space will allow, the 
substantial pillars, upon which this argument is 
placed. <* The prime element in music," we are 
told, ^ b melody, t. «., notes in succession." Here 
the above writer announces himself at once as 
the *' melodic '' critic. *< Melody is the amateur's 
war cry," says Schumann ; and though melody, 
in a mere general sense, is to be considered as 
the supreme quality of any musical composition, 
a critical method, which rests on such a one-sided 
idea, describing the roof of the palace before the 
adequately built walls are visible, will not enlist 
much confidence on the part of the connoisseur, 
llie intelligent musician, endeavoring to lay down 
the laws for '* musical criticism,"* would no doubt 
begin his theory by considering tone as the 
prime cl«*ment in music ; and only then, when a 
second element, rhythm, has taken hold of the 
isolated sounds, poured life into them, the pulse 
beat, is a third agent possible, namely, melody. 
The musician will with right insist that the philo- 
sophical investigation of the elementary means 
of music be presented somewhat in chronological 
order. Random talk, be it ever so spiritual, can- 
not build up an available theory. The sesthe- 
tician, who overlooks this fundamental principle, 
will founder before he reaches the desired (>ort. 

In general, it cannot be affirmed that Mr. 6ur- 
ney has given proof, while on the ^ perilous path 
of analysis," regarding melody and rhythm (his 
chronological order), of any *' si)ccial claims tu 
clearness and acumen." He mixes up. melody 
and rhythm in a most distressing manner. 
*' Melodic rhythm, in relation to the otherwise 
meaningless succession of sounds, may be better 
compared to light, revealing itself and objects at 
one instant of indivisible effect, and depending 
for its value on that with which it is associated." 
What is a melodic rhythm ? Rhythm regulates 
harmony as well ; it ako appears oAen isolated. 
According to this writer's method we should hai% 
to admit three kinds of rhythm : the melodic, 




the harmonic. 




and the rhythmical rhythm. 

m 




This esthetic aper^u is decidedly a confusion of 
subject matter. Mr. Gurney, however, does not 
admit rhythm as an element having its own mean- 
ing independent of melody ; for he says, '* Nor is 
the rhythm in any sense a frame-work or mould 
to be separately ' appraised, as in some degree 
the metre of a btanza may be considered the 
mould for the meaning to be poured into." We 
see that the writer has not much comprehension 
of the power and sesthetic importance of rhythm. 
Rhythm, as well as melody and harmony, has a 
right to be considered by itself, from an sBsthet- 
ical point of view ; it regulates the whole organ- 
ism uf a composition, impresses its characteristic 
marks on the very physiognomy of a musical art- 
work. To say <* it is a self-understood fact that 
tlie rhythm regulates melody and harmony," is 
taking a too narrow view of the subjecL The 
character of a certain succession of tones, called 
melody, or that of a harmonious passage, may 
be eminently changed by changing the rhythm. 
Such a rhythmical change alone is capable of 
conveying to our mind the idea of a new emo- 1 



tional meaning and expression. Had Mr. Gur- 
ney felt the aesthetical significance of rhythm, he 
would, no doubt, have discovered more in music 
than his article gives proof of. 

^ The fundamental principle of rhythm, equal 
measurement, is, as we have seen, common to all 
music, while a special rhythm may be common 
to several melodies, the identity being clearly 
marked and obvious to the ear. On the other 
hand the systems supplying the note- material, 
or available pitch-intervals (I), have been many; 
and confining ourselves to our mo«lern scale-sys- 
tem, it could only be a matter of curiosity, in no 
way capable of striking the ear, if it were discov- 
ered that some particular series of notes could 
yield two intelligible melodies, by association with 
two different rhythms, differing in the position of 
the main accents." The reader will, no doubt, 
confess with me that this species of musical phi- 
losophy cannot very well serve as a model of 
*' clearness and acumen," and that the writer 
was at sea respecting musical theory. Nor does 
the curious term, " pitch-interval " contribute 
much towards shedding more light on the sub- 
ject. If Mr. Gurney had in mind that it would 
be a new discovery to associate two melodies dif- 
fering in rhythm, the thing has been done re- 
peatedly. To cite only two examples by great 
masters, the finale of Beethoven*s Quintet in C 
major, and the well-known " Ball Scene " from 
Don Giovannif in which three melodies, differing 
in rhythm, are associated. Every student of 
double counterpoint has had, no doubt, to write 
some part-exercises, in which the same melody, 
arranged in two different rhythms, appeared in 
the double quality as melody and accompaniment. 
This writer's philosophical views on harmony — 
an element in our modern music, of as much 
importance as melody itself — are just as inade- 
quately presented as that on rhythm ; a few stray 
sentences referring to Helmholtz's wonderful dis- 
coveries, were thought, in a lengthy article on 
"Music and Musical Criticism," sufficient to im- 
part to the reader a clear understanding of the 
subject ; and here again the ** bug-bear " melody 
hangs obstinately at the heels of the critic's argu- 
ments. The whole part of the writer's attempts 
at explaining theoretically the three important 
fundamental elements of music, rhythm, melody, 
and harmony, is a confused jumble — in every 
way unsatisfactory to the intelligent musician, 
and, quite surely, utterly unintelligible to the 
mere amateur. And yet we are asked to believe 
that on such a tottering basis of would-be theo- 
retical speculation, the higher laws of musical 
criticism may possibly be constructed. Schu- 
mann justly says : ** The armed eye beholds the 
stars ; the unarme<l sees nought but clouds." 

{To be continued.) 



LOWELL MASON. 

BT A. W. THAYER. 

(Coneluded from pace 187.) 

Mason became president of tlie Handel and 
Haydn Society, but the object of the association 
being the performance of oratorio, ho soon found 
its sphere too contracted for the purposes he had 
in view. This, and other reasons, led to his 
parting from it, and to the establishment, about 
1832, of the Boston Academy of Music, with 
Samuel A. Eliot, some years mayor of the city, 
at its head, but having Mr. Mason as its leading 
spirit. In 1885 the Boston Theatre was changed 
into a music hall, with the name Od^n, and 
here the Academy gave, with a very fine chorus, 
cantata*, madrigals, glees, and at length organized 
an orchestra, and taught the people to under- 
stand and enjoy the great syniphonists. Mr. 
Mason's great object was universal musical edu- 
cation : and while the Handel and Haydn Society | 



and the Academy were educating the public to 
appreciate the highest music, he was laboring, 
with a success worthy of his zeal and perse- 
verance, to make singing and the reading of 
ordinary vocal music as common an acquirement, 
as the simple rules of arithmetic or the outlines 
of geography. 

The first step was so to explain the elementary 
rules of writing and reading music that every one 
might be made easily to understand them. His 
success in this was such that no quack method 
of " making music easy " has ever been able to 
obtain any lasting footing in New England ; nor 
does any pupil of a New England public school 
desire any other notation than such as was goo<i 
enough for Handel and Beethoven. Next he 
gathered classes to whom he imparted his methods 
of teaching, which were based upon a thorough 
study of the system of Pestalozzi — awakened 
their enthusiasm, and thus soon had an able body 
of disciples to aid him in a project which he had 
for some time cherished — nothing less than 
making singing and reading music compulsory 
branches of instruction in the public schools! 
Anything more hopeless could hs^ly have been 
planned. He was obliged to prove that children 
could be made to comprehend the meaning of 
staves and notes — a page of music being then to 
most people as blind as a column of hieroglyphics. 
He did prove it, by concerts of children whom 
he and Mr. George James Webb — a fine Eng- 
lish musician, long his friend and coa<ljutor — 
had taught. One of Mr. Mason's eulogists says 
with truth : ^ It was a good while before he 
could get a hearing for his. belief that little 
children could be taught to sing by note and to 
understand the rudiments of music as a- science. 
A less resolute man than he would have been dis- 
couraged before he gained permission to experi- 
ment upon his theory in the common schools ; 
and when, at last, consent was given grudgingly 
by the school authorities of Boston, he was forced 
to go to work upon his own responsibility, at his 
own charges, at the most unfavorable time, in 
the most undesirable way. But he succeeded so 
triumphantly that all the schools in Boston were, 
in 1838, thrown open to him. 

Mr. Mason's path in these and many following 
years was not one of roses. Envy and malice 
did their most in decrying his merits and in ex- 
aggerating any mistake made by him or any 
failing that could be discovered, and the time 
came when others reaped where he bad sown — 
in other words, the teaching in the schools was 
divided between himself and his assistants and 
his opponents. Perhaps the cause may have 
gained, as both paVties were forced to do their 
best ; but it was neither just nor generous to- 
wards Mr. Mason. 

Another project of his, which has now become 
an institution in many parts of the United States, 
was the calling together conventions of music- 
teachers and amateurs. These, continuing ten or 
twelve days, were occasions of very great in- 
terest and value. Lectures on musical topics, 
especially upon the art of teaching singing-classes, 
with constant practice, and, finally, a concert or 
two, in which the members took part, filled the 
time, and thousands carried away with them their 
first and never-fading impression of the glorious 
power and beauty of a chorus of Handel, sung 
by a thousand voices with orchestral and organ 
accompaniment. 

Simultaneously with all these labors the press 
was teeming with collections of vocal music by 
Mr. Mason alone, or in conjunction with Mr. 
Webb, for every possible demand — from the 
infant school to the societies for singing the 
highest music. Their sale was positively enor- 
mous. Single collections were distributed by 
hundreds of thousands. Not alone sacred music, 



196 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX — No. 1008. 



but glees, madrigals, and foar-part songs, ibr 
men's voices, women's voices, a mixed chorus, 
Englbh, German, French, Italian, anything that 
was good of its kind that could be found in the 
large library which their editor had collected. 
That a handsome fortune at length rewarded his 
labors need hardly be stated. 

Mr. Mason's first vinit to Europe was in 1837, 
after ten years of incessant labor, partly for 
recreation, but more to make himself acquainted 
with the methods — especially in Grermany — of 
musical instruction in schools of the various 
grades. There was nothing for him to learn ! 
A pleasing and valuable volume of letters records 
his impressions and observations. 

The last years of his life were spent with his 
elder children at Orange in New Jersey, where 
two of them resided — Daniel and Lowell — 
whose extensive publishing house was in New 
York and Orange, therefore a convenient place 
of residence. 

But, as Mr. Mason's talent in teaching really 
amounted to genius, his services in Massachusetts 
were still demanded. The Public Board of Ed- 
ucation of that State organized annual conven- 
tions of teachers, much on the model of the 
musical conventions above noticed, and to these 
he was annually called, not more for the musical 
instruction which he imparted than for the bene- 
fit of the example he set the members in the very 
best methods of teaching. 

In the purchase of books for his library Mr. 
Mason by no means confined himself to such as 
he coold read or use in works. He collected for 
the use of others, and with the intention of mak- 
ing a collection which after his death should be 
deposited in some institution of learning for the 
public benefit. Thus, being informed by a friend 
that the late Professor Dehn, of Berlin, was dis- 
posed to sell the finest and completest collection 
of the works of Matheson and Marpurg, — that 
in the Royal Library at Berlin excepted, — he 
immediately commissioned his friend to secure 
them, though there was not one among them that 
he himself could read. Upon t^ose who sought 
to injure him he never retaliated, but bore 
calumny and detraction in silence, — he lived 
them down, — and many an opponent he chanp^ed 
to a friend by simply giving them the opportunity 
of knowing him personally. Here is » case in 
point : A young writer on musical topics in the 
periodical press, upon partial information, made 
a somewhat bitter attack upon him. No other 
notice was taken of it than was involved in Mr. 
Mason's inviting him to his house and giving 
him the free use of his libmry. Prejudice soon 
gave way to respect and acfmiration on his part, 
while on the other a kindly feeling grew up, 
which, resulted in the loan of a handsome sum 
of money, to be repaid at convenience, without 
interest, to enable the young man to pursue his 
studies in Europe. Not until years had passed 
did the latter know, and then not from his bene- 
factor, that the article above named had deeply 
pained and wounded him. 

The writer freely confesses that he has dif- 
fered from Mr. Mason on various matters of 
opinion and taste ; but this confession can only 
add emphasis to the expression of his deep ap- 
preciation of his many great qualities. 

Tkibstb, Auffuslf 1879. 



TALKS ON ART. - SECOND SERIES.^ 

VROM IMSTRUCT10N8 OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO BIS PUPILS. 

XVIL 

«< Is that sketch of Miss B. like her ? " 
No matter if it is or is n't. To <io t^ is the 
first thing. Have it like, is tlie second. The 
1 Copyright, 1879, by Helm M. Knowltmi. 



figure is elegant, — which b something that most 
people think nothing of, so much are they taken 
up with likeness. Then it is naive ! The head 
goes into the background in such an unconscious 
way. It is skillfully painted, and I know that 
you could not have done it two years ago, 

^* Then you think we do go on, even when we 
feel that we are not gaining as we ought to ? " 

You can't help going on ; but you can't al- 
ways see the steps. Nothing is hard if you take 
the right steps to do it Of a sudden we find 
out that our teachers are great noodles ; and in 
our despair at finding that we are so far behind 
where we ought to be, we try to jump over the 
river at one bound. You must throw in one 
stone at a time, and by and by you will »ee one 
floating on the top. — '*0h, but there 's Susaii 
Jane going on alone ! " — Never mind ; she has 
to come to the mud too, and then she must begin 
to throw in her stones and build her foundation. 
The people who have got the thing called ** suc- 
cess " have reached it without knowing it. 

Yon must know, before you start a drawing, 
just where your figure is going to come upon the 
canvas. See how Michael Angelo planned every 
comer of bis work 1 Most of us put a little bit 
of a figure in the middle of a large background 
that is of no use. Look at the Greek coins : no 
waste space, every part filled. Then look at our 
cent, with the figure so small that it looks like a 
crow in a wilderness. 

Don't dwell too much on what you have done 1 
Go on, and don't paint each sketch as if it were 
to be the last thing you were to do in life. Be- 
lieve that you are going to make hundreds of 
them, and go on to the next. 

You must feel that there is a head under that 
hat I Draw a line through the hat where you 
know that the top of the head ought to come, 
and see how the hat looks then. Ostrich fisath- 
ers won't take the place of brains. 

When anything profiles yon must have it pro- 
file to mean something. 

People are apt to think that painting is sim- 
ply skillful work. 

Will it to be flat, and it will come so. Look 
at the work of the Japanese. They knew the 
thing, and then put it down. No high light in 
their decorations : flat tints, with due regard to 
values. 

Be contented to do something in the direction 
in which the thing is, not in the way you feel it. 
Build up your power of doing actualities. Be 
convinced that you can't help putting in some of 
your own feeling and originality. Don't run 
around trying to be original, standing on your 
head or diving under water. Believe that if you 
work and let yourself go, all will come out right. 
If you work only for what you feel, and not for 
reality, you work all the time with one oar. 

Don't be afraid of spoiling your work. You 
can't spoil anything in this world. There 's a 
great deal of work to be done for the sake of 
learning how it is done. I 've seen John Millet 
sit down in 'Millet's studio, and, without a word 
of encouragement, work three weeks firom a plas- 
ter cast 

** But when we carry our things home " — 

Your parents don't like them ? Of course 
they don't, they have n't been through enough. 
Make a drawing equal to Michael Angelo, and 
there is n't a parent in this city that is going to 
know how good it is. They go to the Louvre 
and admire a drawing with Michael Angelo's 



name ondor it ; but take away that name and 
put on another and they won't look at the draw- 



ing. 



Don't mind what your friends say of your work. 
In the first place, they all think you 're an idiot ; 
in the next place, they expect great things of 
you ; in the third place, they would n't know if 
you did a good thing. Until we come to study 
art we are not aware of the ignorance there is 
about it Artists have to create their audiences. 
They have to do their own work and educate 
tlie public at the same time. Nobody cared for 
Corot's pictures at first He had to teach people 
how to like them. The same with Raphael. His 
pictures were not understood ; but be went on 
painting, and in time he was appreciated. 

<« I don't know what to do." 

It 's by working that you learn what to do. 
Take something to draw, and see how fiur you 
can carry it 

«' What shall I take ? " 

Oh, something that you like. 

** Tell me what, please." 

Why, how can I tell ? I might as well tell 
you what prayer to say 1 

That eye is light, and you are making it dark. 
You seem to think that the way to attack a thing 
is — to keep away firom it Don't always be 
trying to flank your work 1 You see your lion ; 
and, to be sure of getting him, you turn square 
on your heel, take a steamer ibr Japan, and come 
round the world, to attack him in the rear. 

Rembrandt says, ''Gayly lay on your color, 
for all spirit will disappear in subsequent opera- 
tions." 

Painting is a still old thing. There 's no 
whine about it .It does n't trouble anybody. 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1879. 

Notice. — Our Jousnal for 1880, Vol. 
XL., will be mailed as usual to all the pres- 
ent subscribers, unless we receive an order 
to discontinue it A prompt remittance will 
oblige the publishers. 



Subscribers living in muslGal circles, or 
members of musical societies, are requested to 
raise clubs among their friends, to whom the 
Journal will be furnished at reduced rates, 
namely : for ^Ye copies, $10 ; for ten copies, 
$20, and an extra copy to the sender. 

If every friend who values the paper and 
appreciates its aims, would only send us in the 
name of one new subscriber, it would not 
only place the Journal at once on a firm 
footing, but would enable us to add to the 
amount, the variety, and excellence of its 
contents. Has it not earned the right to live 
and to improve ? 



HECTOR BERLIOZ'S « THE CHILDHOOD 

OF CHRIST." 

Many anecdotes have been told about the 
corious circumstances under which this or that 
famous piece of music was written; how Scar- 
latti took the theme of one of his fugues from his 
cat running across his harpsichord, how Rossini 
wrote ** Di tanti palpiti " in a ctS4, etc. . It is not 
less incongruous that Berlioz's great sacred tril- 
ogy, or oratorio, should have been virtually be- 



Dbobmbkb 6, 1879.] 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



197 



gan at a corner of an dearth table. Berlioz was 
at a card-party one evening, and aa, " by patience, 
and after thirty years of effort, he had succeeded 
in knowing not a single game of this sort," his 
friend Dnc, the architect, asked him to keep him- 
self from being bored by writing rome music in 
his albam. ** I take a scrap of paper, draw some 
staves upon it, on which I soon jot down an an- 
dantino in four parts for the organ, I think that 
I find a certain character of artless, rustic mysti- 
cism about it, and the fancy takes roe to write 
some words of Uie same sort to it. The organ- 
piece disappears, and becomes the chorus of the 
Shepherds of Bethlehem, bidding the infant Jesus 
farewell, at the departure of the Holy Family for 
Egypt. .... Some days afterwards, I wrote the 
*' Rest of the Holy Family " at home, beginning 
this time with the words, and a little fugued over- 
ture, for a little orchestra, in a little, innocent 
style, in F-sJiarp minor without any leading note. 
.... A month later, when I no longer thought 
of my score, a chorus happened to be wanting in 
the programme of a concert that I was to oondncL 
It struck me as a good joke to put that of the 
Shepherds in my Mystery in its place, leaving it 
under the name of Pierre Ducr^, music-master of 
the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (1679). At the re- 
hearsals the chorus-singers took a lively fancy to 
this ancestral music.'' 

<«The Childhood of Christ" is an oratorio in 
three parts, namely : " Herod's Dream," " The 
Flight into Egypt," and *< The Arrival in Sais." 
As has been already hinted, the second part was 
written and performed before the remainder of 
the work was begun. Most of us remember the 
delightful impression it made a fortnight ago in 
the Music Hall, and how exquisitely Mr. William 
Winch sang the tenor solo. This, together with 



mising man like d'Ortigue, who was a tremendous 
ultramontane in religion, and a rampant ultra- 
classicist, or rather a pre-Raphaelite, in music 
(albeit a personal friend of the composer), it 
seems the highest praise that a mortal can well 
expect to win. D'Ortigue even says himself: 
** One may feel sure that I am not the least in 
the world embarrassed in saying here — in this 
place, where M. Berlioz signed bis name but 
yesterday, and where he will sign it to-morrow ^ 
— that his new work is a marvel of taste, of art, 
of sentiment, and of originality. And I will re- 
ply to those who may accuse me of the crime of 
enthusiasm that for twenty years I have had 
leisure to administer to myself several good sed- 
atives, in imposing upon myself a diet of rather 
severe studies in plain-chant, and in musical 
modes, history, archseology, and philosophy, all 
of which are things, if not incompatible with the 
subject of my to-day's criticism, at least very dif- 
ferent from it, and, as Montaigne says, ' from an- 
other cask/ " 

The ** Night March of Roman Soldiers " in 
** Herod's Dream" (which will be soon played 
here) is thus described: **.... The basses 
murmur a mysterious rhythm ; the muffled sounds 
of the united strings commence a night patrol; it 
is a patrol of Roman soldiers ; we hear them de- 
file with measured step under the gates, and fol- 
low the dusky circuit of the walls of Jerusalem. 
They draw near, little by little. A centurion, 
mounting guard at the door of his guard-house, 
stops them, and we have the following dialogue 
between the centurion and Polydorus, the officer 
of the patrol : — 

Who goes then ?-. Rome! — Advaaoe! — Halt! — 
Polydorus! — Whj, aoldier; 1 thought jou were already on 
the bauks of the liber. — By Daochua! I ehouM have been 
there, if Gallus, our illastrloua prastor, had at kit given me 



the feet that an extract from « Herod's Dream " leave. —And Herod? — He dreams, he tivmblea; he eees 



is to be given at the first Symphony Concert of 
the Harvard Musical Association, makes it inter- 
esting to know something definite about a com- 
position which has hitherto been a mere name to 
most of oar musical public. 

*" The Childhood of Christ " waa brought out 
entire in the Salle Herz in Paris on the lOih of 
December, 1854. Its success was complete and 
instantaneous, and went far towards comforting 
the composer for the terrible fiasco made some 
years previous by his *< Damnation of Faust " at 
the Op^ra-Comique. M. Joseph d'Ortigue wrote 
in the Journal den DibaU after the performance : 

** M. Hector Berlioz held a brilliant and nu- 
merous audience captive during a long concert, 
with a new score, the text of which he wrote, the 
music of which he. composed, and the rehearsals 
and performances of which he conducted. Thus 
M. Berlioz has been his own collaborator, his own 
orchestral conductor, his own interpreter. Thus 
it is sufficiently clear and sharply cut. No eva- 
sion is possible. I, Berlioz, wrote what yon read, 
and what you hear. This accent, this expression, 
this effect, it is I who intended them. It b my 
work, it is complete, it is one. .... 

*^ Ghdlant, brave, and generous Berlioz I This 
is bow he bears his standard ! Shatter that stan- 
dard and you shatter him at the same blow ; he 
would be a hero of art, even if he were not one 
of its moat brilliant manifestations I Thus does 
he present himself before us after two years of 
silence, at the moment when we could have be- 
lieved him to be in some German country, ex- 
citing that ardent sympathy of which the land of 
Schubert and Weber has been so prodigal to- 
wards him. He had, no doubt, prepared himself 
for a conflict^ and here we see him find only a 
triumph." The whole of the article, which ia 
very long, is evenly enthusiastic in its tenor; 
when we consider that a sacred composition by 
Berlioz, who had long since bid the church good- 
bjc was thus written about by an uncompro- 



traiton everywhere; he calla together his oouncil every day. 
... In a word, he gives us trouble enough — Kidicnlous 
tyrant ! . . . . But go on, go your rounds. 

And the patrol continues ita march, further and 
further off, until it ia lost in a distant pianissimo. 
The theme of this march, treated in the fugued 
style, is of an original and gothic cut, and gives 
rise to charming melodic details. The instru- 
mentation is sober and of rare elegance. The 
crescsnJo'and decreseendo from piano to forte^ and 
from forte to piano^ indicate the approaching and 
retiring of the patrol. But it ia always a night- 
march, and we can say that the brilliancy of this 
forte is not that of midday, of bright sunshine, 
but the brilliancy of links and torches. 

** One word more. Polydorus, in his recitative, 
tells us the name of the Roman pnetor. 

**M. Berlioz has read his Augustin and his 
Am6d4e Thierry. He must have seen in the lat- 
ter's '* History of Gaul under the Roman Domin- 
ion," that the first pretor to whom Augustus con- 
fided the administration of the province of Egypt 
was really Cornelius Gallus, a native of Frejus. It 
was this same Gallus who governed Egypt when 
the Holy Family took refuge there, and, according 
to tradition, sought an asylum in Hermopolis Mag- 
na. All this, if we stick to the musical side of the 
question, has nothing to do with the m.itter, beyond 
idl doubt, but it proves, at least, with what relig- 
ious care M. Btriioz has conceived and thought 
ont his work." 

This is, no doubt, very ingenious in M. d'Or- 
tigue, only one does not quite see what the prse- 
tor of Egypt has to do with one of Herod's sol- 
diers in Jeruaalem ; but Berlioz's ** religious care " 
may be safely taken for granted. 

I have dwelt especially upon this night-march 
because it is the number in the trilogy about 
which most interest will be felt at present It 
were even out of place here to say much about 
the oratorio as a whole. I believe, indeed, that 

■ 

1 BerlioB wai the reguUr eritio on the Journal dee Debate. 



it has not yet been given in America, and there 
are certainly no symptoms of its being soon given 
in Boston. One or two points, however, are in- 
teresting to note. Herod's air, in the first part, 
ia an admirable example of what effective uae can 
be made of an old church- mode in modem music, 
when a man of genius takes it in hand. Tlie to- 
nality of this air ia based upon the following bcalt^ : 
47, a-flat, fr-flat, c, </, e-flat, /-natural, g^ which is 
essentially the Phrygian mode. The effect ia 
singularly terrible and appalling. 

In the third part of the work Berlioz has vent- 
ured uppn a curious,' but thoroughly happy, inno- 
vation in this form of composition. He has in- 
troduced what is to all intents and purposes a 
piece of chamber music, in the shape of a trio, in 
three well-defined movements, for a harp and two 
flutes. After the Holy Family have been re- 
ceived at the house of a charitable citizen of Sais, 
and provided with reiireahment after their journey, 
the master of the house calls out : 

^ Take your inetrumenta, my diildren, and let all tnmble 
vaniah before the flute in eoneert with the Theban harp." 

It is a family concert in honor of the Christ- 
child. This trio is a little gem in its way, and de- 
serves a place in the repertory of our best cham- 
ber concerts. W. F. A. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Handrl and Haydn Socfett. — .The first 
concert of the sixty-fiflh season of our old Ora- 
torio Society, on Sunday evening, November 28, 
was a notable event. There have been greater in 
its history, but this one was unique, exceptional. 
For the first' time an eminent composer from 
abroad appeared here to conduct in person a 
performance of two of his own more important 
works. The curiosity, of course, was great to 
see th'e clever and most popular English musi- 
cian, who«e name, through his songs, and still 
more through his ** Pinafore" and other light 
operatic muiiic, has become a household word 
among us. A very large audience was a fore- 
gone conclusion when the Society could present 
Dr. Arthur Sullivan in person. Nut quite so 
great a crowd, however, as on certain annual 
occasions ; for, besides the musical public proper, 
there is a large class in and about Bostbn who 
arc just musical enough to care to hear The Mes- 
siah and Elijah^ and but little else; these two 
sacred festivals they are bound always to attend 
relij^iouitly. 

The programme was well selected for this pe- 
culiar occasion. The first part, which was under 
Mr. Zerrahn's direction, openeil with Beethoven's 
superb Hallelujah chorus, which concludes his 
Christ on the Mount of Olives with a blaze of 
glory. It is laid out, as it were, in long lines, 
which suggest infinitude. The chorus singing 
was exceedingly impressive; and the orchestra 
of sixty instruments rendered excellent support 
in tliis as in all the numbers of the programme. 
Then followed the second part, ''The Fligfa% 
into Egypt," from Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ, 
This exquisite selection was but indiflerently well 
performed a year ago ; it needed this repetition 
under better auspices to make its beauty felt. 
It has rare delicacy, and a poetic, naive, pas- 
toral feeling. The Overture, which represents 
the assembling of the shepherds at Bethlehem, 
impressed us as leaa artificial than before. It is 
simply quaint and rustic in its mingling of reed 
instruments, the Como Inglese always predomi- 
nating, and in its vague and musing melody. 
The chorus ** Farewell of the Shepherds " ia 
very lovely and full of tenderness. But the tenor 
solo, representing the Repose of the Holy Fam- 
ily, was this time sung so exqnbitely by Mr. Wm. 
J. Winch that there was no resisting the call for 
a repetition, and by most of the audience it will 
be remembered as the purest gem of the whole 



198 



D WIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1008, 



evening ; its perfectness was only marred at the 
end by the AUelxiias of the unseen angels being 
sung a little sharp. We trust that we shall 
some day have a chance to hear all three parts 
of this very beautiful and original creation of 
Berlioz. 

Part Two began with Mr. Sullivan's In Me- 
moriam Overture, composed some years ago in 
honor of his father. His reception was most 
hearcy, and he had long to stand bowing acknowl- 
edgment to the unflagging applause. This short 
glimpse of his intelligent and jzenial face was all 
that was vouchsafed that night, for at once he 
turned to the orchestra and entered quietly and 
earnestly into the business of conducting. His 
manner is firm, precise, and without any flourish; 
but he is plainly master of the situation, and 
holds all his forces well in hand. In the re- 
hearsals he had manifestly a rare faculty of mak- 
ing all go rights quietly insisting on the carrying 
out of his ideas. The Overture is a musicianly 
work, vigorous in themes, logical in development, 
clear and consistent in form, richly and skill- 
fully instrumented, and worked up to a powerful 
climax when the organ comes in at the end. 

The Prodigal Snn, composed for the Festival 
at Worcester, England, in 1869, is really an early 
work. The Parable affords an excellent subject 
for musical treatment; but the shortness of the 
narrative required filling out with texts for cho- 
ruses and solos which enforce the moral of the 
story. As a whole this short Oratorio impresses 
no one as a grecU work, but it was found exceed- 
ingly enjoyable. It is the work throughout of 
an accomplished musician, showing a sure and 
easy mastery of all the means at hand. It is 
clear and classical in form ; melodious, rich, and 
sometimes ingenious in harmony ; not over-ambi- 
tious in counterpoint, but quite at home iA that ; 
and remarkably brilliant and effective in its in* 
strumentation. Fine as some of its choruses and 
arias are, it is the orchestral accompaniment that 
gives them a gleam of originality, and saves the 
thoroughly respectable good work from a certain 
level of commonplace. The Mendelssohnian in- 
Huence is unmistakable in it. Naturally enough, 
for Sullivan was then a young man, he had held 
the first Mendelssohn scholarship at Leipzig, 
where Mendelssohn was still the ruling spirit; 
and it would have required a courage amounting 
almost to bravado for him to make his ddbut as 
composer in any mai'ked departure from the con- 
ventional style of one so idolized in England. A 
great deal of tact is shown in the whole treat- 
ment of the text. In the tenor solo and chorus, 
** Let us eat and drink,'* a minor mood pervades 
its reckless, i^estless character ; and the monoto- 
nous rhythmic figure of the violas, etc., which is 
ceaselessly reiterated, is. very suggestive of a for- 
aging excursion by night. The chorus and or- 
chestral work was on the whole remarkably well 
done, although there were some instances of fall- 
ing out of tune ; especially in the repetition of 
the beautiful chorus with organ accompaniment, 
which went so well the first time, llie solos, 
with the exception of the tenor, Winch, were less 
fortunate. Miss Edith Abell has an interesting 
voice and sang well, but the soprano part was 
hardly in her best range. Miss Mary Bryant 
has a rich contralto, and sings cot^scientiously, 
showing refinement and intelligence, and an ar- 
tistic feeling which deserves to be encouraged ; 
but nervous timidity sadly interfered with the 
success of her performance. Nor did Mr. J. F. 
Winch, in the bass solos, sing quite as well as 
he was wont to do a short time since. The organ 
accompaniment, by Mr. Lang, was always timely, 
tasteful, and efi*ective. 

The great assembly left the hall with a new 
admiration, and of a deeper kind, for Arthur Sul- 
livan. 



Mr. Edward B. Perry. — A ti*uly musical 
and delightlul occasion was the Piano-forte Re- 
cital given by this gentleman on Wednesday even- 
ing, November 2G, at the rooms of Messrs. Chick- 
ering & Sons. The spacious ware-room on the 
second floor, which proves to be an excellent 
room for sound, was well filled with a large and 
appreciative audience. It surely was no mean 
victory of mind and genius over physical infirm- 
ity when such a programme as tlie following 
could be executed, all from memory, and not only 
with fine technical precision and elegance of style 
but also with poetic fire and sensibility, by a young 
man wholly blind : — 

1. a. Aufschwung, Op. 12, No. 2, 

b. Wnnini ? Op. 12, No.- 8, 

c. Traunieswirren, Op. 12, No. 7, ^ . . SckumafM. 

d. Nacbtstueck, from Op. 23, 

e. Novellette, Op. 21, No. 4, 

2. Aria, ♦* Pun dicestt " Lotti. 

Mn. £. H. Alleii. 

3. Sonata in B-flat miuor. Op. 35 . . . . Chopin. 

Grave — Doppio movimeiito — Scherzo — 
Marcia Fuuebro — Presto. 

4. Song, *( Spring Flowers " Reinecke. 

Mrs. E. H. Allen. 
6. a. La Gondola. Op. 13, Nu. 2 . . . . HemeU. 

b. Intermezzo, fruni >* (Jaruival of Milaa " 

Vun B&loio. 

c. Why? £. B. Perrtf. 

d. La Gazelle. Piece Caracteriatique . KuUtik, 
6. a. »• LuUaby " WiUon. 

b, " A Farewell " , E, B. Pa-ry. 

c. «»*Four leaf Clover '• £, B. Perry. 

Mra. £. U. AUen. 

"i.-SZTcS^ri •••••• c»<^- 

The series of familiar little pieces by Schu- 
mann we have seldom heard more truthfully and 
feelingly interpreted. The Chopin Sonata was 
remarkably well given, specially the Scherzo 
and the wild Presto Finale ; and the Funeral 
March lost none of its old fascination. 

The programme contained Liszt's fanciful in- 
terpretation of this grand descriptive Sonata, to 
wit; — 

1. Grave. Doppio moviment. — Trials and conflicts of the 

young hen) battling for fame, and cheered by thoughts 
of his distant lady. 

2. Scherzo. — Triuiuphant return of the victorious warrior, 

and happj meeting of the lovers. 

3. Marcia Funebre. — Attendijig the bride to her earijr grave. 

A hero's sorrow. 
i. Presto. — Lament of the night wind over the lonely tomb. 

The Berceuse and Ballade, too, were finely 
played. The Pilce ccuracteristique, by Kullak, 
was of a superficial, showy character, quite out 
of place in such fine company. Mr. Perry's own 
little compositions were agreeable and clever. 
Mrs. £. Humphrey Allen's singing was highly 
satisfactory, especially in the two songs in which 
she had the fine violin obligate accompaniment of 
her husband. 



Philharmonic Orchestba. — We were 
obliged to lose the third concert (Dec. 2) of 
Mr. Listemann's finely trained little orchestra, of 
which we gave the programme in our last. The 
fourtb concert occurred last evening, with the as- 
sistance of Miss Sara Barton, soprano (her first 
appearance in America afler an absence of seven 
years), of Ole Bull (his first appearance this sea^ 
son), and of Mr. Charles R. Morse, the musical 
director at Wellesley College, as. organist. The 
programme included : — 

1. Symphonic, No.- 1, for Organ and Orchestra. 

AUx, Ovilmant, 
(First Movement. New.) 
Mr. Charies H. Morse and Orchestra. 

2. Andante Soave ('« Gretchen " ), from Faust- 

Symphonie, Ustt. 

(Hrat Uma in Boston.) 

3. Grand Aria (U Profeta), *< L*ingrato m' abban- 

dona" Meytrbttr. 

Miss Sara Barton. 

4. Fantasia Uongroise . . . . . . Ridley-Kvhnt. 

Ola BuU. 



5. " Le Kouet d'Omphala,** Symphoniqna Poem. 

Baini'Snint, 
(By special request.) 

6. Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Nos. 7 and 8. AnUm Dvorak. 

(New.) 

7. The Lost Chord SMiUvan. 

(Piano and Organ.) 
Miss Sara Barton. 

8. Visions * • • 

Composed and performed by 01^ BuU. 

9. A Musical Joke, (or Strings and llonis, . MotnrL 
10. L' Invitation a U Yalse ... C. M. v. Wtber. 

(Adapted for Orchestra by Beriioas.) 

We have to reserve comment for another num- 
ber. So, also, of Mme. Cappiani's concert which 
occurred on Wednesday evening. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Nkw York, November 24 — Last season we had three 
sets of orchestral concerts in full lilast, but this year we are 
to have but two, namely. Dr. Damrosch^s symphony con- 
certs, and those given by the New York PhUharmouic So- 
ciety. Dr. Damrosch's first concert took place on Saturday 
evening, November 8, with tlia following orefaestnl niiui- 
bers: — 

Se\-enth Symphony Beethoven. 

'« Walpurgisfiacht '* (from <« Spring" Sym- 
phony) . . • • . . . . Raf. 

" Eine Faust Ouver^ure " Wayntr. 

Symphonic Poem, *« FestUaeuge " Litet. 

The house was very full, the andienoe enthnsiasUe, and 
the performance, in the main, admirable. Miss Draadil 
was the only soloist and contributed greatly to the evening*s 
eiijo} ment by her rendering of two selections, each with or- 
cliestral accompaniment. 

Your readers are of ooorse aware, by this time, that Mr. 
Thomas will direct the concerts of the Brooklyn Philharmouie 
Society, as well as those on this side of the river. To suit 
Mr. Thomas's cbiivenietice, the Brooklyn entertainments 
will be given on the Tuesdays which precede the Saturdays 
appropriated by the New York society. In this way Mr. 
Thomas contrives to accomplish the somewhat difficult feat of 
hviog in one city and superintending important musical 
interests in another, some five hundred mil«« distant. The 
Cincinnati pieople have little cause to compbiu of this ar- 
rangement, for they do not dislike the idea of our being com- 
pelled (?) to go to them for a leader.. The New York pub- 
lic, blinded by an infatuated belief that no one but Thomas 
knows anything about an orchestra and its uses, merely con- 
tenU itself with the fitct that it has securad iU weU-belovad 
Theodore. But the Brooklynites ! ah, there 's the rub; they 
may either congratulate themselves that thay have the Jirtt 
of everything, for it is generally believed that the pro- 
grammes of th^ conceits will be literally repeated in our 
city ; or, they may reflect that the Ohio leader is merely 
practicing upon them, using their concerts for rehearsals, in 
fact; at any rate, thay can pay their money even if they do 
not take their choice. From all that can be learned they ars 
inclined to grumble at the whole business and are seriously 
discontented with the substitution of Tuesday for Saturday 
evenings, as well as with the present plan of having but una 
rehearsal for each concerL Thu last infliction was severe 
upon the younger portion of the community, for the Brook- 
1 n Academy h»d beeoma a charming rendesvous and tiysU 
ing place on Philharmouie aitenioons. However, those 
things are of the past, and it must be reeoUeeted that (^n- 
ciunati plays " first fiddle *' now. 

The first concert of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society 
occurred on Tuesday evening, November 18, with the follow- 
ing programme: — 

Overture, "King Lear** Berliot. 

Piano-forte Concerto (B-flat minor) . . T§chaiko»^. 

Mr. Rummel. 

Siegmond's Love-Song Wagner, 

SIg. (}ampanini. 

Ritt der Walkuerso Wagner. 

Si^ried's death (Gotterdammemng) . . . Wngntr. 
Fifth Symphony, Op. 87 Beethoven, 

It is scarcely necessary to. descant at length upon the dif- 
ferent numbers, for they are all, with one exception, so wd'. 
known. The concerto is a noble woA^ superb in Instrumen- 
tation, grandly ocmoeivad, and fiuilty only in being, so very 
iifRise. Mr. Kummel played the piano part veiy finely 
(from memory), and really seems to have improved since last 
winter. His manner is more quiet and self-contained, and 
be appears more like an arUst and less like a school boy. In 
the use of the pedal he is as wofuUy defidciit as fonoeriy; 
at times he allows totally dissonant chorda to be blurred into 
each other in a distracting way. The defect could not have 
been the &ult of the instrument, for he used a fine Steinway 
Grand of eioeedingly pure tone and of admirable key and 
pedal aation. 

Campanini*s lovely voice has rarely been heard to better 
advantage than in the Wagner ** Love-Song ** which 
sounded a little incongruous in Italian. He was warmly, 
indeed enthusiastically, recaUed, and sang even batter than 
in the first uistanca. 



DSOBHBER 6, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



199 



On Saturday evening, November 22, the New York Phil 
harmonic Society's eouoert was given with nearly the same 
programme as the one just mentioned. The performance 
waa a very good one. If one missed the delicacy and finish 
which formerly characterised orchestral performances under 
Mr. Thomas's baton, it must be remembered that through 
thai geuUeroan't own efforts we have grown to be very crit- 
ical and to expect a very great deal from him. 

llie Oratorio Society will give Elijah on Saturday even- 
ing, November 29. The soloiste will be Mrs. Swift, Mrs. 
Sherwin, Miss Draadil, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Whitney. 
llie programme for the third concert is yet unannounced ; 
bnt at the seeoiid we axe promised the J/essiriA, and at tlie 
fourth and last (to be given in St. (ieuige's church), Uach's 
Paukm Mude. 

Joseffy returns to this city next month, and will inau};urate 
a leeoud series of concerts on December 15. Akucs. 



Baltimorb, Dec. 1. — Since my hst there has been lit 
tie of general interest in music here. I give below the pro- 
grammea of the hiat two of the chamber concerts which are 
given every Saturday evening at the bistruction hall of the 
Peabody Conservatory; they wiil serve as an example of 
what the institution is accomplishing in this (in Baltimore) 
much n^lected but all important department of the art: — 

Saturday, Nor. 22. — String quartet,£-flat migor, No. 1, 
for two violina, viola, and violoncello. Composed 1795, L. 
Cherubini; BImstb. Kincke, Allen, Schaefer, and Jungnickel. 
Cavatina, from the opera " The Water- Carrier," Mr. Wm. 
Linooln, student of the Conservatory, second j-ear. Scene 
and Cavatina, from the opera "Attik,** G. Verdi; Miss 
Helen Wintemits, student of the Conservatory, second year. 
I'iano quartet, E-flat major, work 16, for piano, violin, viola, 
and violoncello, L. van Beethoven ; Miss Helen Todhunter, 
student of the Conservatory, fifth year, Messrs. Fincke, 
Schaefer, and JungnickeL 

Saturday, Nov. 29 : — 
W. A. Mozart: 

(a) String quartet, E-flat, No. 14. 

Messrs. Allen, Fincke, SchaeAr, and Jungnickel. 

(6) Countess's Air from Figaro. 
Miss Marie Becker, ex-atudent of the Conservatory. 
Franx Lachner: 

Fiano Quintet, A minor. No. 2. Work 145. 
For piano, two violina, viola, and violoncello. 

Mr Ross Jungnickel, student of the Conservatory, fourth 
year, Messrs. Allen, Mncke, Schaefer, and Jungnickel. 

Bir. Hamerik is engaged in correcting the pnxtf of his 
fifth Norse Suite (dedicated to Gade), and is also at work 
completing the sixth of these characteristic compositions. 

The " Germania Maennerehor," one of the leading Ger- 
man nnging societies of our city, produced Mendelaeohn's 
AUutiia bst week, with large chorus and orchestra. Owing 
to other engagements your correspondent was prevented from 
attending. C. F. 



CiiiCAOO, Nov. 27. — This eariy hour of Thanksgiving; 
morning I devote to writing my little record to the Joukm au 
As the mind reflects upon the progress the West has made 
in the musical art during the past ten years, there can but 

eome over every honest soul a feeling of thankfubieas 

But I return to the immediate musical matters. 

Flrat, I transmit a programme of the hst concert given by 
Hcrr Joaeffy, when, with the aid of a small orchestra, he 
played the folbwing vrorks: — 

Concerto (£-flat) JUszt, 

Conctft^ (E-flat) . . , Beethoven. 

Hun^rian Fantasia, for Piano and Orchestra . . IJut. 

Again a very small audience greeted him, for there were 
attraciions elsewhere, at au entertainment in honor of Gen- 
eral Grant, that eouM not be resisted by a laige number of 
our ansieal people. Much has been written in regard to 
the playing of this wonderful pianist, and the critics have 
vied wiUi eich other for superlatives expressive of encomium. 
Yet it seems to me that the cooler heids have endeavored 
not to press thor commendations beyond all bounds of rea- 
son. The classification of an artist's talents has often been 
made the groundwork of unhealthy comparisons, which aa- 
some the impossibility <^ there being a diflbrence in great- 
ness. That ia, vre find that one artist of renown is made to 
give way to another, and the btft idol holds the highest pkce 
fai this general estimation of abilities. Yet in the compari- 
son there may be no logical ground whatever; for the accom- 
plishments of each may be so diflferent as to admit of no re- 
lation one with the other. It seems to me that as reflective 
eomparison does not change in any way the real attainments 
made by persons, it only produces a false opinion detri- 
mental to a healthy progress in art. We hear Josefl^'s tal- 
ent spoken of in tenns imfrfyuig that a greater than Ruben- 
ttein, or a Yon Biibw is with us; and these representative 
mnsicians of the age are made to take the fewer places. This 
la a frdse estimate of the accomplishments of each ; for, as 
there are varieties in the vast sphere of the beautiful, so are 
there diflbreiices manifested in the talent of its representativea. 
Critics would do better to uphold the good for its worth, and 
condemn the false ibr its hideonsness, rather than indulge in 
diseourteous personalities. With the man as an individual 
the critic has nothing to do, for he stands or fklls by his own 
degree of worth. -There is room on the mountain of exoel- 
leMe for many more great lights, and if each difl^ in abil- 
ity the bow oC promise will contain the more beauty. 



The (jermania Society, under the direction of HansBalat- 
ka, gave its opening concert in Brand's Hall. The society 
has a male chorus of forty-five persons, which is supplemented 
by ladies' voices when it is necessary, for the performance of 
iniporUnt works. They sang Hillers " Easter Morning," 
(soprano solo by Miss Helene Balatka) and the finale of the 
first act of JUenzi^ besides smaller pieces. Miss Mahla 
played Liszt's Second Khapsodie very successfully, and Mr. 
Suhultz added the tenor Uomanza from Afdn to tiie pro- 
gramme. The whole concert reflected honor upon the con- 
ductor. 

At Reed's Temple of Music the following programme was 
offered at the kst Chamber Concert given there: — 

1. C^artet, Op. 16 Beethoven. 

2. Valse Caprice Wiemawdd. 

Wm. Leviris. 

3. Adagio Expressive, froni String Quintet, Op. 

34 Ondow. 

4. Song, '' The Sea hath its pearls '*.... Thieuen. 

Mr. £. Sdiultz. 
'Olio Obligate by Air. Balatka. 

5. Quintet, Op. 107 ^ff- 

In many respects it was the best the club has given us, 

and it afforded much pleasure to the appreciative audience. 
Mr. Lewis won a hearty recall for his solo number. 

Tuesday evening, November 18, came the Englbh Opera 
Ompany under the direction of Mr. Max Maretzek, open- 
ing in his own work entitied " Sleepy Hollow." I gave it 
my close attention, expecting to hear a new departure in oper- 
atic representation. Tlie score contains some very pretty 
music, and it is written in the Italian style. Tlie scenery is 
pretty ; and some uf the numbers found a hearty apprecia- 
tion at once. There seems to be a vrant of unity, however, 
in the construction of the work, foritia rather amusing to 
find Washington Irving's famous characters singing music of 
the Italian style. Nothing could be more out of phce than 
to make Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster, execute a pro- 
longed trill in one of his songs; but he really attempts it, 
and if the baritone who took the part had been a better 
singer I think that he would have succeeded. The orches- 
tral accompaniments contain some verv pretty eflects, and 
the whole work shows that an experienced musician has 
written it. Tlie " Spinning Song,'* for the soprano, is a 
number that will always win its way. The opera shoukl be 
given with a better company before it can have a fur oppor- 
tunity to succeed. 

The hst Chamber Concert at Hershey Hall had this pro- 
gramme: — 

1. Sonata in minor. Op. 80, No. 2 (Fiano and 

Yiolin) Buihoven, 

Messrs. Eddy and Lewis. 

2. Song: Air with variations Proch, 

Miss Fidelia Densmore. 
8. Grand Trio in E, Op. 83 (Piano, Violin, and 

Violoncello) BummeL 

Messrs. Eddy, Lewis, and Eichbeim. 
Tli^ waa an appredative audience and the playing was en- 
joyable. 

A comical circular is going the rounds of the press, an- 
nouncing the formation of a " Society for the Suppression of 
Music.'* When one realizes the magnitude of the under- 
taking he may almost smile at the boldness of honuui en- 
deavor. Yet when we consider that occupation is 'necessary 
to supply energy with the incentive of growth, we become 
oonsdous that here is a work vast enough to tax human 
powers even to the end of time. I am rejoiced that this so- 
ciety can look out upon a boundless field of labor, and even 
extend their work into the world of the immortal, where the 
happy choir is said to be chanting everlasting pralaea. 
There is nothing like having plenty to do. 0. H. B. 



a. BluuienstuecJc, Op. 19. 
6. "WhyVfrom Op. 13, 
" Whims," from Op. 12. 



Schmaanu. 



c. 

a. Impromptu in A flat, Op. 29, i 

b. Fantasie-Iuipromptu, in C-siiurp > . . . . Chojjnt. 

miitur Op, 66, ) 

Second Hungarian Rhapsody^ with Riv^ Cadenza . /.inz/. 
The Arion Club is to give Hoffmai.n's *' Ciudendla," 
December 4th, with Sitta fur tiie principal soloist. 

J. C. F. 

— ♦ 

MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE. 

Thr first Symphony Concert (15th season) of the Har- 
vard Musical x\8Sociation takes pbce next Thursday after- 
noon, ut 3 o'cluck. We have already given the programme; 
it only remains to add that the Trio Concerto by Beethoven 
is to l>e performed by Messrs G. W. Sumner, pianoforte, 
Edouard lleimendahl, violin, and Frederick Giese, violon- 
cello, with orchestra. Carl Zenahu will conduct, with 
Bemliard Listemaun at the head of the violins. The urchea- 
tra, of 47 instruments, is constituted as follows: — 

First Violins: Bemhsrd Lutemaiui, C N. Allen, Juliua 
Akeroyd, Theodore Human, F. Listemann, Carl Meiael, 
J. C. Mullaly, Henry Suck. — Second Violins : Vincent 
Akeroyd, Carl Eichler, Julius Elchler, Richard Eltz, Henry 
Strauss, Carl Trautmaiui. — Violas: Edward Beyer, Henry 
Heindl, Aug. Schneider, E. Strasaer, Cari Weiuz — KtV 
lonceUos: Wulf Fries, Carl Behr, Alex. Heindl, Wilhelra 
Rietzel, Aug. Suck. — Double Basses : H. A. Greene, L. 
JeiHiewein, Aug. Stein, H. Steinmann. 

Flutes: Edward Heindl, F. W. Schlimper. — Ofto^f .* A. 
L. de Kibas, C^arl Faulwasser. — CltirineU : Ernest Weber, 
O. A. Whitmore. — ^rtssoons: Paul Eltz, K Rcgestoin. 

Hwns: Edwsrd Schormanu, Orl Schumann, I.^ Lip- 
poldt, A. Gumpricht. — Ti-umpeU : £. M. Bagley, B. Bow- 
son. — Trombones: G. A. Pats, A. Ki^, G. W. Stew- 
art 7*11^ : W. 0. Nichols. — Timpani : H. D. Simpson. 

— The following will be the sokwfts at the performance of 
The Messiah^ by the Handel and Haydn Society, Dec. 28: 
Miss Faimy Kellogg, Miss Emily Winant, Mr. Christian 
Fritsch, Mr. Myron W. Whitney. There will be a publie 
rehearsal on. the afternoon of Dec. 26. For the I'riemiial 
Festival, next May, Miss Emma Thursby, Mrs. Alina Os- 
good, and Miss Annie Lonise Gary are engaged ; and it ia 
said tiiat the society is n^otiating also with Mme. Et'elka 
Gerster. 

— Mme. Cappiani, the accomplished vocal teacher, com- 
menced a series of four concerts in Mechanics' Hall, Dec 8, 
assisted by Mra. Constance Howard, of New York, Mr. H. 
G. Hanchett, pianists, and a number of her pnpUa. The 
programme included a very wide range of vocal and instm- 
mental compositions, all sufficientiy light and pleasing. 
Among the composers represented were Uszt, Robert Frans, 
Owta, Rafl; Von Weber, Rossini, Schubert, Silaa, Handel, 
Verdi, Rubinstein, and Moeart. We hope to speak mora 
fully of the conooi in our next. For future datea see cal- 
endar. 

— Mr. Adamowski, the young Poliah violinist, has ac- 
cepted a number of engageroenta wiih the Emma Thursby 
Company, and will appear with her in this city Dec. 11, 
(presumably in the Bay State Lecture Course). — ftlisa 
Thursby will make her first appearance here since her return 
firom Europe in the Redpath Course, Dec 9. 

— The Apollo Club will give its first pair of concerts. In 
Music Hall, on the evenings of Dec. 8 and 12. 

— The first concert of the season by the Cecilia will be 
given in Music Hall on tiie evenuig of Dec. 22, when Max 
Brucirs. Odysseus will be performed, with orchestra. Mr. 
Charles R. Adams will sing the part of Odyssena. 

— We are glad to hear that the success of the proposed 
course of five symphony concerts in Sanders Theatre, 
Cambridge, under the direction of Professor Paine, is sub- 
stantially secured. The Listemann Orcbeatra, increased to 
40 instruments, will perform in all of them. The dates are 
Dec. 18, Jan. 8, Feb. 6, and 26, March IP. Among tiie 
works to be pUiyed are Beethoven's Fifth and Eighth Sj-m. 
phonies, Moaart's E-flat Symphony, (jodtz's Posthumona 
Symphony, etc., Overturea to Kmgal's Cave and Olier. a. 
Mid works by Bach, Schumann, Wagner, Sauit-Saens, and 
others. Suliscriptions for season tickets may be sent to C. 
W. Sever, University book store, Cambridge 

The first of a si-ries of four piano recitals, by Mr. John 

Fnatoii, iras given on Tuesday evening hut, in liangeley 
Hall, Winchester. Hie concerts were projected by a gentle- 
man of the town, entirely in the hitcrest of art, his desire 
being to present to intelligent and appreciative audiences 
works of the lietter ckss; good music, but not too far over 
the line, which is popularly supposed to divide the daaaical 
from the eigoyahle. The performance on Tuesday evening 
leavea no room for doubt that this praiseworthy design wiU 
be successfully carried out. The programme was of a high 
order, Mr. Preston's selections including, bewdes a Beetho- 
ven Sonata as the piece de resistance^ compositions of 
Chopin, Handel, Bach, and SiUs, and transcriptions by 
Litxt and Sauit-Saens. Mr. Preston is known as one of the 
moat promising of our younger generation of pianists, and 
hia pbying iras thoroughly satis&ctory and very ei^joyable 
throughout the wide range of the programme which we have 
indicated. Mr. Preston vras assisted at this concert by Blrs. 
T. M. Carter, who sang very nicely and with excellent taste 
some very well selected numbers, one or two of which were 



MiLWAUKKR, Wis., Nov. 27. — The most important 
musical event of the last two weeks was Herr Joseffy*s con- 
cert, November 17. His programme was the now familiar 
one beginning with the ** Waldstein " Sonata of Beethoven. 
His interpretation of this sonata I fonnd thoroughly satisfiio- 
tory, and his playing of the Bach fugue was perfection itself. 
His interpretations of Chopin were less satisfying, especially 
of the E major Etude, Op. 10, to which I was unable to rec- 
oncile myself. Of his technique there is nothing to be said 
but pruse; It has already been sufficiently analyzed for your 
readers, and I need add nothing. 

The Heine (Quartet gave their second recital of chamber 
music No^-ember 24, with the following programme: — 
(1.) String (Quartet, Op. 40 . . . . dn-l SchvberU 
(2.) Duo ConoerUnte for Two Violins, Op. 67 . Spohr. 

Andante and Rondo. 
(3.) Trio for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, Op. 54 . Fesca, 

Andante and Scherxo. 
(4.) Piano Quartet, Op. 3 . . • . . Mendelssohn, 

(Last movement. ) 

This is a very pleasing, though not great programme; and 
being within the reach of the players, so far as interpretation 
b concerned (their execution is fully equal to it), it was done 
very satisfactorily. Their tone impressed me better than 
heretofore. 

The first of a series of pupil recitals was given at Mill- 
wnukee Ollege, November 21, by Miss Kate A. Stark, a very 
talented pupil of Mr. John C. Fillmore, who has the musical 
departmoit there. Here b the programme: — 
Sonata hi £4lat, Op. 81, No. 8 . . . . Beethoven, reinforced by a cornet obllgato by Mr, (Jirter. The bmutU 



200 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — Ko. 1008. 



ftil Utde haU wm filled with an ioterastod aod weU plcMed 
MMUenee, tad iU remarkable aootutio properties lent an 
added brilliancy to the ICiller grand piano upon wliich Mr. 
Preston plajed. At the next oonoert of the tenet Mr. C. X. 
Allen will plaj, tad Mn. £. Humphrey- AUen will ting. — 
CourUr, Noo. 30. 

— A Uttle coneeK wat given at the Commonwealth Hotel, 
Monday evening, which wat attended by the gnettt of the 
honte and their frieudt. The large dining-room wat con- 
verted Into a concert hall, and, wiUi the aid of deoorationi 
and fiowert, tuppleniented by the ladies* elaborate toilett, 
patented an el^ant appearance. Mitt Florence Holmet, 
Mitt Lonite Gt^ and Mr. Clarence E. Uay were the 
voeslittt of the evening, and their respective eflbrts were 
warmly received. Mr. Adamowiki played tevenl violin 
■olot with the charming grace and finish which have already 
become recognised at peculiar to him. Mitt Kato Naton*t 
leadiiigt thowed her to be a yoong lady of rich endowment 
and renuu^abie promite. Mitt G^ tnd Mr. Hay, at onr 
raadert are aware, are of the quartet of the First church, 
where the matic it always a great attraction. A gentleman 
pretent expretted what wat evidently the feeling of the en- 
tire audience when he laid, " In Miss Gage are happily 
united rsce sweetness and purity of voice, with a charming 
dignity and timplictty of manner.** — Ibid. 

New Tobk. —The flrtt concert of the New York Ora- 
torio Society, Dr. L. Damroteh conductor, took pbce latt 
Saturday. EHjah wat presented, and received with great 
cnthnsiatm. 'llie tinging of Mrs. Marie Louise Swift is 
highly praised. The other sob singers were Mrt. Amy 
Sherwin (a promising young soprano), Miss Drssdil, and 
Messrs. FKtsch, Renimerta. and M. W. Whitney. 

— Of Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood's first piano recital, in 
Steinway Hall, on Tuesday of kst week, the new Muncal 
Eetpieia mjt: ** The programme was full of interest. The 
two important selections were Bach's Grand Fantaua atid 
Fwjme^ G minor, for organ (arranged for piano-forte by 
Lbst), witli which the recital opened, and Beethoven't hwt 
piaiio-eoiiata, C minor. Op. Ill, in two moveroentt, which 
followed the Bach tdeetion. The rett of the programme 
eontitted of one-moveuieiit sdeetions from Cho|Mn, Schu- 
mann, Lint, and that ttlented composer, Morits Moeikow- 
aki. Mr. Sherwood added to hit correctness of delineatton 
of Uaeh a modem coloring, which it regarded by tome at in 
bad taeto. In the Beetlioven Sonata the player was most 
successful in the deariy melodic second movement: ArUUti^ 
Adnffio moUo sempliee e cauttiUle. In playing Chopin Mr. 
Sherwood is entirely at home. His Uffttto twich fits him 
for a perfect reproduction of his refined, intellectual concep- 
tkm of that delieate, poetic writer. Tl>e Noctm-ne^ F-eluup, 
Op. 15, and the Grande PohmtUe^ A-flat, Op. 58, were the 
Chopfai selections on this occasion ; Schumann's £nde vom 
Lied and a Novelette, but especially his beautiful Warum t 
reeeived fell justice at Mr. Sherwood*s hands. Mosskowski 
was r epr ese nted by a Moment Mudenl^ not so beautiful as 
one of Schubert**, but charming because of its improvisation- 
like character, 'ilie recital clMcd with lJsxt*s Waldetrtnu- 
chen sad Mephido Waltz^ which, although admirably phiyed, 
were uninteresting to the hearers.** 

The second redtal (according to the Tribune) was better 
attended than the first, and seemed to arouse a greater de- 
gree of popular interest. Ai on Tuesday, tlie programme 
was an eshanstiug one, and it was rendered most consd* 
entwusly. It opened with the great Chromatic Fantasia 
and Fugue arranged from J. S. Bach by Usct. This was 
a scholarty and cueful piece of work, although not especially 
attractive. Mr. Sherwood's playing in the Beethoven 
Sonata for piano and violin, Op. 12, No. 8, In E-flat, was 
much more interesting and sympathetic, and more full of 
life and vigor. Hie test pieces of the ooncert were seven of 
Chopin*s &udes. In these Mr. Sherwood was very unei^en,. 
yet at times very good. The Etude in C-sharp minor (Op. 
85, No. 7) wu charmingly done; so, too, was the one in £- 
flat major (Op. 10, No. 11), and also that in D-flat latQor 
(Op. 85, No. 8). On the other hand, his rendering of the 
Etude 8ur let tmiehet noire* was flippant and trivud, and 
in the C minor Etude. (Op. 10, No 12) his execution, thou;;h 
brilliant, was uncertain. Mr. Slierwood had the assistance 
of Mme. Constance Howard, who played in an Impromptu 
by Rrineeke, and showed a marked improvement since her 
di^bot hwt year, and of Brandt, the violinist, who plajed his 
part of the Beethoven Sonata charmingly, sod gave an ex- 
cellent performance of several Bach numbers for violin. 

— The Opera season keeps on. The TVJ^ne teUs us: 
MDe. Marimon, whom Mr. Mapleaon offers as a substitute 
for Mme. Gerster, was a piisstnyr on the City of Richmond, 
which was towed into Hallfiuc yestenlay with a broken shaft 
The lady*s first appearance at the Academy of Musk: will 
therefore be postponed a few days beyond the time the 
manager had probably set for it, and we must content onr- 
selves with the pUin fere to which we have become accus- 
tomed. Afda is so wdl done that almost any opera house 
might be proud of the representotion. FoMtt^ Martha^ and 
ZAnd'if are also creditably given; and In the Sunday per. 
formaiices of the Stabnt J^ater there is doubtless coi^er- 
able profit. The subscribers have reason to congratulate 
themsdves that in tliis season of dearth the voice and spirits 
of Caropanini and Galassi never fell, and the taste and tact 
of Arditi are never at feult.** 

And later (Nov. 27): ** During the performance of Car- 
pen bat night, at the Academy of Musie, there was a 



curious illustration of what one good artist can do for an 
operatic representation. The first a^ was iuexpraatibly 
dull. Carman was lifUess, Don Jose was flat, the chorus 
was out of tune, Miehaeli felt the general blight, notbiiij? 
moved iMiskly on the stage, the audience grew more and 
mon depressed. The second act opened in the tame way. 
But tuddenly when Dd Puente came upon the teene the 
whole company braced itself up. Whife he remained all 
went well. The various personages of the story, who had 
labored through their parts thus for in a perftmctnry manner, 
began to act snd sing, and the concerted number, which in- 
diules the Toreador soiv(, was heartily encored. Alas! 
when EscamiUo departed the lighU went out again." 

— The concerto of the Stateti Island Philhannonk: Society 
this season will occur on Dec. 19, Jan. 2*1, Fell. 27, and 
April 2. The New York FhUharroonic Club will pky as 
fest year. It is pleasant to heak* that the sale of seate has 
been large, the subscription amounting to over $830 in six 
daya, for tiie society has done excellent woric in past seasons, 
and promises to do even better this year. At the first con- 
cert Miss Henne and Mr. Richard Hoffhum will probably 

— The New York Yocal Union b^gan iU season last weric, 
at Chiekering Hall, with Schubert's » Miriam's Sung of 
TViumph '* (in which the soprano solo was ehamilngly done, 
they say, by Miss Beebe), and the usual assortment of part- 
songs and qoartete. 

— The Metropolitan oonoert company, limited capital 
$50,000, have htpm the construction of a concert hall and 
garden on the south skle of Forty-fint Street, New York, 
the lot running from Broadway to Seventh Avenue. Ru- 
dolph Aronson is to conduct the orchestra, and the building 
is to contaui all manner of modem improvements, and be 
constructed with a sliding Iron roof so that it may be re- 
moved at pleasuro. 

— Mr. P. S. Gilmore makes no claim to iriiatever credit 
may be due to the originator of the national song ** Colum- 
bia,*' which he promises to give to tlie pulilic soon, sayuig 
that it b ** an angelic inspiration '* which came to him in a 
dream. Do Gilimire's augeU secure copyright*/ 

— The liondon conespondent of The Musical Review of 
thb city aimouncet that Mme. Essipoff will sail in Deoember 
to join the Strakoech concert company, of which Mlas 
Thursby. is the vocalist. 

— At the concert of the Philharmonic Qub, at Chieker- 
ing HaU, last Tuesday evening, the programme was as for 
lows: Quartet. Op. 41, No. 1, Schumann; Senate for piano 
and violin, Op. 78, Raff; Mr. Kranx Rummel, and Mr. Rich- 
ard Arnold; The Trumpeter of SaekHngen, Briickler, Mr. 
FVaiis Remmertx; Quintet, Op. SO, Goldmark, Mr. Frana 
Rummel, and strfasg quartet. 



Thb Albany Musical Association, Mr. John G. Fkrkhurst 
conductor, wiU perform Mendelssohn's 8t, Paul on Tuesday 
evening, Dec 9, with a chorus of one hundred and fifty 
roices, and the Gcrmania Orehestra torn Boston, with E. 
Listemann as leader. The sobiste will be Miss Fanny Kd. 
fogg. Miss Isabdie Pabuer Fassett (of Albany), Mr W. H. 
Fessenden, and Mr. Myron W. Whitney. A miscdhuieoos 
oonoert, by the same artists, and Mr. Howard M. Dow of 
Boston, as accompanist, will take pfaMc on the foUowing even- 
ing. 



Philadelphia. — Mr. Chariea H. Jarvis, the 
has commenced a series of six concerts in the lecture room of 
the Academy of Arte. The scheme indudes sdectkms from 
Bach, Chopin, Baigfel, Gade, Haydn, Handd, Raff; Schu- 
mann, Mendelssohn, IJsst, Rubinstein, Weber, Beethoven, 
Moaart, and other eompceera. His flnt programme (Nov. 
ia)was: — 

Quintet b E-ilat MotaH. 

Piano, Oboe, Chrinet, Bassoon, and Horn. 
Messrs. Jarvis, Hdfrich, Schndder, MueUcr, and Pbigemann. 

"Bfondd'slied" R. SchMmann. 

Mr. £. Gastd. 
Piano Solos, lUrty minutes with Thalberg snd lisit. 

Mr. C. H. Jarvis. 
(a) " Trock*ne Bhuien " i « r^^^a^^ 

(b)"Mdn*' } F.8dt^a>ert 

Mr. £. Gastd. 

Grand Septuor 7. iV*. ^iimme^ 

For Piano, Oboe, Flute, Horn, YioUs YiolonceUo, and 

Contrabasso. 
Messrs. Jarvis, Koch, Hdfrich, Pbgemann, Graner, Sohmitx, 

and Albfe^L 



CiNCiNRATL — Tlie dlrecton of the College of Music 
have published a dicnbur calling attention to the ** ordiestra 
dasses '* which have recently been opened in accordance with 
the original scheme of the institution, lliese classes, says 
the dnular, aro carefully organized with the view of teaching 
those who an studying orehestnd instruments how to play 
in concerted music. It is a part of tlie pUu of education of 
the College of Muuc to give, every season, a series of orehes- 
tra and dianiber concerts, and this is the first opportunity 
ever oflbred in this country to study in an orobcstra dass, be 
graduated, and then actually to enter the orohestra. The 
studente will be practiced In pbiying trios, quartete, and other 
chamber music for piano, string, and other instruments. 
They will also be taught to pUy the music of symphonies and 
other compodtions for ftiU orchestra. These dassei an 



under the immediate direction of Mr. Thomaa, and are open 
to both seies, it being the purpose of Mr. Thomas to aasist 
woniai to enter the oroliestra as a profession. The College 
now has a c<Mr|ie of tliirty-five teachers, recent a ccesri ons to 
the staff being 8ig Liiigi Stefianone and Mr. J. F. Ruddph- 
sen (singing), Miss Cecilia Gaul (piano), l*rofossor Chris. 
Rothemund (rioUu), and Mr. Heuiy Carter (organ theory 
and chorus-elass). 

— It is stated, on the authority of Mr. Theodora Thomas 
and the CincumaU festival chorus committee, that the chorus 
for the festival uf 1880 has advanced towards a satlsfectory 
state of completion. The organiaations represented in the 
chorus are Uie college chcnr, Orpheus, Maennerchor, Wdsh 
choral society, the Ciiidnnatl choral aodety, and the Gcrma- 
nia Maennerclior. The report of these organisatMNis makes 
a ciionis of over seven hmidred voices. WUh these there are 
some one hundred and fifty singen who do not bdong to 
any society, which makes a sum total of eight hundred and 
fifty voices. 

— Mure than a score of co mp oser s have sent In competi- 
tive scores for the Cincinnati prise of $i00o, the dtles rep- 
resented being New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Itiddeford (.Me.), 
WuKNia (Minn.), Tern Haute (Ind.), Baliimote, Clevdaiid, 
Savannah (Ga.), Elmira (N. Y.), Bdoit (Wis.), and Chicago. 
It is aaki that it is not difficult to fix the identity of the com- 
petitors, in the large cities at Isast. Mr. A. C. Gutteraou 
is the Minnesote candidate, Mr. Sterrit the representative 
from Indiana, and Cindnnati's reputation, it is said, is sus- 
tained by the musical critic of one of ita great dailies, and at 
least one other. 



FOREIGN. 

— Tlie prindpal featere of interest In continentd mudeal 
life (saySL the London Mutieal Timet for Nofvmber 1) has 
been the resumption of performances on the part of neariy 
all the leading concert inatitotiona ni France, Germany, and 
elsewhere, llius the steson of 187&-80 may be said to have 
commenced in earncat, for it is in the concertfoom rather 
than in the opera-houae where the musical aetirity of a na- 
tion finds ite most genuine apression. At I'aris, both the 
Ch&tdet Concerts, conducted by M. Cokmne, and the Coo- 
certs Poputoires, under the direction of M. Pasddoup, re- 
commeneed on the 19th ult. 'llie lastpnamed eueigetic chef- 
d'or^ettre, encouraged by the signal suocess obtained by 
the revival faMt seaeon of Berifoa's "Ia Damnation de 
Faust," intends during tiie coming winter to produce the 
same composer's mosic to <• La ifise de Ttaie," an opera 
which has as yet never been performed. M. Peadekwp abo 
promises to persist in hb performance of the ** Lohengrin " 
made, which has hitherto proved so dbtastefnl to a noby 
portion of hb andlences. BerUn now possesses three insti- 
tutions devoted to the performance of orehestral works, vis., 
the Sinfouiceapdle, the eoocarte conducted by Herr BUse, 
and the leoentiy in t roduced Popubr Concerte directed by 
Herr Julius liebig; and it remains to be seen whether the 
existing musical £ment in the Prussbn capitd b snfiteient 
to sustain the new undertaking by the side of ite two kmg- 
esteblbbed rivab. The Ld^ GewandhaiM Concerte, of 
worU wide reputation, commenced on the 9th ub. Among 
the numerous dmilar German institutions we will only in- 
stance the so-called <* Giirsenich Concerte ** of Cologne, un- 
der the direction of that veteran artist Ferdinand HiUer, 
which on the 31st ult. opened their new season. In the eonne 
of which the foUowing artists have, among others, promised 
to coopcnte: Mes^ames Cbia Schumann, Norman-N^roda, 
MM. Johannes Brahms, Joseph Joaddm, Anton Rubinatdn, 
and Charles Gounod. 



Pabu._ Concert Populaire (October 10): Scotch Sym- 
phony (Maidebsohn); Abendlied, orehestral anan^gemeni 
by Saint-Saeus (Schumann); Impromptu Hongrob (Schu 
bert); Aire de Ballet from *«Feramon" (Rubinstdn); 
Pianoforte Concerto, C minor (Beethoven); Overture, <* ¥6- 
pres SiciUennes" (Yerdi). Ch&tdet Concert (October 18): 
Symphony, C minor (Beethoven); " Sylvia," suite for or- 
ehestra (L^ Delibes); Grand Fantasia, Op. 15 (Schubert), 
arranged for pianoforte and orohestre by Lasst; Divertasse- 
ment to <• lies Erinnyes " (Massenet); Overture, *« La Mu- 
ette" (Auber). Concert Populaire (October 96): Sym- 
phony, C migor (Schumann); Fragment from <*(>phte" 
(Gluck); Serenade, executed by all the violina, violas, and 
riofonceUos of the orehcstre (Haydn); Pastoral Symphony 
(Beethoven); Spring Song (Menddssobn); and "Dense dea 
Sylphes" (F. Godefrokl), arranged for the harp; Aire from 
** Sylvb " (Uo Ddibes). Chfitelet Concert (October 96): 
Symphony, G minor (Mozart); Rhapeody for orchestn (£. 
Lalo); Pianoforte Concerto, D minor (Brahms); » Dense 
Macabre" (Saint-Saens); Serenade, Op. 8 (Beetiioven), by 
all the first vidins, vioba, and violoncelloe of the orshestra. 



LxiPsic. — Hie programme of the third Gewandhaoa 
Concert was thus constituted: Part I. — Overture to fwry- 
anthef Weber; Redtatire and Aria from £myttnthe (tnag 
by Mad. Monn-OIden, from Frankforton4he-Main); Con- 
certo for Violoncello, D. Popper (new and unpublished. 
Pbyed by tiie composer), l^art IL — Symphony In £- 
flat msjor. No. 8, Haydn; Songs, Hermann Gdts, Moaart 
(Mad. Moran-Olden) ; Tkiloncello Sobs " Triiumerei,** 
Schumann; [Gavotte, Popper, (Herr D. Popper); " Cha- 
conne" and («Rigadon," from Aline, Reine de Ooloonde, 
Monsigny. 



Dbcbmbbr 20, 1879.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



201 



BOSTON, DECEMBER 90, 18f9. 

Xntevsd at the Post Oflloe at Botton as Moond-elaai matter. 

♦ 

CONTENTS. 

Moflxo Of YiimrA. Edwsrd HttmUck 201 

Brahms^ OrataehM RaquUm. — TiM.Coiioart SaaiOB. 
— TiM Itoit 0«MUMhaftii Coown. 

O* Eoans Bemmumu'n *'Minio ui» MusiOASit." F. L. 

JSiucr 202 

Joachim BArr^i Xxohth Stmphoiit 2u8 

Am KTiMiiia AT Caopui'8. Narrated bj Frm»z Liszt . . 208 
**0»Tse»»,"BT MazBeooh 201 

TAue ox An : Swwy* 8wm. From iBStraettone of Mr. 
WUJam M. Hant to Ue Poplli. XVIII ^ 205 

Muua B Boorow 205 

Barrard Mnaleal Aaoodation Symphoaj Goncorts. — 
Mme. Loiia C^plaars Conoerti. — Flnt Katerpe Ooo> 
oort. — Fourth Coneert of PhUliannoDie Orelimtra. 

MinniAL Ooiaupoimvoi 207 

How Tofk. — Baltlmoro. — Ohleafo. 

MvnoAL ImuMiacB 206 

Att tks mnidn nt cndiud lo thmr fmbiitatiotu wtrt a^rts$lf 
wrUttm/or tkis Journal, 

FtMUkud fmrtmi^uif fty Hoooatov, Omood un Compaht, 
2i0 Dtvnskin Blntt, Biutom, Friu, 20 ttnU m mtmbor ; $2.60 

Far mlt in Sa$tan bf Gael PBinm, 30 Wtft Stntt, A. Wiu- 
lAM A Co., 983 Wm$kingta» Streat^ A. K. Loana, 3fi9 Wmak- 
imgtau AKtmC, mmd fty tha PtMiskan; m Nna Yark fty A. Bew- 
TAVO, Je., 39 Uaiam Sqmart, mmd HoiWEToa, Omoo» A Co., 
91 Attar PIom; fii PkiUvlttlpkia fry W. n. Bonn ft Co., 1102 
OUfMftf Sirat ; in OUeof o fry ikt OsiOAao Motio OoHrAKT, 
^19 Stmta Strut, 

MUSIC IN VIENNA.* 

BRAHVS'S 1>EUT8CHES REQUIEH. — THE CON- 
OBBT SEASON. — THE FIRST OESELL- 
SCHAFTS CONCERT. 

The history of art sometimes enters on 
stmoge and tortaous bj-paths. It was the 
composer of RigoUtio who conquered for 
church-music for the requiem, the entry into 
our Opera- House. Furthermore, it was he 
who made ready the way thither for our own 
Brahras ; with his Manzoni Mass he was in 
the Imperial Opera-House the forerunner of 

the DetUsehes Requiem^ the Johannes of 

Johannes. The custom of celebrating in the 
Opera-House, as elsewhere, AH Souls' Day 
by a requiem, is of very recent date. For- 
merly, Robert U Diable used to be selected, 
obyiously on account of the church-yard scene, 
which is characterized by a resurrection of 
the departed in tight fleshings. Strange to 
say, the All Souls' Day public took no offense 
at the adaptation of the church-yard to ballet 
purposes ; they felt once more surrounded by 
all the horrors of the cemetery, and moved 
by a music of the sepulchre, emitting, in a 
genial admixture of ghost-like bassoon stac- 
catos and far-sounding trombone chords, a 
genuine odor of corruption. This one scene 
from Robert was for opera-goers, on All Souls' 
Day, what the play of Miiller und sein Kind 
is for the patrons of the spoken drama. But, 
four years ago, to the amazement of every 
one, Verdi came forward with a Mass for the 
Dead, which, with the obligatory four sing- 
ers, he himself took about from one country 
to another. He did not choose the church 
or the concert-room for his purpose, but the 
theatre ; in Paris, his Requiem resounded in 
the Op4ra-Comique (!), and here in the Im- 
perial Opera-House. It was so effective, 
with its beautiful strains, so beautifully sung, 
and produced such an impression as to justify 
its repetition after the departure of Verdi 
and his singers. The management of the 

1 ThuDikUon from the Loodoo Mutieal Wurld. 



Imperial Opera-House produced it for the 
next three years on All Souls' Day, at first 
to well-inc]ine<r audiences. At last satiety 
necessarily supervened, and, with the lower- 
ing of the standard of excellence on the part 
of the singers, the general effect sank below 
its original altitude. The notion of substi- 
tuting for Verdi's work Brahms's Deutsches 
Requiem was the best and most praisewor- 
thy one conceivable. We had long de- 
sired and advocated the reproduction of the 
latter composition, which always struck us as 
the gem of Brahms's cn*ations. Twelve years 
have passed since Herbeck first ventured on 
a partial performance of it in the large Re- 
doutensHal. Its unfworable reception was 
then so little able to discournge us that we 
could very confidently prophesy a perfect re- 
vulsion of public feeling as regards the work. 
The performances of the complete score un- 
der 'Brahms's own direction (in 1871 and 
1875) realized our holies to the utmost. The 
performance, for instance, in the large room 
of the Musical Association, a performance 
raised so high by the incomparable singing of 
Mme. Wilt, is one of our most Iteautiful and 
most imperishable reminiscences. The per- 
formance in the theatre may stand as high 
musically; but the impression produced will 
never attain the reverential earnestness, the 
inward devotion, of a ^)erforroance in a con- 
cert room. There is always a peculiar 
worldly S(»mething which diverts our attention 
in the auditonum of an opera-house with its 
boxes and theatrical accessories. For such 
performances, the concert-room is the me- 
dium — in our opinion the happy medium — 
between the theatre and the church. It is 
true that the latter enhances the gloomy so- 
lemnity of a requiem; the result, however, is 
not quite pure, but material ; our attention is 
distracted by the solemnity of the sacred edi- 
fice from the pure work of art, an<I religious 
dwotion glides unobserved into the place of 
aesthetic feeling. At performances of compo- 
sitions like Brahms's Requiem^ which, serving 
an invisible church, ignores all differences of 
creed, we do not wigh to be ecclesiastically 
influenced, but to admire in a purely human 
way and receive into ourselves forever those 
means of grace which belong exclusively to 
beauty. At the Imperial Opera-House, the 
Deutsches Requiem found most powerful sup- 
port, first in the admirable orchestra, then in 
the excellent chorus, considerably strength- 
ened by the Vocal Association of the Society 
of the Friends of Music, and lastly and prin- 
cipally in the inspiriting direction of the com- 
poser himself, to whom, as a matter of course, 
all the usual marks of honor were paid. The 
impression made by the 'grandiose composi- 
tion, which is, at the same t'me so clear and 
kept within such just proportions, was pro- 
found and powerful. One thing ought to be 
duly appreciated as a satisfactory sign of a 
serious love of music in Vienna ; and that is 
the fact that Brahms's Deutsches Requiem was 
able to attract and fascinate an audience on 
two successive nights. 

The day before yesterday (Sunday), at 
noon, the annual grand host of pilgrims flocked 
for the first time this year towards the rooms 
of the Musical Union, where the Society's 
Concerts were about to begin. Before enter- 
ing the room, let us examine a little the nu- 



merous concert advertisements on the notice- 
boards. Concerning the a<lmirable quality of 
all the musical treats in store for us, we do 
not venture to doubt, but, as far as regnnls 
quantity, it strikes us the season will lie one 
justifying the most fearful hopes. Let us 
contemplate the wealth in one branch only 
of concert compositions: chamber-music. 
With the rare exceptions of celebrated vis- 
iton*, such as F. Laub, Jean Becker, and Jo- 
achim, this used to be represented solely by 
Hellmesberger's well-tried Quartet Society, 
a state of things which suited us very well. 
We now find, in addition to Hellmeslwrger's 
six Quartets, three Quartet Sairies an- 
nounced by Herr Griin and colleagues : three, 
by Herr J. Winkler and colleagues ; six 
Quartet Evenings, by Herr Radnitzky and 
colleagues ; and, finally, three Subscription 
Concerts, by Herr Wallndfer, in which sing- 
ing alternates with chamber-music Five se- 
ries of similar performances simultaneously, 
that U obviously too much for Vienna, and 
will probably not prove very profitHble either 
to the concert givers or to the public. One 
Quartet Series, besides Hellmesberger, with 
admirable performers and a thoroughly well 
chosen programme, appears to us the limit of 
due competition, a limit scarcely to be over- 
stepped with any prospect of a remunerative 
result. Let us take .a sample from our con- 
cert calendar as at present constituted : First 
week in December, Tuesday, Quartet, Griin ; 
Thursday, Hellmesberger ; Friday, Wallndfer ; 
Saturtlay, Radnitzky. Second week in D« - 
cember, Mondtiy, Quartet, Winkler; Tues- 
day, Griin ; Thursday, Hellmesberger ; Sat- 
urday, Radnitzky, etc. Thus, leaving en- 
tirely out of consideration the regular grand 
Sunday concerts, we have four evenings in 
each week taken up with chMmber-music, and 
the musical critics are very anxious to know 
how the innumerable virtuoso conceits, to- 
gether with operatic novelties aii«l the per- 
formances of ^< stars," are to be distributed 
over the three evenings left free. 

The Society's Concert began with J. Seb. 
Bach's Cantata, '' Wir danken dir, Gottl" 
This work shows us the great church-com- 
poser in the charHCter, also, of a zealous, }mi- 
triotic member of the Leipsic community. It 
is one of the four ^ Ratliswahl-Cantaten," or, 
*^ Cantatas on the Election of Magistrates.*' 
which we possess from his pen, and which, as 
an old book of the words informs us, ^ was 
sung by the choro musico in the church of 
St Nicholas after the sermon on the election 
of magistrates." W^'e moderns, with our in- 
difference about municipal matters, learn 
from the book that the election of a town 
magisti'ate was consitlered a very serious and 
sacred matter, and was observed as such. 
'* Segne die, so uns regieren; die nns leiten, 
schiitzen, fiihren ; seiene, die gehorsam sind," 
thus and similarly, run the words of tlie Can- 
tata, impressively loyal words, around which 
Sebastian Bach twined the most artistic 
beauties of his crmnterpoint. We, who elect 
so many municifial dignitaries cantatalessly 
and silently, without even Herr Eduani 
Strauss composing a *^ Municipal Election 
Polka" on them, listened to Bach's music 
with a very humble and reverential spirit. 
The overture of the Cantata mu^t have 
sounded familiar to those among the nu li- 



202 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXJX. — No. 1009. 



ence who recollected a <^ Suite of BachV' 
•cored by Herr Bachrich. In connection 
with the above arrangement, performed at 
the later Philharmonic Concerts, I felt bound, 
with all respect fpr Herr Bachrich's skill, to 
enter a protest against the way in which this 
arranging of Bach's instrumental works was 
gaining more and more the upper hand, and 
I remarked that one of the pieces set by 
Herr Bachrich for a string-band 'was actually 
to be foimd in the "* Rat hswahl- Cantata,'* No. 
19, fully seored for trumpets and kettle-drums, 
with obbligcUo organ. For this I was very 
coarsely attacked in a '^ letter from a corre- 
spondent," that correspondent being some 
great Unknown, writing for the glory of Jo- 
hann Sebastian Bachrich. The overture in 
question has now answered plainly enough 
instead of me. We heanl the brilliantly fes- 
tal composition for the first time with the full 
original instrumentation, the effect of which 
was marred only by a too screechy organ stop. 
Like so many similar works of the same mas- 
ter, the Cantata contains specimens of the 
most sublime Gothic architecture side by side 
with marvelous samples of Rococo. The 
solos were sung by Mile. Anguste Krauss 
(called on after her air), J^ime. Mathilde 
Scheler, Herr Patzelt-Norini, and Dr. v. 
Raindl, with that devotional spirit and pain- 
ful effort inseparable from such forcing of the 
human voice. I cannot disguise the fact that, 
when listening to compositions in this style, I 
experience more sympathy for the singer than 
pleasure in what is sung. It strikes me as 
false and dangerous reverence, unfortunately 
only too general, always to soflen down or 
ignore the fact that Bach wrote unpleasingly, 
uncongenially, and cruelly for the voice. 
The unconditional glorification of him as a 
writer of vocal as well as instrumental music 
has had many sad consequences, from some 
of the after-effects of which we are suffering 
even at the present day. Compared with 
Bach, Beethoven, who, in the D Mass i^nd 
the Choral Symphony, was certainly not par- 
ticular as to how he treated the voice, is ab- 
solutely a Rossini. 

Three new vocal choruses : "• Im Fuscher- 
thal," by Goldmark, given by the Vocal Un- 
ion with delicate nicety of light and shade, 
met with a very favorable reception; the 
most genuine satisfaction was afforded us by 
the third (^ Abschied "), on account of its 
great feeling and gradually culminating 
effect 

M. Marsick, the Belgian virtuoso on the 
violin, proved himself worthy of the favora- 
ble reports which had preceded him from 
Paris. In a Violin Concerto composed ex- 
pressly for him by Saint-Saens, he exhibited 
a tasteful, elegant style, and, more especially, 
extraordinary scale-technics. Never did we 
hear any one, not even Sarasate, execute 
scales in such a fabulously quick tempo and 
yet with such lightness and certainty. His 
tone, like that of most bravura players, is not 
very full, but it is sweet nnd correct What 
we miss in this gentleman ^s grandeur and 
passion of interpretation, and even the ele- 
mentary fire of temperament ; everything 
flows from his bow with the same smooth- 
ness and delicacy. This was shown more es- 
pecially in his rendering of the second and 
the third movement of Mendelssohn's Violin 



Concerto ; they could scarcely have been ex- 
ecuted more neatly, but they might assuredly 
be conceived more broadly and more ener- 
getically. M. Marsick's virtuosity, for which 
in runs no allegro is quick enough, seduced 
him into hurrying the tempo of the final 
movement at the expense of a proper balance 
of effect. M. Marsick, whose (tleasing youth- 
ful appearance and quiet bearing favorably 
backed up the impression made by his play, 
was rewarded by loud applause and a re-call. 
We are not inclined to class M. Saint-Saens's 
Violin Concerto among the most important 
works of its clever composer, who has, per- 
haps, lately been too prolific. The best 
thing about it, we fancy, is its simple clear- 
ness, which renounces all eccentric refinement 
and false pathos. On the other hand, the 
work offers us little of value in the way of 
new ideas; we sometimes imagine we are 
listening to a Rode or Beriot ref*tored to 
youth. Beethoven's ^ March and Chorus " 
from The Ruim of Atheni, an oft-heard but 
always highly efiective stock piece of the Vo- 
cal Union, concluded the concert, at which 
Herr £. Kremser conducted with his accus- 
tomed care and ability. 

Eduasd Hanslick. 



ON ROBERT SCHUMANN'S "MUSIC AND 

MUSICIANS." 

BY F. L. RITTEB. 
(Condaded horn page 105.) 

It cannot be denied that, in an abstract phil- 
osophical sense, clever writers may give many 
valuable suggestions for further sesthetic investiga- 
tion ; but they must not flatter themselves that 
without the consummate understanding and 
knowledge of the material employed by the com- 
poser, they will be able to build up an lesthetico- 
musical theory, ignoring or disputing, at the same 
time, the artist's expeiusnce as laid down in his 
works. Goethe said : 

*« Wer den Dlcbler will ventehen 
MiiiB in Dichlur f Luide gehn.** 

It would lead me too fur to follow up Mr. Gur- 
nf*y's theoretical subtleties with regard to musi- 
cal criticism. It is not astoniihing that a critic, 
standing theoretically on such a one-sided, narrow 
platform, denies the composer the power of being 
able to express poetical sentiments, or poetical 
situations as suggested by outward scenes. The 
idea of " poetical conception " claimed by musi- 
cians as lying at the basis of Beethoven^s and 
other composers' works, is, therefore, to be aban- 
doned. Poetical conception, imaginable in de- 
tails, does not penetrate complex musical struct- 
ure. Such analysis as is usually attempted (for 
example the first movement of the Eroicd) may 
be a slight concrete help and of interest, but in no 
way represents any mental process in Beethoven. 
The matchless structure stands out to the musical 
sense as unalterably right and coherent, and any 
one who appreciates it knows as much, and can 
tell as little of its secret, as Beethoven himself. 
Tlie question will naturally arise : was Beetho- 
ven aware of the meaning of the word Eroica^ 
when he wrote it on the title-page of his sym- 
phony ? Did he write this title, suggesting such a 
world of sentiments and thoughts, in contradiction 
to the nature of his emotional and mental process 
when in the act of composing the work ? 

The above critic lets us infer that Beethoven 
labored under an illusion, that '' with Beethoven 
in all his works the musical impulse came first ; 
the melo<ly might or might not turn out to pre- 
sent desirable affinities, but it was first and 



foremost a melody." How could Beethoven's, 
the composer's, impulse be otherwise than musi- 
cal ? Just as the painter's, the sculptoi-'s, the archi- 
tect's, the poet's are, with regard to the first 
conception of thf ir reFi)ective art-works ! Every 
one of these artists conceives the idea, and trans- 
lates it in accordance with his special artistic ma- 
terial. All arts proceed firom the same source, 
man in his entire, real and ideal, existence being 
the universal theme, and for men's sensuous pei^ 
ception art is created. Emotion is the prime 
source ; and on the basis of emotion, sentiment, 
feeling, thought, the arts build up their difierent 
forms, each one of them serving as a vehicle for 
the different kind of sensations as perceived by 
men's confciouf-ncss. Herbert Spencer says : 
*' Sensations excite itleas and emotions ; these, in 
their turn, arouse other iileas and emotions ; and 
so continuously. That is to say, the tension ex- 
isting in particular ner\'eS, or groups of nerves, 
when they yield us certain sensations, ideas, or 
emotions, generates an e<|uivalent tension in some 
other nerve, or group of nerves, with which 
there is a connection ; xhv. flow of energy passing 
on, the one idea or feeling dies in producing the 
next." • 

1 think it would be quite a feat of intellectual 
self-denial to remain, while listening to a Beet- 
hoven symphony, in such a one-sided emotional 
torpor, as to do justice to Mr. Gumey's ** inde- 
pendent and isolated position of the emotions 
caused by music ; " and as this writer denies that 
music has ^* any relation to the mental sphere," 
he naturally comes to the conclusion, that since 
music is merely the promoter of isolated emo- 
tional pleasure, there exuts in reality very little 
diflerence between the moral effects of a Beet- 
hoven symphony, and an Italian sentimental aria ; 
for, with regard to formal construction, the aria 
may be just as perfect as the symphony. The 
difference, it is thought, lies only in the prefer- 
ence this or that person attaches to the one or 
the other style of music. If this is to be accepted 
as tlie true standard of musical criticism, what an 
absurdity and waste of paper and time it is to 
comment on tlie superiority of the assthetic 
beauties of the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schu- 
bert. Pinafore, appealing .to a larger class of 
people, is consequently to be rated higher ! It is 
therefore not a^tonifihing, while perusing Mr. Gur- 
ney's article on *'Muric and Musical Criticism," 
to see him land on a peculiarly constructed cosi- 
mopolitan platform, — but the cosmopolitan view 
of that kind of musical criticism must be pro- 
nounce<l as decidedly injurious to the growth and 
progress of a healUiy musical art development. 
Justly remarks H. Spencer in another place : 
'* That the cultivation of music has no effect on 
the mind, few will be absurd enough to contest. 
And if it has an effect, what more natural effect 
is there than this of developing our perception of 
the meanings or inflections, qualities, and modu- 
lations of the voice ; and giving us a corrcspond- 
ently increased power of using them." 

All arts having an intimate ideal connection, 
we are justified in perceiving in this particular art 
creation, some of the sesthetic quslities of that 
other. Poetry, for instance, appeals to the whole 
imaginative, ideal sense of man : it is, therefore, 
nothing arbitrary to claim for every other art a 
germ of ** poetical conception." And if we go a 
step further, dividing the arts into two natural 
catei^ories, those that are perceived by tbe eye 
— the plastic arts ; and those that are perceived 
by the ear — music and poetry, it is most as- 
suredly more arbitrary to separate music from its 
natural sister. Although that is more powerful 
in its principal realm, the representation of emo- 
tions ; thin in that of appealing to the more exaet 
sense of reflection and thought ; yet the ideal sss^ 
thetic thread that connects them, cannot be cut 
asunder without injury, if not to both, at least to 



ECBHBBB 20, 1879.] 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



208 



one — music. A composer like Beethoven is not 
led blindly by the ** melody," the mere mnsical ef- 
fect, expressing solely some vague, isolated emo- 
tions ; he is enabled to give his first conception, the 
melody, this or that decided emotional meaning. 
But being well aware of the concrete meaning of 
rhythm in all its variety and richness, as well as 
that of harmony, he is sure to reach his artistic 
purposes. He is not swayed to and fro by mere 
melodic form^ like the one-sided ^ melodic '* ama- 
teur. The complexity of the structure of his 
movement is the process of inspiration, regulated 
by an inevitable natural critical reflection. 

Empiricism in art is unable to build up com- 
plex structure, tliough Mr. Gurncy naively thinks 
that any one who has composed a melody must 
know how a composition is formed. The true 
compo-er, being well aware of his powers as a 
creator, is enabled to give, at the the very start, 
to his creation, the peculiar characteristic physi- 
ognomy of an ideal existence — to appear as an 
ideal reflection or symbol of the world as he sees 
or conceives it. The composer cannot tell how 
these ideas come, neither can the painter, nor 
poet — but he can tell very wi 11 of what nature, 
character, meaning, they are when they come. 
When Beethoven wrote on the title-page of hifl 
thinl symphony " Eroica,'* he was just as sure of 
the inner definite moaning of his work as (toethe 
wMs when he wrote on the title-page of his drama, 
^ Faust" Beethoven knew, of course, the limits 
of his art, for every art has its natural limits. 
He endeavored to portray the grandeur, the 
struggle for victory, the resignation, the despond- 
ency after defeat, of a heroic soul. But con- 
sidered in its true light, these very emotional 
characteristics, as aroused in the composer's soul, 
on the contemplatbn of his subject, were his 
own ; and thus the artist himself represents that 
hero. He did not attempt to give a biographi- 
cal sketch of a particular hero, describing his 
gait, the fiivorite colors of his clothes, the fiery 
look of his eyes, etc., as the poet could ; he sim- 
ply endeavored to impress on our souls, by means 
of the peculiar poirer of his art, the inner life of 
ft hero ; and that side of the hero's ideal existence 
calls forth our sympathy, and affects us, both 
musically and poetically. Says Schumann : 
^ That would he a small art indeed that merely 
possessed sounds but not speech, no symbol fitted 
to express the varying movements of the soul." 
It was a pertinent, deep remark of Schumann, 
when, endeavoring to speak of an important 
work by a new composer, be wished to know 
something of the composer's life, character, edu- 
cation, sensibility, etc. In music, perhaps more 
than in any of the other arts, the composer him- 
self is the theme of the inner meaning of the 
work. Speaking of a work by L. Schunke, Schu- 
mann says : ^ It contains much of himself, his na- 
tive politeness, his eccentricity, his quick brill- 
iancy." As an expression of his own subjective 
experience we may take that passage from his 
letter to H. Dom, in which he says, speaking of 
his marriage, so obstinately opposed by F. Wieck : 
'* fndeed many marks of the battles Clara has 
cost me may have penetrated the music, and 
were, no doubt, understood by you. The Con- 
certo, the Sonata, the Daoidsbund lertdnze, the 
KreUUriana, and the Noceletien were inspired 
almost entirely by her." 

Although Schumann objected to elaborate po- 
etical programmes, it was not that he deprecated 
a hint as to what the composer meant to express 
by his work : but he disapproved of it from a 
purely SBsthetic point of view ; he did not wish 
to have his imagination fettered by a circumscrib- 
ing prog^ramme ; he saw in a programme more 
than the composer was able to indicate by the 
programme. *' It is the artist's lofty mission to 
shed light on the depths of the human heart," and 



all that ** light " he was sure to receive from the 
art work itself without the help of the programme, 
so explieit in its expression was music to him. 
That Schumann was well aware of the one-sided 
critical and sBsthetical stand-point of the ** mel- 
odic" amateur, may be seen by the following 
passage : ^ Melody is the amateur's war-cry, and 
certainly music without melody is no music 
Therefore, you must understand what amateurs 
fancy the wonl means : anything easily, rhythmic- 
ally pleasing." It is quite safe to say, that a critic 
who is everlastingly harping on the supremacy of 
melody, and has no adequate understanding of 
the divers other factors that enter into a compo- 
sition of large form, is not well qualified to pene- 
trate the complexity of a Beethoven symphonic 
form, and much less to appreciate tlie composer's 
sBsthetic meaning lying beyond mere pleasing 
melo«ly. <* Shall dilettanti pooh-pooh things 
aside that have cost artists weeks, months, years 
of reflection ? " 

From many of his writings, as well as from the 
lilies and mottoes he gave his compositions, it 
may be gathered that Schumann was convinced 
of the power of music to express infinitely more 
than merely pleading tone-forms appealing to 
vague, indefinite emotions. ** Music is the most 
modem of all arts ; it commenced as the simple 
exponentof joy and sorrow (major and minor). 
The ill-educated man can scarcely believe that 
it possesses the power of expressing particular 
passions, and therefore it is difllcult for him to 
comprehend the more individual masters, such as 
Beethoven, and Schulx'rt We have learned to 
express the finer shades of feeling penetrating 
more deeply into the mysteries of harmony.". . • 
'* The cultivated musician may study a Madonna 
by Raphael, the painter a symphony by Mozart 
with equal advantage.". . . ^ The sssthetio prin- 
ciple is the same in all arts, only the material 
differs.". . . Had Shakespeare not existed, would 
Mendelssohn's Midsummer NlghCs Dream have 
seen the light — though Beethoven has written 
many indeed, but unchristened ? The following 
passage will give ample proof as to Schumann's 
belief in the composer's power to impart to his 
works poetical expression. Speaking of Berlioz's 
Symphony he says, among other things, " It seems 
as though the music sought to return to its ori- 
gin before it waa confined by laws of time, and 
to elevate itself to more unfettered language, more 
poetic accent — such as we find in the Grreek 
Chorus, the language of the Bible, the prose of 
St. Paul." 

i must limit myself to the above quotations 
from '* Music and Musicians." The intelligent, 
thoughtful reader will be able, while perusing 
this rich source of intellectual enjoyment, to mul- 
tiply those passajres bearing on the subject here 
treated, and will agree with Madame Bitter, 
that ** a code of musical »sthetics might be gath- 
ered " from Schumann's writings. 



JOACHIM RAFF'S EIGHTH SYMPHONY. 

(From th« London Dailj Nowi.) 

At the seventh concert of the Crystal Palace 
a new symphony by Joachim Raff was performed 
for the first time in England. The eighth work 
of its kind produced by the prolific composer (a 
ninth having been recently added), this sym- 
phony, classed as Op. 205, is written with a pur* 
pose, being entitled FrUhlingskldnge (Spring 
Sounds). It belongs to the order of so-called 
*< programme music," — the grandest and most 
successful example of which Is Beethoven's Pas- 
toral Symphony. Others by Raff bear specific 
titles, two of which, Lenore and Im WMey have 
been heard at the Crystal Palace. In the work 
now referred to, the composer seems desirous of 
emulating the example of Beethoven, a task i«> 



quiring, at least, more deliberation than Herr 
Raff is in the habit of bestowing even on his most 
elaborate works. That he is one of the most re- 
markable instrumental composers of the day can 
scarcely be questioned by any one acquainted 
with his productions ; but It can also hardly be 
denied that the rapidity with which he sends 
forth compositions of the most ambitious kind is 
accompanied by a tendency to extreme diffuse- 
ness, a want of perfect coherence in structure and 
development, and a firequent excess of reitera- 
tion. These, indeed, are the general tendencies 
of the most modern school of composition, which 
seems to be largely influenced by the excited 
hurry so characteristic of life in the present day. 
Hence we have works, as long as the longest by 
the great composers, given to the public almost 
as soon as the ink with which they are written is 
dry ; whereas with the past classics of the art » 
severe course of thoughtful fusion and amalgama- 
tion of materials, and an afteinrevision of the com- 
plete work, generally preceded its issue to the 
world. Even the greatest genius can scarcely 
dispense with such processes when desiring to do 
full justice to itself and to the art, and to insure 
permanency for the work. While possessing ex- 
ceptional gtfls and powers, Herr Raff apparentiy 
does not submit to these conditions, and among 
many evidences of this his new symphony may 
seemingly be classed. There are beauties fca^ 
tered throughout, and some points that are at 
least original in treatment, while the instrumental 
tion is masterly in its command of all the varied 
Effects of orchestral coloring. The symphony takes 
fully three quarters of an hour in performance, 
and at the close it is impossible to avoid the im- 
pression that half that period of time is the utmost 
that its subject matter would justify. It consists of 
four divisions — an aUegroy entitled ^ Friihllngs 
Riickkehr ; " another aUegro, ** In der Walpnr- 
gisnacht; " a IqrgheUo^ with the tide, <«Mltdem 
ersten Blumenstraus ; " and 9k finale vivace, called 
« Wanderlust" The principal theme of the first 
movement (^* Spring's Return ") is a very grace- 
ful melody, which is alternated with other sub- 
jects with great skill but unnecessary diffuseness. 
The following illustration of the Walpnrgis revels 
is remarkable chiefly for its very clever scoring, 
being somewhat overstrained in the contrasted 
violence of its subjects. The gem of the sym- 
phony is the third movement, suggestive ^ the 
*< First Nosegay." This is so charming in the 
pervading grace of its melody, so full of interest 
in the treatment, and so consistent in general de- 
sign and conduct, as to be free from objections 
that might be urged against other divisions of the 
symphony. The close of the largkeUo^ with its 
delicate gradations of diminishing sounds, led a 
vivid impression of its beauty. The finale is 
chiefly noticeable for prolonged expression of in- 
determinate restlessness, many of its phrases be- 
ing trite and uninteresting, and their reiteration 
in inverse proportion to their mnsical value. 



AN EVENING AT CHOPIN'S. 

HAHRATKD BT FRANZ LISZT. 

It was assuredly not without our having to 
conquer a slightiy misanthrofical repugnance 
that Chopin could be induced to open his door 
and his piano to those who were entitied by. 
friendship, as respectful as it was loyal, to urge 
him somewhat pertinaciously to such a step. 
More than one of us, no doubt, recollects the 
first evening's gathering extemporized, despiie 
his refusal, at the time he lived in tlie Chauss<$e 
d'Antin. His room, thus unexpectedly invaded, 
was lighted by only a few tapers, grouped round 
one of Pleyel's pianos, of which he was especially 
fimd on account of their somewhat veiled silver- 



201 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSia 



[Vol. XXXIX. - No. 1009. 



like sonority, mnd of tlieir easy touch, cDabltng 
bim to obtain from them sounds that anybody 
might have thought proceeded from one of the 
harmonicas of which romantic Germany retained 
the monopoly, and which her old masters, wed- 
ding crystal with water, constructed so ingenious- 
ly. The fact of its comers being left in obscu- 
rity appeared to render the apartment limitless 
and merged in the darkness of space. Here and 
there, in a patch of half light, and . enveloped in 
its whitish cover, might be perceived the indis- 
tinct outline of a piece of furniture, standing erect, 
like some spectre listening to the accents which 
had conjured it up. The light concentrated 
round the piano fell on the floor, gliding over it 
like a spreading wave, and combining with the fit- 
ful gleams on the hearth, whence, however, arose 
from time to time orange-colored flames, short and 
thick, like so many curious gnomes attracted by 
sounds of their own language. A single portrait, 
that of a pianist, a sympathetic and admiring 
friend, seemed invited as the constant auditor of 
the flux and reflux of tones which came to sigh, 
to thunder, to murmur, and to die away upon the 
surface of the instiument, as on the sea-fhore, 
near which he was placed. The reverl>erating 
surface of the looking-glass, by a happy chance, 
reflected, to double them in our ^y^ nothing 
save the fine oval face and the silky locks which 
BO many pencils have copied, and which have 
just been reproduced by the graver for those who 
are charmed by an elegant pen. 

Gathered around the piano in the sone of light 
were grouped several lieads of brilliant renown. 
There was Heine, the saddest of humorists, list- 
ening with a compatriot's interest to accounts 
Chopin gave him concerning the mysterious 
country which his airy fancy also haunted, and 
the fairy regions of which he also had explored. 
Chopin an<l Heine understood one another at 
half a word and at half a tone, and the musician 
answered by astounding recitals the questions 
the poet asked him in a whisper about the un- 
known countries, and even about the *< isughing 
nymph " who had her home there. On the 
evening to which we allude, Meyerbeer, for 
whom the expressions of admiration have long 
since been exhausted, was seated next to Heine. 
Himself a humorist, with his Cyclopean construc- 
tions, he spent long periods enjoying the delecta- 
ble pleasure of following in detail the arabesques 
which envelope<l in a transparent blonde net-work 
Chopin's thoughts. Further on was Adolphe 
Nourrit, that noble artint, passionate and ascetic 
at one and the same time, dreaming of the future 
with the fervor of the Middle Ages, a sincere and 
almost austere Catholic, who, in the later years of 
his life, refused to lend his talent to aught like 
superficial sentiment, and who served art with 
chaste and enthusiastic respect, accepting it in 
its divers manifestations, and considering it on 
all occasions only as a holy tabernacle, the 
beauty of which was the tfUenthr of the True. 
Secretly undermined by a melancholy passion for 
the beautiful, his 'brehead seemed already to be 
growing into marble under the fatal shadow 
which the outburst of despair never explains, un- 
til it is too late, to mankind, so eager to learn 
the secrets of the heart, and so unfit to guess 
them. 

Hiller, also, was there ; with talent allied to 
that of Chopin, he was one of Chopin's most 
faithful friends. We frequently met at his 
house, and when, previous to the grand works he 
published afterwards, the first being his remark- 
able oratorio. Die ZerstOrung Jerusalewu, he was 
writing pieces for the piano, some of which, en- 
titled EiudeSf sketches full of vigor and perfect 
in their drawing, remind us of the studies^of foli- 
age in which landscape painters reproduce by 
chaoce an entire poem of light and shade with a 



single tree, a single branch, a single motive, hap- 
pily and broadly treated. 

Eugene Delacroix remained silent, absorbed by 
the apparitions which filled the air, and which 
we thought we heard rustle past us. . • . Was 
he asking himself what palette, what brushes, 
what canvas, he would need to endow those ap- 
paritions with the life of his art? Was lie ask- 
ing himself whether the canvas he had to find 
was one woven by Arachn**, the brush a brush 
made out of a fairy's eyelashes, and the palette 
a palette prepared with the vapors of the rain- 
bow ? Was he smiling inwardly, well pleased at 
such suppositions, and abandoning himself en- 
tirely to the impression which gave them birth, 
tlianks to the attraction (elt by some men of 
(zreat talent for those who are their opposites ? 
The one among us who appeared nearest the 
tomb was Mickiewicz, the aged survivor of times 
that were no more. He listened to the CkanU 
UUtoriqu^M whirh Chopin translated into dramatic 
creations, in which, side by side with the popular 
text of the Polish banl, were once more heard, 
under the musician's fingers, the^shock of arms, 
the song of the victors, the festival hymns, the 
lamentations of the illustrious prisoners, and the 
ballads on the dead heroes. Together the two 
recalled to mind the long series of glorious events, 
of victories, of kings, of queens, of hetmen, . . . 
till the old man, taking the present for an illu- 
sion, tliou^ht they were all resuscitated, so much 
lite was there in their mere phantom*. Sepi^ 
rated from aught else, the outline of Micklewicz 
stood out sombre and dumb ; Dante of Uie 
North, he appeared always to find *' a foreign 
land bitter." 

Buried in an arm-chair, with her elbow resting 
on a small table, sat Madame Sand, curiously at- 
tentive and gracefully subjugated. She invested 
what was going on with all tlie reverberation of 
her own ardent genius, which was gifted with the 
rare faculty, reserved for only a tow chosen be- 
ings, of perceiving the beautiful under all the 
forms of art and of nature, — a faculty identical 
possibly with that tecorul siykt which all nations 
have recognized in inspired women. 



•* ODYSSEUS," BY MAX BRUCH.^ 

AROUMBNT. 

The book of the Odysseus, written by the poet 
Grafl; is called *« Scenes from the Odyssey." It 
gives in lyrical form some of the adventures of 
Ulysses (Odysseus in the Greek) in his wandei^ 
ing return from the siege of Troy to his own king- 
dom, llhsca. The title indicates a series of dis- 
connected pictures or situations; but, after all, 
the story is told almost as consecutively as in 
Homer's great poem from which it is taken. The 
order of events is changed somewhat, for the ap- 
parent purpose of ensuring the presence of a male 
chorus throughout the cantata. In the original, 
the companions of Odysseus had perbhed before 
he reached Calypso's isle. 

The first scene is in the island of Calypso. 
Almost ten years have passed since the fall of 
Troy. The bright-haired Helen, for whose re- 
covery *' many drew swords and died," has been 
carried by her husband to her home. The Greek 
princes who survived the war have reached their 
native land, — all but Odysseus. He, after long 
wandering, is thrown upon Calypso's isle, and for 
seven years has lain in the enchanted i*ealm of 
the sea-nymph. In the first chorus, Calyp^o*s 
maidens tell of their queen's unrequited love for 
the stranger. He sings a song of homesickness 
and longing for his faithful wife. Hermes, mes- 
senger of the gods, arrives, and gives him assur- 

1 To be ciTSQ by tho Ceellta at ths Boston Knsic IIsD, 
Dsca2,lS7». 



ance of escape firom the charmed island and of 
safe return to Ithaca. 

In the second seene Odysseus and his com- 
rades oome to the bounds of the deep- flowing 
ocean, — a place where there is access to the 
under-world. Here ho invokes the souls of the 
dead, much as a modern inquirer would consult 
a medium. There are weird choruses of the de- 
parted — children and brides and youths and old 
men ; and the ghosts cf Teiresias, the soothsayer, 

— a bass voice, — and Antikleia, the hero's 
mother, — an alto^ — announce the chances of bis 
return, and tlie dangers he must still encounter. 

llie third scene is the famous passage of 
Odysseus by tlie isle of the Sirens. He has 
stopped the ears of his companions, that they 
may not be drawn to the shore by the song of 
the enchantresses, and has caused himself to be 
bound to the mast, and fiyrbidden his friends to 
loose him, however he may implore, — a not un- 
necessary precaution, if the veritable strain was 
as fascinating as that in the cantata. 

The fourth scene is a storm at tea. The 
tempest is worked up by orchestra and chorus 
with tremendous eflVict. The ship of Odysseus is 
wrecked, and his companions perish ; but Leu- 
kotliea, the sea-nymph, appears to Odysseus, and 
under her protection he plunges into the water. 
She and her sister-nymphs fing, ** We 'II bear 
thee and guide thee safe." The wood crested 
harbor appears; and the number ends with a 
lovely chorus of rest and sleep. 

The fifth scene is Penelope's mourning, a pa- 
thetic song of sorrow for the unknown fate of her 
husband and of her son Teleuiachus, who has 
gone in quest of his father. 

In tlie sixth *-cene we return to Odysseus, es- 
caped from his shipwreck, naked and alone, upon 
the land of the Phssacians. The king's daughter, 
Nausikaa, and her maidens are playing ball and 
singing a clianning song and chorus as they play. 
Odysseus presents himself as modestly as circum- 
stances permit, and invokes the pity of Nau^ikas. 
A beautiful duet follows, ** Strangers and beg- 
gars come ever from Jove ; relief should be speedy 
and cheerful." He is clothed, fed, and carried 
to the palace. 

llie seventh scene is the banquet of the ¥^9^ 
acians, at which tlio stranger is rec:eived with a 
chorus of welcome. The banis — tenors and 
basses in unison — sing of the fortunes of the 
Greek heroes, and allude to the unknown fate of 
Odysseus. The stranger weeps, and the king 
asks the reason of his sorrow. Odysseus an- 
nounces himself, and prays a friendly escort to 
his home. The quartet and chorus which follow 

— '* Nowhere abides such delight as in the home- 
stead " — are built upon one of the loveliest 
melodies in the cantata. A chorus of the people, 
speeding the parting guest, en<]s the number. 

Meantime the young nobles of Ithsca and the 
neighboring islands have been swarming in the 
palace of Odysseus, and devouring his substance, 
each importunate for the hand of the supposed 
widow. Penelope puts them ofl* until she has 
finished a certain web she is weaving, and care- 
fully unravels each night what she has wrought by 
day. The eighth scene present** her at her loom, 
praying, as she weaves, for her husband's return. 

The ninth scene is the homeward voyage. 
The helmsman, a bass voice, tings a song, as the 
boatmen row, and Odysseus slumbers. Still 
sleeping, he is placed upon the shore of his own 
country, and the song of the boatmen is heard 
dying away in the distance. Odysseus wakes, 
and the goddess Pallas appears, and vouchsafes 
her aid in recovering his kingdoui and wifo from 
the besieging suitors, bhort work is made of the 
suitors. The tenth scene contains the meeting 
of Odysseus and Penelope, and the cantata ends 
brilliantly with the rejoicing of the people. 



Dbckmbbb 20, 1879.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



205 



TALKS ON ART. — SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM IMBTRUCTIONB OF MR. WILUAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XVIII. 

Get the general form, lightly ; next the shad- 
owB, loof eljr, — not too much indicated. Having 
blocked it oat, begin to define forms, giving those 
lines which are most characteristic. Don't keep 
np this white-washing process of pat, patting ! 
or your work will grow softy, softy. 



'< I 'm afraid of losing my drawing 1 " 
Lose it, lose it ? Why, you seem to think that 
your drawing is good, you are so anxious to keep 
it. Throw it away I Drawing is not one of the 
" lost arU." If yon do lose it, you con find it. 

Yon are all too intelligent to draw. You peem 
to say, <« This model has black hair. Black, black, 
black t " and yon get it nothing but black. Why, 
the light on a stove-pipe is whiter than the shadow 
on a white shirt. You all know too much to draw. 
Everything that you know you put down in black 
lines. You know that she has a line between her 
lips, and you make a note of it with charcoal ; 
and as charcoal is black, all your notes are black. 

Is that all the charcoal you have ? Yoo seem 
to be trying to ** make it go round," — like board- 
ing-school butter. 

You most set yourselves ahead by studying 
fine things. If yoo don*t yoo never will do them. 
I 've told you over and over again whose works 
to draw, — Michael Angelo, Raphael, Albert Dii- 
rer, Hans Holbein, Mantegna. Get hold of some- 
thing of theirs ; hang it up in your room ; trace 
it, copy it, draw it from memory over and over, 
until you own it, as yon own ^ Casablanca," and 
** Mary had a little lamb." You can't draw an 
eye well until you know how some great master 
has drawn it. That's why, in Europe, they 
would make yoo draw three years from the antique 
before they would allow you to touch a brush. 

But I want yoo to get more fun out of your 
work, so I let yoo go ahead by first studying 
" masses." Now, as yoo are strong on masses, 
don't keep eternally working on what is your 
strong point. Find out where your work is weak, 
and strengthen that. If you were going to raise 
a plain, would yoo cover it with little piles of 
earth, or would you put 'it all in one pile, and 
by and by let it topple over ? 

**' But what if we are in the bottomless pit and 
ean't see our way out of it? " 

You 11 have so large a number of people with 
yoo that you won't be lonely, and can have a jolly 
good time. Besides, being at the bottom, you 
can get no farther down, and will soon begin to 
go up. And it 's going on and up that 's the fun 
of studying, not the arriving at a place. Arriving 
is the end. 



appreciates its aims would only send us in the 
name of one new sabscriber, it would not 
only place the Journal at once on a firm 
footing, but would enable us to add to the 
amount, the variety, and excellence of its 
contents. Has it not earned the right to live 
and to improve ? 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 



^tmsl^rja; ^patml of f^um. 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1879. 



Notice. — Our Journal for 1880, Vol. 
XL., will be mailed as usual to all the pres- 
ent' subscribers, unless we receive an order 
to discontinue it. A prompt remittance will 
oblige the publishers. 

SUBSORIBESS living in musical circles, or 
members of musical societies, are requested to 
raise clubs among their friends, to whom the 
Journal will be funiii«hed at reduced rates, 
namely : for five copies, $10 ; for ten copies, 
$20, and an extra copy to the sender. 

If every friend who values the paper and 

1 Copjright 187S, by Hdeo H. Knowltoo. 



Harvard Musical Association. — The 
fifteenth series of Symphony Concerts opened on 
Thursday afternoon,* December 1 1, with a much 
larger audience, and with better promise alte- 
gether, than for several years past. The orches- 
tra, enumerated on the programme as forty-seven 
instruments, was still further • increased by the 
addition of two more second violins, so that it 
really counted forty-nine. The continued and 
thorough drill which ito nucleus (the Philhar- 
monic Orchestra) has for several months received 
from Bemhard Listemann, told in the well-formed 
habits and improved morale of all the work of 
this much larger combination, — the strings num- 
bering twice as many as those of the Philhar- 
monic, — and Mr. Listemann himself was at the 
head of the violins, inspiring their performance 
with new life and certainty. We give once more 
the programme, which proved on the whole ex- 
tremely interesting and impressive : — 

Orertiire to ** Rotamando *' Sehvbert 

Trio Concerto, In C, for Piano-forte, Violin, and 

ViokMieello. Op. 66 Beethoven, 

Allegro Laigo Bondo alia Pollaca. 

6. W. Sumner, Edward HeiraeudabI, and 
Fraderick QieM. 
liarobe Noetame, from «« L'Enlanoe du Christ ** . BerSou 
Onttan to " Rip Van Winkle *' (fint time) 

Geort/e W, Ckadwick, 
Fifth Symphony, b C nhior, Op. 67 ... Beethoven. 

The performance of the Schubert Overture, so 
large and noble in its more serious portions, and 
so delightful and full of charm and sunshine in 
the lighter part, revealed at once the quality and 
temper of the orchestra. It was given to the 
general satisfaction, even of the most critical. 
We are not without sympathy with some who 
have complained of the Trio (yoncerto of Beet- 
hoven as being too long and prolix in its first 
and third movements ; and we felt moreover that 
the great Music Hall was hardly the place for 
the best effect of the three concerted instruments 
dealing in so much bravura and rapid ornamental 
passage-work. Tet it is a composition full of fine 
thoughts, well rewarding study. The opening, 
by the orchestra, is of that pregnant sort, giving 
assurance of something growing, something com- 
ing, which is so characteristic of Beethoven. Its 
theme is most suggestive ; and it is worked out 
with masterly skill, and imsginatively, only at 
tiresome length, with what seems, if in fact it 
be not, too much literal rpiteration. The Largo, 
on the other hand, too short, is wonderfully beau- 
tiful, deep, serene, religious in its feeling. And 
the Finale might be called the masterpiece of all 
Polsccas, so full it is of piquant life and grace 
and unflag({ing enthusiasm, but for its excessive 
length again. The three principals were quite 
at home in their work, and gave on the whole an 
excellent interpretation. The thio tone of Mr. 
Heimendahl's violin was somewhat disappointing 
in so largo a place, nor was his intonation al- 
ways faultless, but his execution 'was sure, and 
clear and brilliant Mr. Giese's 'cello tone is 
something marvelous in its beauty, sweetness (at 
least in the upper range) and fullness ; although 
in the energy of his attack in the lower notes it 
is sometimes rough. His phrasing is masterly, 
most satisfactory ; and there is a graceful ease 
and con amove in his playing which is quite de 
lightful. Mr. Sumner achieved the difficult piano 
part with his accustomed even, fluent style. 



The extremely interesting and poett«: work of 
Berlioz from which the Marche Nocturne was 
taken was described at length in our last num- 
ber. This little night patrol of Herod's soldiers 
in the streets of Jerusalem, on the eve of the 
slaughter of the innocents, has a singularly im- 
aginative and Oriental tone and color. Its 
rhythm, however, is anything but martisl. The 
movement is rather of people huddled together 
in leisurely disorder, and its whole style so pasto- 
ral and peaceful, that we could more easily imag- 
ine it to mean a Caiavan, or say the Holy Fam- 
ily on iu journey into £gypt. The march begins 
in the distance, where you hear nothing but the 
measured, muflied beat of the bass. As soon as 
the movement grows distinct, the violins set in 
with a melody which is more cantabile and senti- 
mental than march-like. It is only when it gets 
nearer that you hear a quickstep motive, a little 
I pward phrase of horns, which reminds one very 
I luch of Schubert's marbhes. But, as in the 'ex- 
tracts we have lately heard from **The Flight 
into Egypt," there is jl beautiful, romantic min- 
•{ling of soil reed tones now and then, which has 
a delicate and characteristic charm. The piece 
was nicely played. 

Mr. Chadwick's Overture more than justified 
the interest with which it was anticipsted. It is 
a fresh, genial, thoroughly well- wrought, consist- 
ent, charming work. As in most Overtures with 
titles, and no opera to follow, it may be hard to 
trace the story of Bip Van Winkle through it. 
The introduction, with its violoncello phrase, may 
mean, to be sure, the waking of the sleeper ; 
there are weird, strange hints perhaps of the 
scene on the mountaiu ; a sinking to sleep, and 
a half revival of consciousness again with the 
same 'cello phrase, and then a bright and excit- 
ing finale which may be the scene in the village 
square with all the life and bustle of the triumph- 
ant revolution. But all this is of slight ac- 
count compared with the musical themes and 
progress and symmetrical unfolding of the work. 
The slow introduction impressed us as the finwt 
part; i*: opens rich and broad, and when the 
hoi ts come in it is positively stirring. The two 
principal themes, worked np singly and together 
throughout the long Allegro, are happily chosen 
and effective. The instrumentation is rich and 
varied, full of pleasing contrasts, never glaring, 
but all artistically bl^' xl ; indeed, the young 
man seems entirely at «ome in the orchestral 
We perceived none of^tLT>sf. traits of Wagnerism 
which some have felt themselves called upon to 
find in his scoring ; the brass, tr be sure, is freely 
used, but only richly, not over^Xfweringly. Each 
instrument is sympathetically treated in accord- 
ance with iu genius. The whole piece is cer- 
tainly effeotive, and more than merely pleasing. 
If it have no very marked, decided originality, it 
betrays no slavish imitation ; it is uncommonly 
free irom Mendelssohnian echoes ; perhaps it sug- 
gests Bietx now and then ; but for the most part 
it only shows that his productive spirit has been 
cradled in the home and atmosphere of all good 
music, in the Leipzig of the past and of to-day. 
The Overture was received with the heartiest 
applause and every sign of satisfaction, which 
must have been gratifying to the "friends of the 
young man from his native city, Lawrence, of 
this State. It will doubtless be repeated in a 
future concert of tlie series. We desire to cor- 
rect an impression very naturally conveyed by 
the words in which the success of Mr. Chad- 
wick's Overture at the annual examination in 
I^pzig was referred to on the programme ; the 
expression ^ won the palm " was figurative, mean- 
ing that it won the chief praise of the critics, 
and not that it took the prize, for no prizes are 
awarded upon there occasions. 

The concert ended grandly with the glorious 



206 



BWIQHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX. — No. 1009. 



Fifth Symphony. Is it too much to My that it 
never had a better rendering in Boston ? Thin 
most familiar of all Symphonies, a household 
word with us for forty years, still holds an audi- 
ence spell'bonnd as almost no- other work, — at 
least when it is so well interpreted, so powerfully 
brought out. The veteran Conductor, Carl Zer- 
rahn, may well feel proud of that day*8 work. 
And, full of solid matter as the programme was, 
the whole was over at ten minutes short of two 
hours, and no one was weary. 

Madame Luma Cappiaki gave the first of 
her series of four concerts on December 8, in 
Mechanics' Hall. The occasion was intereftting 
in many ways, notably so from the fact of its 
bringing before the public the indisputably fine 
results of Mme. Cappiani's teaching, in the shape 
of several of her advanced pupils. Mme. Cap- 
piani herself is a master of Italian dramatic sing- 
ing ; she both possesses the true traditions, and 
has the power of embodying the traditions, of the 
music of Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, and Meyer- 
beer. Whatever one may think of this sort of 
music, considered from a purely musical point of 
view, there is no doubt that it demands a per- 
fection of vocal method and technique which can 
have only a salutary influence when applied to 
every schciol of vocal composition. In the mat- 
ter €^ style there may be serious distinctions to be 
drawn, but in the matter of vocal training the 
Italian school is unapproac-hed. One cannot but 
feel that Donizetti, Verdi, and Meyerbeer have 
not that commanding position on our concert 
stage which they once held. Yet they have not 
been banished from it, and there seems to be no 
probability of their being so for some time to 
come. It is a matter of great importance that 
the style of singing which the works of these com- 
posers demand should be perpetuated. It has in 
it the elements of all 6ne singing, and the modi- 
fications to be made in it when applying it to 
music of other schools are slight and secondary. 
The singer who cannot sing Di peiccUor ignobiUt 
or ATodit oA, m*odiy thoroughly well, can have little 
hope of doing much that is artistically satisfying 
with In des Lehen** Frilhlingsiageny or the grand 
aria in the ** FreischUtz." The perfection of vocal 
method and style that is required by ^ Spirto 
gentU " will enable a singer to to surpass his less 
accomplished rival in singing a Franz or Schu- 
bert song. The impression made by Mme. Cap- 
piani's pupils was a singularly fine one ; a certain 
amateurish nervousness In face of an audience 
was, of course, unavoidable ; but the tone was 
well and securely formed, the phrasing broad 
and viral, without ungraceful sliding from one 
note to another. In a word, the pupils showed 
that they comprehended the gist of their instruc- 
tion, and were in a fair way to make the noble 
style of singing a second nature. Mme. Cap- 
piani's own selections, embracing some of the 
larger forms of dramatic song and eome charming 
things by Robert Franz, were unreservedly en- 
joyed. 

Variety was given the concert by some ex- 
cellent piano-forte playing by Mr. Hanchett and 
Mme. Constance E^wani, the latter a pupil of 
Mr. Sherwood. This lady made a decidedly 
brilliant impression. She has a finely developed 
technique, and plays with both fire and discretion. 
Her performance of one of Liszt's Hungarian 
Rhapaodies was especially creditable. We hope 
to have fuller opportunity at some future time to 
duly appreciate her talent. 

First Euterpb Concert. — The second sea- 
son of these successful Chamber Concerts opened 
auspiciously on Wednesday evening, Dec. 10, at 
Mechanic's Hall, with essentially the same select 



and numerous audience that graced these con- 
certs from the first. The majority, we fancy, 
were disappointed at not finding that arrange- 
ment of the hall which added so much to the 
social, genial aspect, and to the hearty enjoyment 
of the concerts last year, when the artists were 
placed on a platform in the middle of the square 
room, surrounded by the listeners. The return 
to the ordinary plan of having the audience all 
face the music in stiff rows may have some acous- 
tical advantages, but the sympathetic listening 
mood was chilled proportionally ; it is a good 
thing to have the hearer meet the musical inten- 
tion half way ; many a shade of discord, many a 
little deviation from absolute precision of outline, 
is virtually (subjectively) canceled by that wise 
provision in our nature. 

The programme consisted of just two workr, 
both in the Sonata form of several movements, 
namely, a Quartet by Haydn, and a Quintet by 
Beethoven. The interpreters were the newly 
organized Mendelssohn Quintette Club, consist- 
ing of Edouard Heimendahl, first violin, Gustav 
Dannreuther, second violin, Thomas Ryan, first 
viola, Cari Meisel (an old friend whom it is pleas^ 
ant to see back here again), second viola, and 
Frederick Giese, violoncello. The Club, all 
youthful looking men, with the exception of its 
one surviving founder, Mr. Ryan, was never so 
finely constituted. The new violinist, Mr. Hei- 
mendahl, as we have said above, has rather a 
slender tone, but his execution is intelligent and 
nice, and he proves himself an excellent quartet 
leader. The 'cellist is a decided gain, with his 
beautiful, rich tone, sometimes sounding like a 
wind instrument, his faultless phrasing, his great 
power, and free-and-easy, yet firm, sure style. 
The rendering of the Haydn Quartet — a light 
and graceful, in the Scherzo and Presto finale 
even playful one (it is in E-flat, sometimes 
marked Op. 83, No. 2), — was highly satisfactory, 
indeed delightful, putting the hearer in the btfst 
state of appetite for the richer, deeper, more im- 
passioned Quintet of Beethoven, the old favor- 
ite in C, Op. S9 (Comp. 1801), which was also 
given last year. This was very impresbively ren- 
dered, and the exceptionally short, though rich 
feast was over in an hour and a quarter, sending 
us all home with an appetite for more ; would it 
not be safe to make a little more out of such 
choice opportunities, — to the extent at least of 
one shorter piece ? 

Philharmohio Orchkbtra. — While the 
larger and purely classical Symphony Concerts 
have begun, the smaller nucleus orchestra of Mr. 
Listemann, with its more mixed and ** popular " 
programmes, and its plentiful encores, hHS com- 
pleted the course laid out for itself for the pres- 
ent. The fourth concert (Dec. 6) offered extra 
bait fi>r audience in the announcement of the 
veteran Norwegian riolinist, Ole Bull, who charms 
the crowd as ever. He has the same richness 
and sweetness of tone ; the saute perfection in 
certain technical arts of violin pla)ing, such as 
his remarkable staccato runs, his pure high fiageo- 
let tones, his rare faculty of playing short cantar 
bile strains in four-part harmony, etc. Also the 
same dreamy, wild, old bard-like rhapsodizing 
style of seeming improvisation in rather vague 
and fonnlrss compovitions of his own, as illus- 
trate<i this time in a piece called *< Visions." 
Besides this he played a Fantane Hongroue, by 
Ridley-Kohne, with a great deal of s|Mamodic, 
sudden accent, and a great deal of fond pursuing 
of a rece<]ing tone (after his old way) into un- 
fathomed depths of silence. There was encore 
afVer encore, answered with fantastic variations 
upon popular melodies, aft^r the well-known man- 
ner of the man. 

There was also another attraction in the first 



appearance, afler an absence of seven yeara. 
abroad, of the singer Miss Sara Barton, who has 
many friends about here. In a grand Aria from 
Meyerbeer's Prophet : ** L'ingrato m'abbandona." 
slie revealed a voice of very large calibre and 
power, musical in the higher tones, descending to 
great contralto depths, where the tones, though 
strong, are somewhat hollow, and a well-taught 
method. She also showed dramatic force and 
fire. Her most obvious defect in singing was 
too much of the staccato, setting the notes apart; 
which in her later pieces, slower melodies, tlie 
'< Lost Chord," by Sullivan, and '* Home, Sweet 
Home," fur a recall, seemed like planting each 
note like a separate mile-stone in a painful pil- 
grimage ; l)Oih were sung f xtremely slow, » per- 
haps the fault, in part, of the organ accompani- 
ment. 

The concert opened with the first movement 
(new) of a Symphony for organ and orchestra, 
by GuiluiMnt, — a clear, decided, almost march- 
like movement, in which the organ (played by 
Mr. C. il. Morse) kept remarkably well up with 
the orchjestra. The com|K>sition is so interesting 
that one would like to hear the whole of it. An 
AndatUe Soaoe (** Gretchen *'), from Liszt's Fauft 
Sin/onie, was suave imleed, cloyingly so, an<i too 
much in the sickly sentimentAl vein of Wagner ; 
what is worse, yon felt no progress in it; it 
seemed s|>ell-bouu<l to one spot as in. a night- 
mare ; it reminded us of a bear fastened to a 
stake, restlessly traveling round and round in hi8 
own tracks. Doubtless ingeniously instrumented, 
and finely played. Tlie ^ Roiiet d'Omphale," of 
Saint-Saens, was again performed with exquisite 
precision, delicacy, and fine spirit Mozart's 
*^ Musical Joke" {Mu9ikalucker SpoM), for 
strings and horns, is a take-off of the innocent 
and painfully serious efforts of a party of rustic 
amateurs {AlwilarUen) to execute a piece of sev- 
eral movements in very common-place and literal 
classic form. It is entirely empty of ideal con- 
tents, and a little tedious for our day. But it 
has some amusing hits, such as silly cadenzas 
lengthened out wiih pride, plenty of barren ^Ax, 
hopeless dilemmas with the boms, and in the 
finale a brave attempt at fugue, whens Dttx gets 
qrickly through and waits lor Comer, Weber's 
** Invitation to the Waltz," the Berlioz adapta- 
tion, cioaed the concert, and was the best number 
of the programme. 

The last concert (Saturdry aflemoon, Dec. 18) 
was as follows : — 

Orertnrs " Midtamroer Nighl'i Dresm *' . MendeUtuhn. 
Allegretto Schersaodo from Sjniphooie io F, 

Ko 8 Btethocen. 

L* Csptive Btilktz. 

Wm Tt« Wdsfa. 
First and Second Movements from 1st Coocerto, 

Max Bniek, 
(With Orcbestnd soeompaniment.) 
' Timothy d*Adamowski. 

«* Leonore," Symphoiiia . R^- 

(Two moTemeots.) 

Hungarian Rhapsodie, No. 2 Ligti, 

Song " Maid of Athens " Ownod, 

Misa lU Welah. 
Walts, '* Life let nacberUh" J. Strtnm. 

a, Hmigarian Dance, No. S J> Brakm». 

b, Chopin Noctorae A WilkeU^, 

Timothfe d^Adamowdd. 
" Camiyal in FSria." Episode Svemben, 

The fairy Overture and the Beethoven Alle- 
gretto were delightfully presented. But to our 
feeling, and no doubt that of many more, the 
Raff *^ Leonore " movements, the Svendsen " Car- 
nival," both very skillful and ingenious, and even 
the Hungarian Rhapsody (for orchestra), — a 
kind of thing which has now grown very hack- 
neyed and too apt to haunt the idle mind, — were 
far less edifying than that buoyant and refreshing 
Strauss waltz, which is all that it pretends to be ; 
and absence of pretension is a rare charm nowa- 
days. 



Dbokmbbr 20, 1879.] 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



207 



We own to bcinp cuptivAted by that v«ry orlj»- 
Innly boaulifiil, antl toiiuliin*; Fonjr of HctIiuk, 
tlio " Capllvc/* Ami by Mi>J« Wulnh's pynipji- 
tlioUc anil cypniM^ivc ri>n<lcnn«; of iu ncvi'iiil 
bUiijuui, vAfh of wliii:li Iiik) \\% own p«MMi(% 
(lelicnto Dn'lMvlral iuH'(Mnp:iniiiiiMiL OonnwrB 
•« Mai«l of Ath^•n^" tboii;;h a ^wA wjng and wwll 
nun);, minndcil troinnionplaco alWr it. Tbo two 
inov«*m<*ntii from Max JlrnoU'ii Violin Coni:<!rto, 
la G minor, wrro vxtn'uioly inlrrcMinu, full of 
nturlint; nttiMc;a] matter, wrought out in a nint«t«Tly 
manner ; and tlio yotmj; I^oIibU violinist was at 
hi» iMtiit in th«*ir inrorpn^lation, pbiyin*; wiili vi«;or 
and pnniiKion, witli breadth of «tyl«, and with re- 
finement and true feolinj;. ili* is tho Hennitive 
and moody tem|HTanient whieh i« not alwayi at 
It* lM>iit, an many with leM nunic and Icitfl gcnlufl 
In th«»ni an\ Jli!« nuialler piece*, t«K), were very 
finely played ; but be>*t of all wa* iho '* I^»j;cnd« " 
by SVieniawhki. whieh \\v. played con aniore for 
an encore, with Mr. Capen, with whom lio ha* 
a perfiHTt underMandinf;, for accompanist at tlie 
pifino-forte. Hit other encoi-w piece, "Tho 
Witchen* Dance," by Biixzini, in lc^B »uited to 
AdamowKki ; he plnya it too fa!«t for nny clear, 
bold outline, nor i:i the piece worth tho pain*. 

Tho concert waf well attended, ami the whole 
•eries has created confidence in Mr. Lihtt^mann's 
and tho mu»icians' effort to establish a well-drilled 
nucleus orcheittra, which »hall bo |)erniaiient, con- 
venient for use hert% at the centre, and in other 
placet within ea«y reach. The next important 
service of the l^nlharmonie will Ins in the Univer- 
sity concerts at Cambridrre; what it will then 
undertake is not yet nia<lo known. We would 
Beriously sus$;est, however, in all klndnesii, the 
correction of two obvious faults in the concerts it 
has already given : (l) tlieir excess^ive lcn<;th, 
throuj»h the indulgence of encores: (*2) the over- 
loading of the pro<;ramnies with m mticA of the 
modern effect inu!<ic, which, in Hpite of its brill- 
iancy and in;:enuity, \i:ry toon grow* heavy, in 
liMt, indigestible. 

MUSICAL CORUKSPONUKNCK. 

Nkw YtiiiK. I)KC. 1. — On Tucwlay evenlnir of bM wwk 
we had an o|icrHtie eniicert at Slciiiway Hall. >r:iny of 
lla|iIe«oiri trou|ie took fmrt in the pro<;mniiiif, aii<1 Mr. 
Kiniimell played two or three m\on in hi* foreihie war. One 
of hi* selecliona was Chophi'ii well-known and fn«ijurn!l.v- 
Ii|a>ed r«iloiwi»ic In A-flut, Op. 5.1 lliw nc»l.le work re- 
qnlnt prent f>rpadlh of ronre|tti«rti, vlpor of excculMin, and 
delicacy of ihadhi!!. Mr. K. in'ie^'OHsly over-did the mat- 
ter, and in hi* eflirtis to lie ninnsiTe Rtircecdcd, mainly, in 
l«eini; heavy and tnrgid ; and yet, wncwhrly enoiv,»li, lie rcn 
dered a lovely Norliime (hy the mnie antlior) In a really 
eliamiinc way. Mr. Van ('iclder eaiined a (genuine lenM- 
tion hy hie adntirahle perf«irniance of Wieniaw^ki's ** l^e- 
l,'«nde," anil recelvwl a well nieritwl reraJI, to which he re- 
•poiided with Schnlicrfi " Serenaile/' Tlila was phyeil 
without any acconijianlmfnt The olher particiinnta in the 
ItroL'ranime were Mile. Valleria, Mine. Anihre, Sir. Uuncio, 
Sir. I)el I'liente, and Herr IWhren*. 

I have omitted to mention that on Saturday, Nor. S2, 
"one more nnfurtu mie '* came to cricf; a yonn^ lady, 
wiMwe name 1 chnrilahly withhold, made hrr debut aa a 
liiMninte. Slie wan nji«i«ilcd hy wvcra! excellent artl»ti whoee 
HRirta were drvrvnlly a|i|ilNnilc<l. l*he aceompaniH wa« 
tiy all ndiU the wont who ha* ever hail IIm hardihood to in- 
flict hinmelf upon Kri\Mn or andlrncc. 

On Wednewiar eteiilne Mr. Win. Mueller irara a Cham- 
lier miinie SoinV, M^iiileft hy the N. Y. (^ilntet Club and 
by Mr. Krans Kiimmell; thi« wan the programme: — 

Quartet, Op. IR, No. 4 nffthorfn, 

Honata, D, Op. 1« (IV K. A '(Wlo) .... Huhinrttin, 
Me^«ni. M oiler and Ruinmell. 

Qttlutet, F minor. Op. .14 ItrahmM, 

Mr. Uiiinniell and Quintet tliih. 

The IotHt IVelhoven Quartet wa* admiraMy rendered, 
■nd nreiie no commemtalion from my |ieii or any other, 
'flie 8oiiata, alim, la a rery iiohle eomfioflliion, hut only Mr. 
Mnller*! eieei«t tonally broad and ftill tiuio Mved him from 
Mnff hoiielemly nisiilfed )iy the phiniat*! fmUmmtm ; IheM 
latter were aimply a|ipal1inR. Tho llrahmR Quintet fur 
nielied a cttrioot lUoitratlon of mnaleal poailillitieii, and may 
well bt likened to a RefWietrieal prolilem set to notea; at 
least It made thai Impfvtelon upon me. lliere aremed to 
be an erld wMie of Intrleaiely Inwdred harmonle progm- 
■ioM upoB wUeh On ■im(er malodj) b«t rvelj thooe. 



On Saltinby evening, Nov. S9, the Oratorio Soelety however, ceiitrea In the hall It wIC. The anditorlnm mcwmrea 
Rave till KUJnti, and did it moat admirably, Ion. Mr. Whit- 121 feii in lenRlh hy M in widtli, while it \n hieh emniRk to 



ney and Miia Dramlil won new biunii for themadvea, and 
the elinnia work was carefully and artbillcally done. 

Anmra. 

|)K(\ 8. ^Tlie Phlihannonle (liih, of New York, Rave 
the mh!oih1 .Soin'-eof itii nerinion Tnemlay evniiiiR, l>ee. it, In 
CniickeriiiR Hall. 'Ilie pivRranime was an eicelient one as 
you will olnerve:— > 

({nartet, Op. 41 SehmnnnH, 

SoitatP, Piano and Violin, Op. 78 Hiff, 

MeMnn. AnioM and Umninell. | 

FourSoiiRt HHMtr, 

Mr. K. Itenimertx. 
Piano Quintet, Op. .10 • . Oot,lmnrk. 

An sllPiitivo and apt«rreiative audience, of perhaps sit 
hundred prmons lintnml to a careful and artinlie nHiderhiR 
(if the above iclvctioiis. 'llie .Schmiiann Qiiarlet is always 
lovely, and was played ii|Hiti this occanion with Rreat care 
aiifl fiiitlifiiliiCM; the .Schrrxo wan notably well dime, and re- 
tiecitil Rrrai rnillt upon Mr. Arnold ami his ahlecoafijiil<*rs. 
The brilliant »Soiiata by Knirwaii caplljilly playetl hy Mr»*n, 
Arnold and ItniiiuiHI: the Inllor Rentlenian, iitilfe<l, eicfllr<l 
hiniiM^lf, fur he neither iiMliilucd in lii« uminl |MiuiHlini», nor 
did lie utterly iunore the fnctn that the |ieilal — if ii«otl 
at all — must lie haiidhNl (If tiuil eKprcmioii lie allowable) 
with the iitnimt rare and delinicy. It is hy no means cer- 
tain that the really artixlic element, which is |)erhap« latent 
in Mr. K.*s oruaiii/ntion, may not yet amert itself In a 
worthy and RmtifyiiiR m.inner; at all evetitji his efllirts on 
Tucwlay evenio;; were highly creditable to his taste, Judg- 
niait, and M!ir-coiitrul. 

llie Goldmark (juinict is an utiRraiefiil nfTair, and is a 
striking illiistrntion of tlie way in which miwicianly treat- 
ment can be es|icodcd u|Mm themcii and UMitivea that are 
undeniably commoii|daoe and in some iiistancea even trlvfaJ. 
It is wearidome by rrnson of its excittsive lengtli. It wu 
well played by Mr. Kummell and tlie club. 

This same chib Is ihiiin; a capital wtirk here and dcMirea 
he!U-ty encourni^ment; aiuee the days of tlie Mason and 
Thomas concerts we ha\-e had only sporadic eases of eliani- 
lier miiKic, until of late years Messrs. Arnold and Wenier 
started the present orRanixnlion. Mr. W. ^•who la the 
iHHliie^^ man of the concern— has grrat cnerRy, eicelient 
administrative ca|Kicity, and an anient deairo to ailvaiiee the 
Interests of good niiiidc among us; long may he wave! 
llie third Some will occur on Tuesday, Jan. 6, J88(). 

Anout. 



ll.\i.TiMOKK, Okc. 15 llie fidlowinK la tlie pmgramme 

of Uie Seventh Sliitlent's Concert Riven on Saturday last at 
the Tcnliody Con!«<rvat<»ry, and to my mind the meet Inter- 
eNtiiiR of those itistructive eiHioerta tbiie lar: — > 

J. Ilavdn. 17:t'2-18.KI. 

Striiiu (^inrtel. U-flat major. Work 70. No. 1. Tbe 
fourth from the last of his striiiR-qoartete. 

Messrs. Allen, Fiiicke, Sebaefer, and Jmgnlekel. 
J. 8. IWich iriM:i.l760. 

(a) Air fmm the WhiUnntide eantaU. For eoprano, or- 
gan, and violoiicrllo obliRato. 

Mi-*^ UzfM KriiRer, ex-stiident of the Conaarralory. 

(b) Toccata, K miiittr. For piano. 

Miss Affiles Ibmi, stnilent of the Conaenrateiy, Mill yatf. 
Arthur Sullivan. I8l!|. 

Soiit^i for so|)rano and piano. 

«* I jet me dream aRain.** 

" The kwt chord.** 

Mhis LInie Krtiger. 
Emil llartmann. 18-10- 

.Serenade. A mi^r. Work 24. THo for piano, viotto, 
and vifdoncello. 

" !dyl.*» 

M Itoniance.** 

o Hondo — finale.** 
>nss Sarah Schoenlierg, student of the Conservatory, sixth 
year, ^femrs. Fiiicke and Jungnickel. 

Tlie symphony coneerta, for want of sutncient anhaerlp. 
tlons, will probably he pushed oOT into tlie middle of .Ian- 
nary, unless the 1'caliody Institution doea the proper thing 
by advnneinR the requisite nrrrwi rtmm very auon. 

On tho 8th pros. Sullivan Is to be wdleonied here in a 
Rrniid concert by a Urge oreliestra and chonis, rehearsals for 
which are already In proRres*. 

Jwhi ' .yfnccntkfn$ was |irodnccd hero hist week by the 
llciirew Young Men's Society wider the direetloo of Itabbl 
Dr. Kevser. '' " 



C. F. 



CntrAoo, Dkc. 10. — Our new music hall has been opened 
to the public. The A|miIIo (Inb gave the Arat performance, 
presentinR llofmann'a CiWf rr/Zf , with Miss Utia, Miss Mc- 
(*arthy, and Mr. Oscar Steins as solnista. Tliey had an 
orchestra of about forty men, and tlie ehama namtiered one 
hundred and fifty sitiRers. Ilefore speakhig of the perform- 
ance, a word or two In resard to the new hall may not be 
out of plaee. •« Central Mmrie Hall,** ae lU name Implica, 
ts located In the eentreof the biisinesa portion of evr elty, 
and Is thna aeeesslble to the people (torn the north, aooth, 
and we«t parU of the town, for all the greet Hnea of bon»- 
eart have their termini at thie point Tbe erehlleetiiral pro- 
porthNio of tbe bolMIng are eneh m to gtve It a father Im- 
peeing and hMdeooM eppcannee. TU p"*' '^' ' 



lie in Rood pro|tortioii. Two Rallerlcs ran roniid the buikl- 
inR hi iMime-shoe shape; tlie k>wrrone Mng what h termed 
tlie dresH-eirefe. In the eeiliiiR Is a l<enuliftil sk>licht, rover- 
Ing an area of l,(KiO square fcct,''whieli is fUbnl with a |irrtty 
eoinbination of slaiiNil Rlass, inifinrtinR a lirilliant ap|iear-> 
ance to the roof. The (lnon rise Rnidually aa they recede 
from the slaRc,lhiis aflbnlinR, from every line of seata, a fnll 
view of the platform. Tlie seats are theatre cludrs, only 
more roomy thiin those In Reneral use; and, allhoiiRh tliefe 
are places for 2,<NMI |M*rsirtis, every seat hi a gomi one. In 
the |iartpiet-cireh> there are ten stall-lioies, and eiRht In tlie 
dress-circle alMive; while on eltlier siile of the upper Ralh»rj 
there are tlin*o pavilion lioKea, handsmiiely dconratcil la 
silver and blue. I'lie frrsooiiiR is varied In form and eolor, 
einbracliiR nuiiilirriess tints, from tlie soft grey to bright 
mis, witli enotiRh silver and Rold to allbrd contrast, lii- 
deeil, the wliulc ap|ieamiiee of the hall Is brittbint, and had 
It a tlieatro slsije, it niiRht lie rightly ti'nned an o|ieni 
house. On either shle «if tlui stsRe are two vacant places. 
c«»verc«l for tlie present with drajiery, wliicli in the near 
future are to lie Alinl with the orRan; this In out want ap- 
licarance will lie dlviiletl Into two fiarts. Tlie foyer Is riehly 
oniaiiieiite«l, and eoveivtl with a baiHlsoine car|iet, and con- 
tains some LirRS mirrors; it em lieent olT from the amli- 
torium hy curtains, which may lie drawn at pleasure. 
There are pretty dnsasinR a|iartiuenta for the kMliea, and even 
a smoking-room for Reiitlemen, while every attention baa 
liecfi Riven to |irovide rtcefition rooms for tlie artists and 
oreheHtra at the st.iRe eml of the ImH. ChicaRO la greatly 
iudeliicd to Mr. (ieoree R. Carpenter and the wealthy Ren- 
tfemeii who aided him in his enlcrprfaie for thus giring ua a 
honic for our many musical performances. While we may 
not lioast of a ball ae grand and lm|iosing ae tbe Mnsie Hall 
of lloKton, we have at least jNie that ia elegant, roomy, and 
eomfortablr. 

Tlie (Imhrrlin of Hofmann, although not as broad n 
work as his Fair JA/ifMan, is a composition that coiitaiiia 
some very lieautiful music, and linlieatca that a talented 
musician has written It. Terhapa at times there la a sng. 
Rcstlon of WaRuer in the InstniniMitation, and one or two 
numlien contain a hint or two of a musical tho«Rht not 
altoRi>tlier his own; yet there Is wiifonu esoellenee In the 
cmistriiction of tlie work that speaks of talent. If not of 
genius, llie first seetie hitrodueea na to tlie fairiea In tbe 
Rfove, and contains some pretty choruses, and a little atdo 
work for tlie Fairy ({neen — (contralto voicel. Scetie H. 
** III tlie King's l.aud,** Introduces, besides the chorus, a 
long solo for the king (baritone). Scene HI. o|iens with a 
solo for (*inderelU (soprano), and contains some pretty 
music. Seme IV. Introduces the liall-room musie, and tlie 
mertiiiR of CiiMlerelbi and tbe kiiiR. There is a very eharm- 
iiiR vslse movement and chorus in this portion of the work, 
and tliero Is a briRhtncss and lieauty aliout It that eeema to 
paint the picture of the fairy4ike Rraee ami niystle fovell- 
ness of the scene in tone-colors most attractive. Scene V. 
pktnres tlie kiiiR in the Forest endcavoriiig to And Cln- 
dereila. One chonis — •«WiU o* tbe Wispe**— has a 
very interesting >movement, and is very pleasinR. The cloe- 
ing chorus — a march movement — le a very licantiful cU- 
mai, and brings tbe little story to a charming termina- 
tion. 

llie Apollo Club, midcr the direction of Mr. Tonilins, 
has nmde great proRress since last season. Their singing 
had a finish and an excellenee mora marked than ever be- 
fore. In tills club t\9rj member is made to nnderstand 
what promptness meana, and there Is an IntelliRcnce In their 
work that shoan that each Individiuil sincrr miderstands bis 
part. 'Ilins we find a unity In their eborna work that ad- 
mits of ei|ire«iion and purpose. Miss Litta did as well aa 
eouM beeipected, coneidcring that her voice Is mora adapted 
for brilliant music of the operatic style. Her einging was 
sweet and synqiathetie, and, if not fully eatlafactory, at leist 
not displeasing. Mr. Steins, who came from St. I^onhi to 
sing tbe part of tbe king, has not a eorreet metliod, or 
school of sitiRing: while be cave the mnsie with some at- 
tempt at some ex|iression and idea, )-et he was not satisfying 
in tlie n'ile. To Rliss McCarthy one must accord fnll praise. 
On the day of the cmicert the lady who came fhmi Ihsiton 
to sinR the nmsic of the C^teen was aniionnecd ae mialde to 
ap|iear, and ahhoiiRh Miss Me(*arthy had never seen the 
seoR until that mominR, she pre|iared the fong and difllcnlt 
part for tlie evenluR |ierfurmaiire. Of ennrse the did not do 
iierself Justice, hat she saiiR the mnsie with bnt fow sheri- 
comiuRa, and she deserves high praise Ibr aldfav tbe dnb fai 
Ita emercency. 

Saturday evening the lleetboren Society gave ene of Its 
monthly reimlons, presenting to Ita many pelroM tbe fol- 
fowing attractive programme: — 
Snito for Vfolln, (a) rnrlndlnm, (b) Mennett . • JUa, 

Mr. Ori Ileeker. 
Trio Ibr yoleee,<« The Holy Night,'* .... Umm. 

Mrs. Stacy, Misa Moran, and Mrs. RaB. 
Solo for Vfolonecno, (n) Ave Maria .... AeMerl. 

»{h) Noetame CktpbL 

Mr. Rkbhelm. 
PlMM, (A) ahmbireong, (*) F4ude • . . 

Owl Wolfoohn. 
Songi, («) « SebwiiRaamkelt.** WDi 

Beib eeMMMr 1Vm<* 

Mr.JMMQII. 



^0|flMM. 



208 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XXXIX— No. 1009- 



Arfas frmi «• \jk Cemfvniola ** 

Mi«i Juliii Monin. 

Qiiintct, frr riano and Strinii InntnimmtJi . ,Miumnfm, 

McMN. Wolbokn, U<MimlirekcT, lleekffr, Allai, mmI 

Kiehbeim. 

The iiHMt important nnniltcr wm the QiiintH of Aehii> 
■imnn, which wan finely prH««nnMl. Jllr. Srhortifelrf, a jrtHini; 
pimiflt who hM'JitNt retitnicd from Kiimpn, wMMtnmiticH 
to play, Imi aa he waa prevniie*! I»jr illiteM fitmi appearinc, 
Mr. Wolfrohn ipMre two of hi* own eonipfMiitoiM inatrad. 
The Rtnitt k a brifsht and plra«ine cninpnaitioii. Nrxt 
IVieariay the IWlhovfti Sortrty wiM ci%-e Max llnich*a art- 
UnRof "The f^y of the Itell.'* with aoWi, fttll orclieatra, 
end ehome. At the prfaent lime we are harlnf; nonie coii> 
eerie by the Mme. rarlotfa ]*atU coniMiialion. The pn>. 
graminea have been of the popular onlir, erabraeini* all the 
time-wom aeleeiiofia that Mnie. I'atti ptve ua yearn at^n. 
Mr. Toedt, the tenor, wae cend enoairh to ainf 'tome tier- 
man aoncMf which, amM aU the comnHNiplace iclectkma of 
the other •Incem, were mont rrfircabine. The time will 
ahortly come wheit thla ** popular ** ntder of pmcramme will 
have to co oat of eiiatenre; for one can are that eren the 
artitt of anme name aitd akin baa almoat lout tlie |Mtwer to 
bold the Attention of an andletice with them. lict ua bare 
teal niiiaic, that pmcfciima ita rii;ht to Ura by Ha noble aen- 
timetit and refltieil beanty. C II. II. 



MfLWAtiRKK, Dkc. li. — Hie Arion Clab i^re the flrat 
perr<iimianee in Anierira of llnfniann'a (/indrrelU, Dec. 4. 
Tlie lilifHto la ftlnilraMy adapteil to ita pnrpnne. and the 
mnaie ia eridnitly the wiirk of a tery talented and acrom- 
plialied ninaieian. Tlte niebaltra and rhithma are fbte and 
ellei«iif«, the harmony altomida in nne«|iecfed and oild. but 
beantiftel, modnlatimia and cidenrea, the inatrumentatiiMi ia 
very rieh, and the charaeterirJiUon admirable. 

ilie fierformanee of the f 'Inb \t4i little or not bine to lie 
deain<d, ainl Mr. TiMnlina cnmliicted Mler than I ever knew 
him to do, and that la aa) ine a fsrt%i deal. 

The aiditiota were Utia, who dbl her |inrt anperlily, Miaa 
Jnlia A. Wella, of Ibtatmi, who did hera to the di«iatiafac' 
tlon of erervlNMlr, ami Mr. (War Sirine, a 8t. \im\» bari- 
ton**, who waa moderately Mieeea«ful. 

WilbHmJ idaycd bereaqain hee. 7th, e^vinc va a eon. 
certo by Max limcb, ami a •• Itridal Smi« ** by Max V»- 
l^irh, with piano and atrini* qnintet aceiimpaniment. He 
elan leil a qnartet (the Heine fomUy) In the andante and va> 
riatioiia frtim Srbeniiert'a H minor Qnartet. The lleinea 
pla>etl the find imnremmt of a piano quartet by ltel«ai*«rr, 
t)p. 108. Mr. Vof»rich |ilayed the flrat movement of the 
Som'ita ApptMtHMM and I Jaxt*a Sftmnirnhnh^ and ahowed 
by what he did and wliat he di«l not d«t that he k a virtmiao 
and alao that he k not a ereat aniNt. At lea«t, if be la, 
he will neetl to abow it In ntlicr thiiif;^, and there k a atHMi*; 
pffeanm|ition that he k not. Mme. Sahiitti la not a ain*4er 
In wlioae praiai* I can aay mtieh. 

l*he l*atU e«Mnbination cave a nmeert here laat nif;ht, 
with a liffht proi;ramine. Mme. Palii waa In luwl voice. In 
fiict totally onflt Ia ahi^: abe aeema to ha%-e lieeii in the 
■ime comlition durin;; the whole of Iter Weateni trip. It 
icema hardly 'honeat lo ae<T|ii tlie bij^h pricea ebarceil. on 
the atrength of her ra|tnt«lbn. Sneh a thiiifr mi'*bt lie ex* 
cnacfl once or twice, but wheti it la ke|)t np fi>r weeka It 
bioka much like a iwintlk. Mr. He Miinrk baa a mtble, 
limail, •ympathcilc tone, and eonaiimniate eceeniiitn. Mr. 
Ketten |da>ed a Handel Ihrnrrit and MeiNb*l4«ilm*« fa. 
prlccio, (>p. IA, No. 2, in a very artialk and aaliafa<*tiiry way. 
Ilk pla)incof tlie fJast SeroiMl l(ba|Miidy w»a aMonitldncly 
freaky, and by no meaiia pnH ie. but nia<*t«rlr in point of 
vktnodty. Mr. Toetlt'a teiMir voice ia pttwerfiil and well 
trained, and hk Bt}k fpitiA fur what be attetii|ilcd. Kig. 
CUm|ii-f 'elli^ waa on tlie wbole le«i aattafaetory. 

The 2tl7th Concert of I lie Mmdeal .Sitclety linm*;bt na a 
nikeelkneoiia firnsramnie of mak chomaea, aoprano aoloa, 
(tiy Miaa Jennie I>allon, of (1ileai«o, a |deaains and eond 
linger), viidtn aolna, aiHl, Anally, l(i*ineeke*a ** Schiieewitt- 
chen,'* a pleaain^ chibra |iiere. (Miirrbeii). The chomaea 
were done exceUently. The violin aoloa wefe by Mr. t?nr1 
TrolL a new comer here, and were not remarkalde either for 
Ipwd tone or hr ttyle or Interpretation. Ilk execution k 
ffry pHM* J. C ¥• 



MUSICAL intelligf:nce. 

Thr Arat Unlveraity Conoert oocmred on Tlinraday e%-en- 
\%t% of thk week, at the .Handt^ra 'llieaire In CamliridKe. 
We ahatt repoK It In <Nir next nnndier. 

— Tlie arcond Harvard 8rm|ilMmy tVmeert cornea on 
Thnraday allenioon, Jan. I. Tlie iimi^ramme will lie fonnd 
among.our adwrtkemcnta. In tlie tltinl concert. Jan. IA, 
the Pbathnmona S>mphmiy by Ilemiann (toetx, which baa 
lieen ao ninch ailmlrrd In fSemianyand Kncland, will be 
fiven fbr the fkat time in thk eoontry. In tlie Ibnith eon- 
ecfi, Jan. S9, the Mficoteh ** Symphony by Mendckanhn, 
and prolMildy ako the charminf nitk •< Oxfted ** Kymphonv 
by llaydn, the Entr*ecte fhrni Cheniliinra J/iWca, a repHl- 
tknof Mr.Chadwick'a/Ei> V*m Wint-le Oerrtmrt.tU. The 
fiwti^ttttU frtnUttlypw, by Ikrlioa, will Acme to the iflh 
amicart, Feb. IS; lkethov«n*a No. 4, In D-ial, to the alxtb, 
with Mendekaohn*8 Oeiei by all the elrii^p, and pmbaMy a 
l*tomilbite GeMtito ptoycd by Mr. liuif . The new featmv 
•r Ike tfiwiUi eoMcrt will be iVfifmut Mm** Mg^riiif '* 



Symphony, — Ha Anit paldk pcrfar man ee. Fee the cichth 
and kat ia reaerwtl the errat 5khnl*ert Symphnny **of 
heavenly IctiKth/* and (Arat time) tlie Coneertatttek, C>|i. All, 
f«ir Aair hnnta with nreheaira, by Sebnmann. (HImt Inter- 
eating featnnw of tlie aerica, aoh> artiata, etc., will be an- 
nottiiccd in dne time. 

— Mr. Alapleaon*a Italian Opera Company will perform 
Air two weeka ai the Ikaton Theatre, liii{lnnini( Ike. £1, 
with MIk. Marimoii (who refilacea (Seraier) to /xi Sitmrnttm- 
hmhi, llie anreeeflinc wiM lie of the very familkr kind: 

MfiMNi. ami /jn Tr»iriftitt. Tht eimipany Inclu'ka ^Iine. 
lialilacbe, Mme. Caliiile Tkcioli (l>etter km>wn in IbiHmi aa 
.Miaa Ilmitky), Inline. Anlllr^ Mllea. MarinMm, Vakrie, 
llotikU, (Vy, Si««iHini famiainini, IM l*uente, (Sraaai, 
UiiKihlini, llehrena, Telaldi, Uiiiicio, C;ab8ai, and MoiiU- 
Ardttl will conduct. 

— The firat of a aerica of ftnir aacred eonoerta will l« 
ld*eit in tlie new Novelty Theatre, comer Dover and Waah> 
inutiNi Strreta, iM^nninj* to-innrrnwevenlnt;, when Roaaiiii*8 
Strt&it Mrtitr will lie amiK. Mra. Cbarlea fxaia. Miaa f 1ar.« 
I'oole, Mr. (Inrlea K. Adama and Mr. \\ M. Ikliriirk will 
anidaln tlie aiilo parta. and a full elwinta iif ex|iertt^trr«l 
aincrra will miite with an orehestra, to ^ive a iHile«t<rtliy 
rendering of tliia Uillinnt and alwa^a |«i|iiikr wiirk. The 
aecoiid |Kirt of the enncift will coiiaiiit of a well arbvted and 
hitorrMtiiig programme of miacdbuieuua ninaic by aoktiata and 
elioraa. 

— A acaaon of twelve peKnrmancea of Knsllah opera will 
W givm ill tlie tilolie 'lliratre dttring next March, in which 
Mra. 11. M. Smith, Mi«a .^himier, .Miaa Kmnia S. Howe, 
.Mm. (;ef«r4c rptfMi, Miaa Md'ann, Mixa AMNitt, Miaa tjlara 
l*iMik, .Mia*-. Ilirton. Mr. Tower, Mr. Want, Mr. Tanfman. 
Mr. Mark Smith. Mr. Hay, Mr. IUItc«irk ami Mr (liarka 
It. Adama will take part. •* f a Jnive.** «• The .Muck Iketor,** 
«*M!irtlia," 'MW aux Clerra," "Oimn hkinomK** and 
** Taniibliiiarr ** will lie priHlnred. The Ibaiton tiperttk 
Society — fomietl for the pnr|inae of ailvanrini; Ihia object — 
will fnmiwh tlie elmrna. which will niinitH>r <ine hmidred 
trainefl vitirra. llMie will lie a foH orrlN-Htra, nmbT the 
Iratlrrahip of Mr. Xerrahn ami Mr. Mulkly. 'Hie fimdnc- 
tion and itreibiratitHi of the ofieraa will lie iiiiilfT tlie itiime<ll- 
ate cbart;e of Mr. f*harka K. Ad.tms wkMe ability and 
ample eiperknee At him periiliarly for anch work. The 
atiiiarription price Air the twelve prHbrniaiieea, with n^aerred 
aeat In flrehe«tra or liaktmy, vill lie ten dtdlara. Kubaerip 
tlon |ia|iera will lie put In eimtlation at teire. 

— Tlie prviiriimineN of the .lo^rfTv riaieerta have lieen made 
otit in |eirt, and crrtninly cive pnmiiae of much enjoyment. 
The IbMtmi riiilhamioiik Orclieatra. Jlrmhard IJatemann, 
rmidnetor, will aaaiat on all tbrve oecaaion<, and tiie Adbiw- 
ititf work a will lie aimHu' J^iarfTr'a aebt>ti«Mia: Tneaday wen- 
ins, Jaimary 13 -.emirerto In K fkt. Ikethnvm: piiiio-Airte 
aokw: ronmt*t hi K flat, l>xt. Frifky evenine, January 
111 — ciMicerto K miiMir, (.'bopin: plano-Awte aokia: Hun- 
ipiri:ui flatitaak, IJaxt. S.itiinlay aftemnoii, Jaimary 17 — 
arcmid etairerto In K minor, tiioiiin; ctaicerte to E-fkl, 
Ikelhoreii; andante, afiianalo and iMdrmake, fhopin. 

— Next Mmiday evening the Cecilia wiA pnrAirm with 
orchedra, fiir the Arat time here, a very interrating and im- 
imrtant work, the Olynew (Dlyriea) vf Max llroeh. The 
Club baa had prqitred an Ar.;nmentof ita atory, eovering 
akmt the whok Arid fif Homer'* CMyaaey, which we copy on 
another pa':e. kir. Charka It. Adama k to iiiiK the Kde of 
IJ|)a^*a, which aiiita him admirably. Tlie A|iidk C'lnb, 
t4io, ia preparing an im|iortant work for Ita next eonecrt, 
the fKtitjuit nt 0«/oaiv« by Metwkkaohn. 

FOKKIGN. 

T/>Niin:f. The MtnidMl SMmlttrti (Dee. A) baa the Ad- 
kwing paragraph) what k aaki in tlie btter imrtion of It k 
a|i|ilical»k to mir own omntry aa well aa to Kiiclaml: ^> 

•• Tlie wiiiier niualcal acaaon la imw at iti height, t^aa. 
Hical mnaie |iro|ier Aimriahea at tlie tV^atal l*alMe and tlie 
Sattinlay and Mianlay PofmUr Coneerta; and St. Janiea*a 
Halt k ofiened on almnat every night of every week Aw a eon- 
CiTt of wmie kimi or oilier. Italian opera, at cheap pricea, 
la mnning gayly at Her Majcaiy't Tliealre, ^ fMrmn on 
Tueailay, J/i//noa on WcfliM'ailay, Cnrmtn on llinraday. 
hthrnf/rim on Friday, and Alln to-day, leprnwnting the 
|ireaait atate of afTaira at that huiiae. Conevtla are licing 
given ni^^litly all over tlie cimntry: and bi tlie uveat ceiitm 
bi'^b-rlaica vrtirk k lieing diaie in all directioiia for the iprcnd 
of a hive of mnaical art anMMigal all ckaaea. Ilimiingliam, 
Matirlieater, Ikiatol, Uver|iool, limla, Kdinlinrgh, (flaagow, 
are all Iniay in tliia reapect; ami the leaaer towiia have, moat 
of them, their ehnral anekfy, eiindneted by llie Imlrfatigabk 
chnreh-organiat or bical prefeaaur of mna'k. In the midat 
of thii niiialeal atlr and activity, we woubl rmilnd onr reml- 
era of llilkr'a remark abmit hk own cnmitry, — that If 
thert wert kaa mnaie, peopk wonM poaalbly be nNire mnakalt 
and nntil pnbTie laate k cnhivaled to higher atandaida there 
k aome Cnir that the aprmd of mnalrat knnwkdge will not 
bring na any looiier tlie rrpnto ef being • a mnakal natkn.* 
Cbmlnetnri and pmmoCera ef aoektka ean do mnefa by firaily 
and Indkhmaly deeltoing to prodlMe wimt k noi good, to 
ekvato pnldk taato. The amemt ef nibldah whkh oflrn 
feaeheew to the way ef • Mew Senge ' fcr review— and 
•owe of whkh we aee down In programmce only fonaHen — 
profca how mn&mrf H k to etcfeke eve to the aeketkn ef 



thing: the reapenaibiliiy rnda with theae who, knowing Ihk 
fart, pander to the pnldk, and aeeure fbr theniaelvea Icm* 
portrv applanae ami proAt by tinging and ptoying eneh 
itnflr.** 

-* Manrice Dengrement, the twe]Te*year.oM hoy whoaa 
pkytng of tlie Mendrl«Mdm violin concerto at a reeent Crya- 
Ul l*akee eihiltition tmdi all London by atonn, k aaM to be 
coming to thk emintry next year. Nothing Kke hk pcr- 
fbrmance had been heard ainee Vknxtempa'a debut to the 
aame pkee and tbe aame piece twenty-five jceie heliirf. 
Ilk pbotc«rapha ahow him a charmtoe-'koking littk lellev 
In Kniekerl^irkera, with a leftoed, totelligenC, and ijympa- 

thelk face, and Imaliy, wavy hak Tribmue. 

— The ninth t>Tatal l*abce Conceit hod Aw ptegmmme: 

S>-m|dmnk. ''Ia Chaaae *' • . ihffttm» 

Seena, ^Ah! la^Ado!** #c<fA«rcn. 

Mme. licmniena-olwrringieB. 
Cuncerio kr l*iaiitdbrti. and Orehcatra (MS.) 

0iiAKe^ie#fie. 
P kn o f erte, Mtai Knho. 
Ueeit , •• I A Ika dl tntle oar," and aria, •« IMto 

adorata Incognita '* MtrtnHamtt. 

Mr. Shaktepeare. 
Varlatlone Abt the Orehcatra on a theme by Haydn, 

iVrvfiiatf. 

Song, ulna diatani land" Tnmhftt, 

largo, from •• .Srnw ** li»9»»UL 

.\mingeti for thirin, Sok Vklin, Harp, Violine, and 
Vinlaa, by llellmeaberger. 

Orcrtnre. «<Der FieiaehttU*' K'rArr. 

Condnctor . . . Anffuat .Manne. 
Miaa MItian Ikiley w.i« to have nia«le lier Arat apfiear- 
anee at tliCNe coiieerta, Imt o«in<* to illiieaa vraa eomfdh^d 
to diaappidiit tbe amiletiee, who wrfi*, however, well aiip- 
plied with a aidiatitute to the perMin of Mme. I^emmene- 
Sherrington, who nunle a grvat ini|ireaninn by her aplciidnl 
aincrin*; of l1«v4boveira wr^ntk ami 1*aMl«tt*i anns. 

Of Mr. Sliake«|ieare*a cmicerto mnch might be aaid In 
praiae ^4 the Ih^lk faner. eraceful at>k, and ttownnKh nm- 
akknahip diapk.vefl In iia eonipoaifiim. Tlie aenrimr k ex. 
celknt, ami the fdanoAwte |iart afluided anipk oppnrtmiity 
Aw Miaa Kiihe to dk{ilay brr maalify of the Inalmioeid, and 
her thtwimgh ntideratandnig of tbe meaning of the com- 



— M. Sainl-5iacna k to make hia Arat appearatiee to day, 
when be will pky hk third concerto, fbr piano ami orcheatni, 
mmI eondnet hk poiMiie aympkmiqne, •• Ia l{«mct d*t>u- 
phak.*' 

M.«xciiEaTKii, Rxo. — At a recent perAwniaiiee of Jm4 § 
AftircihmnM, under tlie dirrction of f Imrlra |]atk\ the prin- 
H|ial aimjrra were Miaa Lilian Ikikv, Mra. Warren. Mnie. 
I*.itey, Mr. Ikrtiei M'tinckin, and'llrrr llm«-bel. Tlie 
Kj^Mthtr aaya: •• .Miaa Ikikv'a voire ia a |im« aiqirano of 
ayniimtbWicfpiaHty.iiwceterand more eipn'^otve imltvd than 
imwrrfnl, Imt aa tlie yoim:: ertiat nr\-rr overeat iuialea Iter 
reaiNirce«, the liatmrr k never olletideil by ani thine bke 
undue Aireinc Miaa IJIlkn Ikiky baa evblenily etO<(>ed 
tlie ailvantagea of inoat careful traiiibtg, and alie' hail err- 
lainly carefully atmlicfl the mnak. A more leAncd and nww 
rret d«>livery of the pathHk aong * rbma (kgka * we have 
aebtoni lirani At ita end tliera waa baid aiqilaoae frmu 
every |iait of the hall, ami even' more mtbiiaiaalk manileala- 
timia of approval Adkared her Iwillknt delivery of • Frrjm 
Miirbty Kiii^ra/ which only wanted a liuk nuee al«tidan 
to lie all tliat CfMibl Iw deaired, and Iter mit kaa eflvctito 
rrmlering of * So ahall the tote and harp awako.* It will 
certainly lie Miaa iJIIian lUiky^a own fanit if alie dnea not 
■ecure a |iermancnt pbee to the ranka of Knfrlkh onturto 
aiiigeri.** 

Lp.trxin. — The crrat afltrMtlon at tlie aixth Gewandham 
Conerrt waa Mme. C *kra Schumann, wIm perftirmcd Iketho- 
vcira Coticerto in C* migor. a Schenn by Mendelawdm, and 
aimie fiiecea by Ikalinia. Slie waa greatly a|ipkndeil and ee- 
ealkd. Tbe concert <i|«ncd with an vnpuldiabol overture, 
entitled Fmu Arrntiure, co m pnaed by the kte Frani eon 
llolatcin, and aenred by hia frimd. ANwK Dictrkh. — M. 
ly-o Iklilm' comk opera. Le ifta ttt 4it^ hae been fivor- 
ably rccei^vd at the Stadttheater. 



Pa ma — At the Concert l*o|«kire on Sunday. Nov. tl, 
M. Taadeionp, director, the And act of IVrlh«*8 1^ Prite dtf 
Trttie waa anng. lltlier nnmlirra of the prugramme were: 
lkethoven*a Arat Symphony: Allegretto agitato of Sletidvk- 
aohn{ liirghctto by llandd, with oboe eok; .U«ir<Ar *Vtw, 
by M. V. Joncb'fra. 

-^ At the Clifitekt, on the aame day, the pnigranune wee: 
Fragmcnfla fhrnt Seh«nann*a Mtnt/reHf Ak fhnn Romtoi'a 
^»V.9e </ Cnrinth^ arnig by Fame: Se i e na de. Op. A, ef 
Ikethnven; FiagmenU Ihen Ktknrn^ Mnrett^ by Satot* 
Snim; OvcitOTi to OArron, M. Coknne, oondndor. 

MoRfCfi. . Ilerr Edmvd Slgl began on the 14th nR., 
at tbe Theaijv Royal, the ecklirBtkn of hk AfUcth enni- 
vermry aa haiao there. In hk honor />m buHfftn ITcAer 
rnn Wimthar waa per f er m e il . he hhnaelf toipermnathtir 8k 
JohnFaktai;a part to whkh he nmd grtatly to dkttognkh 
Mmaelf. On the frilowtog rrittoy he appealed aa 
to liortstog*e WOdtekiiu, and e e n ci nd i d Ike oM 
Ikw daye aHerwarda hy iwdeftokhig Ihi 
I Darteto to IVr B lei^ Mn Aetfto. 



•r D». 



DWIGHTS 



JOUMAL OF MUSIC. 



^ ^a^jct: of ^vt iittA l^ittKatttre. 



JOHN S. DWIGHT, Editor. 



VOLUME XL 



BOSTON: 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY. 

1880. 



Reprint Edition 1967 

JOHNSON REPRINT CORP. ARNO PRESS, INC. 

New York— London New York, N.Y. 

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 67-24725 



Manufactured in the U.S.A. by Amo Press Inc. 



VOLUMES XXXIX & XL 



1879-1880 



INDEX. 



Acting, How the French learn it iMuf . Tiwui, 

xxziz, 116 

dmm, Adolph. His Faust Ballet, . . . zl, 106 
'amowski, Hmoth^ 4\ , zzxiz, 152, 182 ; xl. M 

Adams, Charles R. xl, 78, 192 

Additional AccompaDiroents to scores of Bach, 

Handel, etc. W,F,A,, . xxxix, 178, 188, 190 
" JBsthetics of Musical Art," Dr. Hand's. PaU 

Mall Go*., xl, 162 

*' Aida," and its Author. Dr. E. Hansliek, xl, 201 
" A Rose by any other name," etc. Famny Ray- 
mond fitter, xxxix, 18 

Aatorga: His SUbat Mater. IW. N. E,) 

xxnx, 188; Do., 180 

Award of the Thousand Dollar Priie, at Cin- 
cinnati, xl, 28 

Abt: Paihtino, SonLPTuss, etc. 

Our Fatnten: The new Departurs. T, O. A. 

zsodx, 6 

Life Sebor.ls, aod More. X, zulz, IS 

Wm. M. Hunt's Talks on Art. Second Series. Be- 

Kw feed by Miss H. M. Knowlton, . xxxix, 44, 
, 00t69, 78. 84, 08. 101, lOe, 12B, 1»» 141, 140. 197, 
M4, 172,181, 196^; . . . ... . .xl, IS, 22 

Beal and Ideal tn French Art. W, F, A., . xxxix, 107 
Death of WUUam M. Hunt. T. O, A. Do., Mi$M 

KnowlUm, xxxix, 107 

Letter from Florenoe. **Odo," .... xxxix, 84 
Delacroix, xxxix, SS, 41 

Bacli-Biting. W. F. Apth<frp xxxix, 36 

Bach, J. S. His Orchestral Suite in D, xxxix, 
15 ; Motet : ** Sing to the Lord," xxxix, 46 ; 
Concertos for three Pianos, xxxix, 29, xl, 
206; Cantatas, xxxix, 80, 111, xl, 83, 96; 
St. Matthew Passion Music, entire in two 
performances on Good Friday, xxxix. 60, 
78; Chorals, xxxix. 94; Pianoforte Com- 
positions, xxxix, 137, 146; xl, 96; An al- 
leged unpublisKed MS. ■ xl, 136 

Bailey, Miss Lillian, xl. 174, 192 

Barker, C. S. Inrentor of the Pneumatic Lever, 
xl, 8 

Bamett, J. F. His CanUta "The Building of 
the Ship," xl, 188 

BeethoYen : his String Quartets, xxxix, 22, 64, 
90 ; Piano Sonatas, xxxix, 64, 164, 182 ; xl, 
1 ; Heroic Symphony, xxxix, 62 ; Nmth do. 
xl, 86; Seventh do. 197; fifth do. 206; his 
arrangement of Scotch and Irish Songs, 
with trio accompaniment, xxxix, 190, 197; 
Missa Soleronis, xl, 96; Triple Concerto, 
xxxix, 206 

Beethoven, at the height of his Activity. From 
Thayer^M third volume, xxxix, 76, 90 ; his re- 
markable Concert C'Akademie") at Vien- 
na, 90; Thayer's Biography, xl.29; B.and 
Vipnna {Banslick), xl, 100; B. and his Mu- 
sic, Loud. M\u. Standard, xl, 130; Wagner 
on, 140; his VioUn {A. TT. T. )..... 166 

" Beggar's Opera," the. Sprimfidd lUpHbUcan. 
{A, W.TX xxxix, 148, 186 

Benedict, Sir Julius. Grov^g Dictionary, . xl, 108 

Berlioz, H.: his "Flight into Egypt,**^ xxxix, 
37, 197 ; Symphonic Fantastique, xxxix, 47, 
(Schumann) xl, 21 ; "L'Enfance du Christ," 
{W. F. A.) xxxix, 196; Do. {Ed), 206; 
Song,"Tlie Captive," xxxix, 207; "Prise 
de Troie," N. Y. Mua. Beo., xl. 11 ; "Dam- 
nation de Faust." xl, 36, 88, 39, 49, 68, 87, 
121, 191, 207 

Berlioz : Stephen Heller on, xxxix, 67: his Mus- 
ical Creed, 91 ; his Letters {Ed. Hantliek), 
xxxix, 97; Do. xl, 149; B. on Beethoven s 
Fourth Symphony, xl, 41 

Bernhardt, Mile. Sara, the French actress. 
Mrs. F. R. Ritter xl, 206 

Bizet, Georges: his "Carmen," xxxix, 14; his 
life, by A. Marmontel, .... xl, 146, 166 

Blind, the, in Music, xxxix, 110; xl, 110, 162, 
180, 189 

Boieldieu: his "John of Paris," Handick, xl, 10 

Boito: his " Mefistofele," . xl, 128, 138, 189, 204 



Book Kotiobb: 

Apple Blcssoms : Verses of two Children, E. A D. 

K. Goodale. F. H. U. xxxix, 4 

A Masqne of Poets. F.H.U. .... xxxix. 6 
Henry James's ** Society the Bedeemed Form of 

Man," C. P.C. xxxix, 44 

Mother^Plav and Nursery Sonos. From Froebel. 

J.R.A xxxU. IS 

O. W. Holmes's Memoir of J. L. Motley. F. H. If. 

xxxix, 88 
Pole's " The PhUosophy of Mnsie.'* /. 8. D. 

xxxix, 141 
Thomas Hardy's ** BetwB of the Native." F. H. U. 

xxxix, 88 
" Zophiel," by Maria del Ooddente. F. H. V. 

xxxix, 78 

Borg, Miss Selma: her Orchestral Concert of 
Norse Music, xxxix, 96 

Boecovitx, the pianist, in Chicago,' . . . xl, 167 

Brahms, Job. : his Sestet, op. 18, xxxix, 37, 66; 
Choral Hymn, xxxix, 46: Second Sym- 
phony, xxxix, 46; Deutsches Requiem, 
{HamUck) xxxix, 201 

Brassin, Louis: his Piano Concerto in F, xl, . 39 

Bronsart, H. von : his Trio in G>minor, xxxix, 
64; P. F. Concerto xl, 61 

Bruch, Max : his " Frithjofs Saga," xxxix, 39; 
" Odysseus," xxxix, 39, 204, xl,6, 14 ; " Lay 
of the Bell," 166; xl, 7 

Buck, Dudley : his Prixe Cantata : «The Gold- 
en Legend," xl, 28, 91, 96 ; his Comic Opera, 
" The Mormons," 192 

Bull, Ole: his 70th Birthday at Cambridge, xl, 
82; his career and death, ... 143, 169, 202 

Billow, H. von : Beethoven Recitals in London, 
xxxix, 3: Concerts hi Hanover, . xxxix, 104 



Campbell, F. J., the blind Educator of the blind ; 
bis ascent of Mt Blanc, . . . . xl, 180, 189 

CeciUa (Club) : President's Report, 1879. xxxix, 183 
—Do., 1880, xl, 163 

Chadwick, George W. His Overture " Rip van 
Winkle," .... xxxix, 184, 206; xl, 31 

Chamber Music, Dr. F. L. Ritter's Lectures on, 
.••«.. xl, 116, 126 

Cherubini : his Overture to "Anacreon," xxxix, 
29 ; Prelude to thhrd act of " Medea," xl, 30 ; 
String QuarteU, 78, 178, 198; D-minor 
Mass 82 

Chopin, and George Sand : a Study by Fanny 
R. Ritter, xxxix, 2, 9, 26, 38, 41, 66, 78, 81 ; 
A Souvenir of, T. G. A., 18 ; Anecdote of, 
104 ; his Compositions, 177 ; Lisst on C, re- 
viewed by Hamliek, xxxix, 186; An Even- 
ing with (Lisst), 203 

Church Music, Reform in : Lecture of Eugene 
Thayer, xl, 126, 132 

Cincinnati: College of Music, xxxix, 23, 31, 32, 
71, 96, 103, 111, 127; xl, 66, 144, 176; San- 

fer-Fest (June, 1879), xxxix, 124; Biennial 
estival (May, 1879), .... xl, 80, 96, 192 
Cochrane, Miss Jessie, the Pianist, . . xxxix, 64 
Cohen, Henr^ : his " Marguerite et Faust," xl, 97 

College Feativals, Music at, xl, 117 

COVCBRTB IH BoeTOH: 

Apollo Glob. . . . xxxix, 46, 86 ; xl. 80, 62. 108, 307 
Borg, Miss Selma: Orohestral Ckuioert of Norse 

Music, xxxix, SB 

Boston Conservatory, . . . xxxix, 190; xl, 23, Tl, 191 
Boylston Club. . . xxxix. 40, 108, 189; xl, 28, 68, 102 
C a mp a n a ri , Sig., and Mme. Penis Bell C, xxxix, 176 

Campbell, Miss Teresa Carreoo, xl, 47 

Cappiani, Mme., xxxix, 46, 306; xl, 81 

Ceoftia, The, xxxix, 80, 79, 86 (Preeldenrs Report), 

188; xl, 6, 14, 47, 78, 108 

Currier, Mr. T. P. xxxix, 96 

Douste Children, xxxix, 32 

Dunham, Mr. H. M. Organ Beeitals, .... xl, 71 
Eddy, H. Clarence : Organ Bedtal, . . . xxxix, 80 
Eichberg. Julias : Violin Classes, xxxix. 7, 78; xl, n 
Episoopai Parish Choirs : Fourth Festival, xxxix, 

86, 94 
Euterpe : Chamber Concerts, . . xxxix, 31, 87, 64, 

n ; Second Season, 306,^x1, 14, 89,78, 307 

FeoU, Arthur, xxxix,88;xl, 68 

Frehoek, Mrs. L. 8 xl, 68 

Hanchett, H. G xxxix, 63, 190 



CoHOSBTS IN BosTOir: 

Handel and Haydn Society: " Messiah " at Chrlst- 
mss, xxxix, 14; xl, 6; Miseellaneoas Progmmme, 




E;gypt, xl, 61; Fflfoi Triennial Festival (May, 

IWO), xl,70,n,86, 98 

Uarrard Musical Association: 14th Season of 8ym> 
phony Concerts, xxxix, 6. If, 29, 88, 46. 68. 63; 16th 
SeMon, 110, 306; xl. 18, 80, 88, 47, 64, «l; l6th Sea- 
son, 110, 19T 

Hill, Junius W xl, 108 

Joseiry. Baphael, xxxU, 182; xl, 84, 94; (with WU- 

helmi. etc), 168 

King, Oliyer xl, 174 

Lang, B. J., xxxix, 84; xl, 78; Berlioc's ** Faust,'* , 

87, 191, 207 

Liebling, S xxxix, 61 

Locke, Warren A. (Cambridge), . . . xxxix, 94 
Maurer, Miss Henrietta. .... xxxix. 111; xl, 47 

Mendelssohn Quintette Club, xxxix, 166 

New Treniont Temple; Organ Exhibition, xl, 174; 

"Messisb,"174;''^E]iJah> 174 

Old Bay State Course, xl,*191 

Orth, John, xxxix, 61; xl, 71 

Osgood, George L. xxxix, 86 

Paui, Mme. Carlotta, xxxix, 176 

Perabo, Ernst, xl. 81, 63, IQX 

Perry, Mr. Edward B xxxU, 108, 190, 198 

Philharmonic Orchestra: xxxix, 110, 181, 190, 196, 

306; Second Season, xl, 190, 187 
Preston, John A., xxxix, 46; xl, 108; Organ Concerts, 

176, 182 

Redpath Boston I^rceum, xxxix, 166, 176 

Sherwood, Wm. H., Ten Piano Recitals, xxxix, 80, 

Concert with Mr. A. Deseve, xl, 190 

Blmonds, Mrs. Anna Maybew, xxxix. 111 

Sherwood, Allen and Fries, xxxix, 79 

Sumner, O. W., Piano Concert, xxxix, 16 

Testimonial to J. S. Dwight, xl. 196, 308 

Tucker, n. G xl, 103 

University Concerts. Cambridge, xl, 6, 14, 33, 81, 47, 

68, 64 

Ware, Miss Josephine E xxxix, 68 

Whiting, Arthur B xl, 102 

Wilhelmi and Di MurskJL xxxix, 7 

Conservatoire, the, in Paris, xl, 8 

Corelli, Arcangelo, xl, 126 

CoxmBSPOVDBHCB : 

Aurora, N. Y xl, 112 

Ballimore, xxxix, 8. 16, 24, 30, 66. 71, 79. 96, 176, 199, 

207; xl. 16, 34, 40, 48, 66. «i 76, 88. 108, 207 
Chicago, xxxix, 8, 81, 89, 47, 66, 64, 72, 80. 87, 96, 108, 
112, 119, 160, 176, 188, 191, 199, 207; xl, t, 16, 24, 40, 

68, 80, 98, 167, 176. 188. 199, 306 
Cincinnati. . xxxix, 38, 81, 66, 71, 96, 111, m; xl, 96 

Defiance, O xxxix, 148 

Florence, Italy, xl, 64 

l^l^g xl 48 

Milwaukie, xxxix, 16. 81, 46, 66, 64, 80, 87, 106, 119*, 

161, 184, 192, 190, 206; xl, 88, 66, 72, 88, 112, 17A, 188 

Newport. R. I., xxxix, 8; xl, 168 

Kew Yoric, xxxix, 7, 16, 28, 80, 88, 47, 68, 79, 198, 307; 

xl, 16, 28, 82, 89, 48, 66, 63, 72, 191, 199, 204, 306 

Paris, xxxix, 8, 47 

Philadelphia, . xxxix, 7, 34, 80, 89, 66, 87, 148; xl, 68 

Princeton, Ind xxxix, 186 

ProTidence, R. I., . . xxxix, 60, 86; xl, 7, 34, 66, 71 

St. Louis, Mo. xxxix, 161 

Trieste, Austria, xl, 198 

Tokio, J»pen xl, 186, 161 

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., . . . . xl, 108 
Wilkesbarre, Pa., xxxix, 106 

Cramer, J. B xxxix, 161 

Craxj Critics. Lend. Mut. Standard, . . xl, 107 

Culture and Music. Lond. Mu$. Standiard, xxxix, 182 

Days in Normandy. Julia Ward Hove, xxxix, 11 

Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited bv 
. Qeorse Grove, xl, 166 

Display, Inflaence of in Music. C. H. Brittan. 
xxxix, 107 

Douste Children, The, ...... xxxix, 22 

Drama, the LyricaL G. A. Mac/arrm, xl, 124, 
180, 139 

Dresden: Reminiscences of a week there in 
1860, J.S.D xl, 109, 146 

Dvorak. Anton. Dr. E. Handick, . . . xX 2 

Dwighrs Journal of Music: Salutation, (Jan. 
1879), xxxix, 6; Plans for 1880, 178; An- 
other year; Testimonial Concert to Its 
Editor, xl, 206 

Dyspepsia, Musical, xl, 184 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC — INDEX. 



ui 



Eisteddfod, a GeinuuL Tonic Sol-Fa Reporter, 
xl, 173 

Emma of Nevada. A. W, T, xl, 196 

Euterpe, The : a new Musical Society in Boston, 
xxzix, 21 

Expressive Power of Music, The. W, F, 
Apthorp, xxxix, 77 

Fashion in Music. W. F. Ajpthorp, . xxxix, 166 
Faust. Goethe's: the Musical Versions of, 
Adolphe JtUlien, xl, 80, 97, 105, 113, 121, 129, 
137, (See also Berlioz, Bbito, and Liszt), 
Field, John : his Sonatas, etc. . . . xxxix, 161 
Five Sonatas at a sitting. Lond. Mu$. Standard, 

xxxix, 3 

Flautist, a Lady: Maria BianchinL HansUck, 

xl, 60 

Foote, Arthur W. .... xxxix, 88,— xl, 63 

Folk Songs, Russian. Fomuv R, Bitter, . xl, 34 

Form, Musical Prof. Mac/arren, . . xxxix, 179 

Franz, Robert: his Songs, xxxix, 85; Is he a 

Failure (in his added accompaniments to 

Bach and Handel Scores) ? W. F, Apthorp, 

xxxix, 173, 183, 190 

Gabrieli, Giovanni: his Benedictus in twelve 

real parts, xxxix, 85 

German Schools, Musical Instruction in, xxxix, 131 
Gerster^ardini, Mme. Etelka, xxxix, 13, 23; in 

Berlin (Die Gegenumrt), .... xxxix, 17 
Glnck: his Operas {G. A. Mac/arren), xl, 139; 
with Wagner's additions to the scores, 196; 

his Overtures, 195 

Goetz, Hermann, and his Symphony in F. xxxix, 
40, — xl, 22 ; CanUta, " NoBuia," xxxix, 143 ; 
Opera "Taming of the Shrew," xl, 37; 
187th Psalm: "By the Waters of Baby- 
lon," iW.N.E.), 51 

Gounod, Charles F. His "Faust," . . . xl, 129 
Gregoir, Joseph : his " Faust " music, . . xl, 97 
Grieg, Edward: his Quartet, Op. 27, xl, 7; 

piano Concerto in A-minor, . . . . xl, 190 
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, xl, 165 
Gueymard, Louis : his career and death, . xl, 133 

Hanchett, H. G. His unique Circular and Con- 
certs xxxix, 62, 190 

Handel: hu "Messiah" in Italy, xxxix, 128; 
his will and other relics, 144 ; The Leipzig 
edition of his complete works (Part 27, 
Chamber Music), xl, 2 ; his " Solomon " {J. 
S. D.), 75, 94: "Utrecht Jubilate" {J. S. 
Z).), 83 ; Concertos for Organ and Orchestra, 
114; hlsItaUan Operas, 132; " Alessandro,'' 197 

Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston : its in- 
fluence in other places, xxxix, 10 ; Annual 
Report of the President (June, 1879), 100; 
Annual Meetmg (June, 1880), 96; Do., 
President's Address 99 

Hanslick, Dr. Eduard : hb musical lectures in 
Pesth, xl, 8 ; from his critical writings : on 
the letters of Berlioz, xxxix, 97; on His- 
torical BalleU in Paris, 171 ; on Lavoix's 
Histor^r of Instrumentation, 172 ; on Liszt's 
" Chopin," 185 ; on a Wagnerian attack on 
Schumann, 185 ; on " Idomeneo " in Vienna, 
193; on Music in Vienna (Brahm's "Deut- 
sches Reauiem," etc.)i 201 ; on Boieldieu's 
"John of Paris," xl, 11; on Schubert's 
"Des Teufels Lustschloss," xl, 16; on the 
Mozart Week in Vienna, 42, 50; on Hiller 
and Zelter in Vienna, 74 ; on a Liszt-ian Pro- 
gramme, 82; on Beethoven and Vienna, 
100 ; on Jacques Offenbach, 187 ; on " Aida " 
and its author, 201 

Harvard University; its Musical Clubs. (J. 

5. />.), xxxix, 147; Do: Reminiscences of 
an ex-Pierian, 155, 163 ; music in its annual 
festivals, xl, 117 ; proposed performance of 
"CSdipusT^rannus," 196 

Hauk, Miss Minnie, in " Carmen," . . xxxix, 14 
Haydn : his Symphonv in D (No, 14), xxxix, 
54 ; his Piano works, xxxix, 154 : his " Sea- 
sons," xl, 87 

Hearing Music on Compulsion. J,S.D. xxxix, 126 
Hegel on the "Content" (Inhalt) of Music. 

W. S. B. Mathews, xl, 33 

Heller, Stejphen: on Hector Berlioz, . xxxix, 57 
Henschel, (Seorg, . . . . xl, 119, 191, 204, 207 
Hensel, S. His "Die FamUie Mendelssohn," 

xl, 17, 25, 29 

Hiller, Ferd. and 2elter in Vienna, xl, 74; his 

"Faust "Overture, 105 

H. M S. Pinafore, xxxix, 118 

Homer versus " Pinafore." Fortnightly Review, 

xxxix, 115 

Household Music. Geo. T, BuUina, ... xl, 142 
How the French learn to act London Times, 

xxxix, 116 

Hummel : his Piano Works, .... xxxix. 161 
Hunt, William Morris: Obituary notices. T. 

6. A. and Miss Knowlton, . . . xxxix, 157 



Influence of Display in Music. C H, Brittan, 
xxxix, 107 

Is Robert Franz a Failure? W, F, A. xxxix, 
173, 188, 190 

" Italophobia." W. F. A xxxix, 21 

Ivry, Blarquis D' : his Opera " Les Amants de 
Verone." Lond. Academy, . . . xxxix, 104 

Japan: Mr. L. W. Mason's Music-teaching in 
iuSchools, xl, 95, 135, 151 

Joachim, Joseph. Pesther Lloyd, xxxix, 50; 
and Clara Schumann, in Inresden, 1860 (J. 
S.D.),.., xl, 109, 145 

Joseffy, Raphael: in New York {Tribune), 
xxxix, 172, xl, 40, 48, 55 ; in Boston, xxxix, 
182,xl,82, 79, 94 

Jullien, Adolphe : on the Musical Versions of 
Goethe's " Faust," xl, 89, 97, 105, 113, 121, 
129, 137 

Karasowski's Life of Chopin, . . xxxix, 2, 9, 25 
Kellogg, Miss Fannyi the Sin^r, . xxxix, 15, 16 
King, Mme. Julia Riv^, the Pianist, xxxix, 63, 71 
King, Oliver : Pianist and Composer for Orches- 
tra xl, 174, 181 

Krebs, Carl: Obituary, xl, 115 

Kreissmann, August : Obituary notices and trib- 
utes, xxxix, 61, 72 ; Address by F. H. Under- 
wood before the Orpheus Musical Society, 123 
Kreutzer,Conradin: his "Faust" Music, . xl, 97 

Lassen, Eduard: his Musical Adaptation of 
Goethe's "Faust." ....... xl, 98 

Leipzig Conservalorium, The, described by a 

young English Ladv, xl, 141 

Leipziger Strasse, No. 8. From "Die Familie 

Mendelssohn " by Hensel, . . . xl, 17, 25 
Letters from an Island. Fanny Raymond Rit- 
ter, .... xxxix, 92, 117 ; xl, 18, 34, 44 

Liebling, S., the pianist, xxxix, 61 

Lindpaintner : his " Faust " music, . . . xl, 90 
Idsztian Programme, A. Hanslick, . . . xl, 82 
Liszt, Franz: his Hungarian Fantasia, xxxix, 
62; xl, 190; "Benediction de Dieu dans 
le SoUtude," xxxix, 85; his "Chopin" 
{Hanslick), 185; his "Faust Symphony," 
206; xl, 67, 105; his Career {Grove's Dic- 
tionary), xl, 20, 27, 35; Do. (Gartenlaube), 
161, 169; Catalogue of his Works, 85, 43; 

his Dante " Inferno," . . 197 

Local Orchestras : Plan of. C. Villiers Stanford. 

xl,142 

Locke, Warren A xxxix, 93 

London "Monday Popular Concerts": their 
Rise and Progress. Mus. Standard, xl, 

148, 154, 166 

Luther, Martin, as a Musician, . . . xxxix, 164 
Lyceum Bureau Concerts, . . . xxxix, 159, 166 
Lyrical Drama, The. G. A. Macfarren, xl, 124, 
130, 139 

&lalibran, Maria Felicitdt {Grove's DictX xxxix, 180 
Bilarsick, M., the Belgian Violinist {Jaanslick), 

. ........... XXXIX, ^Stt 

Mason, William, Mus. Doc. His "Pianoforte 
Technics. C. B. Cady, . . . xxxix, 28, 35 

Mason, Lowell, Mus. Doc. A. W. Thayer. 
xxxix, 186, 195 

Massenet, M. His Opera " II R^ di Lahore." 
xxxix, 128 

Mendelssohn, Die Familie, b^ Hensel, xxxix, 
24, 40; xl, 17, 25, 29; his many pursuits 
{Grove's Diet.), xl, 49, 57, 65; his desire to 
compose " Faust," 137 

Mendelssohn : his B*flat Quintet, xxxix, 37 ; his 
Octet, xl, 26, 46, 71 ; " St. Paul," xl, 77 ; 
43d Psalm, 84; Overture " Meeresstille," 
etc xl, 206 

Mephistophelian Mummery. Lond. Mus. Stand- 
ard, xl, 138 

Moscheles, Ignaz, as a piano composer, xxxix, 169 

Mozart, as a dramatic composer {F. L. Ritter), 
xxxix, 49; a Portrait of, 152; Mozart 
Week in Vienna, xl, 50 ; his Skull, ... 90 

Mozart : his Piano Concerto in A-major, xxxix, 
15; Cone, for two pianos, 140; "Magic 
Flute," xxxix, 23 ; Leporello's" Catalogue " 
Aria, xxxix, 49 ; Quintet in Gr-minor, xxxix, 
55; Quartets, xl, 14; his "Idomeneo" in 
Vienna {Hanslick), xxxix, 193; Sympho- 
nies, xl, 13 

Murska, MUe. Di, xxxix. 7 

Music Abboad. [See also Cobrbsfohdbiicx.J 

Aiz-la^?hapeUe, zxziz, 128 

Baden-Baden, xxxix, 40 ; xl, 104, 119 

Bayrenth, xl, 168 

Berlin, . . xxxix, 104 ; xl, 89, 09, 119, 128, 180, 184, 200 

Birniingham, Eng., xxxix, 136, 108, 162 

Bologna, xl, 136 

Bonn, xl, 69, 93 

Bniisels, xl, 38, 128, 136 

Cologne, . . . xxxix, 186; xl, 69, 77. 104, 112, 173, 200 

Copeuhsgen, xl, 168 

DiSdenT. xl, 29, 103, 112. 136 

DQsseldorf, xl, 160 



Music. 

Florenoe xl. 64, n 

Fnmkforton-llaln, xl, 8, 176 

Gloocetter, Eng. xl, 160 

Hambor^, xl, 38 

Hannorer, xxxix, 104, 168 ; xl, 8 

Hereford, Eng., xxxix, 136 

Lelpiig, xxxix. 40, 48, 80, 136, 144, 192, 200, 208; xl, 

8, 21, 88, 46, 60, 77. 108, 119, 128, 160, 184, 206 

Leeds, Eng. xl, 168, 183 

LiTerpool, xl, 76 

London, xxxix, 40, 46, 64. 88, 104. 112, 120. 128, 144, 

160, 168, 176, 192, 200, 206 ; xl. 8. 87, 46, t6, A, 92. 

104, lU, 118, 122, 128, 136, 148, m, 168, 184, 189, 900 

Manohester, Eng., xxxix, 206 

Melningen, xl, 184 

Moaoow, xl, 70 

Munich, xxxix, 206 

Oxford uniTerrity, xL 111 

Paris, xxxix, 40. 64, 80. 96. 104, 136, 144, 168, 176, 200 

208; xl, 3, 8, 12. 29, 46, H, 112, 136, 144, 184, 200 

Peeih, xl, 8, 184 

BatUbon xxxix, 144 

Borne, xxxix, 128 ; xl, 8. 96, 184 

Stnttgart, xxxix, 40 

St. Petersburg, . . . xxxix, 104 ; xl, 69, 119, 136. 168 

Trieste xl. 198 

Utrecht, xl, 119 

Vienna, xxxix, 88, 102; xl, 8, 10, 16, 29, 36, 42. BO, 82. 

98, 116» 128, 162, 184, 200 
Wiesbaden, xl, 77 

Musical Colleges, Academies, Consenratories : 
at ancinnati, xxxix, 32, 103, 127, 200 ; xl, 
56, 72, 176; Philadelphia, xxxix, 18; Vas- 
sar, xl, 103; Paris, xl, 3, 144; Boston, xl, 
23, 71, 191; Normal Mus. Institute, at Can- 
andaigua, N. T., xl, 136 ; Leipzig Ck>nserTa- 
torium, 141 

Musical Festiyals : of Episcopal Parish Choirs 
in Boston, xxxix, 85, 04 ; Leeds, Engl, xl, 
168, 183 ; Saengerf est at Cincinnati, xxxix, 
111, 112, 124; Cincinnati (fourth Biennial), 
xl, 80, 91, 05 ; Bhenish at Aix-la-Chapelle 
(1879) xxxix, 128; Cologne, xl, 77, 104, 112, 
173; at Salzburg, xxxix, 139; Birmingham 
(Engl.), xxxix, 155, 158, 162 ; Handel Fest. 
London, xl, fiK2, 118; Worcester, Mass., 
xxxix, 166, xl, 144; Fifth Triennial of Bos- 
ton Handel and Haydn Society, xl, 70, 77, 
84,85, 93, 99; Utrecht, 119 

'* Musically Mad." Lond. Times. . . . xl, 126 

Musical Education, Thoughts on {W, F. A.) 
xxxix, 93, 101; in German Schools (Dr. 
W. Langhaus), 131; Form (Macfarren), 
xxxix, 179; Prejudice {W. F. A.), xl,6; 
Commentators {W. F. .4.), 30; Notation, 
( C. B. Qady), 66 ; « Dyspepsia " (J.' S. D.), 
134; Advertising {W. F. A.), l&O; Chats 
{G.TBuUing), 164,171 

Music Hall, Boston : in danger of Vandal " Im- 
proTement," xxxix, 77, 160 

Music : in the West (C. H. Brittan), xxxix, 10; 
its Expressive Power ( W. F, Apthorp), 77 ; 
with the Blind, 110, xl, UO, 162, 180, 189; 
M. and Culture {Lond. Mus. Standard), 
xxxix, 122; heard on compulsion, 126; 
Fashion in ( W. F. A.), 166 ; " M. and Musi- 
cians," Schumann's {F. L. Ritter), 178, 187, 
194, 202 ; " Content " of, Hegel on ( W. S. B. 
Mathews), xl, 33; a Practical View of (N. 
Lincoln), 41 ; " Scientific," ( W. F. A.\ 101 ; 
at Collese Festivals (/. S. D.), xl, 117; at 
English Universities, 170 ; in the Low Coun- 
tries, 170 ; Prof. Macfarren's Lecture on, 179 

Musical Iktellioehcb, Amxbicah. (See 

NOTBS AKD GlXAHIKGS.) 

Musicians in Motley. Lond. Mus. World, . xl, 101 
" Musiker " and " Musikant" {J. S. D.), . xl, 117 

Nohl, Ludwig: his Life of Beethoven {Prof. 

Franz Gehrinq) xxxix, 114 

Normandy, Days m. Julia Ward Howe, xxxix, 11 
Norman-Neruda, Mme. Wilma. H. Von Buelov, xl, 60 

Notation, Musical. C. B. Cady xl, 66 

NoTBS AND Glbanimos: Local Ibtbllioekcb : — 

Albany, N. Y.. xxxix. 168, 200 

Anbtim, N. Y., xxzix, 120 

Aurora, N. Y., xl, 192 

Boston, xxxix, 66, 72. 120, 127, 128. 102, 166. 176, 184, 
102, 199, 206 ; xl, 16, 24, 82, 40, 66, 80, 96. 110. 119, 

143, 161, 160, 167. 176. 192 
Bnffslo. N. Y., ......••...• xl, 120 

Cambridge, Mass., . . xxxix, 48, 65, 199 ; xl, 32, 40, 176 

Chicago xxxix, 40, 112, 136 ; xl. 160 

Cincinnati, xxxix, 82, 48, 88, 108, il2, 160, 184, 200 ; 

xl, 66, 72, 80, 144, 176, 192 

Canandaigna, N. Y., xxxix, 88 

Dayton, O. xl, 104 

Detroit. xxxix, 120 ; xl, 72 

New York and Brooklyn, xxxix, 80, 127, 136, 161, 
162, 160, 168, 184, 192, 200 ; xl, 16, 66, 72, 104, 120, 

160. 167, 192 

Philadelphia. xxxix, 186, 200 ; xl, 16, 82 

Pittsbuiffh, Pa., xxxix, 88 

Pittsflela, Mass., xxxix, 32 

Salem, Mass. xl, 16 

San Franoitoo, xxxix, 82 

Stoneham, Mass., xl, 192 

Syracuse, 17. Y., xxxix, 128 

Winchester, Mass., xxxix, 190^ 

Wellesley, Mass., . xxxix, 40, 96, 120 ; xl, 72, 120, 196 
Woroestar, Mass xxxix, 160; xl, 120, 144, 168 

Offenhach, Jacques : his death sjkl his career. 
{Chicago Tribune), . xl, 171; ^Hanslick), 187 



IV 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC— INDEX. 



Ontlow, George, A MarmorUel, .... xl, 106 

Opera, Shortcominn of {Waiter B. Lawton), 
xxzix, 19, 27, 96; English, origin of, 148; 
Fk«nch, archiret of, x], 36 

Opera Abroad: in Berlin, xxxix, 61, 104; xl, 

20. 09, 128, 160, 184, 200 

in London, xxxix, 104, 128, 208 ; xl, 8, 28. 

. •. 37,93,118.128, 135 

in Paris, xxxix, 144 ; xl, 8, »), 46, 112. 144, 200 
in Vienna, xxxix, 193; xl. 8, 10, 16, 29, 42. 

CO, 184, 200 

in DreMien, xl, 29. lO-'i, 130 

inHambnrgh.xl, 38; Frankfort. . . xl. 170 

inLeipxig xl, 69. 77, 103. 119. 128 

in St Petersburg xl,69. 119. 1:I0 

inBnisaels, 128, VVS 

inTrieste xl, 198 

Opera: in Boston (Her Majesty's Theatre, I^on- 
don), xxxix, 18, 23; iis Prospects, xxxix, 
152 ; xl, 161 ; " Ideal " Company, xxxix, 176 
in Chicago, xxxix, 31, 66, 136, 183, 199 ; xl, 

24 100 208 
in 'Philadelphia, . . xxxix. 39*, 143 

in Milwaukie, xxxix, 64 

In New York, xxxix, 127, 184, 192, 200; xl, 

167, 204 

in Baltimore, . . . xxxix, 176 ; xl, 24, 48 
in New Orleans, xl, 120 

Orcliestral Societies in Boston, xxxix, 110; xl, 
110 ; Question, the, . . . xl. 6, 142, 150, 168 

Orchestras: Tlieatrical {Philadehthia Bulhihi), 
xxxix, 144; Local (C. ViUiert Stanford), x\, 142 

Organ, The: Wanted a Composer for (//. B. 
Statkam), xl, 0; at the New Tremont Tem- 
ple xl, 176 

Originality in Music, False notions of, G. A. 
Macfarrtn, xxxix, 179 

Otis, Philo A. His 121st Psalm (Chicago Trib- 
WM) xl, 133 

OTerture, The, its origin and development 

(Grog's Dictionary), xl, 196, 204 

Paine, Prof. J. K. His *' Spring" Symphony, 
xl, 63 

Palestrina : Republication of his works, xxxix, 
61 ; his life and music i W. N. Eawrs), . . C9 

Paris ; its Conservatoire ana Classical Concerts, 
{Corr. Chicago Tribvne), xl, 8 

Parker, J. C. li. His " Redemption Hynm," 
xxxix, 37 

Pathetic Fallacy, Tlie. T. G. A. . . xxxix, 43 

Pianoforte: Wm. Mason's Technics, (C B. 
Cadjf), xxxix, 28,36; Playing, the Brain 
In {W. S. B. Mathewi,) 139; Music, devel- 
opment of from Bach to Schumann (C 
Van Brugcl\ 130, 137, 146, 164, 161. 169, 177 

Pierian Sodality, the, ot Harvard College, 
xxxix. 147. lo6. 163 

Pierson, Hugh. His Music to Goethe's " Faiist." 
A.Ju/tien xl, 97 

"Pinafore," Homer versw. xxxix, 116; {J, iS. 
D.) 118 

POBTXT : — 

To Thaliarchos. TnuisL from Horace. C, P, 

Crameh zzzix, 1 

T. Apollo. Tnuisl. from Horao«. C. P, CroMch, . 
Afnan Song. Fannv Roffmond Ritter, .... 17 
ToTublias vlrKllius Bfaro. Transl. from Horao«. 

C. P, i^romek, 33 

Sonnet. Simart Steme, 41 

Poand. From Goethe. M. E. Harmon, .... 49 
Seaslo. Stwirt8ttm€,%\. 105, 113, 121, 129, 13Z, 140, 103 
Songi, translated from Mlrsa-Schaffy. Fannff Hag- 

mond RUIer, xl, 19 

Bnsrian Folk-Sona. Famnw HoMmond RUter, . . 34 
goDgs, Kasslan, Greek, Oriental, Maori. Fannjf 

Raymond RUter, 44 

XMalogne between an Inquiring Tonng Musician 

and a Doctor of U^e "AOTanced^* School. Ltmri, 

Mm. World, zl. 129 

Sonnets : To an Artist. Stuart Sterne 103 

A Finnish Rone. Transl. by Fohmw Raymond 

RUter, 189 

Prejudice m Music, W, F. A xl. 6 

Preston, John A., the pianist, xxxix, 46; his 

Organ ReciUls xl. 177. 182 

l^gramme Music. A. W. Thaiier, . xxxix, 76 
I*rout, Ebeneier: his Cantata "Hereward the 

Wake." fjond. Afut. Standard, . xxxix, 107 
Public, the, and the Virtuoso. W, F. Apthorp, 

xxxix, 11 



Purcell, as an Opera Composer, 



xl, 18 



97 



Radzi will. Prince : his " Faust *' Music, . xl. 

Raff, Joachim : his Symphonies, xxxix, 38, 190, 

20:]; xl, 180, 190; bis Suite in C. op. 101, 

xxxix. 64; String Quartet "Die Sclione 

Mullerin." 96; xl, 79; his Career, . . xl, 68 

Rasoumowsky Quartet, the. A. W. Thayer, 

• ••......... xxxix, In/ 

Reform in 'Church Music : Mr. Eugene Thayer's 

Lecture. xl. 126, 132 

Reeves, Herbert, son of Sims Reeves, the Tenor. 

xl, HI 

RcisMiger. C. G. His Quartet, op. Ill (/?. Schu- 

Mtnnt) xl, 178 

Renienyi, the Hungarian Violinist, . xxxix, 8 
Richter, Ernst Fricdrich : Obituary, . xxxix. 82 
Ricliter. the Conductor, in London, . xl, 119, 123 
Rietz. Julius: his ''Faust "Music. . . . xl, 97 
Ritter, Dr. F. L. His Ix^cture on Chamber- 
Music. {N. }'. Mm. Her.), . . . xl, 116, 126 
Rive-King. Mme., the Pianist, xxxix. 71, xl, 46 
Roda, Ferdinand de : his " Faust" Drama, xl, 96 
Rossini : hi^ Stabat Mater, xxxix, 72 ; his " Le 
Comte Ory," xl.200; how he wrote "Otel- 
lo" (Aier. DttfuaM), xxxix, 170; his pro- 
posed " Faust " Opera (A. Jullieu), . xl, 137 
Rubinstein. Anton : his Piano Concerto in G, 
No. 3. xxxix, 54; " Ocean " Symphony, xl, 

13; his Songs. xxxix, 86, 94 

Hummel, Franz, the Pianist, . . xxxix. 38, 198 
Russian Folk-Songs. Funny Raymond Ritter. 

xl, 34 44 

"Ruth Burrage Room," The: Letter from b\ 
J. Iaimj xxxix, 127 



Saint-Saens, Camille : hU " Phaeton," xxxix, 
29; "The Lyre and the Harp" xxxix, 
162; "Rouet d' Omphale," xxxix, 190; 
"Deluge." xl, 84 

Salvi, Lorenzo : Obituary, .... xxxix, 60 

Sand, George, and Chopin. Fmmy Raymond 
Ritter, xxxix. . 2,9,26,38,41,66,73, 81 

Schaplcr, Julius : his Prize Quartet {Schumann), 
xl, 193 

Schindler-Beethoven Papers, The. A. W. 

Thayer xl, 166 

Schubert. Franz: his Unfinished Svmphony, 
xxxix, 16; Symphony in C, xl, 37; ms 
Piano Music, xxxix, 161 ; " Des Teufels 
Lustschloss," xl, 16 ; his Overtures, xl, 22 ; 
Chamber-Music, xl, 66; I is " Faust" Songs, 
xl, 89 

Schulz, Chretien : his " Faust" Overture, xl, 106 

Schumann, Clara and Joachim: Dresden in 
1860 {J. S. IJ.) xl, 109, 146 

Schumann: his Symphony in C, xxxix, 29; 
his " Manfred '^ music, xl, 73. 78, 81 ; String 
Quartets, xl, 7 ; his Song Series : *' Frauen- 
Liebe und Leben," xxxix. 86; Piano Works, 
xxxix, 177. 102; Overture to "Julius 
Cesar," xl, 197 ; his " Music and Musi- 
cians" {F. L. Ritter), xxxix, 178, 187, 194, 
202; {J. S. />.). xl. 182; a Wagnerian at- 
tack on {ilanJick), xxxix, 186; on String 
QuarteU xl, 177, 186, 193 

" ScienUficallv." W. F. A xl, 101 

Seller. Mme. Emma : her School of Vocal Art 
in Philadelphia xxxix, 136 

Sherwood, Wm. H. xxxix, 96; xl, 72; his 
Normal Institute xl, 96 

Singing Clubs : Report of the President of the 
Cecilia, xxxix, 133 

Smart, Henry : Obituary, xxxix, 136 

Sonatas : Five at a Sitting, xxxix, 8 

Sonata, The, as an art form, xxxix, 138, 146, 
161 ; the physical basis of unity between its 
different movements ( W. S. B. Matkew§), 
xl, 1 

Spohr : his " Last Judgment," {J. S. D.), xl, 66 ; 
his Opera " Faust,^' xl, 118 

Sternberg, Constantin, the Russian Pianist, (6'. 

T. Bulling), xl, 168 

Strauss, Joseph : his " Faust " opera, . . xl, 89 

Suite, The, as an art form, .... xxxix, 138 



Sullivan, Arthur: his Career, xxxix, 146; his 
" Prodigal Son," 196; in Victoria Street, xl, 
12 ; his " Martyr of Antioch," 186 

Svendsen, Johann : his Symphony in D, xxxix, 104 

Thayer, A. W. His life of Beethoven, Vol. Ill, 
xxxix, 24; xl, 29; Translations from, 76, 
90; Nohl's Criticisms on, . . . . xxxix, 114 
Theatrical "Tremolo" Fiend, The, . xxxix, i:« 
Theatrical Orchestras (Phila. Bu/Utin), xxxix, 144 
Thomas, Theodore, in Cincinnati, xxxix, 31. 
Ill, 100; his retirement from the College 
of Music, xl, 72 ; Conducts the Cincinnati 

Festival 96 

Thursby, Miss Emma, in Piaris and London. 

xxxix, HO 

Tone-Quality. Geo. T. Bidling, . . . xxxix, 106 
Toujours Perdrix : Nohl rs. l*hayer on Beetlio- 

ven. Prof. Franz Gehrintj, . . . xxxix, 114 
Tremont Temple, (Boston) ; the New Hall and 

its Organ xl, 174, l7o 

Tchaikowsky: his Piano Concerto in B-flat 
minor, xxxix, 198 ; his Miniature March, xl. 197 

University Music in England, xl, 170; at Har- 
vard, 176, xl. 117 

Vandal " Improvement" : Boston Music Hall in 
Danger, xxxix, 77, 160, 184 

Vassar College, F. R. R. xxxix, 92, 117 ; (A, Z.) 
xl, 103 

Veit, W. H. His Second Quartet reviewed bv 
Schumann, xl, 186 

Verdi : his Manzoni Requiem, xl, 86, 86, 112, 
126; his " Aida" and its Author {R. Han*- 
lick), 201 ; his String Quartet in £-minor, 
xxxix, 111 

Vienna and Beethoven. E. Handick, . . xl. 100 

Violin Classes, Julius Eichberg's, xxxix, 7, — 
xl, 23; Collectors, xxxix, 64; Violin and 
bow Piano : a California Invention, 174 ; 
" Violin Fairy," the': Mme. Neruda, xl, 69; 
v., Beethoven's, 166 ; V. Story in five acts 
(C. H. Brittan), 52 

Virtuoso, The, and Public. W. F. Apthurp, 

xxxix, I 

Virtuosity. Some peculiar phases of . W.F.A. 
xxxix, 53 

Vocal Clubs: their rapid spread in England, 
xxxix, 188; the orchestra question m, xl, 5 

Wagner, Richard: his relations with Berlioz, 
xxxix, 99; his "Work and Mission," ad- 
dressed to the New World, 171 ; from his 
book on Beethoven, xl. 140 ; his Theories 
( W. S. Rocketro, in Grovt*9 Dictionary), \kA, 
161 ; a French View of (Henri maze de 
Bury), 172 ; Compared with Gluck (Hans- 
lif'k) 196 

Wagner, Richard : " Siegfried Idyl," xxxix 16, 
64 ; " Gotter diimmerunff " at Vienna (Han - 
slick), xxxix, 67 ; his "Faust Overture," xl. 100 

Wagnerian Attack on Schumann (Hanslick), 
xxxix. 185; Appeal to American (Freiherr 
run Wolzot/en), xl, 4 

Wanted — a Composer for the Organ. H. H. 

Statham, xl, " 

Ware, Miss Josephine, the Pianist, . . xxxix. 02 

Warning: Perils of Young American Girls in 
European Cities xxxix, 141 

Weber, Albert, the Piano Maker: Obituary, 
xxxix, l.'W 

Weber, C. M. von : his " Oberon " revived in 
London, xl. 8 

Wenzel, Ernst Ferdinand: Obituary, xl, 164. 178 

West, John A. His cantata ** Domroschen." 

Chicago Tribune, xl, 13.3 

What lack we yet ? W.F. A, on the need of a 
Permanent Orchestra, xl, ISO; (J. S. D.), 158 

Wilhelmi, A., in Boston, xxxix. 7 

'* Wunderkinder " : the Donate Children, xxxix, 22 

Zelter and Ferdinand Hiller in Vienna (Hajt- 
slick), xl, 74 

Zerrahn, Carl : Testimonial Concert to, xxxix. 
78.83 



JANUARY 3, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



BOSTON, JANUARY 5, 1880. 

Xntond St Um Poit Ofioo at Boston si Moond-oUn mattor. 

Att tki mnieUs n^t endiUd to otktr piMkaiions wtrt tseprudif 
written/or tki$ Jomnal, 

FMi$h«d /wtnigkOg hp IIotWBVoir, Omood ajid 'CoiiriivT, 
&«iMi, Maw. Piie$, JO ccntt a nmmktr ; $2.50 per pmr. 

For $ak in Ih$ton 6y Cael PMsru, 30 Wkm Strut, A. Wol- 
UMS A Co., 283 Washington Strut, A. K. LoiniO, 369 Wask- 
ington Street, und hy th4 PuUtMhors; in New York fry A. Bsnr- 
f A«o, 3m., 39 Union Square, nnd Ilcmmtom, 0««00D A Co., 
21 Aeior Place i in Pkilaaelpkia fry W. II. BoaiB A Co., 1102 
Ckettnut Stfut; in Chicago fry tKe OHiCAflO Moaio Compamt, 
512 Slate Street. 



WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF 
UNITY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT 
MOVEMENTS OF A SONATA ? 

Unitt U a conspicuous trait of the Beet- 
hoven Sonata^. It extends not only through 
each separate movement considered by icself, 
but through the entire group of the three or 
four movements constituting the Sonata form. 
Let any one who is familiar with all the 
Sonatas, and in sympathy with them, ask 
himself whether a movement might not be 
transplanted from one Sonata to another of 
similar key without impairing the effect 
Doubtless there are young musicians ready 
to assure me that this is quite possible, and 
that in some ca^es it might be done even with 
improved effect. But older musicians will 
universally dissent, I fancy. The Adagio of. 
the SoruUa paihetiqu€ belongs there, and in 
no other Sonata. Transplant it to the Sonata 
in C minor, Op. 10, or to the Op. Ill, and it 
would be shockibgly out of place. Again, 
play this very Adagio alone, and it pro- 
duces a delightful effect, to be sure. But 
play it in connection with the tumultuous 
Allegro before it, and how much more beauti- 
ful it becomes I Some of this added beauty 
is derivet] from the contrast the slow move- 
ment then makes with the one before it, — a 
contrast, if possible, greater in the spirit of it 
than in the outer written form. Contrast is 
an ei^sential element of the beautiful in music, 
because music is emotional. 

The unity of each separate movement 
within itself we may easily understand. It 
lies in the preponderance of a leading motive, 
the succession of tonality, and the rhythmic 
balancing of the leading sulgect and episodes. 
But to find the source of unity between two 
movements not structurally related, and of 
difierent key and tempo, is not so easy. I 
have oftea sought for it in vain, and have 
often asked older and wiser musicians; but 
here their wisdom failed them. I was told 
that it is an ideal unity. Now what, I ask, 
is an ideal unity between two discourses 
apparently in different keys and with entirely 
different subjects? Is there, or can there be, 
an ideal unity without somewhere a physical 
basis ? Remember that thought implies brain ; 
nutrition implies digestion and absorption; 
all our moral ideaA, nay, all the words we 
use to tell' them with, are raised up out of 
the domain of the physical. And so I have 
always felt that there must somewhere be a 
physical basis of the imity of the different 
tempos of a Sonata. 

This basis I think I recently stumbled on. 
Ji is in a stable of unit rhythmiccd pulsation 
running through all the movements of a 
Sonata, so that the entire Sonata may be ar- 



tistically played with the metronome at the 
same figure (in-so-far, that is, as even a single 
movement can be artistically played by met- 
ronome). Yet this parenthetical reservation 
is by no means so serious as the casual reader 
would suppose, for a Sonata can be played 
with very fair effect at a uniform tempo, with 
only the rubatos that can be made within the 
measure. 

Properly speaking, the unity of a move- 
ment lies equally in two elements : the move' 
ment or rate and manner of going, and the 
subject-matter. In a Sonata-piece there are 
at least tliree quite well defined ideas; and 
sometimes, as in the first movement of the 
Sonata appassionata, four. These ai'e in 
different keys and totally unlike. They are 
held together by the uniform rhythmic pulsa- 
tion in all of them, and by the sequence and 
comprehension of their tonality. They work 
together to leave upon the competent hearer 
a feeling of satisfaction, as from agreeable 
and coherent discourse. 

This impression rests, much more than 
commonly supposed, in the uniform rhythmic 
pulsation. . This we may immediately realize 
when we reflect how a decided change in the 
speed at the entrance of the second subject, 
as in the principal movement pf a Sonata, 
impairs the unity. It may intensify the dra- 
matic expression, but it certainly impairs the 
unity. 

The tempo changes. An entirely new 
movement begins. Thus, for example, in 
Beethoven's first Sonata (F minor. Op. 2), 
we begin Allegro in F minor, 2-2 (half-note 
= 104, Czerny*s tempos). It changes to 
Adagio S-4 in F major ; Gzerny'd tempo is 
eighth = 80. This, again, changes to Men- 
uetto in F minor, 8-4 dotted half = 69. 
This again to Prestissimo 2-2, half = 104. 
We see here no stable rhythmic unit, except 
between the first movement and the last. 
There we stumble on one of the curiosities 
of tempo. In the first it is, 2-2 half =104, 
Allegro ; in the last the very same, but Pres- 
tissimo. Why ? Because in the Allegro the 
fastest* motion is of eighths, and the leading 
motion is of quarters. In the latter the mo- 
tion is eighth triplets, that is at the rate of 
624 notes in a minute instead of 416. Tliis 
tempo is very fast. The Adagio in no way 
agrees with it. If, however, we take the 
metronome at 52 it will give us whole meas- 
ures in the first movement, and quarter-notes 
in the second, and at this speed the second 
movement is very satisfactory. The Men- 
uetto then follows at the same rate (the beats 
being measures again) with^ood effecL The 
finale as before. My pressure on the Gzcmy 
tempos may be excepted to, and perhaps 
ought to be. But to me the Adagio comes 
more satisfactorily when it preerves a defi- 
nite ratio to the first movement By making 
it very slightly slower, as 92 for eighths, the 
repose of it may be intensified. The beau- 
tiful Sonata in C, Op. 2, goes very well on 
the same plan. The metronome beat^ at 80 
(Czerny), which gives half-notes in the first, 
eighths for the second, measures for the third 
and fourth. This tempo for the finale is ex- 
tremely rapid. Czerny gives 58. 

The Sonata In E-fiat, Op. 7, sounds not 
badly at the i*ate of 60. This gives meas- 
ures for the first movement, eighths for the 



second, two measures for the third, and half- 
measures for the finale. Czemy*s marks are 
(on the same basis) 58, 80, 72 (measures), and 
60. My theory agrees with his beginning and 
ending. He takes the '* Largo, con gr^n es- 
pressione " much faster than I propose ; and 
the Allegro, 3-4, much slower, and, in fact, as 
it seems to me, too slow. But it does not inval- 
idate my theory of a basis of unity, if the tem- 
pos are locally varied by a small degree (im- 
perceptible in hearing, except in an impression 
of greater or less repose). My tempo gives 
in the first movement 360 notes a minute, in 
the second at the sixteenth note motion 120; 
in the third 360, and at times (as also in 
the first movement) 720. The finale gives 
only 240 notes in a minute — hence the Alle- 
gretto. 

Czemy's marks for Sonata Paihetique, if 
1 have them correctly copied, are curions. 
They are for the Grave, ** eighth = 92 ; " 
Allegro, «" half = 144; " Adagio, «< eighth = 
54 ; " Rondo, « half = 96." BUlow, on the 
other hand, requires a sixteenth in the Grave 
to have the same time as a half in the Alle- 
gro. Czerny's Adagio is entirely too slow. 

Taking 60 for the pulsation, it gives us 
eighths in the Grave, whole measures in the 
Allegro, eighths in the Adagio, and whole 
measures in the Rondo. In this way the two 
Allegros correspond with their 480 notes in n 
minute, and the slow movements agree in 
having but 120 to 180. 

So, also, Czerny gives for the first two tem* 
pos of the Sonata in R, Op. 14, for the Alle- 
gro, '• half = 66 ; " for the Allegretto, ** dotted 
half = 69." The Rondo is "tempo com- 
mode," and easily enough agrees with the 
first movement, although I have n't the fij^ures 
here. This uniformity obtains where I did 
not expect it Thus f<»^ example, Czerny 
marks the Sonata in E-fiat, Op. 27, No. 1, 
Andante, ^ quarter = 66 ; " Allegro, "" dotted 
quarter = 104*' (disagreement); Allegro, 
*' dotted half = 112"; Ada^o, "^ eighth = 
66 ; " Finale, " quarter = 132," or half = 66. 
Thus in this quasi Fantasia we have thre ) 
of the five movements on a common unit of 
pulsation. The tempos of the " Moonlight " 
Sonata I neglected to copy. In the Appae^ 
sionata BUlow gives Allegro, ^ dotted quarter 
= 126 ; " Andante, « eighth = 108 ; " Alle- 
gro, ma non troppo, ^ quarter = 132." So, 
also, in the apparently loosely connected but 
lively Sonata in A-flat, Op. 110, Czerny 
gives, Moderato, ** quarter = 76 ; " Allegro 
molto, "< dotted half = 120 ; " Adagio, << eighth 
= 66;" Fuga, "dotted quarter = 100.'* 
Bttlow gives 69, 126 (= 63), 63, and 69. In 
the grand Opus 111, Czerny gives, "eighth 
= 108," " quarter = 132,*' and for the Arietta 
<< dotted quarter = 68." Billow's tempos are, 
" quarter = 52," " half = 66," and « dot- 
ted eighth =r 48,*' which indicates a remark- 
ably close correspondence, capable of being 
made yet closer without detriment, by taking 
the Arietta at 52, which perhaps improves it. 

I have thus gone into the question at somei 
length, for the ground was new and interest- 
ing to me. P rhaps it may be old to my 
readers.^ The real test of it, of oourse, is to 
be made by artists. 

Is there a physical basis for the unity o{ 
the difierent movements in a Sonata ? This 
18 the question. W. S. B. M^Tif£W8. 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. - No. 1010. 



ANTON DVORAK. 

(TranBlatad firom tbe Neiu Frela Prant.) 

The persons who attended the 'first Phil- 
harmonic Concert read in the programmes 
for the first time the name of Ant«>n Dvorak, 
and, for the first time, heard a composition, 
^ Slayische Rhapsodic fiir Orchester" (A-flat 
major, No. 3), by the Unknown aforesaid. 
Berlin, Breslau, and Pesth had preceded us 
in the performance of this composition ; in 
most of tlie larger musical towns of Germany, 
and even in London, the work is to be found 
in the list of novelties for the season. Then 
the oomposer has achieved a position very 
rapidly ? All at once, and yet very slowly. 
He had to go through bitter years of priva- 
tion and heap up piles of compositions, ere 
fortune smiled on him, and he was lucky 
enough to become known and appreciated. 
Dvorak was born in 1841, in a Bohemian 
viltage, near Krai up, on the Moldau. All the 
week he had to help his father in the latter's 
trade, but was allowed to play on Sundays in 
church, and at dances. When he was a youth 
of eighteen, the yearning for more thorough 
iMStruction in music impelled him irresistibly 
to Prague, where that excellent musician. 
Director Pietsch, received him into the organ 
school. Dvorak at first earned the means of 
subsistence as a member of the band at the 
Bohemian Theatre, and subsequently as or- 
ganist in several of the churches of Prague, 
with a brilliant annual salary of thirty, then 
sixty, and finally one hundred and twenty 
florins. Amid incessant cares and privations, 
he composed with uninterrupted and fiery 
zeal a large number of choruses, and wrote 
things for the chamber and the orchestra, in- 
cluding even to Czeckish operas at the Lan- 
destheater, without any amelioration of his 
wretched circumstances. 

The happy notion. then struck him of ap- 
plying to the Minister of Instruction in 
Vienna for an ** artist's stipend.*' These 
stipends are granted annually by the state to 
assist << young and talented artists without 
means." Most of them are with perfect jus- 
tice awarded to painters and sculptors, the 
last part of whose professional education ne- 
cessitates as a rule expensive travels for the 
purpose of study. Such exhibitions cannot 
possibly foster to an equal extent the native 
talent for composition ; still even in this re- 
spect they have not failed to bring forth good 
fruit. It is true that in many instances talent 
does not realize all it at first seemed to prom- 
ise. Nay, a number of talented persons 
apply who do not even promise anythin;i(. 
Among the petitions which, bending beneath 
the weight of scores, are annually forwarded 
to the Minister for a stipend, the largest 
number usually come from composers who, of 
the three indispensable qualifications -— youth, 
want of means, and talent — possess only the 
first two and waive all claim to the third. It 
was then a very agreeable surprise when one 
day Anton Dvorak, a petitioner from Prague, 
sent in proofs of un intensive talent for com- 
position, though it was a talent still in fer- 
mentation. We recollect, for instance, a sym- 
phony pretty wild and un trammeled, but, at 
the same time, so full of talent, that Herbeck, 
then a member of our committee, interested 
himself warmly for iL After that Dvorak 
received every year his artist's stipend, which 



freed him from his most oppressive musical 
forced drudgery. And in this position it 
seemed that matters were unfortunately des- 
tined to remain. Although such material as- 
sistance afibrded by the state undoubtedly 
carries within it moral assistance as well, 
Dvorak remained in his native land without 
an appointment and without a publisher. 

It was not till Brahms had been summoned 
by Herr Stremayr, the Minister, to replace 
Herbeck on the committee, that the recogni- 
tion of Dvorak's talent took the necessary 
practical turn. Bruhms, who by deed as well 
as by words aids every serious effort of pro- 
nounced talent, — himself remaining unob- 
served and silent as Schumann once used to 
do, — obtained a publisher for Dvorak, whose 
modesty amounted to timidity. Dvorak's 
'' Slavische Tiinze " and "^ Klange aus Mah- 
ren " were now published by Simrock. The 
merit of being the first publicly to recognize 
the unknown composer belongs to L. Eblert, 
who praises the above compositions with 
kindly eloquence in the Berliner NaHonaU 
Zeitung. ^ Here," says Ehlert, '^is at last an- 
other instance of genuine talent, and moreover 
of genuinely natural talent. I consider ' Die 
Siavischen Tanze' a work which will go 
round the werld. Heavenly naturalness flows 
through this music, and is the reason of its 
great popularity. There is no trace of aught 
artificial or labored. We have to do with 
something thoroughly artistic, and, not with a 
pasticcio, made up at hazard of national rem- 
iniscences. As is always the case with 
broadly constituted talent, humor has a very 
large share in Dvorak's music. Dvorak 
writes such merry and original basses that 
they cause the heart of a real musician to 
leap again with joy. The duets, too, on 
some exceedingly pretty Moravian folk-songs, 
are of exhilarating freshness." So favor- 
able was the opinion of one of our roost emi- 
nent critics, though he was not acquainted 
with Dvorak's more important works for the 
orchestra and the chamber. Herr Taubert, 
Royal Prussian CapeUmeister, had Dvorak's 
third **• Rhapsodic " recently performed at 
one of the Symphony-Soirees of the Royal 
Chapel, an unusual mark of distinction, con- 
sidering the classical and conservative charac- 
ter of the above concerts. Immediately after- 
wards, and likewise in Berlin, Joseph Joachim 
played Dvorak's Stringed Sextet. Thus they 
are thoroughly German authorities who have 
drawn Dvorak from his native obscurity and 
greeted him as a man of unusual talent. We 
emphasize this fact, because it refutes the ri- 
diculous Huspiciof^ that Dvorak's reputation is 
the work of the National- Czeckish party. 
His fellow-countrymen in Prague naturally 
patronized in their way the composer of 
Czeckish operas, but **bei all ihrem Pro- 
tegiren hiitt' er konnen" .... (** despite 
all their patronage, he might," etc.). See 
Heine's Poems. 

There has really been no propaganda at 
work on the part of Prague for Dvorak, and 
even had such a thing been attempted, how 
far does Czeckish pleading penetrate in the 
world of art? The national antipathy and 
political opposition, evident in certain Vien- 
nese opinions of Dvorak's '* Rhapsodic," would 
here be without justification, even were such 
considerations ever allowable in matters of 



pure art If anj opposition was contemplated 
by the public and the critics against the art- 
descent of Dvorak's work, it has really affected 
not Prague — but Berlin. The "^ Rhapsodic" 
was received respectfully but not warmly. 
After the impression produced at the grand 
rehearsal, we expected it would have made a 
more lively impression. With its fresh, easy, 
flowing style, it has sometUfng about it which 
carries one away. By its national character 
and sensual charm, and also by the easy 
breadth of its form, which is somewhat dif- 
fusive and not stifl9y put together, it reminds 
the hearer of Schubert. The very beginning 
preludes in an extremely happy fashion an 
andante motive first given by the harp alone, 
and then strengthened most pleasingly by the 
wind instruments, a motive which is reflect- 
ive, not sorrowful; only breathing a little 
touch of sadness. When we have the same 
motive rhythmically abridged as an Allegro 
in three-four time, the effect is marvelous. 
Then onward it sweeps in a whirl of joyous- 
ness. He who could write the first four- 
teen bars 'of this score must be called a man 
of extraordinary talent, genuine and sound. 
The themes of the *< Slavische Rhapsodie " 
are no national melodies, but free inventions 
of the compa«er. As its name implies, the 
^ Rhapsodie ^ has not the set form of a 
Sonata or an Overture; it is in one move- 
ment, but many parts. It cannot be charged 
with being too mixed ; the whole of it is car- 
ried out with two motives, which undergo all 
kinds of transformations effected with contra- 
puntal cleverne**8. It must, on the other 
hand, be regarded as a mistake that the com- 
poser does not know how to end at the right 
moment, but, after several preliminary starts, 
suddenly comes to a full stop or turns back 
again. Despite iU length, the ** Rhapsodie " 
does not weary for a moment; tlie mere 
charm of the instrumentation would not allow 
it to do so. Dvorak's orchestral effects, 
moreover, by no means belong to the artifi- 
cial flowers sown at will on a piece of tapes- 
try ; they are natural blossoms, or rather 
something flowering brightly forth from out 
the musical germ, and not to be thought of 
apart from it. Everything in the work de^ 
notes an extraordinary feeling for genuine 
orchestral effect. Eduabd Hanslick. 



THE COMPLETE WORKS OF HANDEL. 

PART 27. CHAMBER MUSIC. ^ 

The great edition of the works of Handel is 
now approaching completion. Sixty-four parts 
have already appeared, including the lar^e ma- 
jority of the oratorios, the whole of the miscella- 
neous sacred music, most of the secular cantatas, 
twenty-four of the operas, and the greater part of 
the instrumental works; and it is, we believe, 
confidently expected that the entire works of the 
composer will be published by the year 1885 — 
the bi-oentenary of his birth. The ^present edi- 
tion differs from all that have preceded it, not 
only in Containing a large number of works which 
have not been previously published, but in giving 
many which have already appeared in a &r more 
complete form than that to be found in earlier 
editions. As instances may be named the score 
of Israel in Egypt with the composer's original 
trombone parts, that ofSaul witli Handel*s com- 
plete indications of the organ part, the warlike 
I Printad for the GemMn Handd Societj, Leipdg. 



Jancart S, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAD^OF MUSIC. 



. Syinpbony in the second part of Joshua, and tho 
final Choruses to the second and third parts of 
BeUhazzcWf all of which were new to musicians. 
The volume now before us presents some very 
interesting pieces now published for the first 
time. 

It cannot, of course, be maintained that Han- 
del's instrumental music will at all stand on the 
tame level with his great oratorios. In the very 
nature of things this in impossible. Tho develop- 
ment of the modern orchestra, and of the form 
of the Sonata and Symphony by Haydn, Mozart, 
and Beethoven, has caused the older forms to be- 
come almost, if not altogether, obsolete. When 
Handel wrote, the Symphony, as we now know 
it» had no existence; the Suite was its prede- 
cessor and its then representative ; and most of 
HandePs instrumental works, whether entitled 
Sonatas, Trios, or Concertos, bear more or less 
relation to the Suites. In these days the Suite 
is no longer employed as a vehicle for musical 
thought, unless the composer wishes to write in 
the antique style. The interest, therefore, which 
is awakened by such music as this of Handel's 
is to a considerable extent, though by no means 
entirely, historical, not to say antiquarian. 

The present volume contains the whole of 
Handel's chamber music which has come down 
to us. We first find fifteen solo Sonatas for 
flute, oboe, or violin, with -a figured bass for the 
harpsichord. These in modern nomenclature 
would probably be called duets, as the harpsi- 
chord, though it only has the accompaniment, is 
of considerable importance in all the pieces ; but 
Dr. Chrysander in his preface mentions a curi- 
ous anomaly, namely, that while a composition 
for two violins and a figured bass was called a 
Trio, one for a single violin with a figured bass 
was called not a Duo but a Solo. It should be 
added that both works would also be entitlcl 
*' Sonatas," — at that- time a vague name as re- 
gards form, and applied to almost any extended 
piece of instrumental music other than a Suite. 

The first works . in this volume are fifteen So- 
natas or Solos, of which six are for violin, seven 
for flute, and two for oboe, with an accompani- 
ment for harpsichord. That the latter instru- 
ment was obblufato is proved not only by the fig- 
ured bass, but also by the fact that in some cases 
(for example in No. 5) passages are found for 
the harpischord alone. With the exception of 
the Sonata in A, No. 8, which has been often 
played by Herr Joachim, Mr. Henry Holmes, 
and other vioIini:its, ths series of solos is al- 
most entirely unknown. According to his usual 
custom, Handel hai borrowed from himself, and 
arranged various movements from other works. 
Thus, the finale of th<) second Sonata is founded 
on that of the third Organ Concerto, while No. 
lib merely an arrangement as a solo for flute 
of the fifth Organ Concerto. In No. 18 (now 
printed for the first time), we find a very inter- 
esting movement founded on the subjects after- 
wards used for the Fugue in " From the censer " 
{Solanum), 

The six Sonatas for two oboes and bass which 
come next in the volume have a special musical 
interest, as being beyond a doubt the earliest 
known works of Handel. They were written 
about 1696, when the composer was eleven years 
of age, and are now printed for the first time 
from a manuscript copy in the library of Buck- 
ingham Palace. Their interest is mainly histor- 
ical ; they are antiquat-ed in style, but the con- 
trapuntal skill shown in them proves that Han- 
del as a boy was in precocity of genius but little 
behind Mozart. 

The two sets of Trios (Ops. 2 and 5) which 
complete the present collection had been for the 
most part previously published by Walsh, and 
they are also inclnded in Arnold's edition of Han- 



del, though they are here supplemented by some 
numbers not before printed. To a large extent 
they are compilations from other works, and wt^re 
probably written rather to meet the requirements 
of publishers than from any desire of production 
on the part of the composer. Thus fh Op. 2 
No. 4 contains the greater part of the Overture 
to Evthir, with the first movement of the second 
Organ Concerto for a finale ; while in Op. 5 we 
find in No. 1 tho Overture to the Chandos An- 
them, ** I will magnify Thee ; " in No. 2 the 
Overture to the '* Jubilate ; " in No. 4 that to 
AthcUia ; in No. 5 the Fugue in £ minor from 
the first set of ** Suites de Pidces,*' with some 
sliglit alterations, and transposed into G minor ; 
while in No. 7 tlie Fugue is takeL* from the Over- 
ture to the Chandos Anthem, " O siii^ unto the 
Lord a new song," and the final minuet frpi the 
air " Lascia la Spina," in the second version of 
II Trionfo del Tempo. In most of these Sonatas 
short movements, such as Bourrdes, Gavottes, 
etc., are added to complete the work ; but a large 
})ortion of the matter contained in them is, as 
has been said, put together from other sources. — 
LontL Mu8, Times. 



THE CONSERVATOIRE OF PARIS AND 
ITS CLASSICAL CONCERTS. 

(From Cktrraspondenea of th« Chicago Triban«, Feb. 19, 1879.) 

The Conservatoire and its concerts are both 
interesting subjects, though not equally so. The 
concerts are probably the most |)erfect in the 
world, not excepting even those of Leipzig, 
Vienna, or London, each of which has claimed 
a similar honor. The Conservatoire, however, 
cannot justly bo ranked so high. It is a aneful 
institution, and does a good deal for the musical 
and dramatic arts in France ; but there are 
schools in Italy, Germany, and Belgium, superior 
and more famous. In addition to numerous class 
and lecture rooms devoted to the teaching of 
various branches of the sister arts, the Conser- 
vatoire boasts a small, well-composed musical 
library, a fine museum of musical instruments 
(too seldom visited), and a tiny theatre or con- 
cert-room (for it serves both purpose^),' of which 
I shall speak more particularly. The library is 
at present in the charge of tliat erudite and sin- 
gular com{)oser, M. Wekerlln, — a. bibliophile of 
the old sort, And the author of many charming 
works, literary as well as niusical. Most of the 
manuscripts stored away on the shelves of the 
library are Prix-de-Rome compositions. I was 
first introduced to the secluded attractions of the 
Conservatoire library by M. Chouquet, the benevo- 
lent and learned custodian of tho museum, who 
has managed, with the niggardly pecuniary as- 
sistance of the state, to accumulate in one small 
gallery the most complete collection of musical in- 
struments with which .1 am acquainted. Amongst 
them are the pianos on which Auber, Herold, 
and Meyerbeer composed so many immortal 
works. Auber's is fitted up with an inkstand 
let in 10 the wooden frame bebide the keylK)ard, 
and the ivory keys still bear inky traces of the 
master's inspirations. Farther on is a guitar, 
once the property of PaganinI, by whom it was 
presented to Hector Berlioz. The autographs of 
both are inscribed upon the face of the instru- 
ment. Paganini's signature is half effaced ; that 
of Berlioz is clear, neat, and legible as his nota- 
tion. A harpsichord close by is credited with 
having accompanied Beethoven on his travels, 
but M. Chouquet does not vouch for the truth 
of the story. * Under a glass case in the centre 
of the gallery are several exquisite violins of 
Stradivarius and other famous makers. One of 
the elaborately painted and gilded harps, stand- 
ing near a gigantic octochord at the end of the 
room, had been often touched by the Royal 



fingers of poor Marie Antoinette before it passed 
into the hands of M. Chouquet. The octochord 
itself merits inspection, as do the rare old harpsi- 
chords, spinets, serpents, and other obsolete in- 
struments with which the museum is crowded, 
— an orderly crowding, mind you, for the custo- 
dian of all these treasures watches over them 
with almost paternal fondness. Wo betide the 
profane visitor who dares to disai'range a single 
clarinet, or to scratch a particle of paint ofi* the 
invaluable Roeckels ! 

The head and Director of the Conservatoire is 
at present M. Ambroise Thomas, who succeeded 
to the post on the death of Auber. Auber in 
his turn had replaced Cherubini, — that rigid, 
formal old Italian, who hated, and was so well 
hated by, Berlioz. But M. Ambroise Thomas 
has no authority over the celebrated Soci^td doa 
Concerts, whose magnificent matinees have filled 
the theatres on Sundays for fifty-two seasons. 
The Socidtd des Concerts is an independent as- 
sociation of artists, chiefly connected by profes- 
sional ties with the Conservatoire, whidi is ac- 
customed to give eighteen concerts every winter, 
between November and Easter-Sunday. On the 
evening of Easter-Sunday the season is closed by 
a sacred concert Most of the members — four- 
score or thereabouts — of the band are men well 
on in years, and individually sufficiently educat- 
ed and skilled in music to play solo if required. 
Long confraternity and the habit of playing to- 
gether have welded the separate members into 
a harmonious whole such as could nowhere else 
be found. The most entire discipline at all 
times prevails. No one attempts to thrust him- 
self more upon notice than his fellows ; each is 
content to play his own part modestly and per- 
fectly, and each considers himself amply re- 
warded if, by so doing, he contributes to tlie 
attainment of the desired effect. It is not sur- 
prising, then, that with such principles under- 
lying its system the society has won so great a 
reputation. 

The concerts are invariably vocal and instru- 
mental, and, with rare exception, the programmes 
affect a sternly classical character. 

Twice or thrice in a season room will be made 
for a new-comer (and all living composers are 
*' new," in a sense, to the gi-ay-beards of the 
Faubourg Pousonni^re). On Sunday, for in- 
stance, Mr. Arthur Sullivan (whose ^ H. M. S. 
Pinafore " has been delighting you lately, I ob- 
serve) was given a hearing. To correct the 
dash of profane lightness ( ! ) added to the pro- 
gramme by the *' In Memoriam " overture of 
the English composer, we had all Beethoven's 
music to the <* Ruins of Athens," all Mendels- 
.sohn's ** Italian Symphony," and Handel's ** Hal- 
lelujah Chorus." From this you will get a fiur 
notion of the entertainment usually supplied us. 
And right royal entertainment it is 1 A feast 
for kings. 

Poor old George of Hanover and his daughter 
used to be assuluous attendants at the Con- 
servatoire, and Queen Isabella may yet be met 
there. Apart from them and the Orleans 
princes, however, we have had few sprigs -of 
royalty in France lately to enjoy these superb 
concerts. En revanche, we have had a liberal 
supply of presidents and ministers. Mme. 
Thiers occasionally patronized the Conserva- 
toire ; her husband less often, I believe. Marshal 
MacMahon belongs to the benighted class of 
men '^who have no music in their souls," — a 
class justly considered suspicious by the poet. I 
remember seeing him listen to the ^* Eroica " 
symphony a few years ago. Imagine a martyr 
at the stake, a Hindoo fakir having knives thrust 
into him, or Job enduring the manifold misfort- 
unes that came upon him ! But if the marshal 
scorned the plea^sure which soothes even the sav- 



D WIGHT '8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1010. 



age breast, his wife did not. Her portly — not 
to say ungainly — figare was frequently seen in 
the presidential box, exactly opposite the centre 
of the orchestra, — the best place in the hall. 
Next to this are the boxes reserved for the Di- 
rectors of the Conservatoire and for the minis- 
tars. ^L Ambroise Thomas was in his place, as 
usual, last Sunday. Close to him sat M. Jules 
Ferry, the new Minister of Fine Arts ; and in a 
corner, apart, I noticed M. L6on 'Say, brooding, 
as it seemed to me, oyer the denunciation of the 
treaties of commerce, rather than listening to 
the *< Ruins of Athens." 

Charles Gounod now and then puts in an ap- 
pearance in the .neighborhood of Mme. Massart, 
but I have not remarked him for a long while. 
Nor have I this year seen Victor Jonci^res, the 
composer of ** La Reine Berthe," the unfortu- 
nate opera lately produced by M. Halanzier, — 
who was wont to share one of the two joumal- 
i>t8' boxes with myself and others worthier : M. 
Oscar Commettant, the critic of the Sikcle ; 
*' Benedict " Jouvin, of the Figaro^ and several 
besides. 

As the little theatre of the Conservatoire can 
only accommodate about seven hundred or eight 
hundred people, and as all the seats are let to 
subscribers, the concerts are practically private. 
The outside public does get a stray place or 
two, bui only when the regular subscribers do 
not use them. In fact, the Conservatoire is the 
most select and most fashionable place in Paris, 
— far more so than the Opera or the Elys^e, to 
which any one who goes early enough is admit- 
ted. 

The hall, or theatre, is a long, low, oblong 
room, rounded at both ends, and constructed 
chiefly of wood. The roibf is slightly arched. 
In addition to a row uf baignoirs, there are two 
tiers of boxes and a small amphitheatre. The 
musicians are stationed partly on the stage and 
partly in front of it. At the extreme back are 
the trombones, the drums, and a couple of contre- 
basses. Then, less removed, come more con- 
trebasses, violoncellos, the horns, trumpets, bas- 
sooup, and the other wood instruments. All 
these are arranged in straight rows on the 
stage. Just in front, in one long line, come the 
violas; and below these the fir^t and second 
violins, forming two quadrant-shaped groups 
facing each other, to the right and left of the 
conductor. The choir, which numbers some 
seventy members, male and female, sits on 
benches in front of the violins, — the soprani 
and contralti facing the basses and tenors. All 
the men, instrumentalists or vocalists, wear 
evening dress. The ladies are clad in white. 
When the executants are all comfortably seated^ 
there is not much room left for the audience, -^ 
on the ground floor, at least. 

But, though we might wish for a little more 
space at the Conservatoire, we have not a single 
other objection to make. As a concert-room the 
theatre is unmatched. Whether it be that un- 
wittingly the architects hit upon the ideal form 
of a concert-hall, or whether its virtues come 
from age, certain it is that it b acoustically per- 
fect When the orchestra, conducted by M. 
Deldevez or M. Lamoureux, attacks the opening 
bars of some immortal work, — a Mendelssohnian 
symphony, perchance, — making the aged frame 
c^ the theatre quiver with music like a well- 
seasoned Amati or Stradivarius, I would not 
change my fauteail in the Conservatoire for an 
Academic chair. Mundane cares are shaken off* 
for one delightful moment as the glorious strains, 
as gloriously rendered, fill the room ; and the 
passage from the blissful region of harmony 
within to the workaday world without shocks 
you like a rude waking from a dream. 

IIarry Mkltzeh. 



A WAGNERIAN APPEAL. 

[Tub Mwtical Review (New York) prints the 
following translation of a letter from Hcrr Hans 
von Wolzogen, one of Wagner's most fanatical 
admirers, to Mr. B. J. Lang, of Boston, Mass.] 

Bayreuth, October 9, 1879. 

Most Honored Sir : 

On Herr Wilhelmj's sending us recently some 
accounts of the enormous progress [V t ] of Wag- 
nerianism in America, Meister Wagner called to 
mind gratefully the numerous proofs of personal 
good-will which had come to him from thence in 
times past, and remembered with pleasure, among 
other things, the visit you once paid him in Swit- 
zerland. Tills has induced us to apply to you, 
at a period of great importance to the labor of 
the master's life, for kindly help in furthering 
this work through the American interest that has 
already been won to his cause. 

You know that, after the imposing perform- 
ances of the first festival at Bayreuth, in 1876, 
he succeeded in combining the various associa- 
tions, which had hitherto worked only sporad- 
ically in Wagner's cause, into one general ** Bay* 
reuth Patrons' Union." The object of this body 
was gradually to unite together, through its rep- 
resentatives in Germany and abroad, all near 
and distant friends of the master's art and theo- 
ries into a stout and enduring association. This 
association was to take upon itself to procure the 
necessary means for the master, that he might 
successfully develop a single, ephemeral festival 
into an institution, the founding of which has 
been the sole object of his whole life, the institu- 
tion, namely, of permanently assured repetilions 
of those splendid examples of the purest style of 
artistic performance ; thus rendering possible the 
periodical assembling together of tlie best artistic 
forces in Germany. These SBsthetic experiences, 
repeated at regular intervals in Bayreuth, and 
based upon careful rehearsals under Wagner's 
incomparably genial leadership, might become a 
sort of living school of aesthetic culture, and a 
classical tradition for the noblest form of art. 

As we have, unluckily, no tradition to fall back 
upon for the performance of the works of our 
immortal classic masters in a genuinely pure 
style, and as this lack can be made good to us 
only by the peculiar talent of a creative artist 
like Wagner, so would Wagner's own works be 
exposed, in turn, to a treatment utterly wanting 
in true style, after the master's death, unless the 
opportunity were offered him betimes to realize 
that which could not be obtained permanently 
through merely isolated cases, namely, the eUu^ 
steal tr4»dUion of performance, by means of the 
regularly recurring formation of a considerable 
artistic body, meeting periodically for the purpose 
of practice and performance. 

These periodical meetings would, furthermore, 
serve to monumentalize, beyond his life-time, 
Wagner's genial talent of performing in a pure 
style the works of our older masters, especially 
of our great symphonists, as an infallible tradi- 
tion for the future. If this incomparable talent 
is not to be lost to art, the time must be very 
zealou^ly utilized, considering the master's age, 
that the institution may be set on foot as soon as 
possible, and may have a profitable duration ; 
for without the cusuranee of it, he himself could 
not make up his mind to waste his strength upon 
a merely isolated repetition of a festival, without 
the guaranty of further results. 

He had promised the members of his " Patrons' 
Union " that his latest great work, Parn/a/, 
should open the' series of these periodical festi- 
vals, if enough interest were shown in the mat- 
ter to enable him to begin with it, in 1880. This 
expectation has proved delusive; in the first 
place, because the rate of subscription to the 



necessary fund had been fixed at a very low 
figure, out of regard for the small means of a 
large number of German artists, so that now a 
list of members, which has in two years reached 
the number of 1,700, has not been able to raise 
100,000 marks (about $25,000); and, in the 
next place, because our exertiors to procure 
larger subscribers, in which we thought ourselves 
justified in again appealing only to German 
friends of art, met with scarcely any notice. 

If we wish to make the beginning of the en* 
terprise possible as early as 1881, we must now 
look to renewed agitation, to enable ns at kaal 
to quadruple our small limd next year. In snch 
case, an assured series of four great festival! 
could be guaranteed to take place in the course 
of the next ten years. 

On these conditions alone would Wagner be 
ready to apply his energies to beginning the 
series with the performance of ParMifaL The 
three ensuing festivals, occurring every third 
year (1884, 1887, 1890), would consist of ideal 
performances of Wagner's other works, each one 
being repeated several times. With these would 
be combined rehearsals and performances of clas- 
sical symphonic compositions, by the musicians 
collected in Bayreuth, under Wagner's leadership. 

Should our Union come into possession of still 
larger means in the course of these ten years, 
then not only conld the festival-plays be repeated 
oftener, but the symphony concerts could be 
given as especial performances in the Interven- 
ing years ; which would immensely increase the 
efficiency and influence of the institution. 

Only such persons as sha|l have rendered these 
artistic experiences possible by their material 
aid are to take part in enjoying them ; . tliat is 
to say, only the members of the Patrons' Union ; 
and then, according to the measure of their sub* 
scriptions. They will have the more extended 
rights, in the ratio that the larger amount of early 
subscriptions will procure for all participants tlie 
possibility of proportionately richer and morefrt' 
quent artistic enjoyment. 

At* the beginning of this new agitation, we 
turn our eyes all the more to foreign countries, 
vince our own native land has only proved hith- 
erto that it does not possess the means to furnish 
the needed material aid to the ideal cause. 

It is for our advantage, above all things, to 
win to ourselves the cooperation of eingU, active 
friendt in various countries, who would be will- 
ing to exert themselves to enlist those of their 
fellow-countrymen ^ho are already adherents of 
Wagner's art, and to collect their subscriptions 
to our fund. The manner of such collection 
must be determined by them, according to the 
existing conditions in their vanoas countries ; we 
can give only general directions. For the agita- 
tion of the matter in America, which, as we hear, 
favors the master so energetically, we know no 
friend of the cause in whom we could place 
greater confidence than yourself. We therefore 
hereby ask your cooperation. 

That you may know something definite about 
our plans and aspirations, I send the following 
condensed announcement, which might, perhaps, 
be brought to the knowledge of your fellow- 
countrymen in the form of an adverluement in 
American newspapers, so that the afifair may be 
made known as generally as passible at the oat- 
set. 

'* Richard Wagner is prepared to institute pe- 
riodical repetitions of the great festivaU in Bay- 
reuth, by the most artistic forees in Germany, 
under his personal supervision. 

" I order that such festivals may be given at 
least every third year, beginning with 1881 : the 
Bayreuth Patrons' Union, which was founded for 
the purpose, is still in need of the sum of $100,- 
000 which must be raised by that time. 



JJliiuart 8, 1880.J 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



^This snm is to be raised by large subscrip- 
tions during the year 1880. 

" Only sabscribers will obtain admission to 
the festivals. 

** The following conditions apply to American 
subscribers : — 

** 1. Every subscriber of $100 obtains admis* 
sion to eight separate performances of the festival- 
stage-plags m Bayreutk. 

** 2. The choice of performances is at the sub- 
scriber's option. 

** 8. Every repetition of the same play is to 
be accounted as the same performance. 

'* 4. Whoever does not desire to visit a per^ 
formance in person, can transfer his right to 
another person, after having the transfer indorsed 
bjf the board of directors of the Bayreuth Patrons' 
Unions 

** 5. Whoever wishes to visit only three per- 
formances of the next (first) festival-play in Bay- 
reuth, but does not purpose attending the sub- 
sequent festivals, has to pay only $25, but has no 
right to transfer. 

**The next (first) fostival-play in Bayreuth 
will be Pandfa^ by Richard Wagner. 

" The performances of Parsifal will be fol- 
lowed in the ensultag festivals-years (1884, 1887, 
1890), by the other works of Wagner; several 
being given at the same festival, as far as possi- 
ble, and each work repeated several times." 

Upon the appearance of this advertisement, a 
central committee would probably have to be 
formed, to receive and answer applications. Its 
address should be given at the end of the adver- 
tisement. It should announce itself to be in 
readiness to receive subscriptions, and strenu- 
ously urge that the same be paid by December 1, 

1880, at the latest 

The festivals during the next ten years will 
most probably be arranged as follows, if we get 
the necessary money by 1881 : — - 

1881. Parsifal (given 4 times). 

1884. TrUtanundI»oUd, > (j ti„e. e«sh.) 
Die Meutersinger, ) ^ ^ 

1887. Der Fliegende ffolUlnder.^ 

TannhHuser, > (3 times each.) 

Lohengrin. J 

1890. Das Rheingoldj 1 

Die WalkQre, I ., ,.^^ ^^, v 

Sieqfried, K8 Umes each.) 

Glitterddmmerung, J 

In addition to these will be given, as the mas- 
ter sees fit, and according to the state of the 
treasury, either in the itktervening years or dur- 
ing the festivalf themselves, rehearsals and per- 
formances of symphonies, with entrance free to 
subscribers to the festivals. 

The prices will be : — 

For eight performances, or four performances 
and two repetitions of each, $100. 

For the first three performances (Parsifal, and 
two repetitions of the same), $25.00. 

For all the performances and repetitions 
(thirty-one in number), $400.00. 

If this condensed statement is made very 
widely known in America, either through the 
press, or by other similar means, there can be 
DO doubt but that you will procure for us very 
efficient aid from your counby, and will materi- 
ally help the master toward the realization of 
the labor of his life t 

If you cannot devote yourself personally to 
this agitation, you doubtless know well disposed 
individuals who would undertake the office. 

Although I am now on the 14 th page of this 
letter, I have yet spoken very briefly, and have 
been able to touch upon many important points 
only cursorily. Yet I hope that you can picture 
the state of affairs with sufficient clearness. We 
must have the money in a year and a half. 
Xbei^ and only then, will the master offer to all 



participants the work of his life. America is en- 
thusiastic for his art, and able to give something 
for it; ten times more than his own native 
country. Let it be the task of his friends there 
to get as many subscribers, and as soon as possi- 
ble. Let this task be confided to you, most hon- 
ored Sir I Do what you can for the noblest cause 
of art. The article in the North American Re- 
vieWy ** The Work and Mission of My Life," by 
R. Wagner, may be of ideal aid to you in the 
agitation. If mtuical aid is needed, our New 
York representative, Damrosch, and, we think, 
Thomas, will be the right men for the purpose. 
Damrosch seems not to be prepared to carry out 
the great pecuniary agitation. As, in this our 
new departure, Herr Schdn, our representative 
in Worms, who alone has already raised 10,000 
marks(about $2,500), has been appointed leader 
of the agitation in Germany, so be our honored 
Boston representative appointed leader of the 
agitation in America. The master himself, re- 
calling your visit to him, has acceded to this de- 
termination. 

You may be as sure of his heartiest and rich- 
est thanks and of the gratitude of all of us for 
your cooperation, as of your own satisfaction in 
the splendid fruits which will spring mainly from 
your endeavors in the highest cause of art. 

In hopeful anticipation of these fruits, I call 
out to you : '* To our meeting at Parsifal ! *' 
the motto of our community, and give you the 
best greetings from Wahnfried, remaining with 
the deepest respect, 

Your most devoted, 

Hans Paul, Freihbrr yon Wolzogen. 

maisfyt'^ ^journal of fsumt* 

s 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 1880. 



This New Year's u amber of oar 
Journal has to ask indulgence for many 
sliort-comingB. Half of the matter prepared 
for the number perished in the great fire of 
Sunday night, which in three hoars reduced 
the noble building containing the ofillces of 
oar publishers to bare empty walls. Fortu- 
nately the Iliverside Press was at a safe dis- 
tance from the Dames, and it was poseible at 
the eleventh hour to .begin anew, and bring 
the paper out within a day or two of the 
usual date, though in great haste, involving 
the postponement of several little plans for 
its improvement. 



Honor Saved. — Looking at the beautiful 
front wall (all that is left standing) of the Ca- 
thedral Block, on the day aAer the fire, our 
attention was caught by the sign of our pub- 
lishers over the door. Smoke and fiame had 
obliterated all the letters but the five composing 
the word Honos, thus : — 

HOUCIrifCN. OSGOOD & CO, 



THE ORCHESTRAL QUESTION IN 
THE VOCAL CLUBS. 

The amateur singing clubs and societies, 
whose concerts are becoming year by year a 
more and more important feature of our musical 
season, began with the social practice of part- 
songs, mostly for male voices. By slow de- 
grees, some of them enlarged their programme 
by grappling occasionally with some musical 
task of greater magnitude, more worthy of the 
splendid assemblages of voices and of talents 
which they had brought to bear on such a monto- 
onous succession of small forms. Noble choruses 



from Antigone and CEdipus, parts of a Chem- 
bini Requiem, etc., began to reward theur pains, 
delight their audiences, and inspire the singers 
with a loftier aim. That was one step gained. 
The next was to take up entire works of large 
and noble character, like Schumann's Paradise 
and the Peri, Mendelssohn's Walpurgis-Nighi^ 
etc., and present them with a mere piano-ibrte 
accompaniment. The third step, equally im- 
portant, — nay, logically and necessarily involved 
in the last,—- was much harder to accomplish. 
Slowly, timidly, and tentatively did any club 
brace itself up to the bold venture of giving one 
of these great works in its completeness, as the 
composer intended that it should be given, — 
with a full orchestral accompaniment* 

One serious obstacle was the expense. An 
orchestra is a costly luxury. But, on the other 
hand, these clubs, jesting on the annual assess- 
ments of their hundreds of ** asrociate members," 
soon found their treasuries equal to an occa- 
sional indulgence of this sort. If it costs $500 
more to give the Midsummer Night's Dream 
properly, — that is, with orchestra, — and if the 
club has in its treasury $500 which it can well 
spare, how can there be any question of the 
true course to take ? You wish to do the work ? 
Then do it whole, and do it well ; do it as Men- 
delssohn meant it; show that you are in earnest 
about it ; all which is only possible through the 
cooperation* of the orchestra. 

But there are greater obstacles, as yet only 
partially, and not in all cases quite believin|Ely 
and heartily, overcome. These reside not in the 
mtfnej question, not in any mere externals, but 
in the state of mind, the various degrees of 
musical taste and culture, the lack of musical 
knowledge, judgment, and experience of the 
individuals who compose the choir* Hiere are 
prejudices, partialities, clingings to a narrow and 
a simple, easy field, fean of venturing into too 
deep waters, jealousy of any overshadowing In- 
fiuence of instrumental over purely vocal sounds, 
apprehensions lest oar fine voices may not lie 
well enough heard, or lest we (the singers) may 
not hear them well enough ourselves, and many 
more such reasons. Of course, any singing 
club or circle has a perfect right to limit itself 
to any sphere, however narrow, it may please. 
Only, once on the upward path of higher aspira- 
tion and of grander work, it must inevitably press 
on and make thorough work of it, or fail and sink 
into insignificance. We think these clubs have 
reached a point in this matter where they mnst 
either go forwanl or fiUl back. They have 
themselves, by their few experiments in this 
direction, opened a vista of progressive high 
attainment, which they cannot now shut ofiT and 
think to preserve any freshness of interest, or 
keep any sure hold on the sympathies either of 
the general musical public, or of their associate 
members who supply the sinews of their tnnefol 
war. 

Hie arguments for this belief are rimplj 
these : — 

(1.) Wherever a club has tried it, has per- 
formed a noble work with orchestra, the experi- 
ment has been crowned with success, and has 
wrought conviction both in the outside listeners, 
and, what is more important, in many a doubting 
member of the singing club itself. There was 
no resisting such a test as one presented by one 
of the clubs a year or two ago, when Cade's 
Crusaders was once sung with orchestra, and a 
week afterwards repeate<l with only voices and 
piano-forte. The repetition actually fell flat; 
if it was not Hamlet with the rdle of Hamlet left 
out, it was at least Hamlet without scene, atinos> 
phere, or background; musically, hardly the 
shadow, or a half suggestion, of the thing, fiince 
that experience singing societies have been con- 



6 



D WIGHT' 3 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1010. 



siderably less ehy of the orchestra^ aad have 
eren discovered tjiat thejr could afford to em- 
ploy it now and then. 

(2.) With each advance in musical experi- 
ence, it becomes more apparent to the most 
ordinary intelligence that, in works of this kind, 
the orchestration is not a mere ad libitum accom- 
paniment, but an integral, essential element in 
the Complete and complex whole. It cannot be 
set aside without vital harm to the whole spirit 
and intention of the work. It is a gross injus- 
tice to the composer to divest his composition of 
all means of expression save the single one of 
voices. More- than that : not only is the or- 
chestra an added means of expression, a great 
element of beauty, but in many such works it is 
■o implicated in the whole structure of the work, 
so woven into its very texture, that its parti- 
colored threads cannot be raveled out and leave 
the VQcal web in an ideal sense complete. In a 
capella music, Palestrina and the like, the voice 
parts do make a complete whole in themselves ; 
but it is far different in works composed for or- 
chestra and voices, polyphonically interwoven, as 
in all the great vocal works of Bach and Handel, 
and in the oratorios, psalms, and secular cantatas 
of the modem masters. 

(3.) The singers' fear of having their pre- 
cious voices overshadowed by the instruments 
behind them is one that is sure of cure by habit. 
It is a necessity, and therefore they will soon 
accustom themselves to the strange element, so 
that they can " hear themselves " both <* think *' 
and sing in spite of all the double basses and the 
brass. To draw out from the tone-web these 
essential threads, leaving only those that are 
represented by the human voice, is no way to 
improve effect or get relief in the dilemma. As 
well mtj;ht the Tenor, in a four-part song, request 
the Alto to be mute lest he should not be clearly 
lieanl ! 

But we may well take courage in this matter, 
since the fine examples of complete performance 
which the Cecilia and the Apollo Club have 
given us. And now we are glad to learn that 
the Boylston Club, to which we are indebted for 
so many fine productions of works of Palestrlna, 
Bach, AstOTga, Cberubini, is resolved to follow 
suit, and, yielding to the eloquent appeal of its 
earnest conductor, Mr. ()8goo<l, will bring out 
erelong the beautiful 137th Fsahn, by Goetz, 
complete, with orchestra. 



MUSICAL PREJUDICE. 

"Pnjudloe .... talks eiKHrnous nonaeow, and woald 
like, from tlie summit of ita inioletice, to aaiume th« re- 
geney over every part of the art of music." 

Ukctob Beblioz. 

Thbre exists, no doubt, a large amount of 
unenlightened prejudice in every musical com- 
munity ; it is unquestionably difficnit to free our 
musical judgments, even our musical likings and 
dislikings, from the influence of certain precon- 
ceived notions about the art, or about this or 
that school of composers. Some skeptics even 
go so far as to hint that the musical opinions of 
by far the greater part, not only of our public, but 
of musicians themselves, are governed entirely 
by prejudice. Yet it seems to me that the 
power of sheer prejudice over music-lovers, in 
general, has been vastly overrated ; at least that 
a large proportion of the prejudice that unques- 
lionably exists among ns is by no- means so gra- 
tuitous and foolish as some persons would have 
U8 b^eve. 

To leave musicians by profession out of ihe 
question for the present, and to speak only of 
the more or less cultivated music-lovers, whose 
active interest in the art prompts them to hold 
rerj decided opinions, let ns consider, for a mo- 



ment, the very various points of view from which 
thoy are instinctively impelled to regard music. 
I am not speaking of those persons who are mere 
musical voluptuaries, with whom music goes in 
at one ear and out at the other, but of those who 
are inclined to take the art seriously. 

Setting aside that cultured understanding of 
the art of music which is but seldom to be looked 
for in amateurs, it may be said that one of the 
rarest things to find in the average music-lover 
is catholicity of taste. Almost every one looks 
for a certain something in music, and unless he 
finds just that something the music fails to ap- 
peal strongly to his feelings ; if he does find it, 
on the other hand, his feelings are duly worked 
upon, and all other con>ifIerations appear to him 
as of secbndary moment. So long as the par- 
ticular something he looks for is palpably there, 
the music may have whatever other qualities it 
will, lie likes it. What this something is varies 
according to the individual ; but I think that it 
is, in most instances, rather a general, not always 
important, charilcteristic of the music than a 
special or particular one, as the average music- 
lover is ever more amenable to general impres- 
sions than to the value of especial points. Let 
me try to make this clear by some examples. 

There is a certain quaintness of style (to the 
modem ear), a seemingly calm monotony of reg- 
ularly recurring musical figures, a general absence 
of sensationalism; and a modesty of dynamic effect 
in a great portion of the music of the Bach-Han- 
del period. The same qualities may be found, 
in less degree, in most of the music of Gluck, 
Haydn, Mozart, and of the young Beethoven. 

Archaeophilus finds these characteristics just 
suited to his musical taste ; he consequently is 
fond of the older music in general. The won- 
derful beauty of form, the admirable evolution of 
the composition from its primordial theme, the 
perfect order in the harmony, and the grace and 
heart-moving sentiment of the melody which are 
to be found in the^/is txamples of the music of 
these by-gone periods may, very possibly, not be 
felt by him in the least ; it is only the prevailing 
atmosphere, so to speak, of the music that he do- 
lights in. 

In the music of our own day there is an in- 
tensity and variety of dynamic effect, an unre- 
strained passionateness of expression, an abun- 
dance of yearning chromatic dissonances and of 
somewhat turgid harmony, which give an im- 
pression of vasrness and infinite struggle, which 
is just what most moves the soul of Neodizemon. 
He is consequently in favor of the new musical 
lighto. It may bo a matter of total indiflference 
to him whether the music be coherent or not, 
whether its passionate expression be at the ex- 
pense of beauty, or consonant with beauty. Its 
general atmosphere is congenial to him. 

It is not strange, then, that Archaeophilus 
should abhor Wagner and Brahms, and that 
Neodizemon should yawn at Bach. You call 
both of them prejudiced, because the one may 
leave the hall to smoke a cigarette during the 
performance of " Siegfried's Death-March," or 
the other may indulge himself in unparliamen- 
tary language so soon as he sees a Bach fugue 
down on the programme. I say, not so I Both 
well know that they are not going to hear what 
they w&nt. If I dislike the smell of tobacco 
smoke, I cannot be fairly called prejudiced be- 
cause I object to sitting in a smoking-car. 

The real trouble with Archaeophilus and 
Neodizemon is that the predominant musical lik- 
ings of both are a matter of sheer Dr. Fell. The 
one is just as far from truly appreciating Bach 
as the other is from appreciating Wagner. You 
can fool either of them most egregiously. Let 
the one hear a succession of rampant harmonies 
fully scored for the modern orchestra, and he 



will swallow them unhesitatingly as grand music 
The other will ride np to the seventh heaven of 
ecstasy on the wings of the dreariest and stupid- 
est Pleyel variations, just as easily as he will on 
the divine pinions of Bach's £ major fugue. 

What both are after is mere manner, not mat- 
ter ; sheer external accidents of music, not *' dtu 
OenUj ich meine den Geist,** 

I know I have taken very extreme cases,' per- 
haps so extreme as to make shipwreck of the 
law. Yet it seems to me that a great deal of 
the indiscrimination with which the general mu- 
sical judgment is afllicted is to be really attrib- 
uted to this superficial way of looking at music, 
rather than to anything resembling unreasoning 
or unreasonable individual prejudice. 

W. F. A. 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Hahdbl ahd Hatdn Socutt — The annual peribm- 
anoe of the great OhristniaB Ontorio, The Mtmak^ 
crowded the Mode Hall, aa It alwaya does, with a devoted 
and delighted audienoe. It was one of tin bert perfona- 
aneea, upon the whole, within our reooUeetloo. Every 
number was full of lije, and power, and beauty. The ehoraa 
raoki were vwy full and the grand ehomeea rolled oat with 
m^jeatio volume, prompt and clear and well luatained. The 
eoloisU, with aooie aUowaace hi behalf of Mr. Fritaeh, the 
tenor, whoae voice waa not quite equal to aome portkMia of 
hia teiek (though he eang intelligeoUy and like an artiatjeape- 
cially well hi <« Thou ahalt daah than "), wen highly eatia- 
frctoiy. Mlaa Fannj Kellogg, always inteieating, ahowed a 
great improTement; aha Iim rid herself of that exploaiTe 
way which used to mar the beauty of her ainging; and her 
line upper voice has gained in power and sweetneaa of tone, 
while beraeeutioii and her auataining power aeem to be 
eteadOy gaining. Miaa Winant'a moat remarkable aad 
beautiful contndio tonee, into which she knows how to throw 
a great deal of boneat, tme ezpreaakwi, eharmed the audience. 
And our great baeao, Mr. M. W. Whitney, waa hi all his 
gkwy; never have we heard him when hia voice aosmed ao 
pun and noUe, and ao great! One of his filial aub-baea 
toner made one think of &' traditiooa of Lablache. And 
he waa equall j in hia fineit mood, ainging It all com amar^ 
and with vital power. 

The eflfect of the perfiormanca waa greatly enhanced by the 
brge ofcheetra (twelve firet violuia, with Benihard Liate- 
mann at their head); and this increaae waa fortunate, auice 
the oigan by aome accident waa diaabled through a great 
part of the evening. Mr. Zeirahn conducted aa S he knew 
hia foreee, felt hia power, knew and felt the inapiKd Uaiidd- 
iaii work, and enjoyed every note of it 

Cambridoe. The first of the Univereity Coocerta was 
given December 18, at the Sanders^ Theatre. like the 
Harvard Symphony Coocerta, the auliecription Ibt had filled 
up 8k>wly, but at hiat reached the point where it waa con- 
sidered mfe to venture to give them. After all, tbe l«autiftil 
theatre waa leea than half filled at this firrt concert. Itie 
following waa the programme : — 

Overture to Ruy UfaM, in C Minor, Op. 95 . Mendeluokn. 
Recitative and Aria, «Che tub eenaa Euri- 

dice,*' from Orpheus Giuck, 

Mim MatbUde Phlllippa. 
Symphony, No. 8, in F major, Op- 08 . . . Beeiktfttn. 

Introduction to Lohengrin Wuyner, 

ReciUttve and Aria, ^ Ah ! quel giomo,*' from 

Semtrauiide Rouitd, 

Miaa Mathilda Pbillippa. 
Overture to Oberon, in E mi^ .... Fan Wtbtr, 

The orchestra waa the Boaton Pliilbarmonic, under the 
kaderehip of fiemhard Lietemann, enlmged for thia aeriea «if 
concerts to forty members. Their pbying was admirable. It 
is almost sopei^uous to say, or to apeak again of the marked 
improvement arising ftwa the more frequent relicaraals nee. 
essary for the perforaianceB at the three aeries of orebeatrml 
concerts of the preaent aeaaon. 

Tbe admirable aonority of the Sanders Theatre eeemed to 
give additional strength and volume to their pUj-ing, which 
on this evening was of their best. The Symphony and both 
Overtures were admirably rendered. Juatioe compela na to 
add that the Introduction to •* Lohengrin " alone reerived 
the honor of an encore. Mies Mathilde PhilUpps sang with 
great acceptance Gluck*s aria, and In response to a demand 
for a repetition of tbe aria flrom Stmiramid^ gave Inatead 
the fiuuiliar •« MandoUnata.*' 



Max BBUcn*s <* Odtssbub." — The peHbrmance of thia 
remarkable work complete, with ehonli, male and female soh> 
voices, and orchestra, in tlie Music Hall, Deeember 83, was 
a new feather in the cap of the Cecilia, and a notable etent 
of our preeent muaical ecaaon. It bad be^ very thoroughly 
and critically rebeareed under Mr. B< J. Lang, and in aU ita 
length, with all iU difficulties, it waa hi flie main verysatia- 
fectorily done. It will take more than one hearing to audu 



jAKnART 8, 1880.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



It nniTcnaUy appncwtod ; bat tbe ?oioe, we think, of tboM 
bcft qualified to Judge wm one of warm approval and de- 
light. Tbe argument of the poem, based, of courve, on 
Homer'a ** Odjisej/* and confonuing for the most part very 
closely to its order of events, was printed in our la«t, and 
was in tbe hands of all the audience. Surely it afiurded 
texts for almost every theme with which music ever has to 
deal, — at least out«de of the Christian Church. We can 
only ofler a few slight notes upon each of its ten " Scenes," 
preceded by a rather lengthy orchestral introduction, which, 
although refined and subtly wrought, and full of quiet beau- 
ties, we found somewhat monotonous and not setting one on 
tiptoe with great expectation, like the introductions, say, of 
^ethoven. 

I. Odysseus on Calypso's Island. The opening chorus of 
Calypso's nymphs is fresh and charming, clear and spring- 
like in its three-part harmony, while it is one of the few 
really melodious pieces in the work. Tbe accompaniment 
Is of a very upbuoying character and full of charm. The 
shadow that falls upon the lucid harmony, as the thoughts 
turn to where Odysseus **sito and mourns,*' sighing for 
lar-oflr Ithaca, is skillfully managed mth that rare power of 
moduktion shown throughout the work. Then we have 
the hero's lament, — an extremely simple, almost rudimental 
mebdy, or musing chant, within a small compass of tones, 
written for baritone. Although not in the best range of 
Mr. C. R. Adams's voice, he showed such intelligence, 
SDcb finished art in its delivery, and such perfect enuncia- 
tfa» of the worda, — one of the qualities which be possesses 
in a rare perfectkm, — that it produced a true impresakm. 
A trumpet paoage introdncea Hermea, who fills his soul with 
ghid presage, and be embarks with his companiona, the or. 
cheatra keeping up a mcaaured figure quite suggeative of the 
■Ovid of oari* 

II. Tbe sound of oars is still continued, until *<the 
bounda of the deep- flowing ocean are reached,'* and they go 
down into tlie nether world, or Iladea. Here begins a se- 
ries of appalling pictures. Weird, aombre, ghoat-like chorda 
and moduhokma are empbyed with hiexhaustible reaourcea 
and with roarveloiia imaginative power. Spirits from the 
** rasty deep " greet them with wild, grueaome harmony. 
Odysaeus oflbn aolemn sacrifice, and tbe shades of the de- 
parted, lured by the smell of bkxxi, sing a shuddering hi- 
ment. Blouniful chomsea of chiklren, of brides, of youtha, 
prematurely cut off, foIk>w with appropriate variety of ex- 
pression and tone-cobr; then the shade of the old bard 
Teiresias a-ams him to give a wide berth to tlte Syrens; 
and finally tlie shade of his motlier reminds him of bis faith, 
fill wife Penebpe beset by suitors. Fmally, the whole troop 
of spirita cry out with new intensity of horror, and all ran- 
iah one by one. Musically, all thia ia made palpalile vrith 
masterly power, especUlly of inatrumentation, until it ia 
quite time for an entire change of acene and a return to 
cheerful daylight "Fly! Fly!" and aa they row away, 
the agonized wail in the orcheatra with which the scene con. 
dudea ia terribly impreesi\'e. 

III. The Sirens, llieir chorus, in a bright miyor key, 
b delightfully harmonious and seductive. No wonder Ulys- 
ses, bound to the mast, and hearing, pleads with all his might 
to the deaf ears of his sailors, to rest their oars and tarry. 
The alternating chorus of tiie men makes strong effect of 
contrast. 'Ilie ihstniraentatk>n abounds in happy figures 
and rich hamionica, far from commonpbux. To thia short 
scene succeeds — 

IV. 'I1ie Tempest at Sea. And here we have a powerful 
chorus descriptive of the storm, with terrible chromatic 
howling of the winds, surging of waves, and grand upheaval 
of the orchestral deep. All are engulfed except Odysseus, 
who is saved by gracious interposition of the Oeeanides, and 
in a series of tuneful chorus strains ia wafted to tbe aliore, 
and with aoft lullaby if aung to aleep. 

y. I'art Second tranaporta us to Penelope. Her lament 
and prayer, for the safe return of husband and of son, con- 
Btitttte tbe whole scene, which is not k>ng, albeit slightly 
monotonous. As for melody, this §cena, as it may be called, 
shows the influence of the new German school. What of it 
ia not recitative ia aomething nearer to recitaHvo cantabUe 
than to any clear, well-rounded, tuneful melody. It is not 
a mekidy which one carries away with him, — or which 
carries one away. Ita intereat Ilea in pathetic, noUe declama- 
tion ; a strong, intense expression of faithful love and yearn- 
ing for the absent, and of high.souled patience. It gave 
gcMd opportunity to tbe pure and sympathetic soprano voice, 
l«aiitiful in its higher tones, to the cultivated method, the 
intelligent conceptran, and the native dramatic instinct of 
Miaa Louie Homer. 

— But here the hurry and confusion of t^ week compel 
oa to atop for tbe preeent, and reaerve the completion of the 
story until the next number. 



[—Hers the inexorable bars abut down on ua, and we 
must omit numeroua other concert reports, letten from New 
York and elsewhere, local intelligence, notices of new publi- 
eationa, ete., etc. Our readen will readily excuae, in con- 
sidcrsiMn of tbe fire. Things will return to their normal 
order, we truat, before another isaue.j 



Dresden. — A new comic opera, in three acta, Blanca^ 
by Iguas Brtill, was performed, Nov. 26, with entire suc- 
eeaa. Mmea. Schuch and Riialer, and Messn. Goetze, 
D^le^ and Decarli assumed the principal roles. 



MUSICAL correspon;>ence. 

Pkovidrkck, R. I., Dec. 16, 1879. — The •• Cecilia ' 
opened its second season with its fifth concert on Tuesday 
evening, December 8, at the hall of the Amateur Dramatic 
Club. The artists were tbe New York Philharmonic Club 
and Miaa Henrietta Beebe, of New York, soprano, llie 
following excellent programme was preaented to a aelect and 
appreciative audience: — 

String Quartet in A minor, Op. 41. No. 1 Schumann. 

Songs (a), » The Dream " (6), " The Lark " . BuLinstein^ 

Aria, " Tell me, my Heart," Bishup' 

Sok), Violoncello. Three pieces Widor. 

1. Andante. 2. Moderate. 3. Vivace. 

Song, *^ Where tbe Dee sucks " Svllirnn. 

Quartet in G minor. Op. 27 Uiity, 

This programme was a great improvement u|x>n those of 
previous concerts of tliis Society in point of Unyth, Tbe 
arrangement of the several parts was also, to our mind, a 
model one, — pkcing tbe two important works at tbe bt^n- 
ning and end, and relieving the mind by the lighter char- 
acter of the intermediate selections. 

Tbe Schumann quartet, the fint of tbe three only which 
be wrote, and all dedicated to his friend Mendelssohn, made 
a splendid opening to the feast. Its fine, brief introduction 
in A minor leads immediately to the Allegro, the theme of 
which is very bright and bcatutiful, thoroughly character- 
istic of its author, and exceedingly well worked up. After 
a devek>pmeiit in which the themes paas through quite a va- 
riety of keys, the author recura to the first theme in the 
second violin, while the fint violin ascends to high F in 
a charming pumisntno^ and the movement closes. The 
Scherzo reminds one somewhat of Mendelssohn, though this 
iuipresakm ia perhapa stronger in tbe four-hand arrange- 
ment (excellently done by Mr. Otto Dresel) than in the orig- 
inaL The Intermezzo, which interrupts this movement near 
the middle, is in Schumann's best style, and ita harmonies 
seem peculiarly his own. The Adagio is a genuine Lied of 
exceptional beauty, fint sung by tbe fint violin, afterwards 
by the 'cello, and finally returning to the fint violin again. 
Schumann seems to have written it in one of his most inspired 
moments, and it ia to us one of the most delightful move- 
ments that ever came from his pen. The Presto is strong, 
fiery, and brilliant A strange but beautiful episode, 
slightly suggestive, perhaps, of the " Music of the Future," 
occun near the close of this movement, the reason of which 
is not entirely clear. The passage is, however, efliwUve, and 
the brief return to tlie original tempo brings the quartet to 
a splendid dose. We can express a general satisfaction 
with tlie rendering. 'I1ie quartet ia not easy to play well. 
The only blemishes noticeable were a slight lack of tune and 
a little indistuictness in some of the running passages on the 
part of the 'celk>. With these exceptions the performance 
was well-nigh perfect 

The songs were very finely rendered; Uioee by Rubin- 
stein especially so. The technical management of the voice, 
the phniahig and tlie general conception, a'cre exceptionally 
good. Sulliran's ** Where the Bee sucks " pleased us more 
than Bishop's "Tell me, my Heart;" but both were fine 
specimens of English song, a field which has been especially 
and desen'cdly cultivated by Miss Beelie. Tbe artist sliowed 
a rare appreciation of unity in musical impressions by re- 
sponding to an encore of the Rubinstein aonga with Schu- 
bert s »*Lark." 'ilie reaponae to the encore of Sullivan's 
song was rather trifling in comparison. Mr. Bonner ac- 
companied with his customary good taste and sldll. 

The 'cello solo was enjoyable, the pieces of Widor being 
of a quiet lyrical character, lliey were nicely rendered. 

The (arieg quartet, which closed tbe concert, is a strange 
work. To speak of it with any degree of confidence or in- 
terest, one should have had the privilege of a long acquidnt- 
aiice witli and study of it. It certainly cannot be under- 
stood or fairiy judged on a fint bearing, and this is true of 
any great work. That tliis is an exceptionally great work 
we do not ckim; but that it ia,a work of real importance, 
the zeal and energy of the artists who rendered it so finely 
bear abundant testimony. We were told tliat the club had 
rehearsed it twice a week ever since last April. This fact will 
give any one at all familiar with music of this character an 
idea of the value and the immense difiSculty of the work. 
The impressions left by it are various It seems on a first 
hearing to be very fragmentary and incoherent, with now 
and (hen a touch of the grotesque. It is full of ideas. So 
rapidly do they come forward, and so revolutionary is their 
cliaracter, tliat }X)u are confused and almost overwhelmed. 
In many places the ideas of the composer aeem to have run 
away with him ; he aeems to have lost all control of himself; 
tlieii, again, there are passages of exquisite melody, of sur- 
passing beauty, and these are as auddenly and unexpect- 
edly interrupted by paaaagea full of wild and unrestrained 
energy and force, and seemingly beyond the power of four 
instrunieiita to express. It is Uie restless, unsatisfied spirit, 
seeking for expression of its thoughts and longings, of ita 
struggles and aspirations. 

Whatever may be. said of it, time will test its worth; it 
certainly cannot and should not be judged from the cbissical 
standard. It belongs essentially to the modem school, and b 
itself tui generis. Of all the movements, the Romauza and 
Fuiale were perhaps the meat beautiful and clear. 

The playing was simply a marvel, both in the apparent 
ease with which the immense difficulties of the work were 
conquered, and in ita conception and rendering as a whole. 



Tlie club show the results of their year's practice and 
richly deserve tbe success so carefully and patiently earned. 
The ** Cecilia" of Prorideiice, as well as tbe "Kuterpe" 
of Boston, is doing a good work, and it is to be hoped that 
the labor expended will result in an increased study and a 
more frequent bearing of the many maaterpiecea of this chus 
of music. Cliamlier music aa a di«tinct branch stands almost 
by itself, and aflbrda culture of a peculiar kuid. A more 
generally diffbsed knowledge of its treasures is desirable, 
many of these ranking among the finest compositions of 
their respective composera. We hope that the work these 
societies are doing will commend itself to all musical people 
in other cities and towns, leading them to form similar or- 
ganizations with uniilar aims, thus creating a greater de- 
mand for chamber music, and offering sufficient inducement 
to artists to give more extended study to this dasa of muaic. 
Nothing can be more profitable and eiijo}-able to the artists 
themselves, and no higher musical culture can elsewhere be 
found. A. G. L. 



Chicago, Dec. 24. — On Tuesday evening, December 
16, the Beethoven Society gave ^ 'I he Lay of the BeU," 
by Max Bruch, liefore a very large audience in our new Music 
Hall. Miss Dutton, Mn. 0. K. Johnson, Mr. Knorr, and 
Mr. Morowski, were tbe sotoists. There was a chorus of 
a hundred voices, and an orebestre of thirty men, the whole 
being under the direction of Herf Cari Wolfsohn, the con- 
ductor of the society. As this waa the fint performance of 
the work in this country, a litUe sketch of it may be of 
some interest. I'he work is written for chorua, aolo voices, 
orcheatra, and oi^gan. It bek>ng8 to the advanced school 
of German muaic, and may be aaid to bear the direct in- 
fluence of the Wagner idea of treatment Tbe mdodie 
form is made subordinate to larger efifecta, in which an 
intricate instrumentation ia a marked feature. The or- 
cbeatral score indicates that ita plan and development has 
been mariced out by a master hand. There is a gradual un- 
folding of the musical idea, which reaches the full climax 
in the hwt number. I'he dramatic portions of the poem 
give the composer full scope for working out numben that 
show intensity, and there are many parts that manifest m 
heroic mood of that extended character which calls to its 
aid varied instrumentalities to express ita intent. I'hns the 
orchestra, chorua, quartet of principala, and organ, an 
often called upon for their fulleat powera. Of the twenty- 
seven nunibere, ten introduce the chorua. Tbe moat im- 
portant numben are tiie "Fire Chorua, the »*Terxett," 
'* Hallowed Order " chorua, *« Tbe Duty of the Bell" for 
ensemble, and the grand finale. Perhapa there an too 
niany recitatives in the work to hold Uie attention of an au- 
dience, unless they are intrusted to the most talented sing- 
en. It requires a Urge chorus, a very full orchestra, and 
solo talent of a high order, with Urge and telling voices, to 
insure its success. The solos sre not stricUy meh>dious, 
but the accompaniments are generally worked out in a man- 
ner that shows a consistent plan. 

The fint idea of the work seems to be its unity, and 
there is no undue prominence given to the solo parts, for all 
the numben are made to serve as links in one large plan. 
As a composer, Max Bruch seems to look to Urge and 
characteristic efliicts, and in all bis works beseems to at- 
tempt to picture the majestic in music. The pUuitive ten- 
derness that one finds in the music of a Mozart, or the 
refinement that Mendelssohn so delightfully expresses, are 
qualities foreign to any of the works that have been given 
here, from the composer of •* I'he Jjky of the Bell." He 
seems rather to aim at new poaeibilities, than to make tha 
old forms bear again rich blossoms of melodic beauty. 
Modem composition seems to aim at reaching great heights 
of grandeur; but oftentimes there u a roughness aliout 
these gigantic efiects and forms, almost as barbaric aa tbe 
vast monuments of the Orient The utterances of niusie 
should all be symbolical of the beautiful, in order for it to 
keep its honorsd place among the romantic aru; and, in 
this age, have a reoarm for its very forms of manifestation. 
There are too many slow roorements in the woric to make it 
interesting to a general audience, while the Ui^ number of 
recitatives seem to add a sombre effect that even a varied in- 
strumentation cannot destroy. Thus there are portiwis of 
tbe composition that seem to drag, and the ekjse attention 
of the listener U necessary in order to undentand the un- 
folding of the musical idea. 

To hold the attention of an audience, music must con- 
tain contrasts in movement as well aa in idea; and it U a 
miataken notion to write for the musician aUne. In the en- 
joyinent of music the senses, save that of hearing, are at 
rest, and as the mind is drawn into close communication 
with the inner reflection that the music awakens, it is evi- 
dent that only a work filled with rich and correctly con. 
ceived contrasts, can give the listener great eiyoyuient We 
all rebel if the sombre presses us into clouds of gloom, and 
long for the brightness to at least tint them wiUi the rose- 
coton of change. Thus I felt as I listened to the perform- 
ance of " The Lay of the Bell." 

The society and the soloists did their work well, how- 
ever, and did their best to bring the audience into sympa- 
thy with the work. Mn. 0. K. Johnson deserves particular 
mention for Uie fine delivery of her aria, and the expressive 
recitative, *^ Burnt and bare stands the homestead " 

Miaa Dutton baa improved in her method since Ust season, 
and did some very effective work. The singing of Mr. 



8 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



{Vol- XL. — No. 1010- 



Knorr, too, wm qaite dramfttie in its idea, uid he lent the 
beet powcn of hU Toice to hie trjin^ pert. The r61e of 
the meeter woriuneD ie very long end difficult, end while Mr. 
M orowiki .wee not in hie bieet voice, he eudeavond to do hie 
work fiUthfullj. I have never heard the chonie eo prompt, 
or eo eUe to eoetain the difficult parte as thej are thie 
eneeoii, and Mr. Wolftohn deec r vee much praiee for hie cffi>rt 
in teaching them to sing underttandingiy. There are a 
ntniber of other musieal mattere and entertainmente that 
daim attention, but I mnet aak tfft indulgence, and pass 
them over to mj nest communication, for the pleaauree of 
Chrietma»4ide biduoe me to make mj note a short one. 
Tet I cannot doee before wishing tbe Journal success for 
the New Tear upon which it is about to enter, for it richly 
nerite the confidence and support of every sincere friend to 
mueie. In the peet it haa been fhithful to what ie beet in 
■rt, and ever ceger to promote, with honest and thoughtftil 
worda, all true effitcte made for the advancement of culture. 
It looked at art as too noble an inetpimentality in progress- 
ive civilisation, to be made to pender to what was only 
eommonplaee, but endeavored to advance public tasto so 
that a k>ve for the beet music might \»t more general. It 
eaw the beautiful in ita higheet forms, and tried to Hft up 
general appredation eo that it might meet it. For ita 
worthy endeavor it has the rigltt to expect the support of all 
honest lovers of music. As a new year's greeting may it 
have many iudicatioiis of tbe nesult of ite earnest efforts, 
In numbers of subscriptk>ns that signify that the musieal 
public appreeiatea ito labors for the advancement of the 
true In art. C H. B. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

LoimON — At her Mi^y's Theatre, Weber*s Obei-m 
was revived with Mad. Pappenheim as Reaia. The Musical 
World my%th»i Obenm Is welcome alike in its normal Eng- 
lish shape, in ite German amended shape, and in its Italian 
abnormal shape, which Sir Julius Uetiedict, Weber's most 
distinguished pupil, haa done eo much to make acceptable, 
drawing materials firam other works by the composer for the 
indispensable recitativee and occasional oreheetrsl inter- 
Indee, intruding nothing abeolntely his own, for the sake of 
were eelf-gloriftcation, but accomplishing his task through- 
out in a style at once delicate, reserved, and masterly. 
(Tfrenm, by the way, ie only one among aeveral works tluit 
by their leim^hened vitality go far to upset the Utopian 
theory of Uichard Wagner, who, in his usual emphatic 
manner, eends forth an edict that no opera must liope for 
permanent lifo eiept by reaeon of the drama to which the 
music is wedded, — indsttng that the two are uiseparable. 
Happily mueic, when realig music, is in a leas destitute 
condition ; and where opera ia concemedl instead of being 
the drama'a mistrcae, Is the drama's master, instead of tbe 
•• WrW to the <* J/aim," the Mnnn to the If^etft — 
which makee all the diffisreuce. One hundred Wagners, in 
one hundred volumes, will never be able to persu»de sane 
people that music is not an independent art, that measured 
rhythm is not one of the chief eecrets of the charm it exer- 
cises, that what ia called the *' infinite mtUtt*' is not, in 
nbie eases out of ten, an infinite bore, and that the abeence 
of symmetaical form and the defiance of all reUtions of keys 
to each other are anything better than outrages against art, 
wider no matter what manifestation. The mueie of Obertm 
hae lived, livee, and will continue to live, being intrinsically 
beautiful, and no on * can deny that in iU connection with 
the libreUo It Is everywhere dramatically true. Weber can 
hardly with foimeas be reproached becauae, in so for as con- 
atrucUon and purely dramatic interest are concerned, he had 
n somewhat weak, and to those unacquainted with Widand's 
poem, or the romance narrating tbe adventuree of ffuon de 
B*tnUamx^ one of the twelve *• Paladins ** of Charlemagne, 
firom which Wiehmd derived his subject, in a great degree 
unintelligible liliretto to deal with. Enough that bis music 
has immortalised the drama, which without it wouU have 
been Ufolces, notwithstanding tbe literary merit seldom ab- 
eeitt from tlie writings of Mr. IMancb^^. 

Ohertm was followed by // Ft*tuto Mayieo and Ctirmen, 
the title role of which wae assunied by Mme. Marie Ron, 
and the extra season wae aimounoed to doee with Oberon 
•• for the benefit of Mme. Pappenbeim,*' apropoe to which 
the World says, " It ia aurely time that this comedy of 
• benefits * was abandoned, inasmuch as no one now attaches 
any importance to them. In the oUen time a benefit given 
under tbe name of any individual artist really meant a bene- 
fit to the account of that artist; but this custom has long 
passed away, and the expression has become no belter than 
an empty phrase.'* 

Crystal Pa lack Cokckrts. — The concert room on 
Saturday in last week was fairly well filled despite the attrsc 
tions of the ftoet-lKMind lake in the grounds of the Pelace, al- 
though the healthy recreation of skating drew a great many 
man visitors than we are accustomed to see on half-crown 
Saturdays. The antldpation of sedng and hearing the great 
Vnnch compoeer, the repreeentetive of tbe modem French 
aehool, in the double character of conductor and pUnist, had 
dottbttess much to do with the good attendance on the occa- 
•loo. Although the habitu^ of St. James's Hdl have eeen 
kirn and hard his performances, he was personally a stranger 
to the Crystal PsJaoe audience, and hence the interest which 
^t^^i^ to their firrt introdu^n to Moos. OpuniUe Saiut- 



SaSns, who has established bis name in the very tetmt rank 
of compoeers, albbtt of the modem eohod. The concert on 
Saturday was made the occasion of the first performance in 
England of M. Sabit-Saens*s Concerto in E-flat for piano- 
forte and orchestic, tbe com p oeer officliMlog at the eoio In- 
stmment; and of the prodoctioD of his pome^ymphonique 
entitled ** Le Booet d'Omphale,'* the peribrmauoe of which 
he conducted. Of the latter composition we may aay at once 
that there is nothuig in it especially requiring the compoe- 

er*s b&ton Tlie Concerto is more ambitious, and as 

a vehicle for dlqday of mastery over enormous difficulties 
has few parallela. From the commencement of the intro- 
ductory moderate, in which the piano maintaina a seriee of 
rapid arpeggioe in omamentatkm of the opening phraae by 
the horna, to the last note, tbe solo instrament has Uttle 
else than work which taxee the executant to the utmoet. A 
long and briUUnt cadeusa is one of the featuree of this Con. 
certo which requires a second hearing to enable one to pro- 
nounce a fitir judgment on it. lliat there is a good deal of 
** aound and fury signifying nothing '* in the irori[, we fed 
bound to cay; and we question irerj much whether, had it 
been tbe compodtion of plain John Smith, the receptimi 
would have been so gamindy warm. It waa, however, re- 
cdved with every demonstration of approval, and tbe oom- 
poeer was twice recalled. 

The late Mr. Barker. — Charles Spaekman Barker, 
the wdl-knowu inventor of the piieuuiatle lever for lighten- 
ing the touch of large orgnns, died on Wedoeeday the Stfth 
ult., at Maidstone, — where he had been lately residing, — 
after a short ilhiess, in his seventy-fourth year, and waa 
buried at Snodlaud oo the following Saturday. 

Mr. Barker was bora at Bath on Uie 10th Odober, 1806, 
and <mginally brought up to tbe medical profeedon, but, 
bdng preeent on the occasion of the erection of an organ 
by a London organ builder, he determined oo following 
that ooeupatkm, and carried on budness for some time In 
hu native city. About tbe year 1832 he heard of the huge 
organ bulMing in London for York Mineter, and, seehig Uie 
imnienee labor it would be to pby on such a gigantic instra- 
ment if constructed in the oidiuary way, turned hu atten- 
tion to the means of overcoming it. lliis he propoeed to do 
by a pneumatic lever, — a smsJi bdlows inflated by air of a 
high pressure applied to every key, — thus reditting tbe re- 
sistance to a minimum; but, unfortunately, he did not suc- 
ceed in getting it in this instence adopted. In 1841 he 
went to Paris, where a burge oigan for the Abbey of St. 
Denis was then buikling by CavailW-Coll, who at once saw 
the bnportance of Mr. Barker's invention, secured bis serv- 
icee, and immediately applied it to that instrament, and it 
has dncebeen introduced in all tbe bugest organs built both 
in this country and abroad. Mr. Barker, alter his engago- 
ment with 'Cavaill^-CoU terminated, took the direction of 
the business of Daubbdne and CftUuiet, afterwards Du- 
croqueh (now Merkliu and Schuto), and exhibited an oigan 
here at the Interoatfond Exhibition of 1861. He carried 
on businees for some time in PaxU on hu own account, and 
amongst other bistramente built that hi St. Augustine's 
Church, in which he bitroduced tbe dectric actk>u. When 
the Franco-l*rassian war thrMteiied the destraction of Paris, 
^r. Barker returned to this country, where he has since 
resided. He married MdUe. ScbmelU of Paris, who sur- 
vives him. About three years ago a committee of tlie priu- 
dpal organiste and organ builders was formed for the pur- 
poee of raidng a fund to provide an annuity for Mr. Barker 
in his declining years, and a considerable sum was subscribed, 
bearing testimony to the value of his invention and the re- 
spect in which he was hdd. 

Paris. The first part of »* Lea Troyene," by Hector Ber- 
lioB, called **The Taking of Troy," was brought out dmul- 
taneoudy at both the (^Innne Concerts and tbe Pasddoup 
Concerts. The first part of this work, only, waa known in 
Puis, having been produced at the old Thi'&tre Lyrique of 
M. Carvalho. Tbe Mentttrd says that it cannot be called 
an opera in the true acceptation of tbe word, but rather it 
should be daseed among the oratorios c/e genre. It seems 
to have been very favorably received in both concerts, even 
by enthusuwtic acdaiiiations, to which ** M. le Pr^ident de 
hi Itepublique,*' who waa present, " politdy contributed 
eeveral bravoe,*' from which it ia uiferred that the auccess of 
Um Damnation de Faust is to l)e renewed, and that the 
music of Beriios is now d la mode. 

M. Ma OREL, the well known baritone of Covent Garden, 
made hu d^nU here at the Op^ra to-night, aa Hamlet, be- 
fore a huge and attentive audience. A native of Marseilles, 
he fint appealed in Paris ten yean ago in the Africaiae. 
He has since sung in' Italy, and recently bi lioiidon. lie 
comes back here with a good reputaiimi as regards voice and 
training, which reputation he haa justified by successfully 
undertaking a part in which M. Faure haa left such abiding 
reodlectious. M. Maurd was warmly applauded. — Paris 
Correspimdtnee of the Times^ Nov. 29. 

A HRiLUAKT audience assembled to night to welcome M. 
Maurd back to the Op^ra. It waa feared that jealousy of 
tbe successes this popular baritone bad achieved in foreign 
countries would militate sgabwt tbe warmth of hie reoeption 
here. In Hamlet, moreover, he had to straggle against the 
recollections of Faure, but his fins voice and excellent 
method obtained tbe sympathy of his andisoce In tbe very 
first scene. M. Mauid'a performance waa as remarkable 
from a hiatriouio as from a musiod point of view. His 



artistic style^ for liutance, gave all poedble effect to the 
drinking eong of the eecond act; his picturesque acting In 
the play scene, where it is rdntroduoed, was worthy of all 
praise. In feet, M. Maurd*s success waa miequivoesl, and 
he will prove a valuable addition to the company of the 
Grand Op^n. — Paris Correspomdenee of the Dailg TeU- 
graphs Kov. S9. 

A man haa recently died in Peria who had bla day of 
celebrity aa the inventor of tbe orffue esprtMstf^ Louie Fierre 
Alexander Martin. Tbe son of a commoo tinker of Sourdon 
(Sdne et Mame), young Martin recdved his first Ideaa of 
music ftooL the curiS of hu village, by which be profited, to 
stady the mechanism of the organ. Beoommg a muddan, 
be devoted his few hours of le^ure to coostracting a fint 
histrament, of which be made alone all the parte with frag- 
mente of wood, ecrape of tin, using even pieeee of bone for 
the keys; but, such aa It waa, thia organ obtamed for ita 
maker a bronxe medal at the Expcdtlon of 1841. Some 
yean lata*, he Invented the pereusdon organ, which won 
him a diver medal in 1844, and the croes of the L^gioo of 
Honor at the Expodtlon Uuivendle, in 1851. The inven- 
tion haa k>ng dnce made Ita way fai the world, while, as is 
often the case, the inventor alone hae not profited by his 
idea. Martin, towards the doee of his life, eulTered revcreee 
which he bore worthily, and died eeteemed by all who knew 
him. 



Db Edoaro HAy8UCK*t leetnres or readings In the 
great haU of tlie Friends of Musk at Pesth attracted higa 
aiidiencea and aflbrded tbe utmoet eatisfectkm. The sub- 
ject of the fint lectun was « The Rise of Opera bi Italy," 
that of the eecond, ^ The B^nnings of Opera 'm Germany 
and Fruace." Tbe literary part of tbe lectun was eoppla. 
mented and competed by musical Qhutrative ei a m pl es . Ib 
the eecond lectun Dr. Uaodick comnseoced with Lnlli, oa 
whoee Kadmos^ tbe first bondfde tragic opera, he epoke at 
condderable length. Haring then played a prdode In D 
minor frt>m Alceste, he touched shortly on Kamean and Glnek 
and proceeded at once to treat of Geraiany. He rafened to 
the fact of Biblical subjecte being pnfemd for librettoe; to 
the first permanent opera in Hambuigfa; to Rdnhard Kayser 
and Matheeon; to opera in Berlin under Friedrich II.; to 
the North Geiimana, Haase, Quants, Graun, mid lastly to 
Hiller, the founder of the German **■ Singspielj** or piece in- 
tenpersed with eongs. Herr David Nay, from tbe Natiooai 
llieatre, who had undertaken toaet aa vocal Illustrator, aang 
twice the ** Vulcan- Aria,** ftvm the opera, PtmmmOf 
1707 — which, strange to say, begins in D minor and ends 
in C- sharp, and one in F mi^ ttom Uiller'a 
Sdiuster, 



Rome. — A new theatre ia now buikling between the Via 
Forend and Vbt Torino which will occupy a space of 4357 
squan metrea. The anhitect is Domenleo Coetand. It 
will have eeverd peculiar features. A vast subterranean 
hall will serve aa reatounnt and cafti; tbe dome crowning 
the auditorium wiU be eo amuiged as to make it poedlJe 
to uae the eunlight for illumbiating the theatn for daj rep- 
resentathms. The partem will accommodate 15U0 speo- 
tators^ and, by an ingenious device, the floor can be in- 
stoutly raised to tbe levd of the stage floor. The boxee an 
to aeat 700 and other gdleries 1800, so that tbe whole 
theatn will comfortably aeat an audience of 9000 persooa. 
Tbe stage will contain a space of 1,000 aquan metres, mak- 
ing it possible to give to pieces a splendid mise en eoiue. In 
short, the Teatro Nazhnale will be bi all respecta worthy of 
tbe capital of Itdy. 

Frank F0RT-02f.Tifx-MATN German papers, in notie- 

ing the construction of tlie new theatn In thiii dty, epeak of a 
very remarkable featun in ite cooatruetiou, vis., a fofty vm- 
tilation skajl, Thia was very coospicooudy abaeiit from tlie 
old theatre, as flmn most German theatres, which for bod 
ventllatkm, or rather none at all, will carry away tbe pdm 
from all tbeatree in the world. The Frankforten an to be 
congratulated on the hope held out to them of a breath of 
fresh air, and we trust tlmt this anbiteetord "ornament,** 
as it is edled, may be added to every theatn in Germany. 
Thia new theatn la near tbe Boekenhdmer Gato. 



Amsterdam A new Dictionary of Music In Duteh, 

edited by H. Viotts, haa been noenUy pobUabed by Biir- 
mann A Uoothau, of which nine nnmben have ali«ady ap- 
peared. 

Harovkr. ~ The propodtion made to Eduard Losscn to 
succeed Hans v. Billow as conductor of the oreheetra and of 
the Symphony Concerto haa been declined by him. 

Lkipzio. — At the seventh Gewandbana Concert (Nov« 
S7) Emilie Gauret executed the Concerto Komantiqoe, for 
ridin, by Beqismln Goddard, and a balbule by Moeskoweky, 
with a aehersUio of his own compodtlou. He was warmly 
i4>p]anded. 

Yibnra. — Bo{ddieu*s Jean de Paris waa given after 
an intervd of twdve yeara. Tbe mudc was found charm- 
ing as ever, and tbe work was aa successful as formeriy, in 
spite of a aomewhit defective reivlering. 



Jahuabt 17, 1880.] 



DWIOHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



9 



BOSTON, JANUARY 17, 1880. 

■ntond at Um Po«fe OAee afe Boston s« moond-elam matter. 



AU tk» mrddtt net artdiud to other pubticatiotu wen ajpru^f 
wriUtnfoir thi$ JpwnuU, 

Publithed fertmightlif by IIovoaToii, Omood Ain> CoMrAirr, 
BMrtOM, JfoM. Aictf, 10 etnt* a numbtr ; $2.50 ptr ytar. 

W^ mU in Betton *y CAftb PavtfBE, 30 Wt»t Str*«t, A. Wol- 
um A Co., 283 Wiukington Street, A. K. Loamo, 369 Wash- 
itifton Stmt, and by the PubtiMkers; in New York by A. Debm- 
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Ckestnut Strott; in Chicago by th* Chicaoo Music Comfaiit, 
512 SUU Strtt. 



WANTED — A COMPOSER FOR THE 

ORGAN. 

BT H. H. BTATHAM. 

There is no iiitentioa to imply, bj the 
above lieHding, that there are not many con- 
temporary writers for the grandest of instru- 
ments whose productions are well worth the 
serious study of the player and the serious 
attention of the listener. One of the most 
gifte<l among our naitive writers for the organ 
we have unhappily recently lost, — one who 
never wrote carelessly or indifferently, and 
never forgot the high character of the instru- 
ment or descended to sensational or popular 
composition for its key-board. But it would 
not be difficult to name a good many liv- 
ing musicians, English, French, and German, 
who have supplied and will, it is to be hoped, 
continue to supply the organ-player with 
much food that is convenient for him and 
his hearers, in a considerable variety of styles 
or manners, all calculated to bring out and 
illustrate qualities special to the organ as 
distinguished from other instruments. As to 
a different class of writers who. turn out, 
currenie cdlamo^ showy and flimsy marches, 
offertoires, and other pieces calculated to pro- 
duce much noisy effect with little real effort 
on the part of either composer or performer, 
and in which the true character of the instru- 
ment is entirely ignored for a style of hand- 
ling ^hich may be called prancing on it 
rather than playing on it, these need not be 
taken into account here at all. The organ 
is above all others the instrument for intel- 
lectual music, and productions into which no 
intellect goes are beside its mark altogether. 

But admitting all the value and interest 
of a good deal that is written for the orgun 
at present, it remains a fact, and a vexatious 
one for lovers of the instrument, that none 
of the few composers of the highest class, 
and who have the widest aims, seem disposed 
to pay any attention to the organ. There 
have bico, in fact, only two classical com- 
posers for the instrument, — Bach and (after 
a long interval) Mendelssohn. Handel may 
be named, perhaps, in virtue of his concertos, 
hut he can only be named doubtfully. The 
organs on which he played, and for which he 
composed his few extant concertos, were so 
limited in their size and scope — wanting, 
above all, the great glory and power of the 
organ, the pedal-board — that it was impo$>- 
sible (hat he could realize or work out the 
special capabilities of the instrument. As 
rearranged for a large organ by the greatest 
of modern organ-players, two or three of 
these concertos can always be depended upon 
to **• tell " with a general audience ; and they 
are in this way very valuable to a player as 



furnishing music of a robust, masculine type, 
such as no musician neeii be ashamed of car- 
ing for, and at the same time sufficiently sim- 
ple and straightforward to appeal to the sym- 
pathies of a less cultured audience. It may 
be said that this praise, which may be applied 
in the same terms to a great deal of HandeFs 
choral writing, is in reality almost the high- 
est that could be given to a composer ; and 
so it is in one sense. But while Handel's 
choral works not only represent the perfec- 
tion of style in vocal writing, but rise at their 
best to the very loftiest musical feeling, his 
organ works never do rise to this point, and 
(which is more to the present purpose) they 
hardly ever represent the si)ecial powers of 
the instrument. With the exception of such 
short, slow movements as that which opens 
the Fifth Concerto, there are hardly any 
movements among the organ concertos which 
may not be played with * equal, sometimes 
with better, effect on the piano-forte ; and, 
moreover, the ^ solos " introduced, and orig- 
inally intended as display passages for the 
player, are mostly so hackneyed in form, and 
resemble each other so much in manner, that 
a listener entering in the middle of one of 
these passages would find it difficult to say at 
the moment, which out of two or three of the 
concertos was bein;; played. What Handel 
may have made of these works when he 
played them himself, filling in the bare out- 
lines and introducing, very likely, contrapun- 
tal design extemporized at the moment, we 
can hai-dly judge ; but, as they stand, these 
concertos can only in a modified sense claim 
to be regarded as classical organ music. 

Of Bach it is unnecessary to say anything, 
of course ; he is the acknowledged king of 
the organ. One observation may be made 
in regard to a point which amateur lovers of 
Bach, at least, hardly seem to recognize ; that 
is, the decided way in which his organ pre- 
ludes and fugues, as contrasted with those for 
the harpsichord or clavier, are put together 
in such a manner as to suit the special power 
of definition of the instrument. This i:*, in- 
deed, obvious enough in the preludes, which 
are mostly of a style and design quite distinct 
from those written for the' clavier. But a 
strict fugue is a strict fugut*, for whatever in- 
strument it be wiitten ; and accordingly some 
people have rashly supposed that the organ 
and harpsichord or clavier fugues of Bach 
may be interchanged from one instrument to 
another without loss of effect. But except 
in a Y^Tj few instances 4his is an illusion. 
The organ fugues do not tell as duets on the 
piano, and the fugues from "The Forty- 
eight " do not as a rule tell on the or^an ; 
they are arranged so that the entry of the 
inner subjects can be brought out by means 
of finger-pressure, while in the fugues for the 
organ, on which finger-pressure has no effect 
in modifying tone, the subject is made to 
stand out by the m6de of di.<ipo8ing the pxrts 
in extended harmony, which it would be im- 
possible to play without the assistance of the 
pedal. The distinction is oim difficult to de- 
fine exactly or to illustrate by special pas- 
sages, but it must make itself felt^to all who 
endeavor to play the organ and the clavier 
fugues respectively in such a manner as to 
mark the entries of the subject clearly ; and 
it is obvious that Bach, a great executant as 



well as a great player, felt instinctively the 
diffci*ence between the capabilities of the two 
instruments, and wrote accordingly, even in 
the strictest fugal composition. 

After Bach, as before remarked, Mendels- 
sohn U the one great name in organ composi- 
tion. Mozart appears, judj^ing from his re- 
corded remarks, to have thoroughly under- 
stood the genius of the instrument, and to 
have extemporized on it in the pure organ 
style, to the equal delist of himself and of 
listeners who remembered Bach; but he 
wrote nothing specially for it. His two noble 
fantasias, composed for a mechanictd organ, 
make splendid organ pieces as re-arranged 
by Mr. Best, but they are not entirely in the 
organ style, and are in every respect excep- 
tional among his works. Beethoven professed 
great enjoyment in playing the organ in his 
younger days, but wrote nothing for it. Schu- 
mann is the only other composer of great 
name who has touched organ-music, and his, 
six fugues on the name of Bach are in the 
most serious and elevated style, and contain 
much to interest the player and hearer, but 
they impress one as labored and only par- 
tially successful ; and his little pieces called 
" Lieder ohne Worie for the Organ" have 
nothing or;:anic about them, and might ad well 
have been written for the piano. But Men- 
delssohn's organ works stand on quite differ- 
ent ground. They form the only modem 
examples of organ composition, by a composer 
of the first clas.«, at once entirely suited to 
the instrument and representing the best ca- 
pabilities of the composer. In this respect 
they have been very much underrated. Among 
the enthuniastic admirers whom Mendelssohn 
has had in this country, many (so separate an 
interest Is organ music in general society) 
hardly know anything of them ; and by oth- 
ers we have heard them rated as among his 
weakest productions. To our thinking the 
very reverse is the case. Mendelssohn, who 
in a general way (as most people understand 
now) WHS a decided mannerist, and rather 
a sentimentalist among composers, is in six 
organ sonatas less mannered and less senti- 
mental than in most, if not any, of his other 
classes of work. They stand much higher as 
organ-music than his piano-forte music does 
as piano-forte music, and they are each com- 
pletely distinct and individual in design abd 
feeling, almost as much so as if they were 
the work of so many different hands; and 
of what other collection of compositions by 
Mendelssohn can this be said ? The same 
may be said of his only otlier Organ work, 
the three preludes and fugues. In the so- 
natas the fugues that are introduced are the 
weakest parts (except, perhaps, that in the 
Second Sonata, which has very fine points); 
fugue was not Mendelssohn's forte as a rule, 
and there is in his organ fugues occasionally 
a confusion as to the conduct of the part- 
writing, and even as to the method of writing 
it down, which is felt by the player, perhaps, 
more than by the listener. But, apart from 
this, these sonatas are noble examples of the 
application of new treatment to the organ, — 
perfectly new at the time, — which is entirely 
in accordance with the genius and the noech*' 
anism of the instrument. The step made in 
the First Sonata beyond all that had pre- 
viously been written can hardly be overrated 



10 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol, XL. -No. 1011. 



in its importance in regard to the modern 
development of the instrument ; the recitative 
movement which precedes the finale opened 
quite a new set of resources in the expressive 
power of the organ, while the finale showed 
how effects previously regarded as special to 
the piano-forte could be translated into the 
language and adapted to the mechanism of 
the organ. ^ Each of the sonatas embodies 
some other suggestion for the treatment of 
the instrument, originated by the composer, in 
every case effective and successful, and most 
of which have since received the compliment 
of repeated imitation by composers of infe- 
rior calibre. 

Now it is especially in regard to this sug- 
gestiveness and individuality of style in Men- 
delssohn's organ compositions tiiat we are 
struck with the contrast when we consider 
the best of the organ-music which has been 
written since. Almost all the organ-music 
we have had since Mendelssohn (and, with 
his exception, since Bach) is that of com- 
posers who are specially organists, who play 
the instrument and write for it mainly. And 
players who write for their instrument almost 
always fall into a mannerism of style, and 
rarely achieve the highest that the art, or 
even the instrument, is capable of. If Beet- 
hoven, the greatest writer incomparably for 
the piano-forte, had confined himself to play- 
ing and composing for that instrument, there 
is every reason to suppose that, so far from 
his piano-forte works having l>een any finer 
or more perfect than they are, they would 
have b^en less so. The greatest composi- 
tions for any given instrument are produced 
by a composer of the higliest calibre, whose 
genius demands many outlets, and can assimi- 
late itself to the genius of each instrumetit he 
selects as the medium for expressing his 
ideas. It is only genius of the second or 
third order which is content to write merely 
for one instrument (Chopin being a i*are, 
perhaps the only, exception). And the mis- 
fortune is that most of our modern organ 
music is furnished simply by organ composers 
who never get to the heights of musical ex- 
pression, and many of whom are hopelessly 
uninteresting. It would hanlly be possible 
to find a more dead-level of mediocrity than 
in the voluminous pages of Rink*s ** Organ 
School," and the ponderous dullness of Hesse 
is only relieved by one or two pieces pos- 
sessed of some brightness and character. 
We have had much better works produced 
by other writers for the organ since; but 
somehow the interest of their writing seems 
to concentrate in one or two successful and 
effective pieces which exhaust their capabil- 
ities. We get a sonata, perhaps, with tlie 
name of Van Eyken, or Ritter, or Merkel, 
which is so effective that we look out for 
other works by the same composer, only to 
find that they are echoes, as one may say, 
of the one successful work which has given 
the composer his name. Herr Merkel is a 
little m ire *' all ronnd " in this way than some 



1 This fine movement is aometimet eriticifled m nnauitable 
to the organ, timply on Moouni of iU being pUjed faster 
than the oomposer intended. Af an oi^n-plajer himself, 
Mendelisohn was quite alire to the eapablKties and limita- 
iaens of speech of the organ, and there is nothing in either 
this movement or the Allegro of the Fifth Sonata which Is 
at variance with the quality of tlie organ, if the compoeer^s 
metronomed time is adhereid to. 



others of his brethren ; but it must be con- 
fessed that he draws upon Mendelssohn and 
Beethoven, unintentionally perhaps, but very 
obviously, to an extent which very much 
weakens his claim to originality. Herr 
Rheinberger's works present more variety 
and individuality than those of most of his 
contemporaries, and it is worth remark that 
he is one of the few modern organ composers 
whose works in other branches of composi- 
tion have attained a recognized and deserved 
repute. This is the case, too, with our own 
late composer, Henry Smart; but even in 
his case the most friendly critic (and none 
could be more so than the present writer) 
must be c mscious that there is a remarkable 
similarity in the style and even the phrases of 
a good many of his organ movements. Dr. 
Wesley, an organ-player of real genius, ex- 
pended his strength, as far as the organ is 
concerned, mainly in extemporizing, and his 
(ew published compositions serve rather to in- 
dicate what he might have done if he had 
given his mind more systematically to such 
composition, than to furnish any large or 
important addition to the organist*s library. 
We are indebted to Mr. Silas f«r composi- 
tions, few but admirHble, and possessing more 
variety, color, and piquancy of style than are 
found in the works of some organ composers 
more jwpularly known and reputed. Of the 
number of writers who have brought out 
« Three Andantes for the Organ " (and who 
has not?), all that can be said is that they have 
increased the stock of ^' in- voluntaries " (for 
'' middle voluntaries" seem to have gone out), 
to be forgotten as soon as they have served 
tliat purpose. 

But of the best and most respected of the 
contemporary writers, Pome of whom have 
been named above, it cannot surely be said 
that any one has contributed works to the 
organist's library which can be regarded as 
among the great classics of music They 
themselves would be the very first to disclaim 
the idea. They have done what they could, 
and done it well, and we owe them the more 
thanks for their efforts to contribute to a 
branch of the art unaccountably neglected 
by the highest rank of composers. But what 
we want is to see the organ receive due at- 
tention at the hands of the foremost com- 
posers of the day. We have had a new 
violin concerto by Brahms, and a great ex- 
citement its production caused ; but why 
cannot a composer of his calibre, so lofty in 
his style, so serious in his aims, turn some of 
his genius towards the organ, and give us a 
new sonata or set of sonatas which might 
form another epoch in the treatment of the 
instrument, and be as much a matter of gen- 
eral interest hs a new violin concerto ? Why 
can we not have sometliing of the kind from 
Gounod, whose genius certainly has an af- 
finity with the instrument, and who ought to 
be able to give us something which would 
take as high a position in organ music as hi 
« Messe Solennelle " occupies in Catholic 
church music ? it would be of great interest, 
too, to hear what Wagner would do with a 
work for a great modern organ ; something 
new and unprecedented ought to come out 
of that, unquestionably. The contribution 
of important works for the organ by such 
composers would not only be a matter of 



the highest interest to the organ-player, bat 
it would do something to bring the great in- 
strument out of its comparative neglect by 
the modern mu'^ical world, and place it on a 
level in general estimation with the piano- 
forte. At present there are numbers of 
amateurs, well acquainted with other modern 
instruments and the music written for them, 
to whom organ music is a terra incognita^ 
and who have the most shadowy notions as 
to the instrument and its capabilities. And 
when the great composers entirely neglect it, 
we can hardly blame the general public for 
knowing no better. — London Musical Times. 



" JOHN OF PARIS " AT VIENNA.* 

At the Imperial Opera House, Boieldleu's comic 
opera, Jean de PnriM^ has been brought forth from 
long oblivion. We acknowledge gratefully the 
respect which has' lately been manifested for clas- 
sical operas, an<l cannot do otherwise than sup- 
port Herr Janner in the noble feeling which 
caased him not long since to resuscitate Idome^ 
neo. But it was no particularly lucky star which 
led him to Jean de Paris of all operas in the 
world. We fail to appreciate neither the his- 
torical significance nor the absolute esthetic 
value of the work, though it is certainly very 
much faded at the present day. But the very 
thing which constitutes its charming peculiarity 
cannot have justice done it in a large theatre, 
and consequently not at the Imperial Opera 
House. We know what an immense succeM Jean 
de Pari jt proved when first produced in Paris 
(1812) and aderwards in Germany. Boieldieu 
had just returned from a disagreeable residence 
of many years in Russia to the French capital, 
thanks to bis Jean de Parif, the favorite of his 
countrymen. What he had previously produced 
in Paris was- not of much importance, and con- 
tinued to live almost exclusively by this or that 
romance. Romances, the pet musical form with 
the French, play a prominent part in all Boiei- 
dien*s operas ; the whole of Jean tie Paris is a sort 
of romance among operas. The tones which La 
Dame Blanche struck at a later period (1825): 
with such chHrniin<r volume and richness, are al- 
ready very decidedly audible in Jean de Paris; 
but all the forms in the latter are more restricted ; 
the invention and combinations are much more 
simple ; the expression ii more sufierficial, and 
the effects are more timid. From a musical point 
of view, Jean is merely a prelude, though, it 
is true, a charming one, to La Dame Blanche, 
Boieldieu*8 weak point, and tliat of French mu- 
sic generally, namely, the want of intensity and 
depth of feelinjT, is much more strikingly appar- 
ent in Jean than in La Dame Blanche^ whose 
graceful smile is inspired and glows with the 
breath of sentiment. Jean de Paris was written 
by the libretiidt with an eye to joyous, gallant, 
conversational music alone ; where the composer 
might desire the expression of feeling, the libret- 
tist offers only descriptions of external objects or 
witty discussions. Even M. A. Pougin, Boiel- 
dieu s latest French biographer, admits this. The 
Princess's very first air — originally an air for 
Calypso in the composer's earlier opera of Tele* 
maque / — contains merely a calm description of 
the pleasures of traveling. Jean*s duet with the 
Page is a short treatise on the duties of knight- 
hoo<l ; the Pago*s air, an exact description of his 
master's traveling outfit; and Jean's, a disserta- 
tion on the delights of the table. Gracefully, 
but like the other pieces, does the duet between 
the Page and the Landlord's Daughter treat a 
theme since worn threadbare: the contrast be- 

* Trsodated from the Neue Freie Prette lu ths JLoil- 
do» Mvmoal Worid^ December 90, 1870. 



J1.NCART 17, 1880.] 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



11 



tween town and country life in dance and song. 
The fint and only situation, when, after nothing 
but masquerading and intriguing, the heart comes 
into its rights, — not until the very end of the 
opera, tliough, — is Jean's confession with the 
love duet appended to it. But even here the 
music is totally deficient in tenderness and 
warmth. We our^lves consider the best num- 
ber in the. entire score to be the first ^na/«, 
which, with its varied and yet elegant confusion 
and the burtlen Q* Cette auberge est k mon gr^, 
m'y voici, j*y resterai *') employed so effectively, 
is a masterly example of the comedy-treatment 
of broad musical form. Boieldieu here reveals 
what, with all his independence, he learned from 
Mozart, and what he was to unfold, with still 
greater florid beauty and richness, in the licita- 
tion scene of La Dame Blanche. 

Who can fail to perceive that the graceful 
Jean de Paris has nowadays lost much of its 
original charm? The music sounds, here and 
there, exceeilingly dry and insipid, qu.te apart 
from the extreme simplicity of the instrumental 
treatment. These defects seem to increase with 
the size of the stage on which the opera is per- 
formed, while, on the other hand, the good qual- 
ities most especially its own are thrown into the 
back<nround and grow obscure. The proper soil 
on which alone conversational operas like Jean 
de ParLt flourish is at all times a small stage such 
da that of the Op^ra Comique, where audience 
and performers are on a more intimate footing ; 
where no turn in the dialogue, no delicacy of the 
accompaniment, and no portion of the play of 
features are lost. Jeande Paris is -not effective 
in a large theatre like the Opera House. We 
know only one valid reason which could cause 
and justify its being produced there : the fact of 
the manager's happening to be in a position to 
cast the opera exceptionally well. We do not 
mean by this, with simply distinguished artbts, 
but with artists distinguished in this particular 
branch of art ; si)ecialists, or, at any rate, artists 
possessing de<tided talent for French acting op- 
era. Such artists our Opera House cannot at the 
present moment show, and the management 
could consequently hope for no more than a very 
small measure of success. For a work which by 
its very style is unsuited to tlie Opera House, and 
is, in addition, growing rapidly out of date, a 
** respectable " performance is not sufficient It 
must be re-animated by artists of brilliant talent, 
or not given at all. An example of such brill- 
iant talent, such a complete incarnation, or such 
a splritualization, of op4ra comique, was Roger 

Gustave Roger, whose place will never be 

filled, and whom we shall never forget. In the 
year 1866, he sang for the last time the part of 
Jean de Paris in the little Harmonie-Theatre, 
the unfortunate precursor of our not much more 
fortunate Komische Oper. He was already ad- 
ranced in years, and had only one arm ; he sang 
with the remains of his voice, and in a foreign lan- 
guage. Yet every scene played by him conveyed 
more to the audience and afforded them incom- 
parably higher enjoyment than yesterday's entire 
performance at the Imperial Opera House« Ro- 
ger's entrancing style invested the wretched mise- 
en-selne at the Harmonie-Theatre with more 
golden brilliancy than the magnificent costumes 
at the Imperial Opera House could impart to the 
efforts of the singers there. A Roger, it is true, 
is not to be met with every day, not even in 
France, where they now do not possess, either 
at the Grand Opera or at^ the Op^ra Comique, 
any tenor who, in talent or art, so much as ap- 
proximates to Roger. Far, therefore, are we 
from wishing to compare any Grerman tenor in a 
specifically French creation like Jean de Paris 
with Roger. A man may be a very excellent 
Rlvino^ Emaiii, or Raoul, and yet not possess a 



special natural qualification for the light tattle 
of comic opera. Our admirable artist, Miiller, 
took most conscientiously the greatest pains with 
his part, but the pains were the most prominent 
portion of his impersonation. The extremely 
jerky, quick sentences of the German version, 
which Jean has to sing, with a word to each 
note, give any German singer enough to do ; a 
Frenchman lets them glide, as it were, off his 
lips. Herr Miiller tears his larynx to tatters. 
As a performance in an unusual field of action, 
Herr Miiller's Jean deserved sincere respect; 
looked at from a purely vocal point of view, it 
may be said to have towered over everything 
done by any one else. Herr Scaria was more 
at home ; in the part of the Seneschal he brought 
to bear the advantage of an exceedingly clear ut- 
terance and naturally phlegmatic gravity. He 
did not produce with his air the great effect which 
renders the latter so dear to famous vocalists 
(Stockhausen, for instance) ; he was frequently 
under the necessity of having recourse to those 
carefully deadened high notes, which form so flat 
a contrast to the vigorous notes of his middle and 
lower register. 

Mme. Kupfer, as the Princess of Navarre, 
looked magnificent. She was, indeed, a prin- 
cess who could afford to be gazed at I But this 
was all. Even in the non-florid, simple pieces, 
such as the Troubadour's romance, her singing 
was pure naturalism. Mile. Braga exhibited, 
as the Page, much versatility, and, as a vocalist, 
got over the difficulties of her entrance-air pretty 
well. We must, however, regret the restless and 
unpleasing eagerness with which she is always 
striving to put her undeniable dramatic talent in 
a favorable light, and thereby succeeds only in 
exhibiting it in a distorting glass. She is ex- 
aggerated in her dramatic accentuation ; in the 
vivacity of her movements; and, above all, in 
her facial expression. She is fond of accompa- 
nying every bar with a fresh look. Let her dis- 
play a little more natural truth and simplicity, 
and she will certainly produce more genuine 
effects. With the above named leading artists, 
called on several times after the fall of the cur- 
tain, were associated Mile. Kraus (Lorenza) 
and Herr Lsy (Pedrigo), who did very meri- 
toriously what they had to do. The opera is 
placed on the stage as effectively as possible ; 
the new costumes especially, by their magnifi- 
cence and historical accuracy, are well worth 



seeing. 



EdUARD HAN8L1CK. 



BERUOZ'S « PRISE DE TROIE." 
(From Corraspondenoe of the New York Moncsl Review.) 

So long as a musical work exists only on 
paper, it i< about the same as if it existed only 
in the' mind of its author. The only way to 
test a piece of music is to perform it. • . . All 
those who love Berlioz (and their number is 
now very great) owe a debt of gratitu<ie to our 
two popular conductors of orchestra, Pasdeloup 
and Colonne, for their idea of taking the Prise 
de Trove from the shelves of the book stores 
and of presenting it to the public in a manner 
which, though incomplete on account of its lack- 
ing the essential element of action, nevertheless 
enables the public to judge of the work from a 
musical point of view, whilst they wait fur some 
intelligent manager of a theatre to gain assured 
success by putting on the stage the Prise de 
Troie and representing anew the Troyens h 
Carthage. 

It has often been said that Berlioz is not a 
dramatic genius ; but after the twenty perform- 
ances of the Troyens h Carthage^ given at Paris 
in 1868, that assertion seems rather strong. He 
certainly does not understand the s|»ge as did 
Scribe and Meyerbeer ; he has not, as a poet 



the commonplace facility of the former, or, as a 
musician, the accommodating eclecticism of the 
latter. His inspiration is ofien labored,- but it ia 
very rarely that he can be accused of committing 
a scenic absurdity, and never is he guilty of any 
of those repugnant theatrical vulgarities which 
Scribe so much affected and which Meyerbeer 
unhappily accepted with too much complaisance. 
Knowing that he was capable of great achieve- 
ments, and avoiding the beaten paths, Berlioz 
could scarcely help producing something powerful 
and original ; that passionate admirer of Virgil, 
of Shakespeare, of Gluck, and of Spontini coold 
not be lacking in poetic and dramatic feeling. 
The powerful scenes of Benvenuto Cellini^ the 
ravishing tableaux of Beatrice et Benedict^ and 
the grand and charming episodes of the Troyens 
are proofs of this. 

Berlioz's inspiration is labored, as I have al- 
ready said. This truth often makes itself felt 
in his works, and what is known of his mode 
of working only confirms this impression. He, 
moreover, did not receive any musical education 
in his early youth. He could play only a little, 
a very little, on the guitar and flute and none at 
all on any other instrument. With the music of 
the classic masters he did not become familiar 
until much later. This accounts for the want of 
ease observable in some of his music. But this 
fault, which in one less strongly organized would 
manifest itself in harsh and awkward phraaes, in 
trifling and unequal numbers, in a word, in weak- 
ness, is in him very much attenuated by the im- 
mediate contact with vigorous thoughts, full of 
beauties, which invade and penetrate the hearer 
and prevent him from spending much thought 
on those gaps in the ^ musicality." 

Tlie system of composition followed by Berlioe 
in his operas proceeds from two different sources.' 
There is, first, the influence of the style of his 
favorite authors — an influence very easily recog- 
nized in many a passage ; and then that which 
is p^uliarly his own, which he has created un- 
der the .incubation of the romantic period, and 
which Richard Wagner certainly took for the 
point of departure of his creations, but, as is 
well known, after the first efflorescence of the 
genius of Berlioz. 

In briefly analyzing the Prise de Troie, we 
shall try to distinguish, among the principal 
movements, those which may be arranged under 
one or other of the above two heads. 

The entire lyric poem, taken by Berlioz from 
the second and fourth books of the iEneid, 
formed at first in the mind of the author only one 
composition. But the dimensions which the 
work assumed soon obliged him to cnt it in two, 
in order to adapt it to the stage. Of these two 
parts that to which he gave the preference, and 
which deserved it, and which, after years of 
waiting, he finally had the happiness of seeing 
put upon the stage, was the second, the Troyens 
h Carthage. In regard to the Prise de Troie, he 
had no hope that it would be represented before 
the arrival of better times, and tliese have been 
very long in coming. It appears that, in pro- 
portion as Berlioz advanced in his work, his 
style became more assured and fixed ; for in the 
first part there are some evidently tentative pas- 
sages, some compromises with the old lyric doc- 
trines, which are not found in the second. The 
Prise de Troie is merely a beautiful and grand 
prologue- The musician tunes his lyre, and it 
gives forth most glorious accents, but also among 
them more than one discord. 

The first act opens with a chorus of the Tro- 
jan populace, which is dispersed over the plain 
after the apparent departure of the Greeks. The 
chorus is of an awkward and strained measure; 
its scholastic forms indicate very poorly the 
abandon, the disorder, which ought to reign 



12 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1011 



nnder such circumstances. Berlioz introduced 
here the onomatopoeias which be so much af* 
fected, those ha ! ha ! vocalized, which are ridicu- 
lous, and nothing else. Cassandra, the prophet 
ess, enters u|K>n the scene after the departure of 
the chorus ; her recitative, '* Les Grecs ont dis- 
paru," is in grand style, and the admirable air 
that follows, ^ Malheureux rot ! " might, aside 
from some harmonies that modernize it, have 
been written by Gluck. In the duo between 
Cjssandra and her affianced, Coroebus, three 
parts are to be .i!stinguished : the dialogues in 
recitative, which ae of a beautiful and noble 
declaration ; the two cantabilus of Coroebus, ** Re- 
viens k tot,'* in the style of Spontini, and ** Mais 
le ciel et la terre," recall Mehul and his correct 
frigidity ; finally, the union of the two voices, 
where some series of thii-ds and sixths spoil a 
fine situation. Berlioz was not himself in that 
feeble personation of the first act, the shortest 
and the least good of the three. 

A hymn in the form of a march, in which the 
Trojans return thanks to the gods who protected 
their city, begins the second act. It is of a tf xt- 
ure sufficienrly heavy ; the composer sought to 
write popular music, but the effort made is very 
perceptible, and it came to nothing. What is 
the sense, for example, of the somewhat puerile 
oppositions of forte and piano in " Dieu de 
rOlympe," and " Dieu de mers," for which there 
is absolutely no reason whatever ? Nevertheless, 
thanks to the powerful instrumentation, there are 
some fine- sounding passages in the movement, 
and it is not without efi*ect on the public, tince 
at the Chfltelet^ where, however, the encores are 
yery frequent, it had to be repeated last Sunday. 
A pleasant and short diversion, " A combat with 
the cestus, passage at arms,'' in which occurs an 
episode in 5-4 measure, precedes a grand scene 
of singing and pantomime, mixed, in which figure 
Andromache, her son Astyanax, King Priam and 
Queen Hecuba, and which has sense and is in- 
teresting only on a stage. JSneas comes runping, 
to tell, in a rapid melopoeia, the terrible spec- 
tacle of which he has just been a witness : the 
Trojan priest and his two sons choked to death 
by two enoruious serpents that arose from the 
sea. Then begins a grand movement cTensemble 
(otteftto and clioras) : " Chfttdment effroyable," 
which is one of the rare, but very great, mistakes 
of Berlioz. A gradation of effect, ably obtained, 
and fine vocal and orchestral passages are not 
sufficient to justify the excessive length of this 
movement, its fastidious repetitions of words, and 
the false manner in which the situation is treated. 
It is an inexplicable concession to the ancient 
operatic routine, which Berlioz so often covered 
with his sarcasm. Happily there comes soon 
after a very dramatic air by Cassandra, deploring 
that her counsels have not been followed, and 
that the fatal present of the Greeks has been in- 
troduced into the city; then, at the end, a 
splendid movement; full of refulgence, life, and in- 
terest, uniting in the hiahest degree all that 
which constitutes the value of a lyric musical 
movement. It is the Trojan march, *^ Du roi des 
dioux, fille aimee,'* and it is twenty times 
better than that which, in a very similar situa- 
tion, closes the second act. If Berlioz hail not 
written this before Wagner, we should say that 
this march is like an echo from Tannhdwer. 
But the French musician had in him, long before, 
the aspirations which were to be realized in so 
penonal and so new a manner in his symphonic 
poems. Uis style was altogether his own for a 
long time, and if sometimes it was not e<}ual to 
that of a more ancient art, it was so only tem- 
porarily, and when the inspiration had left him. 
He for a long time, and with reason, thought 
much of that march, for he intercalated it also in 
' the recitative prologue of the Tniy^ns h Carthage, 



which prologue was added in the representations 
of the opera, in order to resume in a favr lines 
the portion not then represented, that is, the 
Prute de Troie, 

In the third act we find, first, a scene which 
would have a most powerful effect in a theatre ; 
for ercn performed at a concert, with only sym- 
phonic resources, it produced a very lively im- 
pression. It is the appearance of the shade of 
Hector, who comes to show ^ncas the way of 
safety after the destruction of Troy, an<l com- 
mands him to flee to Italy with his go<ls, the 
treasure of Priam, and the defenders of the city, 
who are no longer of any use to it. In Hector's 
recital no other notes are employed except the 
chromatic series descending in the interval of an 
octave, from B-flat to B-ffat: these phrases un- 
folding themselves recto tono as a psal.iicdy, in 
the space of twenty-eight measures, and accom- 
panied only by the long chords of the string in- 
struments and the muted notes of the horn, are 
of a terrible effect. Tlie use of the horn, in 
particular, with its lu(;ubrious sounds is one of 
those novelties intenlicted to ordinary minds. 
The entire scene bears the stamp of genius. 
The. riin of Troy is almost accomplislied ; tho 
Greeks are in the city, pilla<ring, burning, and 
killing ; but £ueas, his companions, tlieir gods, 
and the treasure of Priam have escaped them. 
Then the Trojan women implore the help of 
Cybcle ; their chorus, in three parts, opens with 
a plaintive exclamation, leaving, between the 
voice and the instruments, the interval of a 
diminished fifth, to D-flat, which there produces 
a heart-rending effect. Berlioz was certainly a 
great colortst. The chorus itself, ** Puisiante 
Cybele," has much sweetness in its melancholic 
tint. Cassandra enters with dibheveleil hair 
and in tears. She makes to Vesta a sacrifice of 
her life, and exhorts her companions to imitate 
her example rather than permit themselves to 
fall into the hands of the Greeks. Some hero- 
ically accept the alternative, the others hesitate, 
and are reviled by the former. Tlie voluntary 
victims with Cassandra at their head immolate 
themselves just when the vanquishers come to lay 

hands on them This whole final scene, 

on which Berlioz has left his vigorous and alto- 
gether personal imprint, is admirably conducted, 
and in the highest degree dramatic. The recita- 
tive of Cassandra, the choruses of the women, 
everything in the three parts is of the mo>t in- 
tense interest, which does not for a moment di- 
minish. If this opera were well performed in a 
theatre with an intelligent mise-en-scene^ this 
termination ought to produce a deep impression. 
The melodic style of Berlioz in the Priie de 
Troie is, above all, expressive. Gluck's pre> 
cepts guided him. In regard to the manner of 
writing, there is little to be found fault with, ex- 
cept in some of the slight details, as, for instance, 
Uie first notes sung by j£neas in the second act, 
to the words : ** Du peuple et des soldats," and 
which oblige the singer to sound, without prepara- 
tion, a G sharp and an A sharp, and this with- 
out any plausible reason. Tlie harmony and the 
instrumentation arc, in the entire work, full of 
relief and interest; ani it is evident that, in it 
all, the technical part of the composition was that 
which Boat preoccupied Berlioz, and in which 
he most constantly drew upon his inventive 
genius. As Wagner, so Berlioz was his own 
proper poet. His verses are often very beauti- 
ful, but there are not wanting weak places In 
them. He had, besides, no pretension to deserv- 
ing poetic laurels, and he wrote his own libretto 
only in order to be certain that the entire work 
should be modeled according to his ideas. 



'*Sio. Basso scored a complete succesi.** 
Set it to music ? or won a baas bawl match ? 



MR. ARTHUR SULLIVAN IN VICTORIA 

STREET. 

Mr. Arthur Sullivan is the ^ Celebrity at 
Home " in the World recently. The writer of the 
article says that Mr. Sullivan may owe his cheer- 
ful temperament rather to his race than to his mu- 
sical destiny. Of Iri:<h parentage on one side and 
of Italian descent on die other, he perhaps re- 
tains the vivacity of the Irish with the more solid 
intellectual qualities of the Italian. Lively as 
his manner is, now that he is again thoroughly 
restored to health, it is, however, no difficult 
matter to bring him to a serious leveL To him 
all beautiful things suggest an equivalent in his 
own art, to which he strives, above all things, to 
impart positive character. A remarkable in- 
stance of his faculty in this peculiar direction is 
afforded by the exquisite part-song, <* We will 
wahh him, mend him, tend him," in the second 
act of the Sorcerer^ which at once brings be- 
fore the mind's eye chintz gownn, flowered waist- 
coats, and a dance upon the village green. This 
beautiful specimen of what may be called light- 
handed work was once sung with immense ap- 
plause at one of Mr. Leslie's concerts by Madame 
Patey and other artists in the front rank of their 
profes>ion, by whom every delicate nuance was 
charmingly and sympathetically rendered. Here- 
at the purists took fright, and difficult as it is to 
believe, actually protested with solemn dullness 
asrainst the intro<luction of music written for a 
light theatrical piece into a concert otherwise 
composed of ** serious " work. Dull people 
always do this kind of thing, ami quite overlook 
the well-worn truth, that to play with a subject 
the author must know it thurou<;hIv. Thesie are 
the men who call Frenchmen superficial because 
they are clear, and Germ>ins profound because 
they are ponderous. As Mr. W. S. (Tilbert de- 
serves honor for the ability with which he de- 
fends authonihip against the outrages of man- 
ackers, publishers, hoc genxut omne^ so does Mr. 
Sullivan merit glory for the thoroughly artistic 
hopefulness and manly self-denial whicii enables 
him to resist the temptation of tuition — the rock 
on which so many musicians of fair promise have 
struck. Happily for the public and himself, \w 
preferred long years of hanl work, sweetened 
now and then by that praise which is so remote 
from solid pudding, to the very handsome income 
which teaching would have given him at once. 
With the audacity which sometimes accompanies 
genius, he spurned the pot-au-feu of the instruct- 
or, and determined to live by genuine work. 
None but those acquainted with the musical pro- 
fession can do full justice to the young composer, 
who, instead of spending his day in picking up 
seven or eight guineas from inharmonious skulls, 
devotes the whole of it to original work, and 
trusts for his bread to its success. He has, of 
course, one immense advantage over the giver of 
lessons. Be the latter never so skilled, he comes 
to his original work wearied and jaded, and un- 
der these depressing circumstances the fire of 
genius must require a world of stirring before it 
will burn brightly. Tliis life of alternate drudg- 
ery and inspiration Arthur Sullivan determined 
should never be his. Like a musical Cortez he 
burned his ships, and trusted to the unexplored 
possibilities of art to justify his resolves. Just 
at this moment there is some little dansrer that 
the reputation of Arthur Sullivan as a solid musi- 
cian of the higher class will be overshadowed by 
the enormous popularity attained by the light 
and pretty music whieh, wedded to Mr. W. S. 
Gilbert's exquisitely humorous '' words," has 
driven America as well as England mad over 
H, Af, S, Pinafore, This purely national and 
original vein of production was hit upon in the 
oddest way. Thirteen years ago Charles Bur- 
nett, a writer on Punch, died, and his fitmily be- 



January 17, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



IS 



ing left in sore distressi a benefit was arranged, 
and Mr. F. C. Bumand promised to collaborate 
with Mr. Sullivan in a musical piece. Time 
passed, till within a week of the benefit it oc- 
curred to the collaborators as they were going to 
church that they had collaborated nothing. Mr. 
Bumand was equal to the occasion. ^ Let us," 
said he, ** set Cox and Box to music." Sullivan, 
struck with the happy thought, said " Book it ; " 
and in seven days the work was written, learned, 
rehearsed and rendered by Messrs. Du Maurier, 
Harold Power, and Arthur Cecil. Transferred to 
the German Keed entertainments, Cox and Box 
ran for five hundred nights, and Mr. Arthur 
Cecil achieved a genuine triumph. Few will 
forget his singing the delightful ** Lullaby Bacon." 
The success of Cox and Box opened up a 
prospect of lucrative work to Arthur Sullivan, 
^liose first work produced in conjunction with 
W. 8. Gilbert was Thespis, written ibr Mr. 
Toole, and adapted for the peculiarities of his 
individual organ. Thespis ran a hundred nights, 
but is now obscured by the brighter light of 
Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, and Pinafore, the 
latter of which was worked out by the composer 
during intense physical pain which preceded his 
serious illness last summer. In Mr. Gilbert Mr. 
Sullivan has found a collaborator afVer his own 
heart. His lines are always smooth and perfect 
in rhythm, and what is more important, as Mr. 
Sullivan avers, are eminently suggestive. The 
composer lays great stress upon this point, in- 
asmuch as he holds that the *' words " of a musi- 
cal piece should suggest the music. In produc- 
ing their work the authors of Pinafore proceed 
after a method of their own. Instead of the 
** book " being after due consultation written and 
then set to music, the work goes on simulta- 
neously by a gradual process of piling up number 
on number^ Above all things it is kept in mind 
that the opening chorus and air must be lively 
and characteristic, and that the finale to the first 
act shall put the audience in good humor. An- 
other serious matter is to decide when the music 
ii to be made of the first importance and when 
subordinated to the words. When a dramatic 
situation can be perfectly illustrated by the music, 
the composer allows his power ful^ scope ; but 
when explanation is needed, cuts down his music 
to mere intoning, as in the immortal '* I 'm 
monarch of the sea," in which the repetition of 
*' his sisters, his cousin*, and his aunts " has ten- 
fold the force and fun it would have if suns to 
an air. Bit by bit book and music are produced, 
and the work is done ; and what the over-serious 
call an amusing trifle is produced — no trifle to 
the laborers before the mast of H, M, S. Pina- 
fore, — Yorkshire Post. 



TALKS ON ART. — SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XIX. 

( To one beginning to paint ) Learn to paint the 
whole thing in ot once. I>o, visibly and positively, 
certain things that you have nut been in the habit of 
doing. Study to arrange certain things for a result 
later. When the result.arrivcs, that 's the end of it. 
You want to pack certain thin^ in your trunk before 
Yon start. 

See what the vital things arel Give np all idea of 
" finish 1 " Noho<ly ever finished. Keep the canvas 
as a slate to do your sums on.. Don't expect to finish 
it, sign your name, and present it to yonr grand- 
mother. She won't care anything about it Use your 
canvas like a tablet to do your lessons on. When yon 
learn what values arr, you Ml find that a picture exists. 

Get the general look of things. Look at the light 

I Copyright 1867, by Helen M. KnowUon. 



on the top of that head. {A plaster bas-relief.) It in 
simple and clear, but you, in your anxiety to draw 
whatever you think you see, cover it with Unes and 
disturb it wiih shadows. 

What is the effect ? A brilliant white cast against 
a gray hack ground. Don't look for lines. Don't 
borrow any dark lines. There are enough of them, 
we all know. You think you see lines in that hair, 
and you put them in until they look like the teeth of 
a eoarse comb. 

" Masses " are great spaces where the light strikes 
and wliere the shadows fall. Close your eyes and see 
how the lines disappear compared with the great mass 
uf shadow I 

" I can see one ! " 

Of course you ran ; and you can sec things which 
are not there. Your business is no: scrutiny ; it is 
impression, perception. When you look at that cast 
you see a beautiful image. You don't see a collection 
of lines. You don't want to do any more than there 
is to do. You do too much work ; or what you call 
work. You won't believe how little work there is in 
a fine thing ! Look at " Clytie,'* yonder ! How 
many " lines " do you see ? You can do it all without 
a line. Do it like an apparition at first. The shoul- 
ders and chest are one mass of Yv^ht. Little tints, to 
be sure, there are; but with two or three you can 
model the whole thing. I say you, I mean myself. 
I mean all of ns. Yon may draw lines to the end of 
time, and you won't have a picture. You can't do 
things simply without studying. You don*t want a 
lot of lines, like a rain-storm, to give an impression. 
You need one solid, flat tiut. Look at this back- 
trround. I 'm not doins: it for finish, but for fact. 
You get your outlines too much before getting your 
masses ; and then you leave a light edge, like a halo, 
all around the head, for fear of losing the outline. 

Better be frankly wrong, than doubtfully right. 
In drawing the little girl's frock, put in decided shad- 
ows wherever you see them. Then you will know 
where you are. Now yon have the general tint and 
the shadows of the drajiery, see how the hands and 
wrists come out luminous. 

Having made the liair dark, you can take out the 
little lights that fall on the braid. Don't do it as you 
think it is ! You don't know how a hraid looks. You 
can't draw details until yon get the masses. Count 
the lights on the braid, and put them all in as you 
think they are, and where are yon ? You are working; 
like a wig-maker, and have added a great deal which 
you really did not see. 

Simplify certain things, and add what is necessary. 
If yon see a robin in the grass, don't draw in every 
blade of (he grass. Don't put in stuff that does n't 
mean anything. Look at that shadow in the corner of 
the room I Full, rich, dark, and undistnrhcd by lines 
and details. 

Ordinary outlines represent nothing. They are a 
map of what the drawing might have been — if there 
had been any. 

- 

^tDtg^t'jS fpurnal of iHujactc. 

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1880. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Harvard Musical Association. — The New 
Year opened musically. The second Symphony 
Concert, in spite of business and giAs and calls, 
drew a large audience to the Music Hall, who were 
regaled and edified -with a choice artistic pro- 
gramme of both old and new, the former repre- 
sented by Bach and Mozart, the latter by Bar- 
giel, Bruch, and Rubinstein, while Mendelssohn, 
the young Felix, full of filial piety, loyal to the 
past, yet pressing forward, stood for the transi- 
taon and connecting link, though Schumann 
might have stood there more significantly. 
These were the selections : — 

Overture to "Medea" Bargiel. 

Aria: " My heart ever faithful," with P'uuio and 'Cello. Back. 

Mrs. J. W. Weston. 



Symphony, hi D (No. 1« Breitkopf and Hartel) . Momri. 

Adagio and Allegro — Andante — Presto. 
Chaconne, in D minor, originally for Violin Solo, 

adapted for Orchestra by Raff Back. 

Overture to *' Die Heinikehr aua der Fremde.'* Menddssohn. 
Aria: " Iii^^eboig's Lament," from *' Scenes from 

the Fritl\jof Saga/' Op. 83 (new) . . Max Bruch. 
Mrs. J. W. Weston. 
First Movement (Allegro mnutoso) from the 

't Ocean " Symphony, in C, Op. 42 . . RuhinUtin. 

Bargiel's Medea Overture was given for the 
fourth time during the past ten years of these 
concerts, and it wears well, — one of the best of 
the Overtures since Schumann. It is sombre 
and tragical, to be sure, from the nature of the 
subject, but this is relieved by an exquisitely 
tender and melodious episode ; and, as a whole, 
the work is grand, impressive, and original. It 
was finely played. The Mozart Symphony, one 
of several in D, and " without Minuet," is a 
lovely composition, spontaneous, melodious, un- 
mistakably clear in its intentions. You do not 
have to ask yourself whether you understand it, 
or whether you really like it, as you do after 
almost every recent work. There it stands, posi** 
tive and perfect, which is only saying that it is 
by Mozart ; with him it is no painful climbing to 
a would-be heaven of invention ; in that heaven 
of harmony he lives and breathes at home, and 
what he composes is beyond criticism ; only 
sympathy, appreciation, are in place while he is 
on the stage, and nothing can be less apprecia- 
tive than to consign such a symphony as this to 
the background because, forsooth, it has no part for 
the clarinet, no trombones, tubas, and the like, aa 
modern orchestral prtxluctions have. With sim- 
pler means Mozart could express more than the 
moderns with their monster orchestras, and from 
fewer instruments evoke, not seldom, a more 
satisfying sonority; and so could Haydn. Of 
this Symphony the first movement is the most im- 
portant, with its. noble Adagio -introduction, and 
its genial Allegro, of which the principal motive 
is almost identical with that of the ZauberflGte 
Overture, which is charmingly worked up with 
secondary motives and with beautiful tone color- 
ing. The Andante is graceful, sweet, and tender, 
but was made a little cloying by unnecessary ob- 
servance of the conventional repetition marks. 
The Presto is like happy lovers' melody ; many 
will remember an old English love duet, once 
often heard in parlors, which was palpably cut 
out from one of its tuneful passages. The Sym- 
phony was delicately rendered, and we do not 
envy the spoiled musical appetite which found no 
zest in it. 

Of a grander, broader, deeper order, yet in 
harmonious succession, came the Bach Chaconne* 
RafiT made an important addition to our orches- 
tral repertoire when he transcribed that wonder- 
ful violin solo — perhaps the greatest thing ever 
written for a single violin — for orchestra. He 
finds his justification for so doing (so he says in 
a short preface to the score) in the polyphonic 
character of Bachs violin solos, which, he 
thinks, shows that they were intemled for devel- 
opment into full orchestral proportions. But the 
wonder is that the violin part contains all this 
and seems so perfect in itselfl Nevertheless, the 
fact that the original work admitted of such a 
marvelous expansion, such an inexhaustible 
wealth and variety of form and color, as one vari- 
ation after another develops out of the pregnant, 
still ever present, sober theme, each a fresh 
surprise and keen delight, helps us to realize 
what an intrinsic power and inspiration reside in 
that solo for the violin. RafiT has executed the 
t«sk in a masterly way, showing a consummate 
knowledge of the resources of the orchestra and 
of the art of instrumentation. Such fascination 
is there in the piece, such unfailing certainty ni 
a fresh revelation, yet a home-like feeling of 



14 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1011. 



identity, in each successive variation, tbat one 
could almost pray to have the theme keep on 
renewing and transfiguring itself in that way all 
day long. 

In pleasant contrast came the fresh, youthful, 
spring-like little Overture of Mendelssohn. It 
was a mistake, however, to leave off the four 
measures from the introductioji which recur so 
expressively at the end. The Allegro from the 
'* Ocean " Symphony made a strong, exhilarating, 
bright conclusion to the concert. There is a 
great deal of the poetry of Ocean in it ; it is 
ImaginatiTe, romantic, graphic, and exciting 
music, but probably requires several hearings for 
its full appreciation. Though it was played with 
spirit, yet in some parts, in certain instruments, 
its outUnes and its felicities of detail were some- 
what blurred by carelessness of phrasing and of 
rhythmical division. 

Mrs. Weston has a rich and musical mezzo- 
soprano voice, and sings with unaffected feeling 
and expression, though hardly with enough aban- 
don in the rapturous song of Bach, which would 
have been more effective in that great hall with 
an orchestral accompaniment (rhe Franz parts 
could not be found) ; but the piano and 'cello ob- 
ligato were nicely played by Mr. Foote and Mr. 
Wulf Fries. The " Lament," from Bruch's Frith- 
joff a sort of Thekla's song, is very beautiful, both 
in its simple, touching melody, which has a true 
Norse flavor, and in its delicate romantic orches- 
tration (without trumpets or trombones), in which 
the yioUs have a very active part. It proved to 
be admirably suited to Mrs. Weston's voice and 
manner, and made a deep impression ; the calls 
for a repetition were enthusiastic and persistent, 
but were modestly declined. 



such a love daet between two instruments would keep 
much hold upon one's sympathies after several hear- 
ings may well be a question. Probably the Mosmrt 



shore, then steal away, and their smooth four-part 
song U heard, softer and softer, as they recede. He 
wakes, does not recoguise his native land, denounces 



and Beethoven style of Quartet will long outlast it. the truitors who have abandoned him, wonders where 



The last piece, " Zum Polter-AbenU," which means, 
we suppose, the noisy mock serenade of the " Nuptial 
Eve," seemed a rushing, scrambling, head-over-heels 
sort of movement, and we fear would have seemed so 
even if it had not been scrambled through with by the 
hard-taxed instruments. 



The Second Univbssitt Concert, with its first 
performance in this country of the Goctz Symphony, 
with two beautiful movements of a Divertimento (for 
string orchestra and two horns) by Mozart, two great 
Overtures, and Miss Ita Welsh's sinking, wan alto- 
gether enjoyable, Mr. Listemann's Philharmonic Or- 
chestra playing very finely ; but we mn«t reserve fuller 
notice. 



EuTERPB. — The second concert, Wednesday even- 
ing, Jan. 7, was a very enjoyable occasion, — all the 
more so through the return to the pleasant old ar- 
rangement of placing the performers in the middle 
of the listeners. The programme gave us old and 
new, the classical and the romantic, in singular con- 
trast, thus : ~~ 

Quartet W. A. Mozart, 

No. 4is5, Koeehel's Cataloi^. Composed 
January U, 1785, at Vienna. No. 6 of 
the set of six quartets dedicated to Joseph 
Haydn. 

Adagio C migor, 3-4 

Allegretto C ni^, A-A 

Andante eantabile F major, 8-4 

Meouetto; aUsgretto C m^or, 8-4 

Trio C minor, 8-4 

Allegro molto C miyor, 3-4 

Quartet. No. 7, Opus 192, No. 3 ... Joachim Raf. 
The Miller's Pretty Daughter. A Cycle of Tone-poems. 

TheTottth — AlIe|;retto D m^jor, 9-8 

The MUI — Allegro 6 minor, 2-4 

The Miller's Daughter — Andante, quasi 

mAmgtatti% B flat DMyOT, 6-8 

Unrest — Allegro D minor, 4-4 

Explanation — Andantino, quasi allegretto 6 miyor, 8-4 
For the Nuptial Eve — Vivaoe . . • . D mijor, 4-4 

The Quartet in C is one of the old favorites, one 
of the perfect things of Mozart. It was l)eautifnl!y 
rendered by the Mendelssohn Quintette Club, espe- 
cially the Andante with that interesting figure in the 
'cello part. Raff's " programme " piece is no Quartet 
at all in point of form or spirit, bnt it is very interest- 
ing in all but the last of its six scenes or tone-pictures, 
being melodious, rich, and euphonious in the blending 
of the instruments, and full of poetic suggestion. 
The first number seems to express the vague longing 
for love in the youth's soul, the aimless aspiration, 
and thj music is a little prolix as well as vague, yet 
enjoyable. " The Mill " is the most natural and charm- 
ing number ; this gave general delight, and bad to be 
repeated. The fifth number, " Explanation," or dec- 
laration, confession (ErklSrung), also pleased exceed- 
ingly. Mr. Giese's manly 'cello tone was certainly 
very eloquent and tender in iu pleading, and the sil- 
very soft voice of the maiden was supposed to be 
beard in the' first violin. All very pretty, bnt whether ' 



Max Bruch*s "Odysseus" (concluded). — We 
left the hero rescued from the waves by the Oceanides, 
and deposited, asleep, hungry, and naked, on the shore 
of the green and happy island of the PhsBacians, a 
race favored of the Iromortalsi, dwelling in fabulous 
peace, and leading a life all innocent gayety and sun- 
shine. And now follow two of the finest scenes of 
the work. 

VI. Nausicaa. She is the king's daughter, who is 
dancing and>inging and " tossing the light ball " with 
her lifrhter-bearted maidens. Their strain, in 9-8 
measure, alternating with a simpler one in 6-8, is ex- 
ceedingly graceful, light, and buoyant. They sing of 
careless trust and joy: "Seize the fieeting, Uiasful 
hour," etc, with an exquisitely accompanying figure 
in the oichefttra. His awakening and surprise at see- 
ing, as it were, Diana and her nymphs, and his sup- 
plication for aid, are admirably managed ; and the 
cordial hymn-like chorus of welcome: "Beggars and 
strangers always come from Zens," concludes a num- 
ber rich in musical invention and felicitous transitions. 
The part of Nau»icaa was ustef uUy sung by Mrs. G. 
A. Adams. Now follows music of a grander strain. 
VII. The Banquet with the Fhaiakes, or Ph«a- 
cians. This is the most exciting, and, by all odds, the 
greatest number in the work. A marrowy and vigor- 
ous fugue theme is introduced by the bass voices, an- 
swcred by the tenor, alto, and soprano, and is worked 
up into a magnificent whole, with a most enthusiastic 
and effective accompaniment. To this grand outburst 
of welcome succeeds the yet grander song of the Rhap- 
sodes, for which all the strings of the orchestra resolve 
themselves into a gigantic, all-pervading " harp of a 
thousand strings,'* resounding with full chords pizzi- 
cato, in bold, broad, and unflagging rhythm. Tenors 
and basses, in powerful unison, recite the tale of the 
fall of Troy, the fate, of Agamemnon, and the ten 
years' wandering of Ulysses. Of course this leads to 
his discovery, and the short, startling chorus, one 
voice after another. "'Tis he," "'tis he," soon all 
uniting in full, strong chords : " 'T is the chieftain 
of might," which is worthy of what has gone before. 
And then, in grateful contratit and completion to all 
this glorious excitement comes the softer, sweeter, 
but rich, full, satisfying qusrtet and chorus in praise 
of home ; then, AUegro con brio, with a most exhila- 
rating accompaniment, with cheering chorus of the 
people, the shining sails are spread, the oars frroan 
again, and away the hero is borne upon the home- 
ward voyage. This whole scene is full of genius and 
consummate art; the music tells the story wonderfully 
well. 

VIII. We come back to poor Penelope, weaving 
the earment, unraveling by night what she has woven 
by day, to baffle the importunity of the suitors. She 
sings a very simple, yearning minor melody, to which 
the accompaniment supplies the agitato of her anxious 
hef.rt ; the low, sad song is only varied by one mild 
burnt of indignation as she thinks of the presumptu- 
ous caronsers. It is a song of simple beauty and true 
feelinf^, but almost lost amid the more brilliant and 
exciting scenes, although Miss Homer sang it touch- 
ingly and truly. 

IX. The lletum. Tenderiy singing in soft uni- 
son, the Phaiakes carry the sleeping Odysseus on 



he is, nniil Athena appears aud informs him. When 
she tells him oi the suitors and the danger of Pene- 
lope, he breaks out in a strain of rage and indigna- 
tion, which reminds one somewhat of the revengeful 
aria of Pizarro in Fidelio, and affords a grand op- 
portunity for impassioned declamation, such as Mr. 
Adams was quite »ure to improve. The scene has 
dramatic intensity. 

X Feast in Ithaca. This last is a stirring scene, 
full of fine musical matter, to much of which, how- 
ever, the audience, snted with so much before, was 
probably but half alive.. There is first a vigorous 
chorus of the people : " Have ye heard the tidings 1 " 
ending with shouts of triumph ; then, by way of ten- 
der episode before the final chorus, a beautiful duet 
between the reunited wife and husband, which is of 
a very noble character, — nothing of morbid senti- 
men ulity or commonplace about it; only the very 
richness of the full chord progressions in the orchestra 
make it perhaps a little cloying; and then a most 
enthusiastic, rapturous chorus of praise to all the 
crods, and triumph, beginning in long solid chords, 
and contrapuntally developed as it gains momentum 
and excitement ; it has immense sonority and breath 
and splendor; but it is not a fugned chorus, and 
partly for that reason perhaps, though it is more tu- 
multuous and overwhelming, it has less intrinsic 
power than the chorus of the Phseacians. 

This i« a very meagre description of " Odyssens," 
and it will require more than one hearing to do it 
justice. On the whole, the impression left by it on 
our mind is of a work of rare musicianship and of im- 
aginative genius. Of melodies, distinct and positive, 
one carries away, few, and thofe not remarkable ; but 
of nulodg, melodic passages, and phrases, it is full, — 
more in the choruses than in the solos, far more in 
the orchestra than in the voices. All flows grace- 
fully and smoothly throughout The part writing fur 
voices is clear and masterly. The harmony and in- 
strumentation are remarkably rich and graphic and 
original. I( ukes a composer of a high order to set 
such texts to music so sncce^sfully as Max Bruch has 
here done. 

It is well that the Cecilia have decided to give an- 
other performance of " Odysseus " later in the season, 
for a curious variety of opinions have been expressed 
about it. Fer instance, in the Sunday Courier, after 
the musical editor has offered a favorable opinion, a 
"Growler" is introduced with "Something on the 
other side." He says : — 

After listening attentively for two hours and a half 
to the combined efforts of soloists, choru^ and orches- 
tra, I went home thoroughly worn out mentally and 
mnsicallv. I had looked for bread, and thev had 
given what to me was a stone : so I naturally ex- 
pected to find some confirmation of my findings in the 
reports of the daily press. Judge then of my surprise 
at finding a review of the -work in the Adoertiur 
which started out with the assertion that the chief 
characteristic of the work was ita expressive melodi- 
ousness ! Here I had been a whole long evening fol- 
lowing the work with all my eyes and ears, and had 
failed to discover anything whatever at all worthy the 
name of melody, and then to be told that melody was 
its greatest charm ! I thought possibly I mignt be 
wrong, so I took the score and sought, as one seeks for 
hidden treasures, for the melody I was assured was 
there. I found, indeed, what I might call the fix>nt 
ends of what, if properly developed, might have formed 
respectable melodies, but nothing more. These frag- 
ments were from two to four bars in length, and often 
I said to myself, while listening, that the long hoped- 
for melody had at length arrived. No such good 
luck : the poor things seemed so lonesome, that after 
a very brief struggle for existence ihey retired into 
the orchestral tumult that surged around them, as if 
weary of contending with such uncongenial surround- 
ings. I thought poroibly that Penelope's lament might, 
though mournful, be musically expressive of her grief. 
I found it insulierably stupid, nothing more. In short, 
where I might reasonably have expected melody, I 
found nothing but mnsidal commonplaces : even the 
choruses, with possibly two or three exceptions, were 
simply orchestral (gures adapted to words. I found 
plenty of form, an excess of orchestral coloring, mor« 
or less declamation, some good choral effects, every- 
thing, in fact, that a thorough knowledge of the sd- 



Januart 17, 1880.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



15 



cnce of mnsic could )(ive, except the dirine spark 
thHt pervade^ such works as Schumann, Mendelrtsohn, 
nnd Gade have i;ivcn um : of that I found not a trace. 
And yet we are told that the work is one of the finest 
of modem productions. Heai'cn save the mark ! If 
this is a masterpiece, in what cat4>gory are wo to 
place the "Walpurgis Night," "The Crusaders," 
" Paradise and the I'eri," or numerous other works I 
could name ? Is the gift of melody utterly lost, and 
must we for the future be satisfied with the Wagner- 
ian " Endless Melody/' with symphonic works with 
choral attachments presented under the guise of Vocal 
Works ? This seems to me to be the present drift of 
music. But enough for the present. While waiting 
for the matter to settle and take definite form, will 
you kindly point out to roe one straight tune in the 
entire *' Ody89eu.<<." I want to see what your idea of 
a melody is 

Quite the opposite opinion is expressed in the 
Gazette : — 

It is H strong work, exceedingly beautiful at times 
in its melodies, and always striking in the happy 
anitv of fee ing between the words and the music, 
lis harmonies are rich, fluent, and graceful, and the 
instrumentation is refined, masterly, and expressive. 
This cantata abounds in merits of every kind, and is 
characterized throughout by poetic and artistic senti- 
ment of great elevation and purity. As a piece of 
writing for voices it is a masterpiece, and in every es- 
sential is a delightful work to listen to. It docs not 
baffle the understanding or perplex the interest at a 
single hearing, and, though partaking of many of the 
qualities of the modem school, is wholly clear and 
broad, producing none of that monotony in effect 
which the mannerisms of the composers of the future 
have iinpoved u|>on their style. Some of the quieter 
portions of the work tfre extjuisitcly tender, and the 
chorus of the Sirens, in particular, i» charming in its 
grace and delicacy. The performance scarcely did 
justice to the work. There was much untunef ulness 
on the part of both chorus and orchestra, and appro- 
priate warmth of expression was often lacking. In 
fact, there was a coldness and a rigidity in the inter- 
pretation generally, and often an absence of brilliancy 
where it was most needed. These shortcomings were 
doubtless due to the inevitable nervousness attending 
a first performance, and we tmst that the work may 
be beard again, when the deep coloring it demands 
may be given. The soloists, who acquitted them- 
selves very well, were Mrs. liockwood, Mrs. Adams, 
Miss Morse, Miss Homer, Mr. C. R. Adams, Mr. 
Kingsbury, and Mr. Cornell. The work made a strong 
impression upon all refined and cultivated tastes. 



MUSICAL CORRESPO:jIDENCE. 

New York, Dec. 22.— On Tuesday evening, the Brook- 
lyn Pbilbarmoiiic Society gave its second eonoert with the 
appended programme: — 

Overture, ** Consecration of the House '* . . Beetfiooetu 

Prelude, Minuet and Fugue (strings) . . . lUinhoid. 

Vint Symphony, B-flat, Op. 38 Sehumann. 

Yonpid, '«DieMet8terainger'* Wtigner. 

These were the orchestral numbers. Mile. Yalleria and 
Sig. Galassi'were the soloists, llie Brooklyn Academy 
looked lovely, as it always does when these concerts take 
place. Beds of flowers were to be seen everywhere, and the 
spaee occupied ordinarily by the orchesb^ — immediately 
bdow the level of the stage — was filledVith magnificent 
growing callas and various other {danta. The board of di- 
reeton eridently aimed to please the eye as well as the ear, 
and the success was very great in either direction. Among 
other courtesies extended to those who attend the B. P. S.'s 
entertainments is the gift of an extended analysis of the 
symphony upon the evening*s programme: each person ft 
presented with a copy, and it is certunly a most consid»rate 
and thoughtful act The performance was an excellent one, 
and it would be difficult to imagine anything finer than the 
precision and unity of purpose exhibited by this trained 
body of skillAil and intelligent musicians; nothing was left 
undone, nor was anything done which should not have been 
done. In the ftoe of these facts the critic is disarmed and 
oompeUed to become a eulogist. 

Sig. Galassi added to his already enviable reputation by a 
most careful and artistic performance of the ** Abendstem *' 
from TVinn/idttser, and received a most hearty and deserved 
recalL His repetition of the lovely Romance was even more 
successful than the original effort. In the next concert 
Rubinstein's ** Dramatic Symphony ** is to be the yiece dt 
renttttnee, 

Jomffy has returned to our city and was to have made bis 
appearance at Chiekerint; Hall on Monday evening last 
(Dee. 15) ; but a severe illness made it impossible for him to 
fulfill his engagement, and therefore the concert fiukd to 
take place. On Wednesday afternoon, however, he man- 
aged (against his physician's advice) to get to Chiekering 
Hall and to perform in a mating preriously announced for 
that date. His programme included many well-known 
piano-forte works, among which were the Sonata, Op. 53, 
by Beethofcn; a Noetome by Cbppin (Op. 32, No. 1); three | 



Etudes by the same eomposer; and a Fugue and Gavotte 
by Bach. It was quite evident that the renowned pianist 
was hardly in his best condition ; yet his performance was 
in every way a most admirable cue. It is very difficult to 
l)elieve that greater perfection of execution can be attained ; 
the delicacy of his touch is simply marvelous; in the latter 
regard he reminds one forcibly of Gottschalk. 

On Friday evening he gave another concert, and on Sat- 
unlay a second mating. The programmes for these two en- 
tertainments were almost identical, and included the follow- 
ing well-known and exacting works: — 
Variations S^rieuses ....... Mendeissohn, 

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue ..... Bach. 

Water-Song Schubert-LUxt, 

Noetume, F minor Chopin. 

Polonaise, Op. 22 Chopin. 

In each and every selection his technique was almost ab- 
solutely faultless; but his greatest success was in the Chopin 
Polonaise, which he played with a ven-e and dash that car- 
ried the audience by storm. To me, personally, his most 
delicious performance was that of Schubert's lovely song 
transcribed by liszt; all sorts of technical impossibilities 
were crowded upon and into each other with reckless prodi- 
gality, and they all rolled from his deft fingers without the 
slightest apparent efiRnt. 

1 regret to say that on Wednesday, Joseffy was guilty of 
the musical crime of introducing certain embdlishmeuts of 
his own into a Chopin Nocturne; this was most unwise, 
and it is to be hoped that this lapse from artistic rectitude 
was only sporadic and not chronic. 

On Saturday evenmg (Dec. 22) the N. Y. Philhannonic 
Society gave its second eoneert, with substantially the same 
programme as that so ably interpreted on Tuesday evening 
in Brooklyn. Despite the inclemency of the weather the 
house was an excellent one, and it is exceedingly gratifying 
to see and to believe that this old, faithful, and valued 
organization is regaining its hold upon the public confi- 
dence and favor. Argus. 

Jax. 5. — - 1 omitted my usual letter last week, as noth- 
ing of special interest had occurred since the date of my 
previous communication, unless we except the performance 
of the Afetiiahf which took pUce on Saturday evenuig, De- 
cember 27. 

Mapleeon's season is now over and it seems impossible to 
ascertain whether money was made or kist in the enterprise; 
however, it seems perfectly safe to assume tlutt no colossal 
fortunes have been made. New Yorkers *' perfectly doat *' 
on the opera, but ha^'e always entertained serious objections 
to paying out much money for the gratification of th«r taste. 
My individual opinion is that operatic artists almost invaria- 
bly receive exorbitant pay; it follows, then, that when a 
manager expends so much upon his stars, be has Uttle left 
for^his chorus, which is always made a scape-goat; the result 
is that lop-sided and poorly-boknced representations are the 
rule. 

And now for the wonderful Hungarian — Joseffy. He 
has phyed in some fi\-e concerts and three mathi^ sinoe 
his return, and (with one exception) he has never used but 
two diffisrent programmes; these he has phyed over and 
over again, and people are beginning to ask what it all means. 
It probably would not be far from the truth if I were to say 
that the gist of the matter is precisely as foUows: Josefl^ 
made a contract to play through the entire musical eeason 
for a stated sum ; he can, if necessary, be compelled to play 
six times each week; sinoe his arrival in America he has 
made the discovery that he is a sure card to draw kuge 
houses, and he is therefore dissatisfied to know that he has 
sold bis services at a moderate mte: of course he can be 
forced to plnif (unless physically unable to do so), but he is 
under no ol>ligation to alter his programmes: consequently 
he is endeavoring to ^* freeze out " his managers by tiring 
out the public with the same selections repeated over and 
over. Fur instance, if he received an encore he would in- 
variably respond with something from (he other list: so he 
never forgot himself for a moment. 



By some process, the details of which aze shrouded in 
mystery, a compromise was efiected last week, and on Satur^ 
day evening we had a Chopin night with the following pro- 
gramme: — 

Overture, "Euryantbe" Weber. 

(Orchestra ) 

Concerto, £ minor Chopin. 

Concerto, F minor Chopin. 

Poh>naise, E-flat Chopin. 

It has never been my fortune to bear so exquisite a ren- 
dering of the bvely E minor: it was poetry embodied, and 
the imagination fkik to grasp the idea that a more perfect 
performance (in every senee) could be even possible. As an 
interpreter of the subtle shades of meaning with which Cho- 
pin's works are so filled, Joseffy is simply peerless. 

I ought to mention that my commendation ceases at a 
point some twenty or thirty bars before the ch)seof the third 
movement. The pianist essayed to substitute octaves for 
the running passage in single notes, which constitutes the 
climacteric point &[ the Rondo. In the first phoe he was 
utterly without excuse in daring to do anything of the smt, 
and in the second place the octaves were so bunglingly done, 
and so many fidae notes were atmck that the thing was a 
wretched fitilitre. However, Joseflly is young and will rqient 
Bueh ibUics in time. 



At the close of the first Concerto he received a moat 
thusiastic recall, which he finally acknowledged by giving 
the prelude in D-flat {from Op. 28) and the Yabe in F 
m%jor (from Op. 3i). The same enthusiasm prevailed on 
the conclusion of the Polonaise, and the artist felt compelled 
to retuni to the piano; he gave a most charming perform- 
ance of the Etude in C-sharp minor (fVom Op. 25) and a 
dainty Mazurka in A minor (from the posthumous Op. 68). 

And so ended one of the most delightful concerts which 
has ever been given in our city. Chiekering Hall was full 
to overflowing, and the demonstrations of enthusiasm and 
delight with which the artist was received must have been 
most gratifying to him. Argits. 

Jan. 12. llie Philharmonic Club gave its third concert 
on Tuesday evening, January 6, with the foUowing pn>. 
gramme: — 

P. F. Trio, Op. 97 Beelhaeen. 

( Adagietto Bictt. 

\ Scherzo (Quartet, E-flat) Cherubini. 

Duo, Flute and Piano SchubtrU 

(Miss Bock and Mr. Werner.) 

String Quartet, D minor MomrU 

The evening was a most stormy and unfavorable one, yet 
a very good audience assembled in Chiekering Hall to hear 
the above selections. Miss Anna Bock, a yoimg i^anist, 
took the piano part in the Beethoven Trio, and the result was 
a somewhat tame and oobrkss performance of that lovdy 
composition. The young kdy phys ifith some teehnieal 
skill, but does not seem to possess a thoroughly mosieal or* 
gauization ; she is far from comprehending the real mnncal 
significance of such a work as the Trio. She appealed' to 
better advantage in the Schubert Duo, which aflbided her 
the opportunity to disphy some very creditable finger-work, 
llie club played the Mozart Quartet very charmingly, and 
one could well afibrd to forget the preceding numbers on the 
programme. 

On Saturday evening, January 10, the same dub gavs 
the third eoneert of its Brooklyn series in the Assembly 
rooms oi the Academy of Music I give yon the instm. 
mental selections: — 

Str. Quartet, Op. 74, E-flat Beethoven. 

Adagietto Bieet. 

Scherzo ChenAini. 

SonaU, D n^jor, Op. 18 BMbenMein. 

(Miss Ida Mollerhauer and Mr. Henry MoUerhaocr.) 

Miss Ansonia Henne was the soloist of the evening, and 
she contributed greatly to the success of the aitcitainmeni 
by her artistic singing of some oM Italian songs, together 
with one by Cursebmann and <me by Robert Frans. llie 
Beethoven Quartet was very carefhily phyed, but failed to 
make any strong impres^n upon the audience, fbr the rea- 
son that it requires a very thorough musieak educaUon to 
comprehend the author's Intention. The Bicet Adagietto, 
as well as the Cherubini Scherzo, were delightfully done, 
and well merited an encore, which, however, they did not 
receive. 

Rubinstein's noble Sonata was the piece of the evening, 
and was well played by Mr. Mollerhauer ('celk>), and Miss 
Ida Mollerhauer (piano) ; this young lady altered hito the 
spirit of the composition irith real musical intelligence and 
evident feeling, and so scored a very excellent success in spite 
of a few blemishes and crudities. The cntertidnment as a 
whole was a very enjoyable one, and seemed to be appre- 
piated by a very attentive audience o( some two hundred and 
fifty persons. 

Strakosch*s Italian Opera Company will open at Booth's 
Theatre on Monday evening, January 19, with •* Alda ; ** 
Mile. Singer, Mile. Bek)eca (who was here three years ago) 
Signer Stoeti, and Blonsieur Castelmary will be the 'bright 
particufaff stars, and everything is to be done in the best 



manner, ^ utterly regardless of expense.** 



Argus. 



Baltimokk, Jan. 12. — Hie oM year was dosed in a 
very agreeable manner by the opening of the Wednesday 
Club, in its newly erected hall, Dscember 80. Tbe diorus, 
of which I have spoken in a fbmicr letter, produced Gade*s 
*( lilrl- King's Daughter** and a short chorus by Mendelssobn* 
The sodety have since commenced practicing Handel's 
" Alexander's Ffttt." 

Tbe ninth and tenth students' concerts at tbe Peabodj 
Conservatory presented the following programmes : — 

Ninth Concert, January 3. 
String Quartet, B-flat Work 71. No. 1. . . ITaifdn. 

(Messrs. AJlen, SehaeCrr, Gibson, and JungniekeL) 
Songs, with piano : *« To Cbe," " The Yblet," 

"LuUaby" Motari. 

(Miss Sallie Murdoch, ex-student of the Conservatory.) 

a. Impromptu C muior. Work 90. For pumo . SehnberL 
(Miss Esther Murdoch, ex-student of the Conserv- 
atory, second year.) 

b. Song, with piano, words fkom Shakespeare's 

*' Cj-mbeline " Schwbert, 

(Miss Sallie Murdoch,^ex.stndent ct the Conservatory.) 
Pumo-trio, B-flat. No. 6. Worit 97. For pUno, 

violin, and rioloncello Beethoven, 

(Mrs. Isaljel Dobbin, ex-student and member. of the 
Conservatory, Meesrs. Fincke and Jungnickel ) 
Tenth Concert, January 10. 

Quartet, Andante and Scherzo ChentUnL 

(PUyed by the Pcabody Quartette.) 



16 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1011. 



YariatioDS S^ieiues Mendeluokn. 

(Mm Unie Beltzboover.) 
<'Let me dream attain," and **The Ixwt Chord," 

•ung bj Miu Lizzie Krueger SuUimn. 

Dr. SoUivao, who haa been in Baltimore for wveral days, 
waa preient at the latter concert, and the songs were given 
as a compliment to the popular ** Pinafore '* composer. The 
" Wdoome Concert " to the doctor, given on Thunday, the 
8th itiat., was attended bj a fisirly sized audience, who 
evinced more or less enthusiasm over the following pro- 
gramme: — 

Music to Shakespeare's plaj, «The Tempest: " lutrodue- 
tion; the storm; prelude to third act; banquet dance; 
overture to the fourth act. Songs, with piano: •* I'he 
Sailor's Grave," by Mr. W. C Tower; "St. Agues' 
Eve,** with piano, and organ accompaniment, bj Miss 
Edith Abell Af:thur SuUivau, 

Chorus, •« Alleluia,'* from ^'The Mount of Olives " 

Betthoven. 

Music to Shakespeare's " Merchant of Venice: " Introduc- 
tion; senerade; bourr^; graceful dance; valse; finale. 
Songs, with piano: "The Snow Lice White," Mr. W. C. 
Tower; " llie Lost Choid," Miss Edith AbelL Overture 
di BaUo At-thur Sullivan, 

Chorus, "Hail, Bright Abode,*' from the opera Tant^ 
kauttr .... 1 Richard Wagner. 

The orchestra consisted of about forty-five performers, 
composed for the most part of the Peabody orchestra, and 
the chorus contained about two hundred and fifty voices. 
Both bad been rehearsed under Mr. Hamerik for several 
weeks previous to the concert, so that Dr. Sullivan found 
everything cut and dried. 

'Jlie most satisfactory of Sullivan's selections performed 
at this concert, in the humble opinion of your convspondent, 
is the music to Shakespeare's Tempest^ which must be won- 
derfull/ efiective when produced in connection with the 
play. The Merchant of Venice music, with the exception 
of the Bcurree, which is quite interesting, sounds too much 
like Oflfenbach and Strauss to suggest Shakespeare. Neither 
does the " Overture di Balk> " present sny special features of 
interest. In short, the selections made for this concert seem 
to show that Dr. Sullivan is a leader well acquainted with 
the orchestral requirements of the stage and tlie taste of 
the seiierai theatre-going public. 

Uegarding the Sympliony Concerts, the public is more in 
the dark tiian ever. The question is evidently one of dol- 
lars and cents. 

"Wo du nicht bist, Herr Oiganist, 
Da schweigen alle Flcten," 
says the German. 

Musical interest will be aljsorbed next week by the opera, 
which promises six evening perfivmauces and one maline^. 
The operas announced are NoriAa, Carmen^ /JvguenoU, 
lAtcrttiti Borgifij Miynon^ LucUt^ and Puritani, C. h\ 



Chicago, Jan. 10. — Since my bst communication to 
the Journal there has been a little calm in musical en- 
tertainments. There was, however, a performance of the 
Mestiah directly after Christmas, by the Apollo Club, when 
they presented the fiimous old oratorio, with the followhig 
assistance: Miss Marj £. Turner, soprano; Mrs. O. K. 
Johnson, eontralto; Dr. C. T. Barnes, tenor, and Mr. J. 
F. Rudolphsen bass. Unfortunately we have no large choral 
organization in Chicago. There are a number of societies 
that cuntun a hundred or a hundred and fifty voices each, 
and they give very interesting entertainmenta. But for a 
severe work, like this master creation of Ilandel, a very large 
and well-drilled chorus seems necessary. If musical jealousy 
tt>ukl only give way to a real k>ve for art, all the societies 
might be induced to unite and give a performance of the Mt»- 
tiakf worthy of the music. Some time in the near future we 
trust that this may be brought about. The Apollo Club 
sing finely and gave the oratorio as well as we could ex- 
pect, considering the small number of voices. The orehes- 
tra was hardly adequate, but we have much progress to 
n^e in this regard before we may ex|iect finished perform- 
ances. Of tlie soloists Mr. Rudolphsen was the niobt at 
home in oratorio music, although Mn. Johnson and Miss 
Tunier sang with much feeling 

On the evening of January 2, Mr. Henry G. Ilanchett, 
of Boston, gave a piano-forte recital at Hershey Hall. His 
|Ht)gramme was devoted to modern music, and hardly ar- 
tbUc in arrangement, if a progressive ^er toward a climax 
was the tliought of the arranger. There were many points 
in his playing that were quite ei\joyable, and he was sincere 
in his work. There was a sameness about his interpreta- 
tions that seemed to indicate that he has yet to become frre 
from the influence of his teachers and mark out a distinct 
path for himself. He has the technique and the talent for 
this, and will doubtless reach a higher position when he ar- 
rives at tW point at which he can view his performances 
from the reflectire side, apart from any external influences 

At Central Music Hall we have had two concerts by Mi«8 
£nmia Thnrtby and Company, under the nianagement of 
Mr. Geo. B Carpenter. The programme were an im- 
provement upon those offered by the Patti organization, and 
contained some truly good music. Miss 'lliursby met ¥rith 
a warm recognition, every numlier that she sang being 
greeted with applause, and her fine singing pleased bier Urge 
audieoce greatly. Her voice retains its bird -like tones, and 



her execution is very artistic. There is a lack of warmth 
in her expression, but, doubtless, that is owing to the quality 
of her vocal organ, which is flute-like in tone. The playing 
of Mr. Rummel, the pianist, was disappointing to many of 
our musicians. His numbers were briUiant selections from 
Chopin, Liszt, and Tausig, and perhaps only calcuUted to 
show the virtuoso side of playing; and that alone is a poor 
criterion for a comprehensive judgment. 

Herr Adamowski, the violinist, has a good but small tone. 
He played ^'ery pleasantly, and above all, good music. 

Mr. Fischer, the 'celloist, won recognition from the audi- 
ence, and may be termed a good, although not great, player. 
Sig. Ferranti sang his musinl nonsense with the same spirit 
and humor as of old, and seems able to win the enthusiastic 
applause of an audience with hb time-worn songs, just as 
well as in his more youthful days. 

Next week comes the Mapleson Opera Company. Before 
closing my letter I would desire to call the attention of the 
readers of the Jouknal to a remarkable book that has just 
made its appearance hi its Englisli dress, " Hq^'s Philos- 
ophy of Art,*' transUted by W. M. Bryant, llie general 
derelopment of art, as thus unfolded by Hegel, presents a 
unity of idea that is remarkable, when we reflect on it. Mr. 
Bryant has done a good work, for which the loven of art 
should be thankful. In his introductory essay he treats of 
music, and his statements regarding its contents and aim 
are the most comprehensive I have ever read. Hie unfold- 
ing^of the idea in music has been a subject which the logical 
mind has been slow to consider, and it is most encouraging 
to obsenre that philosophers are at last realizing that ui the 
unity of the Beautiful this art fills an honored place. For, 
as Mr. Bryant ^observes, *' Music appeals to the organ of 
he^ning^ a sense more intellectual, more spiritual, than vision 
itself.** C. H. B. 



MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE. 

Salem, Mass Gade's CVuarufers, with some choice 

songs and glees, was performed by the Salem Schubert Club, 
W. J. Winch, Director, at Plummer Hall, December 30. 
The soloists were: liliss Clara L. Emilio, soprano. Dr. S. W. 
Langmaid, tenor, and Mr. Clarence £. Hay, baritone. 

Nkw York Mr. Julius Kichherg's violin pupils gave 

a concert in Chickering Hall, a few weeks since, which de- 
lighted a select and ^tical audience, largely composed of 
violin teachers and amateurs. The Tribune speaks of their 
performance and their training in tlie highest terms; and 
another paper acknowled4;es: " Boston has gi%'en us in this 
something Uwt New York cannot match.** We believe this 
is tlie only violin school in America, and it will soon furnish 
fresh and wdl- trained musicians for our orehestras and quar- 
tet parties. It was only yesterday that some of Mr. Eich- 
berg's pupil's (young bdies) came to us to borrow the string 
parts of some of Haydn*s Symphonies, which they propose 
to practice with several on a parL 

Philadelphia. — The rooms of the School of Vocal 
Art, 1106 Wahmt Street, were crowded to overflowing last 
evening by an audience assembled to witness the second per- 
formance by the pupiU of Auber's Mmon and Lttck- 
smith. The opera was admirably sung throughout, both 
the sok)s and choruses showing a marked general improve- 
.ment on the part of the pupils. Much allowance is neces- 
sarily due for the amateur character of the performen and 
the limited stage space and applianees for scenic aiid dra- 
matic effect But there was much real excdlence in the 
style and precision with which the whole work was done, 
both Uulies and gentlemen entering into the spirit of the fine 
composition with intelligent appreciation and correct execu- 
tion. These operatic performances of the School of Vocal 
Art are designed purely as an educational feature of Madame 
Seller's system, and their improving effects are pUinly per- 
ceptible in many of the pupils, in their increased confidence 
and dramatic treatment of operatic music, llie Mnvm and 
Locksmith was the best of the series of 0])eras that have 
been given, and reflected much credit upon all concerned — 
Bulletin^ Jan. 6. 

Mr. Wm. H. SnERwo4»D, who had lieen announced 
to phy the G-migor Concerto of Ueethoven, and the Fan- 
taisie by Schumann in the Harvard Sympliony Concert, this 
week, was prevented by a severe sprain of his right foot. 
Mr. Sherwood will play in one of the hter concerU, making 
his firat public appearance here this winter. 

In the fourth concert, January 29, Mr Chadwick's " Rip 
van Winkle" Overture will be repeated: Mendelssohn's 
" Scotch ** Symphony and an Entr'acte from Cherubini's 
Afedea will lie played; Bliss Emily Winant will sing; -and 
there will lie a Concerto, either for the violin or the piano, 
yet to be determined. 

FOREIGN. 

Vienna. ^Thus writes Dr. Hanslick in the Neue Freie 

Pretse, in December: " Dei TeufeU LutttchUm^ a natural 
magic opera in three acts, by Kotzebue. The music is by 
Franz Schu1)ert, M. P., pupil of Herr Salieri, Imperial and 
Royal Court Chapelmaster in Vienna.** Such is the title- 
page of Schubert*s autographic opera score, now in the pos 
ion of the Countess Anna von Amadei, one of our fint 



huly musical anutteure. The celebrated old Court Cha|iel- 
master, under whom Beethoven, abo, transiently studied, 
without learning anything, was for a sliort time Schubert's 
master for composition. Ignorance and calumny have 
greatly wronged him (^* Is it true that you poisoned Mo- 
zart*? " Rossini asked him very iwlvely); but he at least de- 
ser^'cs the credit of zealously and unselfishly interesting him- 
self UI young talent. He was, it b true, fiur ad^-anced in yean 
when Schubert went to him for instruction, and, moreover, 
as a genuine Italian, not at all fitted to understand, far less 
to direct, Schubert's talent. The description: *' Pupil of 
Herr Salieri," on the title-page, is an evidence of pleasing 
modesty. Tlie opera was oompowd in 18 U, that is, in 
Schubert's seventeentli year. The management (A the 
Komische Oper in the Schottenring at one time contem- 
plated bringing it out, as it had never been performed. 
But the plan appean to have been wreckeil on Kotzebue's 
absurd libretto, which works up what b certunly the most 
disagreeabb of all kinds of comicality, namely, tliat which is 
inseparabb from dread and horror. The knight, Oswald, 
hb bride, and hb servant go through the mo»t fearful 
adventures with spirits in Uie enchanted castle; they are 
draped by persons dressed up in various disguises through 
es^txy conceivable kind of suflbring and danger, being finally 
conducted even to tlie scaflbld ! When, at the command of 
the executioner, tliey have already bid their heads upon the 
block and bid each ether forever fiuiewell, the owner of the 
casUe appears and informs the poor wretches, who have beeo 
almost frightened to death during two sets and a half, that 
it was all a ioke, which he has carried out by the aid of ma- 
chinery and servants in disguise. Instead of giving, the 
pbyful personage a good cudgeling, those who are thus^ en- 
lightened are much ino\'ed, and thank him. llie theatrical 
public of the present day would scarcely consider it amus- 
ing to see for the whob ei'ening ghosts, executioners, and 
so on, and then be informed at the very end that their anx- 
iety was a piece of stupidity. Now, we cannot strip the 
book off a complete operatic score, %s we take off a coat and 
have a new one made. Our witty friend, Grandjean, has, 
we hear, undertaken to alter Kotzebue's libretto, sulistitut- 
ing for the ci^iricious mystification by machinery', and so on, 
a dnam, which b, at any rate, a more natural and more 
poetic motive. Whether much b gained by thb for stage 
purposes we cannot say. Side by side with a great dral 
that b antiquated and unimportant in Schubert's score, we 
have come across so much that b delightful, so much that b 
truly Schubertbii fbr its melodic freshness and marked 
character, that tlie idea of a sta^e performance does not 
really strike us as so very hazardous. With De$ Tevftis 
Luttsehlussy our managere would, at all e\'ents, not sow 
mora trouble and earn more disappointment tlian with many 
of their other novelties. Only a few words about tlie over- 
ture, which Herr Kremser, the director, introduced to us at 
the bat Society Concert. A well-nigh violent dramatic 
vein runs through it. We ask ourselves whence the }ouug 
composer obtained such romantic strains, which make our 
blood curdb, at a time when there was no Fauit by Spohr, 
and no Der FreischOtz, The incisire dissonances with 
which the overture begins so jauntilj, the repeated and 
luridly flaahing infernal lights and the demoniacal grimaces, 
the low-sounding intermediate movement with sordini (al- 
most a presentiment of the Furyanthe overture), and th«i 
the surprising employment of the tliree trombones, — all thb 
may be exceeded by the deviltry of our most modern operatic 
music, but b something wonderful in the seventeen-year old 
" pupil of Herr Salieri, Imperial and Royal Court Chapelmas- 
ter.*' — The next piece was a rather long cyclical ixmiposition 
by Herbeck, Litdund Jteii/rn^ the last he ever conducted him- 
sdf. A master of sonorous choral writing and effectire 
scoring, he has decked out thb series of musical pictures 
with pleasing, interesting touches. As a whole, however, 
the work b deficient in convincing power. As a series it 
wants the homugeneousiiess which would cause us to feel 
that the separate pieces naturally belong to each other, 
and are organically developed. Most of the contrasts and 
etfgeU ranged in succession strike us as far-fetched and 
springing from a palpable striving after the "poetical." 
PremMlitation is very apparent in the " 'l>aurige Rermess,'* 
an attempt to reproduce Sterne's sentimental humor, or the 
humor of Shakespeare*s clowns. Ijgt any one compare 
with this piece Schumann's ** Arnier Peter,*' which rendere 
with such truth and simplicity a simibr mixed feeling. 
The serious ending, too, of the whob, the slow dying awaj 
of the two strophes giren by the watchman, whom Herbeck 
posts fint in tbe/niddb and then ^at the back of the con- 
cert-room, b conceived theatrically nUier than musically. 
But the intended eflect of thb new device is not attuned in 
the concert-room ; the piece sounds flat and unsatbfactory, 
almost like a disappointed expectation. The difficult cho. 
ruses in the work had been very carefully studied, and «rere 
executed by the Vocal Assocbtion with, delicate nicety of 
light and shade. Herr Waller sang in an especblly beauti- 
ful manner Pylaiies' air frf)m Gluck's Jphigema. But, 
had he been the Greek Pylades himself, with Orestes, in 
flesh and blood, by hb side, the air ought not, on any ac- 
count, to have been repeated, considering the formidabb 
bngth of tlie concert. Some of the benches were already 
empty, with Brahffis' Pbnoforte Concerto and the whob 
of Mendebsohn's Chi-istus fragment still to be performed ! 
We have heard Mme. Toni Raab, who was set down for 
it, play the Fianoforte Coiieerto far better on prevfous 
occasions. Eduard Hansuck. 



JA.MCABr 31, 1880.] 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



17 



BOSTON, JANUARY SI, 1880. 

Entered at the Post Office at Boston as second-class matter. 



AU the articles not credited to other publicntions were exprexsly 
written/or this Journal. 



Published fortnightly by IIOUOUTOV, OsaooD AMD CoiCPAlCT, 
Boston^ Mass. Price ^ 10 cents a number; $2.50 per year. 

For sale in Boston by Carl Frdifxr, 30 We.tt Street ^ A. Will- 
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ington Street, and by the Publishers; in New York by A. BasN- 
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612 State Sirtet. 



LEIPZIGER STRASSE, No. 8. 

A CHAPTEU FROM *^ DIE FAMILIB MENDELS- 
SOHN," BY 8. HENSEL. 

After their return (the Mendelssohn fam- 
ily from their Swiss tour) every one went 
back to his accustomed occupations, and in- 
dustry resumed its course. In the next 
years Felixes musical talent developed itself 
with rapid strides, and, with his own, that of 
my mother (his sister, Fauny Hensel). The 
sincere, unenvying friendship of the brother 
and sister remained untroubled to the end of 
their lives. *' They are actually vain and 
proud for one another," paid their mother, 
once. " Up to the present moment," writes 
my mother, in 1822, *' I possess his unbounded 
confidence. I have seen his talent develop 
step by step, and have even in a certain de- 
gree contributed to its education. He has 
no musical adviser except me ; nor does he 
ever put a musical thought down on paper 
without first submitting it to my examination. 
Thus, for example, I knew his operas by 
heart, before a note was written down." Fe- 
lix's activity was — and remained all through 
his life — most restless ; for, besides scientific 
culture, he npent much time and labor upon 
drawing. If his endowment herein naturally 
fell far short of his musical, yet he carried it 
a great way for a dilettante, and perfected 
himself very much in it in the later years of 
his life. From his last Swiss journey, in the 
year 1847, he brought home Aquarelles of 
which no artist need have felt ashamed. 

But what was most extraordinary in those 
early years of boyhood was his musical activ- 
ity, as appears from a little bio>;raphy of 
Felix by his mother, which I possess, and to 
which is appended a list of the pieces he 
composed each year. Thus, for example, the 
list for the year 1822, in which the great 
journey of the family occurred, and which 
certainly left but little time for labor, reads 
as follows: (1) The Sixty-sixth Psalm, for 
three female voices; (2) Concerto in A 
minor for the piano-forte ; (3) Two Songs for 
male voices ; (4) Three Songs ; (5) Three 
Fugues for the piano ; (6) Quartet for piano, 
violin, viola, and bass (in C minor, composed 
in Geneva, his first printed woik) ; (7) Two 
Symphonies for two violins, viola, and bass ; 
(8) one act of the Opera " The Two 
Nephews ; " (9) Juhe Domine^ iu C major, 
for the Cacilienverein of Schelble, in Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main ; (10) a Violin Concerto 
(tor Rietz) ; (11) Magnijicaty with instru- 
ments ; (12) Gloria^ with instruments. In 
the same year he appeared publicly for the 
first time in Berlin, in a concert of Muie. 
Milder. This period also includes the foun- 
dation of the " Sunday Musicals," which were 



destined afterwards to gain so great an ex- 
pansion in the house of my parents. For 
the time being, in the limited room which 
then stood at the disposal of my grandpar- 
ents (on the new Promenade), only the nar- 
rower circle of friends used to assemble; hiere 
Felix's compositions were performed ; here 
the children became accustomed to play be- 
fore people, and had an opportunity to hear 
the opinion of others. Already, too, at these 
" musicals," were found whatever musicians 
of importance from other places came to Ber- 
lin. Thus, in the year 1823, Kalkbrenner, 
of whom the mother writes : " He has heanl 
many of Felix's things, has praised with 
taste, and has found fault with candor and 
with amiability. We hear him often, and we 
seek to learn from him. He unites the most 
different excellences in his playing: precision, 
clearness, expression, the greatest facility, the 
most inexhaustible strength and endurance. 
He is a sound musician, and possesses an 
astonishing power of taking much in at a 
glance. Apart from his talent, he is a fine, 
amiable, and very cultivated man, and one 
c mnot praise and blame more agreeably." 

In August of the same year my grand- 
father msule a journey to Silesia with the 
two young people. Felix writes : — 

....'* Early in the morning we all went 
to Berner to the church. He came. At 
first he pulled o£E his coat and drew on a 
light waistcoat in the place of it; then I had 
to write down a theme for him, and then he 
began. He took the deep C in the pedal, 
and then he flung himself with all his might 
upon the maimul ; and after several runs he 
began a theme on the manual. I had no 
idea that one could play it on the pedal, for 
so it was: 




But presently he fell iu with the feet, and 
DOW worked it through with manual and 
pedal. After kneading that theme through 
sufficiently, he took up my theme in the 
pedal, carried it through awhile, took it in 
longer notes on the pedal, set a beautiful 
counter-subject against it, and worked the 
two themes through superbly. He has an 
immense facility upon the pedal. When he 
had finished, he drank several glasses of wine, 
which he had brought with him, and then 
stated himself again upon the organ bench. 
Now he played Variations after Vogel's man- 
ner, which, though they were very beautiful, 
did not please me like his former plRying. 

" The church gradually filled, and the people 
were very much astonished to hear Berner, 
for he had made it known to all Breslau that 
he had set out on a journey to the baths ; but 
here he was playing the organ in St. Eliza- 
beth ; these two things they could not rhyme 
together. After he had drunk another glass, 
he produced some Variations of his own on 
the Choral " Vom Himmel hoch," which are 
very beautiful. The last variation is a fugue, 
of which the shortened choral is the theme ; 
he played it on the middle key-board. Now 
he made it seem as if he was about to close, 
brought back the theme alia Stretta^ struck 
the dominant chord, and then suddenly be- 
gan the simple choral on the lower manual, 
which was coupled, with the whole power of 



the organ, .modulated splendidly upon the 
melody, and so closed. Jt made a heavenly 
effect, when the choral struck in with full 
power, and the tones streamed forth from the 
organ on all sides. But that exhausted him 
a good deal, so that he had to drink two 
or three glasses 9f wine. Yet soon he set 
to it again, and played variations on '* God 
save the Kinp:," In which he treated this 
theme in the Phrygian and then in the j£o- 
lian mode, and towards the end he played it 
also with full organ, which had just as fine 
an effect as the one before. With this the 
organ concert was closed, and Berner very 
much fatigued. The people left the church, 
and he allowed the bottle of wine to rest. 
Then he showed me the interior of the or- 
gan itself ; bombshells and grenades have 
lodged in very many pipes, so that they are 
useless. 

" We talked together* for a while farther, 
he and I. Berner told us of some droll pranks 
which he had executed, and then we went to 
dine, Berner with us. While he plays, a choir 
boy stands near him, who draws out or pushes 
in the registers, which Berner tips with hii 
fingers in the midst of his playing. 

" But now enough of Phrygian, -^olian, 
dominants, registers, pipes, manual, pedal, 
valves, thirty-two feet, mixture, concert, wine 
bottle, glasses, fugues, and prolongations." 

In Reinerz, Felix was invited to take part 
in a concert for the poor. The rehearsal be- 
gan three hours before the concert, and they 
placed before Felix a Concerto of Mozart. 
After they had repeated the first solo for an 
hour long, Felix saw that it would never go 
in that way. The contrabassist, who at the 
same time represented the place of the 'cellos, 
was not in tune, most of the instruments were 
utterly at fault, and the rest, worthy dilettanti 
of the little town, understood neither how to 
play nor wh^n to pause; it was frantic cat**' 
music. So he proposed that he should im- 
provise, had the reason of the change ex- 
plained by the schoolmaster, chose some 
themes from Mozart and Weber, and played 
with universal applause. Directly after the 
concert he started on the journey, and on 
getting into the carriage received a nosegay 
from a pretty maiden. '* A prince-s (so writes 
grandmother to my father in Rome), whose 
husband isfanatico per la tnusica, gave them 
a pressing invitation to pass several days on 
their estate, and, in case this were not pos- 
sible, to send her something of Felix's com- 
position, which she would copy with her own 
high hands. You know the illiberality of my 
young liberal too well not to guess that such 
a court party was naught for his free spirit." 

On the 3d of February, 1824, on which 
day Felix became fifteen years old, was the 
first orchestral rehearsal of his Opera, ** The 
Two Nephews," for which the afterwards 
well-known physician, Caspar, had written 
the text. Zelter improved this opportunity 
for a little festival, which was characteristic 
of him. At the 8up|>er after the rehearsal, 
when one of the amateur singers proposed 
the health of Felix, Zelter took him by the 
hand and presented him before the company 
with these words : *^ My dear son, from this 
day thou art no longer an apprentice (Junge) ; 
from this day thou art a comrade ( Geselle), 
I make thee a comrade in the name of Mo- 



18 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1012. 



zart, in the name of Haydn, and in the name 
of the old Bach.'* Then he took the boy in 
his arms, and hugged and kissed him heartily. 
Then the pronouncing of Mendelssohn a Ge- 
telle was joyfully celebrated with Zelter's 
songs and TaJ'ellieder. The opera was per- 
formed in the paternal liouse with applause ; 
yet it remained only a work in the nature of 
an exercise, was put aside as such, and Felix 
at once set about the composition of a second, 
** Camacho*s Wedding," which, laid out on a 
broader plan, treats of the well-known episode 
in Don Quixoiey and the fate of which we 
shall learn later. 

In the year 1825 occurred an event des- 
tined to have a most determining influence 
on the development of the children, and to 
shape the whole life of the fiyiiily for gener- 
ationd, and which for this reason has been 
chosen for the title of this chapter : grand- 
father's purchase of the beautiful estate No. 
3 Leipziger Strasse. In this wonderful 
house and garden our grandparents spent the 
rest of their life ; here my mother married 
and lived to the last. But to all the mem- 
bers of the family this house was no ordinary 
possession, no dead heap of stones, but a liv- 
ing individuality, a member, partaking in the 
fortune of the family, of which it was to them, 
and to those who stood nearest to them, in a 
certain sense its representative. In this sense 
Felix often used the expression '' Leipziger 
Strasse 3," and in this sense we all loved (he 
estate and mourned its loss, when it was sold 
after the death of my mother and of Felix, 

and the Herrenhaus (House of Lords) 

was transferred into it. 

The street front of the house is still the 
same that it was then. The rooms in it were 
stately, large and high, built with that pleas- 
ant prodigality of space which, in the times 
of the high prices of estates, the architects 
were compelled almost entirely to abandon, 
and for the worth of which the understanding 
— or the means — seems no longer to exist. 
One room especially, looking out upon the 
court, connecting by three great arches with 
an adjoining cabinet, was wonderfully beauti- 
ful and seemed as if made for theatrical rep- 
resentations. Here through many, many 
years, on Christmas, birthday, or other festi- 
vals, the most charming performances, spark- 
ling with wit and humor, were arranged. 
Ordinarily this was grandmother's sitting- 
room. From its windows one had an out- 
look upon the very large court, surrounded 
by lower side buildings, and terminateil by 
the one-story garden-dwellhig, over which 
projecte<l the crowns of the tall trees stretch- 
ing away in the distance. This garden dom- 
icil was occupied by my parents from the 
time of their marriage. It is now torn down, 
and has given place to the hall of sessions of 
the Herrenhaus. In winter it had great dis- 
comforts : it was cold, damp, every chamber 
was a thoroughfare, and not one of them had 
any counter-heat, since the garden-house was 
only one room deep. Double windows were 
at that time a great rarity in Berlin ; our 
dwelling possessed none, and daily there 
streamed from the frosty window panes great 
pools of water, which had continually to be 
wiped up. We seldom got it above 13° 
(Reaumur) in winter. 

Bat in summer the habitation was enchant- 



ing. All the windows looked out on the 
garden, upon blooming lilac bushes, upon 
alleys of fine old trees, with grape foliage 
growing up round the windows ; and for cUl 
seasons of the year it had other great advan- 
tages : especially that of perfect repose and 
stillness ; through the great court and the 
high front building every sound from the 
noisy street was cut off; we lived as in the 
deepest solitude of the woods, and yet we 
were only one hundred steps from the street. 
No vis-a-vis but the stately trees of the gar- 
den, with its merrily twittering bird.s and no 
lodger over, under, or near us ; toward the 
street noise the deepest, almost rural, stillness 
and seclusion, and before the windows the 
green of the trees. 

The most beautiful part of the garden- 
house was the great hall in the middle. This 
held several hundred people, and consisted, 
on the garden side, entirely of glass walls 
which would slide back, with pillars between, 
so that it might be transformed into a wholly 
open hall of pillars. Walls and ceiling, the 
latter forming a flat cupola, were decorated 
in a somewhat baroque but fantastic style 
with fresco pictures. Here was the peculiar 
locality where the " Sunday Musicals " were 
destined to attain their full expansion. From 
it one enjoyed the outlook over the great 
park-like garden of seven acres which reached 
to the garden of Prince Albrecht; and a 
remnant of the Thicrgarten, which, from 
Frederick the Great's time, had stretched all 
the way here, possessed a great wealth of the 
finest old trees. Of the intended purchase of 
this e>tate my grandmother wrote to my lather 
in Rome (Feb. 1, 1825) ; '* Has it not sur- 
prised you that my husband seriously thinks 
of buying and settling down here ? The es- 
tate, of which something very beautiful can 
be made, certainly tempted him. The house 
to be sure is as much neglected and dilapi- 
dated as is always the case with many occu- 
pants, who are never of one mind and have 
no common spirit, and much must be ex- 
pended to bring it into habitable condition. 
But the garden is a real park, with majestic 
ti'ees, a piece of field, gra>s-plots, and an ex- 
tremely pleasant summer dwelling, and all this 
tempts my husband as it does me." But the 
friends of the family grieved and complained 
at first, that the grandparents should move so 
far out of the wot Id into such a remote, dead 
region, where the grass grows on the streets 
— for the Potsdam gate was then the " Ul- 
tima Thule," where the geography of Berlin 
ceased. 

( 2b be eoHtituted.) 



LETTERS FROM AN ISLAND. 

BT FANNY RAYMOND BITTER. 

III. 

THE IMPERIAL BILVER-WEDDINO IN VIENNA. 

— FRIEDKICU VON BODENSTEDT'B FIRST 
LECTURE IN AMERICA. — MIBZA-8CHAFFT. 

— HAFIB. 

Dear Pounamu I * — If you do not certainly 

I Te Poiin&mti (the P5Qnfimu), is the M«ori name for 
the Greenstone, which is % product of the Island of New 
Zealand, and which has alwsys beeii held in high estima- 
tion by the natives, fbi hatcliets, short hand-clubs (for war), 
as well as for ornaments. It is also rather admired by the 
European settlers. Te PoUnftmu is the journalistic nom de 
plume of an Anglo Maori gentleman, to whom the above let- 
ter is addre«ed. 



know, you at least surmise, that the discoverer of 
the island is a cosmopolitan in opinions, tastes, 
hahits ; and therefore you may feel assured that 
she thoroughly enjoyed the cosmopolitan spirit of 
your letters of last summer. A vivacious account 
of the Imperial silver- wedding in Vienna, writ- 
ten by an Anglo-Maori, reaching the island by 
way of New Zealand, and not very long after 
the ordinary neivspaper reports eitlier, would 
necessarily be read with great interest ; but to 
mo your letters were especially interesting, since, 
if cosmopolitan humanitarianism enters largely 
into the system of the island's government, art 
and poetry are the very breath of life there ; and 
your letters treated almost excluaiv^ly of those 
events, artistic or poetic, of the /ete<, which 
alone claimed my attention. These were the 
enchanting performance at the Vienna Opera 
House of national songs and dances, — Bohe- 
mian, Carintliian, Styrian, Tyrolese, by peasants 
dresse<l in their picturerque national costumes, 
and selected, for musical or cboregraphic talent, 
beauty, grace, or fine voices, from every part of 
polyglot Anstria, — of which you gave so graphic 
a description ; then the processions, with the ar- 
rangement of which Makart had so much to do 
that people more than half expected to meet, in 
the street of Vienna, the beautiful, if too oflen 
characterless, faces, the nymph-like or noble 
forms, the splendid costumes and decorations that 
dazzle us in Makart's pictures, surrounded, per- 
haps, by mists of carnation and gold, green and 
amethyst, which this painter, like a modern 
Pygmalion, but a necromant rather in color than 
in form, would certainly be able to evoke from 
his own compositions, vitalized and embodied 
by some magical, cabalistic power I Nor did 
you forget the dedication of the new Austrian 
Westminster Abbey, the splen<lid church, des- 
tined to become the resting-place of Ikmous Aus- 
trians — an idea that originated with Maximil- 
ian of Mexico, and which the architect Forstel 
has so successfully carried out; or a kaleido- 
scopic description of the varied types, European 
anJ Asiatic, among thtj masses of people who 
crowded to the city on the occasion of these fes- 
tivities. 

What return shall I make to-day for the 
pleasure which the perusal of all this afforded 
me ? Shall I now respond to the desire for fur- 
ther information respecting national melody and 
poetry (the folk-song) which you lately expressed 
while in Berlin and Vienna ; complaining, at the 
same time, of the difficulty of obtaining good col- 
lections of this class of poetry and music — eren 
of merely German folk-songs, when you were re- 
siding at their very fountain heads ? The sub- 
ject is too extensive for the present occasion. Let 
me now confine myself to one, not very widely 
removed from it, and tell you how we took flight 
from the inland one day, for the purpose of meet- 
ing, seeing, and hearing the poet Friedrich ron 
Bodenstedt, who lately arrived in America, and 
wiio has long been attractive to me, as creator 
of " The Songs of Mirza-Schaffy," the suppoi>^ 
titious Oriental poet. Unexpected circumstances 
prevente<l our attendance at the Goethe club re- 
ception ; but we at least heard Bodenstedt in the 
first public lecture (in German) which he gave 
in America ; and wo were glad to find, in hia 
graceful, scholarly manner, pleasant, expressive 
face and gestures, and sympathetic voice, that he 
still retains, at the age of sixty, so much of that 
attractive personality which the mere title of 
*'poet" leads one to expect 

Bodenstedt, long deterred and discouraged by 
parental opposition from the adoption of litera- 
ture as a profession, gained the fullest liberty in 
this, at rather a later period of life than usual 
with poets, when, during his sojourn in Russia, 
Tartary, and Persia, he reveled, as student. 



J^UABT 31, 1880.] 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



19 



tmnslator, and creator, in Sclavonian folk-song 
and art-poetry, and rilled the rich treasure-houses 
of Oriental lyricism. The results of bis long res- 
idence in the East were his translations from 
Eosland, Puschkin, and Lermontow ; his work 
"The Poetical Ukrain," his "Thousand and 
One Days in the Orient," and his " Songs of 
MirEa-SchafT//' In the "Thousand and One 
Days'* he introduced, amplified, and idealized 
the character of Mirza-Sehaffy, his instructor, at 
Tiilis, in the Tartar and Persian languages. The 
actual Mirza-Schaffy merely served Boden8te<U 
as a foundation upon which to elaborate his ideal 
character, a type of the Oriental poetico-philoso- 
phical sage ; the real man, though a good instruct- 
or and a fair versifier, could not, and "did not, as- 
pire to be regarded as a creator, a genuine poet 
" The Songs of Mirza-Schaflfy " originated alto- 
gether in the mind of Bodenstedt, with the ex- 
ception of one, which was an elaboration of a 
little song really written by Schaffy ; but they 
were received by the public, and criticised by 
the German press, as translations. In his lecture 
of November 11 last, Bodenstedt told us that 
they were the expression of the feelings excited 
in him by the novel influences of life in the 
Orient, amid the splendor of richly glowing nat- 
ural scenery, while he saw himself surrounded 
by handsome and courteous men, and black-eyed, 
rose-cheeked, beautifully attired women, with long, 
flowing tresses ; and lived under a system of civ- 
ilization over-ripe to the verge of decadence and 



the dress of Sul^ikka, or the scenes amid which 
he meets her ; he, overflowing wiih song and 
love, sel om thinks of painting for his listeners 
such matters of course, — to him and to Orien- 
tals in generaL The Mirza-Schafiy songs are 
divided, in German poetic fashion, into groups 
with distinctive titles, such as " Songs of Com- 
plaint," **Tiflis," "Hafisa," " Sul^ikka," and 
80 on. The most original, and^ at the same 
time, the richest in Oriental coloring and pictures 
of manners, are those contained in " Hafisa *' 
and " Tiflis," such as " Whence comes the Fame 
of Schiraz ? " " Fair Sultana Fatima," " Throw 
back thy Veil," and olhera. Let me give you a 
few translations of my own as specimens of these 



songs : — 



I. 



rum. 



This wave of warmth and color was an inspir- 
ing one to Bodenstedt; it entirely dispersed 
from his mind those clouds of Heine-Byronic 
gloom and melancholy which had formerly op- 
pressed him, in common with most of his Euro- 
pean contemporaries of poetico-intellectual ten- 
dencies. In presenting to his audience those 
traits of that actual personality of Mirza- 
Schaffy, his teacher, which had suggested to him 
the ideal character of Mirza-Schaffy, the pc«^t, 
Bodenstedt said he was a tall and slender man, 
with a light, elastic step, large, dark, expressive 
eyes, and a rich beanl of golden chestnut, which 
finely contrasted with the blue cadan be habit- 
ually wore ; and his delicately embroidered slip 
pers were always a wonder to Bodenstedt, since 
their wearer wore them through all the mud of 
Tiflis streets without receiving the slightest stain. 
He found fault with European han<lwriting, as 
"too mechanical and tradesman-like, regular 
enough for printing;" and told his pupil that 
artistic, expressive handwriting ought to vary 
according to the subject of which it treated ; to 
become wavy and delicate when speaking of 
women, wto are small, elegant, and refined ; firm 
and stiff in sentences of wisdom ; bold and rough 
when treating of war; while joy, love, piety, 
should all be expressed in diff» rent outlines. Not 
a bad idea for our writers and decorators of mot- 
toes and proverbs to work out. 

Long familiar with the "Songs of Mirza- 
Schaffy," and with Danmer's translation of Hafiz, 
with ihe sympathetic familiarity that leads one 
beyond the mere form of a poem into its very 
heart, and its merely suggested meaning ; know- 
ing many among them, of those that most delight 
me, by heart; having translated several, and 
singing some that have been set to music by 
Brahms, Ehlert, Bitter, Volkmann, and others, I 
think I have learned to undersUnd them well ; 
and I have always wondered how any one could 
ever have mistaken "The Songs of Mirza- 
Schaflfy " for translations. One trait that seems 
peculiarly to mark them as the work of a Euro- 
pean is their reference to dress, manners, home- 
furroandings, etc.; foreign outside forms that 
would at once impress :i European not long a 
TCsident of the East; Hafiz scarcely mentions 



The lovely ladies of Tiflis 

Wear beautiful array ! 

The foidd of a snow-white Tschadra 

Acroes their features play; 

And under diadems 

Enriched with precious gems. 

Shine robe and trouaer light, 

And silk and satin bright, 

And ribbons richly blent, 

And slippers gold- besprent. 
Oh, do not therefore blame them. 
Or vain and foolish name them ! 

The lovely ladies of Tlflb 
Well please a poet's taste I 
Unfettered by robe or Tschadra, 
With beauty* s aureole graced, 
Undimmed by useless shade, 
More fair appears each maid, 
Unless enrobed in dress. 
Fit frame for loveliness ! 
A*maid in base attire, 
No poet heart will fire, 
lliongh perfect in her mould, she, 
And countless aeons old, he! 

n. 
With rapture heavy-laden. 
My heart beats wild and high, 
When slie, light-footed maideu. 
With airy step floats by! 
A veil of dazzling whiteness 
About her form is flowing, 
Two stars of miduight brightness 
Beneath its folds are glowing. 
Her daxk and rippling tresses 
Drop o*er her bosom's sweetness; 
A rose's moss, the dress is. 
That shades her rich completeness; 
Aud all is lovely motion, 
And all is grace enchanting, — 
I gaze, — and warm emotion 
My soul, my senses haunting, 
AVith rapture heavy-laden, 
My heart beats wild and high, 
When she, light-footed maiden, 
With airy step floats by ! 
Narcissus buds, and rosea, 
Across her robe are twining; 
Its azure hem discloses 
Her foot, in scarlet shining; — 
Oh, archM Instep slender! 
Oh, flexible white fingers! 
Oh, lip, thou ruby splendor. 
Where love, charm fettered, lingers! 
With rapture heary-Uden, 
My heart beats wild and high, 
When she, light-footed maiden, 
With airy step floaU by ! 

III. 
In the publie bazaar I sang 
A song of thy foam-flesh beauty; 
All, spdl-bound, listened, while rang 
My praise of thy sofl-eyed beauty. 
Turk, Persian, Tartar, and Rhurd, 
Haik's sons, who of mind astute be, 
And Christians, my song allured 
To muse on thy rose-cheeked beauty. 
The singers, in silence, there 
Marked word and tone as a duty; 
Now over the world they bear 
My song in praise of thy beauty. 
Away the torn veil is flung 
That shaded thy flower-sweet beauty; 
Familiar to old and young 
Has grown the fame of thy beauty; 
Yet, &irest one, pardon give ! 
The bloom that becomes Time's booty, 
For ages undimmed will live 
In songs that edio its beaoiy! 



In these songs, Bodenstedt's muse appears to 
me as a genuine individualify, but not as an Ori- 
ental one ; German sentiment looks through the 
veil of rich tissue that is folded over her face, 
with a milder glance than Eastern eyes are wont 
to wear ; here is a transformation, not a transla- 
lion; a mus^, who, of her own free will, has 
chosen to masquerade as a houri; and char- 
mingly she does so, too, and wonderfully "in 
character " ; yet not so perfectly as wholly to de- 
ceive feminine eyes, versed in the mysteries of 
feminine versatility I In Danmer's splendid ver- 
sion of Hafiz there are ^igns of translation all 
through ; in spite of its vigor, glow, lyrical swing, 
all that makes other European translations of 
Eastern songs appear dry, cold, didactic in com- 
parison, it is unequal, as works of strong genius 
and talent usually are; overflowiogly ecstatic 
here, uncouth there, as though the translator had 
wrung, rather than gently persuaded, the pro- 
found or beautiful idea from one language into 
another ; yet thb is a brilliant, unmistakably Ori- 
ental personality, though robed in northern, for- 
eign attire less pliable, less flowing, less glowing, 
than the Persian poet's own beautiful, natibnal 
costume. But it is a noble, a strong, rich trans- 
lation, justifying Danmer's own assertion that it 
was a work of love, of voluntary self-sacrifice, to 
which he devoted many of the finest hours of hit 
life, fur a number of years. And if Mirza- 
Schafiy be an inferior singer, he yet is a true dis- 
ciple ; does not Bodenstedt make him say, **EUifiz 
is my master I " Wit and epigrammatic point, 
uncommon qualities with German poets, sparkle 
here and there in the Mirza- Schaffy ** Songs of 
Wisdom ; " take this as an example : — 

" A gray ey«, — 
A sly eye ! 
An eye of blue, — 
An eye that's true! 
With roguish thought 
Brown eyes are A^ught; 
But oh, a bUbck eye*s dazzling ny 
' Is deep and dark as God's own way ! 

On hiB return to Europe, Bodenstedt intends 
to reproduce his translation of the poems of Omar 
ChajiAm, the great representative of Persian free 
thought, a poet comparatively little known to 
European students, though his fame in the Orient 
is perhaps only second to that of his predecessor, 
Firdusi, or Saadi of the gardens of- roses and de- 
light.* 

Since you are not yet familiar with Hafiz, I 
should like to give you many specimens of the 
exulting, healthy, lyrical joyousness of that Per- 
sian Moore or Anacreon ; but two or three brief 
lyrics must sufllce to-day ; remember, in judging 
them, that before reaching you through Danmer's 
German translation, and then my own English 
one, much of the original music, bloom, aroma, — 
call it what you will, must necessarily be lost. 

I. 

Wild seph}T wakes in Eden, 
His message breaks night's soft repose; 
<« *T is not thy spirit, Hafls, 
From whence that fount of musto flows; 
Ere time and space were measured, 
Ere earth from Nothuig's night aroee^ 
Thy magic verse was written 
On leaf and flower of Eden's rose! " 

n. 

Oh smile not with so sweet a smile ! 
From seoond fall, I pray thee, spare 
The angeJs, that in realms of air 
Roam on from tturj isle to isle! 
Oh, smile not with that perfect smile! 
For should they see that smile, all, all. 
From heights untold would spring, would bll, 
And see no heaven save in that smilel 

ni. 

I 'U bear Love's rosy standard above the blue deaps, star- 
hannied; 



20 



DWIOETS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1012. 



Though angid hosts should oppose rae, on Eden's walls I *11 

plant it ! 
There, to the wondering planet*:, IMI sound my exalted story: 
My silvery cymbals striking, I '11 sing Love*s power and 

glory! 
The Pleiades and Orion will dance to the rapturous measure, 
The seraphs forget their songs to find in mine a divuier 

pleasure; 
The sandy desert below me, that barren and waste reposes, 
Will burst into leaf and blossom, a radiant grove of roses. 
•< And why, Hafiz? " — Thy question with envy and fully is 

blended ! 
Where shine the smiles of SuMikka, joy reigns, and sorrow's 

rule *s ended ! 

IV. 

A star, from chill and glittering splendor. 
Fell in the grass, warm, fragrant, green, tender. 
He saw around him the flowering meadow ; 
Oh, how he loved its sunshine and shadow ! 
Herds played near him, their little bells swinging; 
Pleased was he with that silvery ringing; 
He saw the steed o'er deaert heaths flying, 
The leafy woodland beyond him lying, 
The hamlet, breathing content unspoken, 
Himself on the earth, lost, clouded, broken ; 
All filled him with joy, starry joys excelling; 
No more cared he for his heavenly dwelling. 
Glad to have fallen from desolate splendor, 
He lay at peace In the spring-grass tender ! 

But you, dear FounSmou, now in the native 
land of Danmer and Bodenstedt, can study 
them and their creations or translations at your 
** own sweet will ; '* another day I will converse 
with you on a kindred subject, — Russian and 
Oriental folk-poetry and music. Yours faith- 
fully, F. R. R. 



LISZT. 



[From Grove*s Dictionary of Music and Blusicians.] 

Franz Liszt was born Oct. 22, 1811, at 
Raiding, in Hungary, the son of Adam Liszt, an 
official in the imperial service, and a musical 
amateur of sufficient attainment to instruct his 
son in the rudiments of piano-forte-playing. At 
the age of nine young Liszt made his first ap- 
pearance in public at Oedenburg with such suc- 
cess that several Hungarian noblemen guaranteed 
him sufficient means to continue his studies for 
six years. For that purpose he went to Vienna, 
and took lessons from Czerny on the piano-forte, 
and from Salieri and Randhartinger in com- 
position. The latter introduced the lad to his 
friend Franz Schubert. His first appearance in 
print was probably in a variation (the 24th) on 
a waltz of Diabelli*8, one of fifty contributed by 
the mostr eminent artists of the day, for which 
Beethoven, when asked for a single variation, 
wrote thirty-three (op. 120). The collection, 
entitled Vaterl'andische Kunstler-Verein, was 
published in June, 1823. In the same year he 
proceeded to Paris, where it was hoped that his 
rapidly growing reputation would gain him ad- 
mission at the Conservatoire in spite of his for- 
eign origin. But Chcrubini refused to make an 
exception in his favor, and he continued his 
studies under Reicha and Paer. Shortly after- 
wards he also made his first serious attempt at 
composition, and an operetta in one act, called 
Don Sanche^ was produced at the Acaddmie 
Royale, Oct. 17, 1825, and well received. Ar- 
tistic tours to Switzerland and England, accom- 
panied by brilliant succefs, occupy the period till 
the year 1827, when Liszt lost his father, and was 
thrown on his own resources to provide for him- 
self and his mother. During his stay in Paris, 
where he settled for some years, he became ac- 
quainted with the leaders of French literature, 
Victor Hugo, Lamartine, and George Sand, the 
influence of whose works may be di:<covered in 
his compositions. For a time also he became 
an adherent of Saint-Simon, but soon reverted 
to the Catholic religion, to which, as an artist 
and as a man, he has since adhered devoutly. 
In 1884 he became acquainted with the Counters 



D'Agoult, better known by her literary name of 
Daniel Stern, who for a long time remained at- 
tached to him and by whom he had three chil- 
dren. Two of these, a son and a daughter, the 
wife of M. Ollivier, the French statesman, are 
dead. The third, Cosima, is the wife of Richard 
Wagner. The public concerts which Liszt gave 
during the latter part of his stay in Paris placed 
his claim to the first rank amongst pianists on 
a firm basis, and at last he was induced, much 
against his will, to adopt the career of a virtuoso 
proper. The interval from 1839 to 1847 Liszt 
spent in traveling almost incessantly from one 
country to another, being everywhere received 
with an enthusiasm uneqtkaled in the annals of 
art. In England he played at the Philharmonic 
Concerts of May 21, 1827 (Concerto, Hummel), 
May 11, 1840 (Concertstuck, Weber), and June 
8, 1840 (Kreutzer-sonata). Here alone his recep- 
tion seems to have been less warm than was ex- 
pected, and Liszt, with his usual generosity, at 
once undertook to bear the loss that might have 
fallen on his agent. Of this generosity numerous 
instances might be cited. The charitable pur- 
poses to which Liszt's genius has been made sub- 
servient are legion, and in this respect as well 
as in that of technical perfection he is unrivaled 
amongst virtuosi. The disaster caused at Pesth 
by the inundation of the Danube (1837) was con- 
siderably alleviated by the princely sum — the 
result of several concerts — contributed by this 
artist ; and when two years later a considerable 
sum had been collected for a statue to be erected 
to him at Pesth, he insisted upon the money be- 
ing given to a struggling young sculptor, whom 
he moreover assisted iirom his private means. 
The poor of Raiding also had cause to remember 
the visit paid by Liszt to his native village about 
the same time. It is well known that Beethoven's 
monument at Bonn owed its existence, or at least 
its speedy completion, to Liszt*s liberality. When 
the subscriptions for the purpose began to fail, 
Liszt offered to pay the balance required from 
his own pocket, provided only that the choice of 
the sculptor should be lefl to him. From the 
beginning of the forties dates Liszt's more inti- 
mate connection with Weimar,, where in 1849 he 
settled for the space of twelve years. This stay 
was to be fruitful in more than one sense. When 
he closed his career as a virtuoso, and accepted 
a permanent engagement as conductor of the 
Court Theatre at Weimar, he did so with the 
distinct purpose of becoming the advocate of the 
rising musical generation, by the performance of 
such works as were written regardless of immedi- 
ate success, and therefore had little chance of 
seeing the light of the stage. At short intervals 
eleven operas of living composers were either 
performed for the first time or revived on the 
Weimar stage. Amongst these may be counted 
such works as Lohenfjririy Tannhawter, and The 
Flying Dutchman of Wagner, Benvenuto Cellini 
by Berlioz, Schumann's Genoveva^ and music to 
Byron's "Manfred." Schubert's Alfonso and Es- 
trella was also rescued from oblivion by Liszt's 
exertions. For a time it seemed as if this small 
provincial city were once more to be the artistic 
centre of Germany, as it had been in the days of 
Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. From all sides 
musicians and amateurs fiocked to Weimar, to 
witness the astonishing feats to which a small but 
excellent community of singers and instrumen- 
talists were inspired by the genius of their leader. 
In this way was formed the nucleus of a group of 
young and enthusiastic musicians, who, whatever 
may be thought of their aims and achievements, 
were and are at any rate inspired by perfect de- 
votion to music and its poetical aims. It was, in- 
deed, at these Weimar gatherings that the musi- 
cians who now form the so-called School of the 
Future, till then unknown to each other and di- 



vided locally and mentally, came first to a clear 
understanding of their powers and aspirations. 
How much the personal fascination of Liszt con- 
tributed to this desired cfiect need not be said. 
Amongst the numerous pupils on the piano-forte, 
to whom he at the same period opened the invalu- 
able treasure of his technical ex]>ctience, may be 
mentioned Hans von Bulow, the worthy disciple 
of such a master. 

But, in a still higher sense, the soil of Weimar, 
with its great traditions, was to prove a field of 
richest harvest. When, as early as 1842, Liszt 
undertook the direction of a certain number of 
concerts every year at Weimar, his friend Du- 
verger wrote " Cette place, qui oblige Liszt k 
sojourner trois mois de Tannde k Weimar, doit 
marquer peut-§tre pour lul la transition de sa 
carri^re de virtuose d celle de compositeur." .This 
presage has been verified by a number of com- 
positions which, whatever may be the final ver- 
dict on their merits, have at any rate done much 
to elucidate some of the most important questions 
in art From these works of his mature years 
his early compositions, mostly for the piano-forte, 
ouc^ht to be distinrruished. In the latter Liszt the 
virtuoso predominates over Liszt tiie composer. 
Not, for instance, that his " transcriptions " of op- 
erat c masic are without superior merits. Every 
one of them shows the refined musician, and for 
the development of piano-forte techni<}ue, espe- 
cially in rendering orchestral effects, they are of 
the greatest importance. They also tend to prove 
Liszt's catholicity of taste: for all schools are 
equally represented in the list, and a selection 
from Wagner's Lohengrin is found side by side 
with the Dead March from Donizetti's Don Se- 
bwitian. To point out even the most important 
among these selections and arrangements would 
far exceed the limits of this notice. More im- 
portant are the original pieces for the piano-forte 
also belonging to this earlier epoch, and collected 
under such names as "Consolations " and "Annies 
de pelerinage," but even in these, charming and 
interesting in many respects as they are, it would 
be difficult to discover the germs of Liszt's later 
productiveness. The stage of preparation and 
imitation through which all young composers have 
to go, Liszt passed at the piano and not at the 
desk. This is well pointed out in Wagner's 
pamphlet on the Symphonic Poems : — 

** He who has had frequent opportunities," 
writes Wagner, " particularly in a friendly cir- 
cle, of hearing Liszt play — for instance, Beet- 
hoven — must have understood that this was not 
mere reproduction, but real production. The 
actual point of division between these two things 
is not so easily determined as most people believe ; 
but so much I have ascertained beyond a doubt, 
that, in order to reproduce Beethoven, one must 
be able to produce with him. It would be im- 
possible to make this understood by those who 
have, in all their life, heard nothing but the or- 
dinary performances and renderings by virtuosi 
of Beethoven's works. Into the growth and 
essence of such renderings I have, in the course 
of time? gained so sad an insight, that I prefer 
not to offend anybody by expressing myself more 
clearly. I ask, on the other hand, all who have 
heard, for instance, Beethoven's op. 106 or op. Ill 
(the two great sonatas in B-flat and C) played 
by Liszt in a friendly circle, what they previously 
knew of those creations, and what they learned 
of them on those occasions ? If this was repro- 
duction, then surely it was worth a f^reat deal 
more than all the sonatas reproducing Beethoven 
which arc * produced ' by our piano-forte compos- 
ert in imitation of those imperfectly comprehended 
works. It was simply the peculiar mode of Liszt's 
development to do at the piano what others 
achieve with pen and ink ; and who can deny 
tliat even the greatest and most original master, 



■January 31, 1880.] 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



21 



in his firBt period, does nothing but reproduce ? 
It ought to be added that during this reproduc- 
tive epoch, the work even of the greatest genius 
never has the value and importance of the master 
works which it reproduces, its own value and im- 
portance being attained only by the manifesta- 
tion of distinct originality. It follows that Liszt's 
activity during his first and reproductive period 
surpasses everything done by others under par- 
allel circumstances. For he placed the value and 
importance of the works of his predecessors in 
the fullest light, and thus raised himself almost 
to the same height with the composers he repro- 
duced." 

These remarks at the same time will to a 
large extent account for the unique place which 
Liszt holds amongst modern representatives of 
his instrument, and it will be unnecessary to say 
anything of the phenomenal technique which en- 
abled him to concentrate his whole mind on the 
intentions of the composer. 

{Conclusion in next number. ) 



SCHUMANN ON THE " SYMPHONIE 
FANTASTIQUE" BY BERLIOZ. 

Iir anticipation of the performance of this remark- 
able work in the next Harvard Symphony Concert 
(Feb. 12), we borrow, from Mme. Ri tier's excellent 
translation, the concluding paragraphs of Robert 
Schumann's Appreciative article, which bears date 
18.35. We have not room for the first and longest 
portion of his criticism, which enters into a close 
technical analy&is of the form, the harmony, the the- 
matic treatment of the five parts, or moyements of the 
work, and which would not be intelligible to the com- 
mon reader, at least without frequent reference to the 
score itself. He closes with '*a few remarks on the 
idea and spirit of the work," as follows : — 

Berlioz has written down, in a programme, that 
which he wishes us to think of while listening to 
his symphony. We will give an abbreviation of 
this. 

The composer intended to sketch, in music, a 
few moments in the life of an artist. It seemed 
necessary that the plan of this instrumental drama 
should be explained in words beforehand. The 
programme should be regarded in the light of 
the text that accompanies an opera. First part, 
— Reveries, passions. Tlie composer imagines 
ji young musician, consumed by that moral sick- 
ness which a famous author has characterized as 
<« the vague of passion ; " he then sees, for the 
first time, a woman who seems to realize all that 
idtial perfection which he has already precon- 
ceived. By a remarkable freak of accident, the 
beloved form never appears to him unaccom- 
panied by a musical thought, in which he im- 
agines he traces the character of the maiden, 
somewhat passion.ite yet timid and nobl^ ; this 
form and this melody haunt him continually like 
a double fixed idea. Dreamy melancholy, only 
broken by a few soft tones of joy, until it arises 
to the heights of a lover's frenzy, — pain, jeal- 
ousy, inward fervor, — the grief of first love, in 
short, forms the contents of the first movement. 
Second part, — A ball. Amid the joy of a festi- 
Tal the artist stands and gazes in an exalted 
mood on the beauties of nature ; but everywhere, 
in the city, in the country, the beloved form fol- 
lows him, and troubles his every mood. Third 
part, — A scene in the country. At evening he 
hears the chant of two shepherds answering each 
other from afar. This duet, the spot, the soft 
rustling of the leaves, a gleam of hope that he is 
loved in return, all unite to shed an unaccus- 
tomed repose over his spirit, and to give his 
thoughts a more happy direction. He reflects 
that perhaps he will not stand alone much longer. 
But if he is deceived ! This interchange of 



hope and fear, light and darkness, is expressed 
in the adagio. At the close, one of the shep- 
herds repeats his chant, the other does not 
reply. Thunder in the distance. Loneliness. 
Deep silence. Fourth part, — The journey to 
execution ("Marche du Supplice"). The artist 
is now aware that his love is not returned, and 
poisons himself with opium. The narcotic, too 
weak to kill him, steeps him in a sleep filled 
with frightful visions. He dreams that he has 
murdered her, and that he, condemned to death, 
is yet the witness of his own execution. The 
cortege begins to move ; a march, now wild and 
gloomy, then joyous and brilliant, accompanies 
it ; there is a dull sound of footsteps, a murmur- 
ous noise of the crowd. At the ,end of the 
march, the fixed idea appears, like a last thought 
of the beloved one ; but broken in half by the 
axe of the block. Fijih part. — A dream in a 
witches' sabbath night. lie stands among imps, 
witches, misformed creatures of all sorts, who 
have gathered together to his interment. Howls, 
laughs, cries of pain, complaints. The beloved 
melo<]y is again heard, but as a common, vulgar 
dance theme now ; it is she who comes. Loud 
rejoicings at her arrival. Demoniac orgies. 
Death bells. The ** Dies Irse " again, but trav- 
estied. 

Such is the programme. All Germany greeted 
it with the declaration that such signboards have 
an unwortliy and empirical air. In any case, 
the five principal titles would have sufficed ; the 
further suppositions in regard to the composer's 
personality, and the possibly interesting fact that 
he had lived his own symphony through, might 
have been confided to tradition. The German, 
averse to personalities, does not care to be ac- 
companied in his reflections ; he was already suf- 
ficiently offended that Beethoven in the Pastoral 
Symphony did not trust its character to his di- 
vinatory comprehension. It seems as if men 
stand somewhat in awe of the workshop of gen- 
ius 1 they do not care to know of the causes, 
tools, and mysteries of creation. Does not Nat- 
ure herself tenderly cover her roots with earth ? 
Then let the artist also shut himself up with his 
griefs. We should go through dreadful experi- 
ences could we see all works to the very founda- 
tion of their origin. 

But Berlioz wrote for his own nation, on 
whom ethereal modesty imposes but little. I can 
understand how a Frenchman, reading the pro- 
gramme as he listens, would applaud the country- 
man who 80 intelligently treated the whole ; 
music alone, in itself, is secondary with him. 
Whether a listener, unaware of the composer's in- 
tention, would see similar pictures in his mind's 
eye to those which Berlioz has designated, I can- 
not decide, as I read the programme before I 
heard the work. If the eye is once directed to 
a certain point, the ear can no longer judge in- 
dependently. And if one asks whether music is 
capable of accomplishing that which Berlioz has 
demanded of it in his symphony, one should en- 
deavor to attach diflTerent, opposite ideas to it. I 
confess that the programme at first spoiled my 
enjoyment, my freedom ; but as this faded into the 
background,' and my own fancy began to work, I 
found more than was set down, and almost every- 
where in the music a warm, vital tone. Many 
look too seriously at the difficult question as to 
how far instrumental music dare venture in the 
attempted realization of thoughts and events. 
People err when they suppose that composers 
prepare pens and paper wi;h the deliberate pre- 
determination of sketching, painting, expressing 
this or that. Yet we must not estimate outward 
influences and impressions too lightly. Involun- 
tarily an idea sometimes develops itself simulta- 
neously with the musical fancy ; the eye is awake 
as well as the ear, and this ever-busy organ 



sometimes holds fast to certain outlines amid all 
the sounds and tones, which, keeping pace with 
the music, form and condense into clear shapes. 
The more elements congenially related to music 
which the thought or picture created in tones 
contains within it, the more poetic and plastic 
will be the expression of the composition ; and 
in proportion to the imaginativeness and keen- 
ness of the musician in receiving these impres- 
sions will be the elevating and touching power of 
his work. Why is it not possible that the idea 
of Immortality occurred to Beethoven while ex- 
temporizing? Why should not the memory of a 
great fallen hero excite him to composition ? 
Why could not the remembrance of past and 
happy days inspire another ? Shall we be un- 
grateful to Shakespeare, who has called from the 
heart of a young tone-poet a work not unworthy 
of himself, — ungrateful to Nature, denying that 
we borrow of her beauty and nobility wherewith 
to deck our own creations ? Italy, the Alps, the 
ocean, spring, twilight — has music told us noth- 
ing yet of these ? Music bestows so charmingly 
firm a character on even small, special pictures, 
that one is often astonished at her power of fixing 
such traits. Thus a composer once told me how, 
while writing, he had been continually haunted 
by the image of a butterfly floating down a brook 
on a leaf; the idea had given to the composiiion 
just such a tenderness and simplicity as the actual 
object possessed. In this fine kind of genre 
painting Franz Schubert was a master. Apro- 
pos, I cannot refrain from relating an anecdote 
of my own experience while playing a Schubert 
march with a friend. I asked him whether he 
saw any fixed picture before his mind's eye, and 
he answered : ** Yes ! I was in Seville more than 
a hundred years ago, among Dons and Donnas, 
with their trains, pointed shoes, and daggers, &c." 
Strange to say, our visions were the same, even 
to the name of the city. 

Wo will leave it undecided as to whether 
there are many poetic movements in the pro- 
gramme of Berlioz's symphony. The principal 
question is, does unexplained and unaccompanied 
music contain any meaning in itself, and, above 
all, does a spirit of its own inhabit it ? As to 
the first, I think I have already said something ; 
the second no one can deny, even where Berlioz 
openly fails. And if we would combat the spirit 
of the day, which tolerates a burlesque '^Dies 
Irse," we should only repeat what has been said 
and written for years against Crabbe, Heine, 
Byron, Hugo, and others. For a few moments 
in an eternity, Poesy has put on the mask of 
irony to cover her grief worn face. Perhaps the 
friendly hand of Genius may also loosen it. 

There is yet much of good and ill to say ; but 
here, for to-day, I must break off. Could I hope 
that these lines would have the effect of inducing 
Berlioz to restrain his inclination towards eccen- 
tricity, — should they aid in obtaining complete 
recognition for his symphony, not as the master- 
piece of a master, but as a work distinguished by 
its originality from all that stands beside it-, — 
should they inspire German artists (to whom 
Berlioz stretches out the hand of brotherhood — 
a strong hand, ready to fight with them against 
dull, pedantic mediocrity) to new production, 
then the aim of their publication will have been 
fully attained. 



Leipzig. — The eleventh Gewandhaus concert (Dec. 11) 
had for programme two Symphonies (the "Jupiter** of 
Mozart, and Schumann, in D minor); several choruses from 
Handel's Israel in Egypt^ and a choiul work by Jadassohn, 
called " Die Yerheiasung " (the divine promise). 

— The Municipal Council have made a grant to the direc- 
tion of the Gewandhaus Concerts, of four* thousand square 
metres of land, in a faubourg on the southwest, for the con- 
struction of the new Concert Hall which was long since pro- 
jected. 



22 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC 



[Vol. XL. - No. 1012, 



TALKS ON ART. — SECOND SERIES.* 

FROM INSTRUCTIONS OF MR.. WILLIAM M. 
HUNT TO HIS PUPILS. 

XX. 

PAii(T gayly, cheerfully. We are too dreadfully 
•erioas. Do nothing that you cannot do cheerfully, 
easily. Don't get the start of yourselves by doing 
more than you know. 

Have faith that the simple masses will produce the 
eflfect. Add no detail that will destroy that effect. 
Try to get the simple moss of things, no matter how 
smudgy it looks. Try to make the picture as if 
you saw it vaguely. Get the requisite amount of 
light and dark. Get the gradations. Finish later. 

You can draw just as well on dark paper as on 
light. 

Is n*t the dark of that chair just as evident as her 
eyes ? Has n't it just ai much to do with the pic- 
ture ? Nobodjf knows how to Jinith I If a thing is be- 
gun right it is a picture from the first If you are 
drawing a Ash you don't first malse a scale. Make 
the great masses, and the picture comes along of 
itself. 

Begin with the background. Where is your sub- 
ject ? Here. What is it! A little girl sitting in a 
chair. Don't look to see what kind of an eye-lash she 
has I You might spend three hours drawing an eye, 
and another drawing an eye-laah, and then the eye 
would be a great deal nearer to you than to the rest 
of the picture. Put in your vigors — bang I Half 
shut your eyes. Look at the whole thing. Get the 
local color or value of this and that, here and there. 
Then your outlines will come in and mean something. 
They are only visible because certain things are evi- 
dent and certain things are not. I »ee a skirt, and I 
put that in ; not stopping to draw the head even, un- 
til I got a sitting figure dark against the gray back- 
ground. Don't make the arms the eitbject of the lower 
part of the picture. Make them only fractional. 
Don't amuse yourselves making eyes until you get far 
enough to do it. Most people think that an eve is a 
fascinator. It has no more to do with fojscinatiun 
than a soap-bubble. It 's where the eye is, and what *8 
around it. 

** There is n't anything to my sketch." 

Well, there isn't to anything you see when yon 
first begin. You mustn't scrutinize. Don't worry 
and bother 1 Amuse yourself I 

There *must be firmness somewhere, becanse you 
know that form is there. Convince by making the 
statement. 

Some try to paint like Corot, and make sloppy 

pictures. They misunderstand him. He paints 

firmly. 
A man is nothing except in his relation to the other 

members of the human family* You keep young as 
long as you keep giving out. After you 've received 
a thing it does you no good. It 's the getting, the re- 
ceiving, that does us good ; not the keeping, the hav- 
ing. '' Lend me a guinea," said a reckless spend- 
thrift to Ben Franklin. " Here it is. Don't return 
It, but give it to some one else. Then pass it on un- 
til it meets a knave." 

Take at once a comprehensive view of your subject, 
and grasp it as a whole. Clap the values at once all 
over your picture, leaving the planes loose at the 
edges until all the leading tones are reached. Paint 
brutally I barbaric ! Paint values as spots of light 
and color ; rather than strive for the *' seufe " of the 
thing. Get brilliancy, sparkle, light 

Everything is interesting if oply you make a study 
of it, aiming to do it simply. Fifteen minutes' work 
done at white heat, as it were, is better than all day's 
working at anything. 

Camphor for moths I Why, when I took my fur 
coat out of the camphor, the moths held on and act 
ually cried at losing the camphor on which they were 
growing fat. Moths love tobacco. And that 's what 
Queen Elisabeth had against Sir Walter Raleigh. 
She kept all the dresses that she had ever had, and he 
must needs bring tobacco from Virginia to feed the 
little pests 1 

1 Copyright 1867, by Helen M. Knowlton. 



Oh, this is a funny old world ; and how we dawdle 
and fool at nine o'clock in the morning when we 
think we have time enough. At five p. m. we desire 
nothing so much as to paint. 

Make that sky bright and luminous. I've just 
seen a collection of pictures where the skies were dead 
and wall-like. You can paint the sky just as it ts, 
but I defy you to make your foreground strong 
enough to make the sky s/ay back where it belongs. 

Gray is not the negation of color, but the presence 
of it. 

{CoTvt*» "French Village," owned by Mr. Quincy 
Shaw.) When they put such things into their prayer- 
books, I will go to church. 

{Spring of 1873, on starting for Florida.) Illness 
makes me long to work. If I should not live long, I 
can look back upon my life as one of nearly fifty 
years of a great deal of enjoyment. 

^tingl^t'ja! fiouirnal of i^u&ic, 

SATURDAY, JAlslUARY 31, 1880. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

SrifPHONT Concerts. — The second of the 
University Coarse at Sanders Theatre (Jan. 8), 
and the third of the Harvard Musical Association 
(Jan. 15), were so nearly identical in programme, 
that they may be treated of together. The cen- 
tral feature in both was the posthumous Symphony 
of Groetz, who died so young and full of genius. 
This had been promised in the Harvard Musical 
prospectus from the early summer, but the Cam- 
bridge orgaoizatton succeeded in bringing it out 
first. There was also the almost identity of or- 
chestra, that at Cambridge (Mr. Listemann's 
Philharmonic) forming the nucleus of the larger 
orchestra under Carl Zerrahn. Then there was 
the Egmont Overture in common, and the two 
Arias sung by Miss Welsh. In only two num- 
bers do the two programmes differ. We may as 
well give them both in full : — 

Sanders Theatre. 

Overture to Goethe's " Egmout,'* in F minor, 

Op. 84 Beethoven. 

Concert Aria, ** The Captive," Reverie by Yie- 

tor Hugo, Op. IS Berlioz. 

Miss lU Welsh. 

Symphony, in F n^}or, Op. 9 . . . Hermann Goetz. 

Motto: Into the holy, tnmqnil realms of feeling 

Must thou escape firom out the press of life! 

~ SchiUer. 

Allegro moderoto — Intermeao, Allegretto — 

Adagio ma non troppo lento — AlIq;ro 

con fuooo. 

[First time in America.] 

Andante with Yariotions and Ifinuet from the 
Divertimento in D. (string orchestra and 
two Horns) Moeart. 

Aria: ^ Vol, ehe sapete,** from *' Figaro ** . . Moaart, 

Miss Ita WeUh. 

Overture to *« Euryontbe,'* hi E-flot . . . Von Weber. 

Boston Music Hall, 

OverturstoMFienbros" 8<^vberL 

Song: »* The Captive," with Orebestrm . . . Berlioe. 

Miss lU Wdsh. 

Symphony, in F (posthumous), Op. 9 . ffermann Goetz. 

[First time.] 

Motto: **In des Henens heilig stilk Ronne 

Mosst du flieben aus cles Lebens Druig.'* 

— SchiUer. 
(Movements as above.) 

Aria: « Vol ehe sopete,'* from («Le None dl 

Figaro*' Motart. 

Miss Ita Webb. 

Nocturne and Scherzo, from " A Midsummer 

Nights Dream ** Mendelssohn. 

Overture to ** Egmont '* Beethoven. 

The second appearance of Miss Ita Welsh, and 
in the same two pieces, is explained by the ac- 
cident which occurred to Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood, 
which prevented his playing the Beethoven G 



major piano Concerto and Schumann Fantaisie, 
as had been announced. Miss Welsh, at the 
last moment, kindly came in to the rescue. But 
every one was charmc<l to hear her, even for the 
third time, sing that marvelously beautiful, touch- 
ing and original song, or Aria, by Berlioz, which 
she has made peculiarly her own, for it is re- 
markably well adapted to her. And " Voi, ehe 
sapete," though it has been heard so oflen, is sel- 
dom sung so tastefully and charmingly as it was 
sung by her both in Cambridge and in Boston. 
The Overture which opened the Cambriilge Con- 
cert, closed the one in Boston, — and, we think, 
with better reason ; for the Egmont Overture is 
just the thing to close a noble concert ; it is short, 
concentrated, full of fire, and ending in a blaze 
of glory, the hero*s dream of triumph. Whereas 
Weber's Euryanthe Overture, much longer, is a 
piece to rouse an audience at the outset, and 
bring them over the threshold out of the bustling 
everyday world into the heavenlier realm of har- 
mony. 

Schubert's Overture to his most important 
Opera, Fierabras, is also his finest work in 
that form. It is full of fresh musical ideas, and 
of fine eiTects of contrast, and it is splendidly 
instrumented. Indeed every time we hear it 
with new interest. The mysterious tremolo cre- 
scendo with which it opens; the superbly rich 
blast of horns, — a solid shining mass of golden 
tone ; the plaintive, pleading, principal motive, a 
very short reiterated phrase, now from a horn, 
and DOW from other instruments ; the spirited 
heroic answering subject ; the exquisitely tender 
episode ; and the return of all these themes with 
enhanced interest, and worked up to a brilliant 
conclusion, make it one of the few best Concert 
Overtures. We have often wondered why it is 
that these Symphony concerts have for so many 
years been allowed to have almost a monopoly of 
this Overture, — at least we cannot remember it's 
being played here in any other concerts. 

Tlie Mozart Andante and Minuet was a de- 
lightful feature of the Cambridge programme. 
Originally a Sextet for strings and two horns, — 
like his '' Musikalischer Spass " — this Diverti- 
mento, or these movements from it, gained by 
the employment of all the strings of the orches- 
tra. It was very finely played, and had all the 
perfection and the charm of Mozart. For this 
the Boston concert offered the two Midsummer 
Night*s Dream pieces, which it is but fair to say 
were very beautifully and delicately played, par- 
ticularly the Scherzo, in which the eofl hum and 
flutter of the sustained flute-passage at the end 
won admiration for the taste and skill of Mr. 
Heindl. 

It remains to reconl impressions of the Sym- 
phony by Goetz. It is in the key of P, — the 
key of many Pastorals, what some one calls the 
key of nature. And the first thing that strikes 
you in the opening of the Allegro moderato is its 
fresh, wholesome May or June feeling, *' far from 
the maddening crowd." It waxes earnest, how- 
ever, very soon revealing a deep poetic nature 
in the man, a haunting thought, and a refiective 
intelligence. The principal tliemes are very 
short, continusilly reproduced with subtle skill in 
thematic development, at great length ; nothing 
that can be called a melody, only melodic phrases, 
hints, and motives. This portion of the work, 
therefore, was naturally the least interesting to 
the less musical many, in spite of its fresh spon- 
taneity, its originality, and its rich blending and 
contrasting of the orchestral colors. But musi- 
cians found it extremely interesting. 

The Intermezzo captivated every listener, and 
no one could withhold one whit of most absorbed 
attention. It is a little thing, but bright and 
airy and poetic enough for Mendelssohn in his 



Jamuart 31, 1880.] 



D WIGHT a JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



23 



most fairy vein. It is like a crystal fountain 
sparkling, iridescent, in the sunshine, all inno- 
cent happinftss and f«^edom ; something of that 
keen love of life, that full belief in joy, which 
we always feel in Beethoven, in spite of his 
darker nooods. llie salient melody, first given 
by the flutes in answer to the signal of the 
horns, and which pervades the movement, is most 
fatfcinating ; and it continually clothes itself with 
new beauty. What a luscious commingling of 
the tone-colors as it proceeds 1 Especially where 
the blithe, smooth trumpet tones fall in with a 
new, SI ill brighter sheaf of sunbeams. If this 
does not justify the '* Herzens heilig stille 
Raume " (the heart*s holy, still recesses) of the 
motto, it is at least typical of a spontaneous, 
pure joy, of a '* content so absolute," as to be 
utterly aloof from all the vulgar Sturm und 
Drang of life. 

It is commonly supposed, however, that the 
Schiller motto applies only to the Adagio, which 
has a deep, religious, thoughtful sentiment, and 
forms upon the whole the most important move- 
ment of the Symphony. Yet this, although it 
begins with a calm, soul-fraught melody, and 
takes you into the deeper chambers of the heart, 
is by no means always still and full of peace. 
It grows intense and almost feverish, as the self- 
communion deepens ; the tragic human quality 
is not wanting, — the struggle of the conscious 
finite with the haunting glimpses of the infinite, 
the heaven beyond, the torture of the Ideal ever 
in contrast with the real 1 So this Adagio, which 
is musically a masterpiece, is a true type of life 
in this, that, while it begins and ends witli peace, 
it has its Passion in the middle* 

The Finale, Allegro con fuoco, full of fire, 
and very swift, is remarkable for the impatient 
rushing movement of the violins, extremely dif- 
ficult, and long kept up, with which, as by re- 
lentless force of destiny, it ** sweeps to a con- 
clusion." We are of those who enjoyed every 
movement of the Symphony, — more and more 
as we have heard it in rehearsal and two con- 
certs, — and we feel that we owe much of the en- 
joyment to the admirable manner in which both 
the smaller and the larger Orchestra performed 
it. 

Boston Consbbvatory of Music. — As a branch 
of this institution, Mr. Julius Eichherg's Violin 
Classes have given two extremely interesting mutinies 
this season. The last was at Union Hall on Friday, 
Jan. 16. Tbf concert con»isted of string quartet 
performances and solos on the violin. A regularly 
organized quartet of young ladies, kept in constant 
practice upon quartets of Haydn, Beethoven, etc, 
lealous and happy in their work (Misses Lillian Sbat- 
tuck, Lettie Launder, Lillian Chandler, and Abbic 
Shepardson), bad already given several . public speci 
mens of much more than respectable .quartet playing. 
This time they opened the concert with the Andante 
from Mendelssohn's fourth Quartet, followed by the 
charming Canzonetta from his first. They gain in 
firmness, l>readth, and good ensemble all the time. 
The (ireat achievement of the day, however, was re- 
served to the closing piece, Bach's wonderful dn- 
coitne in 1) minor, played in perfect unison, tbr«>unh 
all its variations, by the same four young ladies. Such 
practice must be invaluable, not only in forming com- 
petent violinists, but in educating musical taste and 
reeling for what is best in art. 

The various solo performances were all so good 
that we are at a loss where to praise especially. Per- 
haps the greatest interest centred in two : the Fanta- 
sie Caprice of Vieuxtemps, played by that delicate, 
poetic-looking maiden, Miss Edith Christie; and the 
two formidable pieces, Etegie by Ernst and Wieni- 
awski's Polonaise, with great certainty and freedom, 
and con amore, by a talented young Italian, Mr. Pla- 
cido Finmura. But the other efforts were each in its 
way (and they are all trained to a good way) excel- 
lent, namely: the Reverie of Vienxtempa, by Mi^s 



Shepardson ; Theme and Variations, Wieniawski, by 
Miss Launder; first movement from De Berioi's 
third Concerto, by Mr. Joseph B. Proctor; and Paga- 
nini's first Concerto, by Mr. Willis Nowell. 



Tub Boylston Club, having postponed its con- 
templated performance, with orchestra, of Goetz's 
Psiiim, **By the wutcrji of Babylon," for maturer 
preparation, gave, meanwhile (Wednesday evening, 
Jan. 21), a concert simply of part songs and other 
smaller pieces. The selections were choice ; exquis- 
itely well sung, particularly those by the female cho- 
rus ; and the concert had the refreshing merit of rea- 
sonable length. Marchetti's Ave Maria, in rather a 
secular modern Italian style, proved a fresh and very 
pleasing novelty. The Franz "May Song*' was as 
delightful as ever; only taken, as we felt^ a trifle too 
fast. Festa's Madrigal sounded fresh and wholesome 
as before. The Swedish "Little Bird," with Mr. 
Osgood's solo, gave great delii^ht. But for fine po- 
etic quality the "Lovely Night," by Chwatal, so per- 
fectly sung, and the two pieces by Kheinberger, which 
have a more marked originality, deserve especial men- 
tion. Here is the programme in full : -^ 

1. Choral Hymn Brahms. 

Mixed Chorus. 

5. Ave Maria MarchetU 

Female Chorus. 

8. Go, Speed thy Flight Otto. 

Mole Chorus. 

4. Down in a Flowery Vale Feeta. 

Mixed Chorus. 

6. Lovely Night Chwatal 

Male Chorus. 

6. The Little Bird Sioedith. 

Female Chorus. 

7. May Song Franz, 

Mixed Chorus. 



a Wdcome ) 

8. > Bheinberger, 

b Night ) 

Mixed Chorus. 

9. My Wish FoUcmmg. 

Male Chorus. 

10. Down m a Dewy Dell Bnwi. 

Female Choma. 

11. On Upper Langbathsea EngeUberg. 

Male Chorus. 

18. A Winter Carol Raff. 

Mixed Chorus. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, Jan. S6. — On Tuesday evening, Jan. 13, 
Miss Anna Bock gave a concert at Steinway HalL She 
was aasbted by several resident artists, and the programme 
was certainly quite a pretentious one. The young lady 
played solos by Beethoven, Rubinstein, Schumann, Chopin, 
in a purely mechanical way, which demonstrated, beyond 
any peradventure, that she does not possess, in any real 
sense, a musical oigaiiization; perhaps she will subside to 
her proper level in time, for she is not especially needed 
here. Mr. W. Mueller played an andante (on the violon- 
cello) from a concerto by Vieuxtemps, and Schubert's " Ave 
Maria," in a very admirable manner. His tone is broad and 
clear, and his execuUon is most excellent. It should be 
mentioned that among Miss'Bock^s solos was a Barcarolle by 
Rubinstein iu A minor; it is a very lovely composition, and 
in the right hands ought to make a veiy strong impression 
upon any one's musieal intelligeooe. It was simply slaugh- 
tered by thia nithlesa young penon who, nevertheless, wenied 
to think that she had done something of a particularly meri- 
torioos sort. 

On ThuTMlay eveninir, Jan. 15, we had, at Chickering 
Hall, a concert of Englbh Glees. Miss Beebe, Mr. Aiken, 
and Mr. Woodruff have Uliored faithfully and oonseien- 
tiottsly to devek>p a taste for this kind of musical entertain- 
ment, and their artistic eflforU have contributed very lar^y 
to the success of tiieir undertaking. They have lost their 
former contralto (Miss Finch), and this season*s substitute 
can scarcely be regarded as a marked success; slie seems to 
have a ftur voice, but her musical intelligence is not eon- 
spMuouB. These concerts are attended by some of our \-ery 
best people, and ars most heartily enjoyed by those who pre- 
fer a whole evening of voeal music to one in which instru- 
mental ability is allowed a share. 

On Saturday evening, Jan. 17, the Symphony Soeiety 
gave its third concert in Steinway Hall; I give you the pro- 
gramme:— 

Suite — D minor. Op. 43 TmAaUcovthf. 

ViolonceUo Ck>ncerto (new) Saint-Sains. 

(M. Adolphe Fischer.) 
Sixth Sympbooy BetAacen, 



Solos for Yiokncello — 

Noctiinie, Op. 9, No. 8 Chcpin, 

Tarantella • Fischer. 

Selections from ^* Tristan and Isolde** . . . Wagner, 

The Suite is in five sections or subdivisions, and is cer- 
tainly as noble a work as haa been produced within the last 
quarter of a century. The first movement (iu D minor) Is 
a very serious Introduction and Fugue, which is admicablj 
worked up and charmingly orchesmted. The second di- 
vision is a Divertimento, which is opened by several solo bars 
for the clarinets; this is again and again introduced, in one 
instance accompanied by the most delicious rocking accom- 
paniment by the flutes; there is also an auxiliary llieme in 
E-flat by the oboes, with pizzicato accompaniment by the 
entire string orchestnu The three remaining divisions 
were an Andante, a Scherzo, and a Gavotte; space will not 
suffice for a detailed analysis of these, but it is enough to 
say that the melodies are pure and dejlnite^ the harmonic 
combinations strong and full of charmuig surprises, and the 
instrumentation most masterly. 

llie violoncello concerto is a very interesUng illustraiion 
of the wonderful talent — perhaps genius — which S^nt- 
SaeuB displays in almost ever} thing that comes from his 
fertile pen. More interesting than the concerto was its per- 
formance by Monsieur Fischer; no such solo playing upon 
that instrument has ever been heard in this city. While this 
amazing artist has not the breadth of tone possessed by 
some of his compeers, he has a most exquisite staccato, a 
charming pianissimo, and an absolute accuracy of intonation 
(even In the higher notes in the A string), that are little elss 
than marvelous. His musical intelligence is of the highest 
order and he is certainly a king of his instrument ; he might 
well be termed a Joeeffy upon the violoncello ; ah, if one could 
only hea^ those two pUy Mendelssohn's Sonata in B-flat! 

M. Fischer achieved an instantaneous and merited suc- 
cess, both by his rendering of the concerto and by his tender 
singing of the lovely Chopin noctume (set in the key of D 
for the *cello); and his phenomenal technique,' as shown in 
his own dainty TarantclU. I object, of course, to the use 
of Chopin*s pianoforte works in adapted guises for other in- 
struments; but must candidly confcM that this vandalism 
was less olgectionable in this especial instance than in every 
other which has come under my observation ; such things 
ought not to be tolerated for a moment, but — the nocturne 
certainly was charming. 

The concert was in every way an unequivocal success, and 
too much praise cannot be accorded to Dr. Damrosch for his 
admirable manner of accompanying M. Fischer; in this re- 
gard the improvement in his leadership (which is noUoeabIc 
Uiis year) was conspicuously evident. 

The fourth concert will occur on Feb. 14, upon which oc- 
casbn will be produced Berlioz's Damnation de Faust. 

On Tuesday evening occnr^ the third concert of the 
Brooklyn Philharmonic Society ; this was the musieal mtnu : 

Overture — '* Anacreon ** . Cherubini. 

Suite— E BacJi. 

Viobncello Onoerto ....... Saint^Sains. 

(M. Fiseh*.) 
Dramatic Symphony Rnbinsttin. 

The orchestra sppearsd to the best advantage in the Cher- 
ubini Overture, which was played with a precision of aUack 
and a unity of purpose that reminded one forcibly of Air. 
Thonias*s palmy days. The Bach Suite was somewhat 
marred by the unaccountable JUitting of the violas. This 
Suite, it may be mentioned, is made up from two of the 
great master's violin sonatas. It is instrumented by Bach- 
rich, and is really quite effective. M. Fischer was success- 
ful in his artistie interpretation of the concerto, but did not 
play with the marvelous finish of execution and accuracy of 
intonation which distingubbed him on the previous Saturday 
evening. In response to an encore he gave us a CbofMn noc- 
tume (Op. 9, No. 2), which he rendmd with the utmost 
feeling and delicacy. The orchestral accompaniment was 
villaiiiottsly phyed, and reflected no credit dUier upon the 
per fo rmers or upon the conductor, who appeared to regard 
the whole thing as a bore. 

The Rubinstein Symphony was produced at a former 
concert by the Brooklyn Soeiety, and has siso been phiyed 
in New York. The orchestration — it need scarcely be said 
— Is superb; but I ha\'e faithfully tried to comprehend the 
design and purpose of the work, and have never yet been 
able to arrive at a satis&ctory oonclnsion ; It is the very em- 
bodiment of dhgoiiitedness aud jerkiness. 

On Saturday evening, Jan. 24, the N. Y. Philharmonic 
Soeiety gave its third concert with substantially the same 
programme as the one which has just been menUoned. The 
orchestral numbers were juat the same and, in addition, 
Beethoven*s fourth piano Concerto was played by Mr. Her- 
mann RIetzel (son ci the Society's % eteran firet flutist). This 
young artist displayed a very excellent technique and very 
notable musical intellic^uce, and gave us a pleasing reading 
of the opus, although the interpretation can scarcely be 
termed a broad one. Josetfy had been engitged for this con- 
cert, and was to have {^yed Beetho%-en's Fifth Concerto: be 
has, however, had very serious diflSculty with one of his 
fingers and was, therefore, unable to appear. 

On February 28, Mr. G. Carlberg will give an orchestlml 
concert at Chickering Hall ; his programme will include a 
Sgmphonie Triomj^ale, by Ulrich; Mozart's P. F. Con- 
certo, No. 8, in P muior, pUyed by Mme. Bachan, and tha 
entire ** Stmsnsee ** music, by Me}-eiliecr. AjMua. 



24 



DWIOHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1012. 



Providekce, R. I., Jan. 17. — The «• Cecilia" gave it« 
aixth omoeit, the eecoiid of this season, Tuesday evening, 
JflD. 13, with the following programme : — 

Qaintei, E-flat, Op. 4 Beethoven, 

Songs: (a.) Serenade Eiunhoftr, 

(6.) " Calm on the Midnight Air " . Zullntr. 

Songs: (a.) Recordar^ Beethoven. 

(6.) "Arise! Shine" Beethoven. 

Solo, Violin: (a.) CavaUna, Op. 85 Ji'^ff. 

(6.) Koiawlak (Masourka) . . Wieniaittki. 
Mr. Charles N. Allen. 

Song: "Lead, Kindly Ught" Bu<A. 

Quintet, Op. 8 Gade. 

The instrumental numbers were given by tb^ Beethoven 
Club of Boston, consisting of Messrs. 0. N. AUen and Carl 
Meisel, violins. H. Heindl and W. Rietsel, violas, and Wulf 
Fries, 'eello. The vocal part of the programme was ren- 
dered by the Temple Quartette of Boston, who were engaged 
at short notice in the place of Mr. Wui. J Winch, who was 
announced for this concert, but prevented from singing by 
iUness. 

The somewhat familiar early work of Beethoven is inter- 
esting for more than one reason. It is beautiful in itself as 
a composition, being well constructed, and having fine 
themes whose elaboration is worthy of them. It is quite 
easily apprehended, and is capable of being understood with 
little effi>rt as compared with some of the author's later 
works, — the quintet for strings in C, Op. 29, for example, 
— not to mentaou others. While written in the master's 
cariier style, before he had passed beyond the influence of 
Haydn and Mosart, it presents here and there indications, 
hints, suggestions of the future Beetho\'en in all his marked 
iDdividuality and power. The Andante, possibly somewhat 
Italian in style, yet very beautiful, contains pssssges strongly 
characteristic of the genius of the composer, and such as 
you fed he only could have written. You cannot help rec- 
ognizini; here his energy and his reserved power. The later 
development of the master is but the natural outgrowth of 
germs like those seen in this movement. Of all the move- 
ments the firat is, perhaps, the least interesting to a genera] 
audience, while no one can fail to enjoy the Andante and 
Finale. The Minuetto, with its two trios, is not far behind 
these in matter and form. The Finnic is exceedingly rapid 
and brilliant. I1ie playuig was throughout excellent. The 
marks of expression so numerous in Beethoven were care- 
fully obsened, and the whole work wss given con amort. 

The quintet by Gade is evidently abo an early work. It 
reminds you considerably of Mendelisohn, especially in the 
first movement, Allegro cspressivo; and it hss the charac- 
teristics which appear in nearly all the works of the north- 
cm composers. Should we offer an j thing respecting it in 
the way of criticism, we must say that though it is a fine 
work, and would doubtless prove more interesting on further 
.acquaintance, it does not impreis us so &vorably as some of 
the other works of its author, for example, his Trio for piano 
and strings. Op. 42, in F^ There is too much of mere fig- 
ure work, and too little real mdody in the composition. 
This, at least, 'is the impression produced on the writer and 
one or two friends. Yet there are fine passages in the work. 
The Allegretto was the most enjoyable movement. 

The playing of the Club here also was of a very high 
order. The individual work was excellent, and the ensem- 
ble equally so. It was such playing as one wishes to hear 
often. 

Mr. Allen*s sok> was admirably rendered, and was one of 
the most ei^oyable things of the evening. 

The songs, while nicely rendered in the main, did not 
please us. lliey hardly seemed in phoe in such a pro- 
gramme. This remark must apply even to the selections 
from Beethoven. We were not particularly impressed witli 
tbem, and if this b heresy on our part, we can only defend 
ourselves by saying with Horace: "bonus dormitat Hom- 
erus " (Ars. Poet. 359), " good Homer nods.** Lest, how- 
ever, we should seem to be unjust to the gentlemen who ren • 
dered the vocal selections, it is perhaps but fiur to say that 
tbej seemed to please the audience generally. 

As a whole, however, the concert was not so interesting 
as the prevMus one. This was part'udly owing to the more 
heterogeneous composition of tlie programme, especially the 
vocal portion, and partially, perhaps, to our not being in so 
musical a mood as is usual on such occasions. Be it as it 
may, tlie concert was a good one, and calculated to devefop 
a taste for a high and intrinsically valuable dass of music 

A. 6. L. 



Baltimore, Jan. 25. — The Strakoseh Italian Opera 
Company left on Monday last after seven performances, 
which, on the whole, were only fiur from an artistic, as wdL 
as pecuniary, standpoint. The operas produced were : Norma^ 
Carmeny Huguenots^ Puritanic Mignon, Lueia^ and Favo- 
rita. Of these the only ones deserving special mention 
were Carmen and Fnwrita, The Huguenots was a most 
unsatisfactory performance, if we except the Urbano of M'lle 
do Belocca, and Mons. Castelmary's Marcel. The last act 
was enUrely left out, and tlie choruses were tortured in the 
most execrable manner. Belocca and Castlemary are the 
mainstays of Mr. Strakosch*8 troupe. Miss Singer does not 
Improve on acquaintance. Her high notes are harsh and 
aeieeehy, and her voice is eflbctive only in pianmimo pas- 



sages. Of the remainder of the cast (excepting Herr Gotts- 
chalk, who was ill the entire week, and unable to appear) 
the only ones deserving attention are Stg. Baldan/ji and Sig- 
Horti, — the former for his telling tenor voice, and the lat- 
ter for his dramatic figure and histrionic talents. The most 
successful representation of the week was that of C'tttntn, 
in which Mile, de Belocca acted and sang most charmingly. 
At the twelfth Peabody students* concert, given at the 
Conservatory, on Saturday last, the following programme was 
performed : — 
Beethoven. String-trio, C miyor, Op. 87. For two violins 

and viola. 
All^ro. — Ada^o cantabile. — Minuetto: allegro molto 
scherzo. — Finale : presto. 
(Messrs. Allen, Fmcke, and Schaefer.) 
Asger Hamerik. Love-Song from the fourth Norse Suite. 
Op. 25. Transcription for the piano by the composer. 
(Miss Mabel Latham, student of the Conservatory, seventh 

year.) 
Menddssohn, (a.) Songs for two sopcmnos and piano. 

I would that my Love. — The PBasage^Bird*s Farewell. — 
Greeting Autumn ' Song Folk-Song llie May- 
Bells and the Flowers My Bark Is bounding to the 

Oale Home, fiu- away The Sabbath Mom. — The 

Harvest-Field. — Evening Song Song from " Ruy 

Bias." 

(Miss Kate Dickey, student of the Conservatory, sixth 
year and Miss Ida Crow, ex-student and member of the 
Onservatory.) 
(b.) Variations Serieuaes, D minor, Op. 54. For piano. 

(Mr. Karl F. Buhner, member of the Conservatory.) 
The choice of so many Mendelssohn songs for one even- 
ing seems somewhat peculiar; buttliey were all gone through 
with quite fairly by the two young ladies, and without any 
evidence of fatigue either on their part or that of the audi- 
ence. 

It will doubtless interest your readers to know tliat we 
are at last to have the usual eight Peabody Symphony Con- 
certs. After the money question has been discussed from 
any number of standpoints, and many remedies and ex))edi. 
ents suggested — after much crimination and recrimination, 
— the sensible conclusion has finally been reached, that the 
only way to start the concerts is to appropriate the requisite 
lucre; and to the credit of the Institution, be it said, the 
want has been more handsomely supplied this time than 
during the last two years, although at a rather hte day. 
The lovers of good symphony music will, however, be happy 
to have tlie concerts even though they do not begin until 
the last day of January. Better late, than never ! The 
orohestra will consist of about forty-eight pieces, — about 
ten stronger than last season, — and the first concert, for 
whkh rehearsals have already begun, will produce the 
** Ocean '* symphony of Rubiostetn, something entirely uorti 
to Baltimore audiences. C. F* 



Chicago, J ax. 24. — The Mapleson Opera Company 
hss been the attraction for the past two weeks The 
operas given have been Marta, La Sonn^tmbuln (twice), 
Linda, La FigUa del Reggimento, Aida (three times), 
Fautt^ Lucia di Lnmmermoor (twice), RigolettOf Dinornh^ 
and Mignon, Besides these, there was a very unfortunate 
performance of Rossini's Sttdtat Mater. On this occasion 
it pleased the members of ** Her Mijesty*s Opera " to show 
tlie negative side of good singing, for more wretched woric 
can hsjrdly be imagined. True, there were a number of the 
best solo artists sick, and substitutions had to be made; but 
still there was little excuse for such an ordinary p er fo r m ance, 
even from the singers engaged in it. From the art side of 
Uie question, but very little benefit has been derived from 
this risit of the Mapleson company to our city. In the 
first pisce we have had only the time-worn operas, and noth- 
uig has been given that could advance musical interest to 
any extent whatever. Many of the performances have been 
good, and others, like Faugl. and the Stahat Afater, very 
bad ; but at no time during their visit has there been any 
work given that would call out the enthusiastic commenda- 
tions of really musical people. From a financial point of 
view, their visit has brought them in a good return, but there 
was not the same enthusiasm upon the part of opera>goen 
as during past seasons; nor have the houses been as Urge 
upon the sUr-nighU. I have been quite constant in my 
attendance, and have given the performances my dose at- 
tention. The chorus has been very good, and the orehestim 
better than any other company has given us. Signori Cam- 
psnini, Galsssi, Del Puenta, and Herr Behrens have been 
uniform in Uieir excellence, and all their work has reflected 
credit upon their talent and ability. In Mile. Yalleria I 
found a careful singer, with a pretty voice of a sweet qual- 
ity, but light in power. Her execution was generally taste- 
ful, and she seemed oonsclentious in all her work. At no 
time did she come up to the point at which an artist can 
claim greatness, nor did her p»formances sfaik into the cir- 
cle of the common-plaoe. She was always pleasing, and in 
some numben quite brilliant. Mile. Ambre, who made her 
firvt appearance as Aida, has not the power of voice, if she 
has the dramatic talent, to give a great performance of that 
role. As Mignon, and as Gilda, in RigoleUo, she had roles 
better fitted to her powen. Miss Gary, although unable, 
OQ account of illness during the past week, to do all her 
work, has given us some very fine performances. The most 
notable being that of Amneris in Aid*i. She holds her 
rank as a noble and great contralto. The performauoes of 



Mile. Maria Marimon have stamped her as an artist. She 
has not the melting quality of voice that is found in Mme. 
Gerster, nor did she find the same enthusiastic recognition. 
Her execution is very brilliant, and much of her work was 
very finely done, while she is able to command her powera 
so as to impress her listeners with the feeling that they are 
hearing a very accomplished singer. I regard the upper 
part of her voice as very pure and beautiful, while the 
lower octave is not at all strong and seems worn. As an 
actress she seems to possess a full knowledge of sfsge busi- 
ness, and b never at loss to make the most of a telling 
situation. At the same time she sings to astonish, mora 
than to touch the heart, and in this respect cannot approach 
the delicate art of Gerster. One seems to me to be a bom 
genius, who sings out her thoughts in sweet notes of won- 
drous beauty, and takes you, by force of her power, into 
the charmed circle of perfect sympathy. The other b a 
brilliant singer, who may attract and daxzle for a time, and 
even call out the high praises of good critics for the per- 
fection of her vocal technique, but never so colon her voice 
with those delicate shades that make a reality of a role and 
draw you into a perfect sympathy with it by its naturalness. 
There b a marked difi'erence in the company that Mr. Ms- 
pleson has given us this season, from that of a year ago. 
While the tenon, baritones, and bssses are remarkably strong, 
and the Ibt of contraltos improved greatly by the addition 
of Miss Ory, the sopranos are not as good, perhaps, as bst 
year. I find that there b lacking a dramatic prima donna, if 
large operas, like the Aida, are to be given, although the force 
is strong enough for the light works of the strictly Italian 
school. Since the company came to our city, Signor Brig- 
noli has arrived, and appeared twice in Lucvi. I must 
scoord him full praise for the maimer in which he used his 
roioe, while the wonderful power that he still has over ao an- 
dience is remaricable. He sings well, and his voice, although 
not what it was in other yeare, still retains much of its 
sweetness, and in many notes he can command plenty of 
power. It was a surprise to me when I heard him do so 
well, and there sre many lessons in hb fine method that our 
younger tenon may note with advantage to tliemselves. As 
I close my note I can but regret that our own country can- 
not support a home opera company. In the large cities we 
have the chorus and orchesitra, and it would not be difficult 
to secure solo singere of good ability, so that we might be 
able to have fine performances without depending upon visits 
from foreign companies. Then it might be possible to have 
new operas brought out, and some of the old works of 
merit, that are seldom heard; then art might be advanced, 
and our home talent encouraged. We have the means at 
command, if proper organization would mould it into form. 

E. H. B. 

MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE. 

Mr. Erkst Pkrabo gave the' first of three Mating at 
.We«lc}-an Hall yesterday afternoon, — the fint appearance 
of thb admired pianist since his return from Germany, 
llie second comes on Tuesday, Feb. 3, when he will be as- 
sbted by Mr. E. B. Perry (the blind pianbt), who will play 
Chopin's Sonata, Op. 35 (containing the Marcia Fun^bre), 
and several of Perabo*s compositions. Mr. Penbo himself 
will play a Partita of Bach (No. 6. in E minor); and will 
accompany Mr. W^ulf Fries in sevenl Violoncelb pieces by 
Widor and Kiel, and in a Sonata Duo, by Kiel. Third 
concert Friday, Feb. 6. 

— Mme. Cappiani's second concert with her pu|^ will 
take pbce at Mechanics Hall on Wednesdaj^evening, Febru> 
ary 4. Emuient artbts also will assist. Mme. Cappiani 
gave last week a very successful concert in New Tork, pro- 
ducing several of her best popib whom she has been teaching 
in that eity, between which and Boston she divides her time. 

— The third of tlie Univenity Concerts, at Sanden 
llieatre, Cambridge, under the directioM of Professor Paine, 
will take place next Thursday evening, Feb. 5. The Phil> 
harmonic Orohestra will play tlie Bach Suite in D; Wsg- 
ner*s ^*Eine Faust Ouverture;*' a Po^me Symphonique: 
««The YoutU of Hercules,'* by Saint-Saens; and the fint 
Symphony, in B-flat, by Schumann. Mr. George L. Osgood 
will sing three aire from Handel's V Allegro, and The Erl 
King of Schubert, with orohestral aocompaiiimeift. 

— The tliree concerts by Josefiy, with the Philharmonie 
Orchestra, arranged by Mr. Peck, have been postponed four 
weeks, owing to a painful inflammation of one of the great 
pianut*s thumbs. They will take place on the evenings of 
Feb. 12 and 13, and on Saturday aflernoon, Feb. 14. In 
the fint, Herr Josefl'y will pUy the £- flat Concertos of Beet- 
hoven and Lisst, with smsJIer piano pieces. The Orehestra 
will pby Overture to Ruy Bias, Mendelssohn, two (Character 
Pieces by H. Hoffhian, and Schumann's " Evening Song.*' 
The seeond prognunme contains: the Egmont Overture; 
Chopin*s C(mcerto in £ minor; Introduction to Lohengrin; 
Piano Sok)8; "Daiise Macabre." by Saint- Saens; Hunga- 
rian Fantaisie of Liszt, by JosefTy and Orchestra. 

— In the fifth Harvard Symphony Concert (Feb. 12) Miss 
Jessie (Cochran, a gifled pupil of Von Buelow and of Mr. 
Lang, will play- a Piano Concerto, Op. 22, by Loub Brassin, 
never yet heard in thb country. Miss liouise Homer will 
sing the Romanza from William TeU^ and son^s by Griee* 
The orohestral numben ¥rill be: Overture to Fidelio^ in E- 
fbt, Beetho\'en ; and, for the first time hi Boston, the flunout 
SymfAonie Fantastigue (**^i80de in the life of au Ar» 
tbt**), by Beriu>z. 



Febbuabt 14, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



25 



BOSTON, FEBRUARY U, 1880. 

■ntorwl at the Post Offlee at Bovton m sacond-claos matter. 



Att Ike anieUt not ertdUed to other publicaHont were expressty 
written/or this Journal. 

PiMisked fortnight^ by HonoHToff, OsQOOX> and CoMPAinr, 
Boston^ Masi. Priee^ W cents a number ; $2.60 per year. 

For sate in Boston by Cakl PauErER, 30 West Street, A. Will- 
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ington Street, and by the Publishers; in Nno York by A. Basit- 
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Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the Chicago Masic Compant, 
612 State Street. 



LEIPZIGER STRASSE, No. 8. 

A CHAPTER FROM ** DIE FAMILIB MENDELS- 
SOHN," BT S. HENSEL. 

(Continued from page 18.) 

In this house and garden now an extremely 
indiviiiual, poetic life developed itself. Here 
was formed that circle of friends which, 
with few exceptions held together in personal 
or epistolary intercourse, until death called 
one after another away. The Hannoverian, 
Klingemann, diplomatist, a very fine poetic 
nature, the poet of tho Operetta Die Heim- 
kehr (the Return from Abroad), was one of 
the most important and most faithful of this 
circle. Through the later frequent visits 
of Felix and my father in Londoti, where 
Klingemann was attached to the embass}', 
and through continued, lively correspondence, 
this friendship became firmly knit and last- 
ing. Louis Heidemann, the jurist, and his 
brother, Wilhelm Horn, son of the celebrated 
physician, and himself a physician, the vio- 
linist Rietz, and for a long time, above all, 
Marx, then the editor of the MusikalUche 
Zeitung in Berlin, were the iqtimate friends 
of Felix. Marx, extremely genial, was the 
champion of the new school in musip ; he un- 
furled the banner of Beethoven, and has con- 
tributed much to his appreciation. He con- 
ceived a deep attachment to Felix ; and both 
with youthful fire sought, in the interchange 
of their at first widely divergent opinions, to 
come nearer together. 

Moscheles also lived in Berlin in the au- 
tumn of 1824, and Felix willingly acknowl- 
edged his superiority in technique, the grace, 
elegance, and coquetry of his piano playing, 
and learned of him in this regard, though he 
never conceded an undue authority to such 
virtuoso arts. But Moscheles in turn appre- 
ciated Felix's talent, and an enduring friend- 
ship knit itself between them. Spohr*s pres- 
ence also had a very important influence on 
him. Spohr had come to Berlin to conduct 
the rehearsals of his Jessonda, and in spite 
of, or perhaps on account of, the greatest hin- 
dranc^ which Spontini placed in his way, 
the pnBlic received him and his work with 
all the more applause. Spohr came much 
into the Mendelssohn house, and the acquaint- 
ance begun in Cassel in 1822 was delightfully 
continued. 

Added to all these musical incitements 
-came, in March, 1825, a journey with his fa- 
ther to Paris, undertaken for the purpose of 
bringing Henrietta (his aunt) back to Grer- 
many. In Paris there was just then a great 
concourse of important musicians : Hummel, 
Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, Pixis, Rode, Bail- 
lot, Kreuzer, Cherubini, Rossini, Paer, Mey- 
erbeer, Plantade, ladout, and many others, 



often met in one saloon, or in one box. But 
the littleness, the maliciousness, and envy of 
so many of these men made a repulsive im- 
pression on the wholly differently constituted 
Felix, so that he afterwards never took kindly 
to Paris and the musical life there. 

In- its good, as well as in its bad sides, it 
WHS antipathetic to his nature. The striving 
after the brilliant and the piquant, after ef- 
fect, left him cold ; the spirit of intrigue, the 
want of acquaintance with the great mas- 
ters of the Germans, the superficiality of 
the work there, was repugnant U) him ; he 
did not let himself be flattered by the very 
cordial manner of the musicians toward him 
personally. Only with Cherubini does he 
seem to have entered into a somewhat nearer 
relationship. 

In a letter of the 6th of April he ex- 
pressed himself with great sharpness and vio- 
lence, commonly by no means characteristic 
of him, about persons and the state of things 
ifi Paris. Naturally there was no lack of re- 
proof in the answers of his mother and sis- 
ters. Some extracts from his letters may il- 
lustrate his way of looking at things : — 

FELIX TO THE FAMILY. 

Paris, March 23, 1825. 

** How shall I begin, on the first morning 
of my stay in Paris, to write a set, re;^ular, 
and reasonable letter? I am too full of 
wonder, curiosity, bewilderment for that. — 
But since I have promised to send a journal 
to Berlin, I fall at once with the door into 
the house and announce that yesterday, 
March 22, at eight o'clock in the evening, we 
arrive<i in Paris. When we had passed the 
Barriere de Pantin, we drove for a good 
quarter of an hour at the sharpest trot of 
good horses through a now quarter of Paris, 
which father had never seen. That is the 
Faubourg St. Lazare. It still looks in many 
places very dreary and confused, but for the 
most part houses stand there. We soon came 
into the old city, and finally upon the Boule- 
vard. There's life and bustle for you! a 
rattling and snarling, a screaming and a 
merriment among the people ; all the shops 
are completely lightel with gas, diffusing 
such a briorhtness on the streets that one can 
see to read conveniently. It is as loud and 
as light there as in some sort of an illumi- 
nation in Berlin Leo and Meyer 

came to see us very early, and seemed quite 
astonished that I did not sit down in their 
laps any more, or upset any chairs, or raise 
any shouts, etc. Then we went to see Aunt 
Jette, and met her already on the street upon 
the way to us. Her mild, serious, lively, and 
thoroughly kind nature made no small im- 
pression on me. And how cleverly she 
t-alks ! How I rejoice to bring her back to 
you!" .... 

AprU 1, 1825. 

....'* On Monday morning I called on 
Hummel and found with him Onslow and 

Boucher ; he did not recognize me at 

first, but when he heard my name, he acted 
like mad, embraced me a hundred times, ran 
round in the room, bellowed and wept, pro- 
nounced an extravagant and senseless eulogy 
on me for Ouslow^s benefit, and ran away with 
me to see father ; but as he was not in the 



house, he made such a rumpus in the hotel 
that people ran together, took his leave, and 
then ran up the stairs after me, embraced me, 
etc. Yesterday morning he Gune rumbling 
in with four carriers bringing his wife's piano, 
and took away our wretched instrument in 
place of it." .... 

Pa HIS, April 20. 

. . . . " That you may not be an-^ry any 
longer, I will tell you at once, that we were 
last evening in the Feydeau and saw the last 
act of an opera by Catel, JJ Anberylste, and 
Leocadie by Auber. The theatre is spacious, 
friendly, and pretty. The orchestra is right 
good. If the violins are not so excellent as 
those of tho Opera Buffa, the basses and 
wind instruments, as well as the ensemble, are 
better than there. The directing is in the 
middle. The singers, male and female, sin*; 
out of tune, but not badly, act with vivaeity 
and promptness, and so the whole goes well 
together. But now the main thing, the com- 
position ! Of the first opera I will not speak, 
for I heard only half of it, and that indeed 
was tame and powerless, but not without light 
and ple.ising melody. But the famous Leo- 
cadie of the famous Auber! Anything so 
pitiful you cannot conceive of. The subject 
is from a poor story of Cervantes, poorly 
transformed into an opera, an<l I wouhl not 
have believed that such a common and un- 
seemly piece could not only have held its 
place, but even pleased upon tho theatre of the 
French, who yet have very fine feelinsf and 
correct ta^te. To this novel oC Cervantes' 
rough, wild period Auber has put a music so 
tame, as to make one grieve. I don't speak 
of the fact that there is no fire, no weight, no 
life, no originality to be found in the opera ; 
that it is pasted together out of reminiscences 
alternately from Cherubini and Rossini ; I 
don't speak of there being not the slightest 
earnestness, not a spark of passion in it ; nor 
that in the'decisive moments the singers have 
to make gurglings and little trills and pas- 
sages ; but instrumetitation, which has now 
become so easy, since the scores of Haydn, 
Mozart, Beethoven are so widely diffused, in- 
strumentation should at least be at the com- 
mand of the favorite of the public, the pupil 
of Cherubini, a man with gray hairs. But 
it is not. Fancy to yourself that in the 
whole opera, rich in musical numbers, there 
are perhaps three in which the octave flute 
does not play the principal part ! The Over- 
ture begins with a tremulando of the striu;^ 
instruments, and instantly come-^ the piccolo 
upon the roof, and the fagotto in the cellar, 
and doodle a melody to it ; in the Allegro 
theme the strings make the Spanish accom- 
paniment and the little flute tootles another 
melody; Leocadie's first melancholy Aria: 
pauvre Leocadie, il vaudrait mietuc mourir, 
is appropriately accompanied by a little flute. 
The little flute paints the brother's rage, the 
lover's woe, the peasant girl's joy; in short, 
the whole mighl be capitally arranged for 
two flutes and jewsharp ad libitum. O 



woe 



I 



" You write me that I ought to set myself 
up for a missionary and convert Ouslow and 
Eteicha to the \osjd of Beethoven and Sebas- 
tian Bach. This I do already, so far as it 
goes. Bat consider, dear child, that the peo- 
ple here know not one note of Fidelio ! that 



26 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — Na 1015 



they hold Sebastian Bach to be a regular 
periwig stuffed full of learning! I played 
over the Fidelio Overture to Onslow on a 
very bad piano, and he was quite. beside him- 
self; he scratched his head, instrumented it 
in his thoughts, sang with it in his enthusi- 
asm, in short, acted like a mad man. Lately 
I played, at Kalkbreuner's request, the Pre- 
ludes in E and A minor for the organ. Tlie 
people found both ^ wondrous nice,' and one 
remarked, that the beginning of the A minor 
Prelude bore a striking resemblance to a fa- 
vorite duet from an opera by Monsigny.. It 
grew green and blue before my eyes. 

*^ Rode remains firm in his refusal to take 
a violin into his hands. But with Baillot, 
Mial, and Norblin, I have lately played my 
Quartet in B minor at Mme. Ki^n^*s. The 
first began absently, even negligently; but 
at a passage in the first part of the first 
movement he fired up, and played the rest of 
the first and the whole of the Adagio very 
powerfully and well. But then came the 
Scherzo. The beginning must have pleased 
him, for now he began to play and to run ; 
the others after him. I tried to hold them 
in, but who can hold three Frenchmen when 
they get going 1 And so they took me on 
with them, madder and madder, and faster 
and stronger; especially at one place near 
the end, where the theme of the Trio comes 
in above against the beat, Baillot went into 
it most fearfully, and as he had before made 
one mistake several times, he raved against 
himself in the worst way. As soon as it was 
over he said not a word to me except: Mn- 
care une fois ee morfeau. Now it went 
smoothly, but even wilder than the first time. 
But in the last piece the devil was let loose. 
In the passage at the very end, where the 
theme in B minor comes in once more fortts- 
$%mo, Baillot actually raged upon the strings 
most frightfully ; I was in terror at my own 
Quartet. And when it was don«y he came 
up to me, again without saying a word, and 
embraced roe twice, as if he would squeeze 
the life out of me. Rode, too, was very 
much pleased, ai.d said to me again long 
afterwards, * Brav, mein Schatz ! ' in Ger- 
man." 

But the Berliners were not satisfied, and 
never ceased, in their letters, to break lances 
for Paris (in their opinion) so unjustly 
treated. Felix was not disconcerted. On 
the 9th of May he writes to his sister : — 

- .... ^ I was rather angry about your 
former letter and resolved to send you some 
scoldings, which 1 cannot do just yet; but 
time, the beneficent god, will perhaps miti- 
gate them and pour balm into the wounds 
which my fiaming wrath inflicts on you. 
You write me of prejudice and preposses!«ion, 
of owlishness and grumbling, of the land 
flowing with milk and honey, as you call this 
Paris I But bethink yourself, I pray you ! 
Are you in Paris, or am I? Surely I should 
know it better than you I Is it my way to 
pass prejudiced judgments upon music? But 
even if it were, is Rode partial when he 
says to me : C^est ici une digringolcule mu' 
eicaU! Is Neukomm partial, who says to 
roe : * This is not the land of .orchestras ' ? Is 
Herz partial when he says : ' Here the pub- 
lic understands and relishes only variations ' ? 
And are 10,000 others, who mock at Paris, 



partial? You, you are so partial that you 
believe less in my extremely impartial re- 
ports than in a lovely conception of Paris 
as an Eldorado, which you have imagined to 
youri>elf. Take up the Constitutionnel : what 
do tht'y give in the Italian Opera but Ros- 
sini? Take up the list of musical publica- 
tions : what comes out, what goes oflT, but ro- 
mances and potpourris ? But just come here 
and hear Alceste, hear Robin des Bois (the 
French name for JJer Freyschiitz), hear the 
Soirees (which you confound with Salons, for 
Soirees are concerts for money, and Salons 
are social) ; hear the music in the royal 
chapel, and then judge, then scold me, but 
not now, while you are possessed with preju- 
dices and utterly beguiled ! ! ! " 

In May they returned with Henrietta to 
B^lin, visiting Goethe by the way again. 

Let us now give a glance at the literary 
events which inspired the youth of that time 
with fresh enthusiasm and devotion. That 
the descendants of Moses Mendelssohn should 
be familiar with Lessing's writings, that to 
the young friend and guest of Goethe Faust 
and Werther should be, as the mother ex- 
presses herself, " shining lights," was a mat- 
ter of course. How Schiller's masterworks 
remained ever present to them is shown by 
my mother's and Felix's letters from Switz- 
erland. But above all it was two writers 
who exercised a powerful influence on the 
Mendelssohn children and their circle: Jean 
Paul and Shakespeare. Of Jean Paul B5rne 
has said the finest things, and Heine the wit- 
tiest, in the romantic school. Rebecca wrote 
me once about him : ^ You wish me when I 
am melancholy to read Hesperus, No, tliat 
I let alone. Jean Paul does not help the 
weary and heavy-laden to bear their cross, he 
talks away at them and makes their burden 
heavier, nhile he exhausts their strength to 
bear it. But it is of no use for me to say 
that to you ; you are just now. at the age, or 
rather in the youth Ume, when there is no- 
body but Jean Paul ; when his way of writ- 
ing, bis irony, is imitated ; when young men 
and maidens don't wish to grow stout, so that 
they may be m re like Victor and Clotilde or 
Liane ; if possible, would like to die rather 
early, but only for a little while. If I 
wanted to read away my sadness, I would 
read Lei^sing, or Mendelssohn, or history, and 
refresh myself with men who have fought 
their way through hard fortunes and reverses, 
and have wrung from them no ironical spirit, 
but a virtuous cheerfulness, devotedness, and 
strength for further stru^Ies. But there is 
this little difterence between us, that I am as 
near on to forty as yon are to twenty. And 
if I did not know very well how Jean Paul 
acts upon young people, I should surprise you 
in your rural solitude and make an auio-da-fl 
of the whole Hesperus, 

^ Apropos of the resemblance you suggest 
between Jean Paul's Clotilde and X., I should 
like to tell you an anecdote, if I were not 
sure that you would take it wrong. Never- 
theless I will tell you : A deaf and dumb 
scholar of Professor Wach once painted a 
Madonna, which was a speaking likeness of 
the Professor himself. In justification of 
himself he declared that Wach was his highest 
ideal, and so was the Madonna, therefore the 
Madonna ought to look like Wach! — The 



application is understood, of course. But do 
not be offended." .... 

Those children did not need Jean Paul for 
consolation ; and yet there is a time in youth, 
when every one, even the happiest, would 
rather like to feel unhappy and, as Rebecca 
writes, to die a little early, only not for a 
long time. Be that as it may, and whatever 
side of the poet may have appealed to each 
of them, it Is a fact, that they were all very 
much infatuated with him, and that this in- 
fatuation held out to the last: Felix gives 
warm expression to this predilection even in 
his later letters. 

Now as to Shakespeare. The Schl^el- 
Tieck translation had appeared, and in this 
Shakespeare was presented for the first time 
in an enjoyable form. The brother and sis- 
ter were not so well at home in English at 
that time, that they* could read Shakespeare 
in the original. The Impression was pro- 
digious ; the tnigedies, but above all the com- 
edies, and among these particularly the 
Midsummer Night* s Dream, were the delight 
of the Mendelssohn children. It was their 
peculiar fortune that just in this year, 1826, 
they themselves were leading a dreamlike 
and fantastic life in that wonderfnlly beau- 
tifid garden, in most splendid weather. In 
the garden house there lived together with 
them an old lady with her beautiful and ami- 
able nieces and granddaughters. Of these 
young ladies Fanny and Rebecca had grown 
very fond ; Felix with his young people 
joined their circle, and the summer months 
became an uninterrupted festival full of po- 
etry, music, ingenious plays, railleries, masque- 
radings, and performances. In a garden pa- 
vilion lay constantly a sheet of paper with 
writing material, upon which every one jotted 
down whatever wild or beautiful suggestions 
flashed into his head. This ** Gaitlen Jour- 
nal" was continued in the winter under the 
title ^ Tea and Snow Journal," and contained 
many charming things, both serious and play- 
ful. Even the older persons, the father 
Abraham, 2^1ter, Humboldt, were not above 
offering contributions, or at least enjoying 
this tasteful and peculiar activity. This whole 
life had unmistakably a higher, more aerial 
mood, an idyllic color, a poetic fervor, such 
as one seldom finds in common lift*. Art 
and nature, soul, wit, and heart, the aspiring 
geniality of Felix, all contributed to lend 
color to the occupation, while on the other 
hand it all tended to the unfolding of the 
buds in Felix's creative faculty. A rapid, 
thorough change took place in him ; impor- 
tant works followed in quick succession, works 
far different from the childlike compositions 
that preceied: and in the first place, the Oc- 
tet, intended as a birthday present for Rietz. 
Thoroughly new in this is the airy, spiritual, 
and ghost-like Scherzo. He tried to compose 
the passage out of Faust : — 

Wolkenflng nod Net)dflor 

£rlwllfln dell too obcn, 
Lttft im Lrab nod Wind im Bohr, 

Uod allet itt Zentoben. 

" And he has actually succeeded," remarks my 
mother, in what she nays of the Octet in Fe- 
lix's biography. " To me alone he told what 
floated before his mind. The whole piece' is . 
giv,en staccaio and pianissimo; the single 
tremtJando shudders, the. light up-flashing 



Fbbruart 14» 1880.] 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



27 



shakes, all is new and strange, and jet so in- 
teresting, so friendly, one feels himself so 
near the spirit-world, so lightly borne up iu 
the air ; nay, one might even take a broom- 
stick in his hand, to follow the airy troop 
more eanly. At the dose the first violin 
goes flattering lightly upward like a feather, 
and — all files away like dust*' 

But the Scherzo of the Octet was only the 
forerunner of a more important similar crea- 
tion ; out of that singularly poetic mood pro- 
ceeded as the sum and focus the Overture to 
the ARdtummer Night's Dream, Jt may be 
designated, in a certain sense, as somethin«s 
ont of his own life-experience, for it was 
cull* d forth quite as much through the events 
of the summer of 1826 in the Mendelssohn 
hous^, as through the suggestion oC the Shake- 
s|>earian play ; and I must very much deceive 
myself, or it is just this sort of origin that 
lends to the Overture the extraordinary fas- 
cination that resides iu iu And it is just this, 
the fact that it welled up out of the inmost 
nature of. Mendelssohn, that explains the 
fact, never occurring twice, 80 far as I know, 
in the history of music, that nearly twenty 
years afterwards the composer, taking up 
again that youthful labor, was able to write 
the rest of the music ti) the Midiummer 
NighfM Dream^ with no need of any altera- 
tion in the Overture. It was thoroujshly 
Shukespearian and thoroutshly Mendeli«8ohn- 
ian, and so the rest of the music could go on 
in the same spirit. 

This was perhaps the hsppiest period in 
grandfather's life : existence secured and 
fixed in one of the most beautiful estates of 
the Berlin of that day ; at his side a dearly 
loved, prudent, and intellectually gifted wife, 
faithfully bound to him through long years of 
wedded life ; all the children growing up with 
fine gifts and dispositions ; Felix, past the 
wavering period, on the sure road to the high- 
est that man can strive for and accomplish, a 
well deserved artistic fame ; Fanny, his peer 
in talent and endowment, and yet coveting 
nothing more than to remain modestly within 
the bounds which nature has set for women ; 
Rebecca, developing into a handsome, discreet 
maiden, aUo full of talent, and only put in 
the shade through the conspicuous endowment 
of the older brother and sister; Paul, clever 
and industrious, and also very musical ; all 
the four sound in body and in mind, and re- 
markably attached to one another ; added to 
this a circle of friends, embracing all the ap- 
proved older men of importance in many 
spheres of life, all the hopeful and aspiring 
youth then living iu Berlin ; a house, known, 
•ought, and loved by so many in the whole 
world of culture, — such were the drcum- 
stances of Abraham Mendelssohn in the year 
1826. 



LISZT.i 
[From Orove't Dietiooaiy of Miuie ud Mosieiut.] 

The works of Lisst's mature period may be 
most conveniently classed under four headings. 
First : works for the pianoforte with and without 
orchestral accompaniments. The two Concertos 
in £ flat and A, and the fifteen Hungarian Rliap- 
sodles, are the most important works of this group, 
1 OontiBOBd from pi^ 81. 



the Utter especially illustrating the strongly pro- 
nounced national element in Lifzt. The rispre- 
sentative work of the second or orchestral section 
of Liut's works are the Faust Symphony, in three 
tableaux, the Dante Symphony, and the twelve 
<< Symphonic Poems." It is in these Symphonic 
Poems that Liszt's mastery over the orchestra as 
well as his claims to originality are chiefly shown. 
It is true that the idea of " Programme-Music," 
such as we find it illustrated here, had been antic- 
ipated by Berlioz. Another imporUnt feature, 
the so>called '' leading-motive ** (t. e^ a theme r^p- 
resenrative of a character or idea, and therefore 
recurring whenever that character or tbat idea 
comes into prominent action), Lbzt has adopted 
from Wagner. At the same time these ideas 
appear in his music in a considerably modified 
form. Speaking, for instance, of Programme- 
Music, it is at once apparent that the significance 
of that term is understood in a very different 
sense by Berlioz and by Liszt. Berlioz, like a 
true Frenchman, is thinking of a distinct story 
or dramatic situation, of which he takes care to 
inform the reader by means of a commentary ; 
Liszt, on the contrary, emphasizes chiefly the 
pictorial and symbolic bearings of bis theme, and 
in the first-named retipect especially is perhaps 
unsurpassed by modern symphonists. Even 
where an event has become the motive of his 
symphonic poem, it is always from a single feat^ 
ure of a -more or less musically realizable nature 
that he takes his suggestion, and from this he 
proceeds to the deeper significance of his subject, 
without much regard for the incidents of the 
story. It is for this reason that, for example, in 
his Mazeppa he has chosen Victor. Hugo's some- 
what pompons production as the groundwork of 
his music, in preference to Byron*s more cele- 
brated and more beautiful poem. Byron simply 
tells the story of Mazeppa's danger and rescue. 
In Victor Hugo the Polish youth, tied to 

•« A Tartar of the UknOiie breed 
Who kwked ■• tboaf^ the speed of thought 
Wii in his limbs,*' 

has become the representative of ** lid vivant sur 
ta croupe fatale^ GMe^ ardent counder.** This 
symbolic meaning, fiur-fetched though it may ^ap- 
pear in the poem, is of incalculable advantage to 
the musician. It gives sssthetic dignity to the 
wild, rattling triplets which imitate the horse's 
gallop, and imparts a higher significance to 
the triumphal march which closes the piece. 
For as Mazeppa became Hetman of the Cossacks, 
even so is man gifted with genius destined for 
ultimate triumph : — 

M Chuqiie pas que tu &b eemble ersoser sa tombe. 
Enfln le temps urive . . . . U eourt, tombe, 
Etser^deveroL" 

A more elevated subject than the struggle and 
final victory of genius an artist cannot well de- 
sire, and no fault can be fi)und with Liszt, pro- 
vided always that the introduction of pictorial 
and poetic elements into music is thought to be 
permissible. Neither can the melodic means 
employed by him in rendering this subject be 
objected to. In the opening aliegro agitato 
descriptive of Mazeppa's ride, strong accents and 
rapid rhythms naturally prevail ; but, together 
with this merely external matter, there occurs an 
impressive theme (first announced by the basses 
and trombones), evidently representative of the 
hero himself, and for that reason repeated again 
and again throughout the piece. The second 
section, andanie, which brings welcome rest after 
the breathless hurry of the aUegro^ is in its turn 
relieved by a brilliant march, with an original 
Cossack tune by way of trio, the abstract idea of 
triumphant genius being thus ingeniously identi- 
fied with Mazeppa's success among ** le* trUnu de 
P Ukraine.^ From these remarks Liszt's method, 
applied with slight modification in all his sym- 



phonic poems, is sufficiently clear ; but the dif* 
ficult problem remains to be solved : How can 
these philosophic and pictorial ideas become the 
nucleus of a new musical form to supply the 
place of the old symphonic movement ? Wagner 
asks the question '* whether it is not more noble 
and more liberating for music to adopt its form 
fix>m the conception of the Orpheus or Prome- 
theus motive than from the dance or march ? " 
but he forgets that dance and march have a dis- 
tinct and tangible relation to musical form, which 
neither Prometheus and Orpheus, nor indeed any 
other character or abstract idea, possess, llie 
solution of this problem must be left to a ftiture 
time, when it will also be possible to determine 
the permanent position of Liszt's symphonic works 
in the history of art. 

The Legend of St. Elizabeth, a kind of oratorio, 
full of great beauty, but sadly weighed down by 
a tedious libretto, leads the way to the third 
section — the sacred compositions. Here the 
Gran Masst the Missa Choralvt, the Mass for 
small voices, and the oratorio Christut are the 
chief works. The ISth Psalm, for tenor, chorus, 
and orchestra, may also be mentioned. The 
accentuation of the subjective or personal ele- 
ment, combined as far as possible with a deep 
reverence for the old forms of church music, is 
the keynote of Liszt's sacred compositions. 

We finally come to a fourlh division not 
hitherto sufficiently appreciated by Liszt's critics 
— his Songs. It is here, perhaps, that his in- 
tensity of feeling, embodie<l in melody pure and 
simple, finds its most perfect expression. Such 
settings as those of Heine's ** Du hist wie dne 
Blume," or Bedwitz's '' Es muss ein wunderbares 
sein" are conceived in the true spirit of the 
Volkslied. At other times a greater liberty in 
the rhythmical phrasing of the music is warranted 
by the metre of the poem itself, as, for instance, 
in Goethe's wonderful night song, ** Ueber alien 
Gipfeln ist Ruh," the hearenly calm of which 
Liszt has rendered by his wonderful harmonies 
in a manner which alone would secure him a 
place amongst the great masters of German Mng. 
Particularly, the modulation from G major hack 
into the original E major at the close of the 
piece is of surprising beauty. I^ss happy is the 
dramatic way in which such ballads as Heine's 
** Loreley " and Goethe's '' Konig in Thule " are 
treated. Here the melody is sacrificed to the 
declamatory element, and that declamation, espe- 
cially in the last-^iamed song, is not always 
faultless. Victor Hugo's '* Comment disaient-ils " 
is one of the most graceful songs amongst Liszt's 
works, and in musical literature generally. 

The remaining facts of Liszt's life may be 
summed up in a few words. In 1869 he left his 
official position at the Opera in Weimar owing to 
the captious opposition made to the production of 
Cornelius's ** Barber of Bagdad," at the Weimar 
theatre. Since that time he has been living at 
intervals at Rome, Pesth, and Weimar, always 
surrounded by a circle of pupils and admirers, 
and always woVking for music and musicians in 
the'unselfish and truly catholic spirit character- 
istic of his whole life. How much Liszt can be 
to a man and an artist is shown by what, per- 
haps, is the most important episode even in his 
interesting career — his iiiendship with Wagner. 
The latter's eloquent words will give a better 
idea of Liszt's personal character than any less 
intimate firiend could attempt to do. 

<' I met Liszt," writes Wagner, *< for the first 
time during my earliest stay in Paris, at a period 
when I had renounced the hope, nay, even the 
wish, of a Paris reputation, and, indeed, was in 
a state of internal revolt against the artistic 
life which I found there. At our meeting he 
struck me as the most perfect contrast to my 
own being and situation. In this wovld, into 



28 



D WIGHT' 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. - No. 1018. 



vhich it had been my deeire to fly from my nar- 
row circumstances, LUzt had grown up, from his 
earliest age, .ho as to be the object of general 
love and admiration, at a time when I was re- 
pulsed by general coldness and want of sympa- 
thy. ... In consefjaence I looked upon bira with 
suspicion. I had no opportunity of disclosing 
my being and working to him, and, therefore, the 
reception I met with on his part was altogether 
of a superficial kind, as was indeed natural 
in a man to whom every day the most divergent 
impressions claimed access. But I was not in a 
mood to look with unprejudiced eyes for the 
natural cause of his behavior, which, though 
friendly and obliging in itself, could not but 
wound me in the then state of my mind. I never 
repeated my first call on Liszt, and without 
knowing or even wishing to know him, I was 
prone to look ujion him as strange and adverse 
to my nature. My repeated expresftion of tliis 
feeling was afterwards told to him, just at the 
time when my * Rienzi ' at Dresden attracted 
general attention. He was surprised to find 
himself misunderstood with such violence by 
a man whom he had scarcely known, and whose 
acquaintance now seemed not without value to 
him. I am still moved when I remember the 
repeated and eager attempts he made to change 
my opinion of him, even before he knew any of 
my works. He acted not from any artistic 
sympathy, but led by the purely human wish of 
discontinuing a casual disharmony between him- 
self and another being ; perhaps he also felt an 
infinitely tender misgiving of having really hurt 
me unconsciously. He who knows the selfish- 
ness and terrible insensibility of our social life, 
and rspecially of the relations of modern artists 
to each other, cannot but be struck with wonder, 
nay, delight, by the treatment I experienced firom 
this extraordinary man. ... At Weimar I saw 
him for the last time, when I was resting for a 
few days in Thuringia, uncertain whether the 
threatening pi-osecution would compel me to con- 
tinue my iiight from Grermany. The very day 
wheit my personal danger became a certainty, I 
saw Liszt conducting a rehearsal of my *• Tann- 
hauser,' and was astonished at recognizing my 
hecond self in his achievement What 1 had 
felt in inventing this music he felt in performing 
it : what I wanted to express in writing it down, 
he expressed in making it sound. Strange to 
say, through the love of this rarest friend, 1 
gained, at the moment of becoming homeless, a 
real home for my art, which I had hitherto 
longed for and sought for always in the wrong 
place. ... At the end of my last stay at Paris, 
when ill, mi>erablc, and despairing, 1 sat brood- 
ing over my fate, my eye fell on Uie score of my 
* Lohengrin/ which I had totally forgotten. 
Suddenly I felt something like compassion that 
this music should never sound from off the death- 
pale paper. Two words I wrote to Liszt : his 
answer was the newt that preparations for the 
performance were being made on the largest 
scale that the limited means of Weimar would 
permit. Everything that men and circumstances 
could do was done, in order to make the work 
understood. . . . Errors and misconceptions im- 
peded the desired success. What was to* be 
done to supply what was wanted, so as to fur- 
ther the true understanding on all sides, and 
with it the ultimate success of the work ? Liszt 
saw it at once, and did it. He gave to the pub- 
lic his own impression of the work in a manner 
the oonviiicing eloquence and overpowering ef- 
ficacy of which remain unequaled. Success 
was his reward, and with this success he now 
approaches me, saying : * Behold we have come 
so far, now create us a new Work, that we may 
go 8 ill further.' " 

In addition to the commentaries on Wagner's 



works just referred to, Liszt has also written 
numerous detached articles and pamphlets, those 
on Robert Franz, Chopin, and the music of the 
Gipsies, being the most important It ought to 
be added that the appreciation of Liszt's music 
in this country is almost entirely due to the un- 
ceasing efiorts of his pupil, Mr. Walter Bache, 
at whose annual concerts many of his most im- 
portant works have been produced. Others, 
such as "Mazeppa" and the « Battle of the 
Huns," were first beard in England at the Crys- 
t^ Palace. 

( Conclusion in next number.) 



AWARD OP THE THOUSAND DOLLAR 

PEUZE. 

Thb Cincinnati GaztUe gives some intcrettiug in- 
formation regarding the award of the $1,00U prize 
made by the Musical Festival Association of that 
city to Mr. Dudley Back fur the best musical com- 
position presented to the committee by a native-bom 
citizen of the United States. Twenty-four compo- 
sitions were presented to the committee, covering a 
wide range, and were ns follows : " The Bells/' 
adapted to Poe's poem ; " Homage to Beethoven ; " 
** Mass in G minor;" **God our Deliverer," sacred 
cantaU ; " The Inca's Downfall." cantato ; " King 
Volnicr and Elsie," cantata ; " Worshipers at Differ- 
ent Shrines," cantata; *'Thc Dream," for choras and 
orchestra; "The Golden Legend," cantata, Longfel- 
low; " Christmas," cantata; "Deukalion," cantata; 
•'The Tale of the Viking," dramatic cantata; 
"Credo," C major; "Eastern Idyl," cantota; "Ex- 
ulunt Voices ; " " Gloria," l45th Psalm ; " Mezuea," 
historical cantata ; '* Nativity Hymns ; " " Tribute to 
Music." Of these, New York city presented three, 
Brooklyn, two ; Baldmore, two ; Cincinnati, three, 
and Biddeford, Mc., Winona, Minn., Kent, O., Terre 
Haute, Ind., Cleveland, 0., Savannah, Ga., Elm Ira 
N. Y., Beloit, Wis., and Boston one each. In all 
this list only two compositions were found to be of 
excellence enough to demand careful examination* 
and singnlarlv euoagh, both these were illustrative of 
works by Longfellow. — " The Golden Lei^end " and 
"The Tale of the Viking," which is only another 
title for " The Skeleton in Armor." Over these two 
the works respei'tively of Mr. Dudley Buck (formerly) 
of Boston, and Mr. George E.'Whiiing of the Cincin- 
nati College of Music and lute of Boston, the judges 
were evenly divided, Dr. Damrosch and Mr. Hamerik 
sustaining Mr. Whiting, and Mr. Zerrnhn and Mr. 
Singer supporting Mr. Buck. When it came to the 
casting vote, which was held by Mr. Thomas, he sup- 
ported the opinion of the latter faction. The discus- 
sion of the merits of these rival works lasted several 
rooifths, and turned largely upon the comparative 
weight to he given to the meri:s of originality, in 
thought and thoroughness of treatment, Mr. Whit- 
ing's composition heing conceded as hest worked out, 
while Mr. Buck's had a greater nnmher of evideuoei; 
of progress. During this discnssion, it must be un- 
derstood, none of the judges knew the names of the 
authors whose work they were considering. There 
were many amusing incidents in the work of the 
judges. Some of the contestants displayed a lament- 
able ignorance of musical aflfairs ; one prodnction 
came only in parts, in separate sheets for voices and 
instrumenu, with the explanation that the composer 
did not have time to make the score, and another was 
only in piano score, and was accompanied by the 
modest request that Mr. Thomas arrange the orches- 
tra parts. The most curious work sent to the com- 
mittee was a manuscript volume of hymn metres 
from the band of an old man, in which be had copied 
a great number of the tunes common years ago. The 
whole of the remarkable little volume was written 
with a quill pen, and in neatness and beanty it is as 
clear as copper-plate. The words, in a tiny script, 
are an exact imitation of print. The successful work 
is one that has been in Mr. buck's mind for some time. 
It opens with the prologue which Lisat set as a dra- 
matic xantata a few years ago, called "The Bells 
of Strasbuig Cathedral," and dedicated to the poet. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

The London Figaro (Jan. 24) says: "For some 
time past rumors have .been current that a Scottish peer 
was alx>nt to organize a series of orchestral smoking 
concerts in London, and various members of aristo- 
cratic clubs have been importuned to taie tickets in 
order to guarantee the success of the enterprise. The 
chief attraction held out was that the Prince of 
Wales would probably be present at tvtrj concert, 
and the gentlemen of the aristocracy, as in duty 
bound, willingly paid their money, less for the ben- 
efit of the Scottish nobleman in question than in or- 
der to see the heir to the throne smoke a dgar. 
However, the concerts have been oi^aniied, an aver- 
age band has been retiuned, and last week the fint 
of a scries of twenty concerts was given at the Grosve- 
nor Hall under the somewhat timid condnctorsbip of 
the Earl of Dunmore. Of course his lordship oon- 
tribttted pieces attributed to his pen, and on this 
bead a schcrso and an overture figured in the pro- 
gramme. Besides this, the C minor symphony of 
Beethoven was performed, the violin concerto of 
Mendelssohn was played by M. Sainton, and M. Las- 
serre also appeared. 

— Or the novelty of Carl Rosa's opera season at 
Her Majesty's Theatre, The Taming of the Shrew, by 
Goetz, the same journal says : " It may best be de- 
scribed as a symphonic opera. The work of Herr 
Goetx was, indeed, a compromise between the music 
of the past and of the future. Herr Goetz, unlike 
the apostles of the Zukunft, did not disdain simple 
melody, while at the same time he more or less fully 
agreed with the ideas of " infinite melody " advanced 
on paper by Herr Wagner. All the vapid expedi- 
ences of the lulian composers have been dispensed 
with by Goetz, the various scenes follow on withont 
break, shopsongs are dispensed with, and the orches- 
tration throughout fulfills an entirely independent 
part. Nor can The Taming of the Shrew be consid- 
ered in any sense of the term a " comic opera." It is 
essentially German in design and treatment, and it 
makes great demands upon the intelligence and the 
thoughts of its auditors. Its plot, for the most part, 
follows Shakespeare's play, with notable altenitions 
necessary to opera. Of its music, while the concerted 
pieces and the instrumentation thronghont are highly 
to be praised, it must be considered at its best in the 
second and third acts. Various writers have at- 
tempted to fix upon it an imitation of various com- 
poser^. but these ideas can hardly be accepted. It 
must be considered the fact that Herr Goetz had his 
own thoughts, and worked them oat in his own man- 
ner. The freneral opinion of the house on Tuesday 
was that, if the opera is to succeed at all iu its present 
shape, the chief credit will be due to the admirable 
delineation of the chief part by Miss Minnie Haock. 
Not excepting; Carmen, whose fortunes the gifted 
American prima donna has made in both hemispheres, 
there is probably no opera whtrh is better adapted to 
her special capabilities than The Taming of the Shrew. 
Whether she was biting the hand of the man who 
strove to tamo her, or slapping the face of the mal» 
who tried to kiss her. Miss Hauck was always en 
Mi^ne, while her delineation of the change from the 
shrew of former days to ^he tamed and loving wife of 
the last act was inimitable. The acting, indeed, was 
throughout good, though the vocalism was on the 
whole, so far as the principal artists were concerned, 
indifferent. 

— Dr. ton Bulow made his first appearance this 
season in London at the Popular Concert of Satur- 
day last, being in the best of '* form," and contribut- 
ing, with Ma(*ame Norman Ndruda and Signer Pi- 
arti, to one of the finest performances of Beethoven^s 
grand trio in B fiat which the music^loving public has 
heard for many years in this country. The doctor 
also took part with Madame N^ruda in Schubert's 
rondo in B-fiat for piano and violin, and played on 
his own account Bach's English suite in B minor 
and for an encore a Passepied in £ minor, from the 
fifth suite. The posthumous string quartet of Men- 
delssohn, recently produced at these concerts, was 
also repeated. — ibid, Jan. 24. 

— All the nine Biethoven symphonies and many 



Fbbsuakt 14, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



29 



new works an to be perfoinned in the second season 
of the Hans Richter Cenoerts, organised by a music 
loTing member of the Grosrenor family. The nine 
concerts will be given at St. James's Hall in the 
months of May and June. 

— Herb Jossr Joachim will arrive in London 
with his wife, the accomplished vocalist, Fran Joa- 
chim, on the morning of Monday, Feb. 16, and wiU 
play the same evening at the Monday Popular Con' 
certs. On March 4 and 18 be will play the violin 
concertos of Mendelssohn and Brahms respectively at 
the Old Philharmonic Concerto, and he will leave 
England after the Popular Concert of March 22. It 
is still considered within the bounds of possibility, 
though it is not now very probable, that Herr 
Brains will accompany Herr Joachim to London. 



rwig auM dem Serail. ^Compued with these lists, 
what meagre operatic fare we pay high prices for in 
our American cities 1 




Paxii. At the Grand Opera, for the week ending 
Jan. 18, the pieces given were Fauat, Don Juan, 
(twice) La FavorUa and Coppilia, At the Opera 
Comiqne : Lei DiamanU de la Courmme, Le DAertewr, 
La Dame Blanche, U£twle du Nurd, Le Pri-aux- 
Cleree, BomA et Juliette, Lee Rendezvoue Bourgeoie, 
Lee Noceede Jeannette, Bossini's sparkling Le Comte 
Ory was in preparation. At the Op^ra-Populaire : 
Lucia, Paulet Virginie, Bita, Le FarfadA, Sintillia la 
Behimimne, 

— The programme of the Conservatoire Concert 
Jan. 18, directed by M. Alt^ was as follows : Over, 
tnie and choruses from Mendelssohn's Alhalie; Qon- 
oerto for the oboe, Handel; O^tV (Leisring) double 
chorus without accompaniment ; seventh symphony 
of Beethoven. 

— At the Concert Populaire, January 1 1, the prin- 
cipal attraction was the cantata La Ltfre et la Harpe, 
by Sain^Saens, which was followed by the first part 
of Haydn's Creatim. — In his second series M. Pas- 
deloup promises : Schumann's Fauet mvmc; Diane, 
by B. Godard; selection from Sigurd, by Ernest 
Beyer ; and Lohengrin. 

— At the Chatelaine Berlioz's Damnation de Faust 
continued to be applauded for the twenty-fourth time. 

— The annual concert of the Soci4t4 de Chant 
Classique took place at the Salle Herz, January 24. 
Among the pieces offered were: Fragments from 
Handel's Jejitha, and from the opera Phaiton, by 
Lulli ; cantata, Le Jugentent Dernier, by Gluck and 
Sslieri ; an unpublished eigh^part chorus by Mendels- 
sohn ; and Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, the piano 
part by Mme. Montigny. 



BsBLiir. — Bubinstein's "sacred opera," The 
Tower of Bahd, under his personal direction, was 
performed at the second concert of Stem's Vocal As- 
sociation. It was preceded by Cherubini's overture 
to ilfiacreon, Adolar's aria from Eurganthe, and Beet- 
hoven's G major Concerto, played by Bubinstein him- 
self. 

— At the Imperial Opera-fionse, in the week Jan- 
uary 4-10, were given : Atda, Goldmark's Que«n of 
Sheba, Meyerbeer's Africaine, Lortzing's Cxar und 
Zimmermann, Gounod's Romeo et JtUiette, and Meyer- 
beer's PrapkHe, — all of course in the German lan- 
guage. One evening was devoted to the ballet, " The 
Pietty Girl of Ghent." 

— The new symphony by Baff, entitled " Sum- 
mer," a continuation of his " Spring " sym phony 
was performed for the first time by the Bilse Orehea- 
trs^ with considerable success. 

Drbsdbit. — The operas given at the Court thea- 
tre in December were the following : RigoUtto, Verdi ; 
Don Juan, Mozart; Bianca (twice), Brull ; Lohengrin 
(twice), Wagner; Fauet, (jfounod ; Die beiden Schutz- 
en, Lortzing; Fliegender Hollander, Wagner; Die 
EntJWtnmg, Mozart; Fidelio, Beethoven; Domino 
Noir, Auber ; ZauberJUfU, Mozart ; Stradella, Flotow ; 
Freitchatz, Weber ; Le Postilion, Adam ; Sonnambula, 
Bellini. __^ 

ViBWA. — During the third week in January 
there were giren at the Court Opera theatre : Paulet 
Virginie, by Masstf; Faust, Gounod; Der kHudiehe 
Krieg (Domestic Strife), Schubert; Der Wassertrager, 
Chernbini; and Moiart's Idomeneus and Die Entflk- 



<* Die Familir Mbndklssohn." — The book 
from which we have begun to translate a chap- 
ter entitled *' Leipziger Strasse, No. 8," is by 
far the most interesting of the many interesting 
ones that have appeared conceniing the com- 
poser of the Midsummer Night's Dream music 
and Elijah^ St, Patd, and so many noble works. 
It is by Sebastian Hensel, son of Mendelssohn's 
sister Fanny, who married the painter Wilhelm 
Hensel, and was published in three volumes, less 
than a year ago, in Berlin. Rich and delightful 
as were the two collections of Mendelssohn's let- 
ters which first gave us all such a sense of per- 
sonal acquaintance with their genial writer, there 
is even greater charm and freshness in the let- 
ters now first ma<le public by his nephew. Those 
which the enthusiastic boy wrote home during 
hia first visit to Goethe, in which he gives a 
vivid picture of the personal appearance of the 
great old poet, seeming to be greatly impressed 
by *' hb thunder voice," which has " a prodigious 
resonance," so that **he can shout like 10,000 
warriors ; " those written to his sisters from Paris, 
of which we give a specimen or two to-day ; 
those describing his visit with his friend Klinge- 
mann to Scotland, like those soon afterwards 
written firom London, where foe many weeks he 
was confined by lameness, — all are fresh and 
full of humor and enthusiastic interest in all he 
meets and sees. 

Certain portions of his earlier life, of course, 
could not be related more satisfactorily than they 
have been in Edouard Devrient's reminiscences 
of his friend. But Hensel's three rich volumes 
present him as he was and as he lived in the 
midst of that whole gifted family of Mendels- 
sohns. And we are convinced by it that the 
only true way to write a life of Felix Mendels- 
sohn Bartholdy is to treat him in connection 
with his family, to present a pretty full sketch of 
his grandfather, his uncles, ** his sisters and his 
cousins and his aunts," all in the same broad and 
comprehensive picture. Aooordingly the book 
opens with a charming account of that remai'k- 
able and noble Jewish philosopher, Moses Men- 
delssohn, the friend of Lessing; then passes to 
his uncles, his two aunts, Dorothea and Henri- 
etta, women of rare culture and intelligence, whe 
wrote admirable letters, lived in Paris, and be- 
came Catholics; then to the father Abraham, 
who resolved to be Christian, but Protestant of 
the Protestants, one of the wisest, noblest, and 
most generous of men, who thoroughly appreci- 
ated his son's genius ; then the mother and the 
daughters, and the circle of intimate friends, all 
intellectually gifted, forming a social sphere of 
culture, taste, high-toned character, and genial, 
happy life. 

All this now was brought to a focus, as it were, 
when Abraham Mendelssohn, able to lire like a 
prince, purchased the fine estate on one of the 
principal streets of Berlin, called the Leipziger 
Strasse, with its stately rooms, its lar^ court 
and gardens, its conveniences for music and for 
private theatricals, and for the nursery and 
home of such a genius as Felix rapidly devel- 
oped. There he produced his little operettas, or 
Singspiele, his Heimkehr aus der Fremde fi>r his 
parents* silver wedding ; there he composed the 
Octet, soon followed by his Shakespearian fairy 
Overture; there they were all busy as fairies, 
weaving and inventing witty, fantasUo, and ideal 
things. And into that house, that life, we are 



now permitted to look and in fancy to partici- 
pate. That too forms the centre of corrtepond- 
ence when the family are scattered; so that 
'* Leipziger Strasse, Numero Drei," seems to sum 
up in itself all that we want to know of Men- 
delssohn and his surroundings. When we first 
read Hensel's description of that fine old house 
and garden, it recalled (and with a pang of di»- 
appointment) a picture from our own experience. 
In the year 1861 it was one day our fortune to 
be in that house, and yet without dreaming that 
it had been the Mendelssohn house. It waa 
then, and is now, occupied by the Herrenhans, or 
Prussian House of Lords ; and our good friend, 
a liberal member of that body, who had spent 
some years in America, introduced us there, but 
strangely never breathed a word to us about the 
Mendelssohn family I Nor did any person whom 
we met in Berlin during that whole winter erer 
intimate to us that the Mendelssohns lived there. 
What an opportunity to be informed of only 
now I Yet not so very strange ; for at that time 
the Mendelssohn letters had not been published, 
and to us Americans at least the personal Men- 
delssohn had scarcely begun to be a theme of in- 
terest. No musical American could go to Berlin 
now and not pay more than an accidental risit, 
even a devout pilgrimage, to the house (of course 
not a little changed) where sits the Herrenhaoa 
in grave council and debated 



THAYER'S "BEETHOVEN." 

Thb London Ttmor, of Jan. €, brings ns an 
article on Thayer's " Beethoven," four eolumna 
in length, a large portion of which is made np of 
censure and ridicule of the manner in which he 
has done his work, closing with the ex eaihedrd 
statement that the (first) volume ** has become 
totally unfit, at least for the English reader." 

Perhaps so ; but if so, it must be because no 
English reader has any curiosity to know the 
constitution and general regulations of those ec- 
clesiastical and princely musical establishments 
which were, down to our own days, the great 
conservatories of music, and by means of which 
Germany became the leading musical country of 
the world. Mr« Thayer's history of music, and the 
Electoral '*Kapelle" during the last cejitury 
was, when published, and for aught we know 
still is, the only source of infonnation for this 
subject. 

We know not bow it may be with the English 
reader, but we do know that the Awierican 
(able to read German) is pleased to find a his- 
tory, which, mutatis mutandis, applies to the mu- 
sical establishments at Salzburg, dear to us for 
the Mozarts, at Esterhaz, the scene of Haydn's 
labors, and at Hanover, where Handel began hia 
career as Kapellmeister, Qot to mention a score 
of others, which gave the world so many stars of 
the second magnitude. 

We freely admit that much of the first rolume 
is tedious reading ; but all the first Book (as the 
translator, not Mr. Thayer, saw fit to call the 
historic introduction) can be passed over, and the 
reader need only begin with the biography. 

In one instance only do we find the writer 
criticising Mr. Thayer's conclusions; and this, 
to our surprise and amusement, is upon the old, 
hackneyed question ; whether Beethoven wrote 
his famous love letter to Giulietta Guicciardi, as 
Schindler stated, or to some other person not 
yet discovered. Mr. Thayer, as all our readers 
know, decided against Schindler, and his argu- 
ment was printed in this journal two or three 
years since. The German critios have now 
(without exception we believe^ accepted that 
argnment as condnsive. Bat now comes this 
vrriter and assures us : '< there is indeed, by Mr. 
Thayer^s own showing, no absolotdy cogent rearr 



30 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[YoL. XL. — No. 1018. 



•on, why the letter ahoald not liaTe been written 
in 180S, before GioUette GniocUrdi bed become 
Conntees Gallenbeig mnd bad left Vienna." 

Nov the letter itielf states tbat at four o'clock 
on soBle morning before tbe 6tb of Jaljr, Beet- 
boven bad arrived at a watering place, after a 
terrlbljr severe journej with four borses. Mr. 
Tbayer sbowi that in the first days of July, 1801, 
1802, 180S, 1804, 1805, 1807, etc, Beethoven was 
either in Vienna itself, or in some one of tbe vil- 
lages in its immediate neighborhood. Only in 
1806, Im was not there. In tbat year he was 
visiting Brunswick and bis sister Theresa eariy 
in tlie summer, and later Prince Lichnowslcy. 
Between these two vislu — in &ct on the jour- 
ney from Pesth to Silesia, be may well have 
written tbe love letter — and if so, to whom so 
likely as to bis intimate friend Theresa Bruns- 
wick? 

It strikes ns, the fact that Beethoven was in 
Heiligenstadt, bard by Vienna, in June and July 
1802, and did not mske any distant journey, with 
four post horses, b a sufficiently ** cogent *' rea- 
son to convince even the writer in the London 
Timm^ — should his attention ever be called to 
it — that be, busy with his composiiions, with 
lessons to Ferdinand Bies, and with his physi- 
cian. Dr. Schmidt, just outside Vienna, could not 
at tbe same moment be writing love letters, 
horn a watering-place two or three hundred miles 
away. 



MUSICAL COMMENTATORS. 

Most of ns remember the delicious scene in Gulli- 
ver's Travels, in which the hero asks tbe Governor of 
Glubdubdrib to samnion before him the ghosts of 
Homer and Artototle, together with those of all their 
eommenutors, and how Gulliver says : *' I soon dis- 
eovered tbst both of them were perfect strmngers to 
the rest of the company, and had never seeo or heard 
of them beibre." 

One wonders whether Beethoven and Bach, when 
they take their afternoon walks in the Elysian JTields, 
acknowledge even a bowing acquaintance with the 
glioftts of those who have discovered " hidden mean- 
ings" and ''evident intentions "in their oompoi^itlons. 
It seems a little hard that the poor little men who 
have done great men* the inestimable serrioe of find- 
ing out what their works mean, should not be recog- 
nised as frien3s and supporters by the great men 
themselves. We can all work miracles, if we only have 
the doe amount of faith ; and no doubt we all should 
do so if the chanee were a little greater of the person; 
for whose especial benefit our miracle is worked, no- 
ticing and applanding it. 

It is a great mistake to think that artists and com- 
pomrs (not to speak of saints) are the only miracle- 
workers. A grand composition, a symphony, sonata, 
quartet, or what not, a whole ideal world made out 
of twelve miserable semi-tones, is a very respectable, 
mirscle^ if yon will ; bnt what is it in comparison with 
tbe Wonders which commentators know how to work ? 

A symphony is, after all, only a symphony and 
nothing else ; it has its own definite functions to per- 
form, and can perform them only — good luck if it 
even can do that Bnt the work of the noble commen- 
tator can do almost anything. Evolve a vymphony 
out of the twelve not^ of the chromatic Ncale ! Pooh ! 
Sheer child's play I One wonders how composers can 
win glory by such simple tricks. Just put any sym- 
phony yon please Into the hands of a commentator who 
is decently up to his woric, and he will evolve the whole 
Mosaic cosmogony, or anything else, from the dcstruc* 
tlon of Jerusalem to the boiling of purjile cabbages, 
out of it. Nor is this all ; a commenutor will dts- 
eover tbat a certain composition plainly means tbe 
evolution of the horse from its five-hoofed prototype ; 
hot jost asks is about to poblish bis world-thrilling 
eommontary he may find (nothing is more likely) 
thai a rival eommentator has sent in ki» MS. to the 
prinfer, dcpepibii^ «»ic$lj the same pnieess as indi- 
«»tsd by the veiy saqi# aomp9a|lioi»« Think yon tbat 
tMncstotor l^o- 1 i9 M cnoagb to biiiv Ms work 



because somebody else has anticipated his difcovery f 
Not a bit of it I' All he does is to go home, scratch 
out the name of the composition and its composer, 
and substitute for it some other composition by some 
other composer. His commentary applies to the new 
composition just as well as It did to the other one' 
and he can have his MS. published without fear of be 
ing charged with plagiarism or lack of originality 
The little circumsuncc is even a lucky one ; it 
brings grist to thvcommentadng mill. For any one 
can predict to a certainty that so soon as the two 
pamphlets are published, commentator No. 8 will 
set to work on a third pamphlet, exhansdvely explain- 
ing tbe extraordinary infiuence the evolution of tbe 
horse has had upon tbe minds of composers, and it 
will go hard with him if he is not rewarded by being 
elected an honarary member of six or seven sssthetie 
soctedcs at the very least. 

No, don't talk about miraculous compositions any 
more; for a good, solid miracle that is really worth 
being astonished at, give me a twenty -four page mu- 
sical commentary in all its protean magnificence. It 
will fit any composition you please, from the Seventh 
Symphony to " Buy a Brpom." It is even more won- 
derful than the picture painted by the painter in " La 
Cigale," which was divided fesse-ways through the 
middle, one half being blue and the other half gray. 
Look at it oneway, and it representc<l the'* clear trop- 
ical sky over the burning sands of the Sahara ; " turn it 
upside down, and, preato! changt! it showed the de- 
lighted rpecutor " the gray polar heavens over tbe 
deep asure of the Arctic Ocean." 

We can easily see why commentators look slight- 
ingly upon programme-music It encroaches upon 
their domain. What glory can a commentator get 
by finding out the meaning of a composition when the 
composer has given him the cine beforehand 1 Such 
a tiling is not worth any man's while. Why, wo 
even laugh at the foolish individual who laid claim to 
possessing some musical acumen because he discov- 
ered that a ceruin passage in the ball-scene in Ber- 
liox's ** Romeo and Juliet " symphony wss descriptive 
of " Romeo driving up to the door in his cabriolet" 
Pooh, nonsense! Any fool could have found that 
out ; the cunning fellow knew from tbe title that the 
music was aliout Romeo. No, eommentators of true 
mettle confine their remarks to music that has no die- 
criptive title, and their commentaries are hence not 
paltry little joftgler's tricks, but full-grown miracles. 
The only danger in their path is that they are 
sometimes liable to find different meanings in the 
same composition, and so get to be at swords' points 
with one another. For it stands to reaspn that, if 
one man declares that a certain symphony means 
Moses and the Israelites passing through the Red 
Sea, and another announces his discovery that this 
same symphony means EmpCror William and Prince 
Bismarck entering Paris, both of them cannot be 
right The omniscience of one or the other is open 
to suspicion, and unless a commentator is omniscient, 
what on earth is he f*ood for? Yet the world can 
console itself by thinking of the vast number of com- 
positions now extant, and what a small chance there 
is of two commentators pitching upon the same sym- 
phony or sonata. But il they do, let them beware 
A commentator is always more sure of his own om- 
niscience than of his repotanon for originality. If be 
finds somebody else saying the same thini; about th 
same piece of music as himself, he can eiuily preserve 
his commenury, merely changing the theme, and his 
reputation as an original thinker is safe. But if he 
finds somebody else differing from him, the old Adam 
of pugnacity within him will prompt him to publish 
his pamphlet unaltered ; and as surely as he does so, 
just so surely is lus infallibility endangered. 

W. F. A. 



nor*s readings of the connecduK portions of the toxt, 
— tbe whole under the able conductonhip of Mr. B. 
J. Lang. It was tbe worthy completion of tbe Clob*s 
noble work of last year, when the companion piece, 
AtOigomitf was Rtven in like manner. It is good proof 
of the intrinsic power and charm of the music ami the 
old Greek tragedy, and of the excellence of the iotON 
pretation, that the whole audience, crowding the Mu- 
sic Hall, listened with unflagging interest, and with 
frequent tokens of delijsht, to a work so far removed 
from all our modern tastes and ways of thinking, 
and so uniformly grave and tragical, in so monoto- 
nous a key of color and oi feding, albeit relieved by 
certain choruses, which charm by their beauty and 
cheerful picturesqoeness, like tbe well-known renmrkr 
able one in praise of Athens : '* Thou eomest here to 
the land, O friend," and stirring ones like: "Ah, 
were I on yonder plain I " The moralising, fatalistic 
chomses, also, so true to a vein pervading all Greek 
tragedy, have a peculiar sweetness and a homelike 
fascination. It is needless to say that Mendelssohn's 
music is all worthy of the noble theme and, so far as 
we of the nineteenth century can imagine, conceived 
n the spirit of the old Greek drama. It k happily, 
scored for men's voices, and the in«trumenta(ion, 
while it is chaste and always thoughtful and nppro- 
priate, is rich and brilliant enough for our new school 
orchestra composers. 

The Apollo Club never sang anything better, and 
that is high praise indeed ; the orchestra had been 
carefully trained, and there was a finish and a 
smoothfiiess in the whole performance, on which all 
the partidpantB may well congratulate tbcnuelvcs. 
The few scutenc s of recitative were intelligently and 
effectively given by Mr. Clarence Hay. Mr. Ticknor 
read with excellent usto and judgment, with good 

voice and accent, and with becoming simplicity and 
dignity of style. 



ocmisunni. 
Bamdd, 

Ckembim, 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Tbb Apoll6 Club, in its concert of Jsn. S7, con- 
tributed an important and most enjoyable event to 
tbe musical season, by its admirable performance of 
Mendelssohn's mmde to tbe (Bdipm at Ctiomu of 

Sophocles, with its noble chorus of male ▼oieea. an 
effective orehsstra* and with Mr. Howard M Tick- 



Habvabd Musical Association. ^ The fourth 
Symphony Concert, Jan. 29, offered a varied and at- 
tractive programme and drew an uncommonly full 
house. The selections were — 

Overture to " Genoveva " . . • . , 
Recitative and Air, from " Semele " . , 

MiM Emily Winant 
Prelude to the third act of Medea . . 
Intermezso, from the Symphony in F, Htrmamn CresCs. 

[Second dme.] 
Overture to Rip van Winkle (MS.), G, W, Ckadwide. 

[Second time.] 
Songs with pianaforte : ^ 
{a.) '* Ah 1 del ndo dolce ardor ** . . StratkUa. 
(6.) " Kennst du dss Land *' . . . . Sekmrnaim. 

{€) To Silvia Schubert, 

Miss Emily Winaat. 
Symphony (" Scotch ") in A minor. Op. 56, 

Schumann's poetic, genial, and impassioned over- 
ture hss become a sunding favorite in these concerts, 
and its power and beauty were brought out remarkably 
well. We do not at all wonder at the different, the al- 
most opposite, impressions produced on diflferent hear- 
ers by the eafr'ade, or prelude to the third act of 
Cherubini's Medea, the noblest of his dramadc works. 
Some fonnd it dull, monotonous, and tedious, full of 
empty repetition, for the obvious reason tbat it is all 
in tbe same low tone of color, mostly for tbe lower 
strings, the basses being very prominent, and all in a 
slow tempo. Othen felt it to be the most tragical mu- 
sic they had ever heard, and were profoundly stirred 
by the largeness, the simplicity, the depth and grand- 
eur, and, indeed, sublimity of this dark prelnde to the 
scene in which Medea is to murder her own children. 
We have even beard one truly musical and highly 
cultivated amateur, not lacking in appreciation of the 
new composer either, say that, compared with this, 
sll the Mendelssohnian Greek drama music seemed to 
him like child's play ! We, for onr part, are of those 
who felt it to be simply grand, and grandly given ; 
the basses were ringularly mnjestic and efliBcdve, 
speaking in thunder tones ; nnd the whole mass of 
strings still vibrates strong^ in onr fesliog when we 
think of it. 



Fbbkuakt 14, 1880.] 



D WIGHT a JOURNAL OF MU$IC. 



81 



The charmiiig intonneno firom the Govts Sjm- 
phonj, and Mr. Chadwick*f Overture were highly wel- 
eome repetitioM, and hoth improTed apun acqaaiot- 
aneflu 

We cannot rrcall at any time within oar memory 
lo smooth and satisfactory, so inspiring and delight- 
ful A performance of the " Scotch " Symphony, as 
this one was ihronghout ; it held the audience spell- 
hound. 

Miss Winent's wonderfully musical, rirh, sympa- 
thetic coiitndio TO'cc told to great advantage in her 
strong delivery of the jealous Juno's recitative: 
"A wale, Satumia" and Aria: *' Hence, Iris, hence." 
It was sung with judgment and considerahle dramatic 
lire. By an unfortunate misunderstanding, however, 
the orchestral parts could not be found when wanted, 
and the piece had to be sang with mere piano-forte 
acoompanimeiit (well played, of course, by Mr. Ar- 
thur Foote), so that the singer could not throw herself 
into it with all the freedom and abandon of which she 
is capable. The group of smaller songs was very 
choice, and partly new, although, owing to thi'ir uni- 
formly serious character, they did not win their way, 
as they might have done singly, to every listener. 
The first, erroneously set down to Siradella — it is 
by Gluck — was finely suited to Miss Winant's voice 
and quiet, serious style. The Mignon I'ons by 
Schumann is a rare gem, worthy of many hearings 
and hardly to be appreciated without. And Schu- 
bert's Shakespeiire song: "Who is Silvia? what is 
she, That all our swains commend her f " is surely 
one of his most genial and charming. 



Unitbrsitt Congbets. — I'he third concert o^ 
the Sanders Theatre series Feb. 5, wsa a remark- 
ably interesting one, beginning as it did with three 
movements (Overiurc, Aria, and Gavotte) of Bach's 
Orchestral Suite in D, and ending with a capiul 
performance of Schumann's firbt symphony (in B-flat) 
which has become a sure card with all tme music 
lovers. 

The intermediate orchestral selections were to us 
less edifying. Wagner's "Faun Symphony," an 
early work, never did achieve the mission of the " art 
divine " upon our spirit ; it seems to dwell exclu- 
sively and with a morbid appetite npon the night 
side, the discontent, the groans, the helpless agonies 
and yearnings of its hero; there is in it not one 
spark of heavenly fire, not one thrill of hope and 
final joy and triumph, as there is in all Beethoven's 
dark and brooding moods and heroic struggles; 
nothing of that light from above, which in all true 
art gilds the edges of the cloud, and relieves, inspires, 
transfigures the darkest tragedies, like Matheih and 
OtkdU, There are skillful and very striking orches- 
tral eflects, but these are often ngly and oppressive, 
like a vampire on the breast. We must admit, how- 
ever, that the work was so weQ played, with such dis* 
eretion in the use of ponderous instruments, ss to seem 
less coarse, less exaggerated, than when we have heard 
it d6ne before. The other middle piece, TU Youth 
of HercuUi, a work of con^derable length, impressed 
ns as the least successful of the always more or less 
fantastical Poimeo Sjfmpkomquei of Saint-Saens. The 
opening, where the strong hero and demi-god finds 
himself at the parting of the ways, has beauty and 
considerable nobility, but the dance music, which rep- 
resents the seductions of the senses, sounds rather 
cheap and common-place. Charms of instrumental 
coloring it has, of course. In all these pieces the 
execution on the part of Mr. Listemann's orchestra 
wsf characterised by precision, spirit, and good taste. 

Mr. George L. Osgood was in his best voice and 
sang several tenor airs from Handel's VAUegro in a 
most artistic style, with tme feeling and expression. 
The Sicilitma, especially, could not be dismissed with- 
onia lepedtion, which both song and singer thoroughly 
deserved. The orchestra, too (with the Robert Frans 
parts), afforded him a delicate and sympathetic accom- 
paniment. Perhaps the ideal singer of Schubert's 
wonderful Eri-Kimf — a song written in an hour — 
lias never yet been found ; but Mr. Osgood's interpre- 
uiion, with Lisst's orchestral expansion of the accom- 
paniment, gave a fresh charm to the almost too famil- 
iar work. Being encored with enthusiasm, he sang ' 



Schubert's Serenade very sweetly, also with orchestral 
accompaniment, but not so happily constructed ; too 
much jfafe warbling lent a sentimental sweetishness to 
its chaste and simple harmony. 



Mb. Ebnst Pbra bo, during the past fortnight, has 
made bis rentr^ to the concert room, after spending 
a good part of a year among his beloved masters in 
his dear old Leipsig, and keeping quiet during the 
few months since his return on account of feeble 
health. Feeling himself strong again he has given 
three Mating in Wesleyan Hall, showing all his old 
feeling and enthusiasm, and even more of finibh and 
refinement in the large part he took in the execution 
of the following programmes : — 

I. Jab. 80. 

Partita I. in B-fiat major BadL 

a. Prelude. 6. Alleiiiaiide. c. Conrante. d. San- 
bande. e. Meiinet I. at II. /, Gigue. 
Coneerto for the Yioliu, op. 141, 6. minor . C Reinedke. 
a. Allegro ma non troppo. b. Lento, e. Rondo. 
Modeimto eon gnueia. 
First time in this eountry. 
Mr. Bemliard IJstmann. 

a. Noctnme in F, op. 44, No. 5, from Soir^ k 

St. Petersburj;. Seooiid time Rmbimtem. 

b. Prelude and Fugue in B-fiat major, fixmi 

the Well-tempered CUvicliord, Book I. . . . Brid. 

c. Prelude in £-flat minor, fhim the Well-tempered 
CUvioord, Book I Back, 

d. Barcarole, ** Auf dem Waseer sn lingen.*' . Scknbert 

!nanseribed by Fnms Lisst. 

Impromptu, op. 90, No. 1, C minor . . . Seknbert. 

Sonata for Piuio and Violin, in G. major, op. 9fi. Beethoven. 

a. Allegro moderato. b, Adijgio eKprearivo. 

c. Seherao. d, Poco Allegretto. 



n. Fxo. 8. 

a 

Partita YI. in E minor Bach, 

a» Tooeata. b, Allemande. e. Coorante. d. Air. 

«. Saraliaade. f. Tempo di Gavotta. g, Gigue. 

Sonata for Piano, in B-fiat minor, op. 35 . . Chopin. 

Grave. Dtipfio morimento. Scbeno. Marda 

Fun^bre. Presto. 

Mr. Edward B. Perry. 

Trois Pieces poor Yloloncells, aveo aooompagnement 

de l^bno. Op. 21 Ck. M. Widor. 

1. a. Moderato. £ minor. 
b. Vivace. B minor, 
e. Andante. G. mi^. 

First time hi Boston, 
i. Mor^eaa pour Piano et *Celle, op. 12, No. 1. Fr, Kiel 

Allegretto. A minor. 

a. Seherxo, op 2, A mi^. Seeond time . E. Perabo, 

b, Pens^ Fugitive, op. 6, F mi^. Second time. 

A. Perabo* 
c Etude de Concert, op. 9, No. 2, A minor . E, Pembo, 

New. Fint time. 
Mr. Edward B. Peny. 
SonaU fbr Pteno and *OeUo, op. 52 . . Fried, Kiel, 
a. Allegro moderato, ma eon spirato. (. In- 
termsno. e. Adagio eon espreesione. d. Hondo. 
Poeo. Allegretto e semplice. 
Second time in Boston. 

nr. fbb. e. 

Prselndium und toceata, op. 57. D minor. 

Vineem Ladkner. 
New. 
First Concerto for the Violin, iu G minor, op. 26. 

MaxBmdi. 
b. Adagio, e. Finale. 
Trio No. 2, op. 45. A niinor ... X Scharwenka, 
a. Allegro non troppo. b. Adagio, c. 
Schsno. Molto Allegro, d, AU^i^ eon ftiooo. 
Fint time in this coontiy. 

a. MdaneoUe, G ndnor, op. 51, No. 1 . . BmbimeUin, 

Second time. 

b, Mffouet eon trio, from Symphony in G mhior, op. 

48 W.Bt, Bennett. 

Fint time, 
c MNovelletltundMalodie,*'op.22 . Z. Bekarwenia. 

Second time. 
1. Modsnto, F mfaior. 2. Andante eon 
skma,Fm^ior. 
d. Etude bi A m^ior, op. 9, No. 8 ... E. Perabo. 

Firrt time. 
Sonata fbr Pbno and *Ceih», op. 68, A mi^ . Beethoven, 
a. Allegro, ma noo tanto. 6. Sehcneo, Allegro 
molto. e. Adagio cantabOe. d. Allegro vivace. 

Mr. Perabo shows a certain heroism, even martyr- 
dom, in his selections ; that is, he thinks less of what 
may prove popular than of what commends itself to 
his own taste as good. Else ha would hardly hare 



chose that long and colorless Bach Partita in B-flat 
for a beginning. That such things reward the study 
of sn esmest musician, there can be little doubt; hut 
outside of the closet they seldom make their mark. 
We do not mean to say that it is so with ali the Par- 
titas. The artist's rendering was singularly smooth, 
refined, nnd delicate; he played as if it wen all 
poetry to Aim, at any rate. We find it rather bard to 
become much interested in a Vio in Concerto, cape- 
cially a new one, without ihe orchestral accompani- 
ment which makes it a Concerto. Rvinecke's work 
contains good ideas, cKverly worked out in the ap- 
proved style, though it did not strike us as partic- 
ularly original. Mr. Listemann, of rour»e, played It 
finely, and Mr. Perabo's pkno accompaniment was 
all that that could be. The group of smaller piano- 
forte pieces was well chosen ; they were all intereat- 
ing gems, in fact, and charmingly interpreted, espe- 
cially the Schubert things. It was a raie treat to 
listen once more to that bright and genial Sonata 
Duo of Beethoven. 

To our great regret we lost the second Mating, first 
on account of the storm, and again throngh other en- 
gagemenu when it was repeated. Truly It wa$ a loss 
not to hear that excellent pianiat, Mr. Peny, pky tha 
Chopin Sonata ; as well ss Mr. Perabo's own eompo- 
bitions, of which we have heard good things said, and 
the violoncello pieces played by Mr. Wulf Fries. 

In the third concert we were much interested in the 
graceful prelude and toccata by Vincens Lachner,— 
not his more celebrated brother Frsns, the Munich 
Lachner. Mr. Listemann was hardly at his best in the 
movements from Max Bmch's concerto ; plenty of ex- 
ecution, but tone not altogether smooth. The Trio by 
Scharwenka is a work which we must hear again in 
order to appreciate it ; the atmoephere of the nx>m 
(which seems to combine many obstacles to hearing 
musicj, or some fault in the subjective conditions, ten- 
dered it eta Bitchen Umgweilig to us. It was of conrse 
well played by Perabo, Listemann, and Wnlf Fries. 
The two smaller solos by the seme composer we found 
charming; and they were placed in a congenial group. 
Mr. Perabo's A major Etnde was most fitvorably i«- 
oeived. That the Beethoven Sonata with 'cello was 
keenly relished may pass without saymg. 

The audiences have been large, and many will be 
glad to know that Mr. Perabo will soon give two 
more Mating (16th and 14th of this month), besides 
an evening concert (March 8). 



Mbs. LuiSA Cappiaki's second concert with a 
number of her advanced vocal pupils, drew a large 
and interested audience to Mechanioa' Hall on Wednet^ 
day evening, Feb. 4. The coneert was opened by the 
blind pianist, Mr. B. B. Perry, with three Schumann 
pieces (" Anfcchwung," " Nachtslftek " and/'Timu- 
meswirren"), yerj nicely and poetically rendered. 
He also, later, played the difilcult Fantaeie im/tromptn 
of Chopin in a very satisfactory manner, and two 
oompositions by Perabo. Mme. Cappiani herself sang 
a rather sentimental 6*oeiia e Canto di '* Doforee/* by 
Manaochchi, in good voice and artistic style. The 
first pupil who appeared, Mrs. T. B. Buxton, of St. 
John, N. B., showed excellent results of training, in 
her facile, fluent, graceful execution of a recitative 
and aria from Verdi's AiWa. Miss Ida Kleber, of 
Piusburg, Pa., who has a light and pleasing high so- 
prano voice, reveled at ease in^all the florid passages 
of a "Jewel Aria" by Pachii. Miss Emma Dear- 
bom, of Worcester, thongh hardly so mach at ease 
before an audience, showed sterling qualities of voice, 
style, and expression in the Aria from / Pnritani. Up 
to this point we endured the wintry, hreesy tempera* 
tare of the hall, but deemed it safer to withdraw, so 
that we can only give the programme of FBrt IL 

Aiia*«Parto." Titos Mooari. 

(Mrs. T. B. Buxton.) 
Song. The Angel at tiie WumIow .... A Tomt. 

(Dr. Albion M. Dudley.) 
(A.) happy, happy Utile Birdt. ) 

(b.) Widmnng [ . , 

(c.) Eipeetatioa. . . . . ) 

(Mne. Luisa GsppitBl). 
(a.) Pcoste Fugitive.** 



Xobert Front, 



(6.) Etude de CfmoetL \ 

Edi 



Pernio. 



(Mr. EdwBid B Ptory.) 



32 



DWIGHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1013 



TcrtonllA y»ln ^^Ui, 

(ICiM Ida KMmt.) 

Qnartet Beoo quel flaro iatontea Cottn. 

(Mn. BazUn, MmA. Oippiaiii, Mr. J. M. Ned, «nd Mr. 

dwrlesBoM). 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Kbw Toek, Fbb. 9. — Sinoe mj btt letter quietneas — 
oompHati?elj speaking — has reigned in miuical matters : 
that is to saj, none of the larger and more important oou- 
oarta have takan plaee. On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the N. Y. 
Qnintet Club gave a soir6e in Steinwaj Hall, irith a pn>- 
graouM entirely eompoaed of Beethoven'a works. A very 
esoelient and attentive audienee enjoyed this programme, 
and the performanoe was, in most respects, a satisfactory 



On Saturday evening, Jan. 31, an audience of perhaps 
SOOO penons j^^sembled in Steitiway Hall for the purpose of 
hearing a ao-called » Sullivan KUlad Concert." The pro- 
gTMDnie waa made up of aelecUona fkom Mr. S.'a ballads, 
which wero suug with mora or less eflbct by d,ifStt*ent vocal- 
ists. It is unnecessary to mention auy one especially except 
Miaa Winaut, who aang, aa one of her aolua, ** The Loat 
Chord; '* her noble voice waa never heard to better ad van- 
tage than upon thia occasion, although her efforts were sadly 
marred by the dense ignorance and ivant of taste on the part 
of her accompanist, who indeed distinguished himself — 
during the entire evening — as utterly incompetent, and as 
a hopelen stumliler and blunderer. Miss W. received an 
encore in each part of the programme, and, in response to 
the second, sung a new setting of •* My teve is like a red, 
led roee," by Mr. C. F. Daniels of this city. Mim W. did 
Joctice to the author's purfiose and Intention, but the full. 
iiess and extent of the btter will never be known because of 
the manner in which the accompaniment was slaughtered. 

There were two piano solos played in a nenoos and jerky 
manner, and an unaccompanied vocal quartet, over which It 
is weU to draw the ehariUble (and sadly needed) veil of ob- 
livfon; what can be expected if the soprano wUl insist upon 
singing nearly a semi-tone sharp, and the baaao is as firmly 
resolved to take the opposite extreme? 

I hare dwelt at some length upon this concert for the rea- 
aon that it waa certainly a moat curtoua affur; it must hare 
been a great pecuniary sucoess, and from the fluency and 
heartineas of the appfamse (everybody rsceived a recall) 1 
should say that the manager, or managers, hsd exactly sue- 
eeeded in hitting the taate of our ao-called mnaieal public. 

On Tuesday evening, Feb. 8, the N. Y. Philharmonic 
aub gare the fourth concert of iU series at Chiekering Hall. 
Here Is the programme: — 

String Quartet, Op. 74 BiseOowa. 

a. Evenmg Rest JTre/cAwer. 

*. Allegretto con moto • a/v^t- 

c Turidsh Mareh Bttthootii. 

P. F. Quintet, A. minor, Op. M • - • • aAuU^HM^. 
Mr. Mills and N. Y. P. Qnb. 
A stormy ifight was the order of things, as it ha I so fre- 
qnantly been on Tnsaday eveninga aince DeeemSer 1, and 
on that account a email audience of faitbfal oii«a assembled 
in Chiekering H<*11 to hear aa admireble a performance as 
the club has furnished u« with dunug the entire aeasoii. The 
three shorter selections were given with a delicacy and finish 
that merited and received the hearty and S|>ontoneou8 recog- 
nition of tiie auditon. The Quintet u a very interesting 
work, if not a beautiful one, and might bare been quite ef- 
feetire if Mr. S. B. Mills could hare diverted himself of hU 
unfortunate habit of tprtndUg all his ocUves and full chords 
In utter defiance of the composer*s intentions. He is also 
addicted to the glaring error of playing fortissimo when the 
■core is marked double pi'iM. It u difficult to understand 
how Mr. MiUs recouoilci such incou'^ities. 

On Thursday evenhig we had another evening of English 
Glees, which was, perhaps, less s:«tUfoetory tiian were iU 
predeeesson; at least two of tim voeaUsts were entirely out 
of trim, and were tiierefore not so excellent as they almost 
invariably are Mia« Baebe gare us a " Cradle Song to a 
Sick Child," both the words and music of which were com- 
posed by one of our resident organtsU and oomposera The 
composition is really a very beautiful oen, although there is in 
one sense a certain absurdity in a careful mother singing to 
a sick infimt witii her own voice pitched on high A or B flAt; 
still this is a blemish merely, and the song Is really a 

charming one. , . 

On Saturday evenuig Dr. Dunroach's Oratorio Society 
gare the Crtation with but moderate artistic success. The 
only one of the aobisU who was reaUy excelleut wa*, imlis- 
putably, your Boston basso, Mr. Whitney; he is always ad- 
mirable. 

Our wen known American pianiste, Mme. Riv^- King, has 
been meeting with great artistic succem. She played at the 
Peabody ConcerU in Baltimore, Jan. 8') and 31; at the 
CoiicerU of the Mendelssohn Society in Montreal, Feb. 6 
and 6, and is to pky in ' Waaliington Feb. 17, to say noth- 
ing of her engagement for the Harvard Sympliony Ooncerta 
in your dty at a later date. Abous. 

— MiLWAOKKB, Wia., Jan. 84, 1880. — The foUowing 
waa the programme of the 968tii eonoert of the Mualcal So- 
dciy given Jan. JO: — , ^ , \ 

(I.) Overture, " Fingal'a Care " Felix MendeUiok*. 



(9.) Two aoiigffor Bu-itons .... R, S:hn.nnM. 

(Mr. Eugene Luenin:{.) 
(3.) Rommca: *' To Spring ** . . . G, A. Schinz. 

(Horn Solo by G. A Schanz. ) 
(4.) German Dances ...... Fmnx Schubert. 

For Maennerchor and Orchestra, arranged by R. Heuben{er. 
(5.) Symphony N't). 7. (A mijor) . . . Bttefhooen. 

'Vht orohestra, owin^ to a diita^raeiDnt hetwien Gxiduc- 
tor B«ch and th9 mini^fmiut of the Sj^tety, wm mule up 
entirely of man outside of Bich's orolieitra; it imslu Itsd thd 
Heine family, Profetsar Troll, Conda^tor CUuler and some 
of his men, with nine picked players frjn C'licago, — 
thirty -six in all. Taeir playinqp showai the lick of finish 
and refinement inispiraMe fron the brinrlii{ to^dther of so 
many players uniccuitomad to playing to^iOhx; but they 
pbtyed with gtiut Are an 1 spirit, and give evidjiica of vigor- 
ou4 reheitrsU. .Vlr. Lieiiiu^ to)k the nUfjrttto of the 
symphony too fast, %% it leemdJ to m«, and so injured the 
eoiitrait intended betwedii this m>vemjat an I wii&t preeeijs 
and followi it. 

The male chorus san^ a-Iinirably in all piintt, the tanors 
having improved in qtidityor t)i3 siiisj t'u l.ut c>ii«}tfrt. 
Mr. Luenin; pUfel a piam aoco UiiinimMt, oiilttin^ the 
orchestra l>eoauie tha ch»ru4 and orcheitra want baily to- 
gether in rdhaari-il. He also pliyel the accxnpvnimiiti 
for hi-i ow.i sin {in r, or rather declanUim^ for that more 
nearly describes his renderiu'^ of the SsHuminn songs. 
Con4i<lered ai such it wu almiriide; he ha* a full, q'lite 
strong voice, and an excellent delivery of the wjrdi, but his 
voice lacki tingimg quality. 

Mr. Schanz is a very exodlent horn -player, bnt his sob 
w\4 hurdly in plaee on this prorrAu ni. In lee J, the s\rn» 
may be said of the S^hum mn so.1^4, ad nirihii ai they are 
for recitals or for private perform uioe. 

But the blemlihai, both of th^ pro^rinni) and of itv per- 
formance, wdre slight ai cjm 1 itll with iti m triti, aa 1 th j 
cid society m\j be proud of au>>tb;)r sujoei«ful concert. 

J. C. F. 



horns with orchestra, op 83 (fint time), Sehnmann. Over- 
ture, etc. 

— The next (Jaiverdty Cm-sert, at Sinleri T-Hi^re, 
Ca'n'trl.l^, will take place on Wednesday erenin!;, Febru- 
ary 3>, initead of the 3ith, as before annonnoe.1. Mme. 
Ki^ tCing will pUy the sam) Onioerto, by Siint-Susni, in 
this and in the Hirvari Ojiioert of the following after- 
noon. 

— The Herali says: ** It h%« bsen deeidH to post, 
pone the season of English opxa at the Globe Theatre by the 
B'Mton English Opera Society, under the dire>itiin of Mr. 
Charles R. Adam*, until Miy, the labor of preparing for 
such a season miking it neeesivy to take fnrth«nr time. The 
ehoru4 h%« bean hard at w;irk, a'ld miy poMibly appear In a 
saerail concert programme during the coming month." 

— Mr. Anat^ifM, the director of the Perkins Institution 
for the Bliiil, ha* recenUy re^Mved the following testimony 
in favor of the e.n,>loyment of blind tuners: — 

Nkw Yobk, Jan. 9, 1889. 

" /)m#* Sir: In answer to your letter of the 23th ult., 
we desire to inform you that one of our principal tunen 
is a blind man« named Armin Schotte. 

'* Tuis gentlemui tunes the concert grand pianos for the 
eoneerti at Stain way Hill, ett., etc., which work is cnniidered 
the higheit ajhievein?:a in the art of tuning. Mr. Schotte*s 
tuuiii;; is siin^>l7 perfoet, not only for its purity, liut in his 
skill of so setting thi tutiinq^-pins that the plant can en- 
dure the largest an>'mt of hsivy pUyin<, without being 
put out of time. Very respectfully yours, 

»* SrKixw.vT A 8021s." 



MUSICAL INTBLLIGRNCB. 

Hbrk JosEFFr, the pianist, twice annonncjl by Mr. 
Peck for three concerts in the Music Hill, with the Phil, 
hvmonic Orchestra (the sionl tima for this week) ha« 
agiin been compelled to cancel thaen^a^eaunt for the pras- 
eiit, the injury to his thun*) beiii{ n'>t yet s«iffi;iently 
healed. Tttis is agreatdisippiintmMt to the m my hun- 
dreds who hid secured tiek^s for ths serias; but it is pre- 
sumed th %t it will o ily am >dut to a'lother p)stpon*m'9nt for 
a short time of the promise I plaisure. T.ie Alotrtutr of 
Wednesday sUtes: His injuraJ fiii^r is wall to all appiar- 
ances; but it ci ises him pun, an I ha is uiii'ile to touc'i tiie 
key-board. His physidi ui consulted with twa others, and 
it was not thoiiv^ht thu tiia se^isiUve.uas wkiI I Ust so \r.i*. 
Herr Joseflfy wm to hue had a rehearaU in Uist'>ii yester- 
day, and even' sent on the piano -forte he wis to play. Sul- 
denly all filrther prep (rations ware suspa.iladin conse)teiice 
of a telegraphic desp Och to the aVive import. Tue d-%tes 
of the postp)ned conserts will n^t nov l>e announce 1 until 
Herr .Josaffy Is a-stu lUy able to pi %y. Tat recent announce. 
ment wis in a^cordanea with tba physician's certificate that 
the artist wjil.l uu j lastion ibly ba a'de to a^>p3ir on the 
days named. 

— Hrsrr U'lmmel, the distinguished pianist, met with s 
eerious accident in Providence list 'Tues-lay night. On h's 
way to the railrua I st uioii he fell and broke his leg. (t was 
his purpose soon to leive for Europe. Thare seams an epi- 
demic am->ng pianists: Joseff/ with his bad thum'», Slier- 
wood wth his sprained ankle, Petertilei only recently re- 
covered fro n influnmitory rhmmstism, Pease's bun-* thumb. 
Who wiil hare the co ira^ to be a pianist if it goes on in 
this way? 

— Mr Elward Dmnreuther, one of our best violinists, 
for three yesrs past a member of the Menddssohn Quintette 
Club, writes us thit he his resigned his m^m'iership (being 
weary <rf continual travelin)() and intends to settle down in 
Boston, devoting himidf to his studies and to teaohina;. 
.Mr. Carl Meisel takes his place as second vlohnist in the 
Club. The Men4eIasohns were to stirt on Thursday hut 
on a lon^ concert tour westward, even visiting California. 

^The fifth HiTvsrd Symph tmy Concert, of last Tiiun- 
diy, offered two lm^j>rtant works, never before haard in 
America, n.miely, theS/mphonie Fantastique (•* Episode de 
la Vie d'un Artiste ") by Beribs, a piano-forte concerto 
by L9uis Brassin, played by Miss Jessie Cochran. Resides 
thiese the programme included the romanoe ** Sombre 
foret,** from Willi tin Tell^ and songs by (}rieg, sung by 
Miss fjouie Homer; also the o\-ertiire to Fifleliif^ — too late 
for review tiiis week. The programmes for the remainder of 
the series hare been partuiUy announced as foUowi: 

Sixth (Concert, February 83. Fourth Symphony (B-flat) 
Beetiioven; Oatet (by all the string), Mendebsohn. Mme. 
Julia Riv^.Kiug wUl play the Piano Onicerto hi G minor, 
bf Saint-Seens. Miss May Bryant will sing a Saena fnm 
Max Bnich*s " lysseus,*' and Songs. 

Seventh Onicert, March 11. F^fes^or J. K. Paine's 
new (''Spring ") Symphony. Mr. WilluMu H. Sherwoo-l 
will pky the G-major Concerto, Beetiioven; and Gnnd 
Fantasia, Schumann. Overtures, etc 

Eighth Out) (>>ncert, Ifareh 95. The great Schubert 
Symphony, In C. Mr. B. J. LMsg will pky (first time in 
Am«ica) a Coocerto by Broosait. Conioertetilek, for four 



— The seventieth birthday of Ole Bull was celebrated on 
the eveninq; of Feb. 5 at his residetiea in Cambridge (Professor 
Lowdl's house) in a m >st interesting and delightful manner, 
which gare great satisfaetion to all tiie friends who assembled 
to offjr their greetings. Tiie pvty amnged by Mrs. Bull 
W.U a complete surprise to him. Amon'{ the guests were 
neariy all his warm personal friends. H- W. L'>nKfeIk>w and 
family, Mr. and Mrs. JamM T. Fields, Professor Horeford 
and family, Madame H*german Undenkroue. wife of the 
Danish minister. Dr. Doremus and family, E. W. Stoughton, 
ex-minister to Eosiia, Mrs. G. M. Ticknor and daughter, 
.Mr. Tiiomas Appletoii, Mia Susan Hale. Mrs. Fay, Mrs. 
Miria S. Porter, Mra. Bates, Mr. E. F. Waters of tiie A4- 
eerliter^ and mmy othen. The floral gifts were very beau- 
tiful, consisting of a rioUn Ibrmed of white flowers, the strings 
being of violets, and the screws of red roses. Two bottles 
of Tokay of the rintage of 18 LO were sent by Professor Here- 
ford. M^. L'>ngfellow, witii an appropriate speech, poured 
this wine, in which the health of Ole Bull was driuik by all 
present with wishes for many returns of happy birttfdays. 
A birth'lay ci'ce was brought in at the close of the evening, 
waiah Ole B dl cut, stating thit a gold violin was embeitded 
tiiere, aid amid a goa I de.il of fun Mrs. Professor Horsfoid 
w IS so fortuu ate as to find it in her slice. At di&rent times 
during the evenins; M*. Bull treited his guests to some of 
the very best gam \ of his repertoire. M i lame Hegerman 
Lindenkrone san{ in a most charming manner German, 
N" irwegiaii, and Spmish songs. Miss Doremits gare some 
lively selections on the baigo, and in hilaritr and best wishes 
to all a m »st deliglitfnl evenin-^ cloied. — Trtuueript, 

— 1 Fridiy evening, Jan. 33, Mr. W. H- Sherwjod gare 
a private concert at his ro')ms, 151 Tremont Street, with the 
fbllowing programme: — 

• 

C Shu-p in M^or Prelude and Fu ^9 .... Btek. 

(Mr. Sherwooi ) 
Ln Ko n.)tu, B Flat, 0>. Ui, N^o. 3 . . SekuSeH, 

(Miss Lena Ames.) 

IIi;h«Mts Muik, Nos. 1 and 3 (four hands), JeiMsa. 

(.Misses Ida an I Ere Van Wagenen.) 

«-*- 1 |;j S^^:^... ( • • .'-« '^^ 

(Mr. Ch tries F. WeVier.) 

Wdlesrauschen, (ooioert tftaie) Limt. 

N'octurne, F Siarp, Op- 15 Chopin. 

Tocc^ito di Concerto, Op. '16 D»poiU, 

(Mr. Sherwood.) . 
Impromptu, on a tlMme firom Sahuminn*s Manfred^ 

(for two pianos). Op. fid 

(Miss Marie Moutoonier and Mr. Sherwood.) 

(a.) Lithanisehes Lied Chnpin, 

(6.) Die belle Sonne leuehtet. Op. 43, N'o. i, Robl. Franz. 
(c.) Mondnacht, Op. 17 (dedicated to LIstc) iSfdUssuM. 
(Mr. ChariesF Webber.) 

Fantaeie, in C, Op. 89 Sehnminn. 

(a.) Dnrehaus phantastiseh und leidensehaft- 

lich vorzutngen. 
(6.) Maaig; Darehans energtseh. 
(c.) Langsam getngen, durehweg leln su halteo. 

(Mr. Sherwood.) 

— Utopia Is the titie of a musied dab fimed hi PhOa- 
delphb. A central focathm hss already been secured, on 
Girard Street above Eleventh, and about thUty aetire mem- 
ben enrolled; among them such weQ-known artists as 
Thomas A*Becket, Henry Bishop, Michael Croes, Harry 
Bsmhurst, Wm. W. Gilchrist, A. G. Emeriek, Henry G 
Thunder, etc, and each educated amateon and patrons of 
musle as S. Deeator Smith, Wm. Foley, etc The olgeei 
is social iiitercourse between all music-loring people, artists, 
and amateurs, and to provide a eort of musical exchange hi 
« eentnl kwatkm. 



1 



February 28, 1880.] 



DWIOHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



33 



BOSTON, FEBRUARY 28, 1880. 

Xattvid at tb« Poet OAIm st Boiton as Meond-elAM matter. 



AU tke mtid$» «•( ertdittd (d otktr publUations w*r$ escprtsttf 
Mfritun/or this Jommal, 

PMiihed /ert»igkUf by IIoiraHTOir, Omood Aire Compaht, 
00«toA, Mass. PrieSf 10 cents m number ; $2.50 per fear. 

Far saU in Bostan by Oasl PBUWBft, SO West &ree:, A. WwL- 
IAMB A Co., Z83 Washington Street, A. K. LoRiHO, 369 Wash- 
imgtoa Street, and by the Pnblishtrs; in Nno York by A. Bauf- 
TAMO, Je., S9 Umion Square, and Hooohtoh, Oioood A Co., 
21 Aster Ptaesf in Philadelphia by W. II. Boxbk A Co., 1102 
Chestnut Street; in Chieeigo by the CfliOAOO Muiic Oompamt, 
612 StaU Street. 



HEGEL ON THE "CONTENT" (INHALT) 

OF MUSIC. 

The recent publication of Mr. Bryant's 
translation of the second part of Hegel's 
Ae$thetik (" The Philosophy of Art ") calls 
new attention to his treatment of art. and 
especially of masic Tlie part of the^work 
now translated does not touch the separate 
arts, except, incidentally, architecture, sculp- 
ture, and painting ; it has to do merely with 
the division of art progress into three epochs : 
the Symbolical (wherein man seizes the ideal 
imperfectly, and seeks to give it expres- 
sion by means of a symbol, a form having a 
natural relation to the principal part of the 
conception, thus giving rise to Oriental art 
and such half-way productions as the Sphinx, 
Memuon, etc.) ; the Classical (wherein the 
beautiful is conceived of as spiritual, though 
scarcely as living, but rather in eternal and 
unchangeable form, of which classical sculp- 
ture forms the principal example ; the distin- 
guishing traits of the classic being the more 
perfect conception of the beautiful, and the 
exact expression of it in the form) ; and the 
Romantic (in which spirit has recognized it- 
self as spiritual and separate from form, 
and labors constantly to express in art the 
beauty of spirit ; that is, the deeper and more 
internal qualities which come to outward re- 
alization only by means of collisions between 
opposing priuciples). 

The nature of beauty, and the content (Jn- 
halt) and scope of art in general, come in the 
first part of thd Aesthetik, In defining the 
beautiful, Hegel seems to me not fortunate, 
fie says that ^ beauty is only a particular ut- 
terance and representation of the True." The 
three chapters of this part of Hegel's work 
seem to be worth sifting by some competent 
person. They are on ^ The Conception [ A- 
yrijr'j of the Beautiful in General," << The 
Beautiful in Nature," and '< The Art Beauti- 
ful, or the Ideal." 

On the scope of art, Hegel is sufficiently 
broad and deep. He says, e. g.^ '^ It is the 
task and scope of art to bring to our concep- 
tion and spiritual realization all that in our 
thought has a place in the human spirit ; to 
awaken and to animate the slumbering feel- 
ings, desires, and passions of all kinds ; to fill 
the heart, and awaken to consciousness every 
thing, developed and undeveloped, which hu- 
man feelings [ GemiUh"] can carry, experience, 
and bring forth in their innermost and most 
secret hearts ; whatever the human breast, in 
its manifold possibilities and sides, desires to 
move and excite ; and especially whatever 
the spirit has in its thought and in the idea 
of the moat essential and high, the glory of 



the honored, the eterjial, and true, — through 
all these to reach the feelings and intuitions 
for the sake of enjoyment. Likewise un- 
happiness and misery, thus to make con- 
ceivable wickedness and criminality ; to per- 
mit the human heart to share everything 
horrible and dreadful, as well as all joy 
and liappitie«8 ; and fancy at last to indulge 
jtself in vain sports of the imagination, as 
well as to run riot in the ensnaring mngic 
of the sensur^usly entrancing contemplations 
and sensations." All this can be done with 
effect, he says, because the outer world he- 
comes known to us only through sense-percep- 
tion ; so that whether our attention is taken 
by the outer reality itself, or only by a rep- 
resentation of it (as a picture, a drawing, or 
poetry), ** by means of which a scene, or re- 
lation, or lift) content of any kind is brou<^ht 
to us," it produces the same effect upon our 
feelinos, arousing within us the corresponding 
sensation and passion. But I must not lin- 
ger on this part of the work. 

In the third part of the Aesthetik Hegel 
speaks of the content and meaning of the 
different arts. He traces a suggestive prog- 
ress in the relation of the material in each 
art to the content. Thus, architecture deals 
with matter in great masses, seized and con- 
trolled by spirit, which leaves on it the im- 
press of its idea. But spirit does not dwell 
in the mass. In sculpture the mass of ma- 
terial is very much reduced, and the form 
\$hosen is the only one in which spirit, as yet, 
recognizes itself as dwelling. Tet the soul 
does not dwell within the statue ; the marble 
figure in space is lifeless, dead; out of its 
sightless eyes no soul looks forth ; but it rep- 
resents the spiritual idea in its permanent or 
eternal phase,- — the repose of the immortal 
gods. In painting the material is still further 
reduced, namely, to a mere appearance of 
substance. There is, to be sure, the oil, the 
paint, the canvas. But these we do not 
see or think of, only the landscapes, per- 
sons, and scenes here represented. As B^- 
nard phrases it,^ ^< The true principle, the 
essential content, the centre of this art, is al- 
ways the innermost life of the soul." ^In 
the representations of nature, what consti- 
tutes the vital interest, the real sense, is the 
sentiment which beams through it, the reflex 
of the spirit, the soul of the artist which ap- 
pears in his work, the image of his inmost 
thought, or a general echo of our impres- 
sions." 

These three arts have this in common : that 
they deal with subjects conceived in terms of 
space, which endure permanently, or seem to 
do so, as objects distinct from and outside of 
ourselves. But ^ in tone [says Hegel] music 
forsakes the element of outward shape and 
its immediate visibility, and addresses itself to 
another subjective organ, the ear, which, like 
sight, belongs not to the practical, but to the 
theoretic, senses ; and is indeed yet more 
ideal." Hence, " what is represented through 
music is the last subjective inwardness as 
such ; it is the art of the soul [ Gemuth'], which 
addresses itself immediately to the souL 
Painting, e, g*, as we saw, may likewise give 
expression in physiognomy and shape to the 

i Enaj on H^*b Aesthetik, Joaraal of Speeiikta?e 
Phikwophj, vol. iL, Ko. 1., St. Louis. 



inner life and energy, the determinations and 
passions of the heart, the situations, conflicts, 
and fate of the soul ; but what we have al- 
ways before us in painting are objective ap- 
pearances, from which the observing I, as 
inner self, remains entirely separate. One 
may ever so completely absorb and sink him- 
t^elf in the subject, the situation, the charac- 
ter, the form, of a statue or« painting ; may 
admire the art work and come out of himself 
towards it ; nay, may completely fill himself 
therewith, — it matters not ! These works of 
art are and remain independent objects, in 
review of which we come not beyond the 
position of an observer. But in music this 
difference (l>et\veen the observer and the 
work) vanishes. Its content is an independ- 
ent subjectivity, and the utterance brings it 
not to a permanent objectivity \v space, but 
through its ephemend vibrations denotes that 
it is a communicator, which, instead of having 
a duration of its own, is drawn from the in- 
ner and subjective, and exists outwardly only 
^or the expression of the subjective inner. 
The tone is indeed a form of utterance and 
an externality ; but an utterance which, di 
rectly that the externality is, makes itself 
disappear again. Scarcely has the ear seized 
it than it is gone ; the impression which 
takes its place immediately inwardizes itself; 
the tone sounds only in the depths of the 
soul, which is seized in its ider.1 subjectivity 
and set in motion." 

The general content^ of music is emotion' 
ality as such. '^It exleods itself in every 
direction for the expression of all distinct 
sensations and shades of joyousness, nerenity, 
jokes, humor, shoutings, and rejoicinp:s of soul, 
as well as the gradations of anguish, sorrow, 
grief, lamentation, distress, pain, regret, etc ; 
and, finally, aspiration, worship, love, etc, 
belong to the proper sphere of musical ex- 
pression." ^Mu'<ic builds up no permanently 
enduring structure in space ; it has, indeed, 
no permanent existence, but whenever it 
would speak to us must, as it were, be re- 
created anew. Yet in its very nature as 
tone, and through the power of its motion in 
time, it pierces immediately into the inner of 
all motion, the soul." *^ £ven if music lacks 
for us a deeper content, or a more soulful ex- 
pression, even then we delight ourselves sim- 
ply in the sensuous klang and the well sound- 
ing ; or with an examination of the melodic 
and harmonic contents as such. Yet, on the 
other hand, if we refrain from this kind of 
technical examination of it, and abandon our- 
selves to the musical art work, it absorbs us 
completely in itself, and carries us forth with 
itself, quite otherwise than with the might 
which art, as art in general, exercises over us. 
The peculiar power of music is an element- 
ary force ; t. e., it lies in the element of tanes^ 
in which here the art moves. Consequently, 
in conspicuously easily-moving rhythm, we 
delight to strike with the measure, to sing 
with the melody, and in dance music it conies 
into the very bones,** 

This results, he says, from ^the connec- 
tion of the subjective inner with time as such. 
The /is in the time, and the time is the be- 
ing of the subjective inner itself. Because, 
now, time and not space furnishes the essential 
element, in respect to which tone acquires its 



34 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. ^Na 1014. 



musical yalne, and the time of the tone is like- 
wise that of the 8ub]«*ct, so peDetrates the tone 
immediately, by right of its. very foundation, 
into the self; faf^tens there its simple design, 
sets the /in motion through the time motion 
and rhythm, while the other kinds of figura- 
tion (melody, harmony, etc.) serve as a de- 
terminate filling up of the subject." 

There is much more in this great work 
equally well worthy of citation, and equally 
noticeable for depth of insight and pictur- 
esque and graphic expret>sion. I have not 
been able to find elsewhere so clear an idea 
of the place and function of music ; and this 
is the more to be wondered at because Hegel 
wrote rather in a spirit of prophecy than in 
view. of actual achievement He was bom 
in 1770, the same year as Beethoven, and I 
suppose the Aeithetik was written somewhere 
about 1812, that is, about the time when Beet- 
hoven's Fifth Symphony was only four years 
old, having been played two or three times iii 
Vienna, and the sixth, seventh and eighth quite 
new. Notliing of Schubert's work was known 
at that time. Bach was a sealed book, except 
the ^ Clavier ** and a few of the organ fugues. 
Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Schumann were 
children in pinafores* 

That Hegel should have perceived the 
vital importance of the time* element in mu- 
sic lends confirmation to my suspicion that 
the artistic value of rhythm was better un- 
derstood then than since, especially in its re- 
lation to sustained musical discourse. 

On other points he is not so complete. The 
romantic nature of music, its inherent suit- 
ability as the voice of love, hope, joy, and 
worship, he seems to have felt in himself, as 
well as by means of his logic. But in the 
detailed discussion of its means of expression, 
he betrays the hand of the tyro, as well as 
the fact that he wrote before the real force 
of mus«c was understood. Vischer's Aes- 
thetik I have never seen. If now some be- 
nevolent student would inform us wherein, if 
at all, he advances beyond Hegel, I have no 
doubt.it would be a favor to many, as well 
as to W. S. B. Mathews. 



LETTERS FROM AN ISLAND.^ 

BTFANNT BATMOKD RITTKR. 

IV. 

RUSSIAN FOLK-SONQB. 

Drab Pounamu I * — When the poet Boden- 
stedt spoke of Russian art and folk poetry, in 
the lecture to which I alluded in my former let^ 
ter, be did not give any of his own translations 
of these ; and many persons, unacquainted, like 
myself, with his fiimous renderings of them into 
German, regretted it. He made a passing ref- 
erence to Russian folk-songs, however, and ob- 
served that their general character was ''sad 
and feminine." 

It is impossible for us to ascertain with cer- 
tainty how many of these anonymous poems 
and melodies were actually composed or written 
by women ; yet there can be no doubt that the 

1 Gopyrlgbt, 1880, bj Fanny lUynond Bitter. 

s To POaniam (the Pottnimn), is the Maori name tar 
the QtecDstoiM, wliiich is a prodoct of th« Island of New 
Zealand, and wblefa liaa alwayi been bdd in bigh flrtim»- 
tioB by the natives, for batebcts, ibofi band-dabs (for war), 
as wall as for ornaments It ia also ratber admirad by Um 
£arH»ean settlers. Te PeOnimn is tbe Jonmalistie nom tU 
phm9 ofan Anglo-Maosi gcntkman, to wbom tbe absfve 1st- 
|er is addrssHd. 



influence of woman — inspiring or depressing 
acknowledged or occult — is the strongest in- 
fluence that impresses itself on works of art, 
even on folk-songs, which I may term irrespon- 
sible or unconscious works of art. Looked at in 
the mirror of Russian prose, down to the latest 
Nihilistic news, Russian women, at least of the 
middle class, appear to sufi*er more than Russian 
men from the present unsettled state of that em- 
pire; and the lower class of women mast hare 
suffered more, physically and morally, than men, 
from the degradation of serfdom in the past. Yet 
every Russian peasant, with mind and heart 
enough to create a folk-song, must have endured 
double slavery in bis mother's, wife's, daughter's 
sadness and servitude. 

** Tbe woman's cause ie man*t; tbey riae or aink 
T<^gctber, dwarfed or god-like, bond or free; 
If ^e be email, iligbt>natnied, miaenUe, 
How eball man grow?** 



Russian folk-poetry is more continuously and 
monotonously melancholy than that of most folk- 
songs. Seldom does it rise above earthly care 
on the wings of supernatural aspiration, or ring 
with the glowing trumpet>tQnes of patriotic ardor. 
Seldom does the Russian sing with careless sim- 
plicity of joy or love, or for pure delight in beauty. 
The serenades are neariy all sad ; the lover does 
not sing to waken his love, but to lull her to 
sleep, and ** to dream of a sweeter future, after 
the cares of the bitter day." Some of the mar- 
riage-songs, and those of callings and occupations, 
too ofVen remind me of Gogol's satirically sombre 
sketches, or of the mmllessly, morally realistic 
scenes in some of Tuigenefs novela The songs 
of monks and nuns are among the finest; yel^ 
these are filled with longings for death, regrets 
for shipwrecked hopes and lost illusions, echoes 
of the storms of nature in the repressed cries of 
the heart. The monk, seeing a bridal train, 
murmurs, ** Alas, again I must pray 1 '• and re- 
enters the eloister; the nun, praying for the 
recovery of another woman's spousis, at her re- 
quest, sighs to think that be was once her own 
false lover. Here is the complaint of one who 
has mistaken her vocation : •— 

•• Wbat win end the bitter sorrow, 

Wounded beart, that tortorea thee? 
Coorage, bope, wbenee can I borrow? 

Deilb, despair, alone I aee! 
Hers I witber, bare I periab, 

Like a flower in pdar nigbt, 
Where I thought to warm and eberiah 

Heart and eool in love and light. 
Fnm tbe world I fled, belierlng 

Duty's call my life bad erowned ; 
Longing, praying, hoping, grieving, 

Heaven I sought, but heU I fiiuiid! 
Found but (abehood, fraud, and fotty. 

Envy, hatred, base dceeit; 
And the loidge baa vanished, wholly. 

That onee heavenward wooed my foet! ** 

Some of the most deeply despairing of these 
cloister- songs were written by the monk Inno- 
kentij. Perhaps the key to that despair may 
be found in this song of his, — 

*< The lee breake up, the rivers riae, 
Along tbe shore fi^ Moakoa fliea. 
In liMuning rtige wild gnahing. 

Swift raabing! 
Heaven, in thia mad, tomnltnous boor. 
Curb Moskba*e dread, dettruetive power! 
Beetrain tbe flood, strong twirling, 

WidewhirUng! 
Let not tbe pitileea waters gnaw, 
And down to hungry, darkneaa draw 
Too eborehyard by the liver. 

Forever! 
There, long, long yvars ago, they laid 
Tbe best, tbe sweeteat viUage maid. 
Heart, when will eeass thy sehinf, 

Slow brssking? ** 

One of the so-called " heroio ** songs tells us 
of the seven sons and spven daughters, each 
of whom becomes an idiot ** through the Al- 



mighty will, through love and marriage,*' as it 
IS — seriously or ironically ? — said. Another 
sings.of the hero, that his deeds ** filled the heart 
of his mother with angui^h ; " another hero asks 
no one, not eten Marsa herself, whether he may 
woo her, but he carries her off* ** the moment be 
saw he loved her." In the two following songs 
we find pathetic suggestions of peasant-girl 
life: — 



u 



Spake tbe bogar: « Fairest maiden. 
Small reward ia thine for apinning! * 
Thought be: * Onee within my dwelling, 
Eaay teak would be thy winning! * 
Spain tbe bogar: * Best beloved one, 
Ijet me press thy ifaigcra lightly ! * 
Thought be: • When tbe band ia granted. 
Then the heart will foflow, rightly.' 
S|mke tbe bogar: * Ah, thou hnowest not 
How one bias a lover Ueesssl ' 
Thought be: * If aba granta ne Uasss, 
She will next permit eareases.* 
Spake tbe bogar: • Here I pledge thee 
Love and tn^, eternal duty ! * 
Thought he: • None tbe Ires, to-morrow, 
•Win I woo another beauty ! * *' 

a. 

« From hie eonch the bogar brave at mom ariaes, 
Bueklea gnas and baga and spears about him Bgbtly; 
Goea a.huntlng; boar and dnr must be hie prtaa. 
On hie way be wfaiatleB: loud tbe tune, end sprightly. 
From her eonch the peeaant girl oulgUdea at moRiiag, 
Takea bcr dlstafl; broken flax about it dinging; 
Stowly, ooftly, towarda tbe little cottage turning. 
Low she bunis a aong, and aoftly weepa while shiging." 

Here is a short love-song, with something al- 
most of a morbid *' modem society " tone alxmt 
it ; yet it was written by a peasant whose name 
has been preserved : — 

*< Alaa, my heart, my vrounded heart. 

How near art thou to breaking? 
I frign a part, a Jester's pert,. 

Therein no pkasure taking. 
Akar to bliea that ia not bli«, 

My life ia wholly given; 
Against eaeh kisa, yea, every Uas 

I yield, my will baa striven. 
Why seek from me ewcet love? From ne 

So wiU, ao mdaaeboly? 
Tour aim I aee, smils when I esa, 

Then weep, and mock my IbDy! *' 

Russians are said to be generally very light- 
hearted in manner, while the position of their 
women is said to be now legally superior to that 
of the women of other nations. Then why the 
sadness of their national poetry, the gloomy pict- 
ures of their greatest living novelist, the discon- 
tent of their present politico-social position ? It 
is true that in a collection of national melodies, 
recently published in St Petersburg, I find only 
about two fifihs absolutely sad in character ; the 
rest are of cheerful tone, many of them dance- 
songs. Hummel, siaty years ago or more, dis- 
covered a suflkient number of gay wedding-songs 
to make>a very cheerful epithalamium, which he 
did in his ** Polymeloa," an arrangement, Ibr 
voices and orchestra, of Russian folk-songs, ded- 
icated to the queen-mother, Maria Fedorowna. 
This publication is so rare, and so little known, 
that I copy for you, as a curiosity, the first, and 
the only, melandioly air among those he adopted. 
It closes oddly on Uie dominant. 

^ Andante. 




t=i 



1e 



3 



i^g^ 




W 



*=$ 



t 



ff^ f^v^fl 



Here is one of the prettiest spring-songs I can 
find in an old and scarce coUeetioii. And ye( 
1^ minor^mode prevails in it: -^ 



FiBBCABT 28, 1880.] 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC, 



35 





And take this song of happj lore ; jet eveo ita 
character is also *^ sad and feminine I " 



^^^^1^ 




^^^^M 




S^i 



But if the g^reater namber of Russian folk-mel- 
odies are of a resigned and cheerful, rather than of 
a melancholy, character, — though possessing the 
graTitj of the old Greek modes, while the words 
set to them are so rery often sad, — this apparent 
contradiction may be explained by the supposi- 
tion, that in his poem the maker of the folk-song 
relates the realities of feeling, or experience, while 
with his melody he striTcs to console, to lull, or to 
cheer his own sense of these sad realities. This 
may be the reason, also, why so many of these 
major airs close suddenly in minor, as though 
hope and courage falleil at once in spite of an 
effort to bear grief with a gay spirit. I^t me 
also translate ior you a few extracts from some 
communications on this subject, written by a 
traveler in Russia, nearly eighty years ago : -— 

*'The Russian p^ple are, above all things, 
musicaL^ The peasant, the artisan, lightens his 
labor by tinging a folk-song. If the hardship 
or the monotony of toil they are forced to under- 
take b distasteful to them, they sing away their 
dislike of it. Observe the postilion, for instance. 
In rain or 'snow, as in sunshine, he travels thou- 
sands of worsts towards the borders of India, or 
in the direction of the North Pole : like a cloak, 
his songs enable him to defy the weather. At 
night he keeps himself awake with singing, bat 
first politely asks the traveler : < Little father, 
shall I sing you something pretty? ' And if his 
request is not refused, he continues his travel- 
ing songs until ho reaches the station. If the 
traveler cannot sleep while this singing con- 
tinues, he begs the postilion to be silent, and the 
concert is at an end ; but after having traveled 
much in Russia, one becomes so accustomed to 
singing, that one can scarcely sleep without it ; 
and, besides, one is comforted by the reflection 
that singing postilions do not sleep. 

^ During the change of horses, or after he has 
received his douceur^ he hastes to some singing 
society ' to practice his voice a little ; ' there I 
have often found a largo company of men, a 
greatrgrand&ther humming through his long, sil- 
ver-white beard, and grandfathers, fathers, and 
sons singing together, the boys imitating the 
tones, expressions, and gestues of their elders, 
in folk-songs and romances, whose adventurous 
subjects, and their melodies, betray their age, or 
else chanting love-songs not less antique. .... 
The wedding-songs sung by women are unique 
of their kind ; melodies on three or (bur high 
tones spoken rather than sung. What do you 

i My mdfltt wOl remsoilMr Bobsrt Sehumami's obisr- 
vMtkn, in "^Mwie and Mnsieiuis," Rspesting CoL Akds 
Awofll compoi M' of the Rnatiso nUioml hymn, umI adyu. 
tint to the Otsr, who ww a fine Tioliniit, siid whom Seho- 
mmn sad Hendelaiohn met at Leipsig in 1840. *< If there 
an many tueh amatetm hi the Roialan capital iooie artitta 
may lean mora there than they eaa teaeh.** PHneeGcoigo 
QaUtsin, who eoodooled ao oraheetia iiuNew Tori^ a few 
yean-ago^ was aleoa^^nely aecooiptlshed fflosittt 



say to their odd custom of singing to the bride 
for twenty-four hours before the ceremony about 
the cares and duties of a wife ? More neces- 
sary, generally, you will reply, in the bride- 
groom's case than in the bride's ; but his attend- 
ants sing to him a similar lengthy sermon. 
Charmant^ nVs^ee pa» f . . . . 

** When, for the first time, I heard and saw a 
widow declaiming her woe beside her husband's 
coffin, as is the custom here, I was deeply .moved 
and surprised. Touched, — for what heart could 
withstand the influence of such a scene ? Aston- 
ished, — for who could have expected such thrill- 
ing powers of expression in an uncultivated Rus- 
sian peasant woman ? How far behind this fell 
the most truthfully simulated theatrical sorrow, 
sung or recited by prima donna or first tragi" 
dienne t I doubt whether stage art could ever 
reach the height of tragic despair, the shudder- 
ing, stormy passion, the tender complaint of this 
Rust>ian peasant's song. What a pity that the 
custom has not been adopted in European society I 
Fancy the effect on her masculine Ibteners, of inch 
a lament, entoned by a handsome modem widow, 
especially if she heightened her singing by her 
own guitar accompaniment, and adopted some of 
Lady Hamilton's elegant and picturesque atti- 
tudes I • . . . During my residence in Moscow, 
I took a walk through the city, and happened 
to pass the government house while recruiting 
from among the young tradesmen and peasants 
was going on. A crowd of persons stood at the 
door, whence I heard a lament entoned. A well- 
formed peasant girl stood in the midst of the 
crowd ; she liad just heard that her bridegroom 
had be«n selected as a recruit, and she declaimed 
her grief with streaming eyes, often striking her 
head against the wall. As he was led past to 
swear his affidavit in the cathedral, she looked 
towards him, and fell to the ground in a swoon." 
I believe that we can better understand the 
character of a people from their folk-songs, than 
from their laws, customs, dress, or their merely 
spoken language. The folk-song is a more in- 
timate and certain guide, and the historian who 
has not studied this, only half understands the 
people he writes about, even if he be thoroughly 
familiar with their language. There are few 
English-speaking people who, when the word 
*' Cossack " is mentioned, do not at once associ- 
ate it with the idea of a cruel, half-savage north- 
em bandit ; yet the inhabitants of the Ukraine 
are the most mu4cal in the Russian empire, and 
few folk-songs breathe softer and more tender 
feeling than some of those of the Ukraine ; while 
through some others free 4irs from the immense 
and sonorous steppe, laden with the perfume of 
wild flowers and aromatic herbs, seem wafted. I 
will give you a prose translation of one : " Alas I 
the young shepherd is slain I He prays that they 
will bury him in his pasture, behind the fold, 
where in his sleep he may perhaps still hear the 
voices of his fiiithful dogs. Then he begs his 
soft little flute of beech-wood, his sad little flute 
of bone, his fiery little flute of elder- wood, not to 
tell the sheep that their master has been mur- 
dered, lest they should die, mourning for him 
with k*ars of blood. But let them say that he is 
now wedded to a proud queen, the adored mis- 
tress of all noble men. Liberty I At the wedding, 
the sun and moon carried ^e crown ; the oaks 
and pines were witnesses ; the high mountains 
were the priests; the birds, by thousands, the 
musicians ; and the stars bore the torches.** 

Here is another, whidi, not so much, perhaps, 
for iti superior beauty, as because it appeals 
more to womanly fancies, I long ago took the 
trouble of translating. Yet I will confess that 
this is a finee translation, and that two or three 
of the verses did not entirely originate in the 
Ukraine! 



Ah, why, my eilken hair, 
So riehly flow thy trenes fine and feir. 
If not, in theb waves, flower-wreathe and gems to wsar? 

Ah, why, my tlondcr ieot, 
So proudly arohed, to strong sod light and fleet, 
If uot ill the danee a boending rhythm to beat? 

Ah, why, my lipi, your bloom, 
Smika, kieMi, sighs, and jerts, and health's pafome. 
If not with your tpdls to banish evil gloom ? 

Ah, why, my sparkling ejia, 
With morning sun and midnight shadow vie, 
If not on anc&er, magnet power to Cry? 

Ah, why, my buey hand, 
So piolc thy palm, thy tooeh so light and bland. 
If not in some life to weave J<^*s gay garihnd? 

Ah, why, my rcmnded arm. 
So satin emooth, to lithe, eo rosy warn. 
If not in some fkte to vrlnd Fate's chiofest eharm? 

Ah, why, my thrilling voice. 
So paMioiiate or tender, at thy choice. 
If not with thy songs to bid some soul rejoice? 

Ah, why, my happy sprite. 
So foantain-lTBBhly flow thy fimdes bright. 
If not his delight to vrake vrith thy deUght? 

Ah, why, my heart, thy glow 
Of Etnapfire beneath a tcU of snow. 
If not for one heart to bum through bliss and woe? 

I have now before me a singular representation, 
-^ a reproduction, from a picture by Josef Brandt, 
in the Koenigsberg Museum, of the figure of a Coa- 
sack of the Ukraine in the seventeenth centuiy, 
armed and mounted, and apparently on the point 
of combat Rough and unkempt are steed and 
rider; arms and accoutrements primitive and 
worn ; the contour of the man's head is essen- 
tially combative, his hands and arms are enlarged 
by labor, yet wasted by privation. But in his 
formless cap he wears a flowering spray ; and, as 
he rides, he carelessly pUys a tasseled bandura, 
— an instrument somewhat similar to the antique 
lute, and used in the Ukraine ; — he seems to sing 
through his wind-blown beard, while tenderness 
and regret speak from his dreaming eyes, that 
gaae beyond a limitless horizon, seeing nothing 
save some happy or unhappy past ; not the bat- 
tle before, not die birds of prey that slowly fol- 
low him I And the eye of (he large-jointed an- 
imal that carries him also expresses patience and 
fidelity. This rough soldier is surely, at this 
moment, recalling an old folk«song, or inventing 
a new one ; and certainly its character is, or will 
be, that of must Russian folk-poetry and music, 
'* sad and feminine," yet sUmped with a brave, 
or, at least, a melancholy resignation to the de- 
crees of Providence. Yours faithfully, 

F. R.R. 



LISZT.i 
\Vnm Grovels Dietionaij of Mnsie and Mnsleiaas.] 

The following is a c talogue of Lisst's works, 
as complete as it has been possible to make it. 
It is compiled from the recent edition of the 
thematic catalogue (Breitkopf & Hartel, Na 
14,873),* published lists, and other available 
sources. 

I. OBCnKBTRAL WORKS. 

1. OBIGUTAI.. 

1. Symphonle sn Dante*8 DiTlna Commedla, oreh. and tt- 
male chorus; ded. to Wagner. 1. Inffmio; S. Puiga- 
torio; 8. Magnifleat Score and parts. B, A H.* Arr. 
Cmt S P. Fs. 

2. Eine Faust-Symphonie in drel CbaraktcrbUdeni (nach 
Goethe), oreh. and male chorus: ded. to fierUos. 1. 
Fauet; 3. Gretohen (also for P. F. 2 hands) ; 8. Meph. 
istopheles. Score and parts; also for 2 P. Fs. Schn- 
berth. 

a. Zwel Epiaoden aos Lenaa*8 Faust 1. Dsr nkhtOdb 
Zog. 2. Der Tans in Der Dortehenke (MepUsto- 
Waber). Score and parts: also for P. F. 2 and 4 
hands. Schobcrth. 

4. Symphonisehe Dlchtongen. 1. Go qu*on cntend sor la 
mootagne; 2. 'Hmso. Laaento e Trionib; 8. Lss Pr6- 
faides: 4. Orpheus (slsolbr orRan): 6. Prometbeoe; 6. 
Maasppa: 7. FeetkUUige: 8. H^rolde Ihuibre; 9. Hon- 
nria; 10. Hamlet; 11. Hunenechlacht; 12. Die Ideals. 
Score and parU; aleo Cmt 2 P. Fs. and P. F. 4 handa. 

> OcQltanMd from pafe 18. 
S.B. A IL «- Brdthflff A HirtcL 



36 



D WIGHT 8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



lYcL. Xl.-lio. HI4 



5. Fcrt-Yonpfel, for Sehilkr tnd Goethe Fcetival, Weimar, 
1857. Seors, Halllieirger. 

6. Fdt-UarBeh. for Goetlie*e birthday. Seore end peril 
aieo for P. F. 8 eiid ^hande. Schoberth. 

7. Holdiinuuce-AIarBeh, for aceeeeion of Dnlie Cerl of Saie- 
Weimar, 1853. Scon: end for P. F. 3 haode. B. A H. 

8. »' Vom-Fela sum Mcer " : Fatriotitf mereh. Soore and 
perte; eieo for P. F. S haiide. Schlednger. 

9. Kiinellrr Fcet-Zug; for Schiller Fntivml, 1856. Score; 
and for P. F. 3 and 4 hande. Kahiit. 

10. *<Gftudcanue Igitor": HuniOReke for oreh. eoli and 
chome. Scor6 and parte; aleu for P. F. 3 and 4 hands. 
Sehubeith. 

3. ABKAJIGXBIKMTS. 

11. Schvbcrt*s Harcbce. 1. Op. 40 No. 8; 3 Traner-; 
8. Reiter-; 4. Ungarieeher-Hanch ; Seoree and parte. 
Fdrataer. 

IS. Sehnberi*s Songs for voice and small oreh. I. Die 
Jnnge Nonne; 3. GreCehen am Spiunrade; 8. Lied der 
liignon; 4. Erlkoni^. Soore and parte. Forberg. 

18. ** Die Allmacht,** bj Sehoberi, for tenor, mcn*s chorus, 
and oreheetra. Score and parte; and vocal score. Sohu- 
bcrth. 
. 14. H. ▼. Billow's Ifanirka-Fanteaie (Op. 13). Score and 
parte. Ijeuekart. 

15. Feet-liereh on tbemee by E. H. sa S. Soore; aleo for 
P. F. 3 and 4 hands. Schuberth. 



16. Ungariaehe Rbapiodien, arr. by lisit and F^^Doppkr; 
1. in F; 3 in D; 4. in D; 4, in D minor and G major; 
5. in £; 6. Pester Cameral. — Score and parte; and 
for P. F. 4 hands. Schuberth. 

17. Ungansdier Msrsch, for Coronation at Budft-Pesth, 
1867. Score also for P. F. 3 and 4 hands. Schuberth. 

18. R4koc8y-Marsch; sympboniseh beerbeitet. Soore and 
parts; aleo for P. F. 3, 4, and 8 hands. Schuberth. 

19. Ungarieeher Stnrm-Marwh. New arr. 1876. Soore 
and parte; aleo for P. F. 3 and 4 hande. Schhsiuger. 

30. *• SwSoit '* und •« Hymnus *' by B^ni and Erkel. Score 
and parts; aleo fat P. F. Rdawvolgyi, Peeth. 

II. FOR PIANOFORTE AND ORCHESTRA. 
1. OBIOIHAL. 

31. Concerto No. 1, E-flat eeore and parte; aleo for 3 P. 



Fs. Scblesinger. 
33. Coneerto No. 3, ?n A. 

Y%, SchoU. 
38. « Todten-Tanz.** Paraphrase on " Dies Itie.** 

also for 1 and 3 P. Fs. Sicgel. 



Soore and iiarte; also for 3 P. 

Score; 



3. ARRASGBXBNTa, P. F. 

34. Fantasia on themes from 



PBIMCIPALB. 

on UMmes nom Beethoven's •* Ruins of 

Athens." Score: aleo for P. F. 3 and 4 hande, and 3 P. 

Fb. SiegeL 
85. Fantasie fiber ungariaehe Yolks-melodien. Score and 

parts. Heinie. 
36. Schubert's Fantasia in C (Op. 15), sympboiusch bear- 

beitet Score and parte; also for 3 P. Fs. Schreiber. 
97. Weber's Polonaise (Op. 73). Score and parts. Schle- 



( 



.) 



bacchanmlian revels, with the bnriesqae fagne, the 
wonderful slamber song, the ballad and plaint of 
Margaret, the fairy music, the superb love dnet, the 
ride to hell, the chorus of angels, are wholly inde- 
pendent. Indeed, so far was the composer from aim- 
ing at the development of a clear poetic idea that he 
boldly carried Faust into Hungary for the rake of 
introducing his arrangement of the Hungarian Ra- 
koczy March, because it had proved very " effective " 
in the concert-room ; and not content with using it 



Berlioz divides and groups instruments in the most 
ingenious ways ; he multiples the parte which sepa- 
rate and interlace in harmonies of ravishing beauty ; 
he combines different rhythms — harmonizes them, 
so to speak*— with astonishing iwldnesa. In a word, 
his melodj, rhythm, harmony, instrumentation, all 
are rich, varied, ingenious, poetical. Alas! that a 
musician so highly gifted should not have known bow 
to avoid excels, and in the pursuit of an imaginary 
freedom and picturesqueness should so often, as Wag- 



once he employed the same theme again, somewhat ner complained, have allowed the sense of beauty to 



BERLIOZ'S «THE DAMNATION OF 

FAUST." 

(FroB the New York Tribune, Feb. 15.) 

Dn. Dam BOSCH accomplished last night an under- 
taking of extraordinarj distinction. He produced 
for the first time in America " The Damnation of 
Faust," one of the most characteristic, if not the 
moat colossal, of the greater works of Hector Ber- 
lioz ; and the performance was witnessed, with the 
liveliest interest and with many manifestations of de- 
light, by an audience which filled Stein way Hall to 
overflowing 

Berlioz had very little oomprehension of Goethe, 
and when he undertook to make a libretto for his 
"dramatic legend" out of fragmentt of "Faust,'' he, 
showed his lack of sympathy with the original, not 
only bj his' deviations from the poem but by his selec- 
tions from it. This, however, is not a grave fanlt. 
He did not try to follow Goethe ; be pleads, with per- 
fect justice, that he was not obliged to ; and " The- 
Damnation of Faust " ought to be Judged by iu intrin- 
sic qualities, without reference to the poet*s ideal. We 
must take it as a series of splendid scenes, chosen for 
their picturesque effectt and strong contrasts, rather 
than with any consistent dramatic purpose. They 
are joined together with such extraordinary art that 
CTcry number seems to flow naturally and easily into 
the next, and yet tne separate movements, — the rev- 
eries and aspirations of Faust, the rustic song and 
dance, the gorigeons maa*h, the Easter Hymn, the 



disguised, in an incantation scene where it has no 
dramatic reason. In this passage, where Mephis- 
topheles calls up the will-o'-the-wi^ps to " charm the 
maid with baneful lights," Berlioz caused the devil 
to sing in Hungarian — a direction which was not ob- 
served last night. Little as the Rakoczy theme has 
to do with Faust the effect, both of the March and 
of the infernal Minuet, is unquestionably good in this 
glowing series of tone-pictures. We cannot say the 
same of the Song of the Rat and the Song of the 
Flea, with their grotesque imitations by the orches- 
tra ; nor for the horrors of the final pandemonium. 
These numbers illustrate the besetting sin of Berlioz, 
which was bad taste. Like certain passages of the 
"Fantastic Symphony," they recall that dreadful 
chapter of his autobiography, which describes the 
burial of the second wife. He was miserable and un- 
faithful in both his marriages ; and when he tdls of 
the removal of the body of the first unhappy woman 
to the side of the second, he take us into the charnel- 
house with him, and tears open the coflSn, and com- 
pels us to look 'on while the fair Ophelia is carried 
away in pieces, — not forgetting meanwhile to observe 
the agony of M. Berlioz, who is truly a person of 
sensibility. 

But whatever may be the faulte of his method 
of dramatic composition. — the tempestuous passion 
which left him only broken momento of repose, the 
tendency to exaggeration which hurried him far be- 
yond the proper boundaries of romance, — nobody 
can deny to Berlioz an immense force and grandeur, 
of which the " The Damnation of Faust " furnishes 
an impressive example. Heine compared Berlioz to 
"a colossal nightingale." His music reminded the 
poet of gigantic forms of extinct antedilnrian ani- 
mals, fabulous empires filled with fabulous sins, the 
hanging -gardens of Babylon, the stupendous temples 
of Nineveh. Mystery, magnificence, and awful mag- 
nitude are here; and we recognize all the characteris- 
tics which Berlioz himself called the dominant qual- 
ities of his music, — passionate expression, internal 
firs, rhythmic animation, and unexpected changts. 
His melodies are not fluent and spontaneous, but 
they are full of intense meaning ; his rhythms are 
startling and irresistible; his skill In the indication 
of fine shades of expression is exquisite. His sur- 
prising and delicious combinations of instruments of 
different qualities show a keen sense for the color of 
tones analogous to the delicate ear which certain 
poets possess for fascinating rhymes and the musical 
collocation of words. This gift distinguishes his 
treatment of the roice as well as of the orchestra; 
and some of the happiest effiects in the choruses of 
" Faubt " are attributable far less to the melodic de- 
sign than to the composer's rare knowledge of what 
he calls "rocal instrumentation." In the technical 
management of the orchestra he surpasses all other 
composers except Wagner. His instinct in selecting 
for each phrase the exact Instrument that best suits it 
is infallible. Witness the beautiful picture of the 
waking morning in the introduction, painted in deli- 
cate neutral tints; witness the brutal *' Amen^' fugue 
of the half-drunken students, where the composer 
avoids every instrument that gives a clear tone, and 
uses the heavy utterances of the viola, bassoon, tuba, 
and double bass ; witness the dainty devices of the 
Dance of Sylphs, dying away until the pianissimo 
ends with the softest of notes on the kettledrum — a 
delicious little touch which nobody else perhaps would 
have thought of, yet now nothing else seems possible 
in that place ; witness, above all, the wonderful instru- 
mentation of the whole of Margaret's second song, 
in which the English horn takes the leading part, and 
the orchestra seems to be the echo of sorrowful voices. 



escape. 

With regard to the performance last night — the 
fullness and force of the chorus, the animation of the 
orche»tra, and the merits of the four solo singers — 
we have only to repeat the praise which we gave after 
the rehearsals. Mr. Jordan, who took the very try- 
ing r51e of Faust, has just left a 'sick-bed, and his 
voice wss not so clear as at the private rehearsal on 
Wednesday, but he deserves a warm acknowledgment 
for the intelligence and spirit of his interpretation. 
He was especially good in the duo and trio of Part 
Third ; and here, too. Miss Shcrwin's pure and sym- 
pathetic voice was heard to particular advantage. 
The lady was also fortunate in her bcbt song, " My 
Heart is Heavy," into which she threw a great deal 
of true feeling, and her flinging was always in excel- 
lent ta«te. Mr. Remmertz was in the bat of voice 
and spirits; and Mr. Bourne gave his Rat Song and 
his short solo in the epilogue to the entire satisfaction 
of listeners. The audience went away in a ttatc of 
exultation, vrith loud cheers for the conductor. 



THE ARCHIVES OF FRENCH OPERA. 

A wniTKB in the Nation says : High up in the top 
of one of the side semicircular pavilions of the mag- 
nificent Optfra of Paris, six or seven stories above tlie 
level of the surrounding streets, are the ample apart- 
ments set aside for the archives and the lilirary. Af- 
ter the tUiring visitor has entered the stage door and 
mounted the seemingly interminable steps, he comes 
out into long corridors lined with presses in which 
are siored the many precious musical manuscripts of 
the Op^ra, acquired during its two hundred years of 
existence ; in glased cases on the top of these presses 
are exposed certain of the more curious autographs. 
The muttical manuscripts, and all the mu^ic in fact, 
priiitfd or engraved, are under the care of M. Theo- 
dore de Lajarte, and he it is who has prepared the 
*' Catalogue de la Bibliotli^ue Musicale du Th^tre de 
I'Op^ra," now at last completed by the recent publica, 
tion of the seventh and eighth parts. It forms two 
stout volumes of orer seven hundred pages in all, made 
doubly useful by an index of forty pages to all works 
brought out at the Op^ra. The serenth part, covering 
the time from the first performance of the Propkke, 
in 1849, to the middle of 1876, is in many respects 
the most interesting. In it we are reminded that M. 
Emile Augier once wrote an opera-libretto, Sapho, 
for which M. Gounod composed the music, and it 
was a failure; we note that M. Ofienbacb, in I860, 
wrote the music of a ballet, L$ Papiiion, for which 
the celebrated dancer, Marie Taglioni, composed the 
dancing, and it, too, was a failure. Apropos of bal- 
lets, it is with some sorprit>e that the name of Th^ 
phile Oautier is seen so often as the author of ballet 
librettos; his beautiful Gi$eUe, for which Adolphe 
Adam composed the music, is an excellent example 
of the skill with which, cstrhing at a suggestion of 
Hoffmann's, he could put a fanciful and fantastic 
subject on the stage. Among the opero-Iibretttvts 
the name of M. Got, the great comedian of the Com- 
edie-Fran9aise, is twice to be found. M. Lajartc's 
mention of Wagner's Tannhauser, which had three 
noisy performances in 1861, shows that the French 
are banning to get over their extreme dislike for 
the German eomposer's work. " We ought to oonfe^s 
that his score contains beauties of the first rank in 
the midst of ridiculoos insanities. The summary 
justice inflicted on it by the Parisian public is, conse- 
quently! a fault we shall not try to excuse." To the 
seven parts before the last are prefixed portraits, 
etched by M. de Rat, and at times a little thin and 
hard, of the seven typical musicians of the two oentn- 



Fkbbvakt 28, 1880.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



87 



riet of French opera ^ Lai ly, Caropra, Rameaa, 
Oluck, Spontini, Rowini, and Meyerbeer. The eighth 
part has an etching, alao by M. de Rat, of the ample 
oval room, at the top of the pavilion, in which is now 
ranged the dramatic, operatic, terpsirhorean, and 
generally theatrical library of the Op^ra, nnder the 
care of M. Knitter, the archivist This collection is 
perhaps the best theatriral library in Paris, and it is 
rapidly growing. Both English and German drama 
and dramatic biography are well represented in it, 
and it is generally more cosmopolitan than French 
collections usually are. M. Nuitter himself is our 
authority for saying that, as soon as he has filled a 
ftiw more racancies, he proposes issuing a catalogue, 
which will certainly be one of the most important in 
its class. We are informed that he is desirous of re- 
ceiving all American publications in his line, and we 
happen to know by experience that both M. Nuitter 
and M. Lajaite are cordial in their welcome to Amer- 
icans. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

LoKDOM. The chief theme of interest during the 
present musical season, thus far, has been the Shake- 
spearian Comic Opera, TU Taming of the Shrew, 
by Goets, as giren by Carl Rosa's troupe. Out of 
many glowing accounts of it, mt select, as one of the 
shortest, the following from the Examiner of Jan. 17 
(before the performance) : — 

" Notwithstanding the utterly incomplete rendering 
<rf Goeu's opera when first produced at Drury Lane, 
eighteen months nfgo, there can hn no question that 
In affording a preliminary study it pUoed at a great 
advantage «I1 who will hear the music for the second 
time next Tuesday, at Her Majesty's Theatre. Like 
all tme inspirations of eenius, and as such we cannot 
besiute to recognise it, tnt Taming ef the Shrew grows 
upon the listener with further acquaintance, and every 
aavance towards familiar! tv wiih its music reveals 
fresh beauties. It can hardly be said to fascinate at 
the outset. Rather is one struck by the thorough ear- 
neatness and power with which the composer has 
grasped his subject, his individualinr of style, and the 
rich flow of melody running alike through voice parts 
and orchestra. When all is known and understood 
it is simplv delightful to note the extraordinary skill 
with which Ooetx has worked out and elaborated the 
various divisions of his score ; to listen to the charm- 
ing phrases that constitute the ' Leit-motives,* as they 
appear and reappear with ever-changing effect; to 
marvel at the splendid grouping of the choral and con- 
certed pieces ; and, above all, to revel in the masterly 
orchettration — tuneful and piquant as it is full of 
scholarly device — with which the composer has en- 
riched his scores All who heard his symphonv in F 
will have been prepared for the * polyphonic ^ style, 
which is this musician's chief characteristic ; but, clever 
as the score may be, no one can say that aught in the 
Taming ^the ohrew smells of the lamp. Here, in 
fact, is an opera which may well form a model for 
composers of the future. They will find originalitv, 
without any outrage of orthodox forma. They will 
find every character possessing appropriate means of 
expression — each, as it were, with distinctive music 
of its own ; and they will find, too, that it is quite 
possible to write a comic opera in four acts that need 
never for a moment become tedious to a hArly atten- 
tive and appreciative audience. 

" The German libretto of Der' WiderepOnetigen^Zah' 
mung Is by J. Viktor Widmann, who very properly 
describes it as ' freely arranged ' from Shakespeare's 
comedy. The order of the scenes is changed, many 
are left out, and others are compressed, with con- 
siderable gain of effect for oper|itic purposes. No 
fault can be found with this ; but the English trans- 
lation of the Rev. J. Troutbeck is not a uiing to be 
accepted without protest. This gentleman appears to 
have made up his mind to have as little as possible to 
do with Shakespeare, and to rely almost exdnsivdy 
on his own powers of adaptation, which are very poor 
indeed. The task may not have been an easy one, 
bat something better than a mere literal translation of 
German sentenoes, with occasional incongruous mix- 
tures of prepositions, adverbs, and conjunctions, might 
surely have been managed. Fortunately, however, 
Shakespeare's comedy wUl be at home here, and still 
more fortunatelv the success of Goetz's chef-d'ceum-e 
will not depend on a comprdiension of Mr. Trout- 
beck's version of the libretto. Whether the public 
take quickly to the music remains to be seen ; but that 
cultivated opera-goers will at once recognise its claims 
we feel convinced. Apart from the general features 
of excellence already mentioned there are numbers in 
the work that require no second hearing to conflhn as 
gems of the purest melody. Among these we may 



point out, in the first act, the duet between Loeentio 
and Bianca, and the soliloquy In which Petruchio de- 
termines to undertake the taming of Katharine ; in 
the second, Katharine's song, ' Ich will mich Keinem 
geben,' her subsequent duet with Petruchio, and the 
quintet that concludes the scene; in the third, con- 
spicuously, the opening quartet, Baptista's welcome to 
his guests, and the succeeding chorus — all charming 
pieces of wriiing, while the scene between Lncentio, 
Hortensio, and Bianca is worthy of Rossini in his best 
mood. Equally fine, in their wav, are the remaining 
parts of this third act, which furtner includes the wed- 
ding and arrival of the newly-married pair at Peiru- 
chio*s house. The famous scene with the tailor and 
servants in the last act is treated in masterly fiwhton ; 
and ttom this point to the end of the opera, as if Goetz 
had now thoroughly warmed to his task, everv phrase 
is instinct with genius and true musical fcefing. A 
glorious duet between Petmchio and Katharines- 
shrew no longur, but loving and obedient — is followed 
by a septet full of rich harmony, and thii* leads up to 
the final chorus of joy and triumph, a fitting climax to 
a really noble work. 

The opera seems to have been an unqualified suc- 
cess, and it wks repeated during the week. The Mu- 
sieal FTorMsays:— - 

" A more attentive and iotelli^ent audience bus 
rarely assembled within the walls of Her Msje-tty'ii 
Theatre. The performance, under Siguor Randcg- 
ger's direction was admirable from first to last. The 
cast of the dramatis penona was, in all iiiMtances, 
highly efBcienr, while the orchestra and chorus left 
little or nothing to desire. Miss Minnie Hauk, as 
Katharine, has added another Carmen to her reper- 
tory — more than which, her inimitable performance 
of Biaet's gypsy-heroine borne in mind, it would be 
impossible to say. Miss Georgina Burns is a charming 
representative of Bianca, Katharine's less impetuous 
sister. Mr. Walter Bolton is an excellent Petruchio, 
and all the subordinate parts are adtquately filled." 

The career of the composer, his struggles end his 
premature decease, are already familiar to many mu- 
sic-lovers. Figaro tells as : — 

It is curious, too, that there are -two other opera- 
writers named Gou still living in Germany. Carl 
Gotz is a chorister at Breslau, and he has written a 
five-act romantic opera, entitled '* Gnsuvns Wasa," 
which has not succeeded either at Weimar or Bredau. 
Frederick Gots, a violinist, a native of Nenstadt, and 
a pupil of Spohr, has also written an opera, *' The 
Corsairs," which fourteen years ago failed at Weimar. 
Hermann Gots, the composer of " The Tamins of the 
Shrew," was a native of Koni^berg, where he was 
born in 1840. He studied in his native town under 
Lndwiif Kohler, afterwards at the Berlin Conserva- 
toire under Stem, and subsequently under Herr Ul- 
rich and Dr. Hans von Billow. At the age of twenty- 
three he accepted the post of organist, recently vacated 
by Kireher, at Winterthur, near Zurich in Switser- 
land, and it was here that "Der Widenp&nstigen 
Z&hmung " was first sketched. For a doaen years, 
however, Gots was compelled to bear his disappoint- 
ment as beat he could. No mansjger would accept 
his work, and although his piano trio, his three dueu 
for piano and violin, and his piano quartet had been 
brought out, no publisher would risk the heavy ex- 
pense of printing his opera. At last his opportu- 
nity arrived, and ** The Taming of the Shrew^' was 
brought out at Mannheim on October 11,1 874. Then 
did the despised composer suddetUv awake to find 
himself famous. The managers who had snubbed 
him were at his feet, the publishers benred for scraps 
from his pen. The success of " The Taming of the 
Shrew " was pronounced and decisive, and the work 
speedily ran through the leading theatres of Germany, 
being added to the general rspertury at Viennay'^Ber- 
lin, Leipsie, and other places. But the hard work, 
the troubles, the sorrows, and disappointments of 
fbrmer years soon told on the health of Herr Gotz. 
Two ^ears after his first and only success he passed 
away in a little village near Zurich, leaving the third 
and last act of his second opera, " Franceses da 
Rimini," to be finished bv Herr Franck, conductor of 
the opera-house at Mannheim. 

— Although the list of artists engaged for the 
Royal Italian Opera season is not yet definitively set- 
tled, it is at least likely that Madame Pauline Lncca 
will retam to play the part of Carmen, at Covent 
Qardeo. At present, Mile. Bloch. who made' so 
great a saocess last year, does not seem to be engaged ; 
bat it is settled that Madame Albani will positively 
retnm to the openu The list of names slso include 
Mesdames Patti, Scalchi, Mantilla, and Corsi; Miles. 
Valleiia, Tnrolla, Pyk, Schoen, Sonnino, Ghiotti, 
Pasqua, and Peppina de Malvessi (a d^iOante); 
BCM. Eogel and St Athos ((Msfaii(s|, NiooUnI, Ma^ 
rinif Cord, Sabatiar, Maafredi, Gayarrs, Grasiaai, 



Cotogni, Maurel, Lassalle, XJghetti, Gailhard, Silves- 
tri, Ciampi, Capponi, Caracciolo, Raguer, Yidal, and 
Seolara. The novelties are not yet settled, bat it is 
not unlikely that Norma will be rerived for Madame 
Albani, while there is a talk of producing one of the 
Nibehingen Ring series. Two entirely new operas 
will, at any rate, be given. The season will begin on 
or about Tuesday, April IS, and will last, at any rate, 
till July 10, and perhaps to the 17th. 

— To show what composers are popular in Great 
Britain, a statistician has compiled, for the list of the 
chief performances of the last year, the following fig- 
ares :— 

In choral works Handel heads the list with one hun« 
dred and ten pfriormanoes, sixty-two of which are of 
the Mfteiah, Mendelssohn is next, with sevcntr-four 
performances, twenty-eight being of the Elijah, stem- 
dale Bennett comes next with forty performances 
(thirty of the Mag Queen and ten of the Wontan of 
Samaria). UMydn next, with iweniy-seven, fifteen 
being of the Creation. RoMini follows with sixteen, 
thirteen being of the Stahat Mater. Mai'f arren four- 
teen, ten of the Mag Qiteen, Then come Beethoven, 
Burnett, and Sullivan,, with twelve performances each; 
MoEsrt with ten; Cowan with nine; and Spohr, 
Romlierg, Weber, Schubert, and Henry Smart with 
five each ; Cherubini, Schumann, Benrdict, Gounod, 
Bamby,and Roots are credited with three ncribrmanccs 
each, and several others with one each. It must, how- 
ever, be stated that difllculties exist against the per- 
formance of works by such writers as Weber, Schu- 
bert, Cliernbini, Schumann, and others in country 
towns, and besides the list in probably incomplete. 

At the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts, 
however, no snch difllculties stand in the way. The 
performers are the best of their sort, and the audiences 
are drawn from the pick of the flower of amateurs of 
chamber-mukic in this conntry. It is therefore by no 
means astonishing to find Beethoven heading the list 
daring the past year with forty -one performances, fol- 
lowed, afar ofl; by Mozart, fourteen; Schumann, 
thirteen ; Haydn, eleven ; Schubert, eleven ; Men- 
delssohn, ten ; Chopin, nine ; Bach and Brahms, five 
each; Spohr and Rubinstein, four each; HandeL 
Cherubini, Gots and Saint-SaSns, two each ; and 
eleven other writers with one each. — - Correepondent of 
MuiioeU Review. 

—The Saturday Concerts at the Crystal Palace were 
resnmed Janoaiy 81, when the directors wiselv took 
advanta^ of the anniversary of Schubert's birth to 
form their programme entirely of fhe works of that 
master. The scheme, indeed, very appropriately 
began with the first, and ended with the last, symph- 
ony of Schubert, concerning each of which a romantic 
tale may be told. Schubert's first symphony, a single 
movement of which was performed for the first time 
in England on Saturday, is an item of the " far rirher 
booty ^' of which Robort Schumann so eloquently 
spoke. A note at the end of the score telb us it was 
written in 1818, when Schubert was sixteen, and not 
as Mr. Grove, by an obvious error of calculation, avers, 
when the composer was *' far on towards eighteen. 
Schubert at that time could but a few months befors 
have quitted the Konvictschule atuched to the Empar- 
or*s chapel at Vienna, and there he had the great advan- 
tsge of hearing the works of Haydn, Mosart, and 
others of the older masters performed at the daily prac- 
tices by the school orchestra. That he was miserably 
impecunious is known by a letter quoted by Mx- 
Grove, in which poor Frans begs his brother for a few 
pence to buy bread, and also by the notorious fact that 
many of his inspirations of that period were lost, 
owing to the inability of the lad to bay music paper to 
put them down. Ifowever, there is little doubt hut 
that this was Schubert's first symphony, and the fng" 
meat vhieb Mr. Grove vouchsafed us on Satnniay 
raised suflBdent interest to cause Schubert lovers to 
wish for the entire work. Scored for a small orohcstra, 
and ea»t in the.reeogniaed form, the most charming 
point of this section of the symphony is the evidence 
It displays of the budding Schubert, in the beautifal 
treatment of the wood wind. Further than this it 
would hardly be wise to go until the entire symphony 
— which is still in manuscript— is placed before 
amateiira^ The selection from the "Rosamnnde" 
masfe, comprising the entr'actes in B minor and B-flat, 
the Shepherd Melody, and the ballet air in G, were 
admirably played by the orchestra under Mr. August 
Manns, ; which slso gave a reading of the great C 
major svmphonjr which even the Crystsl Palace hand 
would hardly wish to surpass, itiss Lilian Bailey 
sang the romance in F minor in the " Rosamnnde '' 
made, and other songs ; Herr Henscbel singing also 
the "Eri King." — ^^oro. 

Dm. TOM BuBLOir introduced at last Monday's 
Popular Concert a genuine novelty: the first sonata 
for piano and violin, and one of the latest works writ- 
ten vj Johannes Brahms. Although it is somewhat 
dangerous to Judge a work of Brahms at its first par- 



38 



DWIOErS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. - No. 101 ii 



fbrmance^ a single hearing i« safficient to perceive 
that the sonata for piano and violin has about it more 
of the dements or general populsrity than many 
others of Brahms's more exacting com()oeitions. Not 
onlj is the sonata of comparative brevity, bnt its 
stracture is for the most part simple, and it obviooslv 
seeks rather to pleajie by its beauty than to astonish 
by its intricacy. Farther than this it would be un- 
wise to go until a second performance is vouchsafed 
to the public by Mr. Arthur Chappeil. If such a |ier- 
formance be given this year, it will, however, be with- 
out the assisuuce of Dr. von BfOow and Madame 
Ntfmda, the pianist making his last appearance, and 
the viollnitft ner last appearance but two, this season, 
last Monday,. — Ihid, 

Hamduboh. — a " Mozart Celebration *' was held 
at the Stadt Theater, from the 17th to the 27th of 
January, the composer's birthday. It was a continu- 
ous performance of his operas, — a healthy antidote 
to the Wagner mania ! They were giren in the fol- 
lowing order: Idemntm; Die Eniflhrmg (followed 
by Moxni tutd Sckikatuder, by Louis Schneid«rr) ; 
Ts Hockuk; Don Juajn; Co$ifan Tutte; Die 



ZoMberJUHa; and Titug; sup|.l.Mnented by a grand 
scenic FeaUpid, devised for the occasion by Herr 
Hock. 

— Jl similar historical week dedicated to Mosart's 
operas was to be held simultaneously in Vienna and 
in I«e{psig. «__ 

Lbipzio. — The twelfth Gewandhaus Concert, 
January 8, again presented two symphonies : Spohr 
in C minor, and Haydn in C major (No. 7 of the 
Breitkopf and Hftrtel ed.). Mroe. Joachim sang the 
aria from /*£Cas, with clarinet obligato, the Spanish 
song by Brahms, '* Das StriLnKSchen," by Dvorak, 
and "Wilkommen and Abschied " by Schubert. 
Miss Agnes Ztmmermann, from London, was the 
pianist, and played the Rcndo brUlant of Mendels- 
sohn, Prelude and Fugue in E minor of Biich, Nov- 
elette in £, Schnmsnn, Etude in B minor, Mendels- 
sohn. The orchestra also played an Air de Ballet 
and Garotte from Gluck's Iphi^ia, 

The novelty at the thirteenth Gewandhaus Concert 
was a Symphony in C by Herr August Ueissmann, 
who conducted in person. It was performed with 
great cars, bnt received with comparative indifference. 
Mile. Agne^ Zimmerinann played Stemdale Bennett's 
Piano* forte Concerto in C minor, a charming Gavotte 
of her own compoaition, and other pieces, Herr Csrl 
Schroder, a member of the orchestra, giving Bckert's 
violoncello Concerto. Both lady and gentleman 
(lady especially) were warmly applauded. The con- 
cert ended with Brahms's ** Variations on a Theme by 
Haydn." — Herren KeineclLe and Schradieck have 
given two concerts, at which they played Beethoven's 
ten Sonatas fur Piano>forte and Violin, five at each 
concert. The proceeds were devoted to the sufferers 
by a recent accident in the Zwickau mines. 




ViBiTKA. — At a reoent Concert of the Philhar- 
monic Socioiy the first performance of an overture 
to an opera by Franz Schuhert, entitled " Des Teu- 
fcl's Lu«tschloss," created nmrh interest. The work 
was composed, to a libretto by Kotaebne, lietween the 
Years 1813-14, when the composer was still almost a 
boy, and has never been printed. The first and third 
aeu are said to be still in existence, the manuscript of 
the second having aerred to light the Are at the house 
of a f ri^pd of the composer. The overture.is described 
as being sprightly and of sound workmanship. 

-^ Herr Josef Joachim is just now engaged upon a 
rooit sucoes4nl concert- tour extending ov«r Austria 
and some parts of Italy, in conjunction with the 
Viennese pianist, Herr Bonawiis. At Biilan, where 
the two artisu appeared on the 6ih of last month and 
on sttbieqocnt datew, their reception has been of the 
qiost enthusiastic kind, the eminent violinist creating 
a /urors with his Hungarian Coacerto and tlie Hun- 
garian dances. _,^_^ 

BnuMBLS. — A festival in commemoration of the 
fiftieth annivereary of Belgian independence will be 
held this year at Brussels, preparations on a grand 
scale having already been made. ^ A hall capable of 
holding some €000 persons is being erected, where 
rnusicM performances will take place during three 
successive days, the first being devoted to old Belgian 
masters, the third to solo performances and modern 
Belgian composers, while on the second the choral 
spqiaties.ol Antwaip.will unite jn concert. - 



LA DABINATION DE FAUST. 

There seems to be just now, among us as well 
as the Parisians, what the politicians call a ** boom ' 
for Hector Berliox. To the old impression of 
unmitigated noise and iury with which a few, 
doubtless imperfect, renderings of some of his 
orerttires, etc., had prepossessed most of us 
against his music as ^at of almost a madman, 
there have recently succeeded sweeter experi- 
ences on hearing bis pastoral Flight inic Egjfpt, 
and his song of The Captive. And now, while 
we in Boston have been listening for the first 
time to his Symphonie Fantastique (which is 
gentle and poetic m the first three parts, at least, 
though morbid, wild, ani like a pandemonium in 
the last two), New York, through the enterprise 
and skill of Dr. Damit)sch, has been waxing more 
and more enthusiastic over several performances 
of one of his greatest works, three hours in length, 
for chorus, orchestra, and solo voices. We would 
gladly have been of the Boston party who went 
on to hear it; but since that was impossible we 
have copied a large portion of the Tribune^s ex- 
cellent review of the purformance, and will here 
add the analysis to which our New York corre- 
spondent refers elsewhere. 

The legend oommences with an Andante placido in 
D major, £ time, without any overture. The motive 
is first given by the violas with no harmony, and then 
taken up by the wind instruments with Faust (who b 
meditating in the fields over the new-born spring) and 
further strengthened by the violins ; at last it is in- 
terpreted by the full orchestra, in which the piccolo 
and horns suggest the llsckoi sy March and the Rondo 
of the pessauts, and prepare the listener for the suba^ 
quent development. The introduction closes with a 
pp symphony of the violiim, and leads into the chp. 
rus and Rondo of the pessants, which is of a rather 
gay nature and once interrupted by a G major Presto 
in ^ time. At this point Faust appears again with 
his sad theme ( thii time in B minor) ; bnt he cannot 
compete with the gayncss of the peasants. At last 
trumpets announce the approach vi the army, which 
passes by to the sounds of the Marclie Hongroise, in 
A minort splendidly instrumented. 

A double bass solo in fugue style (large ^ time^ 
F bharp minor) initiates the second part, which finds 
Faust in his study. He sings : *' Nothing takes away 
my sorrow." 'The accompaniment becomes more 
lively, the double basses play syncopes, and are fol- 
lowed by the violins. A recitative comes next ; the 
syncopes rise from C major to A major, and fall sud- 
denly with the commencement of the Easter Hymn 
(ReUgioto moderato atsai, ^ time) upon F major. The 
Easter Hymn is sn exceedingly beautiful chorus, in 
which Faust ukes part with the words : " Memory of 
happy days." Mephisto, briefly and charabteristically 
introduced, appears and mockingly interrupts Faust's 
happy mood. Then follows a dialogue, in which 
Mephisto succeeds in persuading Faust to go with 
him. This episode offers little musical novelty. Next 
is heard the chorus of the drinkers (C minor, }), a 
piece most interesting and beautiful as regards rhythm^ 
full of vigor and life ; and then follows the very original 
song of Brander : " There was a rat" (D major, f ). 
The short refrain of the chorus, " As if he had love in 
his bodom," is of magnificent effect. Then follows an 
" Amen " fugue, which had better be left nncriticised 
since the composer meant it for a joke. It is to be 
pitied that composers of Berlios's standing make such 
jokes ; one feels inclined to think of " sour grapes." 
Meph'sto asks the drinkers' permission to sing; a ditty, 
which is granted, and he sings the song of the " Royal 
Fiea" {aUegntto eon fneto, }. F miyor). initiated by a 
powerful crash in the oicliestra. Bcrlios goes, perhapa^ 
a little too far in this song as regards painting music, 
since he puu the task upon the violins to imiute mu- 
sicaHy the hoppiiy of the mack didiked inseei. 



The most interesting piceeof the entire legend is the 
finale of the second paru It commences with a abort 
orchestral prelude, which imiutes the ride of Fauat 
and Mephisto through the air. At the end of this 
passage, which is mostly executed by wind instru- 
ments with high notes, and violins, on the high part of 
the strings, the violins slowly go down into the lower 
notes, and Mephisto describes in a quiet and in no 
way demoniacally written Aria in D (i time) the 
friendly hanks of the Elbe, and then caTls upon his 
serving ghosu to sing Faust to sleep. The' next cho- 
rus of the Elves is broad and excellently planned. 
For iu basis it has nothing at all of a ghostly nature; 
bnt this latter is given by a middle passa^ in F sharp 
minor (the chorus is in D), and leveral features in 
the accompaniment. After a masterly continued 
organ-point on the lower dominant (G) the {chorua 
doses softly. But the concliuive deep D is c irrjed 
through pp by the double busies and violoncelloa 
during the whole now following passage, and repre- 
sents the sleeping Faust At the same time the muted 
violins play a pretty dance movement, which ia a 
shortening of the tlieme of the preceding chorus, and 
this again is occasionally implicated by chords of high 
wind instruments and solitary harp tones, togetliet 
producing a great effect. One imagines the sleep- 
ing Fauftt in reality surrounded by graceful fairies. 
This orcliestral number caused great entbusiaam with 
calls for repetition ; this and the Hungarian Rackocsy 
March pleased the most of all the soenes. The con- 
clusion of this part is formed by two male choruses in 
B-flat major, the one sung by soldiers, quite martial 
and energetic, and the other by students, very char- 
acteristic and wild. Both choruses united create a 
very exciting finale. 

In the third part we find Faast in Margaret's 
room. Altera sweet prelude, Mephisto annonncM 
her approach. Faust hides behind the curtain, while 
Margaret sings the " King of Thule " (F major). In 
thii the composer succeeds leas than in the humorous 
passages, bnt at the same time the obligato aooon- 
paniment of the viola (well played by Mr. Friaeh) is 
very effective. After this song the scene changes and 
we find Mephisto conjuring ghosts before Margaret's 
house. Here again Berlios has done some bixarre 
work. The Involved bellet in D contains passages of 
the wildest effects. Now follows perhaps the most 
original song of the whole work, Mephisto's serenade 
in B major, with guitar-imitations, consisting of 
pixsicato arpeggios of the string quartet. A new finale 
brings the third part to a close. This commences 
with a Duo between Faust and Margaret, somewhst 
in the style of " music of the future," which leads to 
a trio by the entr6e of Mephisto, and is heightened 
to a good effect by a chorus of citiaens and work- 
men. 

The fourth and last part commences with BCar- 
gsret's song: " My heart is heavy," which falls firom 
the simple and natural poem into a somewhat theatri- 
cal tone. The translation consists of nine verses, for 
which the composer did not repeat the melody, but 
composed the whole song. After this song the sol- 
diers' and stndenu' chorus is repeated, and is then 
followed by a recitative of Maigaret in which ahe de- 
plores the absence of the friend. Afterwards Faust 
is fonnd in a forest, singing of the grandeur of nature, 
when Mephisto joins him and speaks of Maigaret'a 
misery. Faust demands of the devil to save her, 
which the latter promises after Faust has signed a 
contract. Both now mount blade steads to rescue 
the sinner. Here the orchestra splendidly describes 
the different scenes and incidents. How they pass a 
way cross before which peasants are praying, how a 
Qionster persecutes them, how skeletons dance, etc. 

[Hers the MS. suddenly oomes to an end. Psriiaps tbs 
missing leaf wilt follow.] 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Habtau> Musical AaaoozaTioir. — The fifkh 
Symphony Concert, Thursday afternoon, February 
13, drew the fullest audience of the season, partly 
owing, no doubt, to the novel features of the following 
progranune .^ . 



Fbbboabt 28, 1880.] 



D WIGHT S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



89 



1. Omtm to <« Fidelio," in £ Bulkoven. 

i. Kcdtative and Bonuuiee: t^Sdrm opnm** 

{Sombr€/wit\ ftt>m » GuillaiinM Tell " Rotdm. 

MIm Louie Homer. 
8. Flano-lbrte Concerto, in F, Op. S2 (Pint 

time in Americs) Lovu BrPtmn. 

AlUgro earn fttoco, — Andante. — AlUyro eon fnoco, 
MIm Jcesie Cochran. 

4. Song! with Pitno-forte Grieg, 

a. Ich liebe dieli. 
h, WaldwAndeninjr. 
c. Entei Begegnen. 

Mill Loaie Homer. 
6. Sympbooie Fantiutiqae: **I.*Epiiode de I» 
Vie d'wi Artirte/' Op. 14a (J<lnt Ume In 
Boetoo) «... Hector Berlio*- 

Beetboren's brij;ht OTerture, th« fourth «nd iMt of 
the Leonore aeries, was plajed with spirit and pre- 
dsion, making a wholesome, lirely opening, in con. 
trast to the morbidly elaborate woric of Berlios, which 
formed the last and larger half ^f the concert. The 
iDterrening solo performances were highly interesting. 
Miaa Homer, who sang the part of Penelope io well In 
the recent performance of Odyneut by the Cecilia, ap- 
peared now for the second time only in a large con- 
cert-hall. Her face and flfcure, somewhat suggestive 
of the yonng Jenny Lind when she grew radiant in 
the light of her own singing, seemed full of niosic and 
a native instinct of lyrical expression, winning sym- 
pathy at onoe. Yet the struggle to conceal her nerv- 
ousness was bat imperfectly concealed. Her Toice 
is of a beautiful quality in the higher tones, sweet, 
rich, and powerful; but the lower tones seemed to 
lack substance and were often indistinctly heard; 
this may hare been timidity. We heard the " color " 
of her voice throughout its principal range com- 
pared to that of her golden hair. Her delivery of 
the recitative from WiUiam Tell was well conceived, 
dramatic, and refined ; and she sang the noble mel- 
ody of the Rossini aria sweetly, chastely, and with 
taste and feeling. The good impression was more 
than confirmed by her delicate, fine rendering of the 
poetic little songs by Grieg, to which the rather diffi- 
cult and by no means commonplace accompaniments 
were rery nicely played by Mr. Preston. 

The Concerto by Louis Brassin, a teacher of the 
piano at the Brussels Consen-atory, is a graceful com- 
position of a gentle, pastoral character, musician-like 
in form and treatment, but of no great strength or in- 
tensity in its ideas. It fiows on very evenly, and is 
unique (so far as we know) among concertos by its 
clinging to the same theme through all three move- 
ments. The Andante, indeed, is but a continuation, 
without panse, of the first Allegro, only in a slower 
rhythm, so that when it began most listeners fancied 
it to be but a momentary slackening of the tempo. 
This is the most charming portion of the work. The 
finale, to be sure, starts off with a new and brilliant 
motive, which, however, proves to be only episodical, 
for it aoon relapses into the original theme, and that 
rules to the end. The Concerto, as fsr as the piano 
was concerned, wss well suited to the neat, sure, del- 
icate, and finished execution of Miss Cochran. Had 
the great hall been equally well suited to her, and had 
the full orchestral accompaniment been less unremit- 
ting, she would have been heard to better advantage. 
Her interpretation of the work showed taste, intelli- 
gence, good culture, and oflomh; the only want was 
of physical strength sufficient to prevail in that great 
spaee. But the young lady was playing for the first 
time with orchestra i she has talent, and her day, no 
doubt, will come. Great interest was shown in her 
appearance. 

The programme Symphony of Berlios, of course, 
was the marked feature of the concert. The pro- 
gramme, or iu substance, in Schumann's words, we 
have already given. It undertakea to describe the 
dream of a love-sick artist, who has taken opium, and 
Is in five parts, — the first sentimental, the second gav 
and festive, the third paftoral, the fourth and fifth 
grim, funereal, ending in the wildest, seemingly cha- 
otic, but by no means formless, Witches' Sabbath. 
We were agreeably disappointed in the freedom from 
extiavaganee, the absence of all noise and fury in the 
three gentler movements ; through them sll the noisier 
biask instruments are held in as abstemiously as in the 
firet two thirds of Don Oiovamii, In all these move- 1 



ments there are many delicate poetic beauties, charm- 
ing melodic passages, and many original and lovely 
combinations and contrasts of instruments, especially 
the wood wind. 

Part L ("Reveries, Passions") begins JLargo, in a 
vague, uneasy, melancholy strain, well answering to 
the compo!*cr'8 idea of restless love without an object 
Then comes in the melody, which typifies the loved one, 
and which becomes the connecting thresd throughout 
the Symphony. This melody is well pronounced and 
clear, and of considerable length; we muht say it 
seems to us a little studied, artificial, and of a sickly 
hue. But it answers the end of convenient dismem- 
berment and working up through many ingenious 
contrspuntsl devices. The Allegro is impassioned, 
tender, delirious, peaceful, and serious by turns. 
Merely 'as miisic it is very interesting. 

Part IL (The Ball) starts with a fre^h and charm- 
ing Walts tempo, which grows a little vague as it 
goes on ; but the movement is a happy nrlief to the 
dreamy sentiment of the first part. It has two harp- 
parts, which were here cleverly represented on piano- 
fortes by Messrs. Preston and Fenollora. The ine/- 
odjff the loved one, reappears amid the gay festivity. 
There is a ceruin luscious, sensuous tone-coloring 
throughout 

Part III., Adagio^ Is pastoral, a scene in the fields, 
opening with a ranz-dee vachee^ answered in the dis- 
tance on two English horns. A warm, fresh, charm- 
ing tone-picture of Nature follows ; the dreamer is 
happy; till $he, the melody, appears again, when 
doubts and fears cross the sunny picture like shadows 
of dark clouds. Much of this music bears resem- 
blance to passsges in the brook-Kide scene and the 
finale of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (Berllox was 
full of Beethoven enthusiasm at that time). Then 
the shepherd melody is resumed but not replied to ; 
for there are sounds of distant thunder, marvellously 
well rolfed up by fonr tympani and other drums, for 
which Berliox, who had studied all such fteans of ef- 
fect more carefully than any other man, gives most 
minute directions in the score. Dsy dies out in si- 
lence. The whole scene was wonderfully graphic, and 
the hush of the whole audience complete. 

Part IV. He dreams he has killed the Beloved and 
is led to execution. This Marche du Suppliee brings 
in brass enough, with all the low and murky reed 
tones, and combines sll sounds that are grim, coarse, 
ruthless, terrible, and stsrtling. You hear the heavy 
footsteps, and the confused crowding in of the multi- 
tude as the procession nears the fatal spot. A por- 
tion of the March, h(»wever, is in a brilliant and 
triumphant strain, which sounds like Meyerbeer, but 
Berliox wss before him. The love melody begins, 
but M cut short halfway by the fal^of the fatal axe 1 
There is a certain terrible fa>cination in all this ; it 
is done v^ith consummate skill of instrumentation, 
and great originality of invention ; but " Music, 
heavenly Maid," has fied sway when.we must listen 
to such things, and it is not wholesome to hear much 
of the sort 

Part y. The " Witches' Sabbath Night" is worse, 
— all pandemonium let loose, in fact But the worst 
thing about it is that the melody, the ideal object of 
the dreamer's love, appears in the midst of it sophis- 
ticated, tortured, and degraded into a meretrieions 
vulgar dance-tune, full of frills and trills, enongh to 
shock a sensitive imsgination ; who but a French- 
man could have committed such a profanation e%'en 
in a dream, or published it iu music even if he had 
dreamed it 1 

The burlesque parody of the Diee Irm^ at first given 
out by the braats in grave plain chorale, with the ap- 
palling accompaniment of the ^/osyiinMre, or funeral 
bell (here represented on a grand piano), then put 
through all sorts of grotesque variations, and finally 
worked np together with the feckless Rondo of ike 
Sabbath J shows wonderful power as a mere sensa- 
tionsl extravagania. Nor is it wholly without form 
and void ; there is a long fugato passage, almost a 
regular fugue, in the course of it, which again suggests 
Beethoven, that is to say, a aimilar orchestral passage 
which occurs during the choral finsle of the Ninth 
Symphony. — The final rout is beyond all power of 
verbal dMcription. 



The conductor (Zerrahn) and orchestra deserve 
great praise for the really excellent performance of 
this strange and extremely difllcult work after only 
three rehearsals. All the composer's minute diree- 
tions in the score were scrupulously observed, so far 
as it was possible without a much larger orchestra. 



For the third chamber concert, Wed- 
nesday evening, Feb. II, the New York Philbarmonte 
Club (Messrs. Arnold, Gansbach, Gramm, and Wer- 
ner), were the interpreten of two extremely interesl- 
ing and well contrasted quartets for first and second 
violin, viola, and 'cello. The first, Beethoven, No. 10, 
in £-fiar, is exqni»itely beautiful and full of subtle 
and originsl ideas, especially the Adagio with its kpir- 
irual variations and development of theme. Those 
who were somewhat prepared, and who followed the 
movements closely, were profoundly impressed and 
delighted ; but it is not a thing for superficial, careless 
hearing. The interpreution was appreciative and 
well nigh faultless. And so was that of tbe A major 
quartet, No. 3 of the three composing Op. 41, by Schu- 
mann, which was more readily appreciated by a large 
portion of the audience. 

The fourth concert, Wednesday evening, March 10, 
offers one of the last quartets by Beethoven, in A 
minor. Op. 138, and one by Mendelssohn in D mi^or. 
Op. 44, No 1, with the same interpreters. 



Mb. PanABO has given two more matin te or re- 
citals, of pianoforte music during the past week, Mng 
himself th^ sole interpreter. Of these hereafter. He 
furthermore snnounces an evening concert for Mareh 
8, when he will be assisted by several of tbe orches- 
tral musicisns in the production of an Octet by Bar* 

gieL 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Nxw York, Fn. 83.~ Probably the saost netabfe event 
of the pseaent musical season baa been the prodnetiott of Ber- 
lioB*s Damnation de /V/vst by the Symphony Soeisty. 
Much money and kbor have bsen espsoded upon it, and its 
suoeeas, both artistically and pecuniarily, has been meat 
gratifying to th« promoters of the best intsiests of tbe soci- 
ety. On Wednesday evening, Feb. 11, a full rebssnal was 
attended by some eighteen hundred peopb. At the publie 
rehearsal on the next day (Thursday, Feb. IS), the bail was 
ftiU, and on Saturday evening, Fab. 14* the concert-room 
was crammed to suflbcation. By universid desire the />ffs». 
nation was repeated on Wednesday evening, Feb. 18. and 
is again to be given on Wednesday evening, Feb. S5. With 
regard to the work itself I prsfinr to give no opuik», and I 
send you herewith a carefully written critique by an accom- 
plished mnsidsn, whose acumen is musical, snd who is per- 
fectly fearless in expressing his genuine sentiments. 

On Thursday evening, Feb. 17, the Brooklyn Phllhar- 
monie Society gave Its fourth eoooert with the appondsd 
programms! -^ 

Andante and Fugue, C minor Monart. 

(String Orchestra.) 
Aria: » II mio Tesoro " Ifoeari, 

(Big. BaUansa.) 
Fourth Symphony, B flat. Op. 60 . . . Beethoten, 
Overturn: «* Penthesilca," Op. 31 .... GMmnrk, 
Aria: '•Nasoealboaeo** Handel 

(MUe. BekMca.) 
Introduetkm and Finale to ^ Tristan and IsoUs " Wagner. 

The performance of the symphony showed the most esrs- 
ftd preparation of any of the orehcstnd numbers. It was 
played with great finish and unity of purposs; albsit, Mr. 
ThooDas lias some singular whims with regard to tsmpos. 
Still, sueh things sie mattcvs of individual conception, and 
I do not intend to be hjpereritical. In tbe Goldmark over- 
toe and in the Wagner seleetion there were many crudi- 
ties of exeeotioa, and it is to be regretted that thiey eonU 
not have been ovenome by mdie rsbeaiaals than Mr. 
Thomas eaa possibiy, under tbe eiroamstancss, give to his 
programmes. Tbe vocalists were sooeessAd in seeoring 
enooccs, and it is to be supposed that this was a gratiiyhug 
foot to them, eten if their sflbrta were Isss satisfiietory to 
critical ears. 

Tbe stags was sdcrned, ss nsnsl, with exquisite flowers 
and growing plants, and there was that air of reflnement 
and eoltnm in all the details that at ones makes it evIdsBt 
that genuine taste and enthusiasm is the saimating spirit 
in the getting np of these very attractive and pleMurable 
entertainments. In the fifth concert we shall have Sohn. 
bcrt*s C tu^ Symphony, Mendelssohn's "Midsannnsr 
Nigfat*s Dream *' muste, and a Skvonio Rhapaody (Op. 4A, 
No. 8) by Dvorak: tbsss fir ocehssta; the sdoists ars not 
yet annomicsd. 

Ob Wedassdky evening was the aim p«fi*a*Ber of 



40 



DWIOHT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No- 1014. 



B«ttM*s D aw m a tumf umI on Saturday aming the New 
Tock Phithaniioiiio Sodatj's eoocart witb tUi pragramma: 

Adajiio and Fogaa, C minor ifoaorl. 

(6tiiog OrehMtn.) 
Fpnrth Sjmphonj, B flat. Op. 60 ... Bttikottn, 
Plana Gone«to» F minor. Op. SI .... Ckqrim, 

(R. Joacdiy.) 
Intradnetion and Finale: <« Triitan and laolda ** Wagntr, 

Tha fntnre of tha aming vaa Joisfly*8 deltghUU inter- 
pntation of Gliopin*s iiondg ftJ tona and power. Tha art- 
fat waa etiU tiiflbring ftom bis unfortunate dilBeultj with 
tha fonflnger of hfa right hand, and ha wore upon It a 
Iwthtrii eofcr to nrotcet it ftom anj eoddcn knook againet 
tha kajre. Htmdicapptd aa ha waa, he gave ua the moat 
deUdoai randaring of tha oonoerto to which I have aver 
liatancd. Aa I hava oAcn eaid, ha never foroee tha tona of 
an Inatrament, but yat every note fa parfoetly deer and dia- 
tinet, whifa hfa eliding fa pei«Detiott, and hfa uee of the 
padal aiora than perfeet Nothing lilia hfa pfanopfaying 
hae av« been heard In tha ooneerta of thfa loeiety, and tha 
laiga and attentiva andienee gava avidenoe of ita appreeia- 
tfaa of thfa foot by demanding in tha moat eiithuafaetic 
■Banner tha pfaiifat*s raappcaranoa; twice ha eimpiy bowed 
and retired in the modeet way that fa one of hfa uMet at-' 
tiaetiva ohanoterfatice, but tha applanee continuing with 
uwahafad farvor and parrieteney ha played Lieat'e Hunga- 
rian Fantaeia (with orelieetnd acoompanimante) in a moat 
■nperb way. Loud and chaotic aa the fantaeia ie, it reaOy 
beoame, under hfa deft fingen, a marvallouely cflbetiva and 
•wtt bcautiAil wofk. Tha bMBtfabfa anditon appfaudcd 
thfa with avan mora warmth tlian they liad ehown in the 
flnt inetance (principally baeanee the fautaefa waa nam-er 
to thair comprebeuehMi); but Joeefly, probably wearied with 
hfa cfibrte, declined to play again, although compcDed thrioe 
to bow hfa aiAnowfadgmenU. 

Joecdiy fa announced for a eerfae of four chamber muefa 
oMMfrte to bcgfai oo Wedneeday, March S, and to twml- 
wita OB Wedneeday, Mareh 81 (Meich 14 beli« ooiittad): 
ha fa afao to giva a ** Chopin night ** on Monday evening, 
Mareh 1. All of thaea ooneerta will, of couree, take pfaca 
at Chfekering Hall, and will aflbrd a reia nueical treat to 
thoee who an wfae enough to attend them. 

I ind that I hava omitted to mention that on Wadnee 
day allamoon, Feb. 18, Mr. T. W. Morgan (oiganiat) and 
Mfai Mand Morgan (harpfat) begen (at 'Obickering HaU) 
a ecriee of fiva organ and harp miSindia to be given on ene- 
ccaeiva Wadneedaye and to terminate March 17. At the 
ini mating Uia programma included an arnuigament of a 
portkoof Baethoven*e eo-callad *« Moonlight Sonata," and 
many other good thlngi. It waa not my fortnua to be 
piaeent, but I ehatt donbtfam hoar tba remabting four 
metinfre, and then can giva your mdare a better idea of 
thaea entertainmenta, which open up a new fidd of mnaical 
a^|oyment -_^_ Aaoua. 

Baltimobi, Fab. 9. — Tha fret Peabody Symphony 
Ooncert on the Slat ult. gava tha following progiamme: — 
Ocean Symphony, C mi^. No. t. Work 

48 Antom RubmtUin, 

Allegro mamtneo — Adagio non tanto. — Allegro. 
— Adagio. — Allegro con fuoeo. 
Andantaand Rondo from tha violin -aonccrto. 

Work 64. MtndtUtokm, 

TVueeribed for tha piano by Madame Rivd-Kmg. 
m. Hungarian Rhapeody, C aharp minor. 

No. 8 FramJJmL 

For piano. 
A. Sooge with piano. 
MtNeVikUigruft.'' 
<• Angiolin dal Uondo erln." 
mDu bfat wfa eina Bloma.*' 

Mr. Frana Bammetta. 
Raid of tba Yikinge. Overture to a None 
dranuL Work 86 . • • • • • JBwdl Bortmontiii, 

Compooed 1878. 

Tha orsheetra, ae etated in a former letter, hoe been in- 
areaeed to about forty-flva piaeee, and, under tha dlreetion 
of Mr. Hamerik, faitarpreted the orcheetnl eefactione aa well 
aa might have been atpected for an opening night. Our 
mueiciane have eo ttttfa good creheetial muefa to pfay tha year 
round, that it alwaye requim one or two conoerte to produce 
the naeeeeary epfait and pot them faito proper aacotd. 

Madame Riv^KIng pkyed her tranecrlption of tha Mm- 
dcfaeohn Violin Oonoerto, and tha Lfaat Rlupeody with won- 
derftd precfalon and epirit Her taehnical ability k great, 
and die playe with an amount of power quite aetonlehlng 
for a woman. 

Mr. Frans Remmerta did not meet wHh hfa uend eaceem 
In the Lfact eonge. They wen aridantly not for him nor 
ha far them. 

At tha thirtaenth Stadeote* Concert on iMt Saturday 
evening, the following programme waa given: — > 

String-tilo, C UMilor. Work 87 B tUmtm. 

fot two viollne and viofa. 
Maem. ADen, Flneka, and Schaefor. 
Thama with varbtkme. «'11ia Harmoniona 

Bbekemith." HemdtL 

For pfano. 

Mr. Adam Itael, etadent of tba Omervatorr, thfad vear. 

«. OavwUna from *« Figaro's Wedding " W. A, Monti, 

MIm Bon Bvntt, atadent of the Cenewvaticy, 8nt year. 



•t 



&. Radtative and Air from «* Flgaro'e Wadding. 
Min Mory Kelly, etadant of the Omecrvatory, firet yeer. 
r. Plano-trlo, E-8at uu^. No. 7. 

For piano, violin, and viola. 

Mr. Rom Jungnickel, etudent oif tha Cooeervatory, fourth 

yeer, Meeen. Flucke and Schaefor. 

C. F. 

Chicago, Feb. 81.— Since my fact note to tba Joubnal 
quite a number of email mueicd eotertdnmente have taken 
place, and otben have been'announced ae bdng of uncommon 
intereet. Mr. Emil liebling gan a pianoforte recital 
In the early part of the month, at which ha performed, ba- 
eidee a number of smaller piaon, tha F minor concerto of 
Chopin, and with Meeen. Lewfa and Efahhdm. a 'Mo by 
Haydn. He wae accompanied In tha Concerto by a etring 
quartet and a second piano-forte, which wae pfayed by Mise 
lugeredl. The andienee wae an intermted one, and gava 
evUance of a ftiU appredation. I have a number of tinim 
spoken of the impieedon that Mr. Liabllng*o pfayiag faft 
with me, and I etIU retain my opinion tlmt be must be 
daeead with the briUfant rather than tha eentimentd pky. 
ers. Hfa technique fa a de q u at e for very diflScult work, and 
then fa a certain brilliancy about hfa playing that pfaesm 
an audience. In the more ddieate pheew of art, where the 
deep Boeaninge of eentiment an to be interpreted, then 
eeeme to be much that fa laeking in hfa pkying. Gradatione 
of lone an there, and many paeeegm an given with a 
graceful intent; but it seems ,like meeting tte muefa from 
the ontdde and adding to it an outside polfah, inetead of 
making the inner meaning eeem a living rmlity. In a 
dmpb word, it fa musfa as movement that I hear rather than 
a eoulful uttersnce that breathn out toiie-pictnm which 
touch the emotional natun and quicken it Into sywpathetfa 
lifo Yet I am gfad that BIr. UeUiug, amid hfa many 
dutim aa teacher, inde time to prepan theee reeitafa for the 
public, for we ban for too littfa of thfa kind of musfa in 
our dty. 

The last (Chamber Concert given by Min Ingerool, Meeera. 
Lewfa and Eachbdm, oArad the following programme: — 

(Quartet, Ord Tansa, Op. 84 BarguL 

Lsndfar. — Menuet — Springtans. 
(MIssM IngareoU and Lewfa. Bleesn. Lewfa and Sleh- 

hdm.) 

Sonata, hi Q minor ^ . Bai^tmaiM, 

(Min IngareoU and Mr. licwis.) 
(^nartaor, for Strings, Op. 188, No. 8, ... . Eaf. 

(I*lrst time in Chfaago.) 
IMa Miilfarin. —Die Milhfa. 
(Meeen. Lewie, Muhlenbeig, Meyer, Eichhdm.) 
(Quintet, Op. 114 JOUuUt^gtr. 

(Mfas IngereoD, Meeen. Lewfa, Muhfanbeig, M^yer, and 

Efahhalm.) 



It win be eeen at a gfance that tha modem echool of 
muefa wae given a hearing on thfa oeeadon. Yet the.pcr- 
formann proved to be very Intereeting, for it gan us the op. 
portonity of hsaiingwhat some of the compossr s of to-day 
sn doing for art. The performen pfayed con amore, and 
the hour wae very eqjoyabfa. 

At tha preeent time we an having what an termed pop- 
ular eoocerte from Mim Emma Thunby and troupe. On 
Friday Evening tha 8rrt performance in (^icego of Gil- 
mare's •* haaveu-ineolKd National Hynm/' called « Cdnm. 
Ua*' was said to btf the attrsction. For over a week all 
our strset-ean and other publfa pfaen ban been filled with 
bombastfa dreufara, ornamented with wood cuU of Mim 
Tkureby and the composer of the abon mentioned ** heaven- 
inspind hymn.'* At fast, with the assistance of a eborue, 
moetly eompoeed of onr dignified Apollo (}lub, under the 
dhaetfan of Mr. Tomline, with Mfas Thorsby to dng a sob 
and a diamatfa reader to make the words undcntood, the 
** heaven insphed " production hn been given a hearing. 
As I looked over the doggcrd, called by oourtny an ode, I 
could but wonder what our fair land had dona that ehe 
ehould be forced to eubmit to bdng sung about In such a 
mannsr. An then no poete faft to sbg, or ban the Muen 
huehed thdr sweet volen forever, and an then hiharmo- 
uioos meaenm the fast echon of a fact ait? And the 
muefa! If it fa thue that tha heavenly angeb dng to Mr. 
GQmon In that dient hour when insplraUon lifts the soul 
b^jfond the busy rush of worldly tdl into the sphen of 
bsauty's enchantment, then I am thankful to be a common 
mortal, and commune with the spirit of art as I find It 
upon the earth. When we view thfa •* heavenly ineplred 
hymn" from the rational etandpdnt, and obeenre that 
a very common-plan and badly written mueical theme 
fa repeated thm Umn In a eingfa vem, and that we an 
atpected to dng a number of etanau befon the patxiotfa 
lineean finiehed, we fed eomething akin to madnen filling 
the mind. And yet then fa a thought of eternity In it after 
all, for the one littfa theme gon on forever and forever. It 
wae rather an aroudng dght to en a chorua of a hundred 
or men of our best dngere, Min Thursby, and Mr. Tom- 
Una, with a dramatfa rsadcr etriving to find the meaning of 
the teat, all engsged in trying to interpret Mr. Oilmen's 
**Cdumbfa" to a very huge andisnoa. The senntfanal 
might win a fow doDan for the ant^psfaaUe youQg managsr 
of our New Musk Hall for one evening, but the good eenn 
ef our eaonmrnlty ifil be d^ Ito admitting that musfa or 



America was honored by euch an exhibition. It eeeme to 
me that the tlaia fa not for distant when our pcopk will re- 
din that the bombastic announcements msdc by cobcert 
managen an not to be d^cnded upon, and that they will 
nm tMr own judgment in euch matten. Iliat the perform- 
ann of tbfa eo^cdlcd hymn fdl perfectly flat, waa in itedf 
a leesoo to the management, and also to oar chorus singere. 
A dignified eoefaty Uke the ApoUo Club, which has dways 
given itsdf to what fa beet in art, ehould refuw to allow ita 
membcn to take part In such seneatlond CKhibitioue. Mim 
Thunby sanir a number of edectione that have been upon 
her concert prognmmn for yesn, but with ench brilliaucy 
ae to win the applaun of bier audieuoe. Mim Amy Fay 
pfayed etMne eeleetions from Bach, (^{rfn, Sehumaa, Men- 
delssohn, Beethoven, and Lists, and hdped to gin a littfa 
tnf^gutkm of ml music to the very mieeellaneous pro- 
grammes. 

At one of the recent chamber eononrta at Harshey Musfa 
Hall we had thfa htlfa progiamme: — 

Ptotord-SonaU (Manuecript) . . . fftmrf Sckoem^tid. 
I. Allegro giueto. (In the Green.) IL Andante 
con moto. (Sennade.) III. Schcno. (Coun- 
try Dann.) IV. Rondo. (Alfagn moderato). 
(Feetivd.) 
(Pianoforte and YioUn.) 
Meeen. Scboend^eld and Lewfa. 
Song: *« Then fa a green hill for away "... Gounod, 
Min May Phoenix. 

First TUo in D mhier, Op. 48 Mendtlmtkn. 

Meeen. Eddy, Lewfa, and Efahhdm. 

Tha ocesdon wae particulariy intereeting, fawsarach n a 
eompodtlon^by Mr. Schoenefeld wae to be p erformed for the 
firrt time in thfa dty. Thfa young gentleman hae been 
home fimm hfa etudin in Germany but a short time, and 
from what I ban seen of hfa compositions I most fnnkly 
acknowledge that he fa a muaidan of much talent. He 
wrote the work ealled » Eastern Idyll," for the piin compe- 
tition at CIndnnati, and although it did not rneh the firwt 
rank, yet it recdved an houoraiile mention, and waa elaeeed 
with the four woike that tha Judgn regarded ae worthy of 
commendation. A letter from Mr. 'Hiomae, ae chairman of 
the eonnnittea, announced the foci. The Sonata that fa on 
the abon programma fa a very mdodioue work, bdng well 
constructed, and intereeting ail through. The Andante fa 
particulariy beautiful, and contains a theme that fa very 
mdodioas, and yet tender in its eweetnen. Whatever thfa 
young gentleman writn enme to be miidcd in character, 
and th«a fa no etriving lor vdn eflccte. after the manniT of 
many of the imitaton'of the so-called » made of the future." 
If be rsmaina loyd to the forms of pun art ha will make a 
name for himsdf n a eompoesr of mon than ordinary 
merit. C. H. B. 



LOCAL NOTES. 
Thk prqgrsmme of the Harvard Symphony Omceit for 
laet Thureday indnded: the Overtun •• Wdhe dn Haaas,'* 
Btetkovf; Uee. and Pnyer of Penefape, from " Od y eee ue ,*' 
Max Brudif eung by Mim Hay Bryant; llano Concerto, 
No. 2, SainUStthu, fSayed by Mme. Riv^King; Symphony 
No. 4, hi B-flat, BeHkovem; Songe; Octet, Mtndeisufkn, by 
all the etrings. — The next progrsmme, for Mareh 11, wlU 
be found In oar advertising edumns. 

— Herr Josefly hn recovered the un of hfa fingen, eo 
that the concerta, whfah Mr. Peek hn twice been obliged to 
poetpone, wiU take phce, witb the prograromn originally 
announoed, on the cveninge of Mareh 11 and IS, and the 
afternoon of Saturday, Mareh IS, with the Phllharmonfa 
Orchestra, in the fiodon Musfa UalL 

—Mim Henrietta Maurer, the talented young pianist, 
who Btudied for eeverd veen In Moecow, announen ^wo 
Matintee for Mondays, Manh 1 and 8, at Meefaanfae HalL 
She will be aadeted by Mn. Marehington, Soprsno, Mn. 
Rfahardson, Soprano, Mfas UUian Shattack, Yfalln, Sig. Y. 
CiriUo, Baritone, Mr. B. Ustemann, vioUn, and Mr. T. P. 
Currier, accompanist. Tha pn^grsmmn an full of intereet- 
ing matter. 

— We ban no Imitation In commending to the attention 
of all good mnafa kven the complimentary concert to be 
given next Saturday evening, March 6, at Union Hall, to 
Min Teren Careno CampMl, a young and highly gifted 
vioUniet. who hae elnsdy acquired much skill upon her in- 
etrument, and won the sympathy of many friends. She can 
play that hnvenly Aria from Bach*e Suite in D with a etyfe 
and foeUng which any one can enjoy after hearing it by 
Wfanfaweki and Wilhcln^ and ehe fa eqiml to the dileultin 
of WfanUwdd's brilliant Pofanafae. Her deter, Mfas Mary 
Cfampbdl, an exedfant pianiet, will take part in the concert; 
and ehe will afao be aeeleted by Mn. £. Humphny-Allen, 
eoprano; Mr. B. J. Lang, who will pfay one of the Qwpin 
Seheraoe; lir. Edward Bowditch in eonge by Fhms; and 
Msssn. Alfan, Frfas, and Hdndl hi a (^aartst by Haydn; 
also Mr. C. L. (>apen as aeoompanfat. One d^ect of the con- 
cert fa to enanfa thfa young giri to procun a violin worthy 
of her talent. 

— Prof. J. K. Paine, of Harvard College, cont em pht w a 
eerin of chamber concerts in Boylston Hall, on the eollcge 
groande, befon the elon of the preeent eeeeon. Tha et»- 
deute an becoming mon and monlnteneted in giMd maafa, 
and the Profoeeor*s daaem hi harmony, coanteipoiot, musical 
history, etc., an much fhtterthan they ban ever been befon. 



March 13, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



41 



BOSTON, MARCH 13, 1880. 

Entered at the Pat Office at Boston as socond-claM matter. 



All the articlet not credited to other publicatiotu totre ex- 
prestly vrittenfor thie JoumaJ, 

PublUhed forhiigktJy bff HouonroN, Osgood & Co., 
£otton^ Ma^s. Price, lo cents a mitnber; U-SO per year. 

For 9a!e in BoBton by Carl Pkuefkb, jo West Struts A. 
Williams ft Co.. j»j Washington Street, A. K. Lobikg, 
J69 WcLsMngtom Street, and by the Puhlishers ; in New York 
by A. Bbewtano, Jli., J9 Union Square, and Houghton, 
Osgood ft Co., 2/ Astor Place; in PhUadelpMa by W. H. 
Boxer ft Co., //oi ChestmU Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Cokpaity, J12 State Street, 



MUSIC — A SOMEWHAT PRACTICAL 

VIEW. 



BT N. LINCOLN, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



It has been urged that music is a branch 
of study more ornamental than useful ; which 
can be dispensed with altogether, or the ex- 
penditure in its behalf be greatly reduced. 
Yet, as a matter of fact, no such claim is 
made among prominent educators, or by those 
best informed on matters pertaining to public 
instruction. On the contrary, here in Massa- 
chusetts, music never stood higher on the list 
of studies than now ; was never so thoroughly 
taught as now, never so justly appreciated as 
now. Our University has its professor of 
music, within the year has found it necessary 
to employ m addition a tutor in singing, and 
is granting diplomas to such as successfully 
complete the course prescribed. 

The Empire of Japan has just concluded a 
contract with Mr. L. W. Mason, late superin- 
tendent of music in the schools of Boston, to 
introduce our system of musical instruction in- 
to that country. Arrangements are making at 
Tokio, on the most liberal scale, to furnish 
die means and appliances needed in the line 
of his profession, to promote his personal com- 
fort, and to add dignity to the office he 
assumes. 

Music has become, may we not say, the 
chief amusement of the people. As such it 
is innocent, it leaves no sting behind ; and it 
is not every amusement of which this can be 
predicated. The love for it, moreover, in the 
household is limited only by the amount of 
talent in that direction possessed by the mem- 
bers of the family, or by their ability to pro- 
cure for themselves the means of its gratifi- 
cation. 

But it would be taking a partial view of 
the matter, were we to regard it merely in 
the light of a recreation. As a branch of 
study its value is beyond questiop. It culti- 
vates the ear, informs the taste, trains the 
faculties of the mind, develops and invigor- 
ates the powers of the body. Of what other 
study can this be affirmed in an equal degi*ee ? 
Viewed simply as a resource for earning one*s 
living, it is safe to say that a knowledge of 
music gives direct support to a vastly greater 
number of men and women than does an ac- 
quaintance with any one of the so-called 
higher studies pursued in our schools. 

Consider the interests of music in their 
financial aspect. See the amount of capital in- 
vested in the manufacture of pianos, organs, 
band and orchestral instruments; the print- 
ing and engraving of sheet music and inusio- 
books; the ^'arious newspapers or journals 



devoted exclusively to musical matters ; the 
fabulous sums lavished upon distinguished 
singers or players, who fill our largest halls 
at their concerts with eager listeners. 

There has been heard here, this season, an 
artist who received for singing a couple of 
songs more than $300; while orchestral 
players have been paid for an hour's work 
$25 each. Members of church choirs obtain 
for their services from two dollars up to 
thirty dollars a Sunday. Boys from our 
grammar schools, even as low as the fourth 
class, are engaged in the choirs of Boston and 
vicinity, where, in addition to the instruction 
given them, they receive salaries correspond- 
ing to the degree of talent they manifest 
Five dollars, for a couple of hours spent in 
church at the organ, is not uncommon. 

A professional man, whose fees amount to 
one hundred dollars a day is looked upon as 
quite successful ; a merchant, who clears the 
like sum of money, may well congi-atulate 
himself as beuig in prospering circumstances. 
But there are singers able to command twice 
as much for every appearance they make be- 
fore the public. It is within the memory of 
some of us that Jenny Lind contracted with 
Mr. Barnum to sing one hundred nights in 
America for one hundred thousand dollars, 
and he never complained of the bargain. 

A single song, the production of Dr. Arthur 
Sullivan, wlfich may have cost him only a few 
hours' labor, has yielded its proprietor an an- 
nual income of $2,500. A second song of 
his, " The Lost Chord," well known in our 
concert-rooms and parlors, has proved a for- 
tune m itself. " H. M. S. Pinafore," a work 
of the same composer, which has gone the 
length and breadth of the land both here and 
abroad, — a clean, charming, wholesome com- 
position, admired alike by artist and amateur, 
has been a mme of wealth to many a manager 
and publisher, besides affording delight to 
thousands of hearers. 

Music-selling and music-publishing houses 
in this country, if we consider the magnitude 
of their business, and the variety of their pub- 
lications, stand second to none p] the world 

over. 

Pianos and parlor-organs are almost as 
common as tables and bureaus ; or, at least it 
may be said with truth that a house without 
a musical instrument of some sort is a rarity. 
A family in which there is no music, and no 
love for it, must certainly be accounted un- 
fortunate in that respect. 

See how largely dependent we are upon 
the Germans in filling our band and orches- 
tras; because, music having been so many 
years a regular study in their common schools, 
enjoying all the time the highest considera- 
tion m the community at large, they have be- 
come superior to us in the Art, and are, for 
the present, beyond our competition. 

Look at our conservatories and colleges of 
music, which already surpass those of Europe 
in the number of their studento, and bid fair 
in due time to rival them also in the excellence 
of the instruction furnished, as well as in the 
talent and proficiency of their graduates. 

The complaint is sometimes made against 
our schools that children are not taught what 



will be of practical use in after-life. What 
is learned of some subjects, it is said, needs 
to be so modified before it can be available 
in practice, that, aside from the mental disci- 
pline thereby secured, it may be a question 
whether time so spent could not be better em- 
ployed in other ways. Such is not the case 
with music. Whatever is gained in that di- 
rection,, though it be only the power of sing- 
ing the scale, is immediately useful, and will 
form one of the inevitable steps to be taken 
sooner or later if one desires to become a mu- 
sician. 

Given the requisite amount of talent, with 
corresponding application under competent 
instruction, and the pupil finds himself in the 
possession of an accomplishment more or less 
adequate to his support in life, while leaving 
him opportunity to attend to other business. 
But whether he turn this acquirement to ac- 
count pecuniarily or not, his knowledge and 
skill in the art will continue an unfailing 
source of delight to himself and friends as 
long as life and health remain. 

Is there one of us who, when his son leaves 
school to take his place in society, would not 
be glad to know that he had gained a taste 
for music, and some knowledge of it ? Should 
we not consider it, in some sense, as a safe^ 
guard to restrain him from the pursuit of 
other and less salutary modes of enjoyment ? 
Where there is music at home and an appre- 
ciation of it, the various forms of dissipations 
to which, '^2or want of something better to oc- 
cupy their leisure hours, the young are so 
prone, will lose their charms, and fail to make 
felt their pernicious attractions. 

All this goes to show how deep a root mu- 
sic has taken among us, how rapidly it. is 
growing, how widely extending, and how it 
demands, — and reasonably too, — a fostering 
hand and liberal support from those who are 
charged with the administration of the inter- 
ests of public education. — N, E, Journal of 
Education, 



BERLIOZ ON BEETHQVEN'S FOURTH 

SYMPHONY. 

Of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony we al- 
low Berlioz to speak, not only because he 
wrote his tribute at a time when to most 
Frenchmen Beethoven was.still a mad Ger- 
man ideologist, but also because this portion 
of Berlioz's writings has not yet been trans- 
lated into English. He says : " In this sym- 
phony Beethoven leaves the epic and the 
elegy, to return to the lowlier and brighter, 
but by no means less difficult style of the 
Second Symphony. The character of the 
score is, speaking generally, lively and cheer- 
ful, yet of heavenly tenderness. The first 
movement might have been dedicated to Joy, 
if we except the thoughtful Adagio by which 
in is introduced. The first motive of the Al- 
legro, which is played staccato^ is only a the- 
matic foundation on which, with masterly 
hand, Beethoven bases other ideas with fully 
developed melodies. So that, as the movement 
progresses, we gradually lose sight of the 
opening theme. 

"This peculiarly happy device has been 
tried with good results by Mozart and Haydn. 



42 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1015. 



But we find in the second -part of lihe AJkgro 
a new thought, which at once commands the 
hearer's attention, and, after it has captivated 
him during its mysterious progress, surprises 
him by an unexpected terminationr The ef- 
fect is produced as follows : After a powerful 
tuUi^ the first violins dismember the theme, 
throw it over to the second violins and catch 
it again on the rebound. This dialogue ends 
on rests interrupted twice by the tympani, 
which sound a soft tremolo on B fiat Then 
the strings hum fragments of the theme, un- 
til the tympani find opportunity to take up 
the B fiat again, which they roll during the 
succeeding twenty-five bars without interrup- 
tion — growing louder with every bar. In 
the meantime fcagments of the theme are 
heard with increasing strength on the other 
instruments, until the passage closes with a 
general farHuimo, ending with the B fiat 
major chord in a majestic outburst of the full 
orchestra. 

^^Thia wonderful crescendo is one of the 
finest musical effects within my knowledge. It 
can be compared only to the crescendo which 
occurs at the end of the Scherzo of the sym- 
phony in C minor. Yet the latter is the 
weaker. It reaches the finale by a steady 
increase in the vo}ume of sound, yet without 
once leaving the fundamental note. But in 
the Fourth Symphony the crescendo begins 
on a mezzo forte; weakens for a moment un- 
der harmonies of uncertain coloring, to pian- 
issimo ; then appears again in chords of more 
decided character, and shines in all its power 
only after the doud of harmonies has dis- 
persed. It might be compared to a river, 
whose peaceful current disappears awhile be- 
neath the ground, to reappear a roaring tor- 
rent 

"It would be sacrilegious to analyze the 
Adagio. Its form is so pure, so dear, the 
melody so full of expression and of such 
amorous power, that the artistic design lies 
in the shadow of aesthetical beauty. The 
first few bars awaken the hearer's sympathy, 
and the movement plays upon his emotions 
until he almost succumbs to them. Only a 
hero among poets can approach this musical 
Titan. Only the pathetic episode which m 
the Divina Comedia Francesca di Rimini re- 
lates to Dante, who, when he heard the story, 
* fell as one faint with a mighty sorrow,' can 
be compared with this AdtMgio, 

"The Scherzo is full of thoughts which 
strongly incline toward the 3-4 rhythm, and 
enter into the 3-4 rhythm of the movement 
like mighty wedges. This method, which 
Beethoven frequently employs, makes the 
style unusually muscular; the melodic out- 
lines are piquant and occasion surprise. In 
fact, rhythms which conflict with the tempo 
have a fascination not easy to explain. It 
gives pleasure to watch the dismembered form 
reunited at the end of every period, and to 
find the current of thought, which at tunes is 
interrupted, flow smoothly in the end. A de- 
lidous freshness pervades the Trioy whose 
melody is taken by wind instruments. The 
tempo is slower than that of the body of the 
Scherzo and its tasteful simplicity is more 
conspictions by reason of contrast with the 



little phrases for the violins which tease the 
melody in a most charming manner. 

" The lively and cheerful flnale moves in 
the \isual rhythmic form. It is an unbroken 
chain of sparkling tones, a continuous, bright 
conversation, which only occasionally is in- 
terrupted by rough, angry chords. The 
moody tone-poet indulged in these outbursts 
of passion quite frequently, as we shall point 
out in discussing other symphonies." — N. T. 
Musical Review. 



THE MOZART WEEK AT THE IMPE- 
RIAL HOUSE, OPERA VIENNA* 

III. 
We are called on to witness a peculiar Mozart 
celebration ; the performance in uninterrupted suc- 
cession of the composer's seven operas from Ido- 
meneo to Titus, " But why do we have this com- 
memorative festival espedally now ? " we repeat- 
edly hear persons ask. The present time has 
nothing in common with either Mozart's birth, 
(1 766), the centenary of which was kept twenty- 
four years ago, nor with the date of his passing 
away (1791). Yet we have to do with a remark- 
able centenary : that of Mozart's operas. We 
have reached the commencement of a decennium 
in which the beauteous seven-headed family at- 
tain the age of a hundred.' A century ago Mo- 
zart moved permanently to Vienna, and created 
here in the short space of ten years (1781- 
1791) his indescribably rich treasures of compo- 
sition. From all the fidds of music he conjured 
up the most magnificent blossoms Ind fruit : his 
finest symphonies, quartets, sonatas, and sacred 
productions. But the Vienna decennimn, the 
last of his earthly pilgrimage, was more important 
for his operas than for aught else. It, therefore, 
devolves on our Imperial Opera house to celebrate 
his incomparable dramatic labors in a compre- 
hensive manner. It matters not that other cities 
have been the first to set a good example ; it is 
sufficient that. Vienna, in festive attire, now fol- 
lows it Such a Mozart Week imposes, both on 
the management and the singers, a most unusual 
task. Rehearsals and performances press each 
other closely : three operas {Idomeneo, Cosi fan 
Tutte, and Titus) have to be studied entirely 
afresh, while the others must be partially recast 
and provided with new scenery. Added to the 
strain put on every available resource is the wor- 
rying dread lest some malicious chance may in- 
terrupt or throw into complete disarray the en- 
tire stately operatic procession. There can be no 
question that the Imperial Opera house is en- 
titled to our grateful acknowledgments for its ex- 
traordinary efforts. 

How vivid are at present all our reminiscences 
relating to the early portion of Mozart's sojourn 
in Vienna I We stop before the German House 
in the Singerstrasse. There Mozart lived with 
the haughty CoUoredo, Archbishop of Salzburg, 
to whose household he belonged, and who had 
commanded his attendance. Young Mozart was 
revelling in the triumph of his Idomeneo at Mu- 
nich, when he received the summons to repair to 
Vienna. On the 16th of March, 1781, he ar- 
rived " quite alone in a post-chaise from St Pol- 
ten." The continuously unbecoming treatment 
he experienced from his Archbishop at length 
exhausted his patience and ended the servitude 
he had borne so long. He resolved to live inde- 
pendently on his art, and he never regretted hav- 
ing done sa Despite an uncertain and modest 



1 Fkt>m the Xeue JMe Preite. 

• When we tpealc cenenOly of Mosart's operas, we refer, 
of eooTBe, to the last seven, written In the time of his fall 
artistic matorlty. If we include his youthful works, sooh 
as MUridaie, ZauHo Sylla, Stc., written in Italy, the total 
ntnntker eompMed by him is nin€t«m. 



income he felt in Vienna at home and happy. 
But how Uttle his position here corresponded with 
his high artistic worth, is unfortunately only too 
well known. Let any one compare Mozart's po- 
sition in Vienna with that of Beethoven ten years 
later 1 It was as a stranger, without an appoint- 
ment or reputation, that the young fellow from 
tlie Rhino came to the capital ; he did not possess 
Mozart's early fame, winning manners, or sociAl 
talents, yet he at once put himself on an equal 
footing with the leading members of the Austrian 
aristocracy. It was exclusively in his artistic 
eminence that he perceived his title to perfect 
equality, and he enforced his right, which was at 
once acknowledged, on every one. Borne unno- 
ticed on the stormy wind of revolutionary ideas 
which was already blowing violently from France, 
Beethoven won for musicians a social position of 
which Haydn and Mozart in their modesty never 
dreamed. It was under the patronage of the Em- 
peror Joseph, the founder, properly speaking, of 
Grerman opera in Vienna, that Mozart wrote his 
first Oerman Singspiel,* Di> EntfUhrung atts dem 
Serail. The work was produced, in July, 1782, 
with unexampled success, and a month later the 
composer's marriage with his beloved Constance, 
whom it had cost him such efforts to win, was 
solemnized in St Stephen's Church. Thus, with 
every one of his operas are connected familiar 
reminiscences especially dear to us Viennese. It 
is in these reminiscences and in the biographical 
connection of the operas that we perceive the 
real idea which, after the lapse of a hundred 
years, lies at the bottom of a continuous represen- 
tation of the seven operas in question. They are 
united by no inward necessity ; the esthetic thread 
on which the seven gems are strung in a row is 
so slender as to be invisible. As to any coherence 
like that of Dingelstedt's Shakespeare Cyclus at 
the Burgtheater, nobody thinks o^ such a ^thing. 
In this series of operas there is not even a con- 
stant growth, a sevenfold rise, as in the diatonic 
sca]e; far less the continuous development and 
gradual perfection of some musically dramatic 
principle which Mozart had in his eye from the 
outset What strikes us most in the series is not 
so much their continuity as the absence of that 
quality. The Italian Idomeneo moves in the con- 
ventional forms of the old " opera serioy** and im- 
mediately afterwards Die Entflhrung aus dem 
Serail opens a new era in operatic history. Yet, 
despite the extraordinary and lasting success of 
this national German Singspiel, which, to use 
Goethe's expression, "struck down everything 
else," we behold Mozart forthwith abandonding 
this field also, and writing three Italian operas (Fi- 
garoy Don Giovanni and Coin fan Tutte) one after 
another.' Then, in the last year of his life, he 
gives us another German opera, Die ZavherftSte^ 
and after this, his greatest popular triumph, 
another conventional Italian ** Court Festival" 
opera. La Clemema di Tito. These are riddles to 
be solved ooly by impartial examination of the 
history of Mozart's life. His sympathies were, 
properly speaking, divided between Italian and 
German opera. His national feeling impelled 
him to German, but his sense of art and music to 
Italian opera. Italian opera possessed a fully 
developed form of art reposing on sure traditions ; 
German Singspeil resembled an undevelo]>ed, 
helpless child, who had yet to be educated. How 
richly was Italian opera then mounted, how ad- 
mirably was it executed by the best singers, how 
was it honored and loved at all German Courts — 
how poverty-stricken and negleibted was, on the 
other hand, German Singspeil I 1 believe that, 
as a man, Mozart sympathized more with Ger- 
man, but as an artist more with Italian, opera. 
Thus, partial to both kinds, he followed in every 

*8infftpi€l, a "play with songs,** or an "opera with 
spoken dialegoe. ** ~ Tka vkjitob. 



March 18, 1880.] 



LWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



43 



case tKe changing circamstances, if not extern«al 
pressure. IIu was no doctrinaire, no partisan of 
a certain fixed principle. lie, therefore, eagerly 
seized on everything, eitlier when commissiioned 
to do so or urged thereto by his own feelings, 
which promised to advance him artistically. He 
felt probably in his heart that whatever he wrote, 
either to a Gorman or an Italian text, would ulti- 
mately profit his country. He was a child of his 
time : the true expres<sion of his time, then " be- 
coming " new. The full reflection of Italian, and 
the modest morning-red of German opera, were 
visible side by side on the horizon. Mozart aided 
German opera to conquer, not merely by his 
writing German operas, but by his filling them 
with German feeling. 

Mozart's operas, as they follow one another, 
not merely fail to illustrate the continuous devel- 
opment of a fixed theoretical thought or of a 
principle or style, but do not even testify to a con- 
stant increase of liis creative power. After Ido- 
meneo and Die EntfiUirunfjt he soars up in an ex- 
traordinary degree to Figaro and Don Juan^ 
those culminating points of his creations; then 
he sinks somewhat, as though with fatigued pin- 
ion, to Cost fan Tutte ; raises himself again mar- 
vellously in Die ZauberJUile, but finally, in TitnSj 
is able to recover only partially his exhausted 
strength. The remarkable contrast between his 
first two operas — after Idomeneo comes Die Ent- 
fUhrung — is repeated still more strangely in the 
last two ; after Die Zauberjlote comes Titus, In 
vain will those aestheticians and puny historians 
of civilization, who hear the grass of necessity 
growing, attempt to prove here a necessary inter- 
nal connection. Even Mephisto's all-powerful 
logic with " One, two, three," would have to re- 
nounce the task of demonstrating that the way in 
which Mozart's operas follow each other is an or- 
ganic development of an "idea." The series, 
considered in r.elation to the energy of creative 
power, does not exhibit a rising step by step, a 
sinking step by step, or lastly, an unbroken stay 
on the same level. This inequality strikes us 
more forcibly, perhaps, in Mozart than in any one 
else, because his name suggests the highest possi- 
ble excellence, but the case is by no means an is- 
olated one. On the contrary, the great composers 
whose operas maintain an equal elevation, unless 
when they rise above it, form the rare exception. 
There are several insignificant operas, such as 
Paris und Helena, La Cythere assiegee, &c., em- 
bedded at a far greater depth below Gluck's mas- 
terpieces than Cosi/an Tutte for instance, is below 
Don Juan and Die Zauberjlote. Beethoven 
stopped at Fidelioy in every sense his unique op- 
era. And Carl Maria Weber V Any one consid- 
ering Euryanthe an advance on Der - FreischUtz 
(the advance in my opinion, is rather one of de- 
sire than ability ; an advance against one's own 
nature) must see a falling-off in Oberon, The 
stars of the second magnitude, Marschner, Spohr, 
and Lortiing, repeatedly fell off before, between, 
and after their best creations, not merely so many 
steps, more or less, but so many terraces. Mey- 
erbeer — without experiencing any precipitous 
falls, (that is : thorough operatic failures) never 
reached a second time the height of Robert and 
Les Huguenots, Strictly speaking, Richard Wag- 
ner is the only operatic composer whose works 
ahow constant progress, a genuine evolution of 
Btyle out of Rienzi to Tannkduser and Lohengrin : 
then onward to Die Nibelungen, and probably still 
further to Parci/al. Whether his later operas 
exhibit a rise in his power of musical creation is 
a matter of opinion. We ourselves believe they 
do not, but they are unquestionably consistent re- 
alizations, constantly developed, more sharply 
marked, and further extended, of his peculiar art 
theory. He cannot be charged with sudden and 
abrupt changes; the atmosphere, as far as its 



component elements are concerned, is the same 
in Lohengrin as in Tristan or Rheingold^ but it 
becomes with each succeeding work more rarified, 
sharper and colder, so that at length we cannot 
possibly breatlie. All true lovers of music will 
probably welcome the solemn Mozart Week as a 
set-off for only once, against the Niebelungen' 
Cycluse?, at present so popular. Now-a-days, a 
new and careful performance of Mozart's operas 
can, of a certainty, be followed only by the bene- 
ficial result of making people learn to feel more 
simply, to listen with greater pleasure, and to sing 
better. — London Musical World, 

Eduard Hansick. 



LISZT. 

[From Qrove*! Dictionary of MubIc and Musicians.] 
{OatcUogue qf hit works continued). 

III. FOR PIANOFORTE SOLO. 
1. ORIGINAL. 

28. Etudes d^ez^utton transcendante. 1. Preludio; 2, 
3. Paysage; 4. Mazeppn; 5. I'eux FoIIeta; 6. Vision; 
7. Kruica; 8. Wilde Ja^d; 9. Kicordauza; 10, 11. liar- 
nioiiies du aoiN 12. Cbas<ie-neij;e. U. & H. 

29. Trois Grandee Ktudea de Concert. 1. Capriccio; 2. 
Capriccio; 3. Allef^ro affetuom. Kistner. 

•10. Ali-lrato. Etude de perfection. Sclilesineer. 

31. Zwei Coiicertetuden, for Lebert <fe St.irk's Kiavierschule. 
1. Walde<rau!iclien ; 2. Gnonienreigen. Trautwein. 

32. Ave Maria for ditto. Trautwein. 

33. Harmonies poi^tiques et reii<;ieuae8. 1. Invocation ; 2 
Ave Maria; 3. Deii^iction de Diea dans la solitude; 4. 
Pens^ des Moris; 6. Pater Noeter; 6 Hynme de 
Tenfant ii sonr^veii; 7. Funt^nulles ; 8. Blisereivd'apres 
Pale»trina; 9. Andante iaghmoso; 10. Cantique 
dWmour. Kuhnt. 

34. Annees de Ptlerinave. Premiere Annee, Suisse. 1. 
Cbapelle de Guiilaume Tell; 2. An lac do Wallenstadt; 
3. Pastorale; 4. Au l)ord d'ltne source; 5. Oroge: G. 
Voll^ d'Oliemiann; 7. E$lo<;ue; 8. Le Mai du Pays: 
9. I.ies Cloches de Geneve (Nocturne). Seeonde Ann^e, 
Italie. 1. 11 S|KKalislo; 2. 11 Penseroso; 3. Canzo- 
netta di Salvator Kosa; 4-6. Tre Sonetti del Petrarca; 
7. Apres une lecture de Dante. Venezia e Napoli. 1. 
Gondoliera; 2. Canzone; 3. Tarsntelle. SoliutL 

35. ApparitionSf 3 Nos. Schlesinger, Paris. 

36. Two Ballades. Kistner. 

37. Grand Concert- Solo: also for 2 P. Fs. (Concerto path^- 
ttque.) B. A H. 

38. Consolations, 6 Nos. B. A H. 

39. Berceuse. Heinze. 

40. Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen: Praludium nach J. 
S Bacii. Sclilesinger. 

41. Variations on theme from Bach's B minor Mass ; also 
for Organ. Schlesinger. 

42. Kantosie und Kuge, theme B. A. C. H. Siegel. Also 
for Organ. Schuberth. 

43. Scherzo und Marsch. LitolflT. 

44. Sonata in B minor. Dedicated to SchuuMum. B. & H. 

45. 2 Polonaises. Senff. 

46. Mazurka brillante. SenflT. 

47. Uhapsodie Espagnole, I'olies d'Espogne, and Jot* Aro- 
gonesa. Siegel. 

48. Trois Caprice- Vnlses. 1. Vaise de hravoure; 8. Y. 
m^lancolique: 3. V. de Concert. Schlesinger. 

49. Feuilles d' Album. Schott. 

50. Deuz Feuilles d'Album. Schuberth. 

51. Grand Galop cbromalique. Also for 4 hands. Hof- 
meister. 

52. Ynlse Impromptu. Schuberth. 

53. " M.'isonyi's Grab-Geleit." Tahorszky A Parwh, Pesth. 

54. FJ^ie. Alao for P. b\ Cello, Harp, and Harmonium. 
KahnL 

55. 2nd ra^gie. Also for P. F , Y , and Cello. Kahni. 

56. L^gendes. 1. St. Frau9ois d'Assise; 2. St. Fronfois 
de Paul. R6zsavcl*4yi. 

57. L'Hymnedu Pope; alto lor 4 hands. Bote A Bock. 

58. ViaCrucis. 

59. Impromptu — Themes de Rossini et Spontini, in £. 
"Op 3." Scbirmer. 

60. Capriccio a la Turea sur des motib de BeethoTOi's 
Ruina d'Atb^es. Mechetti. 

61. Lieltestrannie — 3 Nottunios. Kistner. 

62 L'ld^ fixe— Andante amoroso d'aprte une M^odie 
de Berlioz. Mechetti. 

63. Impromptu, in F sharp. B. A H. 

64. Yariation on a Walts by Diabelli. No. 24 in Yater- 
liindiscber Kanstler^erein. Diabelli (1823). 



65. «• The Piano-Forte " — ErstesJahrgang; Parts I.-XII. 
— 34 pieces by modern eom posers. Out of print. 

2. ARRASOEMKXTl. 

66. Grandci Etudes de PaganinL 6 Not. (No. 3, La Cam- 
poDclla.) B. AH. _ 



67. Srehs (organ) Priiladlen und Fug^u vod J. S- Bach, 8 
parts. Peters. 

68. Bach's Orcelfantasie und Fuge in G minor: for Lebert 
A Stark's Kiavierschule. Tniutwein. 

69. Di\-«rtis9ement a la hongroine d'spres F. Schubert, 8 
parts; also Easier ed. Schreiber. 

70. Miirsche von F. Schubert. 1. Trauer-Morseb ; 8, 3. 
Keiter Marsch. Schreilier. 

71. Soin^es de Vienne. Valset-caprices d'apr^ Schubert. 
9 parts. Schreiber. 

72. Bunte Heihe von Ferd. David. 1. Scherzo; 8. Erin- 
nertnig; 3. Mazurka; 4. Toiiz; 5 Kinderiied; 6. Ca- 
priccio; 7. liolero; 8 El^gie; 9. Marsch; 10. Toccata; 
11. Gondellied; 12. Im Sturm; 13. Uomanze; 14. Alle- 
gro; 15. Menuett; 16. Etude; 17. Intermeszo; 18. Ser- 
enade; 19. Ungarisch (2); 20. Tareiiielle; 91. fm- 
promptu; 22. In rutticher Weise; 83. Lied; 84. Ca- 
priccio. Kistner 

73. Elegie d'apr^s Sorriono. Thmpeoofl. 

74. Russiischer Galopp von Bulhokow Schlesinger. 

75. Zigeuiier.Polka de Conrodi. Schleeingcr. 

76. La Romanesea Schlesinger. 

77. Ijtier und Schwert (Weber). Schlesinger. 

78 lUegie, Themes by Prince Louis of Prussia. Schlesin- 
ger. 

79. God Save tlie Queen. Coneert-paraphnuw. Schuberth. 

80. liussiten-Lied. IlofVneister. 

81. U MarMiUaise. Schuberth. 

3. FARArilRASES, TRAK8CRIPTIOX8, ETC., FROM OPBRA8. 

82 La Fiane^ (Auber); Mosanidto; La Juive; Soonam- 
bula; Norma; Puriuni (3); Benvenuto Cellini; Uom 
Sebastian; Lucia di l^mniermoor (2); Lucrezia Borgia 
(2); Faust (Gounod); Keine de Salia; Romeo et Juliette; 
Roliert le Diable; Les Huguenots: Le I'rophite (3); 
L'Africaine (2); Szep Jlonka (Mosonyi); Don Giovanni; 
Konig Alfred {lUff) (2); I Lombardi; Trovatore; 
Eriiniu: Rigoletto; Don Carloi; Rienzi; Der fliegende 
Uolliiiider (2): Tannhauser (3); (iohengrin (4); Tristan 
und Isolde; Meistersinger; Ring des Nielteluugeii. 

83. Fantai.Vte de Braraure sur la Cluchette de PogaoinL 
Schreiber. 

84. Trois Morceanz de Salon. 1. Fantaisie romantique 
sur deuz melodies suisses; 8. Rondeau fiuitostique sur 
uti illume E^pagnol : 3. Divertisaement sur uiie eavotiua 
de Pacini, sluo for 4 hands. Schlesinger. 

85 Paraphrase de la Marche de Donizetti (Abdul Medjid 
Khan); also Easier ed. Schlesinger. 

86 *' Jagdcher und Steyrer/' from » Tony ** (Duke Emeet 
of Sixe-Coburg-Gotha). Kistner. 

87. Tsclierkessen-Marsch from Glinka's ** Russian and Lud- 
milU." Also for 4 hands. Schulterth. 

88. ^* Hoclizeit- Marsch und Elfenreigen " from Mendds- 
sohn*s Midsummer Night's Dream. B. A H. 

89. FesUMarseh for Schiller centenary (Meyerbeer). 
Schlesinger. 

90. Fantaisies (2) sur des motifs des Soirte musicalet de 
Rossini. Schott. 

91. Trois Morceaux Suisses. 1. Ranz de Yoches; 2. Co 
Soir dans la Montogne; 3. Ranz de Ch^vres. Kobnt. 

4. RHAPSODIES, ETC. 

98. Rhapsodies Ilongroises. 1 in E; 2 in F sharp (also for 
4 hands, and Easier ed.); 3 in B flat; 4 In E flat; 5 in R 
minor; 6 in D flat; 7 in D minor; 8 Capriccio; 9 In E 
flat; 10 Preludio; 11 in A minw; 12 in C sharp minor 
(also for p. F. and violin by Liszt and Joachim); 13 in 
A minor; 14 in F minor; 15 Rhkoczy March. Senff and 
Schlesinger. 

93. l^Iarclie de RAkoczy. Edition populaire. Kistner. 

94. Do. Sympboniscli. Schubertlf. 

95. Heroisclier-Marsch in ungarischen Styl. Schlesinger. 

96. Ungarischer Gesehwindmaneh. Schiiuller. Press- 
burg. 

97. Eiiileitung und Ungarischer Morach too Graf £. Ss^ 
ch^nyi. RdzsavUgyi. 

5. PARTITIOXi DI nARO. 

98. Beethoven's Septet. Schuberth. 

99. Nine Symphonies. B. A H. 
IQO- Huromel's Septet Schubert. 

101 Berlioz's '' Syniphonie Fantostiqae.** Leockart. March i 
des Pterins, from *' Harold in Italy.'* Rieter. Bieder. 
mann. ** Ehuise des Sylphes," from <* La Damnation de 
Faust.*' Ibid. Overtures to '« Les FraucoJuges.'* Schotu 
•'LeRoi liear.'* 

102. Ro«iini*s Overtnce to Guiilaume Tell. 

103. Weber's Jubelouverture and Overtures to Der Frai* 
schtitz and Oberon. Schlesinger. 

104. Wagner's Overture to Taiuihiiuser. Meser. 

6. TRAXBCRIPTtOKS OP TOGAL PIBCB8. 

105. Roeslni's »Ciuus Animam" and »< La Charity.*' 
Schott. 

106. Beethoven^s Lieder, 6; GeisUiche Liedcr, 6; Adelaide; 
IJederkrvis. B. A H. 

107. Yon Billow's '* Tanto gentile " Schlesinger. 

108. Chopui's »• Six CbanU Polonais," op. 74. SehlesiQ. 
ger, 

109. Lleder. Dessauer, 3; Fnns, 13; Lassen, 8; Men- 
delssohn. 9; Schubert, 57; Schumann, R. and Cbn, 14; 
Weber, Sehlummerlied, and ** Eiiwun bin ioh.** 



44 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC, 



[Vol. XL. — 1015. 



110. Bfejeri)eer'i " Le Moine.** Schlesinger. 

111. WWhorsky's " Autrefois." Furstner. 

113. AUelnjaet Ave Maria d'Arcadelt; No. 2 alao for or- 
(;ai). Peters. 

113. A la CbapeUe Sixtine. Miserere d^MIegri et kxt 
Yertim de Mozart; alao for 4 hands and for organ. 
Peters. 

114. ^wet Traiiscriptionen, *< Confutatis et Lacr}'mo8a *' aus 
Mozart's llequiem. Sie^el. 

116. Soirt-es Italieniies, sur des motifs de Mercadante, 6 
Nos. Schott. 

116. Niiits d\'t^ a Pausilippe, sur des motifs de TAIbum 
de Donizetti, 3 Noa. Schott. 

117. Canzone Napolitana. Meser. 

118. Faribolo PMtonr, and Chanson dn B^m. Schott. 

119. Glanes de Woronince. 3 Noe. Kistner. 

120. Deux Melodies Kusses. An(l)e8qiie8. Cranz. 

121. Ungarische Yolliiilieder, 5 Nos. Tabonizky & Parseh. 
123 Soir^ rousicalea de Rossiiii, 12 Nos. ; also for 4 hands 

and for 2 P. Fs. Schott. 

{Conclu»Um in next Ko.) 



LETTERS FROM AN ISLAND.* 

BY FANNY RAYMOND BITTER. 
V. 
RUSSIAN, GREEK, ORIENTAL, MAORI FOLK-POE- 
TRY AND MUSIC ; CANTERBURY IN ENGLAND, 
AMERICA, OCEANICA. 

Dear Pounamu ! * — In one species of national 
song, however, the Russian is not " sad and femi- 
nine," hut actively tragic and masculine, — in the 
80-called "robber songs." Here we no longer find 
resignation, or the vicious excess of that virtue, 
gloomy, morose stagnation ; here we leave the 
plain and the steppe, for heights and chasms ; no 
more servitude ; here is freedom, though perhaps 
only freedom to do evil. If woman is still some- 
times half a slave, even among robbers and g}'p- 
sies, the accomplice of the criminal, tlie booty of 
the victor, she sometimes appears, in diese songs, 
free to take her own chances of life and deatli, 
and to have acquired at least the power to revenge 
herself when she will, though revenge may entail 
life-long remorse upon herself. Only the^ vampire 
songs of the Servians exceed these in darkly fas- 
cinating attraction. Among Russian songs of this 
class, there is one, powerfully impressive in its 
expression of the secret, concentrated revenge and 
hatred of a girl, who, having been deceived by 
her robber lover, slays him, and laughs in her 
sleeve, " with shuddering joy," at the gi-ief o fthe 
returning robber horde, and their guesses at the 
possible manner of their chief's death. Some of 
these songs are brief dramas of recklessness and 
horror ; some recount magnanimous deeds, of the 
Robin Hood kind, like that of the robber who 
empties his rubles into the sack of the poor trav- 
eler whom he had intended to plunder, when he 
finds that the object of his journey is the at- 
tempted release of his father from captivity. 
Here is a gentler song, but it is difficult to divine, 
from its tone, whether the abducted girl is likely 
to be regarded by her companions as a victim, or 
as a fortunate Cinderella, carried off by a fairy 
prince in the disguise of a bandit : — 

Foot maidens bathed in the azure waters. 
Four shining planets, four rosy daughters ; 
Bound them the soft wind sighed with emotion. 
Bound them caressingly fawned the wild ocean. 
Lurking, the robber watched, in the rushes ; 
Saw their glfd frolics, saw their red blushes. 
Thought the dark robber, " Which shall be my maid, 
Which ray sweet booty, gay maids or shy maid ? 
One of the fair ones three, standing whitely 
Over the waters, laughing so lightly. 
Or yon shy beauty, so timid, so tender, 

1 Copyright, 1880, by Fanny Raymond Hitter. 

* Te Pounamu (the FOunamu), is the Maori name for 
the Greenstone, which is a product of the Island of 
New Zealand, and which has always been held in high 
estimation by the natives, for hatchets, short hand- 
dubs (for war), as well as for ornaments. It is also 
rather admired by the European settlers. Te Pounamu 
is the journalistic nom de plume of an Anglo-Maori 
gentlanuuD, to whom the above letter is addressed. 



Rose-bud red, dew-fresh, raven-haired, slender. 

Under the water veil sideways soft ji^liding, 

Deep in the wave, like a lily-bud hiding?" 

Silent the robber watched; happy lau|;hter 

Rang, and the rocky cliffs echoed after. 

Tliiee merry maidens, tossing from hollowed 

Palms the lea-water, one maiden followed; 

Mocked her, pursued her through the tall rushes, 

With spray bedewed her eyes and her blushes. 

" Mcdest Panu-cha, so tender, so tearful. 

When the wind touches thee, tremulous, fearful. 

Ne'er will a valiant lover pursue thee! 

Who will have patience, proud one, to woo thee, 

If that some robber czar from the rushes 

Sees not, desires not thee and thy blushes? 

Then he may grasp thee, far away bear thee. 

Heart-close enclasp thee, win thee, and wear thee." 

Scarce was their mischievous mockery over, 

Ere sprang the robber czar from his cover. 

Caught tlie Fhy fair one, far away bore her. 

Loved, soothed, consoled her, won her, and wore her. 

Let me also mention en passant that while 
Russian folk-melody is not devoid of Grecian af- 
finities, among the folk-poems of the modern 
Greeks, many robbers — or klepht — songs are to 
be found, similar in character to tliose of the Rus- 
sians. I will give you an English re-production 
of one, the horror of which is almost dispersed by 
the breath of an unfettered, tempestuous moun- 
tain freedom : — 

On high 01>inpus, — summit dread I 

His heavy piuions folding. 
An eagle rest^, a human head 

Within his talons holding; 
He gazes on the wrinkled brow. 

The neck, glaive-hewn and gory. 
And screams, " When with thy body thou 

Wert one, what was thy story ? " — 
'' Feed, eagle, on my brain's sharp strength, 

My man hood crushed, consume then ! 
Tliy wings, thy claws, in breadth and length 

Will double growth assume tlien ! 
Well knew Xeromeros my name, 

Armatole, and Luros; 
Twelve years a klepht of dreadful fame, 

Mine eyrie great Olympus. 
I slaughtered sixty Agas old, 

Their hamlets burned and plundered; 
Turks, Albanese, in scores untold, 

I soul from body sundered ; — 
I«t this much of my tale suffice. 

Thy hunger now unchaining. 
Eat! not imworthy is thy prize, 

Winged'klepht, uncpnquered reigning!" 

The melodies of modern Greek folk-songs have 
less variety, and move within a naiTower range 
than those of the natives of so large an empire as 
Russia ; and we can only yield a conditional as- 
sent to the alleged high antiquity of this music, 
since doubt exists even regarding those few frag- 
ments now extant of antique Greek hymns, though 
these have been generally accepted as genuine. 
The modern Greeks, themselves, however, insist on 
claiming an extraordinary antiquity for their na- 
tional dance of the Romaika ; the annual festival 
upon which it is performed was instituted in the 
time of, and by Theseus, 1 235 b. c, and the music 
which is now used to accompany it was, they 
say, expressly composed at the same date. 

Songs of such wild strength as these robber- 
songs, alive with action, and not the flickering 
flame, but the blazing torch of passion, may or 
may 'not have been written by heroes and hero- 
ines inspired by tlie recollection of the adventures 
through which they passed ; but if not, then by 
vigorous, imaginative minds, weary of dreams and 
disappointments, of servitude and stagnation, 
longing to feel, to see, to hear, to hate, to love, to 
act, unmistakably and in -earnest I The same 
yearning desire for a life contrasting with the 
depressing reality of their own, has led men of a 
higher intellectual reach than the lyrists of folk- 
poetry and melody, into the Orient ; like Boden- 
stedt, Heine, Freiligrath and other German poets ; 
like Hamerling in his " Hero ; " like Wagner amid 
his legendary characters; like Makart, Burne, 



Jones, Alma Tadema among tlie painters, with 
their subjects and types ; like Robert Schumann 
in many of his compositions, they fly from the 
prosaic realities of the pres^ent to the past or the 
distant; nothing is too novel, too foroij^n, fcjr 
them, nothing too dazzling, too pronounced ; give 
us, they cry, tlie gold-dust of the East, amethys- 
tine haze, mirage, drums, trumpets, a labyrin- 
thine chorus of voices 1 Displace the fogs of the 
North by a myriad-tinted glow, entangle the 
machine-like routine of a calculated existence in 
the mysteries of harmony forever unresolved I 
And what can better serve such a desire than the 
folk-sons ? He or she who is so fortunate as to 
possess a rare collection of these, to be familiar 
with half-a-dozen or more languages, and to be a 
good practical musician, can, while preserving the 
most exclusive isolation, travel round the world 
at will, and enter into the very core of the heart 
of opposite nationalities, living for a moment, 
with all the life that vitalizes tlieni. In singing 
a Scottish air, one glows with the obstinate pa- 
triotism, one laments with the mist-fed melancholy 
of the Scot ; through the enchanting pulsations of 
a gypsy dance song, we see not alone the wild 
wood, illumined by red camp-fires,*not alone the 
vast Hungarian puzzta, but wo enter into that 
passionate love of freedom, that untamable indi- 
viduality, which is, for us, the chief est charm of 
the Nomadic races. Follow me, then, for a few 
brief moments, with the folk-song as our guide, 
into tlie land of the " Thousand and one Nights," 
Arabia ; I promised you a few Oriental folk-songs 
in my first letter. Naturally, I have preferred, in 
taking the trouble to translate them, those that 
most appeal to my own — to womanly — feeling ; 
and, tell me, do not tlie following songs breathe a 
spirit of chivalrous delicacy and devotion, such as 
we — arro^cant Western barbarians that we are ! — 
are astonished to find among the tribes of the 
desert ? The fourth is Turkish, and very nobly 
expresses a deep sentiment of constancy, above 
which plays the fleeting spirit of inconstancy. The 
fifth, by Ihni, possesses a strong contemporary 
local color and feeling. 

I roam through sandy, blazing wildernesses ; 

She rests beneath the Talha's leafy tresses. 

Sharp thistles wound my feet, that wearied, dally ; 

She wanders down the violetr^cented valley. 

I hear the jackal's scream, the djiun's shrill hooting ; 

She lists the nightingale's melodious fluting. 

Oh, would her tent dog, barking, run to meet me ! 

Oh, would her pleasant tent's sweet welcome greet me! 

I sigh for thee, Suldikka, Kanab's daughter, 

As pants the wounded hart for running water! 



Yain are anguish and rapture, vain are labor and rest ; 
Soon in the tent of death man lies, a never departing 

guest. 
Where, where is she whom once I deemed of houri's 

immortal race, 
Reya, black-haired and sapphire-eyed, young Reya, 

with rose-bright face, 
Fair as the mom, dark as the night? All women be- 
loved before 
Shrank in her presence like worthless dust, that drops 

from the golden ore. 
Voice that rang, a crystal bell, to the beat of a heart 

of gold ! 
Smile, whose spell could swell one moment to aeons 

of joy untold ! 
Lips, the shrine of the roses' blush, where slept the 

breath of the rose! 
Eyes, beside whose light all eyes paled, phantoms of 

buried woes! 
Woe ! I knew her, adored her! I basked in that vital 

ray! 
Say not she died long years ago ! She dies to my 

heart each day. 
What now is left of the sun that once transfigured 

this world's wide gloom? 
A lock of hair in my bosom ; a handful of dust in her 

tomb. 
Vain are anguish and rapture ; vain are labor and rest ; 
Soon in the tent of death man lies, a never departing 

goesti 



March 13, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



45 



J spake ; — in the hushed encampment 

Men, camels, and steeds, sleep still ] 
Morn Blii)s the bolt of the midnight ; 

Sweet Ama, love's goblet fill! 
She spake ; — The spirits of evil 

Close, close, o'er the desert fly ; 
I hear them mutter and ^vhispcr ; 

Pale genii are hovering nigh! 
I spake ; — From thy sweet embraces 

1 win the magical might 
That i-olls earth luidcr my footstep, 

Or stays the wheels of the night. 
Fear not the rush of the sand-storm, 

Fear not the leopard's breath ; 
The kisses of happy lovers 

Disarm the angel of death. 



Because I strive in vain that heart to warm, 

Shall this heart float adrift in passion's storm ? 

No, no! Though Fate may bend not to my will, 

Thy staff, Philosophy, consoles me still. 

Away with dreams! Pll seek Stamboul's delight, 

Where vain chimeras all are put to flight. 

There Manritanian figs in strong wine warm ; 

There floats the Alnie's alabaster form. 

Yes, though thou scorn est me, Aissa, loved too well, 

Eyes dark as thine still burn, oh, wild gazelle! 

Capricious, toss this aching heart away : 

Rose-cheeks like thine still mock the rising day. 

And yet, why shun thee ? days o'erbrimmed with care. 

And sleepless nights were mine, wert thou not there. 

Who will, may drain long draughts of damning fire ; 

Love's bitter chalice be my sole desire ! 

AVho will, may woo the x\lmd's soulless wiles ; 

Lead me still captive to thy ciiary smiles! 

Let frowns o'ergloom those eyes, let smiles illume, 

Their rays alone shall light me to the tomb. 

Though now tliou scornest me, Aissa, patience' key 

Some day shall ope the door of victory! 



Bright sultana of all hearts, 

Laughing, lovely Frank, Louisa! 
Source of soulfelt cares and smarts, 

Captivating young Louisa! 
Fiery spears the heart impale 

Of each fated youth who sees her, 
Tet may never cruel veil 

Hide the face of sweet Louisa! 
Joy in Islam I have lost, 

1 can think but how to please her, 
By a heretic passion tost 

For the peerless Frank, T>ouisa! 
Though my soul, this love should bear 

Thee where tortures burn and freeze 
Would'st thou count that price unfair, 

Could'st tliou thereby gain Louisa? 



ah. 



But I will strike a wilder string ; listen to the 
eager pulsations of tliis war song : — 

Too pale the glow Love's blisses bestow! 

A wilder transport these pulses know ; 

When to songs of war my heartstrings vibrate, 

A burning sand-storm, I rush on the foe! 

They drone no moan of pitiful woe ; 

Frenzy, flame, from those clangors flow ; 

Through riot and rapture of slaughter, elate, 

A hungry leopard, I spring on the foe! 

Sand stings, thirst tortures, angiy wounds glow ; 

To joust with the lightning a thousand go ; 

Through war's red roar rings the trumpet of Fate, 

The right hand of Fate, I shatter the foe ! 

It does not always happen that a good-folk 
poem is wedded to a good melody. Sometimes 
the air is good of its kind, the accompanying poem 
insignificant ; sometimes the verse is good, the 
melody weak. But as a folk-song is not an art- 
song, we cannot expect it to be complete, a work 
of art in music, words, structure, expression ; if 
it prove so occasionally, it is only from an acci- 
dental,* momentary concentration and heightening 
of comparatively inferior creative genius. 

You must not expect from me a technical dis- 
sertation on the peculiarities of Oriental music ; 
this is one of the especial provinces of historians 
and antic^uarians, though composers also seek, 
and often find in such a study, and similar ones, 
many suggestions in regard to novel effects of 
melody, harmony, and rhythm. But the cliief 
characteristicfl of all Oriental music may be 



summed up in two ; syncopated or broken rhythm 
or measure, and inharmonic color i"nj^, abound- 
ing in half, and even quarter tones. It is doubt- 
ful whether wc ever obtain a just idea of Oriental 
music, by means of our system of notation, since 
it differs so greatly from the Oriental, and does 
not contain symbols of a nature to convey, through 
the eye, an a<lequate outline of that. However, 
I will give you two rare specimens ; the first is 
tlie melody of an Arabian popular song, tlie sec- 
ond a Turkish march brought to Europe by the 
Marquis of Lothian. 



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CSZHEZI' 



You, an Anglo-Maori, are perhaps aware that 
tlie Maories are said to be gifted with a peculiar 
facility in induing and distinguishing quarter 
tones; and that an essay has been written to 
prove that the Maori system of intervals closely 
resembles the inharmonic genus of the Greeks. 
A gentleman not unknown to you, Sir George 
Grey, has something to say about this in his book 
on Polynesian mytliology. He (as well as Short- 
land and Da vies), has given 'more than one spec- 
imen of Maori folk-songs ; one, a girl's complaint, 
and in as " sad and feminine " a manner as any 
Russian song : " Ah, how fine was the clothing of 
the fair fo/^lgn seargodi But I, alas, must re- 
turn to my rags, to my nothing-at-all I " 

After your return to Canterbury in Maori-land, 
you may some day, in one of your country excur- 
sions gaze from Looker-on-Mountain through cloud 
diadems to the Kaikoura and the Amuri bluff; 
you will see the magnificent reach of the coast 
line, with the fringe of algae that imparts to the 
edge of the water its Rembrandtesque brown, and 
beyond the snowy surf, the aqua-marine tint of 
the dashing rollers, the more distant greenish hue 
that imperceptibly melts into the deep, dark blue 
of the fathomless ocean ; think then, of those im- 
perceptibly melting chromatic quarter tones of 
Oriental and Maori melodies, and search for 
some aboriginal airs, composed by some unappre- 
ciated, " inglorious " (tliough not " mute ") semi- 
demi-countryman of your own, and send them to 
me, " for sweet remembrance' sake 1 



My first letter to you began with an observa- 
tion on tlie international and artistic nature of 
life and feeling on the island ; the idea that orig- 
inated that, and the two succeeding ones, was 
(juite in character with the spirit of such a life, 
tliough, superficially, far removed from Russian, 
Oriental, or Maori folk-songs, Bodenstedt, Ha- 
fiz or Pounamu ; yet enchained with them all as 
all human ideas, persons, things, must be with 
each otlier, no matter how distant apparently. It 
was in the lovely county of Kent, " the garden of 
England," not a Uiousand miles from Canterbury, 
that I first met one of my dearest friends, and the 
nearest of yours, now a Crown commissioner in 
the Canterbury of New Zealand. You know, that 
in the vicinity of the island there stands a college 
in which a certain gentle doctor in Apollo is prac- 
tically interested. Thither I wended my way, a few 
weeks ago, in response to an invitation to attend 
a lecture on tlie architecture of the Cathredral of 
Canterbury, delivered by Professor Cady Eaton, 
an American gentleman of European culture, and 
travelled experience, fond of art, and formerly pro- 
fessor at Yale College. The lecture was accom- 
panied by illustrations, collected in England, and 
giving a very fair idea to those who never saw it, 
of the most interesting of English churches after 
Westminster Abbey. But ah 1 to me they brought 
back far more than the antique and storied walls 
that enclose the slii-ine of Becket ! They peopled 
the simple lecture hall with tones and visions, — 
of an ancient church, its square tower, ivy-en- 
clasped ; its deep portal, its carven marble screens, 
the quiet services in which birds were not infre- 
quent choristers; of a secluded rectory, embos- 
omed in soft and flowery fields and gardens, climb- 
ing roses nodding by scores, through the lattices, 
a scent of rose and lavender floating through all 
the house, — tlie coo of doves from the grove bo- 
side the stream, the swell and fall of chimes from 
the' distant churches of three parishes, — the com- 
mon, with its gorse and glowworms, tlie mill pond, 
the rookery, the hop gardens, and the wide, rich 
stretch of the Weald of Kent, — -all enhanced by 
the " light that never was on sea or land," the 
light of memory and love 1 And tlience, by a nat- 
ural transition, from that rectory and its sur- 
roundings, which are so dear to you and to me, 
to Canterbury in New Zealand, to you, to your 
request in regard to folk-songs, to the recent ar- 
rival of von Bodenstedt in America, to Russian 
and Oriental folk-songs ; — and hence these letters I 

Yours faithfully, F. R. R. 



Errata.— In Mrs. Hitter's letter of Jan. 1, the names 
of the poets Koslow and Daumer, were incorrectly 
printed as Kosland and Danraer. In the second Ori- 
ental song, line 10, for " drop" read droop ; in the 
third, for "foam-^e«A," read foam-/re«A. In the let- 
ter of Feb. 28, five Russian folk-songs were inadver- 
tently enclosed with quotation marks ; these transla- 
tions, however, are all Mrs. Hitter's own. In the two 
l^easant songs in same letter, for "bogar " read boyar; 
in the note, for " Awoff,*' read Lwoff . 



ft 



MUSIC ABROAD. 



London. — Herr Joachim, the great violinist, is on 
his annual visit here, and played in the Monday 
Popular Concert of February idth, a Bach Prelude 
and Fugue for violin solo, besides leading in a Quar- 
tet of Beethoven, and of Haydn. The correspon- 
dent of our New York neighbor writes : ** His tone 
is fuller, broader, and more majestic than that of 
any other violinist now before the English public; 
his repertory is confined to the noblest and the best 
music ; while as a master of technique he has no su- 
perior and but one rival, Herr Wilhelmj." — Carl 
Rosa, with his English Opera Troupe, has brought 
out Lohengrin in a new version by Mr. J. P. Jackson, 
with the German tenor, Schott, in the part* of the 
Knight of the holy Graal, Miss Gaylord (American) 
as Elsa, and Miss Josephine Yorke as Ortrud. Afda, 
too, is promised. Mr. Rosa is cdnvalescent, and ex- 



46 



LWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 101 j. 



pected soon from Nice. — The performances of 
Beethoven's Symphonies, in successive chronologi- 
cal order, commenced February 21st, at the Crystal 
Palace, under Mr. Manns. They are to be contin- 
ued weekly, closing April 17th, with the Choral, No. 
0.— Tlie most recent number of Grove's Dictionary 
ofMasit and Musicians contains a very interesting 
and exhaustive article, from the Kditors's own pen 
which is doubtless a worthy companion piece to liis 
admirable article on Beethoven. The issue of the 
quarterly number (January 1), was delayed by Mr. 
Grove's personal researches about Mendelssohn In 
Berlin and Leipdg ; it has not yet reached us here 
in Boston. — The dates for the Grand Handel Fes- 
tival at the Crystal Palace, have been fixed for 
Friday, June 18, (rehearsal), Monday, June 21, Wed- 
nesday, 23, and Friday, 26. — Mr. Sims Ueeves, the 
great English tenor, will retire from public life, 
after a concert tour extending probably over two 
years. He was born in 1821, and has been singing 
in public over forty years. 

— OxB of London's most successful musical or- 
ganizations is about to put out the lights and take 
in its sign ; Figaro, (February 18) tells us : — 

Thb farewell season of the Henry Leslie Choir 
began at St. James' Hall on Thursday. In a sort of 
preface to the book of words a brief account was 
given of the rise and progress of the famous choir, 
and of the reasons which have induced Mr. Henry 
Leslie to disband it at the close of this year. The 
scheme originated in the autumn of 1866, when thir- 
ty or forty ladies and gentlemen met Mr. Henry 
Leslie in one of the small rehearsal rooms of the de- 
funct Hanover Square llooms, for the purpose of 
practicing unaccompanied music of the English glee 
and madrigal school. The idea originated with Mr. 
Joseph Heming, an enthusiast in the cause, the voices 
hving been most carefully selected by him, and 
with such forces Mr. Leslie resolved to attempt to 
do for English music what had been so ably done by 
the Berlin Dom Choir and the Cologne students for 
German choral art. The first performances of Mr. 
Henry Leslie's choir gave it at once the position it 
has ever since held. Some years ago the number of 
the Henry Leslie choir was restric^d to 240, and at 
that figure it has since remained. Altogether apart 
from its work in popularising some of the finest un- 
accompanied music of all schools, many of the great- 
est artists of the day have come from the ranks of 
the Henry Leslie choir. Chief, perhaps, among the 
*' old choristers " are Mme. Patey, Mr. Edward Lloyd, 
and Mr. Joseph Bamby, while Miss Orridge, Mme. 
Mudie Bolinbroke, and many others have been mem- 
bers of the choir. The reason of the disbanding on 
the choir is plainly stated in the preface, to which al- 
lusion has been made. It is stated: "The time 
has, however, come within the heart and soul of this 
great choral body must have less arduous work than 
is necessitated by the elaborate and exhausting re- 
hearsals essential to a continuance of the high stan- 
dard of excellence aimed at throughout the existence 
of the choir, and though Mr. Leslie does not pledge 
himself to make a last appearance in 1880, but may 
from time to time appear as a conductor, yet, at the 
termination of the present season, the dissolution of 
the choir will take place, and its work of a quarter 
of a centurv be brought to a close." The date of the 
final, or "Festival," concert is not yet fixed, but in 
addition to the four concerts already announced, an 
afternoon performance will be given on June 10, and 
the " Festival " concert towards the end of the same 
month will, so far as England is concerned, conclude 
the choir's career. 

The programme of the concert of Thursday was, 
as is Mr. Henry Leslie's custom during Lent, re- 
stricted to sacred music, and contained for the most 
part pieces selected from the choir's ordinary reper- 
tory. Among the chief works were Bach's motet for 
double choir, " Sing ye to the Lord," a singularly 
complex work, which has been for some time past 
identified, at least in England, with the Leslie choir ; 
Mendelssohn's " Jucige me, God," and the beauti- 
ful setting of the 23d Psalm by Schubert, sung by 
the ladies of the choir. A " Kyrie " from a Mass by 
Leonardo Leo, Dr. William Pole's setting for double 
choir of the 100th Psalm, and Mr. Alfred Gaul's 
" The Better Land," were also given ; while an ex- 
ceedingly graceful part-song, entitled "Homeward," 
by Mr. Leslie himself, was sung and repeated. Mr. 
Maas and Madame Patey were the vocalists, the 
gentleman singing " Comfort ye," in a manner wor- 
thy tha traditions of our school of oratorio ; while 
ili lady was heard in Gonnod's " There is a green 
hill," and in Mr. Leslie's own song, "I saw a golden 
tfunbeamfall." 

Crystal Palacs.— From the same paper (Febru- 
Mry 14,} we learn tb*t Mendelasohn's Octet has been 



played there too by all the strings of the orchestra, 
as well as here in Boston. "Cherubino" writes : 

Once before, if I recollect rightly, in October, 1800, 
the same experiment was attempted with a result, 
that for nearly ten years it has not been repeated. 
Then, as now, if I reincmber correctly, Mr. George 
Grove offered manifold excuses, quoted the opinions 
of Schumann, and pointed out that the symphonic 
form of the octet rendered it peculiarly liable to the 
term of a " symphony in divSguisc." The beet proof 
that the octet is not likely to suffer by its distribu- 
tion among the strings of Mr. Mann's orchestra, lies, 
however, first, in the fact that Mendelssolm by im- 
plication and, it is understood, by words (though I 
believe their authenticity has been questioned) sanc- 
tioned the affair ; and, secondly, that the effect gained 
by the body of iAstruments is undoubtedly new. As 
we all know, Mendelssohn himself orchestrated the 
celebrated scherzo for the symphony in C minor, 
dedicated to the Philarmonic Society, and generally 
known as No. 1, although it is numbered 13 in the 
Philharmonic catalogue. All these matters, there- 
fore, afford sufficient justification to the Crystal Pal- 
ace authorities to play the octet in E fiat in sympho- 
ny fashion, and if Mr. Grove were to seek for any 
further excuse, its magnificent performance by the 
Crystal Palace orchestra would supply it. In the 
programme itself there were no novelties. The 
' Dance of Sylphs " and the " Rakockzy " march, 
from Berlioz* " Damnation de Faust," have already 
frequeutly been heard in the concert room, to say 
nothing of the performance of the complete work a 
year or two ago on the stage of Her Majesty's The- 
atre. Mile. Janotha played the "Emperor" con- 
certo of Beethoven, and Mme. Slnico sang. 



Leipzig. — On the anniversary of Mozart's birth, 
the fifteenth Gewandhaus Concert had a Mozartian 
Programme. The fourteenth Concert offered : Beet- 
hoven's Eighth Symphony ; two Choral songs (" Das 
Dorfchen" and " Das Schifflein ") by Schumann; 
Bacchanal from the ballet, Ackille a Scyros, Cheru- 
bini (first time) ; Overture to Calderon's Dame Ko- 
boldf Reinecke; " Schicksalslied," for chorus and 
orchestra, Brahms; Variations on Haydn's "God 
save the Emperor," by the whole stringed Orches- 
tra; Chorus of Dervishes, Turkish March, and Sol- 
emn March and Chorus, from Beethoven's Ruins of 
Athens. 

Paris. — The sixteenth Concert Populaire (Pas 
deloup) opened with the Symphonie Fantastique of 
Berlioz, which delighted the Parisians as tisual. 
Two novelties were: the second Violin Concerto 
by Saint-Saens, and the lyric poem, Atala, by Mme. 
de Grandval. The seventeenth programme inclu- 
ded : Symphony in D (No. 45), Haydn; Offertoire, 
Gounod ; Beethoven's Violin Concerto, played by 
M. Marsick; Kermesse (first time) by B. Godard; 
Romance from Mozart's Cos\ fan Tutte, sung by M. 
Naudin ; and Overture to FreyschHiz. 

The ninth and tenth Concerts of the Conserva- 
toire commenced with the Dramatic Symphony, 
Romdo et Juliette, by Berlioz, and finished with " the 
ravishing Symphony in G, of Haydn, the creator of 
the Symphony." There was also given a fragment 
of the ProtneUieus muqic by Beethoven, and a cho- 
rus from Mendelssohn's St. Paul. 

— For the eleventh Concert (Sunday, Feb. 22), 
the programme offered : Symphony in F, Beetho- 
ven; Pater Nosier, unaccompanied chorus, Meyer- 
beer ; Overture to Le Giaour, Th. Gouvy ; Chorus 
from Armide, Lulli ; Midsummer Night's Dream, Men- 
delssohn. 

— At the Concert of the Ch&telet, Mme. Essipoff 
achieved a brilliant success in the G minor Concerto 
of Saint-Saens ; and M. Camille Ijelong, likewise, in 
the Violin Concerto of Mendelssohn. The other se- 
lections were : Overture to Le Vfnitien, by M. Al- 
bert Cohen ; Symphony in Dminor, Schumann, and 
a fragment from the Romeo and Juliette of Berlioz. 

— At the Opera, in the same week, the pieces 
given were: Der FreyschUtz, Yeddar, Hamlet and 
the Muette de Portici. At the Op^ra Comique, La 
Fille du Regiment, Fra Diavolo, Les Dragons de Vil- 
lars, Le Pr^-aux-Clercs, La Dame Blanche, Lalla 
Roul'h, Le Ma^on, Les Diamants de la Coronne, 
UEtoile du Nord, Les Rendezvous Bourgeois, Le Chalet, 
and Le Pain bis. At the Gaite', Paul et Virginie, Pe- 
trarque, La Traviata. Verdi is in Paris and has 
commenced rehearsals of Aida at the Opera. 



SDtotgI)t*j9? S^ountal of ^v^it. 



SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1880. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

A full week's festival of harmonv, all brouj'ht 
abjut bv chance, concludes to-ni^cht. Concerts 
always thicken as the season draws to an end ; 
but rarely are so many concerts of im})ortance 
crowded into a single week, as we have now been 
having. Here is the calendar: Monday after' 
noon, Miss Maurer ; evening, Mr. Perab?, with 
a remarkable quantity of new music, including an 
Octet for strings by Bargiel ; Tuesday evening, 
the Apollo Club ; Wednesday evening, the last 
University Concert, at Sanders Theatre, Cam- 
bridge, with Prof. Paine's new Symphony, and 
the Euterpe Concert in Boston ; Thursday after- 
noon, the Seventh Harvard Symphony Concert, 
with Paine's new Symphony and Mr. Sherwood 
in Beethoven's G major Concerto; Thursday eve- 
ning, Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon, 
the three twice-postponed Joseffy Concerts ; Sat- 
urday evening, Concert by Mr. Arthur Foote. 
To attend and appreciate them all,, together 
with rehearsals, and such preparation as would 
ensure a fit state of mind for listening, would re- 
quire a general suspension of business and a 
whole week's holiday. Even a poor musical edi- 
tor, who is presumed to carry several extra pairs 
of ears about him, must lose some of it. For any 
extended review of it in this Journal, which goes 
to press on Thursday, a later number must serve. 
We turn now to things of a week or two past. 

Mendelssohn's Octet, composed just before his 
Shakespearian fairy Overture, as a birth-day present 
to Rietz, full of artisic, plastic faculty, and full of 
spirit, and of verve, would no doubt, even with all 
the strings, have sounded better in a smaller hall, 
— say in the Sanders Theatre — and considering the 
lack of color contrasts through reeds, fiutes and 
brass, may have been found somewhat monotonous 
at the end of so long a programme. But it was 
finely rendered, and heard with close attention by 
all who remained to the end. The work, in fact, 
is laid out on the broad scale of a Symphony and 
there is marked contrast of character between its 
several movements, especially between the airy, fai- 
ry, mystical and almost ghostlike Scherzo and the 
grand sweep and rush, like a freshet, of the Presto 
finale. The Overture to " Les Abencerrages " is a 
genial, spirited, enjoyable composition, ranking per- 
haps next in importance to Cherubini's Wassertrdger 
and Medea preludes. 

Mme. Riv^-King displayed rare strength, firmness 
and certainty of grasp, neatness, finish, fluency and 
grace in her execution of the brilliant and difficult 
Concerto of Saint-Saens. She played with freedom 
and enthusiasm, making a brilliant mark for herself, 
especially in the much admired Sclierzando move- 
ment, with its exhilarating hunter's rhythm. 

Miss May Bryant, who seemed in a great measure 
to have overcome the nervousness which has par- 
tially defeated her few public efforts here before, 

has a simple, noble, large, artistic style of singing, 
which confirms the promise of her face and outward' 
bearing. Her voice, a rich mezzo soprano, is very 
evenly developed ; the tones are given out frankly, 
and clearly ; her phrasing is excellent ; and she sings 
with soul and pure expression. She gave the Prayer 
of Penelope with chaste dramatic fervor ; and she 
entered into the spirit of the three German Songs 
(her German pronounciation being remarkably 
pure), which were nicely accompanied by Mr. 
Foote. 

We add the programme for this week's Concert 
(the last but one) : 

Overtiire to " Corialan," Beethoven. 

Piano Concerto in G Beethoven. 

William H. Sherwood. 
New Symphony, " Spring " in A, . John K Paine. 
Piano Solo: Gmnd Fantaisie, Op. 17, 

middle movement Schumaniu 

William H. Sherwood. 
Overture: "Becalmed at Sea, and Pro«- 
peious Voyage," MendtlitohtL 



March 13, 1880.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



47 



The ConcertBttick of Schumann for four horns, 
promised for the laat Concert, has been found im- 
practicable for any horns now commonly in use. 
The programm,e therefore, of the Kighth and Last 
Concert, for March 2o, stands thus : 

Overture: "WHhedcsHauges," . . . Beethoven. 
Piano Conooilo In F sliai*p minor (first time 

in America), Ilanfi von Bronsart. 

B. J. Lang. 
Three short Marches, from "Figaro," 

"Magic Flute," and "Fidelio." Mozart, Beethoven. 
Symphony, No. 9 in C Schubert. 



. UxiVERsiTY Concerts. — The fourth and 
last but one, which we were disabled from attend^ 
ing, took place on Wednesday evening, February 
25, when an enthusiastic audience listened to the 
two movements of Schubert's unfinished Svm- 
phony in B minor and to the charming E flat 
Symphony of Moxart ; also to a quaint " Iligadon 
de -Dardanus," by Rameau ; and to a brilliant 
performance by Mme. Rive-King of the second 
Concerto (G niinor) of Saint-Saens. The Phil- 
harmonic Orchestra, under the direction of 
Bernhard Listemann, is said to have acquitted 
itself admirably. 



Harvard Musical Association. — The 
Sixth Symphony Concert (fifteenth seascm) which 
came right upon the heels of the Cambridge Con- 
cert, Thursday afternoon, Feb. 26, had a large 
audience to enjoy the following programme, whose 
only fault was its rather too great lengtli : — 

Overture to " Les Abencerrages" . . . Vheruhini. 
liecitative and prayer : Penelope Mouniing. 

Scene from " Odysj^uM " Max Bnich. 

Mids Mav Brvant. 
Piano-forte Concerto, No. 2, in G minor. 

Op. 22 Saint Sainr. 

Andante sostenuto. — Allegro Scherzando. 

— Presto. 

Madame Julia Riv^-King. 
Symphons' No. 4, in B flat, Op, 60 . . , Beethoven. 
Song with Piano-forte 

a. Kastlose Liebe (Restless Love). , . Schubert. 

b. Em Stiidlein wohl vor Tag " . . Franz. 

c. Komauze Brahma. 

Miss May Bryant. 
Octet, in E flat, Op. 20. (By all the 

Strings) 3fendel8sokn. 

Allegro moderato ma con/voco. — An- 
dante . — Scherzo . — Presto. 

The fourth Symphony, standing as it does be- 
tween 'the two giants, the Eroica and the sublime 
one in C Minor, doubtless seems to some compara- 
tively light for Beethoven; and indeed it has 
afiinities, as Berlioz has well pointed out in tlie 
descriptipn which we copy in another column, 
with the fresh, elastic, joyous Number Two, in D. 
And joy, too, is a characteristic, is the whole ten- 
dency and last result of all Beethoven's Sympho- 
nies, and indeed of all his music ; when you have 
heard that " Hymn to Joy" in (he Ninth Sym- 
phony, you feci that his creative aspiration ten- 
ded still to that. Beethoven, in his music, in his 
life, with all that he experienced, all that he ex- 
pressed of struggle and of pain, all his Prome- 
thean agonies, all that there is dark and deep and 
mystically brooding in his thoughts and his imag- 
inings, is still the greatest optimist. " Freude, 
schoner Gotterfunken I " is liis creed, for to him 
Joy means love and brotherhood and the embrace 
of all the myriads of Humanity. But we think 
that Berlioz, in emphasizing the light-hearted, 
joyouB and elastic character of this Symphony, 
does not quite recognize its tender, sentimental 
quality. He wrote grander Symphonies, but 
none more lovely, none more tender, delicate, 
and passion-fraught than this. It is toarm music ; 
a whole rhymthic history of deep, consuming love, 
with its hopes and its despairs, its fitful moods, 
its infinite longings, its Platonic meditations, rev- 
eries, exquisite caprices, depths " most * musical, 
most melancholy," and heights of rapture uncon- 



tainable and heaven-storming. In sentiment, 
spirit, age, (speaking as of tlie heart's lifetime), 
it has alwavs seemed to us to -class with the son^ 
" Adelaide," and such Sonatas as the Pathetique 
the " Moonlight," and that entitled Zw Adieu.x, 
r Absence ct la lietour. At any rate, one feels this 
in the wonderful Ada^cio, with the throbbing fig- 
ure that pervades its stately rhythm, and which 
beats beneath its exquisite, fond, long-drawn mel- 
ody ; and in the slow introduction to the joyous 
Allegro vivace. The Symphony was delicately, 
brightly and appreciatively rendered; it is one 
to which Mr. Zerrahn, we understand, is partial ; 
well he may be. 

Cecilia. — The second concert of the season (Feb. 
27) had the usual eager audience, filling the Music 
Hall. It opened with one of the shorter ones of 
Bach's 250 or more sacred Cantatas: "Bleib bei 
una" ("Bide with us, for eve is drawing onward"). 
The opening chorus, and the setting of the two 
chorals, in the middle and at the end, are. in rich, 
massive, noble harmony for mixed voices, and were 
sung in broad, even style, with good ensemble, but 
seemed hardly to excite the general audience, al- 
though the few, who had made themselves more at 
home in the Bach music, enjoyed them sincerely. 
We do not know whether this music would have 
proved much more effective, had it been given with 
orchestra as Bach intended, instead of organ only. 
The Airs, for Alto (Miss Clara J. Poole) and Tenor 
(Dr. Lauginaid) were finely sung, especially the lat- 
ter, which was warmly received ; and the Recitative, 
for Bass, was well delivered by Mr. Frank L. Young. 
— We wonder that the 43d Psalm by Mendelssohn, 
a very short, and a very vigorons and stirring one: 
"Judge me, O (Jod," has not been heard here before. 
It made a decided impression, being finely sung and 
with a will. — This was followed by a Latin sacred 
song, " O quam suavis," which sounded very Italian 
for Mendelssohn, and which we know not where to 
look for among his works. It was very beautifully 
sung by Dr. Langmaid, who was in his best voice. 
Mendelssohn was still further represented by selec- 
tions from Athaliay namely, the Trio and Chorus : 
" Promised joys ! Menaced woes ! " and the grand 
chorus of proise, "Heaven and earth procliam." 
The Trio was very satisfactorily presented by Mrs. 
G. K. Hooper, Miss Ella M. Abbott, and Mrs C. C. 
Noyes. 

' The Second Part was secular and composed of 
choice part-songs and glees. First, the beautiful 
"Spring Night," by Robert Franz; then a lovely 
" Spring Song " for female voices, by Cade ; then a 
funny ding-dong glee by Stewart : " The Bells of St. 
Michael's Tower," which was encored. Three Ger- 
man songs, by Grieg, Ries, and Sucher, were sung 
with a hearty fervor and abandon (Mr> Lang ac- 
companying), and with pleasing, sympathetic voice, 
by Miss Abbott; and the concert closed with a 
nicely wrought modem Madrigal, in old centrapun- 
tal style : " Charm me asleep," by Leslie and the 
" Hunting Song " by Mendelssohn. All these pieces 
were sung to a charm. 

The main feature of the next concert, April 12, 
will be Schumann's Manfred music, with orchestra, 
and a reading of portions of Byron's text. 



Miss Henrietta Maurer* — The first of the two 

Matinees, by this young pianist who studied several 

years at the Conservatory in Moscow, took place on 

Monday, March 1, at Mechanic's Hall, exciting not 

a little interest, which was rewarded by the artistic 

rendering of the following programme : 

Sonata for Piano and Vioun Niels Gods. 

Miss Maurer and Mr. Ustemanii 

ARIA. "L'Eremlta." ColetU. 

Signof Clrill9. 

ARIA CON TARIAZIONE Sdndsl. 

Miss Manrer. 

Concert-Aria Mendelssohn. 

Mrs. Marchington. 

Serenade Schubert, 

SigDor CirlUo. 

( a. NocTu;tNE, F sharp. • • • i Chopin. 

\ b. Mekuetto Schnoert. 

Miss Maurer. 

" La Zinoarella." Canxone Paesiello, 

Mm. Marohlngton. 



Valse DE Concert WleniawsH, 

Miss Maurer. 

Di'ET. Cortlcelli'B celebrated melody drillo, 

Mrs. Marchington and SIgnor Cirlllo, 

Miss. Maurer's interpretations bore the marks of 
intelligent and earnest study, and of musical feel- 
ing ; her touch is clear and vital ; her execution 
facile, neat and often brilliant. The ''Harmo- 
nious Blacksmith " Variations, and the Concert 
Waltz by Wieniawski, were particularly well played. 
Mrs. Marchington, a pupil of Signor Cirillo, sang 
the exacting " Inf elice " of Mendelssohn in a clear, 
bright, even voice, and with good style and phras- 
ing. Tlie master himself has seldom used his rich 
baritone voice to better advantage ; he sang the 
Schubert Serenade delightfully. 

We were unable to attend the second Matinee 
(March 8), which we hear was found still more en- 
joyable. We can only give the programme : 

Rondo Brillant fok Piano and Violin. . Schubert, 
Miss Maurer and MiM Shattuck. 

Canzone Africana Bdckenstellner. 

SIguor Cirfllo. 

Variationen, C minor. Beethoven. 

MiM Alaorer. 

Aria frox " La JrrvE.** HdUvy. 

Mn. Richandson. 
Finale from Violin Concerto. . . . Mend^ssohn, 

Miss Shattuck. 

"IL SooNO." Mereadanfe. 

Signor Cirillo, 

( a. Preli'DE and Fuoue, F. sharp. . . • . . BcKh. 
\ b. Valse Allexande Jtubinsteln, 

j a. LlKD DER MlONON. ) «, ,„. ^ 

1 b. AUF DEU Wasskr zu sinoen. f • • • ^^W'WWT- 

Mrs. Richardson. 

Tarantella Liszt, 

MiM Maurer. 

Duet. Handel's "Laaclach'iopianga.** . . . Cirillo. 

Mrs. Richardson and Signor. 



Miss Teresa Carreno Camprell's Compli- 
mentary Concert last Saturday evening was in all 
respects a great success. Union Hall was com- 
pletely filled with an audience in the best sense of 
the word "select," — peoplb whose presence was in 
itself flattering to the fair young violinist of six- 
teen. The programme was well selected and ar- 
ranged : 

Quartet in D AsycTn. 

Allegro Moderato, Adagio CoMtabUe. 

MiM Campbell, MeMn. Allen, Fries, and Heindl. 

Piano Solo— Polonaise in E flat, . . ^ . . . Chopin, 

MiM Mary M. Campbell. 

SoNOS. I J „ TheE^nlng Hour." } • • ^^'^'^ Frana, 

Mr. Edward Bowdltch. 

ViolinSolo— Polonaise in A, WienitnDskL 

MiM Teresa Carreno Campbell. 

Arla— "Pnrdicesti," Loiti. 

Mrs. E. Humphrey Allen. 

Piano Solo— Scherzo No. 2, in B flat minor, op. 31, Chopin, 

Mr. B. J. Lang. 

Songs Jensen. 

Mr. Edward Bowdltch. 

Violin Solo— Air on the 4th String, . Bach- Wilheln^. 

MIm Tereea Carreno Campbell. 

SONO— Kerry Dance MMog, 

Mrs. Humphrey-Allen. 
SymphonyConcertante— (Two Violins), . . Banela. 

Miw Campbell and Mr. Allen. 

The talent and fine promise of the maiden Yiolin- 
ist was very evident in all her performances, from 
her leading of the Haydn Quartet, to her sure and 
brilliant execution of the Polonaise, and her inter- 
pretation, with so much artistic feeling, of the Aria 
by Bach. For an encore she played the Album Piece 
by Wagoner. The Duet, by Dancla, too, was very 
bright and full of life. Miss Mary Campbell proved 
herself an accomplished Pianist ; and it need not be 
said that Mr. Lang's rendering of the Chopin Scherzo 
was masterly. The singing was excellent. Mrs. Al- 
len was in remarkably good voice and won the warm- 
est recognition. Mr. Bowdltch, a Boston amateur, 
though living for some years past in Albany, gave 
unqualified delight by his sweet, manly voice, and 
the chaste, refined, unaffected style and feeling of 
his songs ; his kindness was Urgely drawn upon for 
more and he responded with good grace. 

The young lady has every reason to feel encour- 
aged by her first Concert. 

Due notice of a long list of concerts is nnayoida- 
bly deferred. 



48 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1015. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, March 1, —On Tuesday evening, Feb- 
niarj- 24, occun-ed the fourth and List concert of the 
N. Y. Quintet Club, with this programme: — 
String Quartel, Op. 41, Ko. 3. in A, . ... . Schumann. 

Piano Trio. G major Haydn. 

Reisebilder, (Piano and 'Cello), KM. 

(Messrs Mills and MiUler). 
Piano Quintet. Op. 114, . Schubert. 

Scbamann'B lovely Quintet was played very well in- 
deed, and Mr. Arnold's excellent technique showed to 
especial advantage. This gentleman has an excellent 
tone, a firm bow, and an admirable conception. He 
is a most capable leader in chamber music, and it is 
largely due to his ability that the soirees of the N. Y. 
Philharmonic Club have been of such artistic merit. 

The Haydn Trio, — a melodious and unassuming 
work, was* played by Mr. Miiller ('cello), Miss Marie 
Lobeck (rioliu), and MiM Martha Lobeck (piano). Iti* 

I)erformance introduced the element of variety, for 
t was a happv compound of professional ability 
('cello and school-girlish capacity.) The violinist has a 
good tone, and fair exe<'Ution; but tlie pianist had as 
much (or as little) idea of the proper use of the pedal 
as have most of the fair sex, ana her execution was 
9lim. 

Messrs. Mills and Miiller gave an effective perfonn- 
ancc of the next number, and somewhat raised our 
drooping spirits. Their •"Travel-pictures" are beauti- 
ful little musical sketches, which Live not before been 
given here; they are thoughtfully written, and some of 
Uie enhannonic transitions are very pleasing. They 
seem more dependent for their attractive qualities upon 
their *' musicality," than upon anv display of technique. 

Schubert's diarming " Trout '^' Quintet hardly re- 
ceived fair treatment: for the contra-basso artist insist- 
ed upon being a quarter of a tone below pitch, and 
there was much rudeness in the ensemble playing. 
Furthermore, Mr. Mills would persist in endeavoring to 
drown the other artists whenever he found a good fair 
and square opiwitunity. The performance could 
scarcely be regarded as an excellent one. 

On Wednesday evening the Damnation de Faust 
was repeated for the second time, and again to a full 
house: there is a rumor to the effect that it is to be 
given again, but this is not authenticated. 

On Wednesday afternoon the second of Mr. G. W. 
Morgan's organ and harp recitiils took place at Chiok- 
ering Hall: uie programme was an excellent one, and 
the performance was enjoved bv a large aud apprecia- 
tive audience. Miss Emily Winant contributed unde- 
niably to the success of the entertainment by her 
seriotis and dignified inteii)rctation of Mendelssohn's 
''Rest in the Ix)^: " in res])onse to a hearty encore she 
sang Sullivan's "Lost Chord." Miss Maiid Morgan's 
liari> playing is really admirable, and when to this fact 
is ndoed'the incidental circumstance tiiat she is a young 
lady of very charming presence and modest demeanor, 
enough has been said, I am sure, to give a faint idea of 
the attractiveness of these interesting matinees. 

March 8. — On Monday evening, March 1, we had a 
Joseffy concert with the following programme: 

Overturo: " Flngal's Cave," AfemUtMohn. 

(Orchestra.) 

Ist Oncerto, E minor, Chopin. 

2d Ck>noert4\ F minor ■ . Chopin, 

Andante Splanato, and Polonaise, Op. 22, . . . Chopin. 

Nothing can be added to the praise which has al- 
ready been accorded to the wonderful Hungarian 
pianist. He is probably the best interpreter of Chopin 
who has ever visited us, if indeed he be not the be.«»t 
living. His delicacy of touch and his perfect use of the 
pedal (an art in itWlf ) are peculiar qualifications for 
the satisfactorj' performance of the exacting composi- 
tions of the greatest writer for the piano-forte (as such) 
who has ever Tn-cd. The audience was wrj' large, ap- 
preciative and enthusiastic ; and Joseffy must feel an 
artist's pardonable and natural delight in the knowl- 
edge that he has gained a footing here which he wil' 
never low. The modesty and quiet of his demeanour 
have conduced greatly to his success ; for we have been 
accustomed to the slam-bang order of piano thumpers, 
and many had began to entertain the idea that no re- 
fined an^ gentlemanly pianist could succeed in secur- 
ing the good will of an American audience. Joseffy, 
therefore, may be regarded as a rt^omirr as well as 'a 
man-ellons pianist. Of course, the audience on Mon- 
day evening were clamorous for more than the program- 
me promised, and Joseffy gave the lovely Prelude in 
D flat, and a posthumous masourka in A minor. 

On Tuesday evening Mr. E. C. Phelps, of Broo'dvn, 
brought out his new historic choral " Emanciimtion " 
Symphony at the Academy of Music in that city. II 
is in five isirtii, as follows : — 

Ist, Movement, Adagio non troppo. 

The long night of bondage. The cries of the oppressed. 

2d. Plantation Dances Allegro Moderate. 

(Lights and Shadows of Slave Life). 

Nothing expresses more distinctly the emotions and 
characteristics of the African race than these mournful 
and grotesque rhythms in dance forms. 

3d. " The Slave Girl's Dream," .... Allegretto. 
In this Bhapsodie I have attempted to depict the unrest 
and upirations of a young woman longlngjror liberty. 



4th. The Conflict, Allegro Agitato. 

This movement portrays the final arbitratiou of arms. 
The conflict of the opposing principles of freedom and alar 
very. Jn the Finale the death uf Lincoln is iudicateil by a 
wild episode of universal grief, leading to the 

5th. The Funenil ^larch, . . . Adagio con dolore. 

Gth. ♦• Laus Deo." Wliittier's Hymn. 

For Contmlto Solo, Chorus and Orchestra. 

In my opinion the author's ability to orchestrate is 
greater than his capacity to originate. His treatment of 
toe different instruments is really excellent; but be has 
a tendencY to be diffuse and monotonous. I find the 
Ist and (>tli movements much superior to the interven- 
ing ones. Candor compels me to say that the "Funeral 
March" is weak and commonplace, but we all — we 
Americans — have reason to be thoroughly glad that we 
have among us men of pluck, energy, and devotion to 
art, who are surely laying the foundtUions for the musi- 
cal eminence which is at some future day to be ours. 
All honor, then, to Mr. Phelps, Mr. Boise, and others 
who have given orchestral form and shape to their 
musical thoughts and aspirations. 

The second part of Mr. Phelp's programme was 
tak/^n up by Mendelssohn's Athalia, and a very good 
performance it certainl.v was. The chorus work was 
excellent, Miss Bcebe (who took the Ist soprano) sang 
very finely; and everjthing went reasonably well and 
smoothly,' albeit the conductor {not Mr. Pfielps) was 
liardly equal to the task. 



Baltimore, Feb. 23. — At the second Pe^body Con- 
cert, on the 14th, the following programme was pro- 
duced : — 

Symphony, C minor. No 5, .•,.,,, Beethoven. 
Songs with Piano. 

The dream. Works. No. 1— The lark 

Work 33. No. 3— The dew it shines. 

Work 72. No. 1. — When I see thee 

draw near. Work 27. No. 8.— Thou'rt 

like unto a flower. Work 32. No. 5. 

— My away, nightingale. Work 27. 

No. 1.— Miss Henrietta Beebe, . . . ■ Rubinstein. 

a. Fragments from the " Condemnation 

of Faust.'* Hungarian March.— 
Dance of the Sylphs. 

b. The Roman Carnival. Concert-Over- 

ture. Work 9 Hector Berlioz. 

and at the third concert, last Saturday, the following : 

Symphony, C minor. No. 2. Work 65. . . Saint SaSins. 
Italian Songs of the seventeenth century. 

1 return to my arms. — Mv sweet one, 

ope thine eyes. — Eyes of beauty. — 

Miss Antouia Henne. 

Sonata Appassionata, F minor. Work 07. 
Mme >iannetteFalk-Auerbach, Beethoven. 

Songs, with Piano. 

Lov'st thou for beauty .—The red, red 
rose. Work 27.— Dedication. Work 
25.— Miss Antonia Henne Schunumn. 

Salavonic Rhapsody, D major. No. 1. 

Work 46 Anton Dvor&k. 

With the increased orchestral facilities it seems the 
intention of M. Hamerik to wander from the beaten 
path of the older classics, to a greater extent than usual 
and to devote more time to works of the newer schools. 
The attendance of the Peal)ody 0)ncerts has thus far 
been veiy satisfoctorv, and the interest in orchestral 
music appeam unusually strong. 

On the Ifith inst , the six leading German singing so- 
cieties combined to give a concert for the benefit of the 
Silesian sufferers. What object really prompted this 
unusual combination of rival singing societies, and to 
what extent the destitute Silesians are to be benefitted 
thereby, is of no consequence musically. 

It b sufficient to know that after a great am'^unt of 
wrangling as to the momentous question: Wlio shall 
direct the combined chorus? the concert finallv took 
place, and the two selections, Ossian. by Beschnitt, and 
^' Siegesgesang der Detitschen nach ^der Hermanns- 
schlachty'* by Abt, were decidedly interesting, if onlv for 
the fact that the opportunity is not often afforded us of 
hearing 150 male voices all In a bunch. The remainder 
of the programme contained nothing of special interest. 

^Iarch 6. — Among the musical attractions of last 
week was the Maplesun (Her Majesty's!) Opeia Troupe 
with the usual stale and hackneyed repertoire. Tne 
company was, hovever, taken altogether, very satisfac- 
tory, and what they did was done with more general 
evenness and attention to detail than has been tne case 
for some time in this city. The Axda performance was 
a striking exception to the general nin of opera pro- 
duction in Bcemc and choral effects, so necessary to a 
proper representation of this really interesting work of 
the composer of Trovatore; the orchestra was the best 
your correspondent has ever heard at anv opera in 
Baltimore. Faust also was given in a most enjoyable 
manner, despite the fact that both the leading cHarac- 
ters were far from satisfactory. The Faust ivas the 
usual little dapper Italian gentleman, with n diminutive 
black moustache, and as far removed from the German 
ideal of the German student, Faust, as could be sup- 
posed; and the Marguerite was anything but the picture 
of unconscious innocence and natural grace which en- 
chants ns in Goethe's Gretchen. 

The fourteenth Student's Concert at the Conserva- 
tory last Saturday, presented the following programme: 

String-trio, G major. Work 9. No. 1. . . . Beethoven. 

For violin, viola, violincello. 

Messrs. Flnoke, Schaeffer and Jungnlckol. 



a. Scene and Air from Oberon Weber. 

Miss Rose Scldner, student of the Conservatory, first year. 
6. Recitativeand Air from Freitschiitz. 
Miss Roso Barrett, student of the Conservatory, first year. 
•• Trout " Quintet, A major. Work 114. . . Schubert. 

For piano, violin, etc. 

Miss Agnes Hoen, student of the Conservatory, fifth year. 

Messrs. Fincke, Schaeffer, Juugnickel and Leutbecker. 

Mme. Nannette Falk-Auerbnch, who has won an en- 
viable reputation as an intei-preter of Bsethoven's pi- 
ano music, is giving three Beethoven recitals, of which 
two have taken place thus far. The sonatas selected 
are Op. 37; Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2; Op. 81; Op. 32, No. 
2; ll(f; 03; lOG; and Op. 102, Nos. 1 and 2, for ^cello 
and piano, Mr. Jnngnickel taking the 'cello part At 
the closing recital on the 12th iiist. Mme. Auerbach 
will also play Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques^ Op. 
13. 

Last evening the Wednesday Club Chonu save its 
second entertamment with the first part of Handel's 
Alexander's Feasts using the original score. The 
chorus consisted of very neurlv one hundred voices, 
and the solo parts were distributed among different 
members, an admirable plan for encoiuaging a partic- 
ular interest in the work among the singers, and far 
preferable to th3 usual plan of assigning all the soji of 
any part to one particular voice. The orchestra was 
very small, as the whole performance was rather an 
experiment, it being the intention to produce the en- 
tire work at an early date with the assistance of all 
the instruments as laid down in the original score. 

The committee and director deserv'e great credit for 
their earnest endeavors to school the sinp^crs in the 
errand choral productions of Handel, whKh are the 
foundation of all solid chorus training, and for present- 
ing such works in a community wnere the name of 
Handel is rarely seen on a conceit progiamnie, although 
our city Li profusely supplied with choial societies. 
The manner in whicli the piece was received would 
seem to indicate tluit the production of a ILiudel Cho- 
rus here is by no means a thankless undertaking. 

C. F. 



(From a private letteiO. 

Lxirzio, Feb. — Just home from a Gewandhaus Re- 
hearsal. Yesterday was Mendelssohn's Birthday, and 
of course it waa remembered in to-day's concert. It 
does seem as if people had more birthdays in Germany 
than elsewhere; there b always a " Fest " of somebody. 
We had to-day, the Overture to Midsummer Night's 
Dreamy and a Symphony (A minor) of Mendelssohn. 
Then we had a violinist from Rotterdam, who gave us a 
Concerto of Vienxtemps, and a Sonata of Tartini; and 
a Herr Hauser f rom Carlsnihe, with a magnificent bar* 
itoue voice, who sang a good Aria out of the Opera 
Johann de Paris, and then the lovely Idederkreis: 
" An die feme Geliebte " from Beethoven. As we were 
coming out of the concert room, a lady said to me, 
** how little we realize whom we hear in this Gewand- 
haus! Celebrities come and go like common mortals.'* 
And so it is. Rubinstein, Von Biilow, Prof, and Frau 
Joachim, Clara Schumann, Saint-Saeus. Sara'wte, and 
hosts of secondary stars, follow each other, week after 
week, with no sounding of trumpets. 

The resident operatic talent is not of so high ap order 
at present, as one would expect here. The present 
Director has been trying to make money, and low sal- 
aries can't hold the best talent. So PesckarLeutner, 
and Malknecht and other stars went elsewhere, where 
they could be better paid, and their places have not 
been worthily filled, lliey have no really fine prima 
donna now. but still some operas are well gi^en. They 
have just been giving a Mozart (>ycliis of 7 operas, 

Claning it so that Don Giovanni came on Mozart's 
irth-day. We heard only two of them, the ^^Entfuh- 
rung aus dem Serail, and Titus.'* The latter was 
beautifully given, and has some delicious music in it. 
I had never heard anything of it, until Frau Joachim 
sang an Aria from it at one of the Gewandhaus (Jon- 
certs. Titus closed the Cyclus. It is quite short, so at 
the close a Fest-Spiel in honor of Mozart was given. 
The curtain rose upon a sibyl ( ?) who recited a pro- 
logue in which something of the " seven stars " was 
said. (I didn't understand it all), and then with a few 
words characterizing each, she summoned the different 
processions, each representing the marked "motiv" 
of one of the operas, who passed across the. stage 
while the orchestra played something from the corres- 
ponding music. Six {Idorneneo^ rlgarv's Horhzeit, 
Cotnfan TuttetEntfiihning, Titus, and Magic Flute), 
having been represented, the curtain at the back of 
the stage rose on Don Giovanni and the Apotheosis. 
The group representing Don Giovanni in the centre ; 
behind and above was an artistic cumulation of bal- 
let girb with wreaths, etc., etc. In the centre, half 
way up a marble bust of Mozart, and behinds and 
above the " Commendatoro " on his horse. On the 
right and left of the Don Juan groups, filling np the 
sides of the stage, all the other groups. As the cur- 
tain rose, the sibyl, in her white trailing robes, dowly 
ascended, winding her wav among the brilliant 
groups till she reached the middle point, and placed a 
wreath on the marble head. Now this is a very clumsy 
description, for it was really very pretty, and very 
well done. Beethoven's birthday, a short time ago, 
was marked by the 7th Symphony and Coriolanvs ov- 
erture at the Gewandhaus, and /juite a good represen- 
tation of Fidelto in tbe Theatre. 



March 27, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



49 



BOSTON, MARCH 27, 1880. 

Entered »t the Post Office at Boston as second-class matter. 



All the artielea not credited to other pubtioatiotu were ex- 
preetly written/or thi* Journal, 



PubUehed fortnightly by HotroHTON, Osgood ft Co., 
Boston^ Mcuu. Priee^ /o cents a number; $2.30 per year. 

For sale in Boston by Carl Prubfbr, jo West Street^ A. 
Willi Axs ft Co., a8j Washington Street^ A. K. Lorino, 
J69 Washington Street^ and by the Publishers; in New York 
by A. Brbxtano, Jr., jg Union Square^ and Houohton, 
Osgood ft Co., 9/ Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BoKBB ft Co., tioa Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, jn State Street. 



BERLIOZ'S FAUST AT MANCHESTER. 

(From the "Manchester Onardian.") 

The interest excited by the production of 
thiB work was evinced by the unusually 
crowded state of the hall on Thursday even- 
ing, Feb. 5. It b long since we have noticed 
such unmistakable enthusiasm as was dis- 
played during the whole evening. The rap- 
idly changing and broadly contrasted scenes 
of the Fault legend afford a singularly favor- 
able medium for the display of a genius of 
the somewhat erratic, and certainly unconven- 
tional, type of Berlioz. We might doubt his 
capacity for sustained and continued effort, 
but we need only one specimen of his work 
to discover a wonderful power of fantastic 
expression. Every subject is presented in 
its broadest lines, heightened by strongly con- 
trasted colors, and set off by lurid lights. 
And of all men that have lived, Berlioz, per- 
haps, possessed the greatest mastery over the 
orchestra as a medium for descriptive power. 
Others have written what has been called 
'' programme music " occasionally, and with a 
sort of apology for so far forgetting them- 
selves, but the whole course of this composer's 
mind seemed to run in thb direction and to 
unfit him for anything else. All his orches- 
tral music has the same character. << Pure 
music " — music, that is, which need not nec- 
essarily be associated with any literary idea 
— he has scarcely attempted at all. His 
Harold in Italy, and the Epxtode in the Life 
of an Artist^ not less than the Fauit music, 
show how essentially his was a descriptive 
musical genius. And certainly he gave full 
play to the natural bent of his powers. Prob- 
ably no instance is on record of one who, tak- 
ing so late to the profession of music, achieved 
such a mastery over his art and so world-wide 
a fame. The orchestra in his hands developed 
capacities never before suspected. .Not a 
movement that he has left but bears evi- 
dence to the truth of this, Berlioz's highest 
claim to the notice of posterity. Here in 
England, we have been accustomed to hear 
more of Wagner and Liszt than of Berlioz, 
and we have often, probably, thought that 
original in the compositions of the two first 
named, for which they were, in truth, indebted 
to Berlioz. Mozart in this way made the 
the world forget Gluck, and, in a smaller way, 
Weber and Chopin obliterated the claims of 
John Field to consideration. But the world 
18 just in the main, and sooner or later all 
who assist the progress of art obtain the rec- 
ognition which is their due. 

It will be gathered from what we have said 
above that the music to FoMtt is distinctly 



pictorial and descriptive. The soliloquies of 
Faust exhibit the deep, earnest longing of a 
strong human soul for capacities higher than 
life affords in a manner that must have struck 
all, while many to whom Goethe's story is a 
household word expressed their intense de- 
light in* the musical setting. Not the least 
competent person to give an opinion declared 
to us that nothing in the range of his acquain- 
tance expressed so fully the unsatisfied long- 
ings of the Faust as the opening movement 
of Part II. We might cite other similar pas- 
sages of almost equal force, but we turn to 
another phase of the composer's genius. 
'' The Peasant's Chorus " early prepared the 
audience for what might be expected from 
Berlioz's descriptive powers. The gay refrain 
and the rustic freedom of the theme proved 
that he could be light and playful as well as 
meditative and gloomy. And the warlike 
strains that succeed prepare us so admirably 
for the '* Rakoczy " march, that for its sake 
we feel that the composer had, as he claims, 
the right to take his hero into Hungary, 
or, indeed, wherever he pleased. The effect 
of the march was electric. An audience 
usually somewhat cold and receptive, were 
aroused to such unwonted enthusiasm that 
nothing short of an encore would pacify them. 
Following our catalogue of the descriptive 
music, we next notice the beautiful solemnity 
of the "Easter Hymn," and the startling 
musical phrase — short, sudden and incisive 
as a lightning flash — which announces the 
presence of Mephistopheles. The whole scene 
in Auerbach's cellar is descriptive. The 
drunken roystering of Brander and his com- 
panions is most cleverly brought to a climax' 
in the fugue which they improvise. Some of 
the stricter of the Grermans, who formed so 
large a portion of the audience, objected to 
the truth of the picture. " After all, it is but 
a Frenchman's conception of the subject." 
This may be perfectly correct, but it does not 
prevent the enjoyment of those who are less 
literal in their expectations or demands. 
And what could be more grotesquely humor- 
ous than the setting of the "Flea'* song? 
One almost felt uncomfortable as the music 
suggested the too numerous gathering of the 
relatives of the glorified insect But all this 
folly soon passes away, and we have a won- 
derfully conceived movement entitled " Faust's 
Dream," in which the fiend and his imps pre- 
sent*Margaret's image to Faust This is one 
of the most difficult numbers in the work, full 
of cross tempi, and needing the most perfect 
rehearsal and watchful attention of the con- 
ductor for its success. We need not do more 
than refer to the " Ballet des Sylphes," fur- 
ther than to say that it is more effective in 
its proper place than we had ever before 
thought it, while to the Chorus of Soldiers 
and Students, which closes Part II., our for- 
mer remarks apply. It may not have abso- 
lutely correct "local coloring," but what 
matter? It pleases, and "local coloring" 
sometimes offends a stranger in Uie locality. 
Who that has not seen the blue of the Medi- 
terranean can believe in the truth of the azure 
abominations sometimes exhibited in the pic- 
ture galleries? Part III introduces us to 



the dwelling of Margaret, and, up to a certain 
point, fully sustains the interest of the work. 
The simple girl's song, " The lay of the good 
old King of Thule," is a most original setting 
of a favorite theme. The viola dUigato^ played 
by Mr. Otto Bernhardt, has a wonderfully 
original effect, as its tones take up the subject 
of the melody in response, as it were, to the 
voice. No more striking number can be 
found than that which follows, in which Me- 
phistopheles calls around the spirits that at- 
tend his bidding to assist him in his assault 
on the souls of his victims. The Spirits of 
Fire and Evil, Will-o'-the-Wisp and Gnome, 
assemble and dance to sensuous strains around 
the dwelling where the lovers meet The 
Fiend himself sings a serenade so mocking 
and devilish in its repudiation of all ordinary 
rhythm, but withal so attractive, that its theme 
is one that lingers longer, perhaps, than any 
other heard during the evening. The actual 
meeting of the lovers is, perhaps, the weakest 
scene in Fatut, but the trio and chorus at the 
close o*f Part III- is worthy of comparison 
with any other portion of the work. The 
whole of Part IV. is marvellous. It b utterly 
impossible for us, within our limits, to attempt 
to do justice to the dramatic intensity of the 
" Ride to the Abyss." Its horror b unpar- 
alleled in the range of musical expression, 
culminating in a crash so awful that the pre- 
cipitation into the gulf becomes vbible to the 
mental eye; while the demoniac welcome 
Mephbtopheles and hb victim receive b a fit- 
ting conclusion to such a scene. The pure 
beauty of the melody of Margaret's " Apoth- 
eosb " comes like sunshine and the sweetness 
of the " upper air " after the lurid blackness 
of such a pandemonium. 

The work was magnificently given. Im- 
mense pains had been taken with its rehearsal, 
which were amply justified by the result One 
word as to the Englbh translation, which was 
admirable, and which, we believe, we are vio- 
lating no confidence in saying, b the work of 
one of Mr. Hallo's daughters. The principal 
singers were Miss Mary Davies, Mr. Lloyd, 
Mr. Henschel, and Mr. Hilton. 

MENDELSSOHN'S MANY PURSUITS. 

[Mr. Gbobob Gkovib, in hii Dietionarjf of Mutic 
and Musicians (No. IX. just publUhed), has prepared 
a very exhaustive and altogether admirable article 
on Mendelssohn, from which we take the following 
extracts]. 

No musician — unless perhaps it were Leo- 
nardo da Vinci, and he was only a musician 
in a limited sense — certainly no great com- 
poser, ever had so many pursuits as Mendeb- 
sohn. Mozart drew, and wrote capital letters, 
Berlioz and Weber also both wrote good let- 
ters, Beethoven was a great walker and in- 
tense lover of nature, Cherubini was a bota- 
nbt and a passionate card-player, but none of 
them approach Mendelssohn in the number 
and variety of hb occupations. Both billiards 
and chess he played with ardor to the end of 
hb life, and in both he excelled. When a 
lad he was devoted to gymnastics ; later on 
he rode much, swam more, and danced when- 
ever he had the opportunity. Cards and 
skating were almost the only diversions he 



50 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1016. 



did not care for. But then these were diver- 
sions. There were two pursuits which almost 
deserve to rank as work — drawing and letter- 
writing. Drawing with him was more like a 
professional avocation than an amusement. 
The quantity of his sketchefs and drawings 
preserved is very large. They begin with the 
Swiss journey in 1822, on which he took 27 
large ones, all very carefully finished, and all 
dated, sometimes two in one day. The Scotch 
and Italian tours are both fully illusti-ated, 
and so they go on year by year till his last 
journey into Switzerland in 1847, of which, 
as already said, 14 large highly finished 
water-color drawings remain, besides slighter 
sketches. At first they are rude and childish, 
though with each successive set the improve- 
ment is perceptible. But even with the ear- 
liest ones there is no mistaking that the draw- 
ing was a serious business. The subjects are 
not what are called '^ bits," but are usually 
large, comprehensive views, and it is impossi- 
ble to doubt that the child threw his whole 
mind into it, did his very best, and shirked 
nothing. He already felt the force of the 
motto which fronted his conductor's chair in 
the Gewandhaus — "Res severa est verum 
gaudium." Every little cottage or gate is 
put in with as much care as the main features. 
Every tree has its character. Everything 
stands well on its legs, and the whole has that 
architectonic style which is so characteristic 
of his music 

Next to his drawing should be placed his 
correspondence, and thb is even more remark- 
able. During the last years of his life there 
can have been but few eminent men in Europe 
who wrote more letters than he did. Many 
even who take no interest in music are fa- 
miliar with the nature of his letters — the 
happy mixture of seriousness, fun and affec- 
tion, the life-like descriptions, the happy hits, 
the naivete which no baldness of translation 
can extinguish, the wise counsels, the practi- 
cal views, the delight in the successes of his 
friends, the self-abnegation, the bursts of 
wrath at anything mean or nasty. We all 
remember, too, the length to which they run. 
Taking the printed volumes and comparing 
the letters with those of Scott or Arnold, they 
are on the average very considerably longer 
than either. But the published letters bear 
only a smaU proportion to those still in MS. 
In fact, the abundance of material for the bi- 
ographer of Mendelssohn is quite bewilder- 
ing. That however is not the point The 
remarkable fact is that so many letters, of 
such length and such intrinsic excellence, 
should have been written by a man who was 
all the time engaged in an engrossing occupa- 
tion, producing great quantities of music, con- 
ducting, arranging, and otherwise occupied in 
a profession which more than any demands 
the surrender of the entire man. For these 
letters are no hurried productions, but are 
distinguished, like the drawings, for the neat- 
ness and finish which pervade them. An au- 
tograph letter of Mendelssohn's is a work of 
art; the lines are all straight and dose, 
the letters perfectly and elegantly forn^ed, 
with a peculiar luxuriance of tails, and an il- 
legible word can hardly be found. To the 



folding and the sealing everything is perfect. 
It seems impossible that this can have been 
done quickly. It must have absorbed an 
enormous deal of time. While speaking of 
his correspondence, we may mention theneat^ 
ness and order with which he registered and 
kept everything. The 44 volumes of MS. 
music, in which he did for himself what Mo- 
zart's father so carefully did for his son, have 
been mentioned. But it is not generally 
known that he preserved all letters that he 
received, and stuck them with his own hands 
into books. 27 large thick green volumes 
exist, containing apparently all the letters and 
memorandums, business and private, which he 
received from Oct. 29, 1821, to Oct. 29, 1847, 
together with the drafts of his Oratorio books, 
and of the long official communications which, 
during his latter life, cost him so many un- 
profitable hours. He seems to have found 
time for everything. Hiller tells us how dur- 
ing a very busy season he revbed and copied 
out the libretto of his oratorio for him. One 
of his dearest Leipzig friends has a complete 
copy of the whole score of " Antigone," in- 
cluding the whole of the words of the melo- 
drama^ written for her with his own hand ; a 
perfect piece of caligraphy without spot or 
erasure! and the family archives contain 
a long minute list of the contents of all 
the cupboards in the house, filling several 
pages of foolscap, in his usual neat writing, 
and made about the year 1842. We read 
of Mr. Dickens that no matter was con- 
sidered too trivial to claim his care and atten- 
tion. He would take as much pains about 
the hanging of a picture, the choosing of fur^ 
niture, the superintending of any little im- 
provement in the house, as he would about 
the more serious business of his life, thus car- 
rying out to the very letter his favorite motto 
that, " What is worth doing at all is worth 
doing well." No words could better describe 
the side of Mendelssohn's character to which 
we are alluding, nor could any motto more 
emphatically express the principle on which 
he acted throughout life in all his work. 

His taste and efficiency in such minor mat- 
ters are well shown in the albums which he 
made for his wife, beautiful specimens of ar- 
rangement, the most charming things in 
which are the drawings and pieces* of music 
from his own hands. His private account- 
books and diaries are kept with the same 
quaint neatness. If he had a word to alter 
in a letter, it was done with a grace which 
turned the blemish into a beauty. The same 
care came out in everything — in making out 
the programmes for the Gewandhaus concerts, 
where he would arrange and re-arrange the 
pieces to suit some inner idea of symmetry or 
order ; or in settling his sets of songs for pub- 
lication as to the succe^ion of keys, connec- 
tion or contrast of words, etc In fact he had 
a passion for neatness, and a repugnance to 
anything clumsy. Possibly this may have 
been one reason why he appears so rarely to 
have sketched his music. He made it in his 
head, and had settled the minutest points 
there before he put it on paper, thus avoiding 
the litter and disorder of a sketch. Connected 
with this neatness is a certain quaintness in 



liis proceedings, which perhaps strikes an Eng- 
lishman more forcibly than it would a Ger- 
man. He used the old-fashioned C clef for 
the treble voices in his scores to the last ; the 
long flourish with ifrhich he ornaments the 
double bar at the end .of a piece never varied. 
A score of Haydn's Military Symphony 
which he wrote for his wife bears the words, 
" Possessor Cdcile." In writing to Mrs. Mo- 
scheles of her little girls, whose singing had 
pleased him, he begs to be remembered to 
the "drei kleine Diskantisten." A note to 
David, sent by a child, is inscribed, " Kinder- 
post," and so on. Certain French words oc- 
cur over and over again, and are evidently 
favorites. Such are plaisir and trouble, d 
propos, en gro$, and others. The word hiihschj 
answermg to our " nice," was a special favor- 
ite, and nett was one of his highest commen- 
dations. 

(To be continued). 



THE MOZART WEEK IN VIENNA. 



II. 



The joyous feelings of the audiences that witr 
nessed the performances of the Mozart-week nat- 
urally reacted upon the performers. These all 
did their best ; and, even where the best fell 
short of what it ought to have been, the public 
manifested itself kindly disposed and indulgent, 
it appearing almost as if this were done at the 
silent request of the ever benevolent Moiart. It 
was evident tliat the pubUc considered the mas- 
ter's creations as the principal thing, and these 
covered over with their pure gold a few dark 
spots seen in the performances, especially in the 
field of the technique of song. "La musioue de 
Mozart est bien difficile pour le chant," wrofe Em- 
peror Joseph on the 16 of May, 1788, to Count 
Rosenberg, as Herr Alfred von Arneth has kindly 
informed me. It is possible that the emperor's 
criticifm had reference to the difficulties of into- 
nation, modulation, and all the new demands of 
the dramatic expression so highly exalted by 
Mozart. The vocalists of tjiat time encountered 
far fewer difficulties in colorature singing, for this 
they studied and incessantly pVacticed. At the 
present time the opposite rule holds good, and our 
vocalists pay less attention to real song than to 
exalted declamation and the most glaring accents 
of passion. For this reason they doubtless agree 
with the criticism of the Emperor Joseph. The 
zeal manifested by all the members of Uie Hoft)- 
perntlieatre during this trying week, and which 
it is impossible to praise too highly, makes critir 
cism far and sharp-sighted for everything in 
which they succeeded, and permits it to put on at 
least the appearance of blindness in regard to all 
that wherein they failed. 

The first opera performed during the Mozart 
week was Idameneo, whose beauties its repeated 
performances caused one to see more clearly. 
The Enf/Ghrung aus dem Serail, which immedi- 
ately followed, called attention to many corre- 
spondences between these two works, otherwise 
not noticeable. However great may be the fun- 
damental difference in their form and express 
sion between Idomeneo and the Ent/Wirung, the 
latter nevertheless adheres to the manner of the 
former by means of some of its rootlets. Not 
only does the exceedingly great adornment of the 
passages in the arias of Constanz belong entirely 
to the former opera seria, but also the very char- 
acter of the themes of these arias points to it. 

The next two evenings Figaro's Hochzeit and 
Don Juan were given amidst the greatest enthu- 
siasm. There are lovers and composers oC music 



Mabch 27, 1880.] 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



51 



who place these two operas side by side. But, al- 
though I admire very much the beauties of JFV- 
garo*s Hochzeit, its music, in comparison with that 
of Don Juan, appears to me to be only a glorious 
work of man beside a divine revelation. I can 
better understand the opinion which places the 
Zauberflate and Don Juan on the same level, al- 
though it is an opinion which I do not share. 
What can be said of the music to the ZaufterJiQte 
is that it stands in the same relation to that of 
Don Juan as Groethe's Iphigenie stands to Faust. 
In the inconceivable wealth of its musical inven- 
tions Don Juan is not approached by any other 
even of Mozart's works; and none of them is 
equal to it in its uninterruptedly flowing dramatic 
life, in its musical characteristics, and, above all, 
in its demoniac,, spirit-compelling power. 

It is better not to begin to talk of Mozart's Don 
Juan; for, after one begins, it is hard to stop. 
But also of its mise en scene one does not dare to 
speak, because so much has been said of it and 
such opposite views have been taken of it in articles 
without number. The Hofoperntheater has rightly 
given it with the same scenery with which Dingel- 
stedt gave it and also the Zauber/ldie in the new 
Opernhaus. Only to one wish would I here de- 
sire again to give expression : it is to leave out 
the comic rather than terrible looking red-headed 
imps which fight around Don Juan at the close. 
The decoration speaks here intelligibly enough. 
If Don Juan were engulfed or fell down dead in 
the storm of fire, whilst the chorus of the demons, 
according to da Ponte's directions, were sung be- 
hind the scene, tlie tragic impression were a more 
worthy one. In such matters, however, the taste 
changes often in a wonderful manner with the 
changes of the times ; and not only the people in 
the galleries, but even such aesthetic epicures as 
Ludwig Tieck formerly lauded as a " most glori- 
ous climax of the closing tableau the monstrous , 
grotesque head, whose eyes move from right to 
left, and whose moveable jaws show terrible teeth." 
This wide open devil's gullet, into which the imps 
throw Don Juan, has long since been laid aside as 
a childish folly. The examination of Don Juan 
by the awkward Gerichtsdiener in the first act, 
and which has again been inserted, revived a 
youthful memory and amused me very much. 
This arbitrary insertion can be excused as a rem- 
iniscence of the first performances of Don Juan 
in German, which were ornamented with such 
comical additions ; but yet it were better to leave 
them out in the regular performances. 

The happy disposition which animated all, 
caused Cost fan Tutte to please the hearers better 
than in former years. The artists helped to pro- 
duce this result by bold accentuation of the comic 
and parodic clement in this opera. The attempt 
would be altogether in vain to try to exalt, by 
means of an imposing aesthetic appearance, this 
foolish libretto, which makes such enormous de- 
mands on our credulity. Nor is it necessary to 
deny that Mozart's creative fancy was debilitated 
and beguiled into a weak formalism by this dull 
libretto*, whose characters are so uninteresting. 
There are many musical beauties in the score; 
but unhappily they are nearly all of the same 
style and are wanting in the contrasting shades. 

On the sixth evening the Zauherflote was per- 
formed and produced among the audience a de- 
light that increased from scene to scene. Its mu- 
sic lays itself like a dear, soft hand on the spirit 
tired or saddened by our every day-life. In 
Berthold Auerbach's romance " Auf der Hohe," 
it is a delicate stroke of genius which makes the 
unhappy Irma hear the Zauherfldte when, about 
to die on her last short visit to the city, she de- 
sires to hear some music before her end. This is 
true music, the best that man can produce. In re- 
gard to it Auerbach finally says : " Mozart's Zaur 
herfltite is one of those eternal creations which 



stand outside of all passion and all human strife. 
I have often heard that the text is childish, but 
on this height all action, all that occurs, all hu- 
man phenomena, all surroundings can be only al- 
legorical. Gravitation and bounds are laid aside ; 
man becomes a bird, becomes love, becomes wis- 
dom, and his life a life of nature." 

The performance was unexceptionable ; in re- 
gard to the scenes I wished in all seriousness for 
one addition, viz.: the lions, bears and monkeys 
attracted by Tamino's flute. If the farcical scene 
of the Gerichtsdiener was put into Don Juan, al- 
though it has nothing to do with the action and is 
not in Mozart's opera, there was no reason for 
omitting that pleasant scene in the Zattber/ldte, 
in which the author directed particularly that it 
should be introduced. And, besides, the words 
which Tamino directs to his flute : " Dear flute, 
thy sounds give pleasure even to wild animals," 
become nonsense when no such animals are seen. 

Titus is an unhappy selection for closing a se- 
ries of performances of all of Mozart's operas. Its 
text and music being entirely strange to us, it chills 
and almost depresses one to hear this solemn work 
immediately after the glorious Zauherflote. And 
.besides, it is not chronologically necessary to close 
the series with this performance. Titus is gener- 
ally regarded as the last of Mozart's operas ; and 
it certainly was composed only after the Zauher- 
flote was abnost done. But Titus was performed 
before the other, namely on the 6th of Sept. of 1 791, 
while the Zauherflote was not performed until 
the 80th of that month. If, therefore, the rule is to 
be adhered to that the age of an opera dates from 
the day when- it was first performed, then the 
Zauherflote and not Titus is Mozart's last opera, 
and its performance would have been a worthy 
close to the Mozart-week. Titus returns to the 
conventional and obsolete style of Idomeneo, and 
for this reason a superficial judgment often puts 
the two on the same plane. But in reality Titus 
is much inferior to Idomeneo ; in form they are 
much alike, but not in the musical spirit which 
animates them. In Idomeneo there is a mighty 
and youthful aspiration ; Mozart, when he wrote 
it, being still young and taking delight in his 
work, felt in himself the power and the courage 
necessary to oppose the conventional form he was 
obliged to adopt ; but when he composed Titus, 
this power and confidence had forsaken him, and, 
tired out and resigned, he submitted to the stiff 
and antiquated form which, after the creation of 
Don Juan and Figaro, must have appeared sense- 
less and even despicable to him. The single, 
glorious scene of the high priest with the chorus 
in the third act of Idomeneo is, in my opinion, 
worth more than the whole of Tiius. Even the 
brightest jewel of this opera, the first Finale, at 
the burning of the Capitol, is not a finished finale 
such as some which Mozart had previously cre- 
ated, but a single, though powerful scene. For 
the arias in Titus, even for the two most celebrated, 
those of Vitellia and of Sextus, I can feel no ad- 
miration, but simply a pious respect. Titus is a 
Sarastro dipped in milk, who is always talking, 
not only of his virtue and wisdom, but also of his 
skill in coloring:. Much of that which sounds 
sweet and' lovely in Titus is, on account of this 
very sweetness and loveliness, at variance with 
the seriousness of the matter and the passion dis- 
played in the situations. A painful feeling of 
sadness and compassion seizes him who sees the 
great man, worn out, troubled with the premoni- 
tory symptoms of death already making their 
presence felt in his breast, called to go to Prague 
before he had quite finished the ZauberflSte, in 
order to write and rehearse, in eighteen days, and 
on a libretto prepared beforehand, a new opera 
for the coronation of Leopold II. This opera was 
La Clemenza di Tito, and at the same time it was 
a last clemenza of Mozart, ever ready to help 



others by word or deed and ever manifesting ihe 
most obliging disposition. 

In order to counteract the impression which 
Titiu would produce and also because this opera, 
with the necessary curtailments, would not fill up 
an entire evening, Director Jauner had it followed 
with the effective play of Joseph Weilen's ScUz- 
burg's gr&sster Sohn (Salzburg's greatest son). 
The poem, composed for the occasion, is rich in 
thoughtful allusions and was used as a frame for 
a series of picturesque tableaux from Mozart's life, 
to which Franz Doppler skilfully adapted a fine 
accompaniment of music, arranged from Mozar- 
tian themes. These tableau, in which all ihe 
members of ihe Hofoperntheater willingly per- 
formed the parts of statues, were highly ap- 
plauded and again raised the feelings of the au- 
dience, which had been somewhat depressed, so 
that all carried away the most pleasing impres- 
sions, and as a consequence this Mozart-week will 
no doubt be held by all in grateful remembrance. 
— N. Y, Musical Review, 

Eduard Hanslick. 

HERMANN GOETZ. 

(From the Programme of the Boylston dub. Concert of 

March 17.) 

Of the life of this composer, the biographers 
have little more to tell us Uian that he was bom 
in Konlgsberg, Dec. 17, 1840; that, in youth, he 
gave evidence of musical ability, but not of pre- 
cocious talent, and that it was not until he had 
reached his seventeenth year that he decided to 
make music his life-work. Of the rest of his life, 
we only know that he lived and labored in ob- 
scurity, struggling with poverty and a hopeless 
disease, yet following his art with patient and fer- 
vent devotion. Happily the clouds which had 
shadowed his life parted just as his earthly career 
was drawing to a close, and a sort of sunset glory 
illumined his declining days ; for his opera, based 
on Shakespeare's comedy, << The Taming of the 
Shrew," had at last been performed, and had 
made an undeniable success. For the rest, he 
was ftot permitted,' save in his own consciousness, 
to know how well he had wrought ; for on the 3d 
of Dec. 1876, his life's brief span of less than 
thirtynnx years came to an end at Hottingen, 
Zurich. 

If Goetz, influenced by a presentiment of his 
early death, directed his attention, in turn, to 
each of the forms of composition, that examples 
might remain to bear witness to his power, he 
certainly displayed admirable judgment in select^ 
ing the 137th Psalm, as the text of his only can- 
tata founded on a scriptural subject. The inter- 
est and pathos of the scene portrayed by this 
Psalm, and the beauty of the diction, have en- 
gaged the attention, and taxed the resources of 
many composers. The text gives expression to 
feelings which embrace the whole round of hu- 
man experiences ; and in the strongly contrasted 
and rapidly changing emotions which this text 
records, Goetz found a brilliant opportunity to il- 
lustrate his rare and splendid genius. 

The cantata opens with a short orchestral pre- 
lude in B minor, in which the theme of the first 
chorus is announced. This chorus is a beautiful 
and affecting utterance of the grief and desolation 
of the children of Israel, as they sat weeping by 
the waters of Babylon : its pathos and tenderness 
are something wonderful. Once only is the pre- 
vailing gloom broken by a ray of light as the cap- 
tives remembered Zion, and the brighter emotion 
is set in delightful contrast ; but the feeling is ev- 
anescent, and quickly relapses into the sombre 
minor mode, and, with the final cadence strangely 
impressive with its weight of grief and despair, 
the chorus closes. A passage for the orchestra 
leads, without a break, to a simple recitative in 
D major, in which a single soprano voice carries 



62 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1016. 



on the stoiy, " And our harps we hanged on the 
willows." Suddenly a few agitated phrases in G 
minor, by the orchestra, announce that sadness 
has given place to a new and bitterer feeling, 
and the voice gives the reason for the change, 
" They who vexed and spoiled us have demanded 
a song ; " " Sing us a song of Zion ; " and, as if 
the shame and pain at this humiliation of their 
beloved Jerusalem were too deep for audible ut- 
terance, Goetz, with consummate skill, makes 
the solo voice repeat, as if aside, in a tone of won- 
dering and questioning anguish, "A song of 
Zion ? " The chorus catches at once the burden 
and spirit of the demand, and, at first quietly and 
as if under the breath, repeat the question, 
** How shall we sing the Lord's song in a land of 
strangers ? " Resentment at the affront rapidly 
succeeds their amazement, and the basses mark 
the change of feeling by thundering out, "How 
shall we sing, etc. ?" Voice after voice takes up 
the theme with constantly increasing vehemence; 
the storm of indignation grows fiercer and fiercer, 
until, in the splendid climax, it bursts through all 
restraints, and culminates in a cry of angry de- 
spair. The length to which the author has carried 
this number is happily related to the situation ; 
such bursts of passionate excitement cannot long 
be protracted, and so this short section is brought 
to a close in D major, leading directly to a melody, 
-remarkable for its severe simplicity, its beauty 
and its unaffected expression of the deepest ten- 
derness, as the solo voice, as if lingering over the 
memory of the city she loved, sings, " If I think 
not on thee, Jerusalem, may my right hand for- 
get her cunning." But the remembrance of the 
loM Jerusalem^ and of its wrongs again proves too 
much^for her self-control ; again the key changes 
to G minor, the accompaniment becomes strongly 
agitated, and the voice breaks out into the impre- 
cation, « May my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth I " The chorus here enters, emphasizing 
the passion of the speaker by repeating both the 
words and music of the imprecation, and passes 
suddenly, by a magnificent change to D flat, into 
an exquisite and pathetic mood of tenderness and 
affection, « If thou, Jerusalem, art not more to me 
than all my joy." 

The concluding number of the work will give 
satisfying evidence of the dramatic power and 
boundless resources of the composer. A peculiar 
and vigorous introduction of the orchestral basses 
in unison, in E minor, gives the key to the feeling 
of the first section of this chorus, which is a wild 
cry for vengeance, as the voices shout, "Lord, 
remember the children of Edom." The angry 
and tumultuous movement of the basses of the or- 
chestra, thundering beneath the voices, prepares 
the way to a splendid and striking passage of 
tremendous power and effect, in which the com- 
poser has given to the male chorus the words 
of the Edomites at the sacking of Jerusalem, 
" Destroy it, destroy it I yea, down to the ground I" 
while over and above all are heard the sopranos 
and altos excitedly crying, "Remember I" A 
short passage of great solidity and vigor, expres- 
sive of confidence and warning, for a bass voice, 
adjures the "daughter of Babylon, set for de- 
struction ; " this, repeafted by the chorus, gives 
utterance to the assurance of their faith that 
their cry for vengeance will not be unanswered ; 
and, as if inspured by this confidence, the tenors 
announce the vigorous and ahnost joyous fugue in 
B minor, " Happy he who thee repays what on 
us thou hast wrought," with which the action of 
the number really closes. But the wretchedness 
of their captivity was still too real to be forgotten 
in the expectation of future restoration and re- 
Tenge, and after a repetition of the passage 
"Daughter of Babylon, set for destruction," 
which comes to a splendid and effective close on 
the dominant of B minor, to prepare the way for 



the return of the first theme and movement of the 
work, the excitement and passion abate, and the 
chorus sinks again into the same sad and despair- 
ing mood with which the work opened. 

"The beautiful must perish I See how the 
Gods are lamenting that the Beautiful decays and 
the Perfect departs," is the burden of this com- 
poser's lovely cantata, "Noenia; " but he is him- 
self a conspicuous proof that it is only the beau- 
tiful and the perfect which abide eternally. " The 
mean and the base pass to the grave unsung." 
The beautiful will not perish, nor the perfect de- 
part from among men, so long as there shall be 
raised up among them prophets and apostles in 
art like Hermann Goetz. w. n. e. 

A VIOLIN STORY IN V ACTS. 

The following little story, illustrating our human 
weakness, was told in my presence by Mr. Rem^nyi, 
the Hungarian violinist. It seems that Mr. Wil- 
helmj had seen some of the violins, made by Bfr. 
George Gemiinder of New York, and was very much 
pleased with them, — (for indeed they are really 
fine instruments, added Rem^nyi in parenthesis),— 
and became greatly Interested in the maker. So 
much so that he proposed taking him to Europe, 
and when there to introduce him to public notice, 
and aid him to make his violins known. Kem^nyi 
on being infonned of the project expressed his faith 
in its success with the following play; — which he 
related while in conversation with the violin maker 
and Wilhelmj. 

ACT I. 

Wilhelmj and Gemiinder arrive in Europe. Every 
one is delighted to see them. Their greeting is warm 
and enthusiastic. The violin maker is received with 
open arms, as a German returning to his Fatherland. 

AOT II. 

The violin maker, aided by Wilhemj, attempts to 
sell some of the instruments he has brougbt over 
with him. What a change! All the manufacturers 
of the violin begin to talk against him. Gemiinder 
is no longer an acknowledged German, but is called 
a Yankee Charlatan, and condemned even before 
his violins are heard. 

ACT III. 

Through the friendly influence of Wilhelmj, some 
few of the violins are sold for two hundred dollars 
each. 

The European makers, upon hearing of the intro- 
duction of the American violins, cry "a cheat" 
"that they are bad instruments, and the buyers 
have been taken in by a Yankee.'' 

Invectives ad libitum from the European makers. 

ACT IV. 

The purchasers of the violins, fearing that the 
American's instruments may be explosive machines 
disguised, become alarmed, and try to sell them. 

They offer them for one hundred dollars; half 
their cost. 

No buyers. 

For fifty doUars t 

Still no one. 

For twenty-five? 

Yet no one will buy. 

They offer to give them away, and no one will 
even take them as a gift 



LISZT. 

[From Grovels Dictionary of Music and Musicians.] 
{Catalogue qf his works concluded), 

IV. 6 ARRAK0BMKNT8 TOR 8 PIANO-FORTKS. 

123. TariatioDS de Concert oo March in I Puritani (Ho- 

am^n). Schuberih. 
184. Beetbo?en*8 Ninth Symphony. Schoti. 

y. PIAKO-FORTS AJX1> VIOLIIT. 

125. Epithalam.; also for P. F., 8 hands. Tabomky A 
Partch. 

126. Grand duo coneatant snr '* Ls Msiin." Sehott. 



ACT V. 



APOTHBOaiS. 

Time passes. At last some one is hiduced by curi- 
osity to try them. « What a lovely tone," exclaims 
a delighted listener. 

" How beautifully it rings I " says another. 

"Fine I" remarks a third. 

"So true! with a grand carrymg power," adds 
another. 

"A magnificent instrument of great value," ex- 
claims the owner; "there are but a few in the 
world, and I would not sell mine at any price." 

Alas! the poor violin maker had been dead a 
hundred years. 

"Ah! 'tis a beautiful, and shortsighted human- 
ity," said Rem^nyi, as he finished the little play, m 
which his imagination had pictured a reality from 
the sad experiences of Ufe. C. H. Bsittan. 

Chzgago, m, '79. 



YI. FOR ORGAN OR HARMONIUM. 

187. Andsnte r»ligioao. Scfanbcrtli. 

188. Einleitung, Fnge nnd Magnificat, from SympliODy 
u ZvL Danto'a Dirina Commcdia." Schubcrth. 

129. Ora pro nobis. LitaneL Komer. 
180. Fantaiie und Fvge on the chonJs in •• Le PronhMa.** 
B. AH. 

131. Orlando di LsHo'a Begina cttli. Scbnbcfth. 

132. Bftcli's Einleitung uud Fuge, from motet " Ich batte 
rid Bektimmemiat." Scbnbertb. 

133. Chopin*! Praeludicn, op. 28, Nos. 4 and 9. Scbn. 
berth. 

134. Kircbliche Fcit-OuTtrture on *« Ein* icste Boig." Hof- 
maiter. 

135. " Der Gnade Heil '* (Tannh&user). Mcaer. 

VIL VOCAL. 
1. XASSaS, rSALMS, AMJ> OTHSB SACBXD MUSIC. 

188. Mtaaa solennia (Gnmer). FettmcsM in D. Score and 
parts; also vocal score, and for P. F. 4 bands. Scho. 
berth. 

137. Ungaritcbe Krononga-Mcsae in £ ikt. Score end 
parts, and tocsI score; Ofiertorium and Benedictna, for 
P. F. 9 and 4 banda, P. F. and riolin, organ, oigaa and 
riolin. Schuberth. 

138. Masa in C minor, with organ. B. 4b H. 

139. Miaaa Cboralia in A minor, with wgan. KahnL 

140. Requiem, men*e voices and organ. Kahni. 

141. Neun Kirchcn-Chor.Gcaange, with organ. 1. Pater 
Noetcr; 9. Ave Maria (alao for P. F.); 8. O Salutaria; 
4. Tiantum eigo; 5. AvoYerum; 8. Mihi antem; 7. Ave 
Maria SteUa, aho for P. F.; 8. Salntaris; 9. Libera 
me. Kabnt. 

149. Dm Seligkeiten. Kahni. 

148. Pater noeter, for miied chorus and organ. Kahni. 

144. Pater Noetcr ei Ave Maria, k 4 and organ. B. A H. 

145. Paahna. 18th, 18ih (£. V. 19th), 93d, and 187th. 

148. ChrisliiaiBi geborto; ehoms and organ. Arr. for P. 
F. Bote A Bock. 

147. An den beiligen Fransiakua, men's voicaa, organ, 
tmmpeCa and druma. Tiborazky A Parach. 

148. Hymne de Tenfimi k aon r^veil, female ehorva, organ 
sod harp. Tiborasky A Parach. 

9. OnATOKlOS. 

149. Christus. Score, vocal score, and parts. Schubcrth. 
» Paatorale," No. 4, and «« Manch der beiligen dni Ko- 
nige,'* No. 6, for inatmmenta only; also for P. F. 9 and 
4 bands. *' Tu ea Pctrua," No. 8, for oigan and for P. 
F. 9 and 4 handa, as " Hymne dn Pape." 

150. IMe Legends von der beiligen Eliaabeth. Scora, vocal 
acore, and parts. Kahni. *« Einleiiang; *' " Marach der 
Krsosritter'' and "Interludium,** for P. F. 9 and 4 
handa; <« Der Sturm," for P. F. 4 hands. 

8. CAKTATAS AHD OTHSB CBOBAL MUSIC. 



151. Zur Siieolar.Feier Beethovena, for ehoruB, aoli, and 

orcb. Score, vocal aoore, and parts. Kahnt. 
159. (%oniaea (8) to Herder's <' Eiitfcaaeltem Prometheua.** 

Score, vocal aoore, and parte. Kahnt. Faatorale (Schnii. 

terehcr) for P. F. 9 and 4 handa. 
158. FeaUAlbum for Goethe centenary (1849). Fcst. 

Marach; 1. Uchi! mehr Ucht; 9. Weimar'a Todten; 

8. Ueber alien Gipfebi iat Rub* ; 4. Cbor der Engel. Vo. 

cal aeon and parte. Schuberth. 
154. Wartbuig-Lieder. Einleitang and 8 Ueder. Tocal 

aeore. Kahni. 

156. Die Gfocken dee Straaaburger Munaters. Baritone 
aob, chorua, and orcb. Score, rocal aeore, and parte. 
Schuberth. «• Exodaior ** (Prelude) for Oigan and P. 
F. 9 and 4 handa. 

158. Die hcilige Ciieilia. Mezio«>prano, chorua, and oreh., 
or P. F., harp, and harmonium. Score, vocal aeore, and 
parte. Kahni. 

4. FOB men's yoiczs. 

157. 1. YereinaBed; 9. Standchen; 8. Wir aind nichi 
Muroien; 4-8. Gehamiachte liedcr (alao for P. F.); 7. 
Soldatenlied; 8. Die alten Sagen; 9. Saatengriin; 10. 
Der (Sang urn Mittcmacht; 11. FeetUcd; 19. (Soitee iat 
der Orient. Kahni. 

158.. Das dttatre Meer. Unter alien Wipfeln. Eek. 

159. Vierstimmige Mannergeaiinge. 1. Rheinweinlied; 9. 
Stodentenlied; 8. Beiteriied; 4. Ditto. Sehott. 



March 27, 1880.] 



BWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



68 



160. An dw KUDrtler. With oreh. Kahnt. 

161. Fett-Cbor (Herder Memorial, 1850). Weber. 
168. FeetgeMDg. Kiihn. 

163. Daa Lied der Degeistening. Tabomkj A Ptfech. 

164. WaeittdeeDeutKben Vaterland? SebtetiDger. 

165. Weimar's Yolkalied. Alao for Organ and P. F., 9 
and 4 baoda. KiUm. 

5. FOR 8IMGUS TOICB AMD P. T, 

166. Geaunmelte Uedcr. Kabnt. 1. Bfignon's lied (alto 
with orch. aocomp. and lor P. F.); 2. £• war ein Konig 
(alao for P. F.); 3. Der da vom Himmel biat (also for 
P. F.); 4. FkeudvoU und LeidToH; 6. Wcr nie- sein 
Brod; 6. Uebcr alien Gipfein ist Rub*; 7. Der Flscber- 
knabe (also witb oreb.); 8. Der Hirt (also with oteh.); 
9. Der Alpei^ager (also witb orab.); 10. Die Lorsley 
(also witb oreh. and for P. F.); 11. Am Rbain (also for 
P. F.); la. Vcrgiftct siiid main LSeder; 18. Du bist 
wia eine Blume; 14. Anfangs wollt* icb; 15. Morgens 
steb'icbauf; 16. Ein Ficbtcnbanm (3); 17. Comment 
disaient.ils? 18. Ob! quand Je dors; 19. S'il eH un 
ebarmant gason; 90. Enfont si j'eCala Roi; SI. Es ran- 
aeben die Wiiide; 2S. Wo weilt er? 88. Nimm* eincu 
Strabl; 84. Sebwcbe, blauee Auge; 85. Die Vatognift; 
86. AngioUn dal biondo crin (also for P. F.); 87. Kling 
leise; 88. Es moes ein Wniidrrbam sein; 89. Mutter 
Gottca IStraiisslein (1); 80. Ditto (8); 31. Least micb 
niben; 88. Wie ungt die Lerebe; 83. In Liebeslust; 84. 
leb moebte bingebn; 85. Nonnenwertb (alao for P. F.); 
36. Jngendglikk; 87. Wicder mocbt* ieb dir b^gegnen; 
88. Blame and Dua; 39. Icb Uebe dicb; 40. Die aUUe 
Wasserroee; 41. Wer nie sein Brod; 48. Icb sebeide; 
48. Die drri Zigeuner (also with orcb. ) ; 44. Lebe wobl ; 
45. Was Uebe sei; 46. Die todte Naebtigall; 47. Bist 
da; 48. Gebet; 49. FJnst; 50. An EdUtam; 51. Und 
sprieb; 58. Die ;Fiscberstocbter; 53. Sei sUU; 54. Der 
(iliieklicbe: 55. Ibr Gk)eken ?on Marling. Kabnt. 

167. II m*aimait taut (alao for P. F.). Scbott. 

168. Drei Uedcr. 1. Hohe Uebe; 8. Gestorbcn war icb; 
3. lieb'; also for P. F. as " Uebeatr&nm*.'* Kistner. 

169. IVe Soueta di Petrarea. HasUnger. 

170. Die Macbt der Musik. Kistner. 

171. Jeanne d'Are au bocher, Meiao.Sopnno and Orch., or 
P. F. Scbott 

178. Ave Maris SteUa. Kabnt 

VIII. PIANO-FORTB ACCOMPANIMENT TO DE- 

CLAIMED POEMS. 

173. Bi!iii|{cr*s Leonora, Kabnt; Lenaa*s Der ttanrige 
Moncb, Kabnt; Jokai's Dee todten Diofatcrs Uebe, TA. 
borsxkj A Parsch; Stracbwite's Helgs*s Trsue, Scba- 
bertb; Tolstoj*s Der blinde Sanger, Bessel, Petersburg. 

IX. REVISED EDITIONS OF CLASSICAL WORKS. 

174. Beethoven. I. A II. Sonatas complete. III. Variations 
for P. F. sob. IV. Various P. F. compositions for 8 and 
4 bands. V. Ducts for P. F. and violin. VI. Duets for 
P. F. and cello, or bom. VII. THoe for P. F., violin 
and cello. X. Masses, vocal soora. XIV. String qoar^ 
tets. XV. Trios for strings, wind and strings, and wind 
only. HoUe. 

175. Field. 18 Noctamea, annoUted. Scbubcrth. 

176. HommeI*s Septet; also as quintet for P. F. and strings. 
Scbabeith. 

177. Schubert's P. F. Sonatas and SokM (selected); 8 vols. 
Gotta. 

178. Weber's P. F. Sonatas and Solos; 8 vols. 0>tta. 

179. Vfole's Gartenkuibe; 100 Etudes in 10 parts. Kabnt 

X. LITERARY WORKS. 

188. De la Foodaaon.Goetbe h Weimar. Brockbaos, 

185L 
181. Lobongrin et Tannbiiuscr de Richard Wagner. Brock. 

bans, 1851. 

183. B. Wagner*B Lohengrin und Tsnnbiinser; with mn- 
sleal iUostnitkMM. Ejssen. 

188. FrM. Chopin. B. A U. 1858. 

184. Die Zigeuner und ibra Musik in Ungam. In German 
and Hungarian ; the former revised bj Cornelias. Heck- 
enast, Pressburg, 1861. 

185. UeberFieM'sNoctQines; French and German. Schu. 
berth, 1859. 

186. Robert Frana. Leuckart, 1878. 

187. VerMbiedene AnMtie in der «<(3acette mnsicale" de 
Paria, und in der Neuen Zeitscbrift fiir Musik. Kabnt. 

188. Schumann's Musikalisehe Haus und Lsbena-regeln ; 
ttanskted into Frsnch. Schuberth, 1860. 

^ [F. H.] 

— Mme. Julia Riv^King will give three Subscription 
Bedtali, at Concert Hall, Hotel Bnuuiwick, on the af- 
ternoon and evening of April 5, and one at Palladio 
Hall, Boxbury, April 3. See Advertiiement 



&>toi0i)t'j9i $^0tintal of iS^Vifiiu 



CmciNKATL — the arrangementB for the great May 
Festival go on aa usual, under Theodore Thomas, who 
seems still to be the idol of all the members of the 
chorus, and the musicians geneially. We have no 
loom for the programme. 



SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1880. 

MR. J. K. PAINE'S NEW SYMPHONY. 

The first productions of the second Q* Spring ") 
Symphony, by Harvard's Musical Professor, at 
Cambridge, Wednesday Evening, March 10, and 
at Boston, on the following afternoon, formed an 
event of unusual significance in our musical world. 
The very long, elaborate and thoughtful work 
was heard with the deepest interest on both occa- 
sions, the composer being called out at the end 
of each performance to receive the hearty plau- 
dits of an enthusiastic audience. At Cambridge, 
it formed the principal feature of the closing con- 
cert of the Sanders Theatre series, and was 
played quite well, all things considered, for the 
first time, by the Philharmonic Orchestra, some- 
what enlarged, under Mr. Listemann. The Or- 
chestra was larger, and the interpretation yet 
more satisfactory in the Harvard Symphony Con- 
cert, when Mr. Zerrahn conducted, with Mr. Lis- 
temann at the head of the violins. The new Sym- 
phony was a success in every way, and left in the 
great majority of listeners a beautiful and deep 
impression, and a desire to hear it more, — a de- 
sire which we trust will be gratified, not only for 
their own sakes, but also for the benefit of those 
who could not appreciate it fully on first hearing. 
It demands a more intimate acquaintance with 
this noble work than we possess to give anything 
like a complete analytical description and appre- 
ciation of its contents. What we offer is of course 
quite inadequate, but it may help to convey some 
vague and faint conception of its wealth of con- 
tents, breadth of plan and mastery of form. 

The first movement is laid out on a very broad 
scale, and swarms with musical ideas, all spring- 
ing naturally from a few leading motives, and 
worked up together into a complex whole, which 
is thoroughly consistent, while it is richly varied, 
and always fascinating, though it is exceedingly 
elaborate and very long. With such wealth of 
pregnant matter (Inkalt) claiming development, 
it could not well be shorter. The slow introduc- 
tion (Adagio 8dstenuia)f in A minor, 4-4, opens 
with a wintry motive in the tenors and 'cellos, to 
which the contrabasso and fourth horn presently 
supply a monotonous background, with continuous 
murmur, pianissimo, of the keynote in syncopated 
rhythm; higher parts swell the harmony, or 
rather polyphony, which grows more frigid and 
more wild and restless ; then gathers itself into a 
little ganglion (three bars), of tranquil subtly 
woven string quartet, and subsides to a low pro- 
tracted tremolo of the middle strings, while the 
clarinet, in a warm melodic passage, sings the 
hope and prophecy of Spring. By degrees all 
the instruments are roused to bear part in the 
rushing tempestuous crescendos, which alternate 
with softer moments ; the promise of the milder 
season, (whether of Nature literally, or of the 
soul within) being all the while kept alive by the 
soft throbbing tremolo of stringf, the warm clari- 
net and horn phrases, and little bird-like hints 
for flutes and oboes. 

Now the key changes to the major, and the 
Allegro ma non troppo starts (in 2-4 measure) 
with the first violins alone, still humming the tilting 
figure of their old tremolo, first in deliberate half 
notes, then in eighths, then in sixteenths — an 
interval of fluttering suspense and sweet expect- 
ancy (one of the ways of Beethoven I) — and the 
joyful leading theme leaps up in the altos and 
'cellos, and is joined at its height by violins, clari- 
nets, etc., lending a rich, bright harmony, and 
carrying out the melody to a goodly and well 
rounded length, when the violins resume their 



tremolo in a higher octave, accompanied only by 
low clarinet tones in thirds, while flute and oboe 
pianissimo hold out the high E (dominant) like 
a pure blue sky above. It were in vain to try 
to tell in words how all this goes on. Side 
thoughts develop continually. There oomes in 
presently a strong new motive in galloping trip- 
lets, which figures largely in the ensuing harmonio 
complication ; then, the key having changed to F, 
enetrs a second theme, a musing cantabile ; the 
first theme, however, is ever for scarcely a moment 
out of mind. And now all these elements — the 
main theme, the second theme, the tremolos, the 
galloping triplets — and many more besides, are 
worked up together, with rare and easy con- 
trapuntal faculty, and great wealth and subtlety 
of instrumental color, into a beautiful and noble 
whole. When the original key comes back, the 
breadth and energy and massiveness of the large 
exposition of the subjectrmatter is increased ; and 
^there are many passing ideas which one would 
fain recall; for instance, one place where the 
bass slides slowly down by semitones, in syn- 
copation, through a couple of octaves, while the 
other voices are about their business. And 
near the end comes in for a moment,' episodi- 
cally, a sweeter melody than all (dolce), which 
the violins keep all to themselves; it is but 
a passing reverie, a moment's all-forgetting ecs- 
tasy. The Allegro ends, as it began, with the 
same violin tremolo figure, beginning j^ and dy- 
ing away to silence. — If you found this movement 
*' long," hear it until you know it, and you will 
forget all about the length, just as you never think 
of age when a soul that has kept its youth con- 
verses with you. The fact is, it is just long 
enough, — that is to say, complete. Mozart, when 
the emperor complained of too many notes in one 
of his works, replied : " Sire, it has precisely the 
riffht number." 

xhe Scherzo in D minor has been fitly enough 
characterized as a " May Fantasy." It is a light, 
airy, sketchy movement, with a bright, captivating 
theme, quite genial and original, and dainty little 
answering hints and phrases from the various in- 
struments, full of birds and all blithe sounds of 
animated nature, with warm flowing passages of 
reeds and flutes in thirds, etc. Once, for some 
time, we hear echoing, plaintive cries of birds, etc. 
so characteristic of spring nights. The Trio, in D 
major, has an expressive cantabile melody, in 
good contrast with the tricksy character of the 
rest. The Scherzo is felicitous, the spontaneous 
product of a delicate and self-pleased fancy, and 
we are sure all who heard it must have enjoyed it. 

Next to the first movement in weight of matter 
and in breadth of plan, and first in deptli of feel- 
ing, is the Adagio in F, 4-4. It opens with a very 
tender, pensive, serious melody for its leading 
theme ; and indeed the whole movement u of a 
most serious, meditative, brooding character-— 
^ most musical, most melancholy." To souls of 
any depth, Spring is indeed a serious, reflective, 
introspective season. We see and hear all these 
signs of a newly awakening life about us, but how 
is it with ourselves within ? Do we, too, like the 
year, begin anew ? And then all the soft desires, 
vague restless aspirations I What poet or musi- 
cian can express Spring truly, who has not a se- 
rious Adagio for all this ? This leading melody 
is presently intensified by repeating it in octaves ; 
and as it goes on, pervading the whole movement, 
it draws to itself accompanying sympathetic voiees, 
and delicate suggestive motives and phrases from 
all the instruments, clothing itself in trailing robes 
of beauty. We can only speak of the Adagio as 
full of beauty, of deep poetic feeling, earnest im- 
port, unmistakable, sincere expression, thoroughly 
artistic form and structure, and absorbing inter- 
est. It is all sweet as well as sad, and warm in 
atmosphere and color, save where brief reminis* 



64 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1016. 



cencea of the cold winter theme come back. (Our 
own New England Spring perhaps I) 

In splendid contrast follows the exhilarating 
theme of the Allegro gioj'oso, 4-4, a spontaneous, 
"buoyant melody of goodly length, which is devel- 
oped with a happy freedom, and finally is made 
to alternate with a majestic swelling paean of 
gratitude and praise, in 2-3 measure. This finale 
is inspiring and impressive, and seems to be the 
portion of the Symphony that was composed with 
the most spontaneous impulse, and the greatest 
ease. 

We cannot but regard this " Spring " Sym- 
phony as a remarlpible, a noble work, by far the 
happiest and ripest product, thus far, of Prof. 
Paine's great learning and inventive faculty, and 
marking the highest point yet reached in these 
early stages of American creative art in music. 
It is worthy to hold a place among the works of 
masters, and will reward many hearings wherever 
the symphonic art can find appreciative audience. 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

UviTSRSiTT CoKCSRTS. — The programme of the 
fifth and last concert of the third season, at Sanders 
Theatre, March 10, was as follows : 

Orertore: "Flngal'sCave/* Mendeltaokn. 

Soprano Aria: "Ach nur einmal noeh Im 

Leben,"froin"Tltiia." Mozart, 

Miw Maj Bryant. 
« Spring " Symphony in A major, No. 2 (flnt 

tune) J. K. Paine. 

Introduction: Adagio Sottenuto (A minor), AlUgro ma non 

troppo (A major); Seherxo^ — Allegro (D minor). Adagio 

wnpoeo moto (F major); Allegro giqfoio (A major). 

Concerto for Piano, in E. flat, Op. 73 Beethoren. 

(Two mOToments). Adagio unpoco moto.— Rondo Allegro. 
Mr. WQliam H. Sherwood. 

Si^fried'B Death and Funeral March from 
"GottdrdKmmerung" Wctgner. 

SongB with Piano-forte. 

a. Bastloee Liebe (ReetleiS Love) .... Schubert, 

b. "EinStUudleinwohlTorTag" Franz. 

c. Boman«e Brahm§. 

Mifls May Bryant. 

Overture to '^DerFreiachatz" ..... . Von Weber. 

The Philharmonic Orchestra, with Mr. Listemann 
as Conductor, gave excellent renderings of the two 
sterling Overtures, but were less fortunate (owing 
to the many engagements, journeys and fatigue 
of the musicians about that time) in the Siegfried 
selection, which is questionable enough, however 
well done, in the concert room. Of course the cen- 
tral feature and event of the evening was the new 
Symphony, of which we have spoken above. — Mr. 
Sherwood gave a highly refined, finished, vigorous 
rendering of the Adbgio and Rondo of the great 
'* Emperor " Concerto. And yet the omitted move- 
ment, the first and greatest, is essential to the full 
impression of the two others, placing them in 
true relief. Being recalled, he played the middle 
and most spirited and bold movement from Schu- 
mann's great Fantasia, Op. 17, dedicated to Liszt. — 
Miss May Bryant was so aflUcted by her chronic con- 
cert nervousness, that her fine large voice, and true 
artistic style, did not serve her to the best advantage 
in the Aria, from La Clemenza di Tito. But she 
won warm favor in the three German songs. 

Habvard Musical Association. — The Seventh 
Symphony Concert offered these selections : — 

Overture to Collin's " Corlolan,** Op. 62 . . . Beethoven. 
Fourth Piano-forte Concerto, in O, Op. 58 . . Beethoven. 
Allegro moderate (O). — Andante eon moto^ (£ minor,) Rondo 
vivace (0>. 

William H. Sherwood. 

"Spring** Symphony, (a«aiorf,) .... J, K. Pakne. 
Piano-forte solo: Middle movement of Fan- 
tasia in C. Op. 17 .... - Schumann. 

Moderate, eempre energico. 
William H. SherwoQd. 

Overture: "Becalmed at Sea, and Prosper- 
ous Voyage.** Op. 27 MendeUaohn. 

Of the Symphony we have spoken above, Mr. 
Zerrahn's large and well-trained Orchestra brought 
out the distinctive character and spirit of the open- 
ing and closing Overtures remarkably well. They 
also accompanied with discretion and with sympa- 
thy Mr. Sherwood's beautiful rendering of that 
most poetic and delicate of the Beethoven Concertos. 



JoflEFFT. — In this connection, also, we may make 
note (too briefly) of the three twice postponed con- 
certs given in tlie Music Hallby Mr.Peck, in which 
this remarkably gifted young pianist had a fair field 
for the display of his consummate skill in some of 
the great Concertos, with the accompaniment of Mr. 
Listemann's Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as in a 
great variety of solos. The first programme, Thurs- 
day evening, March 11, was as follows : — 

Overture, "Buy Bias" Mendel§9ohn. 

Concerto in E flat Beethoven. 

Two Character Pieces, Op. 15 ff, Hqffman. 

a. Ruhe im Schatten einer Buine (Vision). 

b, Im Sonnenschein. 

Philharmonic Orchestra. 
Piano Solo. a. Allegro and PaiaacaUle . . . Handel. 

b. Variations Haydv. 

c. Aria Pergoieae. 

d. Auf dem Wasser zu singen. 

(To sing on the Water) Schubert— Liezt. 

Erening Song R. Schumann. 

[Adapted for Orchestra hy Saint Saen.] 
Ck>ncerto in £ Flat Liezt. 

The whole vocabulary of praise, of wonder and 
delight, has been exhausted in the attempt to do 
justice to Joseff/s magical touch, the faultless 
perfection of his technique, the exquisite grace and 
finish of his every phrase and passage, and to the 
fine poetic feeling — at all events the poetry of mo- 
tion — which pervades his whole interpretation of 
whatever subject. There is no denying that his 
playing is refined, in passages of strength* and deli- 
cacy alike; that he ia in the large and complete 
sense a pianist, and not merely, as some Viennese 
wag called him, a pianissimist ; that he plays all con 
amore, and possesses easy, absolute mastery of all 
the nfeans of giving expression to his feelings and in- 
tentions. It is always a delight to listen to him, even 
if you question here and there a tempo, or miss the 
wonted verve and force, the electric thrill, in certain 
passages of a strong work, at once subtle, tender and 
heroic, nay gigantic, like the £-flat Concerto of 
Beethoven, in the way in which he refines it all down 
to the most exquisite appreciation of detail. We 
must confess that we have felt that Concerto more, 
felt more of the great soul of Beethoven in it, felt 
more drawn to him and clasped and lifted in his 
strong arms, listening in times past to far less dain- 
tily finished and more rugged renderings, although 
Joseffy's rendering is in many respects so singularly 
perfect The test would be to know Beethoven for 
the first time through him ; should we after this per 
formance have the same deep and great impression 
of the work, the master, that we had acquired al- 
ready years ago, through our own Dresel, Leonhard, 
Perabo, Anna Mehlig, and others, none of them pre- 
tending to this marvellous perfection of technique, 
— not to speak of Rubinstein and Von Biilow ? In 
some respects, no doubt, this young Hungarian's in- 
terpretation has surpassed them all; yet we are no 
converts to this or any other "new reading," if so it 
can be called, of a Concerto so great that it would 
seem to dictate its own one and only reading, simply 
possessing the interpreter. While he played we could 
but listen with delight and admiration ; it was only 
when it was over that it occurred to many minds to 
ask themselves ; But where, then, after all, is our 
Beethoven ? 

The Liszt Concerto is another matter, and al- 
though we never liked it very much, it did reveal 
new brilliancy and glory in this wonderful perform- 
ance, which made the very most of it. In the group 
of piano Solos, he exhibited the utmost grace and 
ideal beauty of form and detail, and the fine poetic 
charm of feeling and expression. His arrangement 
and performance of the song by Pergolese: "Trfe 
giomi son che Nina,," were simply exquisite, bewitch- 
ingly beautiful and tender. If in the Liszt trans- 
cription of the Schubert Barcarole he took the 
movement so extremely fast that you could hardly 
catch the outline of Schubert's unique and beautiful 
accompaniment, any more than you see the faces in 
the windows of a swiftly passing railroad train, yet 
so charming was the whole thing, so full of grace 
and fine aroma, as to beguile one for the time being 
into unquestioning and childlike acceptance both of 
the strange tempo and of everything about it. The 
enthusiasm of the great audience was unbounded, 
and the artist was repeatedly recalled, responding 
always in the most amiable manner. For an en- 
core he astonished all by a couple of left-hand pieces : 



a Minuet by Rheinberger ( ? ) and a Gavotte by Bach 
(his own transcription) — things with which he had 
amused himself while his right hand was slowly 
healing. 
The second prognunme was the following: 



Overture. "Egmont" Beethoven. 

Concerto in E Minor., Op. 11 Chopin, 

Introduction. "Lohengrin** Wagner. 

Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Piano Soloe. 

a. Fugue. (A minor) Baeh. 

b. Gavotte Padre Martini. 

c. Warum? (Why?) Schumann. 

d. ValseCaprioe Schubert-Lint. 

e. Spinnerlied. (Flying Dutchman). Wagner-Ustt. 

Danse Macabre Saint S<ans. 

Hungarian Fantasie lAant. 

Herr Joseffy and Orchestra. 

The general enthusiasm about Joseffy's playing 
seemed steadily on the increase. He is naturally 
very much at home in Chopin, and we found nothing 
in his rendering of the £-minor Concerto, to qualify 
our admiration when he played it here (without 
orchestra) in October. We have heard some charge 
it with want of poetry and feeling, and call it now 
glittering, now daintily and softly elegant, but me- 
chanical and cold, while others found in it the very 
quintessence of poesy, and were thrilled and trans- 
ported by the Concerto as they never were before. 
Each for himself ; we can only say we listened with 
delight and wonder. No one has shown us so com- 
plete a mastery of Liszt's wild Hungarian Fantauie 
in all . its moods and kaleidoscopic changes ; yet 
there is a great sameness in all these rhapsodical 
Hungarian things by Liszt. All the little pieces 
were played to a charm, particularly the Schubert 
Waltz and Wagner's Spinning Song, in Liszt's florid 
arabesque transcription ; in things of this kind we 
never heard Joseffy's equal. His encore was a most 
generous addition to the programme, — a great piece 
with orchestra, namely Liszt's remarkable Fanta- 
sia, with extensive prelude, on the Dervish Chorus, 
and the Turkish March from Beethoven's Ruins of 
Athens, this was a remarkable display of imagina- 
tive conception, intellectual grasp and power. 

Here is the last progranmie (Saturday afternoon, 

March 13) : — 

Overture. "Jessonda** Spohr. 

Concerto in E Flat Beethoven. 

Andante for String Orchestra Tschaikowski, 

Concerto in E Minor. Op. 22. (First time.) . . Chopin. 

Two Hungarian Dances Brahms, 

Philharmonic Orchestra. 
Andante Spianato and Polonaise, Op. 22 . . . Chopin, 
Herr Jcseffy and Orchestra. 

We think it was a mistake to reverse the order of 
the two Concertos as at first announced. Chopin 
could but suffer after Beethoven ; his delicate con- 
ceptions pale in presence of the "Emperor," just as 
one great picture puts out the light of another quite 
as fine, but not so great. Yet both were veiy ad- 
mirably played, and so was the Andante and Polo- 
naise of Chopin. After each the audience, crowd- 
ing the great hall, seemed to go into raptures. At 
there were no smaller pieces on the progranune, he 
was most generous and even lavish of bonnes bonehes 
in answer to encores as if, inexhaustible in strength 
and patience, as well as in ever fresh resources. 
After Beethoven, he gave again the left-hand pieces ■; 
after the Chopin Concerto, the " Nina " aria of Per- 
golese, and the Viennese dances of Schubert-Liszt ; 
and when the end of the concert found the public 
still insatiable, he came back again, smiling most 
amiably, and threw in a Nocturne of Chopin. 
And each thing seemed better than the last. — If in 
such playing as Joseffy's, all thought of ivory and 
wood and iron vanishes entirely, so that there seems 
to be no gross material medium between the musi- 
cal conception, and the tones themselves, let us not 
forget that the Chickering instrument, which served 
him so admirably, was one of the best ever heard 
in this city, fMile princeps among those of other 
makers which have fig^ured lately in our concert 
rooms. This old firm is bringing out its very best 
in just these happy days. 

We have allowed ourselves no room to say all 
the good things that could be said of the creditable 
work done in these concerts by Mr. Listemann's 
Orchestra, both in accompaniment, and in the va- 
rious well selected Overtures and other less familiar 
pieces. 



March 27, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



55 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

pRoviDENCB, R. I., Feb. 26. — The seventh concert of 
the "Cecilia," the third of this season, took place on 
Tuesday evening, Feb. 10, at the hall of the Amateur 
Dramatic Club. The artists were the New York Phil- 
harmonic Club, Mr. F. Rummeli Pianist, and Mr. F. 
Bemmertr, Bass. The following programme was pre- 
sented: — 

Quartet, in F, No. 9, Mozart. 

Songs: a. FriihlingBlied, Mendelssohn. 

b. Friihlingslied, Bubinstein. 

Intermission. 
Song: Aria in "Ezio"; "Nascealbosco," . Handel. 
Solos, Piano: a. Nocturne, in D dat, 

Op. 27, No. 2 Chopin. 

b. Polonaise Heroique, Op. 53, Chopin 

Song: "The Storm," Hmah. 

Quhitet, Op. 114, ("The Trout)," . . . Schubert. 

Finer quartet playing than that of Mozart's work 
we scarcely remember to have heard. The composi- 
tion itself iv delightful, and was made doubly so by the 
rendering. Each instrument seemed to have a thor- 
ough knowledge of its part, and to perform it with 
due regard to all the others. This made the general 
effect well-nigh perfect. This quartet carried us back 
to the days when we first began to be acquainted with 
string chamber-mus\c, when the faces of Schultze, 
Hdsel, Ryan and Fries used frequently to greet us as 
fhey played so finely this and many another work of 
ffimiiftr character. 

The Schubert " Trout '* Quintet is, if not a very 
great work, one well-worth hearing. It has the char- 
acteristic traits of its author, and, considering its many 
beauties, it is rather remarkable that it is so seldom 
performed. In the present instance, so much of the 
work as was given was excellently done by all the 
artists.iK^Vith regard to the omission of one of the 
most interesting I, and important movements, — the 
Adagio — we must be allowed a word. Concerts of 
this character are confessedly undertaken, or should 
be, from an educational point of view, and their pur- 
pose is, as we understand it, to present complete works 
of the masters as the principal part of their programmes. 
Especially should this be the case when, as in the pres- 
ent instance, only two works are given. We do not 
mean to say that anyone has not the right to give parts, 
— complete parts — of a work, but we do deprecate 
strongly such a course in concerts of this character and 
aim. It was hardly fair to composer or audience to 
state on the programme : f Quintet, Op 114, (The 
Trout) Schubert," and then omit one of the chief move- 
ments of the work. The programme should have read, 
^* Selections from the Trout Quintet." We should not 
perhaps mention this, but for the fact that a similar In- 
stance presented itself in the concerts of this Society 
last season; if anything a worse mutilation of another 
work of the same composer, the cutting out bodily of 
about one third of the Finale of the D-minor Quartet, 
a procedure at that time heartily condemned by us. 
Certainly the Adagio of this Quintet is worth hearing. 
To our mind, it is equal to any other part of the work. 
The Quintet, as we have remarked, is very seldom 
heard. Why not, then, give it to us in its entirety? 
The plea of length will not suffice for two reasons. 
First, the extra time required for the omitted move- 
ment was too short to be taken into the account, under 
the circumstances ; and second, if there is insufiicient 
time to give any specified work in its entirety, let one 
be chosen of such dimensions as there is time for. This 
is the only true course for such a Society to adopt. 

Mr. Rummel's piano solos were on the whole very 
well given. If we take any exception to his interpre- 
tations it would be the misplacement of the climax in 
the Nocturne, making the decrescendo too soon, thus 
departing from Chopin's own marking of the piece; 
and a too loud rendering of the octave passages for the 
left hand in the E-major portion of the Polonaise. 
Otherwise his playing was very fine and enjovable. 
To a hearty encore he responded with Handel's Air 
Kari^ in E. ,„ ^ , ,. 

The singing was superb. We have rarely If ever, 
heard German songs so well rendered. The artist 
seemed to catch thoroughly their spirit and to enter 
heartily upon his work. He showed his fine taste and 
sense of unity in musical impressions, by responding 
to the encore of his first two songs, with Schumann's 
" Friihlingslied." Of the three Spnng-Songs it is hard to 
say which is the best. Each has its own peculiar excel- 
lence. Mendelssohn's was to us the least interesting of 
alL Between the other two we do not care to choose. 
Rubinstein's is one of the finest, if not the finest, of 
his songs known to'us. It closes similarly to the " (Jold 
rolls here beneath me," a touch of real genius. Han- 
del's Aria, in his broad grand style, was very enjoyar 
ble. We are glad to make its acquaintance and to no- 
tic© how many fine selections our bass singers are 
bringing us from his works. 

The concert was equal to any that the society have 
given, and they have every encouragement to go on 
with their work,— ft work which is well worthy of all 
the labor and attention they can give to it A, G. L. 



Nbw York, March 15.— On Monday evening we had 
a Joseffy-Iiszt night, with an interesting programme, 
which included the E flat Concerto and the Hungarian 
Fantasia. The wonderful Hungarian outdid himself 
on this occasion, and the concert is to be repeated 
this (Monday) evening. The Joseify CJhamber music 
Soiree, which had been announced for Wednesday 
evening, was omitted, and two of the series will be giv- 
en this week. 

On Wednesday afternoon the fourth of Mr. Morgan's 
enjoyable series of organ and harp recitals occurred in 
Chickering Hall, and was attended by a large and in- 
terested audience. The fifth and last recital will be 
given on Wednesday of this week. 

The fifth of Dr. Damrooch's Symphony Concerts 
was given on Saturday evening, with the annexed pro- 
gramme : — 

Overture : Penthesilea. Coldmarh, 

2d Slavonic Rhapsody Dvorack. 

3d Symphony Beethoven. 

Symphonio Pocca : " Tasso." IMzU 

The orchestral forces were handled by Dr. Damrooch 
with rare skill and discrimination, and the result was 
a very admirable performance. The only novelties 
were the Goldmark Overture and Dvorak's Rhopsody. 
The former does not wear well, somehow ; and I was 
less pleased with it than upon the occasion of its pro- 
duction at one of the conceits of the Brooklyn Phil- 
harmonic Society, albeit it was conducted in a far more 
scholarly and masterly manner upon the later occasion. 
The Rhapsody has many fine bits of orchestration, and 
possesses a certain wild freedom, and even lawlessness 
that make it very attractive. There was probably a 
satisfaction (for many) hi feeUng that, after all 
Dvorak's wind and fantastic harmonic progressions, 
one could sober down by the aid of Beethoven, who 
can scarcely be deemed wild. The great advantage 
about this author is that you always feel so absolutely 
cortahi of what you are going to get. I have noticed 
the critics frequently find this fact a most serviceable 

one. 

The Journal is of course already aware that Theo- 
dore Thomas has broken his contracts with the Cincin- 
nati people, and is now on the wing, as it were. It is 
said that Chicago wants him, but the general impres- 
sion here is that he will return to this city and take 
possession of us once more. It need scarcely be said 
that with Dr. Damrooch at the helm of the Symphony 
Society, and with Theodore in charge of both Philhar- 
monic Societies, the opportunities for American com- 
posers, or for American piano-makers, will not be 
overwhelmingly frequent. 

Mansh 22. Unquestionably the notable event of the 
week was the concert of the Brooklin Philharmonic 
Society, which occurred on Tuesday evening, March 16, 
with the following attractive programme :— 

9th Symphony C Schubert. 

Concerts, Op. 10, F Major. BruU. 

Mr. Richard Hoffman. 
" Midsummer Night Dream " music. . . . Mendelssohn. 
Slavonic Rhapsody Dvorak. 

Schubert's glorious work is always satisfying, al- 
though it is greatly to be regretted that the length of 
programme made it necessary for the chorus to omit 
all repeats, a proceeding which deprived the audience 
of almost seven hundred bars of this delicious Sym- 
phony. It was played measurably well, although the 
horas, which have so much to do, would " nobble." 

Mr. Hoffman has never played the Briill Concerto 
(or any other), in a more thoroughly artistic way than 
he did upon this occasion. His phrashig was admir- 
able, his technique clear and accurate, and his grace 
and ease of manner simply charming. His performance 
elicited the warmest applause and he was thrice com- 
pelled to appear and bqw his acknowledgments. 

The Mendelssohn music was interpreted well, so far 
tlie orchestral work is concerned ; but simple 



as 

charity demands that the critic touch but lightly upon 
the efforts of the soprano, alto and female chorus whose 
valuable assistance had been secured for the occasion ; 
they did succeed in keeping time, but they persisted 
in being >Ia^ 

Although the evening was wet, sloppy and intensely 
disagreeable, the audience was a very large one, and 
the orchestra and stage were one mass of bloom and 
foliage, as it always is in these charming entertain- 
ments. It must be remembered that the Brooklyn 
Society is in the hands of cultivated and refined Amer- 
icans, and that explains the matter. 

Mr. and Miss Morgan's very attractive series of 
Organ and Harp MaUn^ (or Recitals) terminated with 
the fifth and last on Wednesday, March 17. 

The programme was an interesting one ; a large 
audience evinced appreciation of the artists' efforts by 
every indication of approval During the afternoon 



Schumann, 



Mr. Morgan made a little speech, and in the coiune of 
his well chosen remarks he held out the hope that next 
season the Recitals would be resumed. It is to be 
wished that such may be the case, for it is rarely that a 
more delightful series of musical entertainments has 
been given in our city. 

Joeeffy's series of chamber music Concerts seem to 
liave come to an untimely end, by reason of the pian- 
ist* s indisposition. They were advertised for Wednes- 
day evenings, March 3, 10, 17, 31 ; but only one has 
ever been given and so many dates have been at dif- 
ferent times substituted for the original one that no 
one now seems able to understand the matter at all i 
whether this confusion means illness (as alleged,) or a 
second difficulty between Mr. Joseffy and his managers 
is a problem which time will doubtless solve. . 

Aboub. 

Baltdcobe, March 21.— The following were the 
programmes of concerts given since my last, at the 
Peabody Institute. 

Fifteenth Students' Concert, March 6 : 

Piano Trio. 

B flat Major. Work 10. For piano, 
violin and violoncello. Miss Mabel La- 
tham, (student of the Conservatory, 
seventh year) Messrs. Finoke, and ■ 
Jungnlckel Bmil Hdrtnann, 

Songs, with Piano. 

O, Sunny Beam. — Drinking Song — 

Mr. H. Glass, (student of the Conservar 

tory, first year.) 

Air from Elijah. 

Mr. Wm. Bym, (student of the Conser- 
vatory, third year.) Mendelssohn. 

Novelets, A Minor. Work 29. For piano, 

violin, and violoncello. —Miss Sarah 

Schoenberg, (student of the Conservar 

tory, sixth year), Messrs. Flncke and 

Jungnlckel Getde. 

Fourth Symphony Concert, March 13 : 

Symphony, G minor, No. 6 Beethoven, 

Gompoeitlons for Piano. 

Nocturne G Minor. Work 37. No. 1.— 

Cradle Song D flat Major, Work 67.— 

Rondo E flat Major. Work 16.— 

Mme. Julia Rlv^Klng Chopin, 

Songa with Piano. 

I Love Thee.— In the Woods.— Good 

Morning. Edvard Oreiff. 

Slumber Song. 

Miss Fannie Kellogg B. Wagner, 

The Roman Carnival. Concert Overture. 

Work 9 Hector Berlioz, 

March 17, at Washington, under the auspices of the 
Athenaum Club, of that city : 
Fourth Norse Suite. 

D Major. WorkSS. Composed in Bal- 
timore, 1876-1877. On the Ocean.— In 

the Style of a Folk-song.- Mermaids' 

Dance.— Love Song.— Toward the Shore 

Asger Hamerik, 
Andante and Rondo from the Violin Con- 
certo. Transcribed for the piano by 

Mme. Riv«-King. — Mme. Julia Riv^ 

King. Mendelssohn, 

Raid of the Vikings. 

Overture to a Norse drama. Work 26. 

Composed 1878 EnUl Hartmann, 

Hungarian Rhapsody. 

C sharp Minor. No. 2. 

Mme. Julia Rivtf-King. Lisst. 

Leonora Overture. C Major. No. 3 Beethoven, 

March 20, at the Peabody Institute (Fifth Symphony 
Concert) Mr. Hamerik' s Fourth Norse Suite was re- 
peated and was received with much enthusiasm. It 
was quite natural for the director to take particular 
paina in rehearsing his own composition, which was 
superbly played by the orchestra. The work is char- 
acterized by luxurious melody, as in the Love Song, 
and by rich and powerful instrumentation and telling 
effects throughout. 

Appropriate and very pleasing use is occasionally 
made of two harps in the second, third and fourth 
movements. 

Beside the Suite, Beethoven's Leonora Overture No. 
3 was performed, and Mr. Franz Remmertz sang the 
seven enchanting Schdne MUllerin songs : ** Wohin,*' 
"AmFeierabend," " Der Neugierige," ** Ungeduld," 
"Der MuUer und der Bach," "Die boee Farbe," 
" Trockne Blnmen." 

It cannot but be said that in several of the songs, Mr. 
Remmertz with his rich voice was highly effective, but 
for the most part the proper spirit was wanting. What 
success he achieved was due almost entirely to the 
splendid telling calibre of his magnificent voice, but 
is there not something more required in songs Uke 
these ? Mr. Remmertz's forte is evidently Oratorio 
music, for which his heavy voice and style are beat 
suited. 



66 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1016. 



MiLWAUKHB, Wn., March 20. —The MoBical So- 
eiety, Eugene LuenLog, Director, gare ite 209th conceit 
]Mt eTening. The following was the programme : 

1. Winteraong FT. Ttchireh. 

Male Ghoma. 

2. Piano Solo— Ballad, A flat C Jteineeke. 

. Miss Bertha Burge. 
S. Pagen Aria from the " Hogaenots" . . . Meyerbeer. 
WwB Jennie Jenykiewios. 

4. Aria firom Orpheoi Olttok. 

MlM Bella Ftak. 

ft. a, Lerehenbaum. M, HoMptmann. 

b. The Fisher. Amo Xl^l. 

Mixed Ghoms. 

C Hie Bird. JSr. Luttemann. 

Piano Solo and Male Chorus. 
7. Piano Solo. 

a. Study Scarlatti, 

b. Yogel ala Prophet Schumann, 

«. Yalse, B Minor CikJpin, 

Miss Bertha Barge. 

t. a. Passing by C. Loewe. 

6. Beware. B. Hamann. 

Mixed Choms. 

•. a. Gradlesong. J, Brakme. 

6. In the Forest. M. Bartmann. 

Miss Jennie Jersykiewios. 

10. a. Home C.F, FUcher, 

b. Soldiers Song F, LUU, 

Male Choms. 

The chorofl work was good, on the whole, though 
there were oocaaional slips in time. The shading and 
intonation were good. Miss Barge is a well schooled 
and musicianly pianist, and gave much satisfaction. 
Miss Jersykiewics's selections were well adapted to 
her Yoice, so that her fine training showed for all it 
was worth. Miss Fink is a yoong girl with a planome- 
nal. oontnlto voice. Her singing shows marked 
improvement under Mr. Luening's tuition. B£r. L. 
is doing admirable work both as teacher and con- 
ductor J. C. F. 

Our space Is exhausted, and there yet remain for 
notice numerous important Concerts of this memo- 
rable and crowded period. The very interesting one 
by Mr. Authur Foote ; the still lengthening series of 
Mr. Perabo's recitals, rich in good things and in their 
bewildering arraj of new piano quartets, trios, etc. ; 
the Concerts of the yocal Clubs, the Apollo and the 
Boylston, — of all these, and more, our notice is re- 
luctantly postponed. 



LOCAL NOTES. 

The Harvard Symphony Concerts season, the fif- 
teenth, was concluded this week, with the great Schu- 
bert Symphony, Beethoven's Overture in C, Op. 124, 
a new and briUiaht Piano Concerto by Ton Bronsart, 
played by Mr. Lang, and vocal solos by liiss Fannie 
Louise Barnes. 

— Next in order comes the Handel and Haydn Socie- 
ty Easier Oimtorio, Itratl in Egypt, to-morrow evening. 
The soloists are Mrs. H. M. Smith, Mrs. F. P. Whit- 
ney, Mn. Tmak Kinsley, Messrs. W. C. Tower, J. F. 
Wiwh and M. W. Whitney. 

The fifth triennial festival of the Society will be 
held at the Musk Hall in May. Seven conceits will be 
given, at which the following works will be performed : 
—May 4, evening, St, Paul, Mendelssohn ; May 5, 
evening. The Last Judgment, Spohr ; Stabat Mater, 
Boesini ; May 6^ afternoon, Ninth [choral] Symphony, 
Beethoven, 43d Ffealm, Judge me, O Ood ! Mendels- 
sohn ; May t, evening, Maniumi Requiem, Verdi ; 
May 7, evening, Spring and Summer, from The *Sea^ 
eone, Haydn ; The Deluge, Saint SaSns ; ICay 8, after- 
noon, a miscellaneous conceit, including Utrecht Jubi- 
late, by Handel ; May 9, evening, Solomon, HandeL 
The following vocalists will appear. Miss JSmma C. 
Thursby, Miss Annie Gary, Miss Emily Winant; 
Ilalo Campanlni, C. R Adams, W. H. Fessenden, W. 
Conrtaay, Bt W. Whitney, J. F. Winch, G. W. Dud- 
ley. Orchestra of seventy, including the best Boston 
players, under Listemann. B. J. Limg will be the or- 
ganist, and Carl Zemhn, conductor. Season tickets at 
S12. each, will be for sale on Monday, March 29, at 
Music Hall Holders of Season tickets for the winter's 
coume of oratorios may secure their present seats be- 
fore that date. Orders for season tickets may be ad- 
dressed to Mr. Peck, at Music Hall, or to A P. Browne, 
secretary, PostolBce box 2594. 

—It is rumored that Mr. J. K. Paine's brilliant and 
masterly " Spring" Symphony is to be performed at 
one of the concerts of the Handel and Haydn May Fes- 
tivaL We trust that this may be so. The Society will 
show good taste, judgment^ and appreciation by af- 



fording the musical public another opportunity of 
hearing this beautiful woriL^Oazette. 

^The Sanders Theatre Concerts have resulted in 
some pecuniary loss. To make this good, a concert of 
a somewhat miscellaneous, yet artistic character, will 
be given there next Tuesday evening, for which 
Messrs. Ole Bull, Listemann, Geo. L. Osgood, Arthur 
Foote, Warren A. Locke and others, have volunteered 
their aid. 

^That conscientious and accompUshed artist, Mrs. 
L. S. Frohock, will give a Matinee at Wesleyan Hall, 
at 3 p. K., next Tuesday, with the assistance of Messrs. 
Listemann and Fries. Selections from Bach, Beet- 
hoven, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Saint Saens. 

—On the 15th of April, Berlioz's La Damnation de 
Fauet will be brought out for the first time in Boston, 
at the Music Hall, under the direction of Mr. B. J. Lang. 
The chorus rehearsals are making satisfactory prog- 
ress. There is a carefully selected chorus of 200 voices, 
all pledged to punctual attendance at every rehearsal ; 
the orchestra will be the best and most complete that 
Boston can supply *, and the solos are distributed as 
follows: — Marguerite, Mrs. E. Humphrey Allen; 
Faust, Mr. W. J. Winch ; MepUstopheles, Mr. Clar- 
ence E. Hay ; Brander, Mr. Sebastian B. Schlesinger. 
No musical event.of the season is more eagerly looked 
forward to. 

—The Cecelia, at its next concert, April 12, will 
give Schumann's music to Byron's Manfred, with 
readings of a portion of the tragedy by Mr. Howard M. 
TIcknor. 

— A concert will be given in Mechanic's Hall on the 
afternoon of April 12, by Mr. John Orth, assisted by 
Mr. George L. Osgood and B£r. Gustav Dannreuther. 

—Besides the Fauet of Berlios, Mr. B. J. Lang will 
give two concerts, on the Ist and 22d of April, at Me- 
chanic's HalL In the first, a Bach Concerto for four 
pianos will be played for the first time in public here. 

— The fifth Euterpe concert, originally announced for 
April 14, has been postponed. The date has not yet 
been settled upon. The Beethoven Quintet Club will 
play. A concert will also be given in May, of which 
further particulais will be duly made known. 

— Mr. Peck's benefit concert, to be given in Music 
Hall, April 14, will be an attractive entertainment. 
For Tocalists there will be Miss Gertrude Franklyn 
and Miss Emily Winant There will also be piano 
solos by Bfr. JosefFy, and a laige orchestra will take 
part under the direction of Mr. Theodore Thomas. 

EuTBRPs. — We had to forego the temptation of 
the fourth concert (March 10), the more reluctantly 
that it offered the fine contrast of two such Quar- 
tets as the Op. 182 in A minor, of Beethoven, and 
the more clear and readily appreciable Op. 44, No. 
1, in D, by Mendelssohn. The former had been 
played here three times (in 1865 and 1873) by the 
Mendelssohn Quintette Club, and, so far as we re- 
member, with pretty general acceptance. Yet now 
we read such criticisms as these upon it : — 

" Probably it would not have been thought worthy 
the attention of the Euterpe had not the name of Beet- 
hoven been associated with it. As the great composer 
was In all probability afllicted with total deafness at 
the time it was written, he never could have heard it 
peiformed. The opening movements are rendered 
fairly tedious by the extravagant attention that has 
been paid to thematic development, and throughout the 
musical Ideas advanced are vague and mysterious, the 
most beautiful of the melodies being obscured by a 
strictly polyphonic and for the most part uninteresting 
treatment" 

^' Beethoven's work, which is rarely heard, is an ab- 
struse, elaborate, diffuse, and vague composition. Like 
nearly all of Beethoven's later writings, repeated hear- 
ings and close study of the quartet are necessary be- 
fore one can even acquire a knowledge of the construc- 
tion of the work, and admiration is then excited more 
for the ingenuity displayed in the treatment of the 
themes, than for the beauty of those themes." 

We are tempted, if only for the sake of showing 
how different an impression the work hoe produced 
upon some minds, to reproduce here a part of what 
we wrote about it in Nov. 1873. If it gets no jus- 
tice now, let it appear that it was once in some hum- 
ble degree appreciated : — 

"We hardly dare to say more of it now than we did 
In 1866, and that is aU expressed in two words: ifonder 
and delight We had never known so great a work on 
first hearing so to to take hold of a whole audience. It 
was followed with breathless Interest) every movement 



heartily applauded, reaching a fine climax of excite- 
ment at the end of the very imx>assioned Finale. It 
should have been heard since, season after season ; in- 
deed It is one of those works which, to be fully under- 
stood, and more and more enjoyed and inwardly pos- 
sessed, might well be listened to as often as once a 
week throughout a season. Its beauty and its senti- 
ment are inexhaustible. Beethoven composed It after 
a severe and painful illness, and in its successive 
movements gave expression to the various alternating 
moods of fever, convalescence, gratitude and joy. The 
first movement is a fitful, restless and imaginative Al- 
legro, springing from a slow, deep musing introduction 
of a few bars of rich, strange harmony, in which the 
instruments appear to yearn and strain to reach above 
their sphere, the tenor and the bass soaring above the 
violins at times. The whole is stiangely beautiful, the 
sickness of a great mind; clear, consistent, musical 
throughout; hope and faith and courage never lost 
The second movement {Allegro ma non tanto) in the 
3-4 Scherso measure, is not a Scherso in spirit, but does 
express the awakening of a new hope; the heavy palsy^ 
Ing hand is lifted, and we seem to move once more and 
with a measured content Then comes the Adagio — 
molto Adagio it begins— over which he has inscribed 
the title: Cantona di ringraziamento, in modo Lidico 
offerta alia divinita da un guarito, that is: " Song of 
thanksgiving, in the Lydlan mode, offered to the Deity 
by one recovering from sickness." The Lydlan Is that 
one of the old Church modes which makes our diatonic 
major scale of C begin with F; in other words it is our 
key of F major with a B natural always In the place of 
B fiat. This gives^a peculiar church-like flavor to the 
harmony, and as Beethoven here handles it the expres- 
sion is religious and sublime. But presently this broad 
4-4 measure gives place to and alternates with an An- 
dante, 3-6 in D major, as the convalescent feels within 
him a new force ( " Sentendo nuova forza " ). This is 
marvellously beautiful and full of delicate and subtle 
fancies: genius feels "the vision and the faculty di- 
vine " returning. And there Is the deepest tenderness 
and loveliness In the lingering, fond variation of the 
Adagio where it comes' back to close the movement 
( ' * eon intimieeimo eentimento " ). A most spirited and 
reassuring march {Allegro Marcia aaeai vivace) in A 
major, heralds the Finale, — a wonderful piece of elo- 
quent impassioned recitative forming the transition to 
the still more impassioned and exciting last Allegro. 
Tet in all this there Is nothing morbid ; it Is the con- 
quering spirit looking down over its assent of sui ng 
and trial and celebrating 'the divine secret leamcu in 
infirmity and pain. If ever for a moment the strain 
sickens, It is but the text and foU to instant glorious re- 
covery. Wondeif uUy clear, too, is all this complex, 
subtle, ever varied musical discourse, or rather self- 
communion. 



Nbw Tobk.— What promised to be a most impoi^ 
tant event of the season, the performance under Dr. 
Damiosch, of Bach's St, Matthew Paseion Mueic, 
seems to have fallen rather short of expectation. It 
needs our Boston Music Hall to display the forces for 
so great a work to good advantage. But little more 
than half of the work was given. Here the whole re- 
quired two concerts on one day (Good Friday). 

The separation of the orchestra into two distinct di- 
visions, being necessary by the oonveniences of St 
George's Church, where the performance took phuse, 
seriously marred its success. The solos were taken by 
Mrs. Granger Dow (soprano). Miss Mathllde PMUIpps, 
(alto), Mr. William J. Winch (tenor), Mr. John F. Winch 
and Mr. George E. Aiken (bassos). 

CorcnnrATi.— The serious divirion between Theo- 
dore Thomas, and Mr. George Ward Nichols and his 
associates of the Board of Directois of the College of 
Music, lesulting In the resignation of Bfr. Thomas, and 
his return to New York, has been pretty thoroughly 
ventilated in all the newspapers throughout the land. 
We have no desire to enter into the merits of the con- 
troversy, but can easily presume that each party, from 
its own point of view. Is in the right, and that it has all 
resulted for the best At all events we can congratulate 
the founders and directois of the College, that they 
feel so strong in means and confidence for going on as 
well as ever, if not better, in spite of the secession of 
the great orchestral leader, whom New York of course 
is only too glad to be able to call her own again. The 
Directois of the College have issued a veiy cheerful, 
r e a ss uring circular, by which it appears that the entire 
Fsculty of thirty-one professors and teachers retain 
their pkices, and that the institution is to be divided 
into two departments-4ui Academic Department, and a 
General Music School We hope to find room for the 
full statement in another number. 



April 10, 1880.] 



DWIQHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



57 



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MENDELSSOHN'S MANY PURSUITS. 



BT GEORGB GROVE. 



(Continued from page 90). 

Add to those just mentioned, the many 
concerts, to be arranged, rehearsed, conducted ; 
the frequent negotiations attending on Berlin ; 
the long official protocols ; the hospitality and 
genial intercourse, where he was equally excel- 
lent as host or as guest; the claims of his 
family ; the long holidays, real holidays, spent 
in travelling, and not, like Beethoven's, de- 
voted to composition — and we may almost be 
pardoned for wondering how he can have 
found time to write any music at all. But on 
the contrary, with him all this business does 
not appear to have militated against composi- 
tion in the slightest degree. It often drove 
him almost to distraction ; it probably shorts 
ened his life ; but^ it never seems to have 
prevented his doing whatever music came 
before him, either spontaneously or at the call 
of his two posts at Berlin and Dresden. He 
composed Antigone in a fortnight, he resisted 
writing the music to Huy Blcts, he grumbled 
over the long chorale for the thousandth anni- 
versary of the German Empire, and over the 
overture to AthcUie, in the midst of his Lon- 
don pleasures ; but' still he did them, and in 
the cases of Antigotie and the two overtures 
it is difficult to see how he could have done 
them better. He was never driven into a 
corner. 

The power by which he got through all 
this labor, so much of it selfsimposed, was 
the power of order and concentration, the 
practical business habit of doing one thing at 
a time, and doing it well. This no doubt was 
the talent which his father recognized in him 
80 strongly as to make him doubt whether 
business was not his real vocation. It was 
this which made him sympathize with Schiller 
in his power of " supplying " great tragedies 
as they were wanted. In one way, his will 
was weak, for he always found it hard to say 
No ; but having accepted the task it became 
a duty, and towards duty his will was the iron 
will of a man of business. Such a gift is 
vouchsafed to very few artists. Handel pos- 
sessed it in some degree ; but with that one 
exception Mendelssohn seems to stand alone. 

Of his method of composing, little or noth- 
ing is known. He appears to have made few 
sketches, and to have arranged his music in 
his head at first, much as Mozart did. Prob- 
ably this arose from his early training under 
Zelter, for the volumes for 1821-2-^, of the 



MS. series now in the Berlin Library appear to 
contain his first drafts, and rarely show any 
corrections, and what there are, are not so 
much sketches, as erasures, and substitutions. 
Devrient and Schubring tell of their having 
seen him composing a score bar by bar from 
top to bottom ; but this was probably only an 
experiment or tour deforce. 

Alterations in a work after it was com- 
pleted are quite another thing, and in these 
he was lavish. He complains of his not 
discovering the necessity for them till post 
festum. We have seen instances of this in 
the Walpurffisnight, St. Paul, the Lohgesang, 
Elijah, and some of the Concert-overtures. 
Another instance is the Italian Symphony, 
which he retained in MS. for fourteen years, 
till his death, with the intention of altering 
and improving the Finale. Another, equally 
to the point, is the D minor Trio, of which 
there are two editions in actual circulation, 
containing several important and extensive 
diiferences. This is carrying fastidiousness 
even further than Beethoven, whose altera- 
tions were endless, but ceased with publication. 
The autographs of many of Mendelssohn's 
pieces are dated years before they were print- 
ed, and in most, if not all, cases, they received 
material alterations before being issued. 

Of his pianoforte playing in his earlier 
days we have already sppken. What it was 
in his great time, at such displays as his per- 
formances in London at the Philharmonic in 
1842, '44, and '47 ; at Ernst's Concert in 1844, 
in the Bach Concerto with Moscheles and 
Thalberg ; at the British Musicians' matinee 
in 1844; and the British Quartet Society in 
1847 ; at the Lepzig Concerts on the occasion 
already mentioned in 183G; at Miss Lind's 
Concert, Dec. 5, 1845, or at many a private 
reunion at V. Novello's or the Horsleys*, or 
the Moscheles' in London, or the houses of 
his favorite friends in Leipzig, Berlin, or 
Frankfort — there are still many remaining 
well able to judge, and in whose minds the 
impression survives as clear as ever. Of the 
various recollections with which I have been 
favored, I cannot do better than give entire 
those of Madame Schumann, and Dr. Hiller. 
In reading them it should be remembered 
that Mendelssohn w^s fond of speaking of 
himself as a player en gros, who did not claim 
(however great his right) to be a virtuoso, 
and that there are instances of his having 
refused to play to great virtuosi. 

1. t* My recollections of Mendelssohn's play- 
ing", says Madame Schumann, "are among 
the most delightful things in my artistic life. 
It was to me a shining ideal, full of genius 
and life, united with technical perfection. 
He would sometimes take the tempi very 
quick, but never to the prejudice of the music. 
It never occurred to me to compare him with 
virtuosi. Of mere effects of performance he 
knew nothing — he was always the great 
musician, and in hearing him one forgot the 
player, and only revelled in the full enjoy- 
ment of. the music. He could carry one with 
him in the most incredible manner, and his play- 
ing was always stamped with beauty and nobili- 
ty. In his early days he had acquired perfeo- 
tioa of technique ; but latterly, as he often told 



me, he hardly ever practised, and yet he sur- 
passed every one. I have heard him in Bach, 
and Beethoven, and in his own compositions, 
and shall never forget the impression he made 
upon me." 

2. *' Mendelssohn's playmg," says Dr. Hil- 
ler, " was to him what flying is to a bird. No 
one wonders why a lark flies, it is inconceiva- 
ble without that power. In the same way 
Mendelssohn played the piano because it was 
his nature. He possessed great skill, certain- 
ty, power, and rapidity of execution, a lovely 
full tone — all in fact that a virtuoso could 
desire ; but these qualities were forgotten while 
he was playing, and one almost overlooked 
even those more spiritual gifts which we call 
fire, invention, soul, apprehension, etc. When 
he sat down to the instrument music streamed 
from him with all the fullness of his inborn 
genius, — he was a centaur, and his hoi*se was 
the piano. What he played, how he played 
it, and that he was the player — all were 
equally rivetting, and it was impossible to 
separate the execution, the music, and the 
executant. This was absolutely the case in 
his improvisations, so poetical, artistic, and 
finished ; and almost as much so in his execu- 
tion of the music of Bach, Mozart, Beet- 
hoven, or himself. Into those three masters 
he had grown, and they had become his spirit^ 
ual property. The music of other composers 
he knew, but could not produce it as he did 
theirs. I do not think, for instance, that his 
execution of Chopin was at all to be com- 
pared to his execution of the masters just 
mentioned ; he did not care particularly for it, 
though when alone he played everything good 
with interest. In, playing at sight his skill 
and rapidity of comprehension were astonish- 
ing, and that not with P. F. music only, but 
with the most complicated compositions. He 
never practised, though he once told me 
that in his Leipzig time he had played a 
shake (I think with the second and third 
fingers) several minutes every day for some 
months, till he was perfect in it." 

" * His staccato,' " says Mr. Joachim, " was 
the most extraordinary thing possible for life 
and crispness. In the Fruhlingslied (Songs 
without Words, Bk. t, No. 6) for instance, it 
was quite electric, and though I have heard 
that song played by many of the greatest 
players, I never experienced the same effect. 
His playing was extraordinarily full of fire, 
which could hardly be controlled, and yet was 
controlled, and combined with the greatest 
delicacy." " Though lightness of touch, and 
a delicious liquid pearliness of tone," says an- 
other of his pupils, '* were prominent charac- 
teristics, yet his power m fortes was immense, 
in the passage in his Gr-minor Concerto where 
the whole orchestra makes •a crescendo the 
climax of which is a 6-4 chord on D, played 
by the P. F. alone, it seemed as if the band 
had quite enough to do to work up to the 
chord he played." As an instance of the ful- 
ness of his tone, the same gentleman mentions 
the 5 bars of piano which begin Beethoven's 
Gr-major Concerto, and which, though he 
played them perfectly softly, filled the whole 
room. 

"His mechanism," says another of his 



58 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1017. 



Leipzig pupils, " was extremely subtle, and de- 
veloped with the lightest of wrists (never 
from the arm) ; he therefore never strained 
the instrument or hammered. His chord- 
playing was beautiful, and based on a special 
theory of his own. His use of the pedal was 
very sparing, clearly defined, and therefore 
effective ; his prasing beautifully clear. The 
performances in which I derived the most last- 
ing impressions from him were the 32 Varia- 
tions and last Sonata (op. Ill) of Beethoven, 
in which latter the Variations of the final 
movement came out more clearly in their 
structure and beauty than I have ever heard 
before or since." Of his playing of the 32 
Variations, Professor Macfarren remarks that 
" to each one, or each pair, whore they go in 
pairs, he gave a character different from all 
the others. In playing at sight from a MS. 
score he characterized every incident by the 
peculiar tone by which he represented the 
instrument for which it was written." In de- 
scribing his playing of the 9th Symphony, 
Mr. Schleinitz testified to the same singular 
power of representing the different instru- 
ments. A still stronger testimony is that of 
Berlioz, who, speaking of the color of the He- 
brides Overture, says that Mendelssohn " suc- 
ceeded in giving him an accurate idea of it, 
such is his extraordinary power of rendering 
the most complicated scores on the Piano." 

His adherence to his author's meaning, 
and to the indications given in the music, was 
absolute. Strict time was one of his hobbies. 
He alludes to it, with an eye to the sins of 
Hiller and Chopin, in a letter of May 23, 
1834, and somewhere else speaks of '^ nice 
strict tempo," as something peculiarly pleas- 
ant. After introducing some ritardandoi in 
conducting the introduction to Beethoven*s 
second symphony, he exliused himself by say- 
ing that " one could not always be good," and 
that he had felt the inclination too strongly 
to resist it. In playing, however, he never 
himself interpolated a ritardandoy or suffered 
it in any one else. It especially enraged him 
when done at the end of a song or other piece. 
'* £s steht uicht da ! " he would say ; ** if it 
were intended it would be written in — they 
think it expression, but it is sheer affectation." 
But though in playing he never varied the 
tempo when once taken, he did not always 
take a movement at the same pace, but 
changed it as his mood was at the time. We 
have seen in the case of Bach's A-minor 
Fugue, that he could on occasion introduce 
an individual reading; and his treatment of 
the arpeggios in the ChromaJtic Fantasia shows 
that, there at least, he allowed himself great 
latitude. Still, in imitating this it should be 
remembered how thoroughly he knew these 
great masters, and how perfect his sympathy 
with them was. In conducting, as we have 
just seen, he was more elastic, though even 
there his variations would now be condemned 
as moderate by some conductors. Before he 
conducted at the Philharmonic it had been the 
tradition in the Coda of the Overture to 
Egmant to return to a piano after the cres- 
cendo; but this he would not* suffer, and 
maintained the fortissimo to Uie end — a prac- 
tioe now always followed. 

(CooelwioB la next nvmbor.) 



" LA DAMXATION DE FAUST. 



ff 



(From Tbe Mufllcal Review, Jan. 29.) 
When Berlioz was induced by Liszt (to whom 
he dedicated Ln Damnation) to read for the first 
time the French translation of Goethe's Fatuf, by 
Gerard de Nerval, he was profoundly impressed. 
" Tlie marvellous work fascinated me. I could 
not put it down. I read it everywhere, at table, 
at the theatre, in the streets." Under its influ- 
ence Berlioz wrote, and had printed at his own 
expense, his work, Eight scenes from Faust, the 
principal ideas of which were developed and 
retouched in La Damnation, Dissatisfied with 
this first work, he caused the plates and copies to 
be destroyed. It was during a journey in Aus- 
tria, Hungary, Bohemia and Russia, that he 
began the composition of hi.n Legend of Faitst, 
He had long been considering it, and found that 
he must decide upon writing most of the libretto 
himself. The few fragments of a French trans- 
lation of Goethe's Faust which he had put to 
music twenty years before, and wliich he wished 
to introduce into the rfew score, would not form a 
sixth part of the whole work. It is most interest- 
ing to gather from his " Mdmoires" something 
concerning the rise and growth of this great con- 
ception and the circumstances under which it took 
form. He says : • 

"As I rolled along in the old post-chaise, I 
tried to make the verses, without translating or 
even imitating the great masterpiece, but endeav- 
oring so to inspire myself with it as to extract its 
musical substance. I began by Faust's Invoca- 
tion to Nature and, once started, I made the verse 
accordingly, as the musical ideas presented them- 
selves. I composed the score with unusual facil- 
ity and wrote it when and where I could. In the 
carriage, on the trains and boats, and even in the 
cities, in spite of my labors in giving concerts. 
In a little inn on the borders of Bavaria, I wrote 
the Introduction, Old Winter ifields to Spring, 
At Vienna, I wrote the Scenes on the hanks ofUie 
Elbe ; the air of MephistopheleSj * Void des Roses, 
and the Ballet of the Sylphs, The March on the 
Hungarian Rakoczy theme, written in one night 
at Vienna, produced so extraordinary a sensation 
at Pesth, that I introduced it into my Faust score, 
taking the liberty of putting my hero in Hungary 
at the beginning of the action and making him 
witness the passage of a Hungarian troop across 
the plain where he is wandering in reverie. In 
Pesth, I lost my way and wrote, by the gaslight in 
a shop window, the chorus refrain of the Peae- 
anCs Rondo, In Prague, I arose, at midnit^ht, 
trembling lest I should forget the song, and wrote 
the Chorus of Angels ia the apotheosis of Mar- 
guerite. At Breslau, I wrote the words and music 
of the Latin song of the students. On my return 
to France, being at a country seat near Rouen, I 
composed the trio, Ange ador^. The rest was 
written in Paris, at home, at the caf^, in the gar- 
den of the Tuileries, and even on a bench of the 
Boulevard du Temple. The ideas came to me in 
most unforeseen order. The score sketched out, 
I worked over the whole, poUshed and united the 
parts with all the patience and intensity of which 
I am capable, and finished the instrumentation 
which I had only indicated here and there. I 
consider this work one of my best, and the public, 
so far, agree with me." Berlioz here refers, not 
to the French, but to the German public. Later 
on he exclaims : " It was nothing to have com- 
posed La Damnation de Faust] the labor con- 
sisted in having it performed." 

At last, after many efforts, he succeeded in 
gathering together sufficient material to produce 
a work which he hoped would contribute greatly 
to his celebrity. Accordingly, on Sunday, Dec- 
ember 6, 1846, at a day concert at the Op^ra 
Comique, in Paris, Berlioz conducted the first 



performance of his Dramatic Legend, La Damnor 
lion de Faust, The weather was snowy and 
stormy ; and the room half filled. This work, 
from the hand of a young composer who fearlessly 
courted opposition, was the realization of ardent 
musical theories. It was a brilliant stroke, but 
far from being a success. I'he public, accus- 
tomed to ridiculing tliis artist with his "pre- 
tended" music, was only too happy to pronounce 
upon so important a work, without a candid hear- 
ing, — turning a deaf ear to its great beauties 
and listening only to its " eccentricities," the bet- 
ter to cry : " Heresy !" Berlioz had expended 
much money upon this performance and was pro- 
foundly wounded by the indifference his work 
encountered. " The discovery," he says, " was 
cruel, but useful. Never since has it happened 
to me to venture twenty francs on the chance of 
the Parisian public's caring for my music." Soon 
afterwards, in Berlin, whither Berlioz had been 
summoned by the King of Prussia, he again pro- 
duced the Faust and received from the King di»> 
tinguishing marks of favor and appreciation. 
This admirable work awakened, indeed, the enthu- 
siasm of all Germany. After a splendid concert 
in Dresden, for instance, at which his legend, La 
Damnation de Faust, had been given, Lipinski 
introduced him to a musician, who, he said, wished 
to compliment him, bat who did not speak French. 
So, as Berlioz did not speak German, Lipinski 
offered to act as interpreter. When the artist 
stepped forward, he took BerUoz by the hand, 
stammered out a few words and burst into sobs 
which he could no longer control. - 

The Faust of Berlioz can not be taken as an 
exact paraphase of the poem of Goethe. But, if 
the author makes undesirable ombsion of some 
important scenes, such as in the prison and in the 
church, and if he deprives himself of the char- 
acter of Valentine with its admirable episodes, he 
treats certain situations neglected by earlier (and 
by later) composers, and lias known how to com- 
pose a poem with two essential quaUties, color and 
life, Berlioz carefully justifies his free use of the 
original poem in these words : " The title of my 
work sufficiently indicates that it is not based 
upon the principal idea of Goethe's Faust, for in 
the illustrious poem Fatist is saved." Berlioz 
has borrowed from Goethe only a certain number 
of scenes which entered into his plan and which 
seem to have attracted him irresistibly. The 
very fact that he should have substituted Faust's 
descent to hell for that portion of the German 
work in which the hero is saved, shows a char- 
acteristic phase of his genius. Berlioz, not un- 
like Edgar Allen Poc, took a peculiar delight in 
the horrible ; and he could not. possibly resist so 
favorable an opportunity to send a man to the 
devil, with all the accompanying terrors. 

The score of Zm Damnation de Faitst is 
divided into four parts, containing nineteen 
scenes and an epilogue. The scene opens with- 
out an overture. Faust is wandering andd the 
plains of Hungary, singing a monologue to the 
awakening spring, accompanied by a soft mur- 
mur in the orchestra. Then follows a lovely 
symphonic picture. A thousand pastoral sounds 
mingle, until the fresh, joyous Rondo de Paysan 
bursts forth. It is important to note in these 
passages the fragments of the march, introduced 
later, for horn and piccolo in condensed rhythm 
and suggesting the approach of the Hungarian 
soldiers. The Rondo is cleverly orchestrated, so 
as to preserve the pastoral tone throughout. 
Flutes and oboes in unison have the melody, 
wliich is accompanied almost entirely hy the 
clarinet, bassoons and horns, and only occasion- 
ally by the reluctant strings. 

This gayety calls from the unhappy Faust a 
regretful sigh, breathed forth in a musical phrase 



April 10, 1880.] 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



69 



of deep melancholy. Then passes a troop, with 
its martial sounds. This is the popular Rakoczy 
March, Berlioz here developed the theme of 
the Hungarian National Hymn wonderfully, and 
then arranged it for orchestra, and it is to his 
brilliant scorins that the march owes its univer- 
sal popularity. While he himself considers its 
introduction hero a caprice, it is of deeper poetic 
import. For it enables Berlioz to present in tlie 
firnt part two powerful contrasts : Faust's melan- 
choly and the peasants mirth ; Faust's renewed 
gloom and the boisterous joy of the Hungarian 
soldiers. 

The second part begins — Faust is in his 
laboratory eager for knowledge, weary of life. 
As he raises the poisoned death-cup to his lips, 
comes the sound of Easter music. This scene, 
taken textually from Gcethe's poem, is of great 
beauty. The desillusion and the ardor of Faust 
are painted with a masterhand. The Easter 
hymn, after a short introduction for sopranos 
and altos accompanied by~ double basses, is sung 
by male voices only,' with a sparsely scored accom- 
paniment. The apparition of the demon is 
treated in a few highly colored measures, and 
the concise motive with which Mephistopheles is 
introduced, and which occurs several times later 
on, is the earliest example of a leading motive 
in an operatorio. The demon transports his lord 
and master to the tavern of Auerbach. Here 
Berlioz has given a literal rendering of the orig- 
inal scene and words. The drinking chorus has 
an irresistible " entrain " Then Brander, heavy 
and vinous, as suits his listeners, sings the stan- 
zas of the Song of the Rat. Hardly has the 
crowd pronounced its lamentable Requiescaty 
when begins a " dishevelled " fpgue on the word 
Amen, This is a musical jest on the part of the 
composer, who was glad thus to turn the tables 
upon his detractors, the ardent defenders and 
compilers of pseudo-classical fugues. For Ber- 
lioz himself by no means underrated the power 
of the artistic fugue, and has introduced several 
fugatos into La Damnation de Faust. The fugue 
ended, the devil ilings at the gaping crowd his 
bizarre Song of the Flea. This is one of tlie 
most interesting parts of the work. For Berlioz 
has described, by means of clever forms in tHe 
accompaniment, the skipping of the flea in 
various directions. Further on occurs what 
might be described as a skipping climax; and 
that part of the song which mentions the sting- 
ing flea is accompanied by a quick thrust on the 
kettle-drum. It is interesting to note the fact 
that even Beethoven, not disdaining programme- 
music, has composed music to the same text with 
an equally descriptive accompaniment, ending 
with a rapid passage whose notes are all, with 
Beethoven's cliaracteristic humor, marked to be 
run down with the thumb. To accomplish this, 
the tip of the thumb closes on the third finger 
tip — an exceedingly suggestive position under 
the circumstances. 

Under the title, Bosquets et Prairies au hord de 
rElbe, Berlioz has transcribed the end of the 
third scene and composed a marvel of graceful, 
fairy-like inspiration. The demon murmurs into 
the ear of Faust a softly penetrating melody. 
The Chorus of the Gnomes and the Ballet of the 
Sylphs defy all word-description. The slumber- 
chorus in this scene is perhaps the most diflicult 
number of the work. The rhythm of the soft 
melody taken by the soprani is exceedingly 
catching. It begins with a part for chorus and 
orchestra in 3-4 time (^Andante) then the chorus 
sings it 6-8 time (Allegro), while the strings con- 
tinue in the olti tempo, so' that three of the bars 
of the chorns correspond to one bar of the 
strings. ^ In the following ballet of the sylphs 

' The rest of the orchestra continues all through in the 
same tempo with the chonu. 



tlie melody is that of the slumber song, built on 
the organ-point, D, which the basses sound 
throughout the entire movement. Afterwards it 
is combined with the students' and soldiers' cho- 
rus. The close connection between these parts 
and, indeed, the intimate poetic relation existing 
between all tlie numbers of this work, show 
how necessary to its unity a complete perform- 
ance is, and how ill advised it is to present only 
fragments of it to the public. Faust perceives, 
amid his dreams, the fair image of Marguerite 
and tlie demon hurries him away through the 
groups of soldiers and students, who are singing 
of war and of love. 

The night falls ; drums and clarions sound the 
" retreat." Faust penetrates into the young girl's 
chamber. Marguerite enters, disturbed and 
troubled. She sings, to distract her thoughts, an 
ancient ballad of archaic form, of which the last 
words die like a soft kiss upon her lips. 

Here reappears the poem of Berlioz. All the 
end of this part, excepting the serenade and the 
dialogue of the lovers, is his invention. At a 
sign of the demon, the Follets (will o' the wisps) 
come flying to Marguerite's door — (this charm- 
ing minuet is a wortliy pendant of the ballet of 
the sylphs) and Mephistopheles warbles, with his 
scoffing voice, an enchanting serenade. At the 
end of the Evocation des Follets, which is superbly 
orchestrated, occurs a Presto, whose melody is 
new and which eventually developes into the 
serenade of Mephistopheles — as though he had 
imbued the follets with his spirit. In the accom- 
paniment of the serenade, Berlioz has repro- 
duced the peculiar effect of the mandolin by 
pizzicato crescendos for violas and second violins. 
Faust and Marguerite are alone, intoxicated with 
the song, and Faust breathes forth his love in a 
phrase of deepest passion. Their voices unite ; 
they soar together. The demon enters — " Fly I" 
he cries, " The mother — the friends are at 
hand I " And the final trio and chorus close in a 
superb sweep of passion and Satanic joy. The 
danger presses, the tumult increases, and the 
demon drags Faust away, leaving the defenceless, 
unhappy Marguerite. In this end of the tliird 
part, the composer's inspiration, un trammeled by 
an impossible theatrical representation, has pro- 
duced a picture above praise, taking rank with 
the noblest examples of dramatic music. 

At the opening of the fourth part, Marguerite 
is in her chamber, weeping, despairing, hoping. 
She seats herself at her spinning-wheel and mur- 
murs a melody full of anguish. As Marguerite's 
passion awakens at the thought of her lordly 
love, a plaintive echo of this first love passes 
over the orchestra, and she flies to the window. 
In the distance is heard the song of the students, 
the last echo of the '* retreat." Night falls. 
Everything recalls to the unhappy child the 
remembrance of the one evening without a mor- 
row. " He comes not !" she cries, and falls, half 
dead, with remorse and anguish. In the follow- 
ing number, Forests and Caverns, the musician has 
been inspired by the fine Invocation to Nature, 
which is in the corresponding scene of Gr<£the's 

poem. 

The orchestral and vocal composition translates 
marvellously this burning cry, this ardent aspira- 
tion after infinite happiness. But the demon 
appears, recounting in darkly colored harmonies 
the remorse of the loved one, her crime, her 
imprisonment, her approaching death. It will 
be remembered that nothing has been said as yet 
of a compact between Faust and Mephistopheles. 
With delicate poetic feeling Berlioz has allowed 
Mephistopheles to appear only as the jolly com- 
panion, not as the tempting demon. But now, 
after playing upon Faust's sympathies for the 
unhappy girl until he is seized with terrible 
ansuidi and remorse, he throws off the i^ask; 



and Faust willing to sacrifice all, even eternal 
happiness, for his love, seals the compact. It is 
then Mephistopheles calls for the black steeds of 
hell. " To me. Vortex, Giaour I " he cries, and, 
mounted on them, the devil and Faust rush into 
space. It is a flight to the abyss. Here Berlioz 
gives free rein to the boldest imaginings. The 
unbridled race of the coursers of hell, the incan- 
tations of witches, wild exclamations of Faust, 
the sneers of the devil — all are depicted in a 
frightful unloosing of orchestral masses. 

Berlioz ends the legend with two strange com- 
positions of rare energy, and sharply contrasted : 
— Pandemonium : it is hell with a sinister gnash- 
ing, witli its devouring joys ; it is the triumph of 
the demon, clutching his prey in his talons. 
Heaven: it is pure, ineffable bliss; it is the 
apparition of the unhappy sinner; it is the 
divine, angelic concert, calling to the abode of 
the blessed, the repentant, purified Marguerite. 

Special mention should be made of the skilful 
treatment of the bass voices in the Apotheosis. 
They are reserved until the very last, when they 
are introduced to swell the climax with wonder- 
ful effect. 

La Damnation de Faust is a work of jrreat 
worth. Berlioz has been helped in his perilous 
attempt by the richest imagination, fired by the 
grandeur and the ideal beauty of his model. 
Even when he departs from the original text aud, 
by combining several episodes, produces an 
entirely different situation, such as the love-scene 
interrupted by the arrival of the demon, the 
musician is still sustained by 'the poet, and his 
inspirations pour richly, grandly forth. It is a 
work worthy to be placed forever side by side 
with the original drama. 



THE VIOLIN FAIRY. 

[Under this title Dr. Hans von Biilow sends the fol- 
lowing characteristic and eccentric letter to the Leipzig 
SignaXe. The translation is from the London Musical 
World.] 

The country of optical is not that of acoustic 
fogs. The subjects of the house of Hanover on 
the other side of the Channel invariably enjoy 
during the bad season — if indeed we can speak 
of such a season as anything exceptional — a 
musically-blue sky such as the inhabitants of 
the artrloving Semitic metropolises of the con- 
tinent can scarcely boast of possessing. True, 
this paradise is not so full of joys as it is of 
pianos. Nowhere does the " Pianoforte-Witch," 
from the green Miss of the Mendelssohn Concerto 
in G minor to the mature party of Brahms' in D 
minor, hold more locust-like ancl fearful sway than 
in London. Thanks, however, to the great num- 
ber of concerts, it is not impossible to get out of 
her way, without directing one's steps to those 
resorts which Hector Berlioz characterized so 
appropriately as ** les mauvais lieux de la musique, 
namely: the operatic theatres. As a rule, the 
Pianoforte-Witch is unfortunately hard to avoid 
in that Sanctissimum Sanctoe Cecilioe, Arthur Chap- 
pell's famous Popular Concerts in St. James's 
Hall, where on Saturday afternoons and Monday 
evenings the most precious treasures of classical 
and likewise of pos^classical chamber-music are, 
as most persons know, revealed to a reverently 
attentive and enthusiastically grateful gathering 
of 2,000 listeners (of whom the half, in the gallery 
and on the platform, pay only a shilling each) 
and interpreted in amanner far above all praise. 
With the king of violoncellists, Alfredo Piatti, 
and the Grand-Dukes of the second violin and 
tenor, Messrs. Kies and Zerbini, there is regularly 
associated during tbe last two months before. 
Easter, the Prince Consort of the Queen of In- 
struments, on whom, even without any suitable 
Versailles preparatory cereqionies, we paay (as a 
sequel to the recent lavish distribution of honors) 



CO 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1017. 



bestow the title of Emperor. Before, however, 
the illustrious Director of the High School makes 
his appearance, the first violin is played by some 
one else, namely his — rival. 

" Good Heavens ! Has Joachim, then, a rival — 
can he possibly have one ? " is the interrogation 
which I suddenly hear addressed to me through 
you, my respected editor. 

Well — in Germany, during a quarter of a cen- 
tury I, like others, have never come across any- 
body who could be violently suspected of rivalry 
with him. There is scarcely a single one of his 
" colleagues " who can possibly dream of wearing 
the crown which the illustrious ami de Brahms 
has won. The great Naussauer, at present in 
the New World, plating his laurels with dollars, 
is, apart from his immeasurable artistic inferiority 
compared with Joachim, among the popular celeb- 
rities of the violin a personage endowed with far 
less individuality than, for instance, the fiery Pole 
or the fascinating Spaniard, who have found out, 
and still know, how to win by their ** play " the 
ears and the hearts of the educated and the un- 
educated mass. In the younger generation, and 
more especially among his own pupils, in connec- 
tion with whom nothing in the remotest degree 
like the good luck of his old master, Ferd. David, 
has down to the present date smiled on him, there 
is no one growing up to compete with Joachim 
for his pedestal. After a little Rode, Viotti, 
Spohr — or Bruch — Beethoven's two Romances, 
and, perhaps, Bruch's as well, Tartini's good- 
natured ^* Devil's Shake," and possibly half a 
Chaconne by Bach, have been filtered over rather 
than into them, the said scholars are as we know, 
dismissed at a most defective stage of general 
musical education with a certificate of maturity. 
The more they need recommendation, that is, the 
less they possess to recommend themselves, the 
warmer are the recommendations, apportioned 
with true Meyerbeerian generosity, which are 
stuffed into their coat-pockets. Intendants and 
chapel-directors, either from an easy way of doing 
business, or from indifference in matters in art, 
and not considering it an act of robbery some- 
times to buy a pig in a poke, appoint violinists of 
this kind, who, as regards Beethoven's or Mendels- 
sohn's Violin Concerto, might go and learn of 
little Dengremont, as Concertmeister for life. This 
is a curse for chapel-master and orchestra. The 
former finds an insurmountable drag, where he 
expected an intelligent adjutant ; the latter obtain 
a more or less welcome, but^at any rate a most 
reliable demoralizer. 

As I have hinted, however, where Joachim's 
rival is to be found, it is not necessary for me to 
add where we must at present seek that person- 
age. The only rival of the Unrivalled One lives 
in England ; liiat rival is a lady ; and the name 
of that lady is 

WILMA NORMAN-NERUDA. 

I have christened her the Violin Fairy, and I 
should have thus characterized her, even though 
her anti-type, the Pianoforte-Witch, had not 
floated before my mind. 

A man may be highly respected and a great 
favorite with the Shah of Persia, and yet King 
Cetewayo (speaking figuratively : where, by the 
way, does that sovereign not possess cousins?) 
may not have heard of the great pet of Teheran. 
I am prepared, when giving the earthly name of 
the Violin Fairy, to encounter numerous looks of 
astonishment. Persons thoroughly up in the 
chronicles of music will recollect the sensation 
created some twenty years ago by a travelling 
child-wonder, called Neruda, whom they sub- 
sequently forgot in company with others that have 
▼anished, doing so, probably, in the belief, so 
often corroborated by facts, that wonderful chil- 
dren tread themselves down — as they do the 



shoes tliey wore at the wonderful period of their 
life. It is quite possible that Dengremont, tlie 
wonderful boy, may not turn out a wonderful 
youth, nor the wonderful youth, Sarasate, a won- 
derful man ; there is, however, one thing which I 
can assert with unqualified certainty : tlie wonder- 
ful girl, Wilma Neruda, has become a wonderful 
woman, reigning in England as Sovereign of the 
Violin, by the grace of Apollo,-- and with appro- 
bation of all who understand and all who love 
music. 

To the writer of these lines, who had the honor 
and tlie happiness of playing with her four times 
last moQth, the Violin Fairy has done so much 
mental good, that he must be on his guard not to 
fall into too suspiciously enthusiastic a tone. As 
you are aware, respected Sir and Editor, he had 
for some time been knocking about in not very 
musically-aristocratic society, in the " mauvais lieux 
de la musique" to quot<^Hector Berlioz once again. 
Not so much tired of, as disgusted with, music — 
because I had been compelled to gulp down so 
much that was un-music — I went to London, 
partly to play back into English coin my lost salary 
as a Prussian Chapel-master, and partly in the 
hope of seeing disagreeable impressions washed 
out by others more joyful and more ])leasant. 
Thanks to the fair enchantress, this hope was ful- 
filled far more speedily and far more amply tlian 
I had ever dreamt it would be. During previous 
visits of mine to England the lady had filled me 
with the warmest sympathy and admiration — if 
I recollect aright, one of my ill-famed Letters of 
Travel in last year's series of the Signale bears 
witness to this — but never had her playing over- 
powered me with such electric force. " If I am 
not wrong," I said inquiringly of my highly 
respected colleague, Mr. Charles Halle, **she 
really plays more finely than she did ? " " No, 
you are not wrong," was the reply ; " she really 
plays more finely not only every year, but every 
time she appears." Where is this to end ? 

To praise Mad. Neruda's technical skill would 
be as absurd as materialistic. Who talks about 
Joachim's mechanism? The mind, the soul, the 
life, the warmth, the nobleness, the style, the 
exquisite bloom of ideal individuality developed 
out of the closest identification with the work of 
art, and the most affectionate blending of self 
with the latter, tlie glorious resurrection of the 
subject as reward for devotion to the object — 
these are the things in which the secret of the 
enchantress's. power over the hearts of those who 
hear her is to be sought. In these she is great 
and pure like Joachim ; in these she is, like him, 
unique. This is the reason why we must aUow 
her to possess what is more than '* talent hors ligne" 
namely : genius, that is : tcUent raised to the highest 
power. And what variety, too I With regard to 
this particular, however, we will postpone the 
comparison with Joachim till the tipie, not, let us 
hope, too far distant, when Mad. Neruda, ceasing 
to be for us merely a legendary personage, will 
no longer disdain to reveal in Grcrmany her 
" name and quality." 

I have just now employed the word " genius," 
and ought to justify myself in the eyes of those 
who reserve it for creative efforts, properly so 
termed. But the feminine of the notion strikes 
me as admissible ; it strikes me that we may speak 
of receptive genius, whenever the latter rises and 
develops into reproduction. Let us give unto the 
ladies the things that are the ladies' ; this is, it is 
true, sometimes less than they demand, but, thank 
Heaven, the reasonable and not the outrageous 
ones still constitute the majority among the 
*^potemirte Kinder " (as Goethe calls them). We 
may allow that the fair sex possesses reproductive 
genius, just as we unconditionally deny they 
possess productive genius. The rare exceptions 
in French and English literature, Georges Sand 



and Elliot, cannot constitute a precedent in music, 
such a precedent having hitherto not had absolute- 
ly a single pretext for its justification. There 
will never be a compositoress, there can be only, 
at most, a copyist spoilt. My excellent fellow- 
pianist, HeiT Alfred Jaell, must not be offended 
if, in conclusion, I describe, as bearing on this 
theme, my meeting him (some years since), be- 
cause my account of the event has, like many 
other utterances of mine, which have undeservedly 
become winged, suffered all kinds of oral distor- 
tions. 

Herr Jaell honored me one day with a visit- 
As active in his fingers as, on account of a corpu- 
lent habit, he is heavy on the pedals, he was so 
out of breath when he came in that I laid the 
blame of his distressed condition on the heavy 
parcel of music (manuscripts of his wife's) with 
which he was loaded, rather than upon the third 
floor, where I lived. He entreated me most touch- 
ingly to devote my eyes and mind to the said 
compositions. This was my answer : 

" The tidings I hear, but faith is wanting. I 
do not believe in the feminine of the notion : 
Creator. Furthermore, everything with a flavor 
of woman's emancipation about it is utterly hate- 
ful to me. I consider ladies who cotnpose far more 
objectional than those who would like to be elected 
deputies. The last is, to a certairA degree, alreatly 
a usual thing, since, for instance, Herr Lasker, 
and others like him, can be classed only as old 
women fond of wrangling. Let me remain, there- 
fore, for a time, unblessed with the hallucinations 
of your better half. In return, I promise most 
solemnly that, on the lendemain of the day that 
you announce your (own) happy accouchment of 
a healthy baby, I will make the first serious 
attempt at converting myself to a belief in the 
vocation of the female sex for musical pro- 
ductivity. Till then, farewell I " 

Hans von Bulow, 

Bayreuth, 16 Feb., 1880, 



A LADY FLAUTIST- 

Vienna, Feb. 24. — At length we have a vari- 
ety in the grand concert market ; Signora Bian- 
cbini, a virtuosa on the flute ! ** Sie ist die Erste 
nicht " (" She is not the first "), says Mephisto. 
In the year 1827, a Mme. Rousseau, and between 
1830 and 1840, a Mdlle. Lorenzino Meyer, played 
the flute in public here. Since then the strange 
phenomenon was not repeated; nay, even male 
flute-players have become very scarce. How and 
when an instrument achieves popularity in the 
concert-room, becomes fashionable, and then goes 
out of fashon, is one of the most interesting 
things in musical history. "Travelling virtuo- 
sos '* upon a wind instrument are now extremely 
uncommon; at the close of the last, and at the 
commencement of the present century, they held 
their own equally with other concert-givers. To- 
day the piano has seized not only on the suprem- 
acy, but nearly on exclusive sway, and driven the 
other instruments, save the violin and also the 
violoncello, out of the concert-room into the or- 
chestra. I^ormerly the flute was such a favonte 
witli amateurs and concert-givers, that composers 
could not write enough for it, and we read in 
Werden's Musikalisches Taschenbuch for 1803: 
" For all instruments capable of beautiful expres- 
sion there are concertos in large numbers, but 
more for the flute than for any other." Beetho- 
ven wrote spontaneously, in 1801, to the Leipsic 
publisher, Hoffmeister, that he should like to 
arrange his Septet for the flute : " This would be 
rendering a service to lovers of that instrument, 
who would swarm around and feed upon the 
work." How quickly have the tables been turned I 
Between 1840^0, we had in Vienna only two non- 
local virtuosos on the flute who performed with 



April 10, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



61 



anything like, success : Briccialdi and Heindl. 
Since tlien, that is for moVe than thirty years, 
concertos upon wind instruments have been dying 
out. In the ten years from 1855 to 1865, tliere 
were no non-local and only two local flautists, the 
brothers Doppler, as concert-givers here in Vi- 
enna. The above incomparable pair succeeded 
by their splendid concerted play in curing many 
a person of his antipathy for their instrument, 
and in permanently fascinating the public. They 
triumphantly put to shame the old joke : *' What 
is a greater bore than a flute? — Answer: Two 
flutes, " and awoke, on the contrary, a conviction 
that two were more entertaining than one. At 
flrst people could only feel pleased that an end 
was put to their being flooded with concef tos for 
the flute, the oboe, the bassoon, and the clarinet, 
because the place for these instruments, which 
require to be Supplemented, as they themselves 
supplement others, is the orchestra, and because 
they possessed no literature of their own. The 
fearful manner in which the piano — an inde- 
pendent instrument, it is true, but more obtrusive 
tlian any other concert instrument — has taken 
the upper hand, causes us now to entertain far 
more friendly feelings towards the dethroned 
wind-instrumentalists, and would, for example, 
And us perfectly willing to hear one of the best of 
C. M. von Weber's clarinet concertos performed 
by a first-rate virtuoso. With regard to our fair 
Venetian flautist, Maria Bianchini, her perfor- 
mance on her diflicult instrument was well worthy 
commendation, lier embouchure is good ; she has 
a long breath, and as powerful a tone as can just- 
ly be expected in a lady. The superior qualities 
of the " Bohm flute, " which is easier to play and 
less fatiguing to the lungs, rendered her in these 
particulars good service. In her execution of the 
cantilena, she displayed much good taste, while 
in run-work she was rapid, certain, and elegant. 
She was especially successful in a Fantasia by 
Franz Doppler, the pleasing effect of which is 
enhanced by the exotic charm of national Wal- 
lachian melodies. The unusual sight of a lady 
playing such an instrument did not strike people 
as so strange as we thought it would; Signora 
Bianchini, who has a tall figure and whose de- 
meanor is characterized by syn^pathetic, unaf- 
fected simplicity, avoids tlie ugly contortions of 
the lips and short-breathed blowing which may so 
easily jeopardize the aesthetic effect of flute-play- 
ing. Managed as it was on the occasion in ques- 
tion, the flute is decidedly not an unfeminine 
instrument. Signora Bianchini was liberally ap- 
plauded and her concert well attended. Mdlle. 
Marie Keil, a clever vocalist, and Mdlle. Jose- 
phine Ziffer, an interesting young pianist, received 
some very friendly encouragement. But much 
more boisterous was the applause bestowed on the 
singing of a barytone of elegant appearance, with 
a strong and agreeable voice. We feel indescrib- 
ably comforted at not being compelled to say any- 
thing unfavorable of him, because, as we are 
informed, he is not a professional singer, but an 
assistant at one of the first chemists in Vienna. 
The mere fact that, in the exercise of his c&Uing, 
he might be irritated and disturbed by an adverse 
newspaper criticism, makes us shudder. — N^ue 
Freie Presse. Eduard Hanslick* 



ture to Iphignia in Aulis, with concert-coda by Wag- 
ner; Haydn's Symphony in G, "Oxford"; Schu- 
mann's Concerto for pianoforte and orchestra (Miss 
Helen Hopekirk, a hopeful aspirant) ; and Beetho- 
ven's Overture, Leonore, No. 3. Fourth concert — 
Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's 
Dream (exquisitely played) ; Wagner's " Siegfried 
Idyll"; A. C. Mackenzie's "Rhapsodic Ecossaise" 
(a marvellously fine work, and in it for the first time 
our national airs have been treated in classic fash- 
ion) ; and Beethoven's Sympony, No. 6, in C minor. 
Fifth concert —-Handel's Oboe Concerto, No. 2, in 
B flat; Mendelssohn's Scherzo from the Octet (adapt- 
ed for the full orchestra by the composer) ; Goetz' 
Symphony in F ; Sullivan's Incidental Music to 
Henry K///. ;Jand Wagner's Overture toTannhdiiser. 
Sixth concert — Allegro from Beethoven's unfinished 
Violin Concerto (Herr Franke) :. Beethoven's Sym- 
phony, No. 7, in A ; and Verdi's Prelude to Aida. 

IDMgffVg S^outnal of Sl^uia^ic. 



Glasgow. — The Orchestral Subscription Concerts 
have presented the following works this winter : 

"First concert — Weber's Overture to Oberton: 
Schubert's (nnflnished) Symphony in B minor; Men- 
delssohn's Concerto for violin and orchestra (Signor 
Sarasate); Berlioz' Overture to Benvento Cellini: 
and selections from Wagder's Die Meiaterainger. Sec- 
ond concert — Bach's Concerto in G for strings; 
Beethoven's Symphony, No. 8, " Eroica " ; Bennett's 
Overture, to Paradiu and Peri and Gounod's ballet 
airs from Poljfeote. Third concert — Gluck's Over- 



SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 1880. 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

Easter Oratorio. — The Handel and Haydn 
Society gave Handel's colossal chorus Oratorio, 
Israel in Egypt, as the third and last of the 
subscription series, on Sunday evening, March 28. 
The Music Hall was crowded. The great work 
was produced on a grand scale, with the chorus 
ranks full ; an excellent orchestra of sixty musi- 
cians (Mr. Listemann at their head), fine organ 
accompaniment by Mr. B. J. Lang, and on the 
whole a very satisfactory array of solo singers. 
Most of the choral work was admirably done, but 
there were instances of uncertainty, unsteadiness, 
and lack of perfect tune ; it was not zeal in the 
singers that was wanting, nor skill and tact on 
the part of the conductor, Mr. Carl Zerrahn ; it 
was simply that the overcrowded season did not 
allow of so many rehearsals as so difficult and 
great a work must have in order to go perfectly. 
In was impossible, however, not to feel the gran- 
deur, and the now graphic, now triumphal power 
of this whole series of choral illustrations of 
stupendous scenes in history. 

The solos are comparatively few, and by no 
means the most interesting portion of the work. 
Those contained in the ^* Appendix," (the Bass 
airs : " He layeth the beams," and " Wave from 
wave," sung by Mr. J. F. Winch and Mr. M. W. 
Whitney, respectively, with some recitatives) were 
introduced from other works of Handel by Sir 
George Smart. They are among the most inter- 
esting that were sung ; but being taken evidently 
from Handel's Italian operas, they seemed hardly 
of the same cloth with the rest of the garment, 
and one needed but to hear to know that it was 
patched ; excellent music these; but Handel 
did not treat all occasions and all themes alike. 
These airs were nobly sung, and so was the great 
duet of basses : " The Lord is a man of war," 
by the same two gentlemen, creating such enthu- 
siasm that they had to sing it a second time. It 
is an artistic mistake, however, ever to repeat that 
very long, exhaustive, difiicult duet It repeats 
itself full enough when once sung through; its 
peculiar charm, too, is one that loses freshness on 
an immediate second hearing; invariably our 
mind wanders away from it during the repetition, 
for it was never made to be a ^^ twice told tale ; " 
and it never goes so well a second time. A con- 
ductor ought to be a despot with his audiences 
(who in Art are children), no less than with his 
choir and orchestra. The tenor solos could hardly 
have been given to a more effective singer than Mr. 
W. C. Power, who has a resonant, robust voice, 
and has made great improvement in the use of it, 
we understand, within a year. His style is manly, 
and full of fervor, and he was obliged to repeat 



Mendelsaohn, 
. . . Spokr, 



the air : " The enemy said, I will pursue." Miss 
Fanny Kellogg, called upon at a day's notice, on 
account of the sudden hoarseness of Mrs. H. M. 
Smith, and so soon after her own severe bereave- 
ment (of both parents,) kindly undertook a con- 
siderable portion of the soprano solos, having 
never seen or heard the Israel before, and sang it 
in a manner that won warm approval. Mrs. F. 
P. Whitney sang very satisfactorily the soprano 
solos of the first part, and with Miss Kellogg the 
duet: ^*The Lord is my strength." The alto 
solos, and the alto part in the duet with tenor : 
" ThQu in thy mercy," were sung by Mrs. Frank 
Kinsley, of New York. She has a light, pleasing 
voice, and sang with intelligence and care ; but 
her efforts were somewhat marred by a habit of 
forcing her lower tones into a somewhat boy-like 
quality. 

Now it is all busy hnm of preparation for the 
fifth Triennial Festival next month. The pro- 
gramme, so far as yet announced, is as follows : 

May 4. Krening, " St. Paul." .... 
May 6. Evening, *' The Last Judgment." 

(First time in 66 years.) 

" Stabat Mater." JtoatinU 

May 6. Afternoon, Ninth (Choral) Symphony. Beethoven. 

(First time in 6 years.) 

43 Psalm, " Judge me, O Ood ! " . . MendeUwhn, 

May 6. Evening, Manz<mi Requiem Verdi, 

May 7. Evening, " Spring " and " Summer " 
from The "Seasons." Haydn, 

The "Deluge." Saint-Saina, 

(First time.) 
May 8. Afternoon, — A miscellaneous Concert by the Solo 

Singers, Orchestra and Chorus, Including " Utrecht 

Jubilate" (flrst time) by Handel, and a chorus by 

J. S, Bach. 

May 9. Evening, " Solomon." Handel, 

(First time In 26 years.) 

The following distinguished Vocalists will ap- 
pear during the Festival : — 

Sopranos, Miss Emma C. Thursby, and others to be en- 
gaged. 

Contraltos, Miss Annie Cary, Miss Emily Winant. 

Tenors, lulo Campanini, Charles R. Adams, William H. 
Fessenden, William Courtney. 

Basses, Myron W. Whitney, John F. Winch, Geo. W. 
Dudley. 

Orchestra of seventy perforaiers, including the best Boston 
orchestral players, under Bemhard Listemann. ChoruB 
of five hundred voices. 

B.J.Lang, Organist. 

Carl Zerrahn, ...... Condoetor of the Festival. 



Harvard Musical Association The fif- 
teenth season of Symphony Concerts ended glori- 
ously with the great Schubert Symphony in C — 
the Symphony of the "fteavenly length," as 
Schumann called it«— on Thursday afternoon, 
March 25. This was the eighth Concert, and 
notwithstanding that it was **Holy Thursday," 
and the March east wind of the harshest and most 
discouraging, the largest audience of the season 
came to listen and seek inspiration, which in such 
harmony they surely found. The programme 
was as follows : — 

Overture : " Weihe des Hauses," In C, Op. 124 Beethoven. 

Cavatina : " Bel raggio lusinghiero," from " Semlramide," 

Miss Fannie Louise Barnes. Boaaini. 

Piano-Forte Concerto, in F-sharp minor (flrst time in 
America) . Hana von Bronaart, 

Allegro maeatoao. — Adagio ma non troppo, — Allegro cow 
/itooo, B. J. Lang. 

Aria: " O del mio dolce ardor " . . Oluck, 

Miss Fannie Louise Barnes. 

Symphony, No. 9, in C . . Schubert, 

Andante; Allegro ma non troppo ( C),— Andante con moto 

{A minnr), — 

SeherxOf Allegro vivace (C, Trio in A).— Allegro vivace (C). 

Beethoven's Dedication, or Inauguration, Over- 
ture (for the opening of a theatre, and the restor- 
ation of high Art, in Pesth), with its broad, majes- 
tic introduction, with trumpet proclamation, and 
curious rhapsodical running bassoon accompani- 
ment, and the vigorous Handelian fugue of its 
brilliant Allegro, was well played, and awakened 
expectation of good things to come. The Concer- 
to by Von Bronsart is fuU of life and verve in the 



62 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1017. 



first movement, which is laid out on a large plan, 
teeming with intentions which seem rather unat- 
tainable and yague, and somewhat overgrown 
with the too full and crowded orchestration. Of 
the pianist it demands any amount of execution, 
fire and indomitable energy ; it has also its sweet 
and gracious passages; and to all Mr. Lang 
proved himself quite equal. There is more re- 
pose in the short, subdued Adagio, which is mod- 
eled somewhat upon those to Beethoven's G-ma- 
jor, and Chopin's Concertos. The Finale is a 
swift and fiery Tantntella, in which you feel 
whirled away with irresistible force. It was alto- 
gether a splendid interpretation of a work more 
rewarding than most of the recent ambitious com- 
positions in this form. 

Miss Fannie Louise Barnes, the daughter of 
the well-known ex-President of our Handel and 
Haydn Society, has been for some time a pupil of 
Signer Errani, the distinguished vocal teacher in 
New York. This was her first public effort in a 
large concert hall with orchestra ; and naturally 
in the Rossini Cavatina she sang a little too ovei^ 
carefully and conscientiously, to allow full, free 
sweep to the florid melody ; giving the same kind 
of phrase always in precisely the same way, like 
a faithful pupil. Nevertheless she made an ex- 
cellent impression by the interesting tone-color of 
her fresh, pure, evenly developed voice, by her 
honest, finished execution, and by her freedom 
from all affectations and all the common faults of 
tremolo, of nasal singing, and what not. Her 
modesty was not a small part of the charm. The 
Aria by Gluck was beautifully sung, with simple, 
true expression. Certainly here is a voice and 
talent of much promise. 

Of the great Symphony — an inspired work, if 
there ever was one — we need only say, since all 
true music-lovers know and love it well, that the 
performance by Mr. Zerrahn's orchestra was al- 
together worthy of the work. Perhaps never be- 
fore in Boston has a great audience listened to it, 
from beginning to end, with such enthusiastic in- 
terest, such thorough an(> renewed conviction of 
the intrinsic and immortal beauty of this greatest 
work of Schubert On account of its great length 
most of the repeats were wisely omitted. 



telligence; to better advantage, however, in Men- 
delssohn's bright " Spring Song," than in the Bums 
song set by Franz. Mr. Lang's *' Sea King " duet is in 
the rollicking old English bravura style, with plenty 
of " go " in it, and made a lively effect as sung by 
the two basses. Dr. Ame's Shakespearian round is 
charming in its way. The first and last were pe^ 
haps the noblest numbers of the programme, and 
were admirably sung. 



Apollo Club. — The last concert dates so far 
back (March 0), that our impressions of it in detail 
have lost their freshness. The progranune was 
miscellaneous, containing things of a high artistic 
order, and nothing commonphice. The singing 
seemed to us extremely good,— almost too good, 
that is to say, too daintily refined for certain things, 
say "drinking songs," which owe much of their 
charm to a certain off-hand freedom. Here is the 
programme in full : — 

The Stars In Heayen Rheinberger 

King WitlaTs Drinking Horn JUcUUm, 

Songs: — 

a. Thou Hast Left Me Ever, Jamie .... J?. Franz. 

6. Spring Song MenOelMokii 

[Sung by Miss Ida W. HubbeU.] 

The Tears Witt. 

The Three Fishers j?. Oddbeck. 

[Sung by Mr. Parker, Mr. Want, Mr. Chubbuck and 

Mr. Baboock.] 

The Nun of Nidaros, op. 83 DudUtp Buck. 

The tenor solo sung by Mr. Want, organ accompaniment 

played by Mr. J. A. Preston, Jun., piano aooompanlment 

by Mr. Arthur Foote. 
Nij^ir Greeting ...... Max von WHnziert, op. 17. 

[The tenor solo sung by Mr. Want, the barytone by 

Dr. Bullard.] 
Which is the properest day to drink . . . Dr, Ame, 176. 

[Sung by the tenors principally.] 
Songs: — 

The Lily and the Violet S, P. Warren, 

I Love my Love S, P. Warren. 

[Sung by Miss HubbeU,] 
Thott'rt not the first (Austrian Waltz), .... Starch, 

The Sea King B. T. Lang. 

[Sung by Dr, Bullard and Mr, J, F, Winch,] 
O Worldf thou art Wondrous Fair . , . , . J^, MiUes, 
[The soprano solp sung by Miss Hiibbell,] 

Miss Hnbbell, the soprano of Grace Church, New 
York, has a good voice and style, and sang with in- 



BoYLSTOw Club, — The third concert (March 17), 
was distinguished by the employment, for the first 
time, of an orchestra, and by the production 
therewith of two of the posthumous choral works 
of the lamented Goetz, namely his 137th Psalm: 
"By the Waters of Babylon," (op. 14), and the 
romantic barcarole, it might be called, were it not 
so elaborate, — "The Lake is Hushed at Evenglow," 
for tenor solo and double male chorus (op. 11). 
These suggested the necessity of an orchestra, having 
which, the Club made use of it in all the remainder 
of the programme. As so many of the pieces were 
of the modern German misty, sentimental, moon- 
light part-song character, lengthy and elaborate, 
there seemed to be a need of some relief, such as 
the Club could easily have furnished by the singing 
of one or two short things without an orchestra, — 
say a couple of unaccompanied choruses by female 
voices only, which would have added a refreshing 
divertisiemeni, and made the larger pieces more ap- 
preciated. 

The psalm by Goetz needs no description after 
the excellent one by Mr. Eayrs, which we copied 
from the programme in our last number. We can 
only say that the work fulfilled to ear and soul, all 
that was promised there. It made the impression 
of a noble, a profound religious work of genius, alike 
admirable in its vocal construction, and in the rich 
and graphic orchestration. It was very finely sung, 
with spirit and understanding; but it should be 
heard more than once to make its power completely 
felt. 

" The Lake is Hushed " failed to interest us to the 
same degree. It also has great merits ; but, being 
wedded to one of these vague, misty, moonlight 
German poems, now-a-days so common, it seemed to 
us as if the music were vainly clutching at a 
shadow. Some of the orchestral effects are fine, 
and not without originality; and the singing was 
excellent, saving some short-comings in the tenor 
solos. Part 2 was as follows : — 

. . Oade. 



Sunset , , .•..,,,. 

Mixed chorus and orchestra. 
Becitative and Aria, " O Didst Thou Know," from 

Acts and Galatea HandeL 

Miss Gertrude lYanklln, 

Night Song in the Wood , -. Schubert- 

(Accompanied by horns.) 

Boylaton Club, 

MOTning Song ^ jr^^ 

Mixed Chorus and Orchestra, 

Gade's " Sunset " is a sweet, and lovely piece of bar 
mony and color, but too much of the misty moon- 
light character to come right after the preceding 
piece. Miss Franklin has good voice and training, 
and sang Handel's "As When the Dove" quite 
well, although neither this nor the solo in the Goetz 
psalm seemed to be of kind of music in 
which she is most herself. Her forte, as we have 
since learned, is in the florid kind, like " Be joice 
Greatly," or the Jewel Aria in Fatut. 

Schubert's " Night Song," with the four horns, 
was the triumph of the evening; it is a thoroughly 
imaginative woodland poem, in many moods, and 
both voices and accompaniment expressed it to a 
charm ; the encore was irresistible. Raff's " Morn- 
ing Song " is a rich and splendid composition, but it 
came too late, in such a programme, to fau-ly hit 
the apprehensive sense. It was, on the whole, a 
noble programme, and the style in which it was ex- 
ecuted was most creditable to the Club, and its 
thoughtful, indefatigable conductor, Mr. George L. 
Osgood. «___ 

PiANO-FoRTK Matikebs, &c- — Their name is 
legion, and the chief contributor in this line has 
been, and will yet be, Mr. Ernst Perabo. We have 
ab«ady spoken of his first three matinees, given 
in that hot, close, gloomy, noisy little hall in Brom- 
field Street, always f uU of the faithful ones, who 



count it joy to listen to his music, ei^en at such sac- 
rifice of physical comfort, and perhaps of health. 
Since these, he has given four more matinees and 
one soiree, besides an extra matinee yesterday, for 
the benefit of the artistic violinist, Mr. GusUv 
Dannreuther, who took part in it. 

It is impossible to keep in mind distinct impres- 
sions of so many programmes crowded with new 
works. It is a laudable ambition in Mr. Perabo, 
which prompts him to try to make his friends ac- 
quainted with so many new works and new com- 
posers admired and honored by himself, but hitherto 
sealed books to nearly all of us. But in the 
execution, or rather say the administration of this 
pious work, we think his judgment hardly equal to 
his zeal, his love, and his unquestionable ability as 
an interpreter. New and important works in music 
have to be introduced somewhat sparingly, one at a 
time, and the way to each prepared, if it is to secure 
the full, intelligent attention and appreciation of an 
audience. When new SonaUs, Trios, Quartets, and 
Concertos without orchestra are heaped upon us 
pell-mell, two or three of them in one programme, 
besides all the smaller novelties, the total impres- 
sion is so miscellaneous that one wonders whether 
he has actually been listening, or only wool-gather- 
ing. It is true Mr. Perabo has also played, and 
played admirably, many familiar standard master- 
pieces, but unity is wanting. Take, for instance, 
that Soiree of March 8. It opened with the Beet- 
hoven SonaU in A flat, op. 26 (the one with the 
Andante and variations, Marcia Funebre, &c.), which 
surely Mr. Perabo can play as well as anybody, but 
which, owing no doubt to the nervous strain and 
exhaustion of getting up the novelties that followed, 
he did not play well. These were, first the Scherzo 
and Fhiale of a Piano Quintet in B flat, op. dO, by 
Goldmark (second time in Boston) ; then a String 
Quartet, No. 1, in E minor, op. 25, by Bichter ; then 
the Romanze and Finale alia Zingara of Joachim's 
Hungarian Concerto, played by B. Listemann ; final- 
ly, an Octet for strings, in C minor, op. 16, by Bar- 
giel, — ^"a clear, well-written early work, with some 
very interesting movements, but not making its due 
impression at the end of such a programme, for 
there had also been three of Perabo's transcriptions 
from a [Ballad : " Melek am Quell," by Lowe, and 
two charming songs by Richter. It is true, the 
concertgiver did not play himself in all of these 
things, but the inward wear and tear with him 
must have been all the same as if he did ; he played 
with his nerves, if not with his fingers. 

In the sixth Matinee we had these selections, all 
virtually novelties : — 

a. Prelude and Fugue in D. op. 35, No. 2. 
6. Prelude in B minor, op. 36, No. 3 . . 
c. Fugue, from " Drei StUcke,'* op, 78. P 

sharp minor , . Jo8. Rheinberger, 

[New.) 
Trio No. 1. for Piano, Violin and 'cello, op. es. A major 

Fr. KieL 
a. Allegro eon paasione, 6, Intermesso, Allegro seher- 
lando. e. Largo con espressione. d. Vivace. 
First time in this country, 

a. Moment Musical, op. 94, No. 1. G, major , Schubert, 

b. Menuetto, from Octet, op. 166. F major . . ** 

Arranged for two hands by Ernst Perabo, 
Second Grand Trio, for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello 

a, Jadaesohn, 
a. Allegro appassionato, 6. Bomanze, Andante. 
e, Scheno. d. Finale. All^;ro con brio- 
First time in this country, 

Mr. Perabo's solos were all interesting, fresh, and 
charmingly interpreted. The Trio by Jadassohn, 
we can heartily say, was to us positively refreshing 
by its clearness, its conciseness, its spontaneous 
geniality of musical feeling and conception. That 
by Kiel we found rather dry. And here is the 
seventh programme, March 10 : — 

a. Prelude in £ flat minor, op. 27, No. 4 . X behanoenka, 

[First time in Boston.] 

b. Prelude In A flat major, op. 24, No. 21 . . Rubinstein. 

[Second time.] 
Trio No. 2, for Piano, Violin, and 'Cello, in O minor, op. 60 

Fr. Kiel, 
a. Allegro moderato, ma con passione. b. Adagio eon 
molto espressione. >. Rondo. Poco Andante: Allegro 
con moto. 

[First time in this country.] 
Trios Momenta Musicals, op. 7 , . , , M. Monkow§ki, 
No. 1. Allegramente, B Major 
No. 3« Tranquillo e semplice. F sharp major. 

[New.] 



Mendeluohn, 



April 10, 1880.] 



DWIGBT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



63 



Qnjutet for Piaii(\And Strings, op, 38, E flat major, 

»/b«, Rhdnberger, 
a. Allegro non troppo. b. Adagio, e, Menuetto, 
Adantino, c/, Finale, Allegro, 
[Second time in Boston,] 

Other programmes have contained, for norelties : 
a fascinating Prelude and Toccata, in D minor, by 
V. Lachner ; a Quartet for piano and strings, in F, 
op. 87, by Scharwenka, and more new things in 
smaller form than we have room to enumerate, by 
Rubinstein, Rheinberger, Kiel, Mozkowski, Jadas- 
sohn, and Gemsheim ; also of older masters : a 
Suite in D minor, by Handel ; a Sonata in B flat, 
op. 147, by Schubert ; and Beethoven's early Trio 
(op. 1, No. 3) in C minor, which was a conclusion most 
delightful, besides many smaller solos. In all the 
concerto pieces, Mr. Perabo had the valuable assist- 
ance of such artists as Messrs. B. and F. Listeroann, 
Allen, H. Suck, H. Heindt, Dannreuther, Fries, and 
A. Heindl. 

Two more Matin<^es are announced, for April 23 
and 30, with Scharwenka's Second Trio, his new 
Sonata for piano and 'cello, op. 46, and works by 
Bargiel. 

— Mr. Abthur Footb'b very interesting concert, 

at Mechanics' Hall, March 13, must not be forgotten. 

He was assisted by Messrs. Gustar Dannreuther, 

Violin; Henry Heindl, Viola; and Wulf Fries, 

'Cello. The programme was a choice one : — 

Pianoforte Quartet in G minor. (Op.?) 26 Johanne* Brahms 
Allegro — Intermexxo — Andante eon moto — Hondo cUla 

Zingara f 
Praeludium and Bomanze from Suite in F (Op. 

27) for violin and Piano-forte FitanxJties. 

Piano-forte Solos : 

Prelude and Fugue in E major Jtuhimtein 

Etude on the Duet from " Der Frei- 

sehttU." Stephen Heller. 

BondoinEflat Fteld. 

Piano-forte Quartet in E flat Mozart, 

Allegro — Larghetto — Allegretto, 

The two Quartets, new and old, made good con- 
trast. That by Brahms is a vigorous work; its 
themes worked out with his usual skill and fervor, 
and each movement has its individual charm, espec- 
ially the Intermezzo and Andante. It was admirably 
interpreted, and so was the more spontaneous, melo- 
dious, and familiar sounding one by Mozart Mr. 
Foote's group of solos was selected with fine taste, 
and we were surprised at the great prog^ss shown 
both in the finished technique and the clear, decided, 
and intelligent expression of every one of his perfor- 
mances. In the duet by Ries, a fine selection, Mr. 
Dannreuther proved Limself a sterling violinist, of 
a sound artistic quality, afad with a large tone, and 
straightforward, unaffected style that recalled to us 
Joachim. The concert was keenly relished by a 
large and musically appreciative audience. 

Mr8. L. S. Frohock, better known as one of the 
best organists of this city, but who has recently 
been studying the piano-forte in Germany, gave a 
Matine^ at Wesleyan Hall on Tuesday, March SO. 
She has always been noted for her devotion to the 
best kind of music, playing a great deal of Bach 
upon the organ. The same earnestness enters into 
her piano-forte readings, only a certain nervousness 
before an audience seems somewhat to benumb her 
fingers, and render the performance sometimes 
Ufeless and even clumsy. This was most apparent 
in the Beethoven Sonata at the beginning of the 
following programme : 

Sonto in O. Op. 81. ••• JSeethoven, 

Allegro vivace— Adagio graxio»o—AUegretto 

Carnival, Op. 9 Sehtunann 

Preambule— Pierrot— Harlequin— Valse Koble— 
EnseUus—Florestan— Coquette— PapllloDS— 
Lettres Dansantes—Cbarina— Chopin— 
EstrelU— Beconnaisance— Pantalon et 0>lomMn»— 
Valse Allemande—Paganini— Promenade— Pause— 
Mareha des Davidsbundler oontre lee PhlliBtins. 

Andante Spianato Op. 22, Chopin, 

Etude in F. Op. 25, 

Nocturne C minor. Op. 48, 

Prelude in B. Op. 28, 

Bondo, , Baeh, 

Bloordanma, . , , Liesi. 

Trio in F. Op. 18 Sain^Saene, 

AUegrovivace'— Andante —Seherao-' Allegro. 

But in the following pieces the nervousness wore 
off, And her reode/Sng of the little Carnival fancies 
of Schunuum, the Chopin seleotions, And the' lenti- 1 



« 



u 



mental Ricordania by Liszt, was much more satis- 
factory ; in these she had not so much the air of a 
victim set up for the sacrifice. In the Trio by Saint- 
Saens, a characteristic work, she was ably accom- 
panied by Messrs. B. Listemann and Wulf Fries. 

It yet remains to speak of Mr. Lang's extremely 
interesting concert at Mechanics' Hall, April 1 ; but 
as we have not room to say all that should be said 
of it, and as he will give another on the 22d, we 
may include them both in one review. 

MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, April 5. — The concert season has been 
dull during the two weeks since my last letter. The 
Mapleson Opera Troupe has been winning golden opin- 
ions since the opening of the spring season. It is true 
that the same old opcra« have been produced, and no 
attempt has been made to give the public any novelties. 
Still, perhaps the public wouldn't understand the 
novelties if it had them, and so It is probably just as 
well to go on having Lucia^ Trovatore^ and all the 
retit of those time-worn (and mouldy) affairs. 

On Tuesday evening, March 90, Messrs. Fischer 
('cello) and Max Pinner (piano), gave a most iaterei- 
ing Soiree at ^teinway Hall, assisted by Mr. Richard 
Arnold (violin), by a lady vocalist, and by an accom- 
panist who was simply perfect. I have been attend- 
ing concerts of all sorts for the last seventeen years, 
and I have never heard a pianist who accompanied 
with such exquisite taste, grace, and delicacy : let us 
thank God for him and let us trust that he may again 
appear in our concert halU. To return to the Soiree ; 
the programme included the following selections : — 

Sonata (P. F, and 'cello) Op, 18 Jhtbinetein 

8 Etudes Chopin 

Trio, G major n<nf 

Mr. Fischer renewed the very favorable impression 
made by him at one of Dr. Damrosch's Symphony con- 
certs and at a Brooklyn Philharmonic concert. His 
execution is perfection itself, and his delicacy of touch 
and purity of intonation are marvellous. Mr. Pinner's 
success was less marked, for his rendering of the Cho- 
pin Etudes was very weak and purposeless. He 
did better with an Air and variations byTschaikowsky, 
although it is a hopelessly tedious and entirely uninter- 
esting composition. The Baff Trio — a most charm- 
ing work — was capitally played, Mr. Arnold giving 
his valuable assistance and most excellent execution. 

Berlioc's "Damnation of Faust'* was again given 
to a patient public on Saterday evening. April 3. The 
house was crowded, the orchestca performance admir- 
able, the chorus work very efficient and creditable, and 
Dr. Damroech has every reason to be satisfied with the 
success which has crowned his efforts. It must have 
been a most colossal ti|sk to drill the large chorus so 
that the unainyable music could be simg at all Of 
the work itself one can say truly that the orchestra- 
tion is superb ; as for the musical ideas they are (to 
my mind) chaotic, turgid, utterly unpleasant. 

Abous. 

Philadelphia, April 5. — The course of music for 
the past season in this city, like that of true love, has 
not run smoothly. Firstly, Max Strakosch disap- 
pointed the public by his grandilloquent announce- 
ments, which had more froth than beer in them, put 
his weakest artists forward at first, disgusted the 
people, who consequently, but very universally, absen- 
ted themselves from after performances that were well 
worthy of generous support. Suffice it to say the 
season was a most disastrous one, and Mr. Strakosch 
has not returned to us yet. 

Next Maurice Gran came along in H'venUvidi-vici 
humor with his French company. The stunning beauty 
of Ang^ the piquant manner of the petite Marie, 
the grace of the handsome tenor Capoul, the dramatic 
talent of other members of the company, all sank into 
nothingness in the eyes of the public. Opera Bouffe 
had seen its day, and it could not be resurrected by 
Mr. Gran with his angumented prices of seats. This 
has been a stumbling-block to other managers. Stra- 
kosch succumbed to it, so did Mapleson, of whom I 
come to speak now. The latter gentleman's faUure 
was, if anything, yet more ruinous than his prede- 
cessor's. The good orchestra, the large chorus, the 
excellent consequent ensemble, failed to arouse the 
public which wanted to hear great artists, and they 
were not present. There is a great deal to be thought 
and said on this subject, but it will take a big book to 
hold it ; for it comprehends the question as to the posi- 
tion future opera is to maintain in the great republic. 
— Per contra^ the local concerts, I mean those of resi- 
dent musicians, have been supported with more than 
usual liberality, wUch' they fully merited by their im- 
pioyed charaister. 



Carl Gaertner's series of three soirte in the Foyer of 
the Academy of Music, were the best we have had for 
many long years, and it is pleasant to be able to record 
the public appreciation and support The performance 
of Beethoven's Grand Septet was so admirable that 
the subscribers and the press insisted on its repetition. 
Charles H. Jarvis has just completed his series of six 
soirees, which hare been better attended than in any 
former year. Some of the best piano-forte-music, 
ancient and modem, has been heard from the concert- 
giver in his masterly style, and quartets and quintets, 
notably the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, have been ren- 
dered with superior skill and taste. Messrs. Stoll and 
Kauffman, have also given a series, not closed yet, of 
vocal and instrumental classical music, much to the 
delight of a large number of music-friends. These 
concerts, as well as Mr. Jarvis's, are given in the lecture- 
room of the Academy of Fine Arts. 

A few of the theatres have done opera — so called, 
in a various manner so to speak, and almost always 
with indifferent success. Some of these performances 
have been beneath criticism, and not entitled to sup- 
port from the public^ In oratorio, the Cecilian Society 
has done itself credit by the production of HandePs 
Samtont and Haydn's Creatiorij both of which were 
sung by the chorus of the society ; but the solo vocal- 
ists were freely criticized, more among accomplished 
amateurs than by the press, which was amiable to a 
fault The Mendelssohn Club under Mr. W. L. Gilchrist, 
has done some good work this season, and they have 
a large public at their back, for St George's Hall is 
always crowded when they sing their delightful pro- 
gramme of choruses, motets, contatas, etc. 



BALTOfORB, April 5. — The sixth Peabody Sym- 
phony Concert was given on Saturday evening with the 
following programme : — 

a. Ocean Sympony, C Major, . . Anton Rnbinttein, 

b. Songs, with piano: 

The dew-drop. Work 33. Ko. 2. 
Spring-song. Work 32. No^ 1. 
When I see thee draw near. Work 27. 
Mr. Theodore J. Toedt. 

Piano Compositions: iV. Ckopin, 

Prelude, D flat major. Work 28. No. 15. 
Koeturne, D flar major. Work 27. No. 2. 
Polonaise, A flat major. No. 6. Work 53. 

Madame Teresa Carreno. 
Norwegian Rhapeody, B Minor, No. 1. 
Work 17 Johan 8, Svendmn, 

Mr. Theodore Toedt, who comes from Washington, 
and who is new here, sings with much taste and senti- 
ment, and although the possessor of comparatively 
little voice, created great enthusiasm by the admirable 
manner in which he used it 

In response to a recall, he gave Rubinstein's " Du bist 
wie eine Blume," with a better understanding, and 
with greater effect than any other singer your corre- 
spondent has yet heard here in this much sung seleo- 
tion. 

Teresa Carreno showed herself a Chopin performer, 
par exceUence by her thoroughly poetic rendering of 
the Prelude^ Nocturne and Polonaise, and exhibited 
her magnificent technical ability in the difficult Hun- 
garian Rhapsody, No. 2, of Liszt, which she played 
with astonishing ease of execution, and with a sphrited 
and powerful conception that could not but carry her 
listeners with her. C. F. 

Chicago, March 20. — The quiet season of Lent has 
had its effect upon our musical entertainments, for 
there have been very few concerts of late in this city* 
True, we have had one or two so-called " popular eon- 
certs," in which the sensational element has been the 
actuating influence. Among these one may class the 
Remenyi Concerts, which have recently taken place at 
Central Music HaU. Music as an art commands much 
more respect and support in the West, than may be 
supposed by the cultured people of the older Eastern 
cities ; and yet, musical progress is not a little hindered 
by a sensationalism kept alive by managers, who view 
all there is in art from its commereial side. Thus we 
have, what inay be termed, with much justice, the mu- 
sical speculator, who endeavors to bring out for public 
performance whatever he thinlu will attract the lovers 
of the sensational, and thereby bring him in that har- 
vest of dollars, for which he plans and works. Every 
announcement made in the behalf of any "popular 
concert," or musical entertainment, is filled with bom- 
bastic statements which deal alone with the superla- 
tives of the language. Thus every singer of any rank 
whatever, and all performers of even moderate talents, 
are classed as being the "greatest upon the earth," 
until our honest English is perverted beyond recogni- 
tion, and does not contain even a shadow of the truth. 
It is in these sensational announcements, made by q>ec- 
ulating manageo, that real act is bnitoeqned, and re* 



64 



DWIGfSrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1017. 



ceiree for the time being a hindnmce; for the people 
become diMatisfied with promises, which from their very 
snperlatiTe natare can have no fulfillment, and at last, 
they grow diatrustf ul of even honest efforts made for 
music by sincere and honest workers. Our musical 
journals should use their influence against this grow- 
ing sensationalism, and thus endeavor to Iceep art upon 
the foundation of truth, where it alone can ft>urish. I 
am led to make these remarks by seeing some of the 
announcements made in our city of recent concerts. 
Not long since, Mr. Gilmore's so-called "National 
Hymn " was the subject matter of a sensational circu- 
lar, and in a recent programme of a Remenyi concert, 
the Wolinist was termed a '* Modem Paganini," and 
"the universally acknowledged greatest violinist of 
the world.*' Mr. Gilmore's Hsrmn sank into a well- 
earned oblivion after its one performance, and Mr.. Re- 
menyi will have his title as " greatest in all the world," 
until the next violinist of any note is engaged to play 
in a " popular concert" in our city. That Blr. Remenyi 
is a good violinist, and a gentleman of talent, I well 
know, and that he is able to delight an audience his 
last appearance in this city made plainly manifest. 
But he should also be so much of an artist as to make 
modesty one of the elements of his very talent, and 
suppress the enthusiastic manager who wishes to ad- 
vertise him in terms that offend both the truth and 
good taste. I append a programme of one of the con- 
certs: — 

Solo: a. The Enqtdrer, Schubert. 

6. If Marti. 

Mr. Decelle. 

Quintet, Schumann. 

The Llesegang String Quartet, iftd Mine. Teresa Carreno. 

Song, Loreley : LUzt. 

Mrs. Thurston. 

Ck>neerto for violin Mendeltwohn. 

Adagio. Bondo. 
Liesegang String Quartet and E. Remenyi. 

Piano Solo Polonaise in £ minor Lttzt. 

Mme. Teresa Carreno. 
Violin Solos. 

a. Nocturne G minor Chopin. 

b. Barcarole Schubert. 

e, Valse Noble, Jiemenyi. 

Edonard Remenyi. 

Andante and Cansonetta, Mendei$9ohn. 

Llesegang String Quartet, 

Song " Devotion," Schumann, 

Mrs. Thurston. 
Violin Solo: The eelebrated Hungarian March 

Bakocsy, Compo$er nnbnottn. 

AVith martial introduction for violin, by . . . Jie$nenifi. 

fdouard Bemenyi. 

Duet: UuaNotteiu Venesia Luccmloni. 

Mrs. Thurston and Mr. Decelle. 

There has been an "Amateur Musical Club,', 
started in our city. It consists of a number of talented 
amateur lady pianists and singers. They have a re- 
union everj' two weeks, and give very enjoyable pro- 
grammes. At the last meeting a very interesting trans- 
lation from Jean Paul, upon the ''Muse of Song," was 
read befoie the society. The translation was made 
by Mr. Edward Freiberger of the Chicago Inter-Ocean. 
I append the last progiamme given by this little so- 
ciety, for it is from knowing what our amateurs are 
doing for music that we realize the condition of art in 
our city. 

Three Preludes, Nos. 1, 2, 18, Bach, 

Miss Jessie Boot. 

L'Addio. Duet, OrUlo, 

Mrs. Knickerbocker and Mr. Gill. 

a. Novelette Schuma/tau 

b. Minuet. (Boccherini) Jot^y. 

Miss Allport. 

To Earth May Winds are Bringing Schumann, 

Violin Obligato by Mr. Lewis. 
Mrs. Clarke, Miss Ward^Miss Harmon. 

Aria from " Carmen," - . . . . Bixet. 

Mrs. Bobert Clarke. 

Bondo, Op. 16, Chopin, 

Miss Van de Venter. 

a. Flower Greeting Cur$ehman. 

b. ** Ihou Heaven Blue and Bright,'* ...... Abt, 

Mrs. Clarke, Miss Ward, Miss Harmon. 

FantsJsie, Op. 27. Two Pianos, . . * Jtqff, 

Mrs. Barbour, Mrs. Haines. 

Apbii< 3. — We have had one or two more mnsical 
entertainments of importance. The first was the 
Beethoven Society's concert, which took place March 
23. The programme consisted of "Paradise Lost," 
by Rubinstein; Redemption Hynm, J. C. D. Parker; 
Aria, "Ah Perfido,*' Beethoven, Festival Chorus, 
from "Queen of Sheba," Goldmark. The society had 
the assistance of Mrs. Stacy, Mrs. Hall, Mr. Knorr, 
and Mr Gill, as soloists, and a full orchestra, under the 
direction of Carl Wolfsohn. A very large and fash- 
ionable audience greeted the Society, and in one point 
of view the ooDcert was a soocen, for the financial gala 



was enough to enable them to more than meet their 
large expenses. As a composition, Rubinstein's " Par- 
adise Lost " did not interest me as much as I expected. 
Many of the choi-uses are rich in effects, and colored 
by a descriptive orchestration. One number was par- 
ticularly striking. It was descriptive of the awakening 
of creative life, the lines running thus: 

"All around 
Rose the sound 
Of the strife 
Of Ufe; 
How it rushed 
And roared, 
How it gushed 
And poured, 
AH creation with life overflowing." 

There are a large number of recitatives for tenor, 
which at times become a little trying for the listener, 
as well as exacting upon the singer. They require a 
tenor with a powerful voice, and good dramatic poweiii. 
Blr. Knorr is a gentleman with a sweet but light voice, 
and although he sang the part with much tiiste, and 
expression, there was at times a lack of power, which 
inaicated, not that the singer was at fault, but that his 
voice was not suited to the music. A dramatic tenor 
is rather hard to obtain at the present time. Parker's 
Redemption Hvmn was well received by the audience, 
and the alto solo, which the work contains, was finely 
sung by Mrs. Hall. The grand Scena and Aria of Beet- 
hoven suffered somewhat. Mrs. Stacy has not the 
voice for such dramatic music. It requires the method 
and voice of a Parepa to do it justice. To attempt the 
great things in sons is to awaken contrasts ; to do them 
lequires powers of a high order. For a voice of a 
dramatic mould, they are fitting, but when a vocalist 
allows ambition to carry her t^yond her powers, the 
result must be any thing but satisfying. Yet I must do 
this lady the justice to say, that she wns honored bv a 
recall, and that the critics of our daily press extended 
to her the compliment of highest praises. 

Last Monday evening our old friends, the Mendel- 
sohn Quintette Club, of Boston, gave a concert in this 
city. The following was the programme: — 

Introduction and Allegro, from the Septet, " 
op. 20, arranged by the author for Quintet . Beethoven. 

Solo for Flute " On a melody by Abt," Popp. 

William Schade. 

Quartet in A, op. 41 B. Schumann. 

Grand Scene and Aria, *' Ah 'fors 6 lul," from 

LaTraviaU Verdi. 

Abbie Carrington. 

a. Cansonetta HeimendtUU. 

b. Bagatelle '* 

Larghetto, from the Clarinet Quintet Mozart. 

Fantasie for Violoncello on " Le Desir ** . . . Servait. 

Frederick Giese. 
English Ballad, " The Flower Girl " .... Bevignani. 

Abbie Carrington. 

Finale from the Septet, op. 20 Beethoven. 

Adagio and Allegro. 

The club has changed its membership since its last 
visit to Chicago, but the familiar faces of Mr. Ryan 
and Mr. Meisel recalled the old days when this organ- 
ization was introducing chamber music to Western 
audiences. • Miss Carrington was well received by our 
concert-goers, and although she did not eive us any 
very trying, or classical selections, proved nerself to be 
a very* pleasing singer. The cluo will return next 
week, and favor us with two more concerts. 

Fridav evening the Apollo Club, assisted by the 
Arion Societv of Milwaukee, gave a performance of 
Max Bruch's *' Frith jof." They were assisted by Mr. 
Remmertz, of New York, and Mrs. Elliot The- per- 
foimance was a fine one. As I gave a full description 
of the work last year in my letter to the Journal, I 
will not do more than make a record of the concert at 
this time. 

Florekce, Italy, March 17. — The munificent 
humanity of the late Prince Demidoff won for his 
memory a noble monument on the banks of the Amo, 
wherein expressive statues in white marble commemo- 
rate his worth. 

This quality of mercy is strained through a sieve of 
fantastic art into the heart of his kinsman, the actual 
Prince, who offers for sale at public auction the Palazso 
San Donate, with all its contained treasures, one-half 
the proceeds to go to the relief of the poor of Florence. 

The palace is within a short drive from tlie Cascine ; 
is planted in the midst of a vast pleasure-garden with 
pine and other evergreens, and is filled with costly china, 
carved furniture, tapestries, vases, and supplemented 
by extensive galleries of painting and sculpture. I 
found it rather an exponent of wealth than a palace of 
art It was a collection of brio-a-brac, — a magnificent 
caprice, bizarre, indiscreet, heterogeneous, expensive, — 
showing neither the outgrowth of a refined personal 
taste, as a human dwelling should do, nor any touch of 
that winnowed preciousness which marks the great pub- 
lic galleries of Europe. It is a sop or sponge of a part 
of the enormous income the Prince receives from his 
mineral resources in the UraT Mountains. 

The story goes that Peter the Great, on his return from 
Holland, and, filled with a wholesome respect for the 
mechanic arts, found himself, one day, remote from his 
capital, and the pistol that he carried not in wt>rking 



order. The Demidoff of that epoch took the weapon, 
repaired it on the spot, and returned it to the Tzar, 
who subsequently recog^nized the service by the grant 
of a barren tnict in the UraL The ingenious Prince, 
finding the land unproductive, sought below the sur- 
face, and the result was the development of quarries of 
malachite, and mines of coal and iron that were prac- 
tically inexhaustible. Let the yield of these mines, on 
its transit from the Asian frontier to Paris (the residence 
of the Prince), suffer what it may from picking and 
stealings, still the residuary income is sufficient to 
answer the coll of the costliest and most unexpected 
whiuL 

Good God I How it stirs the imagination of one 
tried by experience of poverty to tliink what a power 
for benefit lies sleeping in those Russian mines, if only 
the owner had faculty and soul enough (benefactor to 
some extent as he confessedly is), to organize relief, 
say, for the poor of one European city in the construc- 
tion, ventilation and warming of houses, the dittcon- 
tinuance of beggary, and stimulus to the lagging in- 
dustries of the people. 

Let us go back to the palace. Among all the art 
objects I saw but one that I should care to own, — a 
pamtiug by Terbure, repiesenting a Dutch burgher in 
a suit of black, witli pointed hat The father of the 
present Prince married a grand-niece of Napoleon ; and 
perhaps the most interesting group of oojocts was a 
series of portrait busts in marble of the Bonaparte 
family. There was the old lioness, Letitia, and all her 
whelps, male and female, with their handsome, unscru- 

fmlous faces, — Lucien, Joseph, Jerome, Pauline, Caro- 
iue, Napoleon, Louis. The best as well as the plainest, 
was that of Louis, King of Holland. I lingered about 
this head and found it a study of peculiar interest ; there 
were the small protrusive* eyes, the large, looeely- 
niodelled nose, and other features of Louis Napoleon, 
but blended into a kindlier look than sat upon the stolid 
face of the last usurper of the throne of France. So strik- 
ing was the resemblauce as to afford a physiological and 
artistic proof of the legitimacy of the "nephew of bis 
uncle, ' ' cleansing from stain the name of his mother, and 
blowing a certain Dutch admiral of ill-repute clean out 
of water. I^et " Napoleon the Little," then, be accorded 
the small praise of consanguinity with Napoleon the 
Great, or, in the scornful phrase of Victor Hugo, "Toi, 
sou singe, marche derri^re. Petit, petit." There is Joee- 

Ehlne with her quaint Creole features, small arched 
ices at the shoulder, and voluptuous bust And there 
the bourgeoise head of Maria Louise beside the bust of 
her son, with his thin face, abimdant hair, and specula- 
tive, ineffectual forehead. 

But if the architecture of this extensive pile is in- 
congruous, and the art within as a whole at once costly 
and meritricious, the consen-atory of plants wins un- 
qualified admiration, — enormous palms, cacU in mag- 
nificent fiower, and every variety of native and exotic 
growth flourished within the glazed domes, ~ the long 
uibyrinths and fountain-freshened recesses of the vast 
pavilion, a zone of perpetual summer filled with wafts 
of fragrance, and penetrated with fiery balm, while the 
keen winds of March were blowing outside. 

Ever>'thing is offered for sale, while a report is also 
current that the palace itself may be reserved as an 
asylum for the Tzar, should he escape explosion and be 
forced to flee from the scenes of his familiar despotism. 

The musical event of the season is the production, for 
the first time in Florence,'of Beethoven^s Ninth Sym- 
phony with the grand choral hymn. The credit of this 
achievement is entirely due to »ie. Jefte Sboici, director 
of the Florentine Orchestral Society, a gentleman who 
unites an Italian virtuosity with a quiet masterful per- 
sonal magnetism that is more frequently found in t^e 
people of the North. He has endeavored in former years 
to introduce Beethoven to an Italian audience, but with 
onlv partial success. At one concert, last year, I saw 
with mingled de,lisht and disgust that tiie Andante 
movement of the'Futh was included in the list of pieces. 
There it stood in the programme torn from its relation 
to the remainder of the Symphonv, preceded by some- 
thing from Spontini, and *f olio wed by an aria by some 
thin soprano. 

Was it owing to a maturer and more intimate feeling 
of the grandeur of the work that I enjoyed the hymn 
even more than in the old Odeon days in Boston, of 
sacred and rapturous memory. The suspended inter- 
vals of the hymn were filled with *' ravishing division " 
by the orchestra, until the chorus, stren^hened by 
repression, resumed the theme, and rolled upwards a 
thrilling and victorious tide of song. 

The orchestration of the Symphony began and pro- 
ceeded with commendable precision, under the sentient 
and commanding baton of the director, **The music 
yearning like a god in pain" until it burst into that 
triumphant Hymn to Joy, which is yet so deep as to 
search out and draw from the very source of tears. 

I should judge one half of the audience to be Italians. 
It was curious to watch the effect of this music on their 
susceptible organization. They seemed to be listening 
to moving eloquence in a foreign tongue only half un- 
derstood, but growing clearer to their apprehension 
every moment There sat near me a lady with lieht- 
olive skin, lustrous eyes, and aquiline nose, an ItsJian 
ol the Italians. She wore huge claw-hammer ear-rings 
that swung in cyclopean curves as her head bent and 
swayed to the music. The charm of this grand music 
was* cumulative, and included all the house. At the 
close the audience rose en masse and greeted the per- 
formers with wild plaudits. Sboici bowed his acknowl- 
edgments ffravely. The columns of the newspapers on 
the followkkg day kindled and confiscated with super- 
lative appreciation, and Beethoven was domesticated 
in Florence. Osb. 



April 24, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



65 



BOSTON, APRIL 24, j88o. 

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SPOHR'S "THE LAST JUDGMENT." 

From the Programme of the Handel and Haydn Society's 
Triennial Festival, May 4th to tith, (1880). 

Let not the title appall ; it is a very mild 
Last Judgment, compared with Verdi's real- 
istic and terrific picture of the awful scene in 
his Manzoni Requiem. Spohr, in this his 
second oratorio upon this subject, dwells more 
on the goodness and mercy of Grod, and on 
the reward of the righteous, than on any at- 
tempt to harrow up the imagination with 
literal and musically intensified description of 
the everlasting torture of the wicked. Most 
of the music is distinguished by that gentle, 
flowing melody, that daintily refined, some- 
times cloying sweetness of harmony, that rest- 
less, creeping, chromatic modulation and 
frequency of enharmonic changes, which is 
characteristic of all his compositions. He 
preferred to treat the gentler texts, from 
which he could create tone-poems steeped hi 
sentiment and beauty. His aim was to charm, 
rather than to astonish and to strike with awe. 
His weakness is sentimentalism rather than 
sensationalism. 

But Spohr, too, had written an earlier ora- 
torio on the same theme, which seems to have 
been sufiiciently sensational, and more in the 
vein of his opera of Faust. Thirteen yeai's 
before the present work, he brought out Dm 
Jungste Gericht (of which the present English 
title is the literal translation), once in Erfurt 
and once in Vienna (1813), since which time 
it was never heard again. Probably few now 
living ever heard of it. A Viennese criticism 
of that day speaks of a chorus of devils at 
the end of the first part as being better fitted 
for a ballet; and another writer thinks him 
successful in the choruses, and particularly in 
the part of Satan, while the rest is not 
of much account. The German title of the 
work now to be performed is Die Letzten 
Dingey another term for the Last Judgment. 
For this a noble text was prepared, mainly 
from the Book of Revelations, by the dis- 
tinguished musical scholar and critic, Rochlitz, 
and here Spohr's genius found worthier mate- 
rul to work upon. Hauptmann, in his letters 
to Hauser, alludes to a "ludicrously super- 
ficial ** biography of Spohr by Malibran, who, 
in his unbounded enthusiasm for his hero, calls 
his Letzten Dinge a musical copy of Michel 
Angelo's Last Judgment ( ! ), evidently con- 
founding the latter with the earlier oratorio. 

The Last Judgmenty as we now have it, is 
one of the chief mast«rworks of Spohr, and 
ranks, after those of Handel and of Haydn, 
as perhaps the noblest specimen of oratorio, 



until it was eclipsed by Mendelssohn. Its 
general characteristics, as a musical production, 
we have already briefly mentioned. The texts 
of the first part are all of praise and glory, 
comfort and immortal hope ; the terrors of 
the awful day are briefly but powerfully sug- 
gested, not portrayed, in the first half of the 
second part, and the oratorio concludes with 
visions of a new heaven, praise, and halle- 
lujahs. 

1. The overture is very long, opening with 
a grave and dignified Andante in D minor, 
from which soon springs the Allegro in D 
major, in which a theme in whole notes, con- 
stantly accompanied by one in quarters, is 
developed in a most interesting and exhaustive 
manner. 

2. The first chorus, "Praise his awful 
name." in F, is one of the best in the work, 
— wholesome, strong, and noble music, full 
of striking points ; and the solos for treble 
and bass, which occur in it, with their exqui- 
site accompaniment, are full of beauty. 

3. 4. Fine bits of melodic recitative for 
bass and tenor lead up to the short " Holy, 
holy " of the chorus, unaccompanied except 
by horns. 

5-8. Three short recitatives, "Behold the 
Lamb," etc., treated with great seriousness 
and with all Spohr's fine-felt modulation in 
the accompaniment, lead to the somewhat 
familiar solo and chorus, "All glory to the 
Lamb," in 6-8 measure; one of the loveliest 
numbers. 

9, 10. A more important, broadly laid-out 
solo and chorus is that on " Blessing, honor," 
etc. The tenor solo is very short ; and here 
we may remark that Spohr seems to have 
avoided putting the personal singer persist- 
ently forward, making his short bits of solo 
mostly subordinate to the general plan and 
treatment of the whole. The chorus opens 
with a very tranquil, subdued, flowing piece 
of harmony, not without canon and imitation, 
and then sets in a strong and concise fugue. 
Tenor solo and chorus conclude in a sort of 
lengthened Coda, in the same tranquil vein 
with the beginning. 

11. Tenor, followed by treble, recitative, 
"And lo! a mighty host." This is melo- 
dramatically treated, bejng mainly instrumen- 
tal, the voice but supplying brief interpretation 
to the agitated and graphic movement of the 
orchestra, which begins pianissimo and waxes 
to a climax, subsiding to a gentler accompani- 
ment as the treble voice comes in. All this, 
being in F, very gradually modulates towards 
the key of G flat major, in which the first 
part ends with 

12. Chorus and quartet, " Lord God of 
Heaven," full of rich, warm, sunset color, and 
gentle as the benediction at the end of a relig- 
ious service. 

r3. Part II. opens with another long orches- 
tral symphony, the prelude to the Day of 
Doom. We shall not attempt to describe it, 
nor the long bass recitative (No 14), announc- 
ing that " The end is near," most of which is 
delivered in detached fragments during the 
graphic melodramatic accompaniment. 

15-18. This is followed by the pleading 
and pathetic duet: "Forsake me not," to 



which gravely responds the chorus, "If with 
your whole heart ye humbly seek me," all in 
unison, except at the words, " Thus saith the 
I-«oixi." And then a short tenor recitative 
heralds in the most exciting and appalling 
number of the work, the chorus, " Destroyed 
is Babylon," which summons all the powers 
of the orchestra to its aid. The instruments 
continue at some length after the voices have 
ceased, only pausing once for* the tenor to 
announce, "It is ended." 

19-21. Soothing, beatific strains succeed: 
a sweet and gentle quartet and chorus, " Blest 
are the departed;" a soprano recitative, "I 
saw a new heaven," with a few bars of lovely 
instrumental prelude ; a short tenor recitative, 
"Behold, he soon shall come," with quartet 
response, "Then come Lord Jesus." This 
leads to the finale: 

22. The chorus, "Great and wonderful," 
which is lengthy and elaborate, including 
several distinct movements, beginning with a 
vigorous fugue in C, followed by a middle 
portion not so clear and simple as one com- 
monly expects at the end of an oratorio ; then 
soft hallelujahs echo one another as from a 
distance, and a new fugue, "Thine is the 
kingdom," sets in, losing rather than gaining 
force as it goes on, through Spohr's besetting 
mannerism of chromatic modulation, but end- 
ing grandly with loud Hallelujahs and Amen. 

J. S. 1>. 

MENDELSSOHN'S MANY PURSUITS. 



BY GEORGK grove. 



(Concluded from page 68.) 

He very rarely played from book, and his 
prodigious memory was often shown in hiu 
sudden recollection of out of the way pieces. 
Hiller has given two instances (pp. 28, 29). 
His power of retaining things casually heard 
was also shown in his extempore playing, 
where he would recollect the themes of com- 
positions which he heard then and there for 
the first time, and would combine them in the 
happiest manner. An instance of this is 
mentioned by his father, in which, after Mali- 
bran had sung five songs of different nations, 
he was dragged to the piano, and improvised 
upon them all. He himself describes another 
occasion, a " field day " at Baillot's, when be 
took three themes from the Bach sonatas and 
worked them up to the delight and astonish- 
ment of an audience worth delighting. At 
the matinee of the Society of Britbh Musi- 
cians in 1844, he took his themes from two 
compositions by C. E. Horsley and Macfarren, 
which he had just heard, probably for the 
first time — and other instances could be given. 

His extemporizing was, however, marked 
by other traits than that of memory. "It 
was," says Professor Macfarren, " as fluent and 
as well planned as a written work," and the 
themes, whether borrowed or invented, were 
not merely brought together but contrapunt- 
ally worked. Instances of this have been 
mentioned at Birmingham and elsewhere. 
His tact in these things was prodigious. At 
the concert given by Jenny Lind and himself 
oii Dec; 5, 1845, he played two songs without 
words — Bk. vi. No. i, in £6, and Bk. v. No. 
5, in A major, and he modulated from the one 



66 



nWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1018. 



key to the other by means of a regularly con- 
structed intermezzo, in which the semiquavers 
of the first song merged into the arpeggios of 
the second with the most consummate art, and 
with magical effect. But great as were his 
public displays, it would seem that, like Mo- 
zart, it was in the small circle of intimate friends 
that his improvisation was most spendid and 
happy. Those only who had the good fortune 
to find themselves (as rarely happened) alone 
with him at one of his Sunday afternoons are 
perhaps aware of what he could really do 
in this direction, and he '* never improvised 
better " or pleased himself more than when 
tf terete with the Queen and Prince Albert. 
A singular fact is mentioned by Hiller, which 
is confirmed by another friend of his : — that 
in playing his own music he did it with a 
certain reticence, as if not desiring that the 
work would derive any advantage from his 
execution. The explanation is very much in 
consonance with his modesty, but whether 
correct or not there is no reason to doubt the 
fact. 

His immense early practice in counterpoint 
under Zelter — like Mozart*s under his father 
— had given him so complete a command 
over all the resources of counterpoint, and 
such a habit of looking at themes contrapun- 
tally, that the combinations just spoken of 
came more dr less naturally to him. In some 
of his youthful compositions he brings his 
science into prominence, as in the Fugue in A 
(op. 7, No. 5) ; the Finale of the £6 stringed 
Quartet (1823); the original Minuet and 
Trio of the stringed Quintet in A (op. 18), a 
double canon of great ingenuity ; the Chorus 
in Sl Patdy " But our God," constructed on 
Ihe chorale " Wir glauben all " ; but with his 
maturity he mostly drops such displays, and 
JSUjah^ as is well known, "contain no fugues." 
In extemporizing, however, it was at his 
fingers' ends to the last He was also fond of 
throwing off ingenious canons. 

Of his organ-playing we have already spoken. 
It should be added that he settled his com- 
binations of stops before starting, and did not 
change them in the course of the piece. He 
likewise steadily adhered to the plan on which 
he set out ; if he started in three parts he con- 
tined in three, and the same with four or ^ye. 
He took extraordinary delight in the organ ; 
some describe him as even more at home there 
than on the P. F., though thb must be taken 
with caution. But it is certain that he loved 
it, and was always greatly excited when play- 
ing it 

He was fond of playing the Viola, and 
on more than one occasion took the first Viola 
part of his own Octet in public The Violin 
he learned when young, but neglected it in 
later life. He however played occasionally, 
and it was amusing to see him bending over 
the desk, and struggling with his part just as 
if he were a boy. His practical knowledge 
of the instrument is evident from his violin 
music, in which there are few difficulties which 
an ordinary good player cannot surmount. 
But this is characteristic of the care and 
thoughtfulness of the man. As a rule, in hb 
scores he gives each instrument the passages 
which suit it A few instances of the reverse 



are quoted under Clarinet (vol i. p. 363i), 
but they are quite the exception. He appears 
to have felt somewhat of the same natural 
dislike to brass instruments that Mozart did. 
At any^rate in his early scores he uses them 
with great moderation, and somewhere makes 
the just remark that the trombone is "too 
sacred an instrument " to be used freely. 

— Did. of Music and Musicians. 



MUSICAL NOTATION. 

Ix a recent number of the Journal, we became 
interested in an article on Lowell Mason, from the 
pen of the noted biographer of Beethoven, Mr. 
Thayer, in which we find the following para- 
graph : " The first step was so to explain the ele- 
mentary rules of writing and reading mu8ic, that 
every one might be made easily to understand 
them. His success in this was such that no quack 
method of * making music easy ' has ever been 
able to obtain any lasting footing in Xcw Eng- 
land ; nor does any pupil of a New England pub- 
lic school desire any other notation than such as 
was good enough for Handel and Beethoven. " 

The italicized sentence is what has prompted 
the few remarks we wish to make. 

As the sentence reads, it may be true enough 
for many reasons, but we have our doubts about 
even that ; but when we read that which lies be- 
tween the lines, that no one ought to desire any 
other notation ; that the notation good enough for 
Handel and Beethoven is good enough for every- 
body, it becomes quite another matter. To us it 
seems as absurd, as it would be to say that a nota- 
tion good enough for the preservation of the works 
of a David or Homer, is good enough for every- 
body now. A notation good enough for a Beetho- 
ven and a Handel, may be, and as we think we 
can show, is in this case altogether too good for 
people in general It goes far beyond their 
powers of readily understanding it, hence they 
cannot easily translate it into sound. 

Besides, if that logic is to rule, why not go back 
to the Handelian notation, when every voice had 
its own peculiar clef? That was good enough for 
Handel and Bach also, but it has been relegated 
in the main to the category of studies for the pro- 
fessional student, who must understand it, just as 
a professional linguist must go back and dig up 
the dead bones of a forgotten form of the lan- 
guage he wishes to master. But we doubt whether 
any one would advocate the resuscitation of those 
old clefs for the purposes of popular musical cul- 
ture. The discarding of so many clefs simply 
shows that there has been a change in the nota- 
tion since Handel's time, which has had for its 
purpose the simplifying of the means of represen- 
tation. 

Undoubtedly a Bach or Handel would have 
used the current notation, had it been ten times 
as difficult, for it was not their mission to improve 
notations. Men of their creative power would 
have been in small business had they given them- 
selves up to that work. On the other hand, had 
there not existed a notation sufficiently perfect for 
their purposes, and which, for the representation 
of instrumental music to musicians, is undoubtedly 
the best that can be devised, so far as we now see, 
these men would not have been ushered into the 
world when they were. The grand mission they 
were to fulfill, demanded that the proper material 
with which to represent their works to the world 
and preserve them for posterity should be 
ready to their hands. While the means for 
interpreting their works, the orchestral instru- 
ments, piano and organ, were sufficiently devel- 
oped for their purposes at the time, it is no less 
true that the hidden depth and power of their 
works demanded and resulted in a development 
of these means to a* degree of perfection equal to 



all demands; and because Bach preferred his 
clavichord to the pianoforte is it logical to say 
that what was good enough for Bach is good enough 
for toHlay ; or in the case of Beethoven 'i< Sonatas, 
for example, to say that the Ilammerclavier of Iris 
time is good enough for the interpretation of his 
Sonatas today ? I must say, if I may be allowed a 
side remark, that I am frank to admit that a ten- 
dency in tliat direction would be quite beneficial. 
The question therefore here involved is not what 
is good enough for a Handel or a Beetlioven. 

It is not a question as to what is the best method 
of representation for the few who spend a life- 
time in the special study of the art, nor which 
would appeal perhaps more quickly to those who, 
in the reproduction upon instruments of fixe<l 
tones, can gain to a certain degree more dexterity 
in execution (we will not say interpretation) 
tlirough the eye. Further, it is not a ques- 
tion of making music easy^ but rather of mak- 
ing music more difficult in one sense, because 
it is a question of how we can best help 
the masses of the people to think musically; 
and that is a tiling which cannot be made easy ; 
but the medium for representing the tiling to be 
thought may be open to improvements, which 
would make it much easier of mastery. Music is 
not for the cultured few, else it fails of its mission, 
and our Heavenly Father made a great mistake 
in providing so many of the sons of men with the 
most perfect tone-receiving and producing ap- 
paratus. So that the point made above is of 
vital importance to the dissemination of musical 
thought. 

Now improvement in the means for assisting 
in the development of musical thought among the 
masses, is exactly the glorious work that Lowell 
Mason did ; and all lienor be to him for what he 
did, but it does not necessarily f<^low that he 
made all the improvements necessary, that he was 
the ne plus ultra. We must remember that the 
most of his work was done when the helps to the 
analysis of musical thought, wliich science and 
philosophy have given us, were in the bud, but 
just being developed. And secondly, we want to 
remember in what that improvement consisted. 
Setting aside the beneficent effects of his intro- 
duction of the Pestalozzian method of teaching, 
this improvement is seen when we contrast the 
old Italian method of syllabic teaching, which is 
held on to, to this day, with a tenacity inexpli- 
cable, by many of our best educated musicians, 
and the movable Do system. The former sys- 
tem consisted in representing an absolute or arbi- 
trarily named tone, C, by the same syllable, no 
matter what its position. The latter was based 
upon the idea that relationship is the thing to be 
learned ; that C, in one position or surrounded by 
certain tones, has an effect which was termed Do, 
but when it is surrounded by another set of 
tones, it presents a totally different effect, and to 
call it by the same mnemonic would result in con- 
fusion, especially as in its new surroundings 
another tone has usurped its throne, and conveys 
the same relative meaning which the former occu- 
pant C did. Mason was clear-sighted enough to 
see the immense advantage of the latter method, 
because it was in accordance with the nature of 
most people. Now it is not strange, nor does it 
show the want of intelligence or a desire to pro- 
mote quackery, or make music easier, that when 
the proper time came, people felt the* necessity of 
departing from the beaten paths, made by the 
fathers ; felt the necessity for improvement. We 
say that it is not strange that this change was 
needed, because the methods of thought had 
changed. These two systems are based upon 
two totally different methods of tone thought. 
The immovable Do system sprang out of the 
necessities of the case ; for with the old system 
of Ecclesiastical keys, tones were essentially 



April 24, 1880.] 



BWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



67 



absolute, and relationship arbitrary and artificial. 
C was the same tone essentially, because its 
effect was essentially the same, whether found in 
the Dorian, Phrygian or any other — ian mode, 
and hence, in accordance with that fact, they 
gave it always the same mnemonic, for the sylla- 
bles were only used for mnemonic purposes. But 
with the growth of harmony and tlie establish- 
ment of our modern tonalities, the metliod 
of thought has been revolutionized, and tones 
arc no more absolute, nor artificially related, but 
are found to have each its special mental effect, 
according to its key relationship, and hence the 
mnemonic methods for helping the tliought of the 
people needed to. be revolutionized. The change 
was simply a better adaptation of means to ends. 
Now this undoubtedly produced favorable results, 
but these results have been solely in assisting the 
mind to grasp the relationship, when that rela- 
tionship has been pointed out, that is, when the 
student has found out, for example, that two tones 
represented stand in the relation of tonic and 
dominant, the mnemonics assist the mind to a 
conception of the relationship itself; but it has 
not been of any assistance to the determination 
of what relationship is expressed in the repre- 
sentation. On the contrarv in some cases, it has 
the effect of muddling matters considerably, and 
we tliink it is a question open to serious debate : 
If the change from a mnemonic means for assist- 
ing the mind in right tone thought, based upon 
the old system of tonalities, to one based upon 
the new, has wrought such good results, is it not 
reasonable to expect like good results, if a sys- 
tem of representation like our staff notation, 
which grew out of the same old root, the old sys- 
tem of tonalities, should be replaced by a nota- 
tion based upon the principles of the modern 
system and methods of thought, especially if this 
system of notation contained within itself the 
mnemonic power which has proved so effective. 
In discussing this question we must consider what 
the staff notation does and does not represent, 
and what it ought to represent. Historically the 
staff grew out of the attempt to represent the 
rise and fall of tones the numai indicating the 
pitch name at first, but eventually transferring 
their original function to the lines themselves, and 
changing their forms, assumed the power of 
rhythmic representation. The idea of relation- 
ship as we understand it, was far from being 
a factor, since the idea of scale key-note was 
a very vague one, and at one time was virtually 
lost, because purely artificial means like the 
tropes were invented to indicate the beginning 
and ending tone. And the idea of a tonic was 
not once thought of. The signatures are the 
result of a growth of modem tonalities, and the 
only thing about the notation which at all assists 
the mind to a ready comprehension of the true 
relationship of tones. Now if we examine into 
what the staff notation does not represent, we 
find a marked deficiency, considering how 
remarkably it has lent itself to the needs of har- 
mony, when once its inferential mysteries have 
been mastered. 

The staff notation does not represent key or 
mode relationship except indirectly. This is evi- 
denced by the fact that it oftentimes causes the 
skilled harmony analyst considerable thought to 
determine the true relationship hidden in the 
notes; and it is but comparatively lately that 
prominent musicians were in the habit of piftting 
a sharp for a fiat, and vice versa, in the most indis- 
criminate way ; and it is not an uncommon thing 
now even to see diminished chords, or the aug- 
mented chords, put together in a way as mislead- 
ing as ludicrous. 

For example, we lately came across the follow- 
ing representation of the augmented six-five chord 
in D minor. 




Another notable instance of misrepresentation 
may be found in Novcllo's edition of the Messiah, 
in the chorus, " And with his stripes, " which is 
represented as belonging in C minor, whereas it is 
a fugue in F minor, with answers in the minor domi- 
nant. Now this could not be done with a notar 
tion which represented true tonic relationship. 
But let us go a little further, and take, for exam- 
ple, the following from Beethoven's Mass in C 



£ 



^^ 



ta: 



i---i 



fcw=i=F 



+ 



J=:=J 



A - men 



A - men 



men 




men 



A - men. 



Now what assistance does the staff give in deter- 
mining the relationship of the tones to the key 
tone ? What assistance does even the signature 
render ? 

What is there to indicate that there is a modu- 
lation from C to £6, D6 and back to C ? 

The only representation here is that of a purely 
interval relationship, that is, tliat from C to D is 
a major second, and D to £6 a minor second and 
so on. But even that is not truly represented, 
because the true character of the interval is deter- 
mined by the key, or mode. That is, since we 
have two kinds of major seconds, which are deter- 
mined by their key position, the true character of 
any major second, represented on the staff, will 
therefore depend upon a knowledge of its key 
relationship. The first D in the above example, 
in its purely interval relation to C, will be larger 
or smaller according to whether it belongs to the 
dominant of C or the dominant of £6. Hence it 
is obvious that the only possible way for a singer 
to understand this passage is by determining the 
key ; and that he can only do by analyzing the har- 
monic progression, which is determined by an ex- 
amination of the whole score. Now how many 
can gain a sufficient knowledge of harmonic analy- 
sis to enable them to determine the key relation 
of any tone by a glance at the score, and how 
many can gain such a knowledge of absolute pitch 
(if there be such a thing in reality) as to deter- 
mine it in any other way ? 

We leave tlie thousands of stumbling guess-work 
readers throughout the country to answer that 
question. According to present methods the ma- 
jority have all they can do to determine even the 
absolute names of the tones of a single part, trans- 
lating the character into sound, mainly by a guess- 
work method. 

But we gdn another and perhaps clearer view 
of the real difficulty, if we examine into the men- 
tal processes every individual has to go through 
vrith, consciously or unconsciously, slowly, tediously 
or quickly, almost intuitively according to the 
amount of time one has had for study, together 
with a genius for the thing. 

These mental processes are first, determining 
what the tone is, namely, c, d, or e, etc. ; second, 
what the key is ; third what relation tlie tone rep- 
resented sustains to the key. We can cut out the 
second, and attempt to determine the new tone's 
character by the tone just preceding. But that is 
a precarious method. If anything like certainty 
is desired, or true intonation, these three steps 
must be taken whenever the staff notation is used ; 
and, given but one part, the singer is absolutely at 
sea, or given the score, even, he is in a similar con- 
dition, unless he has had special training in har- 
monic and melodic analysis. 



The question resolves itself, therefore, into the 
simple one, whether a notation is possible which 
would eliminate any of these steps ; certainly, a 
notation which eliminated the second only, would 
be an advantage, as it would remove the most 
difficult. If, for example, in connection with our 
staff notation, any simple method could be devised 
of indicating the key tone, in every modulation, it 
would be a great help. But a notation that would 
eliminate the first and second, and directly express 
the third, which really contains the others, would 
be, other things being equal, of the greatest bene- 
fit to singers in general. By other things being 
equal, we mean, as simple in its method of repre- 
senting all the rhythms used by singers, and as 
cheaply printed. 

Now such a notation is not only possible, but is 
already at hand, — a notation which does just 
exactly what was ncseded, represents the tonic 
relationship directly, and also in a simple manner 
all the rhythms used by singers, and can be 
printed much more cheaply than the staff nota- 
tion. A notation which is backed up by the best 
results during more than a quarter of a century's 
trial ; that has the sanction of such men as a Sed- 
ley Taylor, Sir Alexander £llis, and llelmholtz, 
and the enthusiastic support of a constituency 
numbering its hundreds of thousands. A nota- 
tion which sprang up, not out of theories, but 
practical experience, and around which has grown 
up a method of choral development that, while it 
adapts itself to the masses, goes to the tap roots 
of all musical thought, and produces in its stu- 
dents genuine musical thinkers. 

This notation and system of musical develop- 
ment is known as the Tonic-Sol-Fa system, which 
has done, and is doing more for the production of 
singers in England than all others combined ; and 
to any one who thinks that a notation which was 
good enough for a Handel or a Beethoven is good 
enough for everybody, we would recommend the 
careful study of the Tonic Sol-Fa notation and 
method. C. B. Cady. 

Dktboit, Feb. 17, 1880. 



LISZT'S FAUST SYMPHONY. 

From the London TlmM, Murch 12. 
The 16th of Mr. Walter Bache's annual con- 
certs was given on Thursday night at St. James's 
Hall, before a numerous audience. Mr. Bache, 
our readers are aware, is a faithful disciple of 
Liszt, and to the propagation of that maker's 
fame, much more than to the display of his own 
skill as a pianist, his concerts are usually devoted. 
It is, indeed, very doubtful whether, without Mr. 
Bache's unselfish and energetic endeavors, much 
of Liszt's music would have been heard in this 
country, and to him London amateurs mainly owe 
their acquaintance with one of the most extraor- 
dinary artistic individualities of modern times. 
The chief piece of Thursday night's concert was 
Liszt's Faust Symphony, the other components of 
the programme being Mozart's overture to ^* The 
Magic Flute, " and Chopin's pianoforte concerto 
in F minor, the orchestral accompaniments of 
which have been ably re-written by Herr Klind- 
worth. The solo part was played in his best style 
by Mr. Bache, who earned the unanimous ap- 
plause of the audience. To speak adequately of 
so complicated and original a work as Liszt's 
Faust Symphony, is for the present impossible. 
Liszt, according to the verdict of enemies as well 
as friends, has here reached the climax of his 
power, and the subject, indeed, is well adapted to 
draw forth all the mental resources of an artist. 
It is curious to note how the irresistible fascina- 
tion of Groethe's Faust has stimulated the most 
differently gifted composers to efforts commen- 
surately various. No greater contrast can be 
imagined than that existing between the unsophis- 
ticated incidental music supplied by Prince Rad« 



68 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1018, 



ziwill and the mystic strains with which Schu- 
mann has accompanied Goethe's words, or be- 
tween the thoroughly human and thoroughly dra- 
matic treatment to be found in Gouno<r8 opera 
and the curious mixture of romantic and classic 
elements which Arrigo Boito has drawn from the 
two parts of Goethe's tragedy. Wagner's Faust 
Overture is avowedly but a fragment, and Beetho- 
ven's long cherished wish to wed Gk>ethe's words 
to music has, alas ! remained a wish. 

Liszt's Faust Symphony differs in toto from all 
previous and subsequent treatments of the same 
subject. It has, indeed, little in common with his 
own musical illustrations of other poetic subjects, 
technically known as " symphonic poems. " Take, 
for instance, " Mazeppa, " the symphonic poem 
most familiar to English audiences. Here an ex- 
ternal incident — the mad career of the horse — 
has given the chief suggestion to the musician, 
who throughout attempts to illustrate the course 
of the story in a more or less symbolic manner. 
All this is different in the present work. Here 
Liszt has almost entirely avoided any allusion to 
the dramatic situations of the tragedy. All he 
gives us is a delineation of the tliree principal 
characters — Faust, Marguerite, Mephistophelcs 
— in their various psychological developments, 
a kind of denouement being suggested only at the 
end by the introduction of Goethe's chorus mysti- 
ct«, wliich indicates Faust's final salvation and 
reunion with the sublimated form of his earthly 
love. The intention of Liszt, such as we have 
ventured to interpret it, is sufficiently indicated 
by tlie names of the dramatis persona already 
mentioned attached to the three movements of 
which the symphony consists. 

A further explanation or programme tlie com- 
poser himself has not vouchsafed. But something 
of that nature is supplied in a recent able article 
in one of the German musical papers, the anony- 
mous author of which is evidently one of Liszt's 
most intimate friends, and therefore may at least 
claim what politicians call " semi-official " authori- 
ty. According to tliis source the Faust Symphony, 
and more especially the first movement, is designed 
to depict man himself in all his longings, aspira- 
tions, and sufferings. With that explanation the 
structure of the opening movement is in perfect 
accord. If Liszt had wished to render the indi- 
vidual Faust of the tragedy, the words of Goethe, 
"Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach I in meiner Brust, " 
would have supplied him almost naturally with a 
first and second theme, the melodic materials at 
the same time of an orthodox symphonic move- 
ment. But orthodoxy in musical matters is not 
the mental attitude of Liszt. The changes of key 
and of tempo follow each other with bewilderin<r 
frequency. We have in rapid succession, lento 
assai, allegro agitato, and so forth ; the only dis- 
tinct impression which after the first movement 
remains being the grand and impressive themes 
identified throughout the work with Faust The 
second movement, surnamed " Marguerite," is of 
a tender, melodious charficter; and the chief 
theme first given to the oboe is more especially of 
great loveliness. In the further course of move- 
ment a rhythmical phrase is evidently designed to 
indicate Marguerite's tender question^ "Er liebt 
mich — liebt mich nicht ? " thus in a manner sug- 
gesting the garden scene in the play, a suggestion 
further emphasized by the appearance of the 
Faust motive, which in combination with the ma- 
terials already referred to leads to developments 
of passionate beauty. But a very ideal tone is 
throughout sustained, and the allusion to an indi- 
vidual pair of lovers is very slight 

The third movement supplies the place of the 
orthodox scherzo, and the ironical laughter of 
Mephistopheles, who has given it his name, is 
Jieard from the beginning. The nature of the 



fiend is indicated by Liszt in a very ingenious man- 
ner. He is the " Spirit who denies, " the sarcas- 
tic critic of the universe. He accordingly has no 
melodic embodiment of his own ; all he can do is 
to laugh at and pervert the motives of his intended 
victim, Faust. The themes characteristic of the 
latter in the opening movement here accordingly 
i-e-appear in the most curious distortions, showing 
the ascendency gained over Faust's higher aspira- 
tions by tlie evil principle. The pure womanhood 
of Marguerite alone is proof against the fiend's 
I)Ower, and her melody is heard again in its pris- 
tine sweetness. 

By a sudden transition we are at last trans- 
ferred from the weird atmosphere of the Mephis- 
tophelian movement to the purer heights, where 
the mystic chorus intones Goethe's "All that 
passes away is but a semblance " to a grave melody 
suggestive of the canto fermo of the Catholic ser- 
vice. To the words, " The eternal-womanly draws 
us onwards, " the tenor solo enters with tlie Mar- 
guerite motive, and soon the movement, and with 
it the symphony, comes to a triumphant close. 
The impression of the work on tlie audience was 
evidently of a most powerful kind, the beautiful 
melodies of the second movement especially being 
received with marked favor. Even the most hos- 
tile critic must admit that here more than ordinary 
genius has been brought to bear on a tlieme of 
more than ordinary sublimity. 



(From the Athenaeum,) 
The title " Symphony " in the ordinary accept- 
ation of the term, is a misnomer here ; tlie name 
given by Liszt to other compositions similar in 
form though smaller in scale — that of "sym- 
phonic poem" — would be more appropriate. 
Some critics have found fault with the work as 
liaving no " form." Nothing can be more erron- 
eous. Those who from its name looked for the 
plan of Beethoven's or Mendelssohn'^ symphonies 
would doubtless be disappointed. We have here 
a combination of the orthodox form with that of 
the variation ; and the design of the work is so 
novel that it is hardly surprising that those who 
heard it without previous acquaintance with the 
score should be unable to follow its structure. In 
order to understand the music, it is needful to 
bear in mind that Liszt entitles it a symphony 
"in drei Characterbildem'* — in three character- 
pictures ; and that he presents us not with scenes 
from Goethe's drama, but with a musical por- 
trayal of the characters of Faust, Gretchen, and 
Mephistopheles. The first movement is occu- 
pied with Faust — his doubts, his despair, his 
noble aspirations. All these are depicted in the 
various themes, and the form is in its general 
outline (exposition, development, repetition) pre- 
cisely tliat of a Beethoven symphony, though the 
details are considerably modifiecl, particularly as 
regards the sequence of keys. The slow move- 
ment, which represents Gretchen, is on a first 
hearing the most readily appreciable part of the 
work; the melodies are remarkable for purity 
and beauty. In the course of the developments 
the Faust themes appear in an entirely changed 
though easy recognizable form, the idea of the 
composer being evidently to show how the char- 
acter of Faust was modified by the influence of 
Gretchen. The third movement, "Mephisto- 
pheles," is in some respects the most striking 
portion of the symphony. Mephistopheles is the 
sph-it of negation, " der Geist der stets vemeint ; " 
he mocks at Faust's doubts and despair, he scoffs 
at his high aspirations. Accordingly we find 
here no theme characterizing tlie fiend himself, 
but, instead of this, Liszt, with rare poetic 
insight, has given us a parody, a distorUon, a 
" blackguardizing " (if the word may be excused) 
of the whole of the Faust themes. A bitter, 
ironical, sardonic tone is the chief characteristic 



of this finale^ which is almost throughout a para- 
phrase of the first movement, with all Uie pathos 
and all the nobility taken out of it. A jx^iut 
worthy of notice, as showing how thoroughly the 
composer has entered into the spirit of tlie work, 
occurs in the course of this movement where the 
Gretchen theme is introduced. " An die," «iys 
Mephistopheles, "Ao/ZicA keine Geicalt;" and 
while every tiling else i^ caricatured and burles- 
qued, the lovely melody associated with Gretchen 
appears in all its original purity. The Mephis- 
topheles movement leads without a pause to a 
final chorus for male voices — Goethe's ' Chorus 
Mysticus,' " AUes vergdnffliche ist nur ein Gleich- 
niss" in which, at the words " Das Eurig- Weib- 
llcke zieht uns hinan," the Gretchen theme is once 
more appropriately introduced. From this brief 
outline it will be seen that the * Faust ' Symphony 
is highly intellectual. Those who regard music 
as a merely sensuous enjoyment would find little 
in this work to suit their taste. There arc, it is 
true, passages of extreme beauty, and there is 
much gorgeous orchestral coloring; but witliout 
the clue to its meaning it is impossible to un<ler- 
stand it, and it is probable tliat a large majority 
of the audience left St. James's Hall with merely 
tlie impresMon tliat tliey had been listening fur 
more than an hour to some of the most extraor- 
dinary noises tliat ever entered tlieir ears. On 
the other hand, many will doubtless be ready to 
endorse our decided conviction that the sym- 
phony is one of the most remarkable and interest- 
ing works of modern times. 



JOACHIM RAFF. 

Translated from "UeberLaiid luid Meer," 

IIT W^M. ARMSTRONG. 

Joachim Raff was bom on the 27th of May, 1822, 
in Laclien, Canton Schwyz, his parents having 
removed to that place from the Wiirtembergian 
village of Wiesemtetten, district of Horb, in the 
Black Forest, shortly before his birth. 

He obtained his literary education at institutions 
in Wiirtemberg, and the Jesuit Lyceum in Schwyz 
(a school that he still has in the warmest remem- 
brance), remaining in the latter institution until his 
eighteenth year. He left the Lyceum with the 
most brilliant testimonials, but was unhappily 
unable to pursue his studies further at a university. 
Finding himself prepared, however, he accepted a 
position as teacher in an institution of learning. 

At this early period his study of music exhibited 
itself by industrious application to several instru- 
ments. The result was different attempts at com- 
position. Raff was not of a disposition to decide 
the most important questions of life in a light man- 
ner. He knew that only too often the love for a 
particular calling is mistaken for the qualification. 
Wrestling with a feeling of disbelief in his own 
talent for composition, he turned to Mendelssohn for 
advice, sending him several of his productions for 
examination. Tlie warm recommendation of these 
compositions, on the part of Mendelssohn, to one of 
the first publishing houses (Breitkopf & H&rtel), 
followed soon after by the publication of his first 
works, in the year 1843, encouraged the young tone- 
poet to such an extent that, notwithstanding the 
opposition of his parents, he decided to dedicate his 
powers entirely to music. 

Like a Deiis ex machina, Liszt appeared in Switzer- 
land in 1845. Perceiving the great talent of Raff, 
he made him a generous offer to accompany him 
on a projected tour through Germany. Raff gladly 
accepted the proffered honor, accompanying the 
mastar on his travels through entire Germany. 
They separated in the border town of Cologne, 
Liszt going thence to Paris, Raff remaining for some 
time a resident of the fonner city. 

During his stay there he made the personal 
acquaintance of Mendelssohn, who interested him- 
self for him to a great degree, making him the 
proposition to remove to Ijcipzig, and, under his 
direction, to continue his musical studies. As Raff 
was about to accept this kindly invitation, Men- 



April 24, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



60 



delssohn died, in the autumn of 1847, having hardly 
completed his thirty-eighth year. 

Raff had, in the meantime, worked very assidu- 
ously, applying himself, also, to musical literature. 
From Cologne, he contributed to the Cucilia (a work 
edited by the celebrated theorist, S. W. Dehn, in 
Berlin) some very valuable and widely comprehen- 
sive articles. 

Meanwhile the desire grew very strong in Raif to 
establish bis home in one of the larger cities of 
Germany. Liszt again took him by the hand. 
With a recommendation from the master to a 
Viennese publisher by the name of Karl Mechetti, 
Raff undertook the journey to the Austrian 
metropolis ; but while on the way hither he learned 
of the death of Mechetti, and immediately decided 
to return to his fatherland, Wiirtemberg. During 
the ensuing period he remained in Stuttgart, where 
he composed his first great works, among others the 
four-act opera " Ktinig Alfred." 

Billow, who at that time made a protracted stay 
in Stuttgart, learned to know and value Raff, and 
in one of his concerts before the Stuttgart public, 
introduced several of his compositions, one of which 
Raff had just completed and given to the pianist 
two days before; he playing it without notes; 
both player and composer were rewarded with a 
storm of applause. 

For the further pursuit of his studies Stuttgart 
failed to offer enough opportunities; and, besides 
this, it was the revolutionary year of 1848-49, — 
that period which so seriously affected art and 
music. On this account. Raff journeyed to Ham- 
burg, where he again met Liszt ; shortly after, he 
accompanied him to Weimar. There, in an atmos- 
phere laden with the highest love of art. Raff found 
at last the deepest appreciation for his ripened 
talent, associating, as lie did, with the local and 
many visiting art notabilities. In Weimar he wrote 
his first chamber music ; different oompositions for 
piano; songs; overtures; the orchestral suite in 
E minor; the 12l8t Psalm for soli, chorus and 
orchestra ; the Ballade : " Traum Konig," and " Die 
Liebesfee;" a concert number for violin and 
orchestra ; the music to the drama " Bernhard von 
Weimar," by Wilhelm Genast; and revised Iiis 
opera "Konig Alfred," which was given at that 
time at the court theatre in Weimar. From this 
last composition, Liszt arranged two numbers for 
the piano. 

Not only as an artist, but in social circles also. 
Raff understood how to make friends. When Ber- 
lioz (who did not understand the German language) 
was in Weimar, at a banquet given in his honor, it 
was Raff who made his speech at table in Latin — 
an attention which astonishell and delighted that 
gifted Frenchman. 

While in Weimar, Raff engaged himself to the 
talented actress, Doris Genast, a grand-daughter of 
the well-known character delineator, for whom 
Goethe had such preference. As this lady soon 
afterwards accepted an engagement at the court 
theatre in Wiesbaden, he followed her in the year 
1856. 

Raff was very soon the most noted music teacher 
in Wiesbaden. All of the time devoted to his muse 
was occupied in sketching new works. Meanwhile 
followed his marriage in 1850, from which union a 
promising daughter is the issue. 

After Raff had won for himself fame, both at 
home and abroad, through his symphony " An das 
Vaterland," which was crowned with a prize in 
Vienna, and numerous other larger works, he gave 
up private teaching entirely, in the year 1870J deter- 
mining to live only for his family and his art. To 
this period of ideal retirement, only^roken in upon 
for a few hours at a time by the visits of artist 
friends, is the musical world indebted for his most 
important works, including: the "Wald Sym- 
phonic," the " Leonore " symphony, the heroic opera 
of "Samson" (the text of which he had written 
himself several years before), the comic opera of 
"Dame Kobold," which was given in the year 1870, 
in Weimar — a number of two and four-hand com- 
positions for the piano, choruses, an octet, a sextet, 
eight string quartets, trios, piano quartet and quin- 
tet, concertos for the violin, violoncello, and piano ; 
besides the three aforementioned symphonies, five 



others, arrangements of different compositiofts by 
Bach, etc., etc. All of these first saw the light in 
Wiesbaden. 

After twenty-one years of such extraordinarily 
fruitful labor, Raff left Wiesbaden, in the autumn 
of 1877, to accept a position which had been offered 
him, as director of the newly-founded " Hoch's Con- 
servatory" for music, in Frankf ort-on the-Main. 
In a short time he had procured for this institution 
several very celebrated artists as instructors : Clara 
Schumann, Cossman, Bohme, Stockhausen, Ur- 
spruch, Gleichauf , Heermann. 

The Conservatory was opened for instruction in 
the spring of 1878, with sixty pupils, the number 
being increased to one hundred and thirty-nine 
before the close of the year. 

Although Raff never exerted himself to obtain 
outward distinction, high honors have been con- 
ferred upon him by princes, and both home and 
foreign musical societies, that would require too 
much space to mention here. Notwithstanding all 
this. Raff has preserved a very great degree of 
modesty. A mark thereof is that works of all the 
old and new classical masters are played at " Hoch's 
Conservatory," with the exception of one, and that 
one. Raff. This trait of his character is also well 
illustrated in the following : so long as Frau Raff 
(who was known as an excellent actress played at 
the theatre in Wiesbaden, he never attended the 
representations. 

In his intercourse, amiable and communicative, 
he understands, as few others, how to stimulate and 
instruct young and striving artists, so that they are 
very fond of seeking him out (fonder than can 
sometimes prove agreeable to him), to listen to his 
conversation, ^hich is full of droll and spicy sallies 
of wit. 

A detailed catalogue of Raffs works, of which 
over two hundred have already appeared, is con- 
tained in that excellent work, "Mendel's Musi- 
kcUisches Conversationa-Lexicon. 

Of course his latest work, which has just been 
completed, is not mentioned. It is his ninth sym- 
phony, entitled "In Summer," being the second 
number of a cyclus ; the eighth, " Spring," being 
intended for the first. The tenth and eleventh sym- 
phonies, according to this, will be descriptive of 
autumn and winter. The musical world will await 
the appearance of this work with great interest 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

Leipzig. — Holy week was the occasion of some 
fine musical performances at the St. Thomas 
Church ; especially that of Bach's St. Matthew 
Passion Music, under the direction of Reinecke. 
The Viennese pianist, Robert Fischhof, of estab- 
lished reputation in Austria, gave a concert on the 
24th ult., at the theatre, with the aid of the Ge- 
wandhaus orchestra. He obtained a great and a 
legitimate success in the F-minor concerto of Cho- 
pin and the fourth Rhapsodie of Liszt. The 
directors of the Gewandhaus concerts have put in 
competition (confined to German and Austrian 
architects,) plafis for the construction of the pro- 
posed new music hall. Two prizes, one of 3,000 
marks, the other of 2,000, will be awarded to the 
two best plans. 

Weissheimer's opera, Meister Martin und seine 
Gesellen, was performed for the first time at the 
Stadt theatre, on the Otl^ March, and, though not 
of equal merit throughout, well received by the 
public. The story has already furnished a libretto 
for Herr Kruk, now chorus-master at the Carlsruhe 
Theatre, and another for F. W. Tschirch, conduc- 
tor at the Theatre in Gera. — The proceeds of the 
nineteenth Gewandhaus Concert were devoted to 
charitable purposes. The programme comprised 
only two compositions; Mendelssohn's Walpurgis- 
nacht and Beethoven's Choral Symphony. 

The programme of the twentieth Gewandhaus 
Concert comprised an air by Beethoven and Swed- 
ish Songs, sung by Mile. Louise Pyk, of Stock- 
holm; Chopin's Piano-Forte Concerto in E minor; 
and Piano-Forte Solos (Prelude and Fugue in A 
minor, J. S. Bach ; " Des Abends," R. Schumann ; 
" Elfenspiel," Hey mann), played by Herr Heymann, 
of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Both lady and gentle- 



man were liberally applauded. The orchestral 
pieces were Weber's overture to "Oberon" and 
Gade's Symphony in A minor. No. 8. 

— Cologne. — An International Singing Match 
will be held here in August. The Emperor Wilhelm 
has given a gold medal, the Empress Augusta an 
object of art, and the Prince von Hohenzollem two 
gold medals, to be distributed as prizes. The Min- 
ister of Public Instruction contributes for the same 
purpose 1,500 marks; the Administrative Council 
of the Province, 3,000; the City of Cologne, 2,000; 
the Cologne Men's Vocal Association an object of 
art, worth 1,000, and the Kolnische Zeitung, 600, 
while innumerable other contributions are promised 
on all sides. 

Berlin. — Stemscher-Gesangverein (Feb. 20) , 

Oratorio, "Samson" (Handel). Wagner society 

(Feb. 27) : Prelude to " Die Meistersinger," and 

first act from "Walk tire" (Wagner). Singaka- 

demie (March 19) : St. Matthew Passion-music 

(Bach), and (March 26) Oratorio "Dcr Tod Jesu" 

(Graun). 
The series of Subscription Concerts at the Sing- 

academie was brought to a close by a fine perform- 
ance of Handel's Saul. — Among the pianists who 
have lately given concerts here are Herren Biilow, 
Rubinstein, Saint-Saens, Moszkowski, and Hey- 
mann. 
Adolphe Adam's one-act comic opera, La Potip^ de 

Nnremlterg, has been produced (under the title of 
Die Nurnherger Puppe) at the Friedrich-Wilhelm- 
stildtisches Theatre, but not, as the bills erroneously 
announce, for the first time in Berlin. It was per- 
formed at the same theatre between 1850 and 1800. 
Mdme. KiichenmeisterRudersdorf, since well-known 
in London, assuming the principal female part. — 
There have been plenty of concerts lately. Fore- 
most among them may be mentioned the concert 
given in the Singacademie by Mdlle. Jlonka von 
Rawasz, a young Magyar lady, a pupil of Franz 
Liszt's. She was assisted by Mdlle. Marianne Stre- 
sow and Herr Moritz Moszkowski. — By the per- 
mission of Herr von Hiilsen, Robert le Diabte^ Un 
Ballo in Maschera, and Gounod's Faust, will be 
included this season in the repertory at Kroll's. — 
M. Camille Saint-Sacns has just composed and 
dedicated to the Countess von Schlienitz a four- 
hand pianoforte piece founded on Heine's poem, 
and entitled " Konig Harfagar." It is published by 
Bote and Bock. 

Bonn. — The monument to Schumann will be 
inaugurated on the second of May. A grand con- 
cert will be given in the evening under the direc- 
tion of Joachim and of Wasielewski (Schumann's 
biographer). The E flat (" Cologne ") Symphony, 
the Requiem Jur Mignon, and the Manfred music of 
Schumann will be performed ; and the violin con- 
certo of Brahms will be played by Joachim. There 
will also be a musical matin<^e devoted to Schu- 
mann on the third. 



St. Petersburg. — The London Figaro, of April 
3, says : 

Correspondence from St. Petersburg speaks with 
enthusiasm of the production a fortnight ago, under 
the direction of the composer, of M. Rubinstein's 
new opera, " Kalaschnikoff." The libretto is in the 
national Russian language, and is the work of a 
native, M. Nayravnik. The scene is laid at Mos- 
cow, in the reign of the Czar Ivan IV., sumamed the 
Terrible. This monarch, hated by his people, and 
fearful of his life, confided his safety to the hands 
of his private guards, the celebrated Oprichniks, 
whose duty it was to secure the safety of their 
sovereign against real or imaginary enemies. These 
Oprichniks, brave as they were, had social powers 
which were almost unlimited, and the populace 
were given up to the unbridled license of the sol- 
diers. One 01 the body, the favorite of the Czar, 
has, we find, dishonored the wife of Kalaschnikoff, 
a rich merchant, who, swearing vengeance against 
the villain, challenges him in one of the tourna- 
ments which were among the amusements of the 
court, and kills him. For this offence the merchant 
is condemned to death by the Czar Ivan, who, how- 
ever, in accordance wit^ the dictates of rough and 
Russian justice, promises to guard his wife and 
children against further harm, and to transfer the 
privileges of commerce to his brother. M. Rubin- 
stein's music is described by competent critics as 
purely symphonic. To the choral and instrumental 



70 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1018. 



masses the chief portions of the opera are assigned, 
the solos being very few, and the chief personages 
of the drama bearing their portion of the music 
chiefly in declamatory recitative. M. Rubinstein, 
it is stated, makes free use of the leitmotif, but 
although his work is not a little tedious, it is by no 
means devoid of melody. Written in granaiose 
style, the religious choruses made a special impres- 
sion ; while the baritone Korsoff, in tiie part of the 
merchant who gives his name to the opera, and the 
tenor Stravinsky, in the role of Ivan the Terrible 
were, it is said, admirable. At present the opera is 
in the Russian language, but it will probably soon 
be translated into German, and probably also into 
French. 

Moscow. — Henri Wieniawski, the great violinist, 
died here in the beginning of this month. He was 
biom at Lublin, Poland, July 10, 1835. He entered 
the Conservatory of Paris as a pupil in 1843, and 
received instruction on the violin from Clavel and 
Massart, and took lessons in harmony from Colet. 
He gave his first concert in Europe in 1852, and sub- 
sequently visited most of the great cities of Europe. 
He came to New York in the fall of 1872, with 
Rubinstein, and made his first appearance at Stein- 
way Hall, on September 23. After concluding his 
engagement with Rubinstein, he gave a series of 
concerts in New York and Brooklyn during the fol- 
lowing season. While he was thus engaged, in 
December, 1873, he was offered the position of pro- 
fessor of the classe de perfectionmeat in the violin 
section of the Brussels Conservatory of Music, suc- 
ceeding M. Vieuxtemps, who was compelled to 
retire by ill health from the position. He accepted 
the office and entered upon his duties in 1876. 
During the month of January, 1874, he gave a series 
of concerts with M. Victor Maurel, the baritone, at 
that time, of the Strakosch Opera Troupe, and in 
the following spring he returned to Europe. Wie- 
niawski was a man of large stature and command- 
ing presence. His hair and moustache were jet 
black, and he weighed fully two hundred and fifty 
pounds. His manner of playing was at once the 
wonder and admiration of all violinists. His bow- 
ing was magnificent, the delicacy of his staccato 
playing being a special feature of his performance, 
every note in a nm of four octaves in one bow being 
given with an easy grace and perfect tone that 
could not be surpassed. He never appeared to 
exert himself, and in the most intricate passages 
played with a calm repose of manner which was an 
assurance to his hearers of his consummate ability. 
Those persons who heard him in such works as the 
"Kreutzer Sonata," with Rubinstein and other 
notable compositions, will not forget the profound 
impression he made on his audiences. His technique 
was remarkable. Wieniawski was also distin- 
guished as a composer. His "Legende" may be 
said to.be a classic which every violinist of high 
aspirations has in his repertoire, and which one may 
often hear, though it has never been rendered with 
such exquisite perfection as at the hands of its com- 
poser. His fantasie on airs from "Faust" was 
another notable composition. Rubinstein wrote 
one of his great works, a violin concerto, expressly 
for Wieniawski. He was the owner of several 
instruments of great value, a Guamerius of powerful 
and rich tone, and a Stradivarius being among his 
collection. His rank among violinists was univer- 
sally recognized, and but two other artists in the 
world, Joachim and Wilhelmj, could claim profes- 
sional equality with him. 

S>MS^Vg ^ontnal of Sl^itje^ic. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1880. 



THE FESTIVAL. 

Our great Triennial Feast of Harmony, — the 
fifth which the old Handel and Haydn Society 
have prepared for up, — is near at hand. In ten 
days it will Dcgin, namely, on Tuesday evening, 
May 4, and will close its sepes of seven Oratorios 
and Concerts on Sunday evening, May 9. The 
zeal, the completeness, and the wealth of pro- 
gramme with which these festivals have always 
beenprepared, and the deep impression they have 



made, each more inspiring than the one preced- 
ing, give sufficient assurance that this one will 
be a great success. The sale of season tickets 
has been larger than ever before, and no pains 
have been spared to make the festival as perfect 
as the improved means of to-day will enable. 

The great chorus of five hundred singers was 
never better in the quality of voices and the 
balance of the parts, never in better training, nor 
animated by a more true enthusiasm. The con- 
ductor, Carl Zerrahn, the hero of so many festi- 
vals, has lost no whit of his inspiring energy, 
and wields all the forces at his command with the 
same sure aim and efficacy that he has always 
shown on such occasions. 

At the great organ he will have, as so often 
before, the able and judicious aid of Mr. B. J. 
Lang (now happily recovered from his threaten- 
ing illness); and, at the head of the violins of tlic 
very efficient orchestra of seventy instruments, he 
will have Mr. Bernard Listemann. This orches- 
tra is made up very nearly, if not altogetlier, of 
our own resident musicians, who, in the Symphony 
and other concerts of the past six months, have 
proved tliemselves entirely competent to any oi^ 
chestral work which the best musical taste of 
Boston can require. 

The list of solo singers also is inviting. The 
standard of this Society in this regard is high ; 
indeed, never more exacting ; and if no famous 
artists from abroad are imported for the occasion, 
it is because none really are needed. It is one 
sign of the musical progress in this country that 
all the principal vocal parts in the' exacting pro- 
gramme of this Festival can be with confidence 
intrusted to our own native, with, we believe, 
only two adopted singers. The list includes: 
SopranoSy Miss Emma C. Thursby, Mrs. H. M. 
Smith, Miss Fanny Kellogg, and Miss Ida W. 
Hnbbell ; Contraltos, Miss Annie Gary, and Miss 
Emily Winant; Tenors, Sig. Italo Campanini, 
Mr. Charles R. Adams, and Mr. Wm. Courtney ; 
Bassos, Messrs. M. W. Whitney, John F. Winch, 
and G. W. Dudley. 

Here are the programmes : — 

1, Tuesday evening. May 4, Mendelssohn's 
Oratorio, Saint Paul, with Miss Thursby, Miss 
Winant, Mr. Adams and Mr. Whitney in the 
principal solos. 

2. Wednesday evening, Spohr's Oratorio, The 
Last Judgment, which has not been heard here 
by this generation, although the Society performed 
t several times nearly forty years ago, — notably 
when the daughter of the composer, Mme. 
Spohr-Zahn, was here to sing the contralto part. 
We have given a brief sketch^of this mild Last 
Judgment (so it must seem now that we have heard 
Verdi's Dies Iras), on another page. The soloists 
will be : Miss Kellogg, Miss Cary, Sig. Campanini 
and Mr. Winch. 

8. Thursday afternoon, at 2:80. An admirable 
miscellanepus programme, the lighter numbers of 
which are placed first, namely : Mr. Chadwick's 
Rip Van Winkle overture, which so pleased in 
two of the Harvard Symphony Concerts ; Schu- 
bert's Erl'Konig, sung l)y Mr. Adams ; a scene 
from Hamlet, by Ambroise Thomas, sung by Miss 
Thursby; and an aria from Handel's Semele, 
sung by Miss Annie Cary. Then comes the noble 
short Psalm (unaccompanied) for double chorus, 

— " Judge me, O God,** — by Mendelssohn ; and 
then, as one of the grandest features of the fes- 
tival, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with chorus, 

— the quartet of solos to be sung by Miss Thursby, 
Miss Cary, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Dudley. 

4. Thursday evening, Symphonic Overture, 
" Marmion " (in Sir Walter Scott's poem) by 
Dudley Buck (new), followed by Verdi's Mamoni 
Requiem Mass, Principal vocalists : Mrs. H. M. 
Smith, Miss Annie Cary, Sig. Campanini, and 
Mr. Whitnev. 



5. Friday evening, two parts (" Spring " and 
" Summer ") from Haydn's Oratorio, The Seasons, 
— the solos by Miss Thursby, Mr. Adams, and 
Mr. Whitney. Also (first time in this country) 
Saint-Sacns's Cantata, The Deluge, with Miss 
Hubbell, Miss Winant, Mr. Adams and Mr. Dud- 
ley for the solos. 

6. Saturday afternoon, May 6, a miscellaneous 
concert, of which tlic most important features will 
be the Utrecht Jubilate, a ver^ noble early work 
of Handel; solos by Miss Cary, Mr. Courtney, 
and Mr. Whitney; and the sublime concluding 
chorus to Bach's Cantata, — Ich hatte viel Bekiimr 
memiss. Other selections are: Weber's Over- 
ture, The Ruler of the Spirits; Aria from Verdi's 
La Forza del Destino (Sig. Campanini) ; ** La 
Calcndrina," by Jomelli (Miss Thursby) ; Aria 
from " II Duca d'Ebro," by Da Villa (Mr. Court- 
ney) ; the Cobbler's Air from Wagner's 3/?is- 
tersingers . (Mr. Whitney) ; Aria from Handel's 
Julius Ccesar (Miss Winant) ; Scherzo from tlie 
Symphony by Goetz (Orchestra) ; " Voi che 
sapete," from Mozart's Figaro (Miss Cary); " Mi- 
riam's Song of Victory," by Reinecke (Miss 
Hubbell) ; Love Song from Wagner's Walkylrie, 
(Campanini) ; Duet from Rossini's William Tell 
(Messrs. Campanini and Whitney). 

7. The Festival will close on Sunday evening. 
May 9, with Handel's Oratorio Solomon, which 
has not been given here for twenty-five years. 
Miss Thursby and Miss Kellogg will sing, the 
parts of the two queens and the two mothers ; 
Miss Annie Cary, the contralto part of Solomon ; 
Mr. Courtney, Zadoc, the high priest (tenor), and 
Mr. Whitney, the Levite. 

MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

A Week of Disappointments. — The illness of 
Mr. Lang, which threatened to be somewhat serious, 
but happily has nd proved so, caused the postpone- 
ment of two concerts which had been eagerly looked 
forward to as among the most important musical 
events of the season. These were the .concert of 
tlie Cecilia, which was to have taken place on Mon- 
day, the 12th inst., with Schumann's Manfred music 
and Gade's "Fair Ellen;" and on the 15th, Mr. 
Lang's production (for the first time in Boston )l of 
La Damnation de Faust, by Berlioz. Also on the 
14th, many were disappointed at not hearing Joseffy 
at Mr. Peck's annual benefit. Had these concerts 
taken place, we should have been tempted to remark 
upon the singular fortuitous conjunction in the same 
week of two great compositions on s en kindred 
themes as Fcutst and Manfred. Goethe who was il 
great admirer of Lord Byron, speaking of Manfred, 
writes : ** This singularly clever poet has absorbed 
my Faust into himself, and, hypochondriacally, has 
sucked the strangest nourishment out of it." -'A 
would have been interesting to compare tie music \i 
treatment of these texts, and see whether Berlioz 
could assimilate and reproduce in tones the i>oetry 
of Goethe's Faust with anything like the wonderful 
truth and beauty of Schumann's musical illustration 
of the Manfred. 

But now the close conjunction of the two it 
broken; the Triennial Festival will part them. 
Mr. Lang is happily himself ag^in, and the Cecilia 
concert will take place this evening, while the Faust 
is postponed to May 14, allowing time for more 
complete rehearsal, with an undivided mind on the 
part of the conductor. 

Another singular conjunction during our present 
season, of musical treatments of one sombre and 
appalling topic, may be found in the large reper- 
toire of compositions having Hell and Judgment 
for their poetic subject-matter. First, we have had 
the Symphonie Fantastigue of Berlioz, which takes 
us to the nether world, among the demons. Now 
comes Verdi's Requiem, with the Dies Irce painted 
out in all its imaginable terrors. Then we have the 
gentler side of the Last Judgment in Spohr, and a 
watery judgment in the Deluge, by Saint-Saens; 
and the Slabat Mater of Rossini, with its Inflamma- 
tus and in diejudicli; and finally (if so it may be) 



Apbil 24, 1880.] 



DWIG JIT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



n 



FauMt's Damnation and the "Ride to Hell." Wc 
may add to the list the Lenore Symphony by Daff, 
and the Danse Macabre by Saint-Sacns. What 
doos it all mean ? Arc all the sweet and heavenly 
8nbject8«o exhausted that our modern composers 
find themselves driven for new themes to the guilty 
imagination's world of endless retribution ? Or do 
they so distrust their own inventive genius, so feel 
their own inferiority to the great, wholesome mas- 
ters of the past as to see no chance of being thought 
original except by turning away from earth and 
heaven, and drawing lurid and appalling pictures 
from the world below ? Perhaps the next great 
composer is to be a musical Jonathan Edwards ! 

Organ Recitals. — Mr. Henry M. Dunham has 
already given three of a series of four recitals in 
Boston Music Hall, on successive Tuesday after- 
noons. They are remarkably well worthy of the 
attention of lovers of good organ music. In them, 
Mr. Dunham, who is the successor of Mr. Whiting 
in the N. £. Conservatory, has proved himself one 
of the best organists we have. He is equally at 
home in the works of Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, 
and of the modem organ writers, like Thiele, Merkel, 
Batiste, etc. He plays with g^at clearness, so that 
you trace all the polyphonic parts ; his time is Arm 
and even, and he combines and contrasts the regis- 
ters with judgment and facility. 

He has commonly a singer to relieve the pro- 
gramme. In the first concert (which we were 
unable to attend) it was Mrs. Jennie M. Noyes; and 
the principal organ pieces were the Sonata in 
F minor by Mendelssohn, and the Concert Satz in 
£-flat minor by Thiele. The second programme 
(April 13) was as follows: — 

Sonata in 6 minor Merkel^ 

MaestotOf JHu moio— Adagio — Introductiom and Fugue, 

Andante in A flat Dvnham. 

I a. Ren-di 1 serene al oiglio (Sosarme) . . . Handel. 

\ 6. Immer bel dir Raff, 

Mr. Alfred Wilkle. 

Passscaglia in C ndnor BaoK 

Elsa's Wedding March to the M&nster . . . Wagner. 

Grand chorus In A major , Salami. 

Serenade, "The Star of Love** Waltace. 

Mr. Alfred Wilkle. 

Concerto In A minor WMHng. 

The singing was omitted, Mr. Wilkie having a sore 
throat. The organ compositions of Gustav Merkel 
(bom in 1827 and pupil of the old Johann Schneider 
of Dresden) are unsurpassed by any living composer 
for that instrument He seems to be thoroughly 
imbued with the spirit of Bach, and masterly in 
counterpoint and fugue, as well as rich in musical 
ideas and a poetic sentiment. This Mr. Dunham 
made apparent in his fine rendering of the Sonata 
in Q minor. Bach's great Pauacaglta is something 
that we wonid fun miss no opportunity of hearing, 
at least when so well interpreted. Mr. Dunham's 
own Andante proved a pleasing composition. 

In his third recital, Tuesday last, Mr. Dunham 
offered the following selections : — 

Tooeata in F major Baeh. 

Adagio Volekmar. 

March, from "Ruins of Athens'* Beethoven. 

I a. Die blanen Frtthllngsangen RSee. 

\ b. LiebesfmhUng Sncker, 

MiBB Ella Abbott. 

Qrand Sonata for four hands and double pedal Merkel. 

Allegro Moderaio— Adagio— Introdwetian and Fugue. 

Messrs. Arthur W. Foote and U. M. Dunham. 

Si t*amo, o oara Handel. 

Miss Ella Abbott. 
Fsntasia, ** The Storm "....,..•.. Lemment. 
Grand march and chorus from " Tannh&nser *' Wctgner. 

Here were at least two very noble numbers : the 
brilliant and majestic Bach Toccata, and the four- 
hand Sonata by Merkel. The latter was played ^on 
amore and with inspiring effect by the two young 
artists. The Allegro is a superb movement, large 
and full of life and power; the Adagio tender and 
subdued; and* the Fugue, with a very long and 
fascinating theme, with charming sequences, is 
developed in a masterly manner. The Adagio by 
Volkmar doubtless pleased many of the audience — 
at all events the sentimental portion — better than 
Bach himself, but we prefer small doses of such 
sogaiy sweetness; it displayed, however, the vox 
kumana and other reed and flute stops to advantage. 
Orgui "storms" are rather played out; this one by 



Lemmens opens with a pleasant serenade, or con- 
cert, and the interruption by the whistling chro- 
matic wind is very graphic ; a return to the first 
part is very natural and proper, but it is spun out 
to tedious length. Tlie noble march (not the Turk- 
ish March) from the Ruins of Athena made a fine 
effect. The song selections, and their interpretation 
by Miss Ella* Abbott, were excellent. She has a 
clear, frank, charming voice, and seems to sing out 
from a full heart, like the birds. 

In his last Recital, at 4 p. x. next Tuesday, which 
we trust will have the large audience that he 
deserves, Mr. Dunham will be assisted by the 

Athene Quartette (vocal) of young ladies. 

* - 

Ms. John Obth, the pianist, gave an interesting 
concert at Mechanics' Hall on Monday afternoon, 
April 12. The assisting artists were Mr. George L. 
Osgood,- vocalist, and Mr. Gustav Dannreuther, vio- 
linist The hall was well filled with an attentive 
and pleased audience. The programme was 
unique and included : 

Sonata, piano and violin, op. 28 (new) Brakmt. 

Adagio and Allegro, from Phantasie for Piano and 

Violin, op. 17 (new) Hone Huber. 

Songs, a. Nachtgesan^, op. 31, No. 2 Haupt. 

b. Spring Flowers, op. 26 Ko.2 Jteinecke. 

With violin obUgato. 
Romance, for piano, op. 26, No. 2 . . • • J, K, Paine. 

Polish Dances, op. 3, No. 1 Seharwenka. 

Etude: " Penses un pea.'* Henselt. 

Polonaise, No. 1, G minor (new) Hsxt, 

Maznrka, op. 60, No. 2 Chopin. 

2d. Sonata, violin and piano, op. 121 ... Schumann. 

An accident deprived us of the pleasure of hear- 
ing all but Mr. Orth's last pianoforte solos and the 
great Sonata Duo by Schumann. The last is full 
of life, originality and charm, and was most satis- 
factorily interpreted by the two artists. Mr. Orth's 
piano playing shows very marked improvement. 
His renderings were refined and tasteful, showing 
sympathy with the composer, while his execution 
is clear, finished, brilliant and effective, or delicate, 
as the case may require. Mr. Dannreuther is cer- 
tainly showing himself to be one of our best violin- 
ists. His style is honest, broad and manly, free 
from all affectation. 



Boston Conservatory of Music. — Another 
interesting concert of Mr. Julius Eichberg's Violin 
Classes took place at Union Hall, on Saturday 
afternoon, April 17. The. following programme 
will show what tasks these young aspirants are 
equal to : 

Gavotte • EieM>erg, 

Master B. Steams. 
'* Voi ehe sapete.** (Transcribed for Violin.) . Moxart. 
Master Waldo Gushing. 

Theme Vari< Eiekberg. 

' Master Albert Lithgoe. 
Largo, from (3onoerto for two Violins, D minor. , Bach. 
Bflssea Lillian Shattuck and Lettie Launder. 

Hungarian Airs BmU, 

Mr. Wnils Newell. 

Adagio, from 2d Concerto De Beriot. 

Miss Georgiana Pray. 

Fantaiaie. — "Faust." WianiawekL 

Mr. Placido Flomara. 

Duett Danela. 

Misses Edith Christie and Georgiana Pray. 

Romania, E major WUheln^. 

Miss LetUe Launder. 

Allegro, from Sd Concerto. DeBeriot, 

Miss Edith Christie. 

Finale, ftonf Violin Concerto M en deUwokn, 

Miss Lillian Shattuck. 

Fantasie— "Othello.'* Emet, 

Miss Lillian (Chandler. 

These, of course, were among the foremost of 
Mr. Eichberg's scores of pupils. After bearing the 
concert through, one goes away wondering at the 
skill, the good style and method displayed by every 
one, from such really accomplished artists as Miss 
Lillian Chandler and her fair quartet associates — 
from Mr. Nowell and Mr. Fiumara, down to the 
small, bright boys by who^ the concert was opened. 
It all shows true and thorough training; all are 
making progress in the right way. The Concerto 
Duo movement from Bach was beautifully ren- 
dered. So were all the more important numbers. 

In Prosfbct. — This evening Schumann's Man- 
fred music, with Mr. Ticknor's reading, and Gude's 
"Fail- Ellen" canUta, by the Cecilia. 



— Mr. B. J. Lang's second concert, at Mechanics' 
Hall, is postponed to the afternoon of Thursday, 
April 20. His programme includes that string 
quartet by Baff ('^Die schone Mullerin") which was 
heard at one of the Euterpe concerts ; eleven songs, 
to be sung by Mr. W. J. Winch ; and a new quintet 
for piano and strings by Goldmark. The brothers 
Listemann, Mr. J. C. Mullaly and Mr. A. Heindl 
take part in the two concerted pieces. 

— Mr. Ernst Perabo's last two mating, at Wes- 
leyan Hall, fall on the 2dth and aOth of this month. 

— Mr. S. Liebling, the pianist, will give a concert 
on Friday evening, April 90, at Union Hall, assisted 
by well known local talent. 

— Mr. Liebling and Mr. Ben Wood Davis, a 
young lawyer of this city, are engaged upon a 
comic opera, which will be brought out in the f alL 
The subject is an American one, and those who 
have heard fragments of the libretto and music pre- 
dict for it a great success. 

'On April 26, the " Ideal " Opera Company will 
return to the Boston Theatre and present Gilbert 
and Sullivan's modem comic opera. The Sorcerer, 
with a completeness which will merit the favor of 
all lovers of melody and fun. 

— Mr. Charles R.Adams is preparing to bring 
out Halevy's opera. The Jewess, at th^ Boston 
Theatre, some time in May. It will be given in 
English, and his company includes Miss Laura 
Schirmer and other artists who sang in the Croim 
Diamonds, at the Globe, some months ago. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Pbovidemcb, R I., March 25. ^ The Cecilia gave its 
eighth concert, the fourth and last of the present sear 
son, on Tuesday evening, March 9. The artists who 
united in the presentation of the following excellent 
programme, were the New York Philharmonic Club, 
the Beethoven Club, of Boston, and Miss Emily Winant, 
of New York, contralto. 

Seoond Serenade, In C, Qp. 14 F^hs, 

^"^'tuSg^^^d^^*^^"^^} • • • • *?*«*^'- 

Song: "L'Addio" Moxart. 

Selections : a. Hungarain Melody Ik>/inann. 

b. Hungarian Dances ifroAau. 

Book 1, Nos. 2 and 8 ; Book 2, No. 6. 

Song : Sunset {Sidney Lanier) 2). Buck. 

Octet, Op. 20 Mendelssohn. 

The Fuchs Serenade, three of the four movements 
of which were given, is a pleasing work, and made 
an enjoyable opening to the entertainment It is care- 
fully written, each' of the movements possessing 
merit in itself while they are well contrasted. We 
enjoyed most the Larghetto. We understand the work 
belongs to a series of similar compositions. If the 
others are equal to the one here presented, it would be 
pleasant to hear them. The Serenade was finely 
rendered. 

Hofmann's Hungarian Melody pleased very much. 
It is simple, beautiful, and not marked by that apparent 
straining after effect which meets us in so many of the 
modem works, excellent as very many of them are. 
The Hungarian Dances were given with splendid effect 
They roust be extremely difficult to render, so sudden 
and unexpected are the changes of tempo and senti- 
ment. They showed the skill of the two clubs, and the 
ease with which they can unite their somewhat different 
styles and methods. We were privileged to hear one 
or two of these dances as given by the Boston Philhar- 
monic orchestra at one of the Joseffy concerts during 
the same week, and can say that the arrangement for 
nine strings appeared to us to be excellent, and to rep- 
resent very successfully the original, which, of course, 
is richer in tone-color, and, so far, more impressive. 
The compositions are interesting, and well worth hear- 
ing in either form. 

The splendid Octet of Mendlessohn is so well known 
that littie need be said respecting it. It ' was finely 
given and made a brilliant ending to the Cecilia's second 
season. We heard the work a few days before as given 
by all the strings at the Harvard Symphony Concert, 
and while it was there rendered in fine style and with 
the combined power and richness of the whole body of 
strings, we think, on the whole, we prefer it in its 
original form. The double-bass was added here, as at 
the symphony concert, to strengthen the second 'cello 
part, — a custom followed, we are told, in Europe, 
whenever the work is given. If one may venture to 
criticize so great a master as Mendelssohn, It seems to 
us that the accompaniment parts in the first movement 
are rather heavily written : so much so, indeed, that 



72 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1018. 



they almost cover up the fint violin which carries the 
melody. It seems as if for once Mendelssohn had mis- 
calculated th^ power of a single violin, in marking as 
he has, all the parts jf. Would it not be as legitimate 
to add an extra violin to the upper part, and so attain a 
better balance of tone, as it is to add the double-bass to 
strengthen the second 'cello? We understood from 
one of the artists that they themselves felt the want of 
another violin on the part in question. If this is im- 
practicable, why not modify the marking slightly in 
the accompaniment, at least, say /, instead oiff. We 
think Mendelssohn's intentions would be more suc- 
cessfully attained by such treatment, and his work 
rendered more effective. 

The songs were carefully selected and well rendered. 
The first two pleased us most. Miss Winant'a voice is 
f uU, rich, and sympathetic. We have heard her several 
times this season, and each time «ith growing interest. 

Mr. Bonner supplied as usual the accompaniments. 

The Society has had a very successful season in 
every way. Financially, its wants are all provided for 
by the subscriptions. Only through subscribers b it 
possible to get tickets to the concerts. We hope it 
will enlarge its list of members — now limited to one 
hundred — and we think it can profitably do so, as 
there has been quite a demand for tickets. It could 
thus increase its means, and so the excellence of its 
work. It is doing a good service for Providence, and 
we wish it the highest success in its future efforts. 
This can only be attained by a strict adherence to its 
present high standard, and by a constant. endeavor to 
carry it up still higher. A. O. L. 

Nkw York, April 19. — Tlie N. T. Philharmonic 
Club gave the last of its series of six chamber music 
concerts on Tuesday evening, April 6, with this pro- 
gramme : — 

Serenade, Op. 26 Beethoven. 

(Plate, riolln, viola). 
Hungarian Song. ........... Hofmann. 

Meuuette ir . . . . Schubert. 

Turkish March Mosart. 

(Philhamionlo Club). 

Quintet, C. Op, S. Svendsen. 

Ci Violins. 2 violas, violoncello). 

Tliis efficient club never played to better advantage 
than upon this evening ; the little gems (bracketed to- 
gether) were rendered with a delicacy, a precision, and 
finish that were indeed remarkable. The Turkish 
March is taken from the well known Harpsichord 
Sonata in A, which has been played at by almost eveo' 
aspiring young miss between Maine and California; in 
its present shape, however, it proved much more effec- 
tive than in its original guise, and de8er>'ed tlie encore 
it received. 

The Svendsen Quintet proved to be a most interest- 
ing and attractive composition. The rhjrthms are of a 
strange, wild sort, and there are many harmonic pro- 
gressions which startle by their boldness ; but the 
treatment of the instruments is masterly, and there are 
many melodic phrases of exceeding beauty. 

The audience was not a very large one, but its quality 
was excellent. I do not intend to intimate that the 
attendance was painfully small, but only that it is a 
shame that the house was not filled to overflowing. 
Messrs. Arnold, Weiner, and their colleagues, are 
honestly endeavoring to establish a series of chamber 
music concerts which shall be a permanent thing ; they 
can do this if the public is even half grateful ; but 
they must fail, like so many of their predecessors, if 
the public remain apathetic and indifferent. 

On Saturday evening, April 10, Mr. Richard Arnold 
gave a concert at Chickering Hall. The principal 
numbers upon the programme were the Piano Quintet 
(E flat) by Schumann, and a new String Sextet by 
Dvorak. In the former selection the artists were Mr. 
Arnold (violin), Mr. Gramer (viola), Mr. Weiner ('cello), 
and Mrs. Arnold (piano). So much depends upon the 
interpretation of the piano portions of this lovely work, 
that I experienced some disappointment upon this 
occasion. Mrs. Arnold plays with much earnestness, 
and is evidently imbued with a thoroughly artistic 
comprehension of the composer's intention ; but her 
touch lacks force and ehisticity. The pedal is her bite 
noire t and she frequently came to grief. 

Dvoraks Sextet is a charming work, which abounds 
in fine progressions, and seemingly bristles with diffi- 
culties. The concerted work is exceedingly able, and 
the interest is sustained from the beginning of the first 
movement to the final note of the last one. 

Mr. Arnold played Wieniaswski's "Legende," and 
*' Rondo BrilLint,'Mn a style that fairly electrified the 
house. I have long known this gentlcranu's ability ns 
an orchestral performer, and as a leader of quartets, 
quintets, etc., etc., but I frankly confess that I had not 
the faintest idea of his capacity as a soloist. His execu- 



tion is remarkably brilliant, his bowing neat, his intona- 
tion almost unerringly acciimte, and his phmHing ad- 
mirable. His i^taccnto (pianissimo) is simply wonderful 
Mr. Arnold has scored the great sucoess of the reason. 
He received the most euthiutiasti(; recall, to which he 
re.spouded with a selection which displayed to the best 
advantage his remarkable technique. 

Mr. Weiner contributed a long and most elaborate 
fantasia on the flute, and did it wonderfully well ; but 
I cannot say that I yearn and pine for that charming 
instrument. The audien<te was not large, although 
appreciative and enthusiastic. 

On Saturday evening, April 17, the Symphony Society 
gave its sixth and last concert withtliis programme : — 

0th Symphony. . * Beethoven, 

3d act, *< Siegfried.'* Wagner, 

Soloists. 

Mrs. Swift, Soprano. S^tg. Campaniul, Tenor. 

Mrs. Korroon, Alto. Mr. Renunertz, Basso. 

The house was packed with an enthusiastic audience, 
which sat and seemed to enjoy the programme, although 
the performance extended from 8 to 10.45. Of the 
solpists there is nothing to say, for they are well known 
artists of tried ability ; but one of them, Mr. Remmertz, 
mv9t endeavor to correct the error, into which he 
seems of late to be falling ; he cannot afford to sing 
false, and this he repeatedly did that evening. 

As for the chorus work (in the Symphony), it was well 
done, when we consider that the music was written for 
cast-iron lungs and throats, and that no human effort 
can make anything of those upper notes other than a 
series of earpiercing howls ; either the instruments 
and voices should all be lowered, or the whole work 
should be transposed, or it should never be performed ! 

Asous. 

Milwaukee, Wis., April 14.— The Arion Qnb did 
nothing at its third concert of this season, beyond fur- 
nishing about half the nimiberB in the shape of male 
choruses, not extraordinarily well done, according to 
the Arion standard. The staple of the concert was 
supplied by the Mendelssohn Quintette Club and Mrs. 
Carrington, a singer, who, in purity and power of tone 
and perfection of technique has not been surpassed by 
any singer who has appeared here within the last two 
years. The Club gave us only portions of three noble 
works of chamber music, but gave them most admir- 
ably in every respect. The solos were all very brilliant 
and effective, and the rich, mellow and refined tones 
of Mr. Ryan's clarinet were something wonderful 
after what we ordinarily hear in the orchestra. 

The Heine Quartet is giving a second series of cham- 
ber music recitals, with excellent programmes. It is a 
very good sign tluit Milwaukee sliould support a course 
of six such recitals by local players. I wish I could 
think this represented any very deep or permanent in- 
terest in the best music ; but I fear it is lai^ely a matter 
of fashion, and will pass away, as the interest in the 
work of the Arion seems to be passing ; but we shall 

Both the Arion and the Musical Society will produce 
great choral works at the next concert. J. C. F. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
Detroit. —William H. Sherwood, of Boston, one of 
the most accomplished pianists America has produced, 
gave a recital at Merrill Hall last evening in presence 
of an audience composed almost exclusively of pro- 
fessional musicians (local teachers) and their advanced 
pupils. The programme was well chosen, both as to 
quality and variety of compositions, and the artist 
victoriously demonstrated his mastery of the instru- 
ment. It b an extremely rare occurrence that one 
hears such toiies as Mr. Sherwood produced last night, 
and still more rare that a piano is heard to sing as it 
did under his consummate touch. Bach,' Beethoven, 
Chopin, Field, Schumann, Uszt, and that young and 
growing composer, Moritz Mosskowski, were all nobly 
interpreted, both musically and intellectually. Mr. 
Sherwood is a fine type of the American virtuoso — 
unpretentious, earnest, enthusiastic, absorbed in his 
art, and endowed with qiuilities that entitle him to rank 
among the undisputably great pianists. He has power, 
delicacy, fire, poetic Instinct, remarlcable technical skill, 
and a " school " that enables him to take advantage of 
every possibility resident in the instrument. He can 
stand before the musical world upon his merits, with- 
out dependence on imitations of any artists. —/*rtfe 
Press, April 16. 

Cincinnati. — The following is the circular to the 
public issued by the Board of Directors of the College 
of Music, March 15. 

"In connection with the retirement of Tlieodore 
Thomas from the Musical-directorship of the College 
of Music of Ciucinuiti, decLorationsof a general charac- 



ter have been made, which, unanswered, do the Col- 
lege serious injustice, and may impair its n.*«efulness. 

*' The Faculty of the College remains altogether un- 
changed. They are the actual iustructors of the pupils, 
are artists of high standing, many of them graduates 

of celebrated Ck)ni»er\'atories, and with long <ftcperieuce 
as teachers. At a Faculty meeting, after rareful cou- 
KulL'ition, the following plan for the org:mization of the 
school was reconimeitded nnd ado|>ted: 

" I. Tliere shall be two depaitmcnts — an Academic 
Department, and a General Muhic School. 

LL The Academic Department, for those who desire 
to become professionals, or amateurs who enter for 
graduations, all of whom will be required to pursue a 
aefiuite course of studies for a period of time. 

"ilL The General Music School, for general or si)ecial 
instruction, where any one may enter for a number of 
terms, receiving the valuable instniction which is 
afforded by the presence of a large number of excel- 
lent teachers (with the advantage of "Choruii," 
"Orchestral," "Ensemble,** and other classes, either 
free, or at nominal charges), with the best methods, 
exercises, text books, and the discipline of a well- 
appointea school. 

*' The Academic Department affords the opportunity 
for a complete musical education. 

" The General Music School gives to many thousands 
of persons, who have neither the means nor time for 
graduation, a certain amount of the l)est kind of mimi- 
cal instruction. At the present moment there are in 
the College over five hundred students; some hoping to 
graduate, others gaiuing miuical knowledge ana taste, 
which they will carry to their homes in distant parts 
of the countrv, where each will be the nucleus v 
refinement and healthy sentiment. It is the resolve of 
the founders, directors, and faculty of the College of 
Music that no effort of theirs sluill be wanthio; to pro- 
vide for that great necessity for better musical instruc- 
tion which the success of this school has proved to exist. 

"The Ck>llege will go on in its appointed work. It 
invites, with the strongest assurances that it is equal 
to every requirement of musical instruction, the atten- 
dance of students and support of the public." To this 
is appended a list of the Faculty of over thirty teachers 
and professors. 

New York. —Tlie Oratorio Society, under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Damroech, has during the seven years of 
its existence performed the following works: 

Bach, J. S.— Chorals; Actus Tragicmi, (first time in 
America); St. Matthew Passion, (firet time in New 
York). 

BxELioz, H. —Flight into Egypt, (fint time in Amer- 
ica; La Damnation de Faust, (first time in America). 

Bkethoven, L. van — Ninth Symphony, (four times); 
The Ruins of Athens; Choral Fantnsie, (twic^^ 

B&AHMS. J. — Requiem, (first time in America). 
Damrosch, L. —Ruth and Naomi, (first time in Amer- 
ica). 

Gluck, J. C. — Orpheus. Act II. 

Handel, G. F. — Coronation Anthem, No. 2; Zadoc 

the Priest ; Messiah, (seven times) ; Samson, (twice) ; 

Judas MaccabsDus; Alexander's Feast. 
Hatdn, J.— Creation, (tvdce); Seasons; The Storm. 
Hatdn, M. — Tenebne factas sunt, (motet). 
KiBL, F. — ChristuB. Parts L and IV., (first time in 

America). 
Lasso, Orlando di — And the Angel, (motet). 
Liszt, F. — Christus. — Part L, (first time in America). 

MxNDBLSBOHN, F. — Elijah, (three times): St. PauU 
(twice); Psalm 114th; Walpurgis Night; Mid- 
summer Night's Dream; Laudati Puen (motet); 
Glees. 

Mozart, W. A. — Ave Verum 0>ri)n8, (motet). 

Palestrina, G. p. — AdoramuB Te. 

RoBSiNi, G. — Stabat Mater. 

ScHUBKRT, F. — Mass in £ flat: (K}'rie, Agnus Dei and 

Sanctus). 
Schumann, R. —Paradise and the Peri. 
Wagnkr, R — Choral from Die Meisteninger von 

Niimberg; March from Tannhiiuser. 



Wbllrslrt Collbgr. — The sixty-seventh concert, 
March 1, offered the following interesting "Song Reci- 
tal" Mr. Wm. J. Which was the vocalist, Mr. 
Arthur B. Whiting, pianist, and Mr. C. H. Morse, the 
Wellesley musical professor, the director: 

Sonata : Appaislonata, Op. S7 Beethoven, 

(Hirst Movement.) 

Songs: "Si ramo,o cars'* Handel, 

" Uuter bliiheuden Bfandel-Biumen *' tVeber. 

"Die Wasaerrose** rranz, 

'* Aeh; wenn Ich doch ein Immoheu wSr *' Jfhauz, 
*' Klinge I Klinge ! main Panderu " Jeruen, 

" Murmeludes LOftchen Bliithenwiiid ** Jeneen. 

"The Post" Schubert. 

"Dublstdle Ruh" Schubert. 

"ErlKing" Schubert. 

Piano Solos : ck l>^tasie. C. minor .... Bach, 

b. ** Erotlkon " (Kasaandra), Op. 4'1-1, Jenten, 

e. " £roUkon " (Die Zauberln), Op. 44-2, Jensen, 

Songs : '* Cara sposa,'* Handel, 

"Keiselled^ Mendel twhn, 

"llieAsra'* Hubiuntein. 

"Adelaide" Beethortn. 

" Im Abendroth " Schubert, 

" StJindchen " Franz, 

" Be not so ooy, beloved child " . . Rubinetein, 
" Would it were ever abiding " . . Rubinetein, 



Mat 8, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



73 



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For sale in Boston by Carl Pruefkr, jo West Street, A. 
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SCHUMANN'S MUSIC TO LORD 
BYRON'S "MANFRfD." 



tt 



BT PAUL GRAF WALDKB8EE. 



rWe translate a portion of the Essay contained in the 
Taltiable series of " Musikallscher Vortra^e," published by 
Breitlcopf and Uiirtel, Leipsig]. 

That Schumann should have felt powerfully 
attracted by this gloomy, but highly poetical 
text, can be a matter of no wonder. Wasie- 
lewski tells us, that once in Diisseldorf, while 
he was reading the poem tete-h-tete aloud, his 
voice suddenly failed him, tears started from 
his eyes, and he was so overcome that he 
could read no further. This would seem to 
show that Schumann became all too deeply 
absorbed in this appalling subject, until it had 
become at least a fixed idea with him. 

.... The composer has shortened the 
dialogue considerably. The seven Spirits, 
which the poet has introduced in the first part, 
are reduced to four, perhaps to obviate fatigue 
through too' long solo singing. The Incanta- 
tion, to be spoken by one voice, is here given 
to four voices. In the concluding scene Schu- 
mann has added to the text the 

Reqniem seternam dona jeiii, 
Et lax perpetua luceat eis ! 

The score, which consists of fifteen numbers 
besides the overture, contains six pieces of 
music complete in themselves; the rest are 
treated melodramatically 

For long years the theatres maintained a 
passive attitude towards this drama, owing 
possibly to the difficulties involved in a suit- 
able mise-tn scene for such a work. The per- 
formances were confined to the concert-room. 
Richard Pohl, abridging the original, com- 
posed a connecting text for concert perform- 
ances; but declamation hardly supplies the 
place of action on the stage, and a great part 
of the dramatic effect is lost In the year 
1852, Liszt first brought out the work upon 
the stage in Weimar ; several other theatres 
followed the example, and adopted it into 
their repertoire ; so far as I know, the theatres 
in Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Hamburg. 

Byron always protested that the poem was 
not intended for the stage ; if it is capable of 
stage performance, it has become so through 
the addition of the music. And truly Schu- 
mann, in his Manfred, has bequeathed one of 
his ripest and most genial compositions to the 
world. He wished to achieve something 
unique, and he has succeeded. '^ Never be- 
fore have I devoted myself with such love 
and such outlay of force to any composition, 
as to that of Manfred^* he remarked in con- 
versation. 

The Overture to the Zaidterflote is regarded 
as unique. No one has ever had the boldness 
to attempt to imitate it ; only the genius of a 



Mozart could succeed in such a thing. Equal- 
ly unique in its way, although radically differ- 
ent from that, stands the Manfred Overture, 
a deeply earnest picture of the soul, which 
describes in the most affecting manner the 
torture and the conflict of the human heart, 
gradually dying out, in allusion to the libera- 
tion wrought through death. It is always a 
dangerous thing to approach such a creation 
witli the intellectual dissecting knife, and seek 
to read from it the definite ideas of the com- 
poser. In this special case one can hardly 
err, if he assumes that the master wished to 
'indicate two fundamental moods of feeling: 
on the one hand that of the anguish, which 
is the consequence of sin, — the unrest that is 
coupled with resistance to divine and human 
laws ; on the other, that of patience, of for- 
giveness — in a word, of love — so that to 
the soul's life of Manfred he might offset that 
of A.starte. The rhythmic precipitancy in the 
first measure of the Overture transports us at 
once into a state of excited expectation. 
After a short slow movement, the intro<luc- 
tion of the following development (Durch- 
fuhrung) begins, in passionate tempo, the por- 
trayal of the restless and tormented mood. 
It is the syncope, employed continually in the 
motive, that indicates the conflict of the soul. 
This storms itself out, and then appears the 
expression of a -melancholy, milder mood. 
Mysteriously, in theptantWuio, three trumpets 
are introduced in isolated chords : a warning 
from another world. But the evil spirits can- 
not be reduced to silence; with increased 
intensity of passion the struggle begins anew. 
The battle rages hotly, but in the pauses of 
the fight resound voices of reconciliation. At 
last the strength is exhausted, the pulse beats 
slower, the unrest is assuaged, the music 
gradually dies away. A slow movement, 
nearly related to the introduction, leads to 
the conclusion. With this Overture Schu- 
mann has created one of his most important 
instrumental works. 

To the monologue of Manfred succeed the 
songs of the four spirits. Each one of these 
songs requires a special characterization. Thb 
Schumann reaches by choosing different vocal 
registers ; soprano, alto, tenor and bass, thus 
enabling himself to employ also four-part 
harmony, while at the same time he uses 
different keys, and carries out the orchestral 
accompaniment in various ways. The Spirit 
of the Air begins. A muted solo violin supports 
the alto voice in the higher octave ; while a. 
triplet figure, apparently formed after the 
words, is given to the violas. No such em- 
bellishment falls to the share of the Spirit of 
the Water (Soprano), while in the song of the 
Spirit of Earth (Bass), certain allusions, which 
stand in .connection with the text, are ex- 
pressed through imitations of the violin and 
of the fiute strengthened by a piccolo. The 
Fire spirit (Tenor), is despatched with a few 
notes. And now the four voices are united 
and bring the movement to a close with the 
following splendid organ cadence, though it 



a 



-«- 



-i9- 



•I| ifiTl 



^ 



may be doubted whether it be here in place. 
We turn now to the first piece of melo- 
dramatic treatment Manfred, in ecstasy at 
the magical apparition of *' a beautiful female 
figure," speaks: 

"Oh God ! if it be thus, and tliou 
Art not a madnefls and a mocker>*, 
I yet might be most happy, — I will clasp thee, 
And we again will be — '* 

[The figure vaniffhefl]. 

The movement (No. 2) is formed by a 
melody as follows : 



^^m 






This melody does not disappear, but re- 
produces itself continuously ; always modified 
a little in the second half, it requires and it 
receives a varied harmonic groundwork. It 
shows the greatest variety in unity. It is 
tenderly instrumented, only the wood-wind 
and the string quartet finding employment; 
even the double bass is excluded; it would 
be too rude for this aerial picture. Divided 
violas take upon themselves the filling out of the 
harmony, the wind instruments entering now 
and then. After the first violin has twice 
sung the theme, the wind instruments take it 
up; then it is intoned anew by the violin 
imitated by the violoncello. The mood is that 
of longing expectation; a romantic breath 
pervades it all; while a diminished seventh 
chord resounds, the magic figure vanishes, and 
Manfred, eicclaiming: "Woe. woe, my heart 
is crushed ! " falls senseless to the ground. 

3. With weightier steps the Incantation 
( Geisterhamnflttch) announces itself. The song 
consists of four bass voices, which appear 
now in unison, now singly, once in three-part 
harmony. The full orchestra accompanies, 
but the deeper instruments .. have the prefer- 
ence. That Schumann in this movement 
seeks to produce peculiar effects of sound is 
seen by a glance into the score ; but whether 
these abnormal sounds exceed the limits of 
the Unes of beauty, I will not undertake to 
say. The chords are massed in so deep a 
stratum at the cost of clearness. Take for 
an example the following measures : 




The text will bear a gloomy shading ; but 
whether the tints which are laid on needed to 
be so intensely black, I almost doubt ; a few 
gleams of light WQuld have made the shadows 
stand out all the more. When four sonorous 
bass voices unite in unison, tone-waves are 
begotten, which not only affect the sense of 
hearing in a peculiar manner, but also set the 
other parts of the body in vibration, which 
extends. throughout the whole nervous system. 
Add to this the deep wind instruments, bas- 
soons, trombones, violas and string basses, 
and there arises a tone-oolor, than which 
nothing duskier can be imagined. Ab we 
have said before, Schumann departs here 
from the poet, who has this Incantation 
spoken by one voice ; he pleases himself with 
his own individual ooiiception, and with a 



74 



DWIOHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1019- 



still moi-e awe-in8piring illustration of a text 
already gloomy m itself : 

" When the moon is on the wave, 
And the glow-worm in the grass," etc. 

The next section loses something of its 
duskiness from the fact that it is delivered by 
only one bass voice, while the instrumentation 
is more simple. The following Terzet is 
only accompanied by violas and string basses. 
The concluding words, " Now wither ! " unite 
the singers, as at the beginning. The com- 
poser reflects his own mood in his works; 
does this shine through this Incantation ? 

4. Manfred awakes from his swoon. The 
morning dawns and lights the highest moun- 
tain peaks. During the dialogue between 
Manfred and the chamois hunter an English 
horn resounds in the distance. This instru- 
ment, so often used for a purely theatrical 
effect, is here introduced most naturally, and 
produces an agreeable impression. We find 
ourselves in the midst of au Alpine land- 
scape. Sheep-bells are heard tinkling in the 
valley ; the shepherd's song resounds from 
the Alpine horn. The measures which Schu- 
mann brings before us will awaken involun- 
tary recollections in one who has ever heard 
the sound of the shalm in the high Alps of 
Switzerland. The shepherd's tune begins in 
a melancholy strain ; the echo is not wanting. 
But the player has his roguish humor; he 
knows also how to play up a little dance, and 
he skillfully interpolates a merry measure. 
But his calling is a dangerous one. Earnestr 
ness is the fundamental trait of his character, 
and so he soon gravitates back to his first 
melancholy song. 

5. We have now reached the point where 
Manfred is rescued by the chamois hunter ; 
this ends the first division of the drama. A 
new division begins; to mental strain and 
excitement succeeds relaxation. As the fol- 
lowing dialogue between Manfred and the 
chamob hunter contrasts in clearness with 
the rest of the poem (the simple hunter 
would have no understanding for Manfred*s 
wild, fantastic imagery) so, too, in the same 
sense does the composer express himself in 
the Entr*acte music. In contrast to the over- 
ture, which depicted the conflict of the pas- 
sions, this piece bears the stamp of mild 
repose. The melodic passage through the 
tones of the chord forms the motive of the 
first part ; violoncello, horn and violins alter- 
nate with one another; reeds and flutes 
answer in the most graceful manner. The 
second part begins with a theme of almost 
pastoral suggestion ; but the leading thought 
of the first part is soon taken up again, and 
passes before us once more in a varied and 
expanded form. Manfred leaves the chamois 
hunter, climbs the crag by the waterfall, and 
invokes the Witch of the Alps. Monologue 
with melo-dramatic treatment (No. 6). It 
seems almost as if Schumann, in the compo- 
sition of this piece of music, had Mendels- 
Bohnian reminiscences floating before him. 
Single features speak for it ; yet it is possible 
that the two masters, in the representation of 
the supernatural, met in one point. Be that 
as it may, we have hens before us one of the 
most delicate pieces of the work.. Though 



different in text, the situation is the same as 
that at the magical a])pearance of "a beauti- 
ful female figure ; " in both cases it is the 
invocation of a spirit, whether it be a magical 
image or the Witch of the Alps. The musi- 
cal problem was to form a contrast to what 
had been before. The muted first violins, in 
an almost continuous figure of sixteenths, 
hover, as it were, over the spoken word, leav- 
ing the harmonic filling up to the rest of the 
string instruments. The reeds and flutes 
partly attach themselves to these, partly sup- 
port, in the most discreet manner, the voice 
that bears the melody ; the harmonica tone of 
a harp mingles itself with it, producing a mys- 
tprious timbre, A comparative analysis of 
the compositions of these two spirit conjura- 
tions would be useless considering" how differ- 
ent their whole conception. Let us thank 
the genius who created them for us. 

The vanishing of the AVitch of the Alps is 
followed by a monologue of Manfred. It is 
to be regretted that Schumann suffered it to 
pass unregarded. Goethe speaks of this. 
The following verses may have moved him 
especially : 

" If I had never lived, that which I love had Rtill heen 

living ; 
Had I never loved, that which I loved would still be 

beautiful — 
Happy, and giving happiness. What is she? 'What is 

she now? — 
A sufferer for my sins.'' 

[Conclusion in next number.] 



FERDINAND HILLER AND ZELTER IN 

VIENNA. 

Our readers will remember that, a short time 
since, Ferdinand Hiller delivered here a lecture 
on *' Vienna fifty-two years ago.'* Many friends 
of music and literature will probably be pleased 
to hear that the lecture is published in the last 
number of Paul Lindau's Nord und Sud. We 
have read it with double pleasure from the fact 
of our comparing it with the letters written to 
Goethe by Zelter, the composer and musical 
director, concerning his own visit to Vienna in 
the summer of 1819 — that is, only seven years 
earlier than Hiller's. The Goethe-Zelter Corres- 
pondence is far from being as familiar to the 
general public as might be supposed; this is 
demonstrated by the astounding fact that, though 
the Correspondence appeared in six parts in 1834, 
it has not up to the present (that is, six-and-forty 
years afterwards!) reached a second edition. 
With the reader's permission, we will, therefore, 
here give — as marginal notes, so to speak, on 
Hiller's lecture — a few reminiscences from the 
work on the musical Vienna of Zelter's day. 

The beginning amuses and flatters us, both in 
Hiller and Zelter, for we are always fond of hear- 
ing how slowly people travelled only fifty years 
ago. It took Hiller quite eight-and-twenty hours 
to go from Weimar to Lieipsic, and nearly as 
many from Leipsic to Dresden ; Zelter 'informs us 
that his voyage on the Danube from Regensburg 
to Vienna lasted six days. Immediately after 
his arrival, Zelter hurried off to the Karntner- 
thor-Theatre, to hear Rossini's Otello. For a 
strict musician of the epoch, his opinion is 
remarkably tolerant : " Rossini is, beyond doubt, 
a man of genius; he plays with tones, and so 
tones play with him." Zelter is of the opinion 
that he had heard Mozai t's Titva performed bet- 
ter in Weimar than in Vienna. ''All female 
singers (four in number) who might have been 



grandmothers, but all well-trained." The sing- 
ers and musicians at the Kaititnerthor-Theatre 
were, we are informed, too hard-worked, and the 
members of tlie orchestra badly treated beyond 
conception. Despite of this, "all children of 
tlie muses are," in Vienna, " as plump and merry 
as weasels." 

Of the joyous goings^n in the Prater Zelter 
writes in high glee, but adds sadly even then 
(1819) the melancholy statement: "I am told 
things are no longer what they were.** " For such 
views," he wisely goes on to observe, " a stranger 
has no taste, and I feel glad when I can throw 
off the Berliner.'* We also "find that, manifest- 
ing as he does ^ passionate love of fireworks, he 
remarks sympathetically of Stuwer, that the 
good pyrotechnist is, as a rule, so unfortunate as 
to have bad weather, a fact for which the public 
evince the greatest commiseration. Himself a 
man of the people, Zelter retained all liis life a 
frank liking for everything of a folk-like nature, 
and direct from the heart comes the assertion: 
"In Vienna you may find everything except 
wearisomeness. Any one who chooses meets here 
with genuine humanity." 

There are two scriking observations of his on 
theatrical orchestras. He says first : " The 
double bass is laid here in a tdanting position 
when it is played, so that the performer is seated.*^ 
This strange fashion, which appears to have soon 
gone out, pleased Zelter, and he would like to 
have seen it adopted everywhere, " for the con- 
founded g^ose's-necks with their spikes " offended 
his eye. Quite as striking is his second remark 
that at the Burgtheater he found that they had 
carried out his old idea " of placing the orchestra 
so low down that people do nut see the shock- 
heads of the musicians, while the music issues 
forth clear and plain." He cannot "imagine 
anything more unbecoming to a stage, than that 
any one has to see for hours together the fine 
shapes of the characters in magnificent dresses 
and everything which goes to make up a good 
scene, flitting here and there between the infa- 
mous bushes of hair of people in front of them." 
That Richard Wagner's idea of sinking the 
orchestra should have existed as a wish of Zelter's 
is very intelligible, and we look upon such an 
arrangement as a simple postulate of scenic illu- 
sion ; but that Zelter should have seen his wish 
fulfilled in the Burgtheater, Vienna, astonishes 
us. His demands in this line were probably 
very moderate, for it is only a few years since the 
orchestra of the Burgtheater was lowered to a 
really useful and practical depth. Of the musi- 
cal notabilities of Vienna, Salieri appears to 
have interested Zelter most. " The old fellow," 
writes Zelter, " is still so full of music and mel- 
ody, that he speaks in melodies, and is, as it were, 
only thus understood. It is the greatest pleasure 
for me to creep after this example of genuine 
nature and find him invariably as true as he is 
cheerful." The company, too, of Joseph Weigl 
was exceptionally agreeable to him. " Weigl is 
a handsome, stately man of the world. His pro- 
ductions are correct, reasonable, natural, and 
possessed of character; he is most successful in 
middling subjects, and whatever effect he makes 
he will make in his lifetime." It is a remark- 
ably long time before Zelter comes to speak 
about Beethoven, though Goethe took far more 
interest in that master than in Salieri and Weigl. 
2ielter understood music far too well and was, 
generally speaking, far too artistically organized, 
not to appreciate Beethoven's mighty genius, but 
he did not like Beethoven, whose music went 
decidedly beyond the measure of the notions to 
which he was accustomed. " I admire Beethoven 
with affright," Zelter once wrote to Goethe. 
So, too, the wish to make Beethoven's personal 
acquaintance appears to have been mixed up in 



May 8, 1880.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



75 



Zelter with a kind of dread. Two months did 
he tarry in Vienna without seeing Beethoven. It 
is true that he informs Goethe, from time to time, 
that he intends visiting Bectlioven, but he is 
always easily consoled when the project comes to 
nothing. '* Beethoven lives in the country, but 
no one can tell me whereabouts. I thought of 
writing to him, but am informed he is well nigh 
inaccessible because his hearing is nearly gone. 
Perhaps it is better for us to remain as we were, 
since it might put me in a bad temper to find him 
in one." At length, he set out to visit Bee- 
thoven in Modlingen. ** He wanted to come to 
Vienna, so we met on the high road, got out of 
our conveyances, and embraced each other most 
cordially." Beethoven tlien went on to Vienna, 
while Zelter proceeded to Modling, and to that 
'* indescribably beautiful spot," Briihl. The 
following '* joke " is related to Goethe witli espe- 
cial satisfaction : '< On this trip, I had Steiner, 
the music-publisher, with me, and, as there can- 
not be much intercourse with a deaf man on ' the 
highway, a regular meeting was arranged for 4 
o'clock in the afternoon at Steiner's music-shop. 
After dinner, we drove back directly to Vienna. 
As full as a badger and as tired as a dog, I lay 
down and so over-slept myself that ever\'thing 
escaped my memory. So I went to tlie theatre, 
and there, on perceiving Beethoven at a distance, 
I felt as though I had been crushed by a thunder- 
bolt. The same thing happened to him on catch- 
ing sight of me, but the theatre was not the place 
for coming to an understanding with a man who 
had lost his hearing. The point now follows; 
Despite the large amount of blame, deser>'ed or 
not, which is bestowed on Beethoven, he enjoys 
a degree of consideration paid only to pre-emi- 
nent men. Steiner had forthwith made known 
that Beethoven would personally appear for the 
first time, at 4 o'clock, in his (Steiner's) narrow 
shop, which holds only some six or eight persons, 
and thus he issued, as it were, invitations, so that 
half a hundred clever people, who filled tlie shop 
and spread over the space before it, waited alto- 
gether in vain. I learned the rights of the case 
the next day, when I received a letter from Bee- 
thoven, in which he apologized very earnestly (and 
for me very fortunately), because, like myself, he 
had indulged in a pleasant sleep and missed 
the appointment." For us, this Comedy of 
Errors possesses, independently of the joke, the 
higher recommendation of bearing testimony to 
the general and high esteem in which Beethoven 
was held in Vienua. 

Of the musical nature of the Viennese Zelter 
formed a very favorable opinion; he was not 
deceived by hearing scarcely aught but Italian 
sung in society. ** Rossini rules, whether he will 
or no; that is freedom. And the Italians are 
right. The voice wants to sing for its own sake, 
and whoever lets it have its way is its man." He 
judges the musical public of Vienna thus : ^ They 
know something here about music, and that 
when con^)ared with Italy, which fancies itself 
the sanctifying church. But they are' really 
profoundly learned here. They are pleased with 
anyOiingy hut the best alone retains a permanent 
hold on them. They will listen to a mediocre 
opera, if well cast; but a good work, even when 
not confided to the best hands, affords them last- 
ing delight Beethoven is lauded by them to the 
sky, because he really works hard, and because 
Jie is alive ; but the man who causes to flow past 
them the national humor like a pure spring 
unmixed and mingling with no other stream is 
Haydn, who lives in, because he comes from, 
them. They seem to forget him every day, and 
yet every day he is bom afresh for them." And 
with these significant words we will close our 
short anthology. — Eduard Hanslick, Neue 
Freie Presse* 



HANDEL'S "SOLOMON." I 

[CompoMd between May 5 and June 19, 1748.] 

Less uniformly sublime in subject and in treat- 
ment than the Messiah or Isrady this oratorio has 
11 the noble Handelian cliaracteristics : choruses 
ranging through a great variety of expression, 
from the most grand and solemn or triumphant to 
the most graceful, pleasing, and descriptive ; songs, 
duets, and recitatives, which, though they must be 
somewhat tedious if given entire and by any but 
the best of solo singers, are yet full of character 
and beauty ; instrumental accompaniments, limited 
to the orchestral resources of those days and some- 
what homely in their lack of richer modem color- 
ing) yet always apt and strong by the pure force of 
musical ideas. In England and Germany it has 
been customary for some competent musician to fill 
in new orchestral parts, whenever Solomon has been 
performed. 

The following brief sketch of the contents of the 
work is gathered from a somewhat hasty perusal 
of the original score, with its spare instrumenta- 
tion; consisting only, in addition to the string 
quartet, of a pair of oboes (mostly in unison with 
the violins^, a pair of bassoons (mostly in unison 
with the bass), flutes for nightingales, and occa- 
sionally, in the grand triumphal double choruses, a 
pair of trumpets and of horns, with tympani. We 
make no reference to passages necessarily omitted 
on account of the extreme length of the oratorio. 

First we have an overture in the manner of the 
day, most meagrely instrumented, — only strings 
and oboes, running with the violins, — vigorous and 
quaint, as Handel always is, forming a homoge- 
neous prelude to the whole, and not an abstract of 
it, like our modem overtures. A simple Largo 
movement leads into a f ugued Allegro (44 measure), 
which winds up with a few Adagio chords, and is 
followed by a moderate movement in 34, sugges- 
tive of coming pomp and majesty. This is all in 
Bflat. 

No. 2 (same key) is a double chorus of priests, a 
spirited movement, commenced by the basses of 
both choirs in stately unison, "Your harps and 
cymbals sound to great Jehovah's praise." The 
voices pause, there are ten or twelve bars of lively 
instmmental symphony, and then the phrases, 
" Your harps," etc., and " Sound, sound," are passed 
from chorus to chorus in light and joyous har- 
mony; then, while the tenors on both sides give 
out the syllables, " To great Jehovah's name," in 
long, majestic notes, the sopranos of one choir 
introduce a new theme, with florid accompaniment 
by the altos, " Unto the Lord of hosts your willing 
voices raise " ; the different phrases alternate from 
part to part, and the whole is worked up with 
great brilliancy and majesty, with all a Handel's 
learning, all the eight voices coming together upon 
long notes of plain harmony at the end. It is truly 
a sublime chorus, and the echoes take some time to 
spend themselves in the instrumental symphony, 
after the voices have ceased. 

No. 5 introduces us to Solomon, a part for the 
alto voice. (In the performance here in 1866, by 
what strange precedent we never knew, the part 
of Solomon was given to the baritone I) It is a 
recitative, with beautiful, slowly flowing, pensive 
introductory symphony, in which he invokes God's 
presence in the " finished temple." 

No. 6. Zadoc, the priest (tenor), recites, "Impe- 
rial Solomon, thy prayers are heard"; Are from 
heaven lights the altar; and then he sings an ani- 
mated, florid air, " Sacred raptures," etc., which has 
all the mannerism of Handel, the roulades, etc., but 
is full of expression, especially the second strain, in 
the minor, " Warm enthusiastic flres," etc. 

No. 8. Four-part chorus, " Throughout the land 
Jehovah's praise record," in uniform, quick-stepping 
Alia Breve time ; a model of simple, noble fugue. 
As the emulous voices become heated, they flnally 
divide into double chorus. The whole is grand and 
solemn. 

Nos. and 10. Recitative of thanksgiving and 
air by Solomon, " What though I trace," etc. ; an 
exquisitely sweet, chaste, tender melody. 

1 From the Profframme Book of the Triennial. Festlva] 
oi the Handel 4t tfaydn Sookty. 



Nos. 11 and 12. Now comes what may be called 
the idyllic portion, of which the key-note is the 
bliss of wedded love. Solomon recites, "And see, 
my Queen." To this the queen replies in a 6^ Alle- 
gro, in A, quite fantastical in its rhythmical 
divisions; a sort of quaint and florid pastoral, 
blessing 

The day when first my eyes 
Saw the wisest of the wise, 

and subsiding into a slower and more emphatic 

strain at 

But coqipletely blessed the day 
When I heard my lover «ay, etc. 

We pass to what we apprehend will prove the 
most popular among the choruses. No. 22; not a 
grand chorus, but a delicious summer-night serenade, 
with a prelude full of flute imitations of nightin- 
gales, and strings murmuring like breezes in the 
trees, " May no rash intruder," etc. 

Truly a charming epithalamium ! The soprano 
part at times separates into first and second voices, 
taking up the strain catch-wise. The syncopated 
rhythm seems to have caught the nightingale char- 
acter from the outset ; the light, buoyant harmonies, 
now soft, now swelling, spread over the broad sur- 
face of hundreds of voices, have a fine, breezy, all- 
pervading effect ; while the occasional duet strain 
in thirds, first by all the female, then by all the 
male voices, gives you the sensation of listening 
through the night air to dainty founds. 

This sweetly closes the First Part 

Part IL opens with an exceedingly splendid, 
trumpet-tongued chorus, with a smart orchestral 
prelude and accompaniment, full of ringing excla- 
mations and responses on the words "iiappy," etc., 
upon which a fugue sets in in the basses, with a very 
quaintly-marked, emphatic subject, on the words 
" live, live forever," wliich is wrought out at consid- 
erable length, and winds pp magnificently with a 
repetition of the commencing strain. This is in the 
key of D major, like the "Hallelujah," and so 
many of the most brilliant and triumphant cho- 
ruses. 

No. 27. In the Levite's spirited and patriotic 
sounding air, "Thrice blest that wise, discerning 
king," you will readily imagine that Handel's mel- 
ody does " mount on eagle wing," and that this bass 
voice vigorously scales up through its whole com- 
pass, from a low starting-point, to reach those 
heights of " everlasting fame," and that there are 
plenty of old-fashioned, long-spun roulades, when 
the word "everlasting" last occurs. 

No. 28 opens the long dramatic scene of the two- 
women claiming the same infant Ushered in by an 
attendant (tenor recitative), the first^ the real 
mother recites her wrong. Song after this would 
seem unnecessary, but Handel has improved the 
situation to introduce a lengthy trio (No. 29), in 
which the first woman begins to plead, with simple 
pathos, and as she grows more earnest, repeating, 
"My cause is just, be thou my friend," she is cut 
short by the second woman, "False is all her melt- 
ing tale," in a vixen and accusing strain ; these two 
characteristically distinct melodies are then mingled 
and alternated piecemeal, while "Justice holds the 
lifted scale " in a long-drawn note, now on the key- 
note (A), and now on the dominant, in the alto part 
of Solomon. 

No. 90. Recitative. After hearing the second 
claimant, Solomon pronounces judgment: "Divide 
the babe." And then breaks in the strangest air,— 
more strange than interesting, though there is no 
telling what a great dramatic singer might make of 
it, — in which the second woman exults after her 
amiable and motherlg manner : — 

Thy lentenee, great king, is prudent and w^. 

And my hopes, on the wing, boimd qnlok for the price ; 

Ck>ntented I hear and approve the decree. 

For <U least I shcUt tear the lo^ed infant /ivm thee ! 

The sneering, s3mcopated melbdy, choking as it 
were with hate, and always with contrary accent to 
the bass accompaniment, has reference, we suppose, 
to the amiable state of mind of the singer; but it 
wants more instrumental background, and a little of 
that tigress stinging tone and action of Rachel to 
rehder it effective. Here are the first notes, which 
we give as a curiosity ; the words are to the king , 



76 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1019. 



but the muAic — the real meaning of them — is 
addressed to the other woman. 




:t 



Thy seu-tence, great king, is 



m 





Quite in contrast with this is the air of the real 
mother, who hereby proTes herself such, singing 
(to odd words enough), after springing forward to 
" withhold the executing hand " : — 

Can I see my infant gored 

With the fleree, relentless sword ? etc. 

It is really a song of great dramatic capabilities ; 
and the closing phrases, "Spare my child," may be 
conceived of as being sung so as to be full of 
pi^thos. No. 34, a recitative by Solomon, is of 
course necessary to set all right again, by giving 
virtue its reward. And by this time we may fancy 
that our audience has got pretty well weary of so 
long a stretch of solos, all so much after the old 
Italian cut, and destitute of all the stimulating 
richness of the modem orchestration. The truth 
is, this old melody (that is, the average of it, sung 
by average voices), though one may find meaning 
and character in it all, has a monotony, to most 
ears, about as great as that experienced in reading 
those old conventional classic dramas of Comeille 
and Racine ; not that these are for a moment to be 
mentioned iq the scale of greatness with a genius 
like our Handel. They need some rare Rachel of a 
singer to create them anew and bring out their 
meaning. The beautiful songs of the Messiah and 
some others are more agreeable, or have become so 
by frequent hearing, and through great singers. 
Besides, they are incomparably finer. The songs 
of Solomon are by no means the best of Handel. 
It is the choruses that save the work ; the life of it 
resides in them. Massive, elaborate, and complex 
as they are, nobody fails to understand them, 
nobody listens to them with a vacant mind. The 
charm of personality, which makes solos and duets 
so popular, is outworn in these songs, and we await 
each chorus like refreshing rain in drought 

Passmg the majestic, florid melody in which 
Zadoc compares Solomon to "the tall palm," and 
the short five-part* chorus, "From the East unto the 
West, who so wise as Solomon? " we come to No. 
40. The first woman sings a simple pastoral air 
about "Every shepherd sings his maid," which 
would seem more in place in one of Handel's early 
love operas, or a pastoral like Acts and Galatea 
And now nothing more intervenes before No. 41* 
the gi«*t chorus closing the Second Part, " Swell' 
swell the full chorus to Solomon's praise," etc. 

This chorus, like the opening one of this part, is 
in D major. Allegro, 64 measure ; bold, triumphal 
in plain harmony, without fugue, bat full of gran! 
deur. The last lines, "Flow sweetly," etc., make a 
smoother episode, in 34 measure, with a running 
riolin accompaniment, which soon imparts itp move- 
ment to the bass voices, afterwards responded to by 
other voices ; and after this smooth, gentle sprink- 
ling of harmony, the bolder original movement 
returns. 

Fart VL opens with an instrumental symphony 
of some length, in broad, even-flowing 44 rhythm, 
without fugue, full and strong and joyous, with the 
usual Handelian quavering figures for the violins, 
strong, up-buoying basses, relieved at intervals by 
bits of pastoral duet, in reedy thirds, by the haut- 
boys. This by way of prelude to the visit of the 
Queen of Sheba. Let their royal greeting speak 
for itself. 

And now comM one of the most interesting por- 
tiont of the oratorio ; •<- | 



Nos. 46-51. The monarch calls upon his court 
musicians to 

Sweep, sweep the string, to soothe the royal fair, 
And rouse each passion with th* alternate air. 

And then follows a series of four choruses, of 
contrasted expression, illustrating the power of 
music in rousing or soothing the various passions. 
First a sweetly, richly flowing one in G, 3^ meas- 
ure, the theme being first sung as solo by Solomon : 
" Music, spread tiiy voice around." 

Then he sings : — 

Now a different measure try, 
Shake the dome and pleree the sky, 

Which words are immediately taken up in double 
chorus, with the same martial accompaniment, in D, 
of course. The full chords have the quick and 
stately tramp of armies. At the idea of the " hard- 
fought battle " and the " clanging arms and neigh- 
ing steeds," the instrumental masses echo each other 
with more animation, and the voice parts tread 
upon each other's heels in uttering the same strong 
phrases, till the mind is filled with a bewildering 
yet harmonious image of general onslaught and 
confusion. The trumpets of course are not idle. 
The third is one of the finest and most impressive of 
Handel's choruses, although a short one. We quit 
the general battle for the sorrows of the private 
breast. The words are " Draw the tev from hope- 
less love." 

It is in G minor, a Largo movement, for five 
voices (there being two sopranos) ; and as these roll 
in like wave upon wave at first, you are reminded 
somewhat of "Behold the Lamb" in the Messiah. 
The union of all the voices on the tonic chord at 
" Lengthen out the solemn air," with the long swell 
on the word " air," is sublime, and the abrupt modu- 
lations, diminished sevenths, etc., at " Full of death 
and wild despair," have the romantic character of 
modem music, and almost make one shudder, 
finally, " to release the tortured soul," we have the 
air and chorus, in £ flat, " Thus rolling surges rise." 
Also, a chorus for five voices, in one or another of 
which the rolling surge continually resounds with 
right hearty Handelian gusto. 

The Levite, like Chorus in Greek Tragedies, 
chimes in with another bass air, in admiration of 
both "pious king and virtuous queen," — an air 
after the usual pattern, now quavering through sev- 
eral bars on the first syllable of " glory," and* now 
holding it at even height for the same space. This 
is not the only instance in Solomon where the origi- 
nal score furnishes nothing for the orchestra but 
first violin and bass parts. Robert Franz is greatly 
wanted to complete at least the quartet harmony. 

No. 54. Recitative and air for tenor. Zadoc cele- 
brates the splendors of the temple, and sings a 
melody ingeniously n^edded to the words, with 
instrumental figures corresponding, "Golden col- 
umns fair and bright." Here the two violin parts 
are in unison, and the violas are divided into first 
and second. 

Na 56. A magnificent double chorus of praise in 
D, with which the present performance fitly closes, 
without any sacrifice of unity or completeness. It 
is in fact the grandest chorus in the oratdrio ; simple 
and massive in its construction, offsetting chorus 
against chorus with striking effect, and only grow- 
ing contrapuntal and complex toward the end. A 
very active figurative accompaniment heightens its 
brilliancy throughout. The work finds its real 
climax here. But Handel, writing for Englishmen, 
famed for strong stomachs and long programmes, 
must give heaped measure ; and so Solomon must 
go on and sing of " green pastures," and all the out- 
ward signs of his most prosperous reign ; and the 
queen must pray that peace may ever dwell in 
Salem; and there must be leave-taking and duet 
between Solomon and Sheba ; and all this, necessi- 
tates a supplementary, and on the whole superfluous 
Jhale, — another double chorus, " The name of the 
wicked,'* etc., which by no means caps the climax 
upon the preceding choruses, but is in fact less 
interesting than most of them. 

As a whole, we may speak of Solomon as an ora- 
torio which contains much of Handel's best music ; 
but too long, wanting in unity, and unusually over- 
loaded with long, level stretches of those conven* 



tional and ornate solos, which it requires the best of 
singers to lift into light and interest. The cho- 
ruses are indeed wonderfully fine, and touch such 
various chords of human feeling that they might 
furnish a complete enough entertainment of them- 
selves. The oratorio as here given is curtailed one- 
third. Why not curtail it even more? J. S. I). 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

London. — " Cherubino," of the Figaro (April 7) 
says: 

The announcements of the retirement of three 
leading English artists have followed quickly one 
upon the other. Mr. Sims Reeves, Madame Ara- 
bella Goddard, and Madame Lemmens- Sherrington 
represent names which for many years past have 
been potent in the musical world. The first as the 
leading Knglish tenor, the second as the premicfre 
English pianist and most faithful champion of Eng- 
lish pianoforte music, and the third for many years 
the leading English soprano, the public will be 
sorry to lose any of them. But it is better to 
retire in the fulness of time, and before the physi- 
cal decay which necessarily accompanies age has 
developed itself. It is interesting , too, to note that 
each artist hopes to leave bi>hind a successor in^the 
favor of the English public, Mr. Sims Reeves 
will bring forward Mr. Herbert Reeves, Madame 
Goddard has a son who is a poet, a musician, and a 
writer of great promise, while Madame Lemmens 
proposes to bring forward her two daughters. 

The Crystal Palace concert of April 3, had the 

following programme : 

Orertore, '* A niidsnmmer night's dream '* Mendelssohn. 
Aria, "Wo berg* ichniIch*»("Euryauthe'*) . . Weber. 

Herr Henschel. 
Concerto for pianoforte and orchestra, in F 

sharp (MS.) Parry. 

(First time of performance.) 

Mr. Daunreuther. 

Scherso, '* Queen Mab " (" Romeo and Juliet '*) Berlios. 

Songs (" Die WInterrelse ") , . Schubert. 

" Der Llndeiibaum " 
" Der Leiermann '* 

Herr Henschel. 

Symphony No. 7, In A ... Beethoren. 

Ck>nductor, August Manns. 

Of Mr. Hubert Parry and his concerto, the Musical 
Standard says : 

" He has already written a quartet for strings, a 
duet for pianoforte and violoncello, a trio for piano- 
forte ana strings, a quartet for the same, a fantasie- 
sonata for piano and violin, and a duet for two 
pianos, all of which have been performed on various 
occasions. The works of this gentleman are dis- 
tinguished alike for their individuality and spirit, 
and the work allotted to the principal instrument in 
this concerto, besides being clever in its arrange- 
ment, is of more than ordinaiy difficulty, requiring 
the experienced hands of M. Dannreuther, who on 
the whole did justice to the work, the band, of 
course, not being behindhand in their conscientious 
rendering of the orchestral part. The periforrumce 
was but coldly received^** 

The twenty-second concert of the season con- 
sisted of the following : — 

Symphony No. 8, in F Beethoven. 

Reeit., " Well hast thou told thy tale,** and 
air, ^' Short and blissful *' ('* Hereward **)... Front. 
Mr. Barton MoGuckin. 

** The willow soDff"(" Othello'*) SulliTaa. 

Miss Marian Mackensie. 
(Her first wpearance at the Crystal Palace.) 
(yonoerto for pianoforte and orchestra, No. 1, in 

Eflat Lisst. 

Miss Anna Mehlig. 

Songs, "Morgenlled** Rublnstehu 

"The stormy spring'* Mendelssohn. 

Mr. Barton McGuckin. 
Variations tor strings, from the String Quar- 
tet in D minor Sehnbert. 

Aria, "Quando«te lieu '*(** Faust'*) .... Gounod. 

Miss Marion Mackensie. 
Overture, "Diballo** SulliTsn 

Miss Bertha Mehlig was announced to make her 
d^ut at this concert as a pianist, but owing to the 
delay in her arrival in England the concerto for 
pianoforte and orchestra of Liszt's was substituted 
for the duet for two pianofortes, originally intended 
to be given. Miss Anna Mehlig's merits as a pianist 
are too well known to be dilated upon, and Liszt's 
rhapsodical composition was done full justice to by 
that talented young lady. 

LiVBRPOOL. — Two incidents are almost simulta- 
neously reported by the Liverpool press, one of 
which is likely to give general satisfac ion among 
lovers of music in this country ; the other, quite the 
opposite. That Her Majesty the Queen should 
have granted out of the Civil List the annual pen- 
sion of £100 to Mr. W. T. Best, organist of St. 
George's Hall, and one of the most practised living 



May 8, 1880.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



77 



masters of an iRstruraent in which Bach, Handel, 
Mendelssohn, and other renowned composers took 
such ardent interest, will surprise none, while con- 
ciliating all; hut the appointment of Herr Max 
Bnich to succeed Sir Julius Benedict as conductor 
of the Liverpool Philharmonic Concerts can please 
only those who prefer seeing a foreign can(fidate, 
whatever his bonajide pretensions, occupy a position 
in the disposal of which they may be able to exer- 
cise some control. With such people, no English 
musician, were he even another Stemdale Bennett, 
would liave the remotest chance. The Liverpool 
DaUy Post informs its readers that there were no 
fewer than thirty-seven aspirants for the place so 
long honorably filled by Sir Julius Benedict, who, 
though a foreigner by birth and descent, is a natu- 
ralized Englishman, and has spent nearly half a 
century of his artistic career in our midst. Among 
these " thirty-seven " were, doubtless, many native- 
born musicians, some of whom, it is not difficult to 
believe, could " qualify " for the post just as emi- 
nently as Herr Max Brucli, who, thodgh accepted 
as a composer of unquestionable ability, has yet to 
be tested as a conductor. The same paper adds, 
" This appointment will, no doubt, give every satis- 
faction to members of the Society and to the 
musical community of Liverpool in general." 
There is some reason to doubt the assertion as con- 
cerning " the musical community in general," how- 
ever it may apply to " members of the Society." In 
any case the decision of the Liverpool Philharmonic 
Committee is open to, and in fact is, the topic of 
wide comment. The Liverpool Post does not tell 
us whether Herr Bruch has accepted the offered 
appointment, and with it the under-stipulated con- 
ditions that he shall reside in Liverpool from Sep- 
tember in one year to April in the next, and, more- 
over, *' perform the duties of chorus-master," in 
addition to those hitherto appertaining to the office 
vacated by Sir Julius Benedict, who resided in 
London during the same period, and only went to 
Liverpool foi the rehearsal and performance of 
each successive concert. Will Sir Julius's secession 
from the conductorship of the Norwich Festival 
induce the Committee of Management to offer the 
post to another foreigner ? or will they, as staunch 
East Anglians, take example by the Leeds Festival 
Committee, equally staunch Yorkshiremen ? The 
Leeds people have chosen for successor to Sir 
Michael Costa, an Englishman, in Dr. Arthur Sulli- 
van, — composer, among many other things, of the 
music to Shakespear's Tempttt, The Prodigal Son, 
The Light of the norld. The Sorcerer, II. M. S. Pinor 
fore, and the now all-absorbing Pirates of Penzance 
— an adept in man^ styles, as all know, and gifted, 
with fair opportunity, to excel in the highest. It 
remains to be seen at what conclusion Norwich will 
arrive. — Graphic, 

WiKSBADKN. — The long talked-of meeting of the 
members — or at least of some, only tliirty being in 
attendance — of the Baireuth Patrons' Association 
was held a short time since. It was resolved that 
the various Wagner Associations shall forthwith 
raise one million marks for the purpose of carrying 
out the " Master's " plans and desires, the '' founda- 
tion of a School of Style at Baireuth and grand 
"Festival Performances." As Wagner, who is at 
present in Naples, will probably not return to Bai- 
reuth till the summer is over, the meeting, by his 
express wish, arranged no performances, for this 
year; but there is a prospect of symphonic per- 
f ormfinces, under Wagner's personal direction, being 
organized at Baireuth in 1881. Meanwhile, every 
efirort is to be made for carrying out the resolution 
passed by the meeting, and a special committee was 
elected from among the members of the Patrons' 
Association, the members of the said committee 
being distributed among fourteen German cities. 

Florbncb. — A historical concert has recently 
been held at Florence, and the programme, if ft be 
correct, is of sufficient interest to be detailed. The 
first item was, we are told, a prelude for the 
" aulos," an ancient Greek flute supposed to date 
460 years before Christ. The next was a " Cossack 
dance" for ''Dondka," and two "Balalaika." 
Next came a love song by Thibaut IV., King of 
Navarre 1201-1263, accompanied, we are told, by a 
harp of the time of the Troubadours. Next came 
a choms, " Ludwig XII*," for four voices, hy Joa- 

Suin de Prtfs, written in 1481 ; followed bv a Vene- 
an ariette, "La Farfalla," by Buzzofa. Next 
came a symphony to the musical drama, " Sant' 
Alessio," by Land! Salvatore, dated 1684, for 8 
Amati violins, 1 Goffuller violin, 1 Hugger violin, 1 
Rugger viola da braccio, 1 Maggini viola alta, 1 
Gaspare da Sal5 viola da gamba, 1 violin dated 
1600, without name ; 1 ancient harp, 1 archibutt by 
Aloysiua Maroncini, and one clavecin by Cristofori. 
After an Andaliisian song, the next item of the 
pM>grftmme #a8 tlie "MacbMh" miMic tttrtbutchd 



to Matthew Lock, with an orchestra which included 
organ, flute, 2 oboes, 1 hautbois de chasse, a bas- 
soon, viola, bass viol, a serpent, and a virginal. 
Airs by Mozart (from the " Nozze di Figaro ") and 
Filippi were followed by a cantata dated 1652, by 
Michael Jacobi, of Brandenburgh, for four voices, 
with accompaniment for a spinet, a czakan, 2 flutes, 
a bass flute, a cornet a bonquin, trumpet, violin, alto, 
viol de gamba, harp, cymbals, and organ. A Rou- 
manian song, " S'a stins asa de lesne," by Cante- 
cclii, Roinanti, was followed by the " Marehe des 
Mousquetaires du Roi de France," by LuUy, dated 
1677, and performed by 2 hautboys, a hunting haut- 
boy, bassoon, serpent, and two drums. The air 
" Kathleen Mavourneen," for some reason or. 
another, came next, and was followed by a duet 
from liossini's " Zclmira," with accompaniment for 
cor'anglais and harp ; a choral students' song dated 
1627, a canon for four voices by Martini, " Russische 
Jagdmusik," by Varschek, dated 1761, for 26 art- 
ists ; and lastly, a Hungarian dance by Czardas, for 
Tsigane orchestra. The concert was organized by 
Messrs. Kraus, of Florence, who possess one of the 
most remarkable collections of ancient musical 
instruments in the hands of any private persons. 

Paris. — Conservatoire (February 22): Sym- 
phony in F (Beethoven); Paternoster, unaccom- 
panied chorus (Meyerbeer) ; Overture, "Giaour" 
[Th. Gorwy); Chorus from "Armide" (Lulli); 
Music to "Midsummer Night's Dream" (Mendels- 
sohn). Concert Populaire (February 22): Sym- 
phony in D, No. 46 (Haydn); Offertory (Gounod): 
Violin Cocerto (Beethoven) ; " Kennesse"(Godard); 
Overture, "Freischutz" (Weber). Chateiet Con- 
cert (February 22) : Scotch Symphony (Mendels- 
sohn); Fragments from Fourth Symphony (Tchai- 
kowsky ) ; Tarantelle for flute and clarinet 
(Saint-Saens) ; Andante and variations from Sestet 
(Beethoven) ; " L'Arl^sienne " (Bizet). Concert 
Populaire (February 29) : Music to Goethe's " Faust " 
(Schumann). Chateiet Concert (February 29) : 
Symphony, D minor (Beethoven) ; Second Violin 
Concerto (Max Bruch) ; Scenes Symphoniques 
(Dubois); Violin Suite (Raff); Fragments from 
"Dalila„(Ch. Lefevre); Danse espagnoles (Sara- 
sate) ; Overture, " Francs Juges " (Berlioz). Chil- 
telet Concert (March 7) : Symphonic fantastique 
(Berlioz) ; Divertissement from " Le Roi de Lahore " 
(Massenet) ; Concerto for Pianoforte (Marie Jacll) ; 
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens); Overture, "La Forza 
del Destino " (Verdi). Conservatoire (March 14) : 
Choral Symphony (Beethoven) : Rondo and Bour- 
rde from Suite in B minor (Bach) ; Overture, 
" Euryanthe " (Weber). Concert Populaire (March 
14) : Symphony in A (Beethoven) ; " Wallenstein's 
Death," symphonic poem (d'Indy) ; Pianoforte Con- 
certo, A minor (Schumann) ; Entr'acte from " Tra- 
viata" (Verdi); Overture, "Euryanthe" (Weber). 
Chateiet Concert (March 14 : " Le Tasse," Dramatic 
Symphony (B. Godard). Concert Populaire (March 
21) : Italian Symphony (Mendelssohn) ; Fragment 
from " Prometheus " (Beethoven) ; Concerto Roman- 
tique for violin (B. Godard) ; " L'ArMsienne " 
(Bizet); Overture, " Meistersinger " (Wagner). 
Chfttelet Concert (March 21) "La Damnation de 
Faust "(Berlioz). 



Leipsic. — The Committee of the Gewandhaus 
Concerts have invited German and Austrian archi- 
tects to send in, before the Slst of next month, 
plans for a new concert-building. One prize of 
3,000 and another of 2,000 marks will be awarded, 
respectively, to the best and the second-best plan. 
— At the Stadttheatre, Ingeborg, by Paul Geisler, 
and Die BUrgermeigterin von Schondorf by August 
Reissmann, are in active preparation, and will 
shortly be produced. It is intended to organise 
next season a cyclus of all Gliick's operas, and 
there are good grounds for believing it will prove 
as successful as the Mozart Cyclus. On the 24th 
ult., there was a concert which derived especial 
lustre from the co-operation of Mad. Schuch-Proska 
and Mdlle. Bianca Bianchi. Bv the side of these 
two ladies, Herr Robert Fischoff, the young pianist, 
well-known as prize-crowned pupil of the Vienna 
Conservatory, held his grouno with distinguished 
honor. He peiformed compositions by Chopin and 
Liszt. The local critics praise him for his excel- 
lent technical training and for already possessing so 
ripe an intellect that great hopes may be built on 
the further career of his eminent talent. He pro- 
ceeded from this place to Berlin, with the object of 
giving concerts there. 

CoLOGMB. — The fifty-seventh Musical Festival 
of the Lower Rhine, under the direction of Ferdi- 
nand Hiller, will be held here at Whitsuntide. The 
following is the programme, as definitely settled : 
First dAy : Overtttirc, Zur Weihe dee Hauses {pe^ 



thoven), and Israel in Egypt (HandvJ). Second 
day : Symphony, No. 8 (Beethovei)) , Andante for 
String-Band (Haydn) ; Die NaJd, for solo, chorus 
and orchestra (Hiller); Pianoforte Concerto (Schu- 
mann), played by Mad. Clara Schumann; and 
"Whitsuntide Cantata" (S. Bach). Third day: 
Overture to Genoueva (Schumann); Symphony in 
A minor (Mendelssohn); Violin Concerto (Bee- 
thoven), played by Herr Joachim ; Overture to Der 
Freischutz, and sundry vocal solos. In addition to 
the two eminent artists already named. Mad. Mar- 
cella Sembrich, of the theatre Royal, Dresden; 
Mdlle. Adele Asman, of Berlin ; M. Henrik West^ 
berg, of Copenhagen; and Dr. Krauss, of this place 
are engaged. A new and unpublished Requiem, fop 
soloists, chorus, and orchestra, by Herr Theodor 
Gouvy, was recently performed, under the com- 
poser's own direction, at a concert of the Church- 
Music Association. A second performance took 
place a few days subsequently. 

Madamb Clara ScHuxAinr is preparing a new 
and complete edition of the works of her deceased 
husband, as also a biography, enriched by the liter- 
ary remains of that great composer in the shape 
of letters, criticisms, essays, etc., (hitherto not 
made known). Such a publication, coming from 
such a source, is sure of a hearty and unanimous 
welcome. — Graphic, 



l^MgfyVst journal of HJ^nsOt. 

SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1880. 



THE FIFTH TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. 
It was a most brilliant, grand, impressive open- 
ing on Tuesday evening. It is safe to say that 
the general voice of one of the largest and most 
cultivated audiences ever assembled in the Musie 
Hall pronounces it by far the most perfect pre- 
sentation of St. Paul — or perhaps of any oratorio 
— that we have ever had in Boston. And that is 
almost tantamount to saying that, in many impor« 
tant respects, it came very near the mark of a 
model performance. It surely did so in the cho- 
rus work. The chorus seats were full, and the 
five hundred voices (one hundred and sixty-two 
sopranos, one hundred and forty-four altos, ninety- 
seven tenors and one hundred and thirty-flix 
basses) were animated with one spirit and in 
admirable training, so that all went promptly and 
decidedly, with rich and musical enserMe^ und 
sensitively obedient to the conductor's b&ton in 
all points of light and shade. This is equally 
true of the sublime choruses : " Lord, thou alone 
art God," " O great is the depth, " " The nations 
are now the Lord's;" of the broad, smooth, 
richly-liarmonized chorales, (which, though they 
may not show an equal polyphonic genius with 
that of Bach, are clearly modelled after him, and 
very happily, especially in the two to which Men- 
delssohn has given a figurative orchestral accom- 
paniment); of the sweet and lovely choruses, 
"Happy and blest," and "How lovely are the 
messengers ; " of the fierce, fanatical, vindictive 
outbursts of the Jews: "Stone him to death," 
etc. (also after Bach, — ^those turhat in the^Passion 
Music); of the sensuous, light-hearted, flute- 
accompanied choruses of the Greeks; and of such 
expressions of pious, tearful tenderness as : " Far 
be it from thy path." If there were a few short- 
comings anywhere, they are lost in the abiding 
memory of a glorious whole, just as in any great 
mass of instruments and voices many slight dis- 
cords, necessarily existing, are practically swal- 
lowed up in the vast volume of tone waves. Fos*. 
sibly, to be very critical, the addition of a dozen 
or more good ringing tenors would have made the 
balance still more perfect. 

Equal praise belongs in candor to the orches- 
tra. Rarely, if ever, have we heard a mor» 
efficient body of seventy instniments. The noble 
overture, built on the grouqdwork of a ckvije — 



78 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1019. 



a complete work in itself, as shown in two of the 
Harvard concerts — came out witli splendid life 
and energy ; and the accompaniments were always 
delicate or brilliant, as tlie case required, always 
clear and sensitively true. The violin force, with 
Bernhard Listemann at the head, was of the 
honest, telling kind. The- contra-fagotto, rather 
a stranger to our concerts, made its presence felt. 
The reeds and flutes were sweet and true, and 
the brass, for which Mendelssohn gives splendid 
opportunities in Su Paul, rang out with refresh* 
ing and exhilarating challenge : *' Rise up, arise I " 
*' Sleepers, awake," etc. Nor must we, in speak- 
ing of the accompaniment, forget the great organ, 
whose participation here and there, under the 
skillful hands of Mr. Lang, was very noticeable, 
and helped greatly to bring out the full intention 
of the composer. We understand tliat he had 
taken pains to procure from Germany Mendels- 
sohn's full organ score, and that we heard it for 
the first time on this occasion. 

The principal solo singers, both in recitative 
and song, proved equal to their exacting tasks. 
The limpid, lovely quality of Miss Thursby's 
pure and flexible soprano voice, witli her finished, 
tasteful, refined execution, fitted her well for the 
music. Her recitative was clear, artistic and 
expressive, and her rendering of the great aria : 
*' Jerusalem " and of that fresh and fragrant little 
melody, the Arioso : " I will sing of Thy great 
mercies," was delightful. Miss Thursby's singing 
is that of a bird-like, happy, child-like nature, 
not a deep one ; she was not made for a grand 
singer, but surely for a most charming one. Miss 
Winant's rich and soulful contralto told to excel- 
lent advantage in the little that it had to do. In 
the fine aria : *' The Lord is mindful of his own," 
she sang with true and tender feeling, and was 
most heartily applauded. Mr. M. W. Whitney, 
our great basso, always to be relied upon, always 
dignified and large in style, and of consummate 
ease and steadiness in execution, acquitted him- 
self nobly, as he always docs ; but he hardly rose 
to the inspiration of which he has shown himself 
capable sometimes ; there was a certain heaviness 
which needed to be lifted by tlie buoyant soul 
within. 

The chief honors were borne off by Mr. Charles 
R. Adams. For once he was entirely himself 
again, his voice free from huskiness, and he im- 
proved the auspicious opportunity to show him- 
self the noble artist that he is. Those who heard 
him this time, can readily believe that this Boston 
singer has held the position of principal tenor for 
seven years in the Imperial Opera at Vienna. 
In the recitative, of whieh he had by far the 
largest portion, he was admirable. The voice 
rang out clear, large, sweet and musical ; his dec- 
lamation was of the most positive and manly 
character, and his enunciation simply perfect. 
When it came to the great aria : *' Be thou faith- 
ful until death," he rose to something like true 
inspiration; the effect was magical; every tone 
contained a wealth of fervor and of beauty, and 
the applause knew no bounds. The only draw- 
back with Mr. Adams (when he is in such 
voice) is that^ like most possessors of fine natural 
voices, he became a singer before becoming a 
musician ; this was felt in several slips in the con- 
certed pieces. 

On die beauty and the grandeur of the Orar 
torio itself we need not enlarge here, having 
already expressed our opinion of it (very im- 
perfectly to be sure) as one of the noblest monu- 
ments of this form of Art-work, superior in some 
respects even to Elijah , in the ** Notes " appended 
to the book of programmes. 

We have recorded a most auspicious opening 
of the festival. And here we are stopped at the 
threshold by the 'call to " go to press," leaving the 
six remaining concerts for more retrospective 



notice When this appears but two more will be 
left for those who may be fortunate enough to 
procure seats at the eleventh hour. This after- 
noon, a miscellaneous concert, including two very 
noble and fresh, but short choral works, namely : 
Handel's Utrecht JxAbUate, and a sublime Quartet 
and Chorus by Sebastian Bach ; besides a liberal 
anthology of vocal solos, none of them hackneyed, 
exhibiting each of the principal vocalists in 
things of their own choice. Finally, tomorrow 
j( Sunday) evening, Handel's Oratorio of Solomon, 
which has not been heard here for twenty-five 
years, with Miss Thursby, Miss Fanny Kellogg, 
Miss Annie Cary, Mr. Courtney and Mr. John F. 
Winch, as soloists. 

RECENT CONCERTS. 

The Cecilia. — The first performance here of 
Schumann's Manfred music, in the third concert of 
the season (April 24), intrinsically considered, was a 
musical event second to no other of the year past. 
ItUrinsicaUif, we say, for doubtless there have been 
some things more exciting to the public curiosity 
and more widely appreciated. But the Manfrtd 
music is a thoroughly genial and original creation, 
fully worthy of the noble, although gloomy poem 
of Lord Byron, to which it is wedded. Every 
measure of the composition is full of beauty, while 
it reveals the deep sympathy of the (sick) musician 
with the morbid, introspective, misanthropic mood 
of the poet. In spite of its monstrous plot, the 
poem is full of poetic inspiration, and in spite of 
its faithful illustration of the text, the music is 
most musical and full of exquisite enchantment. 
You cannot say that of much of the audacious and 
astounding " programme music " now in vogue. 

The few purely instrumental numbers of Man- 
frtdy which had been heard in several seasons of the 
Harvard Symphony Concerts, had prepared many 
of the audience to expect a rare treat from the 
whole work. These were : first, the wonderful over- 
ture, entirely «« i generisy and inspired with the very 
mood and genius of Manfred — one of the most 
remarkable overtures ever composed, — and yet, 
while so true, so holding the listener spell-bound to 
its mood, at the same time so beautiful, so glowing 
with at once the passion and repose of art; and 
then, by way of soft relief and sympathy with 
Nature's cheerfulness, the Entr'acte and the fairy- 
like accompaniment to the Invocation of the Witch 
of the Alpi. These were finely executed by the 
orchestra, obedient to the b^ton of Mr. Lang, whose 
re-appearance after a severe attack of illness was 
the signal for hearty congratulation. 

All besides these three pieces consists partly of a 
few short songs and choruses of spirits, and partly 
of melodrama, the orchestra furnishing a most deli- 
cate, suggestive, graphic accompaniment to a read- 
ing of portions of the text (this time by Mr. 
Howard M* Ticknor, who acquitted himself of the 
difficult task with good judgment, dignity and taste). 
The short songs of the four spirits (see article on 
our first page) were well delivered by Miss Ella M. 
Abbott, Mrs. C. C. Noyes, Mr. B. L. Knapp, and 
Mr. A. F. Arnold. We can hardly conceive of a 
more lovely, soulful melody than that sung by the 
violins, etc., to No. 2, the Appearance of a Beautiful 
Female Figure, with its delicate, breath-catching, 
syncopated accompaniment Then come the f our 
bass voices in the dark and heavy music of the 
Incantation, which is v^ry impressive. But the 
cloud is almost immediately lifted by the scene of 
the Chamois Hunter, and the melody of the Ratiz- 
des'Vachea, played on the English horn (very beau- 
tifully by M. de Ribas). The contrast of its two 
tunes, one a musing, melancholy strain, the other a 
light, merry dance, is delightful, and recalls all the 
pastoral fascination of the Alps. 

Part IL opens with the Entr'acte and the Witch of 
the Alps piece already mentioned ; so that the whole 
middle portion of the work is sweet and light and 
graceful. And now we are transported to the dark 
abode of Ahriman and evil spirits. Their hymn 
before their master's tlirone forms the most impos- 
ing chorus in the work, for first and second soprano, 
alto, tenor and bass. It has a gloomy and appall- 
ing grandeur, and it is a relief when the spirit of 



Astarte, Manfred's beloved, is summoned up, with a 
like tender melodramatic accompaniment to that of 
the form2r "beautiful female" apparition. The 
musical conception (purely instrumental) of the 
whole interview is exquisite. 

Part IIL The Faust-like soliloquy of Manfred 
in his chamber, his address to the setting sun, his 
dialogue with the abbot, the grim apparition of the 
fateful spirit who comes to summon him away, is 
all made as expressive musically as a few sparing 
touches of melodramatic art can make it. The 
concluding cloister choruses, Requiem and Et lux 
perpetua are Schumann's arbitrary addition to 
Byron's poem ; but musically they are very beauti- 
ful and church-like in style and feeling, and they 
are very short We must congratulate Mr. Lang 
and the Cecilia, and Mr. Ticknor, upon the excel- 
lent presentation of so difficult a work. 

Whatever 'of gloom and depression the poetry 
and music of the Manfred left upon the audience 
was happily relieved by the short, and for the roost 
part hopeful, joyful music of Max Bruch's cantata, 
Fair Ellen, of which the chorus work was rich and 
euphonious, and the solos were well sung by Miss 
Abbott and Dr. Bullard. 



EuTEKPE. — The fifth and last Chamber Concert 
of the second season took place at Mechanics* Hall on 
Thursday evening, April 22. In the expectation, 
probably, of larger things looming on '^» musical 
horizon, the attendance was not as nunieroi.<« as 
usual. But the programme was one of the b.'«t 
inviting and rewarding of the season ; and the 
interpretation, by the Beethoven Quintette Club 
(Messrs. Allen, Dannreuther, Henry Heindl, Rietzei 
and Wulf Fries) was equal, if not superior, to any 
we have had this winter. The programme offered 
two works of the first order: Cherubini's first 
Quartet, in E flat, and Mozart's Quintet in G minor. 

The Cherubini Quartet was indeed refreshing 
after the many years during wliich we have not 
been allowed to hear it. It is a masterly work in 
all respects, whether of technique or poetic inspi- 
ration ; full of melody, full of light, and symmetry, 
and progressive interest, and thoroughly plastic in 
form, the author's rare contrapuntal skill being 
always subservient to spontaneous expression. The 
first movement (Introductory Adagio and Allegro 
agitato) is a very clear, square, wholesome, vigorous 
and satisfactory piece of work. The Larghetto is 
remarkable for the richness and variety of its con- 
tents, always kept close to one leading theme which 
dominates the whole. It is a quaint, pregnant, and 
enticing theme of considerable length. Light and 
airy variations follow, the 'cello keeping silence, but 
evidently thinking very earnestly, for finally he 
breaks out in loud, angry running passages, carry- 
ing the tenor along with him, as much as to say to 
his comrades; "Enough of this dilettante toying 
with a noble theme! let us have earnest work/' 
From this point the four-part development grows 
richer and more complex to the end. One of the 
variations forms a subdued and mystical sort of 
organ interlude, after which the figurative bass 
leads off again with double energy. The Scherzo, 
a bewitchingly light and lifesome movement, shows 
that Mendelssohn was not the first to overhear the 
fairies. The Finale {Allegro auai) is kindred with 
the opening Allegro, and rounds the Quartet to a 
symmetrical and brilliant close. We trust that we 
shall hear this Quartet of tener in future, and its 
two sisters likewise. Still more enchanting was 
the much more familiar G minor Quintet of Mozart, 
as happy an inspiration, and as flawless a model in 
one kind, as is his G minor Symphony in another. 
It requires no description. Enough to say that it 
was nicely and artistically played. 



Mr. B. J. Lako's Two Concerts, at Mechan- 
ics' Hall (April 1, and 29,) filled every seat with 
eager listeners. The first programme opened with 
a repetition of the Trio in G minor by Hans von 
Bronsart, which excited so much interest last year. 
Mr. Lang had associated with him in its perform- 
ance, Mr. C. N. Allen, violin, and Wulf Fries, 'cello. 
The interpretation lacked nothing of spirit or dis- 
crimination, and the impression which tlie work be- 
fore made of nerve, originality and power was con- 



May 8, 1880.] 



DWIQETS JOURNAL OF MUSIC, 



79 



firmed. The opening Allegro is intense and pas- 
sionate; the Scherzo (Vivace), not in three-four 
measure, has a quaint, frolic humor; the Adagio 
has solemnity and grandeur, rather closely resem- 
bling Chopin's funeral march in the beginning; and 
the Finale (Allegro agitato), though more conven- 
tional, is vigorous and effective. 

Next followed a flowery chain of ten short songs, 
sung as one number by Mr. George L. Osgood. 
These were, three by Schumann: "Der Himmel 
hat eine Thriine geweint," "Warum willst du An- 
dere fragen," and " Rose, Meer und Sonne ; " three 
by Schubert : " Barcarolle,"" Dass sie hier gewesen," 
and "Wohin" (Brook Song); three by Robert 
Franz : " Die Harrende," " Sterne mit den gold'nen 
Fusschen," and the Serenade ; one by Rubinstein : 
" As sings the lark in ether blue." They are all 
delicate and charming songs, and Mr. Osgood sang 
very sweetly, with great refinement pf expression, 
only too continually fotto voce, so that at times it 
seemed but the delicate shadow of a voice ; yet no 
one better knows bow to let each song breathe 
forth its own peculiar life. 

A Sonata for piano and 'cello, op. 32, by Saint- 
Sacns, was played for the first time by Mr. Fries 
and Mr. Lang. It is a clear, musician-like work in 
three movements, but has not left any marked im- 
pression which we can recall. But what woke 
us all up to new life, dispelling all possibility of 
doubt about its genial excellence and beauty, was 
the Concerto of Bach for four pianofortes, with 
string accompaniment, given for the first time in 
America. It consists of three short movements: 
Moderato, Largo, and Allegro. The four pianos 
were played by Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Sherwood, Mr. 
J. C. D. Parker, and Mr. Lang ; and they did it 
con amove. It is wonderfully interesting, not merely 
for its contrapuntal skill and learning, but for its 
fresh ideal beauty. After a number of long com- 
positions of which one hardly knows whether he 
likes them or not, commend us to a work like this ! 
Mr. Lang's second programme was as follows : 

Quartet, No. 7, Op. 192, No. 2 Joachim Raff . 

The Miller's Prettv Daughter, a cycle of tone-poems. 

The Youth — Allegretto 

The Mill -> Allegro. 

The Miller's Daughter— Andante quasi adagietto. 

Unrest — Allegro. 

Proposal — Andantino qoasi allegretto. 

For the Nnptlal Eve — Vivace. 
Messrs. Bemhard Llstemann, F. Listemann, T. Mullaly, 

and A. Heindl. 

Songs. " Mio caro bene " > . . . . Handel. 

" Stimme der Liebe " Schubert. 

" Im Abendroth " " 

"Im Mai," Op. 11, No. 3 Franx. 

"Llebesbotschaff* Schubert. 

*' Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen '* . . Franz. 

'* Au Cimetiire " Saint-Saenf. 

" KUnge mein Pandero " Jensen. 

" Be not BO coy, beloved child *' . . Rubinstein. 

"Der Lens" « . . Lassen. 

Mr. Wm. J. Winch. 

Piano-forte and String Quintet, Op. 30, B flat, (first time). 

Goldniark. 

Allegro vivace— Adagio— Scheno— Allegro vivace. 

Messrs. B. Listemann, F. Listemann, J. C. Mullaly, A. 

Heindl and B. J. Lang. 

We cannot say that Baff's "Schone Miillerin" 
Quartet, played here once before in a Euterpe con- 
cert, improved much on acquaintance. Not because 
it is a " programme " Quartet, and not constructed 
on the classical model, but because most of the mu- 
sic of its six movements, or its cycle of six pieces, 
in spite of passages both sweet and passionate, 
seemed to us feebly sentimental and not seldom 
dreary ; it lacked the wholesome stimulus of good 
sound music ; its sentiment seemed artificial. But 
many liked it, and we may be wrong. 

Mr. Winch was in excellent voice and sang with 
fervor, with artistic finish, and with fine expression. 
Especially happy was he in the Handel arias. The 
two by Schubert were particularly delicate and 
lovely, and the two by Franz were like fresh little 
wildflowers of melody, set in charming accompani- 
ment, as nature sets her flowers amid exquisite sur- 
roundings. These were all delicate and tender; 
but a stronger breeze sprang up in the songs by 
Rubinstein, to die down again to a dead level in the 
** Cemetery " air by Samt-Saens. 



The new Quintet by Goldmark has much to intei^ 
est one in the two middle movements, at least ; but 
those who liked the Raff thing much, appear to 
have been but indifferently pleased with this. We 
will not judge without another hearing. 

Several more concerts await notice. 



In Prospect. After the absorbing Festival one 
willingly rests from muaic for a few days; but the 
season is by no means over. The next event of interest 
will be the postponed performance (for the first time in 
Boeton) of Berlioz's Damnation de Favtt^ under the 
dii-ection of ilr. B. J. Lang. This will be next Friday 
evening, May 14, at the Boston Music Hall. With the 
fine orchestra of 60, the select chorus of 220 mixed 
voices, and such soloists as Mrs. Humphrey-Allen, Mr. 
Wm. J. Winch, Mr. Clarence E. Hay, and Mr. Schle- 
singer, and after fresh rehearsal, it cannot fail to be a 

success. 

On Saturday evening (15th), the accomplished young 
pianist, Mr. John A. Preston, will give a concert in 
Mechanics' HalL Besides piano solos from the works 
of Ihorak (new) and Schumann, Mr. Preston willpLiy, 
with Messrs. Dannreuther and yf\x\t Fries, a new Trio 
by the Russian composer Ntfpravnik, and Mr. Wm. J. 
Winch will contribute several songs. 

Next comes, to the delight of lovers of pianoforte 
miwic, Herr Joseffy, with the charming violinist 
Adnmowski. They will give three concerts, in the 
Music Hall, on Monday and Tuesday evenings, May 17 
and 18, and on Saturday afternoon, May 22. The first 
programme offers the E-flat Trio, Op. 100, by Schubert; 
Violin Solos: Scherzo by Spohr, and Cavatina by Raff; 
Piano Solo: Schumann's Kriesleriana; Songs without 
Words by Mendelssohn, and " Veneziae Napoli," (Ta- 
rantella) by Liszt; "Kreutzer" Sonata; ptono and 
violin, Beethoven. The second includes a piano and 
•cello Sonata by Rubinstein; Tilo in G, Haydn; violin 
solo, "ZlgeunerWeisen," by Sarasate; for piano solos: 
Mendelssohn's *' Variations Serieuses," and smaller 
things by Scarlatti, Kimberger, Field, Schubert and 
Joseffy; finally, the great ^Schumann Quintet, Op. 44. 
The third concert will open with a Quartet, in A, for 
piano and strings, by Mozart, and end with Hummel' s 
Septet with all the Instruments. There will also be the 
Saiut-Saens Variations for two pianos on a theme by 
Beethoven, and a Romance for violin by Saint-Saens. 
HeiT Joseffy' s piano solos will include the Chromatic 
Fantasie and Fugue, a Passepied and a Qavotte, by 
Bach, and five characteristic pieces by Liszt, — certainly 
a tempting programme of the whole! 

Max Bruch's Ody»aeva is to be repeated by the 
Cecilia, with orchestra, on the evening of May 24. 
Dates of concerts of the Apollo and the Boylston Clube 
will be found in our Calendar. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



BALTDfOBE, April 19.— The Seventh Peabody Sym- 
phony Concert, on the 10th inst , presented the following 
programme : — . 
a. Symphony, A minor. The "Scotch." . Mendelssohn. 

6. PUno-Conoerto, G. minor. No. 1 Work 2S. 
(Madame Nannette Falk-Auerbaoh.) 

Song with piano (Mignon) Tt, Uszt. 

' ** A wondrouB Uting *t mutt be indMd." 

(Miss Elisa BanUdi.) 

Overture to the Danish drama " Elfin HilL" 

Work 100 Pi** Kuhlau. 

On last Saturday the last of the seventeen Chamber 
Concerts was given, with the following programme: — 

String Quartet, P major. Work 1. 

Edwin A. Jones, ex-Student. 

AlUgrooonhrio,—Adaffio,^Appat$kmato,—8cheno, pregto. 

^Finale : Largo ; Fuga, allegro vivace. 

(Messrs. Flncke, Allen, Schaefer, and Jungnickel.) 

Mignon. Song with piano Fr. Liszt. 

(Miss Mary Kelly, student of the Conservatory, first year.) 

Spring Song, from the opera The Valkyrie^ . R.Wagner. 

(Mr. H. Glass, student of the Conservatory, first year.) 

Piano Quartet, G. minor. No. 1 Moxart. 

For piano, violin, viola and *oello. 

(Miss Esther Murdoch, student of the Conservatory, second 

year, Messrs. Fincke, Schaefer, and Jungnickel.) 

The quartet by Mr. Jones, which was played here for 
the second time In public, is a work containing much that 
is highly creditable to the application of the young com- 
poser. We cannot, of course, expect to find anything 
Btrikmgly original in the Opus No. 1 of a young com- 
poser ; and Mr. Jones's maiden effort does not afford 
anything strikingly original. But hi melodious and 
harmonic treatment, and in the artistically wrought 
Jnga in the last movement, it must be put down as a 



work that interests and holds the attention of the lis- 
tener throughout llie Adagio appoMionato, although 
a very pleasing movement, is not what its name would 
lead us to expect, and the Scherzo is Haydn all over. 
The closing movement, however, is a piece of work 
with which the composer may well be satisfied. The 
whole denotes correct theoretical study and careful 
treatment. 

Mr. Jones, who is an ex-student of the Peabody Con- 
servatory, is, I believe, a Bostonian by birth, and left 
here some months ago to take up his reaidenoe in 
Boston. C. F. 

May 3.— The season of Symphony concerts closed 
on the 24th ult., at the Peabody Institute, with the fol- 
lowing programme: 

Symphony C minor. No. 1. Work 5. . * . Niels W. Gade. 

Songs with piano. • Ch. Gounod. 

Le Vallon.— Le Soir.— O ma belle Bebel1e.—Au Prin- 
temps. Miss Elisa Baraldi. 

a. ConcertrRomanoe D. Work 27. [For violoncello and 

orchestra] . . ' Asger Hamerlk. 

Mr. B. Green. 

5. Jewish Trilogy. Work 19. For orchestra. Composed 
in Paris. Overture. — Lamento. — Sinf onia trionfale. 

The novelty of the evening was Mr. Hamerik's 'cello 
Romance, one of the few compositions for that instru- 
ment that are within the grasp of every 'cello phiyer 
of any pretensions, and at the same time sufficiently 
scientific to make them interesting to the musician. 
The theme is simple and pleasing and the instrumen- 
tation is done in the most charming manner. On 
M^udajL evening the " Liederkranz " choral society 
gave a complete and quite successful rendering of 
Haydn's Creation to a large and much delighted audi- 
ence. 

The Peabody chorus class, which has been under 
training during the season by Professor Fritz Fhicke, 
the new vocal instructor, a^vpeared in a concert at the 
Institute on Saturday last The selections embraced 
the choruses '* Come gentle spring " and " The heav- 
ens are telling" from llaydn's Seawons and Creation; 
an Ave verum from Mozart (sung alia c€^ella) and the 
"Hallelujah" chonu from the Messiah. The bal- 
ance of the programme was made up of lecitativea 
and airs from the Creation and the Messiah, sung by 
Miss Antonia Henne, Miss Henrietta Hunt, and Mr. 
Franz Remmertz; and the overture and pastorale from 
the Messiah, played by the Peabody string orchestra, 
who also supported the choma in the selections named 
above. The work accomplished by Professor Fincke 
with the voices at the Peabody Conservatory during 
one short season is very surprising; and on Saturday 
he had an opportunity not only of showing hia skill as 
a chorus director, but also gave evidence of his ability 
in handling an orchestra hastily brought together and 
with very little time at command for rehearsing. Mr. 
Fincke has done a great deal of good here during the 
past winter by his active interest in our choral socie- 
ties, and by infusing much life and energy into chorus 
music generally, through his example as director of the 
Peabody choir and Wednesday club chorus class. His 
efforts will doubtless bear good fruits by encouraging 
a more lively interest in oratorio music next season. 

A fitting close to this letter will he a r€sum4 of the 
works produced at the Peabody, Institute during the 
season, both at the Symphony and at the Student's 
€oncerts. 

FEABODT SYMFHONT COMCXBT8. 

Works performed during the fourteenth season, 1879>80. 
a. Symphony, G minor, No. 6, (twice). . . Beethoven. 
6. Leonora Overture, G, No. 3. 
e. Sonata Appassionata, F minor. Work 57. For piano. 

Mme. Nannette Falk-Auerhaeh. 
a. Fragments from the " Condemnation of Faust," Berlioa. 
6. The Roman Camivsl, Concert Overture. Work 9. 

Performed twioe. 
a. PianoGompositions. Work8l6,S7, ffr. . . Fr. Chopin. 
Mme. Julia Riv^King. 

6. Piano Compositions. Works 27, 28, 63. 
Mme. Teresa Carreno. 
Sclavonic Rhapsody, D, No. 1. Work 46. Anton Dvorak. 
Symphony, C minor. No. 1. Work 6. . Niels W. Gade. 

Songs, with piano EdvardCrieg. 

Miss Fanny Kellogg. 

Songs with piano Ch, Gounod. 

Miss Elisa Baraldi. 

a. Jewish Trilogy. Work 19. For orchestra. 1943. 

Asger Hamerik. 

b. Fourth Norse Suite, D. Work 26. 

€, Conoert^Romance, D. Work 27. For violoncello and 

orchestra. 

Mr. R. Green. 

Bald of the Vikings. Overture to a Norse drama. Work 
aj, EmllHartmann. 

Overture to the Danish drama *' Elfin HiU.*' Work 100. 

F^. Kuhlau. 



80 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1019. 



a. HungarUn RhapMxIy, C sharp minor. No ,2. Fr. Liait. 

Mme. Julia Riv^-King. 
ft. SongB, with piano. 

Mr. Frans Remnaerta. 
c. Songs, with piano. 

Miss Elisa BaraldL 
a. Symphony, A minor. No. 3. The Scotch. Mendelssohn, 
ft. Piano-Conoerto, Q minor, No. 1. 

Mme. Nannette Faik-Auerbach. 

e. Andante e Hondo, from the Tlolin-concerto. Tran- 
scribed for piano. 

Mme. Jnlla Riv^Klng. 
a. Oeean Symphony, G, No. 2. (twice). Anton Rubinstein, 
ft. Songs, with piano. Works 8, 32, 33. 

Mr. Theodore J. Toedt. 
c. Songs, with piano. Works 8, 27, 32, 33, 72. 

Miss Henrietto Beebe. 
Symphony, A. minor. No. 2. Work 6ff. , C. Saint-Sa«ns. 
Hie Miller's Pretty Daughter. Work 25. . Fr. Schubert. 

Mr. Franz Remmerta. 

Songs, with piano. R. Schumann. 

Miss Antonia Henne. 

Slumber Song, with piano R. Wagner. 

Miss Fanny Kellogg. 

{pmclfuicm in next ntmfter.) 



3. Prelude and Fugue, No. 3, C sharp major, . . Bach. 

(Well Tempered Clavichord,) 
Loure, from 3d Y'cello suite, Q. major. 

4. Trols Moments Musicales, Op. 7 . Moritz Moschkowski. 

No. 1, B major. 

No. 2, C sharp minor. 

No. 3, F sharp major. 

0. Aus dem Yolksleben, Op. 19 .... Edward Qrieg. 
No. 1, Auf den Bergen, (on the Mountains,) 
No. 2, "Norwegian Bridal Party passing by,'* 
No. 3, Aus dem CSameval. 

6, " Waldesrauschen," (Forest Murmers,) .... Liszt. 
Sixth Hungarian Rhapsodic. 



CmcAOO, April 30, 1880.— Oar musScal seasoii in 
quickly passing away, and t&e attention of all those 
interested In mnaic is being called to Cincinnati and 
Boston, where the great f entirals are to be given. A 
number of our representative musical people will go 
to these festivals from this city, and in the mean time 
our own season will come to an early close. Since my 
last letter to the Joumal^we have had the pleasure 
of hearing the following fine programmes of piano- 
forte music ftom Mr. William H. Sherwood, the pian- 
ist, of your city. 

PBOOKAMMS L 

1. Chromatic Fantasle and Fugue Bach. 

(Arranged by H. v. BfUow.) 

2. Adante and Variations, F minor Haydn. 

3. Fantasie, C mj^or, (Dedicated to 

Lists.) Op. 17 ....... Robert Schumann. 

a, Durchaus phantastisclr und leidensohaftlich, 

ft. MaesBig, durchaus eneiglsch, 

e, Sehr Langsam, durchweg lelse su halten. 

4. "LaFUeuse,*'Op. lff7,No. 2 .... Joachim Raff, 
ft. Barearolle, No. 4, G miOor Rubinstein. 

Serenade, D minor. Op. 93 

Valse Caprioe, £ flat . .' 

" Eine Faust Ouverture." 

(Arranged by ron Bttlow.) 
tt. " Sfdnnerlied," (from " Flying Dutchman"), Wagner. 
"Lohengrin's Verweis an EJsa,** 
" Isolde's Love^eath," (Finale oi " Trwtan ft Iselde"), 
** March from " Tannhlnaer." 

(Arranged by Liszt.) 

PBOGBAMMB n. 

1. Grand Organ Fantasie and Fugue, G minor . . Bach. 

(Piano arrangement by Liszt.) 

2. " Loure," G major (arr. from 3d Veello suite,) . Bach. 

3. Eight Etudes Chopin. 

Op. 10, No. 4, C sharp minor, (Allegro con fnooo,) 

Op. 10, No. 3, £ major, (I^nto ma non troppo,) 
Op. 25, No. 8, D flat major, (in sixths,) 
Op. 2ff, No. 7, C sharp minor, (Adagio Sostenuto,) 
Op. 10, No. 6, G flat mi^or, (on the black keys,) 
Op. 26, No. 10, B minor, (Legato octaves,) 
Op. 10, No. 11, E flat mi^, (Arpeggio chords,) 
Op. 10, No. 12, E minor (left hand study), (Alle- 
gro confuooo.) 

4. Nocturne, A major. No. 4 Field. 

*«Erotikon,"Op.44, 

" Non per liUdine, ma per gentilessa di Goure," 
(Lionardo Bruni, Vito di Dante.) 
6. No. 1. " Kaasandra.'* '^Mein Buhle war 

er! und er hat mich sehr geliebt I " . Adolf Jensen. 
(Aischylos, Agamemnon 1116.) 
No. 2. Die Zftuberin, (The Enchantress.) 
6. Etudes Symphoniques, Op. 13, . . Robert Schumann. 
(Theme, XII Variations, and Finale.) 

PBOORAMMS m. 

1. Sonate Pathetique, Op. 13 Beethoven. 

2. •* Ballade, A flat Op. 47, Chopin. 

Noetome, F sharp Op. 16, 

Grande POlooaise, A flat Op. 63. 



The task of playing three such programmes will be 
appreciated by any pianist or cultured amateur that 
glances over them. It is a great plea.suse for us to 
have yearly visits from Mr. Sherwood; for the example 
of Ills fine playing is enough to incite a healthy emu- 
lation among our home pianists. The benefit to pupils 
of such artistic interpretations as Mr. Sherwood gives, 
is beyond calculation. Our home players realize this, 
and many a fine teacher has insisted upou his class 
attending the recitals of this artist. In the first place, 
Mr. Sherwood shows the student what lovely tones can 
be produced from the pianoforte whey under the man- 
agement of skillful hands. The tone is never foraed, 
nor is sensationalism indulged in, simply to produce 
an efifect. It is honest work, manifesting the ideas of 
a sincere musician. Ait seems to be a controlling in- 
fluence, and the feeling of a soul attuned to music, is 
manifested in all he does with his instrument He 
wUl make it ring in very tenderness through a dreamy 
noctvme of Chopin's, or become heroic and grand in 
the polonaiie, while in the Etude$ Symplionique$ ol 
Schumann, a majestic power is nuinifested that lifts 
the hearer into the influence of the sublime. To the 
pianoforte student the advantages derived by listen- 
ing understandingly to such artistic playing as Mr. 
Sherwood's are of more value than a number of les- 
sons from a good teacher. For while we have a lai^e 
number of careful and fine instructors in the land, the 
number of pianists who can phiy as grandly as Mr. 
Sherwood is small the world over. As I watch the 
improvement made by this gentleman, yetgr by year, I 
can but realize that if the opportunity for practice, and 
development, is afforded him, that he will rank with 
the greatest pianists in the world, even with the most 
famous of our day.. He is young and earnest, and by 
his early mastery of his instrament has shown his 
talent, and I have no douht that in a few yean his 
artistic playing will win for him a world-wide repnto^ 
tlon. The great need no favors from the public, they 
command recognition by the very force of their 
powers. So I think it will be with Mr. Sherwood, if a 
fitting opportunity is given him for development. I 
know that no American pianist has the rank in the 
public fftvor that Mr. Sherwood holds in our city to- 
day. And he won his hold upon us by simply mani- 
festing his artistfte skill as a highly intelligent pianist; 
one who plays from the heart. 

On Tuesday evening last, the Germania Miunreachor 
gave a testimonial concert to Mr. Belatka, their con- 
ductor. They had an orchestra of fifty men, and the 
chorus numbered one hundred voices. MissHelene 
Belatka, and Mr. Schultze were the solo vocalists. 
The programme contained the symphony in B flat, of 
Schumann; " Becalmed at Sea," for chorus and oi^hes- 
tra, by Fisher; Aria from the ifa^tc F Ciete, Mozart, 
sung by Miss Belatka; selections from opera of 
'*Armin,'' Hoff mason; Andante and variation^ from 
Grand Septnor, Beethoven ; scene from Taunhauser, 
for chorus solos, and orchestra; "Cnjuis Animam," 
Rossini, sung by Mr. Schultze; and the Grand Finale to 
Rienzly of Wagner. At a glance one may see that the 
selections were ambitions. In many respects this society 
has mode great headway, and in others it lias much to 
learn. Its conductor tries to bring out good music, 
and the works of the new school are studied most 
enthusiasticaUy. In this note it is impossible to more 
than mention the concert, and to wish the society that 
success that merit deserves. c. H. R 



interest, the prize composition of Mr. Dudley Buck, 
Here is the programme in full, with the exception of 
the three nuttin^es: 

FIRST XZOHT. 

Cantata, "Einfeste Burg," Bach. 

(Adapted for performance by Theodore Thomas.) 
Miss Annie B. Norton, Miss Annie Louise Gary, Signor 

lUlo Campanini, Mr. Myron W. Whitney. Chorus, 

Orchestra, Organ. 

Symphony, C major (Jupiter), Mozart. 

fJubiUte, HandeL 

(Adapted for performanee by Robert Franl.) 
Miss Annie Louise Gary, Mr. Fred Harvey, Mr. Myron W. 

Whitney. 

SECOND KIGHT. 

Mlssa Solennis, D major, op. 123 Beethoven. 

Sopranos: Miss Amy Sherwin, Miss Annie B. Norton. 
Altos: MIbs Annie Louise Gary, Miss Emma Craneh. 
Tenors: Signor I. Campanini, Mr. Harvey. 

Basses: Mr. J F. Rudolphsen, Mr. Myron W. Whitney. 
CHiorus: Ov'chestra, Organ. 
Symphony, D minor, op. 120, Schumann. 

THIRD KIOHT. 

Overture, " The Water Carrier," Cn&eruhlnl. 

Aria, 

Miss Annie Louise Gary. 

Symphony, No. S, C minor, op. 87, Beethoven. 

The Tower of Babel, Rubinstein. 

(Sacred opera in one act.) 

Signor Campanini, Mr. J. F. Rudolphsen, Mr. Myron W. 

Whitney. Chorus, Orchestra, Organ. 

■ 

FOURTH NIOHT. 

Scenes from Longfellow's " Golden Legend." 
(Prize composition.) 

Miss Annie B. Norton, Mr. Fred Harvey, Mr. J. F. Ru- 
dolphsen, Chorus, Organ, Orchestra. 

Overture, King Lear, op. 4, Berlioz. 

" Die Goetterdaemmerung,** Act Third, . . . Wagner. 

(Scene I. The Rhine Daughters; Siegfried. Scene II. 
Siegfried; Hagen; Gunther; Warriors.) 

Miss Amy Sherwin, Miss Annie B. Norton, Miss Emma 
Craneh, Signor Italo Campanini, Mr. J. F. Rudolphsen, 
Mr. Myron W. Whitney, and others. 

Zadok, the Priest, Coronation Anthem, . . . Handel 
(Chorus, Orchestra, and Oigan. 

The sale of season tickets is said to have been 
enormous, having yielded, np to Saturday before last, 
$32,(X)0, of which over $7,(X)0 was for premiums at 
auction sales. Over 2,600 seats had been secured for 
the season, and the prospect was that the total receipts 
would reach $75,000. The orchestra will be on the 
following grand scale: First violins, 25; second do., 
26; violas, 20; violoncellos, 19; double bosses, 18; harps, 
4; flutes, 4; oboes, 4; English horn, l;clarinets, 4; bass 
clarinet, 1; bassoons, 3; contra bassoons, 1; horns, 8; 
comets, 2; bass trumpet, 1; trumpeto, 2; tenor trom- 
bones, 3; bass trombone, 1; tuba, 1; drums, cyttbals, 
etc. Total, 15B. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

CnfcnnrATi. As the Triennial Boston Festival goes 
out, the Biennial Cincinnati Festival comes in. It 
will be hel4. for four days, May 18, 19, 20 and 2L 
Theodore Thomas will direct it. The chorus will be 
very large, the orchestra much larger than we have 
bad here. The programme is rich and varied, con- 
taining one famous work of prime importance never 
yet heard in this country: the great Miua SoUnnU, in 
D, of Beethoven; also a novelty that will excite much 



It was a most agreeable surprise to many musical 
people gathered at a Handel and Haydn rehearsal, a 
couple of weeks ago, to recognize the genial face of 
Beethoven's biographer, our old friend Alexander W. 
Thayer, who has returned on a short leave of absence 
from his laborious post of duty as American Consul at 
Trieste. He has held that place for sixteen years, 
and now the poor state of his health, compelling the 
suspension of the fourth and last volume of his Bee- 
thoven, is what leads him to seek rest and recreation 
among his old friends at home. Everywhere he is 
most cordially welcomed; he was for years a member 
of the Handel and Haydn Society, and* probably no 
one has more keenly enjoyed the festival than Mr. 
Thayer. He speaks enthusiastically of our chorus- 
singing compared with most that he bos heard in Beriin, 
Vienna and other German cities. In Trieste, of course, 
he lives in musical banishment almost. 



Madame Constance Howard, the pianist, of New 
York, who was heard here with interest in one of Mme. 
Oippioni's concerts, and who is higUy commended ^by 
Mr. W. H. Sherwood, has recently pUyed at Andover, 
Mass., in three Piano Recitals under the direction of 
Mr. S. M. Downs. In one of these, Mme. Howaid 
phiyed the A-minor Prelude and Fugue by Bach in 
Liszt's arrangement; the Beethoven Sonata, "Lea 
Adieux," etc.; the Finale to Schumann's Ehide$ sym- 
phoniqxt€%; the Cracoviak of Chopin, with second 
piano accompaniment, besides many smaller selections 
from Chopin, Schumann, Rubinstein, Silas and KuUak. 
It takes an artist to do all thia. 



May 22, 1880.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



81 



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Publisfied fortnightly by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
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SCHUMANN'S MUSIC TO LORD 
BYRON'S "MANFRED.' 



»f 



FROM THE GERMAN OF PAUL GRAF WALDBRSEE. 



[Concluded from page 74.] 

We descend now into the nether world, — 
into the hall of Ahriman. He sits on his 
throne, a ball of fire ; the spirits sing a hymn 
to him. 

When the spirits of the lower world offer 
a hymn of praise to their master, heaven and 
earth tremble. To make this palpable to 
sense required the unfolding of great tone 
masses. Accorduigly, the orchestra is 
strengthened by instruments of brass and 
of percussion, and this mightily resounding 
body is united with the singing chorus. Re- 
production of the text in the garb of musical 
thought frequently suggests itself ; for exam- 
ple, at the words : " And a tempest shakes 
the sea." Illustration of the text through a 
peculiar tone color may perhaps be recog- 
nized in the entrance of the tuba, when the 
chorus sings: "His shadow is the Peati- 
lence." In the voice parts great animation 
is reached by the rapid setting in of one part 
after another in free imitation. The total 
impression which this hymn produces is a 
powerful one. It is not the quantitative mass 
of the resounding material that takes hold of 
us ; it is the grandiose plan on which it is laid 
out, and the broadly painted working out of 
the idea, that draws us within its magic spell. 

The Pait»e and Nemesis appear, on their 
part also, showing their allegiance to Ahri- 
man. Then Manfred enters. In the ensu- 
ing dialogue, in which the spirits try to com- 
pel him to bend the knee before Ahriman 
and worship him, the chorus mingles twice 
more, — episodes of a few bars, expressive of 
the rage that has taken possession of the 
spirits that an earth-born mortal should pre- 
sume to intrude into their domain. This re- 
lates to the words of the text : — 

" Prostrate thyself and thy oondemned clay, 
Child of the Earth, or dread the worst." 

And later : — 

" Destroy the worm ! 
Tear him in pieces I" 

When the ruler of the lower world opens 
his mouth to speak (it is done in a few 
words), the brazen throats of the trombones 
and tuba do not fail. 

But silence now, ye trumpets, silence, ye 
drums ; it does not become you to take part 
in the conversation ; it demands the soft 
whisperings of muted strings in order that 
she, who alone is able to drop balm into the 
wounded heart of our hero, may appear, — 
Astarte! The elegiac mood comes to the 
foreground. Words of Nemesis are accom- 



panied by a sad and plaintive melody ; only 
at the end of each of its two sections do we 
find the addition of harmony ; even the sup- 
port of any bass is wanting to the first meas- 
ures. With the closing chord the shade of 
Astarte rises up. A fragment of the same 
melody is presently brought again before us, 
when Nemesis lets Manfred entreat Astarte 
to speak. The entreaty fails. Manfred 
begins : — 

"Hear me, hear me, — 
Astarte ! my heloved ! speak to me. 

.... Thoa lovedst me 
Too much, as I loved thee : we were not made 
To torture thiis each other, though it wore 
The deadliest sin to love as jMre have loved. 
.... I would hear yet once before I perish 
The voice which was my music, — speak to me ! " 

The passions rest, the anguished heart sues 
for forgiveness, which only love can vouch- 
safe. This mood seizes Schumann. He 
chooses the song form. Mild, love-breathing 
tones, deeply, warmly felt, press to the heart ; 
it is the language only given to the poet by 
the grace of God to speak. The answers of 
Astarte are not pointed, although the accom- 
paniment, with her appearance, grows some- 
what more lively. Softly, as it began, the 
song dies away, in faint lustre mirroring the 
newly found peace of soul. Before the spirit 
of Astarte vanishes, we recognize the same 
motive which we have met already in the over- 
ture, and which was there characterized as 
the expression of a melancholy, milder mood. 

With the words, " Fare ye well ! " Man- 
fred leaves the lower world, and while the 
orchestra intones a short movement which 
stands related to the hymn, the second part 
concludes. The third leads us into Manfred's 
castle. The spirit world lies behind us; 
Manfred has renounced it, and now, with 
firm eye, meets the approach of death. The 
powers of hell have refused ; heaven he has 
closed against himself ; he gives himself back 
to the earth. Peace comes over him. Let 
us consider in what way Schumann musically 
illustrates this new sense of repose. The 
movement is based . upon the following mo- 
tive : — 




It is introduced by 'the first violin; the 
violoncello follows in free imitation; in the 
last measures, where flutes and bassoons as- 
sociate themselves with the string quintet, 
the beginning of the motive is elaborated in 
the most ingenious manner. That this mu- 
sical thought bears in itself the expression of 
great tenderness, must certainly be recog- 
nized; but it first acquires its true worth 
through the accession of other very inde- 
pendent voices. The employment of the 
strict {gehundenen) style of writing evidently 
shows with what a fine feeling the right tone 
was hit. 

" Peace to Count Manfred ! " With these 
words the Abbot of St. Maurice * introduces 
himself. In the first conception of the poem 
he was depicted as intolerant and hard. By 
the advice of his friends, Byron concluded to 
remodel it, and presents us a soft-hearted, 



truly pious priest. That the poem gained by 
the alteration is clear enough. 

The text of the third part affords but sin- 
gle moments which are adapted to melo- 
dramatic treatment. But with wise judg- 
ment even these are confined to a narrower 
selection, and the music gradually recedes into 
the background, as indeed it assumes the sec- 
ondary r61e in the whole drama, making it- 
self auxiliary to the sister Art. The music 
fits itself in aphoristically, when Manfred in 
his monologue takes leave of the sun. The 
design is unmistakable that the spoken word 
here, even more than in other places, shall 
hold the upper hand, and so the music steps 
in only in single phrases. Only in the last 
ten measures does it become self-dependent ; 
I allude to the wonderfully beautiful succes- 
sion of harmonies which accompany the set- 
ting of the sun and Manfred's *^ He is gone : 
I follow." 

We draw near the catastrophe. The form 
of the Evil Spirit rises, at first indistinctly, 
but always coming out in sharper outline. 
With the summons of the Spirit, " Come ! 
'tis time; mortal, thine hour is come. 
Away ! " are coupled deep-lying chords of 
the wind-instruments, which thrill to the mar- 
row of our bones. Other spirits appear ; a 
prickly figure in the string instruments intro- 
duces them : first softly, then more strongly, 
the trumpets take up the transition to the re- 
mote chord of C minor. " I spurn ye back," 
cries Manfred ; the strings answer in a «nt- 
sono run fortissimo : — 

" Back, ye haffled fiends ! 
The hand of death is on me, — but not yours ! '* 

The demons disappear. Plaintively the 
violins sound a triplet passage ; the orchestra 
unites in a chord of the seventh. Do we not 
seem to perceive a question here addressed to 
Fate? 

Organ tones resound from the distant clois- 
ter ; the requiem is heard. As said before, 
this text is not contained in the poem. Byron 
would not have refrained from a sarcastic 
smile had he seen this appendix, and one 
must confess that its interpolation is hardly 
justifiable. It completely contradicts the 
poem ; it repudiates the dogmas of the Cath- 
olic Church, since for one who rejects its 
blessings out of hand no requiem is sung. 
Involuntarily one associates the present priest 
with the cloister hymn ; the assumption that 
the requiem might be for another is too im* 
probable. If Schumann had placed this song 
in the orchestra, instead of assigning it to the 
choir and organ, an image would have arisen 
more appropriate to the situation. One can 
only suspect that the composer had in his eye 
not only a peculiar musical, but also a theat- 
rical effect. And this he has reached in the 
fullest measure. In what precedes, the pas- 
sions are stirred up in such a manner that it 
requires a soothing antithesis, which cannot 
express itself better than in a church-like, 
soft conclusion. As a piece of music, the 
requiem is worthy of special consideration. 
It is wrought out as a double canon. So- 
prano and tenor on the one hand, alto and 
bass on the other, sing each a canon in the 



82 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1020 



octave. That the strictest and severest mu- 
sical form, that of the canon, is able also to 
interpret moments of the highest tragedy, is 
proved by the last measures here. One voice 
after the other disappears ; only one main- 
tains its place, until it too is dumb, and dying 
Manfred with it. The spirits of life forsake 
him one after another ; one still lingers ; this 
vanishes, — thou too art dumb ! 

** Et lux perpetva luceat eis I ** 

If we let this music in its collective impres- 
sion pass once more before our mental eye, 
we cannot fail to recognize in it one of the 
most significant tone-creations. It contains 
so many salient moments, that .an enumera- 
tion of them would be useless ; the heart and 
kernel of its excellence lies perhaps in its 
successful union with the poem. The poetry 
of this, as well ^ the mystery, had to be 
transferred to the music, and who could have 
been better qualified to perform this than 
Robert Schumann ? A great admirer of Jean 
Paul, and highly romantic himself, he had 
already shown in earlier compositions that 
the musical representation of the marvellous 
came natural to him ; and all too frequently 
we meet in him a certain nervous tendency to 
measure such material with his own mood. 
Sympathetically he becomes absorbed in the 
poet ; he follows him wherever the path may 
lead, through bush and briar, over rocks, and 
smooths many a rough place in the poem 
through the tenderness of his harmonies. 
He thrills us in the expression of despair ; in 
that of dejection he moves us almost to tears. 
Wherever the music lends itself to the spoken 
word, the latter is the gainer; he raises melo- 
drama to an art form. 



A LISZT-IAN PROGRAMME, 

(lYom the Neue IMe Prttu^^ Vienna.) 

An attraction of an unusual description 
characterized the Extraordinary Concert given 
by the Society of the Friends of Music on the 
evening of Good Friday. Liszt was to be 
seen — Liszt, standing at the flower-adorned 
conductor's desk, and holding in hi» hand a 
small conducting-stick, which he occasionally 
used with a distinguished air. The pro- 
gramme comprised only three compositions, 
all by himself : a Vocal Mass, then Die IdecUe 
(a symphonic poem), and, lastly, Die Glocken 
der Strcushurger Winster, A man certainly 
requires a deeply contemplative and Passion- 
Weekish frame of mind to sit out a concert 
and listen while an entire mass is being per- 
formed merely by. men's voices with organ 
accompaniment. Among the very unusual 
and exceptional Masses for the execution of 
which in the concert-room a good justification 
may be found, most decidedly nobody will in- 
clude this Vocal Mass of Liszt's, deficient as 
it is in all orchestral adornment. Its proper 
place is undoubtedly the church, and the 
work might have been written specially for 
one of those rigorously conducted sacred insti- 
tutions (like the Sixtine Chapel, in Rome, or 
All Saints', in Munich), where all instrumcn" 
tal accompaniments are on principle excluded. 

• t Tninilatlon from tlie London Miuhol World, 



The narrow range and similarity of character 
peculiar to four-part male singing must pro- 
duce monotony in the course of any long com- 
position, and the monotony will be felt most 
acutely in a mass when heard in a concert- 
room, where, without the help of religious 
reverence and sacred surroundings, we can 
seek only musical edification. The powerful 
organ accompaniment, which in Liszt's Mass 
progresses with the melody, proves a doubt- 
ful acquisition; employed sparingly, and as 
much as possible alternating and contrasting 
with the chorus, it would work better. When, 
however, the organ, with all its stops bluster- 
ing forth, over-rides the melody, it changes 
the monotony from simple monotony to deaf- 
ening monotony. The most agreeable effect 
is produced by the ' Kyrie,' which is naturally 
rounded without being commonplace, devout 
without straining after symbolification. But 
the composer cannot, it is true, suffer this 
simplicity long ; he soon seeks in the accumu- 
lation of striking modulations to atone for the 
instrumental opportunities he renounces, and 
some of these (in the * Agnus Dei,' for exam- 
ple) are among the most abrupt and ungrate- 
ful ever confided to the intonation of singers 
not ' infallible.' Whether the Mass and the 
compositions which followed transported or 
merely satisfied the audience, or actually 
wearied them, we cannot decide. That is a 
question not to be determined when Liszt's 
compositions are recommended by the magic 
of his own personality. Ilis power of fasci- 
nation is undeniable ; very many among the 
audience listen with indifference, or more 
probably dissatisfaction, but their eyes are 
fixed on Liszt, and — they applaud. 

With Die IdedUy a "symphonic poem," 
founded on Schiller's verses, we became ac- 
quainted twenty years ago, when the then 
young Tausig produced it with other orches- 
tral compositions from the same source. Since 
then, we have dwelt so often and so exhaust- 
ively upon Liszt's Symphonitche Diehtungen 
that we dare not tire the reader with repeti- 
tions. Die Idecde has the merits and defects 
of its eleven symphonic sisters. Step by step, 
with the strictness of a ballet-programme, the 
music foUows Schiller's verses, seeking to 
bribe hearers by a special poetic interest not 
its own. The orchestration, sparkling with a 
thousand effects, is a showy garment covering 
a badly nourished and weakly body. ' Now 
and then there crops up a melodic fragment, 
such, for instance, as the four-bar motive in 
E fiat major, intended to illustrate the words : 
" Wie einst mil flehendem Verlangen Pygmor 
lion den Stein umschlosi.** Such themes, or 
rather thematic beginnings, are not organically 
developed in Liszt, but incessantly repeated, 
diluted, and starved. The pompous final 
movement, eked out with Turkish music, ends 
by exhibiting in the gaudy splendor of a mili- 
tary parade the would-be ideality of the Ideale 
contemplated. 

Whatever objections may be urged against 
the Vocal Mass and Die Idecde^ both are works 
of high art compared to Liszt's last tone-poem. 
Die Gloehen des Strassburger Munster» Writ^ 
ten for barytope solo, mixed ohorus, full 
orcbestra, and organ, this composition belongs 



to the class of dramatized concert-ballads, 
which Schumann cultivated in his last period. 
The poem (by Longfellow) consists exclu- 
sively of dramatic dialogue, and the action is 
laid round the top of the Cathedral spire. 
Lucifer commands the Evil Spirits to attack 
the Cross, as holding them up to scorn. But 
the Cathedral Bells peal out and frustrate the 
criminal design. Five times is Lucifer's sum- 
mons repeated with ever increasing vehe- 
mence, followed by the hesitating reply of the 
Spirits of the air and the pious chorus of the 
bells. Tlie bells play something like the part 
of yard-dogs, whose energetic barking fright- 
ens intending thieves. In the end, the De- 
mons abandon their attempt and sweep furi- 
ously away, while the Gregorian Chant 
with organ accompaniment is heard swelling 
through the Cathedral. ^ 

It is no easy task for us to enounce our 
opinion of this peculiar work — its composer's 
last. We would fain bear in mind the respect 
due to Liszt as a man, the admiration enter- 
tained for him as a genial artist, the venera- 
tion enforced by his years. Yet we must 
candidly state the impression produced on 
ourselves individually by a work introduced 
with high pretentions and lavish resources. 
The Bells of Strassburg Cathedral wDl long 
ring in our ears ! When this Christian legend, 
steeped in Turkish music, had reached the 
culminating point, when the most awe-inspir- 
ing dissonances came closer and closer upon 
one another, when the imploring cries of ill- 
treated human voices mingled in the wild 
strife of kettle-drums, horns, and trombones, 
and when to all this were added incessantly 
pealing Bells, we felt that Music lay dead on 
the ground, while the Strassburg Bells were 

tolling for her funeral. 

Eduard Hanslick. 



CHERUBINI'S D-MINOR MASS IN 

LONDON. 

The Bach Choir are to be cordially congratu- 
lated on their production of the great Mass in 
D-minor of Cherubini, a work which is not only 
the longest Mass ever written, but has many 
claims to be considered the magnum opus of the 
great musician of the first French Empire. Un- 
fortunately for the audience, the " book of words " 
contained no analysis of the music, nor, indeed, 
anything beyond the text and a few irrelevant 
biographical remarks on Cherubini's life. Other 
works, save one, written in various languages, 
about Cherubini, are equally reticent, and those 
who wish to discover facts about the Mass in 
question have only the admirable work by Mr. 
Edward Bellasis, published in London six years 
ago, to fall back upon. Even Mr. Bellasis notices 
the extraordinary silence of writers on Cherubini 
upon the Mass in question. All we know can be 
gathered from the catalogue of his works drawn 
up by Cherubini himself, and from it we leam 
that the Mass was begun at the end of March, 
1811, and was finished on the 7th of October in 
the same year ; the entire composition, therefore, 
having been begun and ended in Paris. That 
Cherubini regarded the Mass as a loved child, 
there is abundant evidence. His revision of the 



1 The score requires foor Urge bells In the deep baa 
tones, E flat, E, F, and F sharp. The expense of pnxrur- 
ing and, still more, the dUBculty of putting these bells on 
the concert-platform, caused them to be replaced on the 
present occasion by two gongs, a large one and * small 
one, with the effect of which the oompoeer expressed him- 
seU highly satisfied. 



Mat 22, 1880.] 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



83 



elaborate score cxteuded over a number of years, 
while the " Sanctus " (thoug;h the original still 
exist?) was recoinposcd in 1822. That the Mass 
in question is the longest ever written has already 
been mentioned, and an elaborate comparison on 
this point is 2)rinted in Mr. liellasis' book. On 
this authority (and it would be a work of infinite 
labor to check tJic figures) it seems that while 
Cherubini's Mass in D minor has 25C3 bars, his 
Mass in F (written in 1808) has only 2033 bars, 
while the Mass in D (composed in 1819) of Bee- 
thoven has but 1929 bars, and the Mass in C 
(written in 1810) also of Beethoven, has but 1256 
bars. This extraordinary lengtli is devoted 
entirely to the Kyrie, Gloria, and Credo, Beetho- 
ven having the honor (if any special honor be 
attached to such a question) of having written 
the longest Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. 

The performance last Wednesday by the Bach 
Choir of Cherubini's Mass in D minor was stated 
to be its first in tliis country, and there is little 
reason to doubt the correctness of this assertion. 
No public record can be found of its performance 
by any society until Wednesday last ; while its 
inordinate length, and tlie large orchestra, and 
chorus, and the six solo vocalists it requires, have 
probably prevented its performance in its entirety 
at any of the Catholic churches of this kingdom. 
Parts of it have undoubtedly been heard at con- 
certs, and in the course of the services of the 
Roman Catholic Church. Again, the well- 
thumbed and dog*s-eared score used by Ilerr Otto 
Goldschmidt on Wednesday showed abundantly 
that the work had been performed, if not in Eng- 
land, at least elsewhere. As a matter of fact, it 
has been heard in Paris, in parts and in whole, 
often with the omission of the repeats. On 
Wednesday it was, I believe, given from begin- 
ning to end, with the new "Sanctus," which 
replaces the old in the printed score, and in every 
respect exactly as Cherubini intended it should 
be given. And it may be accepted as a fact tliat, 
despite its extrafjrdinary length, and that the per- 
formance extended over upwards of two hours, 
not a single person present in St. James' Hall 
(which was crowded by the most eminent profes- 
sors of this country) arose from his seat wishing 
that a single bar had been omitted, or with aught 
than admiration of the grandeur of the work 
and of the extraordinary abiUty of its composer. 

To attempt any sort of analysis of the Mass in 
D minor within reasonable space, or in any news- 
paper not specially devoted to music, would be 
alike unwise and impracticable. The best analy- 
sis in a modest compass will be found in Mr. Bel- 
lasis' book, already quoted. The score is so com- 
plex that columns might be written in descriptive 
analysis of a work by a composer of whom F^tis 
complained : " For a light piece in one act " (tlie 
opdra comique " Le Crescendo ") " he has written 
a score of five hundred and twenty-two pages in 
small notes." Roughly speaking, it may be said 
that while the Mass of Cherubini may to a cer- 
tain extent be considered the connecting link be- 
tween the classic Church compositions of the 
older Italian age and the music of the present 
day, it on its performance on Wednesday seemed, 
even to the hearer of to^lay, as fresh and as ad- 
mirable for its lofty conception, its dramatic in- 
tensity, and its complexity of detail, as though it 
had been written by a great master a year ago. 
The " Kyrie" has 437 bars, and is in three sec- 
tions, the first and last being for chorus, and the 
middle section for quartet. The " Gloria," the 
largest section of the work, not excepting the 
'* Creed," has 895 bars, divided between a chorus, 
a trio for soprano, tenor and bass, a chorus, a 
quartet, and a quartet and chorus. In this sec- 
tion is found some of the finest music in the 
work, and notably the " Qui toUis," the " Quo- 
oiam," and the fugal " Cum sancto spiritu." The 



Nicene "Creed" has 668 bars, the first part 
down to the " Incarnatitm " being sung by the 
choir. The " Incarnatus " is arranged for sextet, 
wliile tlie " Crucifixus " (in which the voices sing 
in unison on the note E for 53 bars, with muted 
violin accompaniment) is for chorus, the " Et in 
spiritum " being for quartet, continued down to 
the " Amen," with the usual fugue. The " Sanc- 
tus," of 66 bars, was that substituted by Cheru- 
bini in 1822 for the original " Sanctus," while 
the "Benedictus," of 130 bars, is familiar to most 
musicians. The "Agnus Dei," of 367 bars, for 
quai'tet and chorus, concludes a work which is, in 
many respects, one of the greatest Cherubini ever 
wrote. Too much praise can hardly be accorded 
tlie orchestra, the chorus, and all concerned, an 
especial word of commendation being the meed 
of tlie chief soloists, Mrs. Osgood, Madame Patey, 
Mr. Shakespeare and Herr lienschel, for their 
very admirable rendition [I ?] of unsually difficult 
and trying music. The general programme in- 
cluded a " Sanctus " in D by Bach, the " Meeres- 
stille und Gliickliche Fahrt " of Beethoven, and 
the " First Walpurgis Night " of Mendelssohn, 
sung to the original German text, though none the 
better on that account. — Figaro, AprU 28. 



FESTIVAL PROGRAMME NOTES. 

Handel's "utrecht jubilate." 

The Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate were written in 
1718, thirty years before Uandel's greater DettingenTe 
Deum. They belong, in fact, to the period in which 
he was mainly engaged in the production of Italian 
op^as, and before he had turned his attention to the 
oratorio. Chrysander is astonished not only by the 
contrapuntal art displayed in this work, but still 
more by the fact that Handel, at the age of twenty- 
eight years, should have gained the ripe experience 
here shown in religious matters. "At the same 
time that he was cultivating soft Italian love strains, 
we see him also leading a serious inward life, which, 
from time to time, excited by joyful experiences of 
his fellow-men, broke out with power." The same 
writer adds : — 

" The genesis of this composition can be traced. 
With this work for the church, Handel came nearer 
to the old English masters than in the Italian operas. 
Purcell, twenty years before, had also set a Te Deum 
with Jubilate for the festival of St. Cecilia's day, 
which was performed at least once a year, and was 
universally regarded as the greatest composition on 
that text, — indeed, as unsurpassable. This work 
Handel laid before him as a model. The relation- 
ship is as great as could be without positive equality. 
Commonly, the chorus with Handel is what the 
chorus is with Purcell ; and it is the same with the 
solos. Nay, in the Jubilate, the identity of plan 
goes so far that, in both works, the words 'Be sure 
that the Lord' form a duet in A minor, and the 
following, ' O, go your way into his gates,' an Alia 
Breve chorus. Frequently little passages have 
almost the same tones. With such inward spiritual 
affinity as existed between Handel and Purcell, their 
Te Deums must have become similar, even if Handel 
had never heard of the work of his predecessor. 
Handel made his first Te Deum after Purcell, just as 
much as he made his last, the Dettingen, after Urio. 
But here you may seek in vain for the faintest 
shadow of a plagiarism. Purcell's Jubilate can 
least bear the comparison; it lacks the deep and 
devout poetry of Handel's. Good music it is always, 
but after Handel's mightier work it takes but little 
hold." 

The Jubilate t with its short, trumpet-toned intro- 
duction, is well suited for performance separately 
from the Te Deum, although it consists of only six 
mostly short, but elaborate pieces. The opening 
chorus, an exhortation to holy joy, sprang from a 
Latin psalm, "Laudate pueri," which Handel had 
composed in Rome in 1707. A single voice, follow- 
ing the hint of the trumpet in the prelude, first 
unfolds the theme, dwelling long on the first note, 
"0"; then proceeding in rapturous roulades, "be 
joyful in the Lord," the last fbne again held out, 



and finishing the florid melody on " all ye lands," 
with a hold of several measures upon " all." The 
chorus takes up the strain with emulous response 
and imitation in four parts. This is all inspiriting 
and brief, and in the key of D. 

2. The next chorus, still in D, " Serve the Lord 
with gladness," begins with a short, joyful fugue 
theme in four parts, and while the same goes on in 
the orchestra, a counter- theme in long notes, descend- 
ing from the fifth to the key-note, sings, " and come 
before his presence with a song." Afterwards the 
soprano is divided into two parts, for the fuller 
expansion of theme and counter-theme in double 
fugue. 

3. The next sentence, " Be ye sure that the Lord 
he is God," etc., is naturally in a more thoughtful 
strain, a duct for alto and bass, in A minor, of great 
beauty and tenderness. 

4. Five-part chorus. Alia Breve, in F, "0 go your 
way into his gates." This might stand by itself as 
a most beautiful, poetic, spiritual motet. The voice 
parts move in smooth and even half notes, almost 
uniformly, while the string quartet supplies a 
modestly ornate counterpoint, all in a cheerful, 
tranquil, and contented strain, and full of lovely 
sequences. In expression it is as simple, heart-felt, 
and naive as possible, yet in its uniformity there is 
no taint of commonplace, it is sincere religious 
music ; the consummate art conceals itself. 

5. " The Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlast- 
ing," etc. Here again, by way of relief between 
two great choruses, Handel treats one of the gentler 
texts in an individual form, making a trio for two 
altos (or tenors) and bass. It has " so much warmth 
and pathos, that it requires but a slight breath to 
make it blaze up again into the bright flames of the 
chorus." 

6. The Jubilate ends, as it began, in the bright 
key of D, with two strong, brilliant choruses : the 
first an eigh^part Gloria, or ascription, the voices 
all in uniform long notes, with an active figura- 
tive accompaniment, followed by a five-part f ugued 
chorus, "As it was in the beginning," etc., and 
" Amen," forming a splendid climax to the work. 

The additional accompaniments by Robert ]^nz 
are used in this performance. j. 0. d. 

CHORDS BY J. 8. BACH. 

DuRi;<o five years, mostly in the earlier period 
of his residence in Leipzig, Bach composed, for 
every Sunday's service and church festival, a can- 
tata, consisting of orchestral introduction, recita- 
tives and arias, chorales and great choruses. These 
were sung once and then Jaid aside, only to reap- 
pear within these last few years in the splendid 
volumes of the complete edition of Bach's works, 
now in course of publication by the Bach Gesell- 
schaf t, in Leipzig. Some three hundred and eighty 
of these cantatas are either published or known to 
exist in manuscript. This short selection for the 
festival is the concluding number of the cantata 
(once performed here in a Harvard Symphony 
Concert), entitled " Ich hatte viel Bekiimmemiss " 
(My Heart was full of Heaviness), which dates back 
to an earlier period, when he lived in Weimar, 1714. 
It was composed for the third Sunday after Trinity, 
June 17, and the text has reference to the epistle 
of that Sunday. Nevertheless, Bach wrote over it, 
" Per ogni tempo " (Good for any time). 

This splendid final chorus, upon the^same text 
with that of Handel's Messiah, is even more excit- 
ing and sublime than that, although it is very much 
shorter and its musical subject-matter of the sim- 
plest. But in its wonderful conciseness, every 
phrase, every chord strikes with an electric force ; 
and it is all over, leaving the hearer breathless with 
amazement, before Handel's lengthier " Worthy the 
Lamb " and " Amen " chorus has more than got 
fair headway. Here Bach's three trumpets come 
in with stirring effect. It is in C major. The 
words " The Lamb, that for us is slain, to Him will 
we render power and glory," etc., are declaimed by 
all the voices with stupendous and startling modu- 
lations. Nothing could be more exciting and full 
of grand presentiment. As each deliberate phrase 
rings out, you seem to hear the echoes in the pause 
that follows. Then the time changes to Allegro. 
A solo bass voice declaims, " Power and glory and 



84 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1020. 



praise be unto him foreverraore," lengthening out 
the "Amen, Alielujah" in florid roulades, while 
voice after voice {soli) take up the theme and pur- 
sue the fugue. Presently the tutti join them, fii-st 
in one part, then anotlier, until the wliolc mass is 
drawn into the harmonious vortex, and amid stir- 
ring trumpet-calls, it surges on to a higher and a 
higher climax, and the whole ends in a blaze of 
glory; almost too suddenly, you think, although 
the musical matter has been fully treated and 
exhausted. It is truly a sublime conclusion to a 
noble work. j. g. d. 



n 



MENDELSSOItN's " FORTY-THIRD P8ALM. 

It is almost unaccountable that this short Psalm, 
so much more available for numerous occasions, as 
well as for church service, than the longer Psalms 
with which we have been familiar, — a work, too, 
of the ripest period of Mendelssohn, a perfect 
instance of his purely vocal writing, requiring no 
accompaniment, — should now be heard here only 
for the second time. We owe its introduction to 
the " Cecilia," at one of its concerts of the present 
season. It is in every way a noble, an impressive, 
and most interesting work. 

The first words, " Judge me, O God, and plead 
my cause," etc., are strongly given out in unison by 
tenors and basses, in D minor 4-4 measure ; holding 
out the last note (dominant) to form a firm organ- 
point, on which the sopranos and altos in four-part 
harmony deliver the second clause of the sentence, 
"O deliver," etc. The same process is repeated 
with the next two clauses of the text, " For thou 
art the God," and " Wherefore mourn I," only this 
time the organ-point is on C, leading as dominant 
to the bright key of F major, filling the clouded 
harmony with sunshine at the thought, " Send out 
thy light," the tenors and basses now dividing, like 
the upper voices, so as to form a rich eight-part 
harmony. 

Here the rhythm changes to Andante, 3-8, and 
a new but kindred theme is taken up, still in D 
minor; and in the same antiphonai manner the 
fourth verse is sung as far as " I will praise thee on 
the harp," when all the eight parts are again united. 
On the last two verses the key brightens into the 
major, the time becomes Allegro Moderato, and in 
square 4-4 measure the Psalm concludes in a resplen- 
dent and triumphant blaze of harmony. At the 
exhortation, " Hope in the Lord," many will recog- 
nize the same repeated little phrase that occurs 
also in the Psalm " As the hart pants," and which 
seems to have been a favorite with Mendelssohn in 
the setting of such words. j. s. d. 



The Second Part begins with a short recitative, 
"And Noah did as God had every thing commanded," 
and the musical painting of the scene of the deluge 
begins at once. It is a most gorgeous piece of 
instrumental writing, and in it is employed every 
form of instrument wliicli may serve to heighten 
the effect of the picture. Here is a list of the 
instruments for which parts are written; Strings 
and harp ; one piccolo ; flutes, oboes, clarinets, and 
bassoons, in pairs ; horns, chromatic horns, trumpets, 
trumpets with pistons, trombones with pistons, all 
in pairs ; three trombones of the common form, 
and three bass tubas ; four kettle drums, great drum, 
cymbals, and gong. The composer has used them 
all with consummate skill. The vocal part amounts 
to little more than a chant, having no melody to 
speak of, and when not in unison is modestly 
harmonized. The effect at the close, as the chorus 
chant against sustained chords, " Mid the horror of 
night eternal, waste and void," and indeed of all the 
movemement which succeeds the storm, is very 
impressive. Amid the storm we hear thundered out 
the motif of the fug^e in the First Part. The entire 
scene is intensely exciting in its treatment by the 
composer. 

Milder orchestral means are employed in the 
Thirtl Part, which is largely of a pastoral character 
and, though sounding tame in comparison with the 
Second Part, includes the loveliest music in the can- 
tata. The sending forth of the dove, the return of 
the winged messenger with the olive branch, the 
going forth from the ark, the heavenly sign of 
promise, all are pictured with great skill, and, what 
is more to the composer's credit, great beauty, 
especially in the orchestration, the vocal part always 
remaining weak by comparison. A spirited fugue, 
in which the covenant is enunciated, brings the 
cantata to a close. r. h. j. 



n 



BAIIVT-SABNS 8 "THE DELUGE. 

The Deluge, by M. Camille Saint-Saens, is the 
most notable novelty in the Festival programme. 
Conceived apparently in the same romantic vein as 
the symphonic poems which have become some- 
what familiar to Boston audiences — Le Rouet d*Om- 
phalef Phaiton, La Danse Macabre, and La Jeunetse 
tTHercule — the composer seems to follow in the 
wake of Hector Berlioz, employing all the modem 
instrumental appliances for heightening musical 
effect The Deluge is, in fact, an orchestral work, 
with only enough of recitatives, solos, and choruses 
to describe the story of God's punishment of sin- 
ful man and His subsequent covenant with Noah. 
The vocal portions of the score are, in fact, its 
weakest. Saint-Saens, with all his knowledge of 
Bach and the masters, and with all his attainments 
in composition and orchestration, has not, so far as 
we have been permitted opportunities to judge, dis- 
played great skill or invention as a vocal writer. 

The Deluge, is divided into three parts. The 
prelude is for strings, and includes motifi which are 
repeated in the interludes and accompaniments of 
the opening recitatives. The theme of the tenor solo, 
" This race I'll exterminate," is taken as the subject 
of a choral fugue. The Almighty's command to 
Noah is told in a dignified aria for baritone. The 
choral fugue is repeated, ending with an emphatic 
enunciation, simply harmonized, of God's reasons for 
His course. In these movements for chorus there 
occur episodes in a chanting style, while beneath is 
heard the theme of the fugue in detached phrases. 



OPINIONS OF THE SAINT-SAENS 

" DELUGE." 

(Correspondence of the New York Tribune.) 
Then came Saint-Saens's "Deluge," about 
which expectation had been raised to fever-heat. 
There are some compositions which one neither 
comprehends nor enjoys at the first hearing, but 
which one feels impelled to return to again and 
again, until their meaning becomes clear, and 
their hidden beauty or sublimity makes itself felt 
at last. Again, there are other works which bear 
utter vapidity, spiritual and intellectual poverty, 
and hopeless emptiness stamped upon their very 
forehead. To this latter class the " Delusre " 
belongs. One asks himself in sheer amazement 
how a man of SaintrSacns's ready invention, easy 
fascination, electric nerve and profound musical 
erudition — how a man of his musical sacoirfaire 
should have been, not willing, but able to produce 
such a monstrous inanity as this cantata. There 
is one melodic and one contrapuntal idea in the 
" Deluge." They are not strong, grand, nor even 
very beautiful ideas, but still they are tangible 
themes. They are used to no purpose whatever. 
Curious, but true; for the man is one of the 
cleverest writers living, and his subject is cer- 
tainly a strong one. 

The " Deluge " may be described as one of the 
most superb feats of orchestration ever accom- 
plished. Never was musical Nothing so wonder- 
fully scored. No matter what instruments are 
used, whether it is the simple string quartet 
or the whole orchestral panoply that Paris alone 
among the cities of the world can furnish, the 
instrumental effect is as beautiful as it is astound- 
ing. The chorus and solo voices have little to do 
save in the way of recitative (and what recita- 
tive I) except in two bits of fugued writing ; the 
first to the words, "This race I'll exterminate 
surely," in the first part ; the second in the final 
chorus. Both of these passages are thoroughly 
poor. The cantata consists of three parts : — 

First, Th^ Corruption of Man. The Anger oj 
Gofi. The Covenant tcith Honh. In this part the 



orchestra is scored for strings and harp only, 
exceedingly beautiful effects being produced by 
solo instruments. 

Second, The Deluge. Tliis part consists of a 
single movement. The score is a curiosity : one 
piccolo flute, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, 
two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trom- 
bones, two trumpets with six pistons, two trom- 
bones with six pistons, (new Sax instruments, not 
procurable except in Paris) three " contrabasses " 
^immense Sax instruments of the tuba tribe, not 
to be had out of Paris), two pairs of kettle-drums, 
cymbals, tam-tam, big drum, harps ; strings divided 
into seventeen parts; four-part mixed chorus. 
Forty-eight instrumental parts in all ! 

In this extraordinary movement every possible 
noise, whistling, howling, sighing, rustling, roar- 
ing, clashing, banging, that can be drawn from 
the above combination of instruments, by the aid 
of pure concords and atrocious dissonances, is 
made for the benefit of the dumbfounded listener. 
As a piece of scoring, it is simply wonderful ; as 
a piece of marine painting, it is true to nature, 
except that the clashing cymbals do not sound as 
nature looks ; as a piece of music, tone-painting, 
or anvthin<; else that is meant to be listened to, it 
is singularly and even ingeniously impressive. 

Third, The Dove. The Descent from the Ark. 
God*8 Benediction. Here the orchestra assumes 
more usual proportions, and we pass from one 
enchanting bit of tone-color to another still more 
beautiful; only the trombones in tlie closing 
fugato arc really vulgar. 

The orchestration of the work only is dwelt 
upon. There is nothing else to describe; abso- 
lutely nothing. "Much Ado about Nothing" 
should be inscribed upon the tsombstone of this 
unique composition. 

(From the Boston Cornier, May 0.) 
The thunder chorus (Haydn's) was rather 
tame compared with the storm which followed it 
in the Deluge. To have two showers in one 
evening was a bold innovation, and Haydn's 
weather suffered by comparison with the general 
cyclone of the French composer. To us it 
seemed as if the sopranos casually remarked, 
" Oh what horror," and the kettle-drum proceeded 
to get up what horror it could at short notice, 
while the tenors assisted it by singing out of tune. 
Far different was the storm passage of the 
Deluge. The curse of Heaven had been pro- 
nounced asiiinst a fallen rac^. Amidst the rising 
Storm are heard the notes of the curse motify 
rising higher and higher, and with an import that 
was big with impending fate. The rise of the 
storm itself is worked up with all the skill of a 
master of modem instrumentation, from drum to 
cymbal; from c>nnbal to gong, the fury of tlie 
crescendo rises ; its subsidence from sixteenths to 
triplets, eighth notes to quarters, etc., in gradual 
retard, is most thrilling. To us tlie work seemed 
as the most powerful of pictures. We feel bound 
to say that this awe was not shared by the 
audience, who gave the number but little ap- 
plause. It was not always correctly sung, but it 
is terrifically difficult for the chorus to intone 
properly, even though the vocal passages are in 
unison. The third part is most melodious, and 
ends with another difficult chorus. Sti-ings are 
much used in the first and third parts, the former 
containing a violin solo of great beauty, which 
Mr. B. Listemann played with breadth and 
expression. The soloists, Misses Hubbell and 
Winant, and Messrs. Adams and Dudley, all 
exerted themselves earnestly, and Miss Hubbell 
deserves credit for carrying through a most try- 
ing part very successfully. The only fault to be 
found with her is the needlessly reedy (or violin 
con sordino) quality of her upper not«8, which 
on some vowels (O, for example) was disagree- 



Mat 22, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



85 



able. While there was lack of power in the 
male soloists, there was no incorrectness of im- 
portance, and they, as well as Miss Winant, 
whose rich voice was heard to advantage even in 
a small part, deserve praise. 



o 
L. 



\j» Jl* 



(From the Saturday Erming Gazette.) 
From The Seasons to Saint-Sac ns's 7''he Deluge 
was a tremendous leap — a ridiculous leap, in 
fact, as it was from extreme naturalness to 
extreme artificiality. It would hardly be fair to 
pronounce judgment upon Saint-Saens's work 
upon only a single hearing ; but it is not unfair to 
state the impression it made upon us, which was 
a thoroughly unfavorable one. Its vocal features 
seemed absurdly insignificant, flat, insipid, and 
inexpressive. The whole value of. the composi- 
tion is found in its orchestration, which is marvel- 
lously rich and effective. The work is an 
exaggeration of all that was prominent in the 
style of Berlioz, who might have exclaimed 
prophetically, "Aprfes moi Le Deluge!" The 
opening prelude is a graceful and flowing endless 
melody of the Wagner school, marked with much 
poetic charm of sentiment ; but after tliis there 
is nothing upon which the memory dwells with 
any pleasure. The tone painting of The Deluge^ 
in the second part, is a wonderful bit of orches- 
tration, but it is excruciatingly noisy, ear-splitting 
and bizarre. Knowledge and power are undoubt- 
edly shown, but in such a lurid, confusing, and 
extravagant manner as to perplex, daze, and 
overwhelm. So furious is the working up of this 
portion of the work, so completely has the com- 
poser expended all his force upon it, and so 
utterly has it deafened and prostrated the listener, 
that what follows seems not only ineffably tame, 
but superfluous. If SaintrSaens wished to show 
how thorough a command he has over all the 
resources of orchestral effect, how perfect is his 
knowledge of ^ the timbre of every instrument, 
how great a master he is in combining and con- 
trasting varied qualities of tone, he has succeeded 
beyond all question. But if he imagined he was 
writing music in which there was the faintest 
trace of what is understood as inspiration, he has 
made a consummate failure. Nothing more 
deliberate, nothing more cold, in spite of the sim- 
ulation of 6re in it, can be well imagined. It is 
hard and mechanical from beginning to end ; at 
times a blood-and*thunder tone melodrama, and 
when it is not that, a dreary waste of artificial 
and insipid sentimentality. The solos did not 
afford the artists concerned any opportunity to 
distinguish themselves. They were sung by ^ii8s 
Ilubbell, Miss Winant, Mr. C. R. Adams, and 
Mr. G. W. Dudley, who are to be commiserated 
even while they are praised for their efforts. 



VERDrS REQUIEM — TWO OPINIONS. 

(From the Evening Gazette), 

The oftener we hear this great composition tlie 
more beauties we discover in it, and the more we 
arc struck by its power. It will stand as the finest 
effort of the present day in the direction of sacred 
music. That it is dramatic in effect, that its pas- 
sion is physical rather than intellectual, that it 
follows too closely the literal interpretation of the 
language, have been brought against it as coarse 
and unpardonable faults by those who are wedded 
to the belief that the example set by the prof ounder 
German composers of church music is the only 
one to be followed ; but who is authorized to frame 
an arbitrary law to confine genius within the limits 
of a fixed style. Verdi is not to be condemned 
because his " Requiem " is not modelled upon that 
of Mozart; is not to be depreciated because he 
has followed the dictates of his own genius instead 
of having bent it in the direction of another's. The 
real question seems to us to be, docs Verdi's music 
fairly express the sentiment and the spirit of the 
words to which he has set it ? We believe it does, 



and with wonderful power and effect. The true 
test of such a work is not the impression it makes 
on transcendental pedants who condemn the com- 
poser because his practice does not follow their 
theories; because he lias not confined himself 
within the arbitrary limits within which they 
insist elevated imagination shall be confined. On 
the contrary, the test is the effect his achievement 
has upon refined natures, who do not feel it incum- 
bent upon them to think by rule. At each per- 
formance of this work here, the audience that has 
listened to it, Certainly as cultivated an audience 
as our city can produce, has been profoundly 
stirred and deeply impressed by the lofty sentiment 
of this masterly effort. The musical genius of our 
day can show nothing equal in combined power, 
grandeur, tenderness, true poetic feeling and tre- 
mendous energy. Verdi's manifest aim was to 
produce what seemed to liim the most impressive 
effect. He accomplished his task with unquestion- 
able genius, preferring to think and write as a man 
of his era instead of trying to think after the 
fashion of a bygone time, and after the manner of 
composers with whom his temperament had no 
affinity. The chief censure of the martinets of 
style, who believe that no serious music is bom 
out of Germany, is that Verdi has not written as 
Bach, Handel and Mozart have written. That 
point may be safely conceded. He has written as 
an Italian, and a great one. As such let him be 
judged. 

The interpretation of this work on Thursday 
evening was the best it has received here. The 
choruses as a rule were grandly sung, the only 
fault being a slight fatigue shown in the wavering 
of the voices, which may perhaps be accounted for 
by the tremendous pace at which that body had 
been driven by rehearsals and performances. The 
orchestra merits unqualified praise for the brilliant 
quality of its work. The soloists were Mrs. H. M. 
Smith, Miss Gary, Sign^or Campanini and Mr. Whit- 
ney. Mrs. Smith did but scant justice to the 
soprano solos, and her intonation was often pain- 
fully false. The great solo triumph of the even- 
ing was achieved by Signor Campanini, who sang 
the " Ingemisco " magnificently, exciting a frenzy 
of enthusiasm in his hearers. The concerted music 
was 'delightfully interpreted. Taken altogether, 
the performance, despite a few shortcomings, will 
be memorable for its brilliancy, its strength, and 
the profound impression* it created. 



(From the Sunday Cowrier), 

After hearing Verdi's Requiem for the third time, 
we can say, truthfully, that the work does not, as a 
whole, grow upon acquaintance. Its dramatic beauty 
thrills the first time — pleases the next — and leaves 
one unmoved the third. Its chromatic scales (of 
which there are dozens and dozens) show signs of 
wear, and its kettle-drums and sudden pauses become 
tame, since they no longer take one unawares. Of 
course, we have no intention of denying great beauty 
to some parts of the work as, for example, the open- 
ing number, the TngemtscOf the Con/utatiSf and others. 
The chromatic harmonies of Quam Olim are not 
widely different from effects which Mendelssohn 
introduces in his Athali'e, and are more legitimate 
than the mere scramblings of double basses and 
brass in the other numbers. The chorus singing 
was not as good as when the work was previously 
given, and it only confirms the statement above, 
that the enthusiam (of the chorus) seems to have 
evaporated. The attacks were not always prompt, 
the pianissimi never soft enough ; but the broader 
portions, such as the Dies Irte, were strongly given. 
The solo quartet, was the best balanced of the 
festival. Mrs. Smith's voice rang out with telling 
effect throughout, and she really accomplished 
Verdi*8 requirement of singing softly and sweetly 
in altissimo. Once or twice only, was there a 
wavering and indecisive tone, but her general work 
was excellent. Miss Gary sang* her solos with 
electric power. To our mind, hers was the most 
artistic singing of all. Mr. Whitney sang the Con- 
futatit finely, except at the passage, after the agi- 
tated chromatic runs, at the words Voca Me^ where 
pathos (a quality which his grand voice lacks), was 
wanting. Gampanini Sang' the Ingemisro very 



dramatically and with pathos. He committed one 
blunder which would have raised hisses in Italy ; at 
the final phrase, he forgot where to take breath, 
and (wind failing) he cut the word Dextra in two, 
breathing in the middle of the first syllable. He 
was encored and repeated the song, but not the 

mistake. l. c. b. 

♦ 

LADY PIANISTS. 

Pretty much the same principle holds good in 
pianoforte virtuosity at the present day in Grer- 
many as of novel-writing in England — both are 
almost entirely in the hands of women. On look- 
ing through the lists of English booksellers, we 
find at most only one romance from a masculine 
source to ten or twelve by female writers. A sur- 
vey of our concert-bills gives about the same pro- 
portion between female and male pianists. Nay, 
in many a concert season, such as that just over, 
for instance, the male pianists seem to vanish 
altogether before the preponderance of their key 
compelling sisters. That this universally estab- 
lished and daily increasing supremacy of young 
ladies over the pianoforte does not greatly benefit 
tliem or the pianoforte is an opinion we have 
already often expressed. The similarity with 
female novelists does not entirely cease, even with 
regard to quality. We have many very excellent 
and some eminent lady pianists, while one here 
and there attains the height of accomplished male 
art. But this is an exception, only proving the 
rule that women, owing to their more tender 
organization, physical and intellectual, are re- 
stricted to a less extensive domain of art, mostly 
that of small, delicate delineation ; and, even in 
the case of their most brilliant rcpresentativei, we 
miss a last decided something in grandeur and 
depth, in soaring boldness and free humor. We 
will not to-day again give utterance to our serious 
and unfortunately quite useless warning against 
the practical and social disadvantages attendant 
on the increasing number of young ladiea who 
select as their career that of a virtuosa ; we will 
merely mention the simple fact that, during the 
present scholastic year, out of some four hundred 
paying pianoforte pupils received at the Vienna 
Conservatory, more than three hundred and fifty 
belong to the gentler sex. To what is this to 
lead ? — Eduard Hanslicjk, in the Neue FreU 
Presse, 



SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1880. 



THE FIFTH TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. 



SECOND CONCERT WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 5. 



The audjence was even larger than on the 
opening night for St, Paul, Two strongly con- 
trasted works were given : Spohr's Oratorio, The 
Last Judgment^ for tlie first time here in twenty- 
five years, and Rossini's rather too familiar Stabat 
Mater. Both works are full of melody, though 
of a very different style. The general impression 
of tlie former corresponded essentially to the 
description which we have already given. All 
found the music sweet, melodious, delicately re- 
fined and finished; wrought out with a rare, 
peculiar subtlety of harmony, with much con- 
trupuntal skill, and with a perfect mastery of 
orchestral means, — modest compared with the 
orchestras of to-day. The sweeetness, however, 
with the perpetual chromatic and even enharmonic 
modulation, while, everything was beautiful in 
detail, was cloying on the whole. A few bars, 
now and then, of plain <liatonic harmony would 
have been so ref rcshinj; ! whereas at each harmonic 
step we have an accidental flat or sharp, or double 



86 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — 1020, 



flat or sharp, either in the upper or the lower 
part, if not in both! Spohr never could divest 
himself of his mannerism, great musician as he 
was. 

Then, as a treatment of an awful theme, tliis 
whole music, with hardly an exception, is extremely 
mild and amiable, as we have said before; and 
for the most part the texts selected justify it. 
Only one of the choruses : *' Destroyed is Babylon" 
in the second part, taken with the (not immedi- 
ately) preceding Bass recitative : ** The day of 
wraih is near" contains any hint of anything appall- 
ing. There are several grand, majestic choruses, 
like the opening, ** Praise his awful name," and 
the final, "Thine is the kingdom. Hallelujah," 
etc. But there are more of tender sentiment and 
beauty, some of which are heard occasionally in 
churches. The chorus singing and accompani- 
ment was all admirably well done. 
* The solos, as we have said before, form rather 
a secondary element in the work. Miss Ida W. 
Uubbell, the soprano, sang with intelligence and 
taste, as well as with zeal and fervor ; she has a 
clear and telling voice, sometimes a little strident 
in the highest tones, — a voice which holds its 
own against full orchestra and chorus, but not 
particularly sympathetic. Miss Winant's rich, 
sympathetic alto was very serviceable in several 
quartets. Mr. Courtney, the tenor, was in better 
voice than commonly before, and sang, as he 
always sings, with true style and expression. Mr. 
M. W. Whitney was more fully himself, more 
thoroughly alive, and less the passive slave of his 
grand bass voice, than in St. Paul, 

The orchestra throughout was satisfactory, and 
it has really the most important part. Besides 
the long overture, which is serious and impressive, 
and contains many beauties, there is a yet longer 
introductory symphony to the second part, where, 
if anywhere, one would expect to feel a dark and 
terrible foreboding of the wrath to come. On 
the contrary, it is almost festive, — at least the 
larger part of it; it moves with a gay, buoyant 
rhythm, and seems like the prelude to some 
gorgeous pageant Does it perhaps mean (we 
heard the question asked) that " in the midst of 
life we are in death," that in the midst of joy and 
merriment the great doom may overtake us una- 
wares ? Think what we may of Spohr's oratorio, 
it certainly added, in the way of contrast and of 
knowledge, to the interest of the Festival. We 
should not wholly forget Spohr; even in this 
form he is worthy of revival now and then. 

If any musical work of equal magnitude and 
merit can be called hackneyed, it is Rossini's Sta- 
hat Mater. It is the one thing always put up by 
the travelling Italian and other opera troupes, 
when they wish to utilize a Sunday evening by 
giving a " sacred " concert. We have perform- 
ances of it, good, bad and indifferent, without 
end. It cannot be called a profoundly serious 
and impressive work ; Rossini himself, in a con- 
versation with Ferdinand Hiller, spoke of it as 
only mezzo serio. But it is beautiful, it is genial 
music; it abounds in melody, — clear, spontan- 
eous, original, and full of sensuous charm, while 
portions of it go deeper and arc almost sublime, 
particularly the opening and, the Injlammatui (this 
time wisely made the closing piece, omitting the 
weak fugue). All the singers like It, because it 
affords fine opportunities for their voices. 

On this occasion, so good was the performance, 
the work seemed to have received a fresh lease 
of life; we listened to it all with unexpected 
pleasure; it was an agreeable surprise to find 
that after all it had still something interesting to 
say to us, — nay, positively fascinating after such 
overstrained efforts as the Manzoni Requiem and 
the Deluge, 

It was indeed an admirable performance as a 



whole, and in nearly every part. The choruses 
rolled out with a clear, full, satisfying volume ; 
light and shade, accent, color, were carefully 
regarded, and the accompaniment was excellent. 
The great sensation of the performance was 
Signor Campanini's singing of tlie Cujus animam. 
The wonderful power and sweetness of his tenor 
voice, so evenly developed throughout its great 
compass, his perfect method, great endurance, 
sure and finislied execution, were only equalled 
by the fervor and the freedom with which he 
gave out his best. And it was all unimpeachable 
in point of taste. He did not, like most tenors, 
shout this aria in a loud, aggressive style, making 
it a mere display of startling power ; tliere was 
much of delicacy, of tender and fine feeling, re- 
vealed in his subdued, expressive rendering. 
Miss Annie Gary (her first appearance in the 
Festival) was perfectly at home in the contralto 
parts, and never were her noble voice, her con- 
summate execution, her whole honest, hearty 
style of singing shown to more advantage. Miss 
Fanny Kellogg had hardly the physical strength 
for the Et injlammatus, though it was an intelli- 
gent and creditable effort : but in the rest of the 
soprano part she was eminently successful. Mr. 
J. F. Winch, too, proved himself quite adequate 
to the trying Pro peccatisy and the requirements 
of the bass parts generally. 



THIRD CONCERT, THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 

Beethoven's Choral Symphony, with the miHcel- 
lancous selections that preceded it, drew an over- 
flowing audience. First came (for the third time in 
Boston) Mr. Chadwick's Overture to /?i)) Van Winkle, 
heard with new interest from the fact that the 
young composer, who had recently returned from 
his studies in Germany, conducted it in person. 
He held the orchestra well in hand, and was warmly 
received as soon as the public became aware who 
the conductor was. The work loses nothing upon 
renewed acquaintance. 

Then Carl Zerrahn resumed his wonted place, 
and Mr. Charles R. Adams sang the Erl-King^ Schu- 
bert's Op. 1, with orchestral accompaniment, by 
no means overpowering or extravagant, by Berlioz. 
The singer was not in so good voice as he was in St. 
Paul ; yet we think justice has hardly been done to 
the fine qualities of his singing, which was certainly 
artistic and dramatic, althougli the contrasts of the 
three voices in the ballad fell short of the inter- 
preter's intention. Then appeared Miss Thursby, 
whose sweet, light, birdiike tones were by no means 
destitute of pathos in the scene of poor, crazed 
Ophelia from the Ilamlet of Ambroise Thomas. It 
was a charming, and a touching piece of vocaliza- 
tion, and seemed admirably suited to her; the 
audience were delighted. Miss Cary, in the fullness 
of her voice, and in her noblest style, with perfect 
ease of execution, sang the jealous Juno's Reci- 
tative: "Awake, Satumia," and Aria: "Hence, 
Iris, hencs away ! " from Handel's Semele, superbly. 

The short Psalm, without orchestra, by Men- 
delssohn: Judge me, God, which we have de- 
scribed elsewhere, was very impressively sung by 
the great chorus, the unison passages being firm 
and massive, and the responses prompt and sure. 
It must henceforth be a favorite work in choral 
societies and large church choirs. 

As for the Ninth Symphony, it will never cease to 
be decried for the "unvocal" character of the 
" Hymn to Joy " portion, its overtaxing of average 
human voices by straining them up to an exception- 
ally high pitch, and keeping them there ; nor will 
it ever cease to excite the desire of all who know, 
or have had assurance, of its wonderful beauty, its 
inspired sublimity, its glorious expression of the 
sentiment of human brotherhood, and the pure, 
spontaneous, free religion of the universal heart. 
The number of the latter class of hearers is con- 
tinually increasing, while the critics one by one 
have had to yield to the triumphant efllcacy of not 
a few mainly successful, and altogether inspiring 
performances. On this last occasion we even 



thought the chorus more successful than the or- 
chestra. The prime condition of success, enthmioKm, 
clearly possessed the singers. In the most difficult 
parts, in the sustained high notes of the religious 
climax, it all sounded well, however inconsiderately 
(for voices) Beethoven may have written it. The 
high soprano tone was smooth and sweet, and hardly 
ever shrill, so that the ideal of the tone-poet made 
itself felt for once, if never before. The quartet 
of soloists. Miss Thursby, Miss Cary, Mr. Adams 
and Mr. Dudley, were, with occasional momentary 
short-comings in one part or another, more nearly 
equal to their arduous task than any we remember 
to have had before, even in that almost impossible 
quadruple cadenza. Mr. Dudley has a manly, pon- 
derous, telling bass voice, which he wields to good 
purpose, and led off in the vocal work, after the 
suggestion of the orchestral basses, very nobly, 
giving a spirited impulse to the entire chorus. The 
orchestra, of over seventy, played the three purely 
instrumental movements on the whole very finely, 
especially the heavenly Adagio. The first move- 
ment might perhaps have been made a little clearer ; 
and we are not sure that the Scherzo, especially 
where the rhythm changes to 4-4 in the* 'Trio, did 
not suffer from the extremely rapid tempo. The 
double basses burst their bonds and talked out very 
effectually where the need of human utterance 
makes itself first felL Certain we are that the 
great mass of the audience — those who gave them- 
selves simply up to the music and the thought — 
found it a delightful, glorious experience, and went 
home edified, and in a happy, hopeful and believing 
frame of mind. If Si. Paul was the best achieve- 
ment of the Festival, this was the other best. 



FoDUTii CoHCERT, Thursday evening. — Verdi's 
Manzoni Rttquiem, preceded by Mr. Dudley Buck's 
Symphonic Overture on Sir Walter Scott's Mar- 
mion, formed the programme. On a first hearing, 
the Overture appeared to be a good square piece of 
orehestral writing, largely laid out, clear and 
symmetrical in form, effectively and richly instru- 
mented, with several good themes well developed; 
although perhaps at too great length. It is the 
work of a clever and experienced composer, one 
perfectly at home in all the routine of his art, to 
whom the plastic faculty of f onn has become almost 
second nature. Yet it did not impress us as very 
original in ideas or treatment, but rather as an 
essentially commonplace, though outwardly impos- 
ing specimen of clever, good musicianship. Mr. 
Buck can do better things. We speak of it purely 
from the musical point of view ; our recollection of 
Scott's Marmion is not distinct enough to warrant 
any judgment as to how far the music is a success- 
ful illustration of the poem. 

Verdi's Requiem (heard here for the third time) 
seemed to call forth the best energies of the orches- 
tra and chorus, and to prove highly satisfactory to 
the great mass of the very large and eager audience. 
Of the composition itself, its merits and defects, its 
great ingenuity and skill, — in some respects origin- 
ality ; the beauty of the opening and many of the 
middle portions; the preponderance of graphic, 
realistic and sensational portrayal of the terrors of 
the Day of Wrath ; the artificial, labored show of 
contrapuntal learning; but the vivid, splendid, 
picturesque effects of highly colored instrumen- 
tation, we have recorded our impressions before, nor 
do we find them in any way essentially changed or 
modified. It is not a question of form ; that Verdi 
has not written like a German, but like an Italian as 
he is, is of no consequence. The question is one of 
sentiment, of beauty, of poetic and artistic feeling : 
is the music genial and refined, or is it coarse and 
artificial ? Does it appeal to the deepest feeling^ of 
the soul, or only to the sense of wonder ? Does it win, 
inspire and elevate, or does it only startle? We 
feel that just here is its weakness ; it's appeal is not 
to the best that there is in us ; it does not — or only 
seldom — touch the springy of deep religious love 
and aspiration, but it appeals to fear. Those texts 
of the old Latin hymn, which offers the best chance 
for great sensational display of orchestral effects, are 
the texts chiefly dwelt upon ; it is not so with the 
greater masters like Mozart, Jomelli, Cherubini, — 



Mat 22, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



87 



the l^t two Italians just as much as Verdi. If it 
were a question of mere ybrm, then it would readily 
be seen that Verdi himself has made it so, for, next 
to the sensational element in this work, is it not the 
struggling effort to compete with the old masters in 
this very matter of form, in fugue, and polyphonic 
treatment, which lends a novel interest to this 
Requiem f No one will ask him to write like Bach, 
like Mozart or Beethoven, like Chernbini even ; but 
it is fair to ask whether he has written anything as 
good, as beautiful and true, as independent of the 
moment's popular impression. 

The performance on the whole was excellent. 
Chorus and orchestra were very seldom at fault. 
The grander scene-painting came out vividly and 
strongly. Light and shade were for the most part 
carefully regarded. The arias and concerted pieces 
were mostly satisfactory. Mrs. H. M. Smith's clear 
and powerful soprano voice did good service, though 
sometimes its effects were overstrained and marred 
by impure intonation. Miss Gary was altogether 
equal to her part. Signor Campanini made another 
great success in the aria: "Ingemisco," and was 
applauded to the echo. Mr. M. W. Whitney sang 
the bass solos with grand soAprity and dignity. 



Fifth Concert, Friday evening. May 7. — The 
"Spring" and "Summer" from Haydn's Secuons 
offered the greatest possible contrast, most refresh- 
ing and most soothing, to the unpeacef ul Requiem 
of the night before, and the overwhelming Deluge 
that immediately followed. The fresh, spontaneous, 
lovely melody served to restore the healthy tone of 
life again. The music is so uniformly beautiful, 
flows so easily and naturally, is everywhere so 
smooth and exquisite, so altogether musical, so free 
from anything at all forced or sensational, that for 
this very reason some spoiled appetites are apt to 
find it commonplace, conventional and dull. The 
fault is in themselves. To the most musical, to the 
more deep poetic natures, it was the most delightful. 
Composed by an old man of seventy, it is the 
happiest expression of a most genial, child-like 
sympathy witli nature. Its flowing honey does 
not cloy like that of Spohr. It presents a varied 
picture nowhere over-colored, nowhere weak or 
tame. All is characteristic, free from startling con- 
trast and extravagance. The chorus of the thunder 
storm, so naturally prepared by passages descriptive 
of the intense midsummer heat, may be a puny 
tempest by the side of Saint-Saens's picture of the 
Dduge, but intrinsically it is more near to Nature 
and more powerful. 

It was sung and played Con amore. All the 
choruses went well except the . first, " Come, gentle 
Spring," which was a little scrambling. The 
soprano melody was particularly suited to the voice 
and graceful, na'ive style, of Miss Thursby, who 
sang most charmingly. Mr. Adams was again in 
better voice, and with his true artistic instinct 
gave a most expressive rendering of the tenor part ; 
especially in the ^citative and Air descriptive of 
the summer heat and its effects: "Distressful 
nature fainting sinks," he realized the full intention 
of the music in the most complete and tasteful 
manner. It is always a pleasure to listen to so true 
an artist, even if his voice be not in its best condi- 
tion. Mr. Whitney sang the song of the " Husband- 
man," and indeed all that fell to his share, very 
finely. 

The general verdict on the Cantata, The Deluge, 
by- Saint-Saens, was, it must be confessed, upon the 
whole unfavorable, and for once, we think, the 
popular verdict was about right The vocal wri^ 
ing seems to have interested very few, while plenti- 
ful praise and admiration have been lavished on the 
transcendant brilliancy and power of its descriptive 
instrumentation. All the usual and unusual means, 
to be sure, of the modern orchestra are employed 
to work up the actual description of the rising of 
the waters to a fearful and extraordinary climax. 
It begins suggestively with a faint, watery tremolo, 
and presently a bubbling and gurgling sound of 
flutes, and a chromatic whistling of the wind, all 
quite exciting to the imagination, till finally the 
great deeps are unloosed with universal, stunning 
tumult, the like of which in intensity, variety and 



cumulative persistency of noise, still kept within 
the bounds of music, was never realized before. 
Of course the culminating point of rest, and the 
subsiding of the waters, is turned to good account 
by the ingenious composer. But taken as a whole, 
the work, instrumentally as well as vocally, is to 
our feeling weak, coarse, wilful, wanting dignity, 
unequal to the subject, and unworthy of a com- 
poser who in other things has shown so much gen- 
ius, though of an idiosyncratic character, ana so 
much musical learning and savoirfaire. 

The orchestral prelude,, (which, strange to say, 
was much applauded, probably for its mere sen- 
suous charm of sound) is but a vague, creeping, 
wandering, monotonous, tiresome piece of " endless 
melody," to use the Wagnerian phrase, which we 
found singularly dreary and which seemed to come 
to nothing. Was it meant to represent the spirit- 
ual inanity of a race hopelessly lost in sin ? This 
is further explained, and feebly, in a few vocal solos 
which follow ; and then comes the central motive 
of the whole first, and indeed the second part, upon 
the words: "This race I'll exterminate surely!" 
It has an undignified and jig-like rhythm, which it 
is almost blasphemy to put into the mouth of the 
Almighty ; yet it is first sung as a tenor solo, and 
then worked up in chorus, to reappear occasionally 
in emphatic trombone blasts in the midst of the 
great deluge scene. A few sentences of bass recit- 
ative, simple and majestic, would have conveyed 
the idea more impressively. Then comes a short 
sing-song chorus in recognition of the upright Noah, 
about as commonplace and homely as the song " Old 
Grimes is dead, that good Md man." 

After the great flood has begun to subside, we 
have in Part HI. most interesting and suggestive 
themes for an imaginative composer: the scattering 
of the clouds, the sending out of the dove, the 
olive branch, the descent from the ark, the rainbow, 
etc., etc., and here indeed we And the gentlest and 
most pleasing portion of the music. But again all 
is spoiled by what should be a sublime conclusion. 
The command : " Increase and multiply " naturally 
suggests a fugue. But what a fugue we get! 
Learned enough, ingenious enough it may be, but 
desperately dry and uninspiring ,- the second phrase 
of the theme is most undignified and scrambling. 




3r?it=5; 



^=^ 



-h 



And when they shall be - 




t 



:t=t: 



n 



bold 



this bow shine in the heavens. 



The English words are often difficult to sing, and 
no wonder, for it is commonly a thankless task to 
turn French vocal texts into anything like singable 
English. 

The performance on the whole was as good as 
could reasonably be required, especially the orches- 
tral work. And the principal vocalists (Miss Hub- 
bell, Miss Winant, Mr. Adams and Mr. Dudley) did 
themselves as much credit as could be expected in 
such music. 

— Want of room compels us to postpone our 
review of the last two concerts. 



BERLIOZ'S "FAUST." 

Mr. Lang's great zeal and energy in bringing out 
La Damnation dt Faust, for the first time in Boston, 
on Friday evening. May 14, were crowned with 
success. The means employed were adequate : an 
excellent orchestra of sixty (Mr. Listemann at their 
head), a select, well-trained, efficient chorus, of two 
hundred and twenty mixed voices, and four good 
solo singers. The rehearsals had been thorough, the 
reports from New York had excited eager interest in 
advance, and the Music Hall was crowded with the best 
kind of an audience. The result was in the main most 
satisfactory. Hundreds came away conyinced of the 
inventive genius and originality, the many-sided power, 
the rare musicianship and learning, the consummate 
tavoir /aire, of Berlioz. Pieces, in every form, cf 
tender or romantic beauty, of startling and terrific 
power, of vivid portraiture and scenical suggestion, 
were found in abmidance. It is a mingling of many 
elements : the sentimental ; the deep brooding, thought- 
ful, discontented ; the comic and grotesque ; the air}", 
fairy, tricksy, will-o* the wisp ; the martial and exhilara- 
rating ; and, more than all, the fiendish and the terrible. 
One quality pervades it all, — intensity ; and this alike 
whether it spring from real feeling, as when it expresses 
the brooding melancholy of Faust, and the love of 
Faust and Marguerite, or from a mere passion for effects 



as in the "Racockzy March," the "Ride to Hell," etc. 
What Berlioz does, he does with all his might The 
strangeness of his genius, on the other hand, was felt : 
its bizarre and sometimes repulsive traits, the hard 
side that it has, the defiant, wilful, almost cruel 
pleasure in humiliating contrasts and surprises, the 
singular sympathy with the unbelieving, sooffing, 
Mepliistophelian element; and consequently the fre- 
quent sacrifice of musical charm, as such, to this sort 
of indulgence. This Mephistophelian element is after 
all the main-spring and motive of the whole work; in 
spite of any formal apotheosis of Marguerite. Not so 
with Groethe ; his Faust is optimistic. 

But the music, in all its moods, is almost always 
interesting, and takes hold with a certain strange 
magnetic power. The orchestral alone, of which Ber- 
lioz is a consummate master, would make it so, how- 
ever weak it might be otherwise. We must wait for 
room and leisure to enter into anything like an analysis 
of so remarkable a work, and doubtless opportunities 
will be furnished by more than one repetition of the 
Faust in the next fall or whiter. For the present a 
few first impressions must suffice. 

We thought the opening portion. Part*!., where Faust 
is wandering in the Plains of Hungary, musically one 
of the best. The orchestral accompaniment to his 
soliloquy, so suggestive of the sunrise and the verdure, 
and the scents and sounds of the woods and fields, with 
now and then literal bird-like imitations from the 
piccolo and horns, is very beautiful ; only perhaps too 
rich and overloaded, suggesting a heavy atmosphere 
and an overpowering tumult of sweet sounds. But 
from a subjective point of view, to Faust himself, the 
very breath and smile and song of Nature might be 
depressing. Tlie chonis of peasants is thoroughly 
naive and charming, one of the most beautiful things in 
the whole work. Now comes the distant sound of ap- 
proaching soldiers, and the Racockzy March (a separate 
inspiration, for the bringing in of which this scene is 
placed in Hungary) breaks out We like it best in the 
simplest form as he first gives it ; but it is worked up 
to a wonderful orchestral climax as it goes on. 

Part n. opens with Faust brooding in his study ; the 
introduction is sombre and impressive, but Grounod has 
surpassed it in that prelude which in the theatre is 
always thrown away upon an inattentive audience. 
The Easter hymn is very beautiful, a pure, religious 
piece of harmony, lifting the mind upward ; and it was 
finely sung. With a sadden sharp orchestral figure, 
like a flash of lightning, appears Mephl«topheIes, and 
in like manner he is always heralded. The chorus of 
drinkers (in Auerbach's cellar), Brander's "Song of 
the Rat," with its provokingly short, vulgar rhythm, 
the satirical but regularly built, ecclesiastical "Amen" 
fugue which follows, the fiend's "Song of the Flea," 
with all the dialogue, are grote^ne enough, and won- 
derfully clever; but Faust soon sickens of such speci- 
mens of "low life," and the scene changes to the 
banks of the Elbe, where Faust is sung to sleep by a 
most exquisite chorus of gnomes and sylphs, worthy 
of Mendelssohn, or of the opening scene in Oberon, 
but very different. This too was charmingly sung. 
And then the orchestral Dance of Sylphs, which follows, 
shows an almost inexhaustible vein of fairy fancy. 
On the way to the home of Marguerite, whom he has 
seen in dream, choruses of soldiers and carousing 
students are heard, finally mingling their 6-8 and 2A 
rhythm in a skilful manner, making a bustling, noisy 
contrast to the quiet, tender scene that follows. 

Part in. Faust in Marguerite's chamber. Herejs 
some of the loveliest music in the half-hushed, expect- 
ant aria of Faust, and the wonderfully expressive 
wandering melody of the violins alone, as he walks 
slowly about the room, examining with passionate 
curiosity what he sees. As a whole, however, the love 
scene did not impress us as the best part of the work. 
It has many delicate and lovely passages; but the 
" King of Thnle '* ballad, conceived as an old Gothic 
song, lacks real melody, and has a hard and artificial 
character. So, too, farther on. Marguerite's " Meine 
Ruh ist hin " lacks simplicity, being ehiborately com' 
posed through^ with change of rhythm and accom- 
paniment for every stanza. Here, in the first meeting 
and the sacred privacy of the dream-acquainted lovers, 
comes some of the most fascinating, and at the same 
time most uncanny, music. Mephisto conjures up his 
will-o' the wisps {Irrlichter, " lights that do mislead " ), 
to weave their fatal spell, in an intoxicating and bewitch- 
ing minuet, around the unsuspecting hearts and senses 
of the innocents, entranced by the young miracle of 
love. It is a wierd, wondrous, and inveigling piece 
of instrumental music. And then Mephisto' s serenade, 
borrowing a text from poor, crazed Ophelia's love-lorn 
ditty, is absolutely fiendish, with the ringing ha-ha of 
the spirits. The duet of the lovers is beautiful and 
tender, until the interruption of the fiend, and the 



88 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1020. 



Inferaal taunting chorus of the gouips whom ha has 
gathered round the house. 

One of the grandest passages is Faust's " Invocation 
to Nature," in the scene entitled " Forests and Cav- 
erns," one of the noblest parts of Goethe's poem. 
Here we reach the climax of the fateful drama ; here, 
at the acme of Faust's discontent, the Evil one steps 
in, informs him of poor Marguerite's imprisonment 
and condemnation, and persuades him, under the delu- 
sion that he thus may .save her, to sign the fatal scroll. 
No time is lost, he summons his two black steeds, iind 
Instantly begins the more and more terrible and breath- 
less "ride to HelL'' The galloping rhythm has an 
alarming persistency; on their way they pass and 
frighten off a group of peasants singing to the virgin ; 
skeletons and monstrous shapes crowd roimd them, 
with hideous, appalling sounds ; Faust is horror-struck ; 
but the demon i urges on his steeds, and suddenly the 
fatal plunge is made into the sulphureous abyss ; and 
it is all wrought up with such imaginative power, that 
the listener almost seems to make the plunge himself. 
This all reminds one of the ghastly ride in Raif's Xe- 
noTB symphony ; but it is far superior to that and very 
probably suggested it The scene called " Pandemo- 
nium," the welcoming chorus of the demons in an 
outlandish tongue, was wisely omitted, and the per- 
formance closed with the Apotheosis of Marguerite, in 
a chorus of aerial and celestial harmony. 

Mr. Lang had orchestra and chorus well in hand, 
and all was complete except that the two harps were 
replaced by two pianos. The only drawback of im- 
portance was, that the orchestra too frequently covered 
up the voices. This was particularly the case (where 
we sat) with the part of Mephistopheles,, although Mr. 
Clarence E. Hay has a sonorous bass voice, and sang 
extremely well. Mrs. Humphrey Allen's pure, clear, 
sweet soprano, and chaste, tasteful and expressive 
style of singing, were sihgularly well suited to the 
part of Marguerite. Mr. William J. Winch sang the 
tenor part of Faust with true expression and with fine 
effect, although he was obliged now and then to spare 
hiuiself in a sustained high passage. Mr.^Schlesinger, 
an amateur, showed disinterested good nature in under- 
taking the thankless little part of Brander, of which 
he made perhaps as much as any singer could expect 
to make. 



Cbowded out.— The Festival and Berlioi monopoliie 
all our available space. Meanwhile there have been some 
highly interesting concerts to which we must revert here- 
after; for instance, those by Mr. Perabo, Mr. Preston, Mr. 
Tucker; above all, the two admirable prt^rammes of 
Joseffy, with the aid of Adamowsky and Wulf Fries; the 
successful concert of Madame Capplani and her pupils; 
the Apollo and the Boyliton Club, etc. 

Our concert calendar has nearly run out. There yet 
remain, however,' the third Joseffy concert, for this 
afternoon, in which, with the exception of one piece with 
Mr. Lang, the entire programme— an extremely rich and 
varied one— will be performed by the wonderful Hungi^ 
rian pianist; and, on Monday evening, the repetition by 
the Cecilia, with orchestra, of Max Bruch's Odytteu$^ 



MiLWAUKRB, Wn., May 6. — The Heine Quartet 
closed its series of Chamber Music Recitals, April 29th, 
with the following programme: 

String Quartet (B flat), Moxart. 

Sonata for Piano antt Violin, op. 47 Beethoven. 

Andante con Variasioni, Finale, Presto. 

Misses Mary and Llzxie Heine. 

Trio for Violin, Viola and 'Cello, op. 9, No. 3, Beethoven. 

Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola, *Cello, op. 26, J. Brahms. 

Andante con moto, Bondo alia Zingarese. 

The performances have been exceedingly creditable, 
and it is a good sign that six such concerts could be 
given here in one season by local talent. The audiences, 
though not large, have been fair in sise, and enthusi- 
astic in temper. 

The 270th concert of the Musical Society pretent- 
ed a composition for solos, chorus and orchestra, by 
Geo. Vierling, a composer not yet well known in 
America, but one of high standing in Germany, both 
for talent and musicianship. The text of this work is 
faanded on th* familiar episode known in legendary 
Bomafe hlseory as The Rapt of the Sabine$. After the 
oreliestral prelude, Romulus opens the action in a short 
reeitative announcing that all quarrels between the 
Romans and the Sabines are amicably settled. Then 
follows at once a joyous chorus of the two peoples, 
rejoicing over the cessation of strife, giving thanks to 
the gods snd Invoking their blessing un the newly 
sworn compact. Annius, a Roman, whose love-episode 
with Claudia is to form a main interest of the story. 
Invites to festal Measures. A chariot race follows, in 



which Annius is victor, the crowd celebrating his 
praise in a spirited double chorus. Then the Sabine 
maidens dance and sing, while the Romans look on 
enchanted, and Annius declares his love for Claudia in 
a passionate aria. The Romans join in the chorus of 
the Sabine women. Then comes a iiiTe8tling match in 
which Annius's victory is again celebrated in an excite 
ing double chorus. At the end of this the Romans 
begin to warn each other that the time approaches for 
their plan of seizing the women to be carried into 
effect. They watch for the signal, which Romulus 
gives by striking on his shield. He gives the order, 
and the women are at once seized and hurried within 
the walls, protesting, and calling on their fathers and 
brothers for help. This chorus forms the clinuix for 
the first part, and with it, the "Rape of the Sabines " 
is completed. Part II. deals with the unsuccessful 
attempt of the Sabine men to rescue their women, but 
the main interest of it centres upon the loves of Annius 
and Claudia. Claudia reproaches Annius with bitter 
scorn for his treachery, and declares that, though a 
weak woman, she will never become the wife of a man 
who has sought to obtain her by violence. Annius 
replies passionately that he cannot regret what he has 
done; his passionate love for her drove him to his 
act of violence. She grows more and more disdain- 
ful, assures him that he has only secured her hatred, 
not her love, and that she will kill herself sooner 
than wed hinL At hist, stung to the quick, Annius 
gives her his own sword, bidding her kill him, since 
she hates him so ; he will at least die loving her. 
She takes the sword, but she has at last reached the 
end of her paroxysm of passion, and a reaction 
has already begun ; his behavior has already soft- 
ened her, and a terrible inward struggle ensues be- 
tween her old hate and her dawning love. Annius 
notes the signs of her change of feeling, and, confident 
that he has won her; he goes out to beat off the 
Sabines, who have assembled to rescue their women. 
While the Romans are gone, the women assemble in 
the temple of Diana and pray for deliverance, but 
Chiudia watches the progress of the fight from the 
walls. She sees the Romans victorious, but Annius 
slain, and over his corpse she acknowledges her love 
for him in a burst of passionate grief. The whole 
ends with a new reconciliation of the Romans and 
Sabines, the former keeping their booty, and all join- 
ing in celebrating the kingly race which is to spring 
from the union of the two peoples. 

This text might have been made into an extremely 
effective opera, instead of a dramatic cantata. It is, 
however, exceedingly effective in its present form. 
Both choruses and solos are characteristic of the situa^ 
tions and of the dramatic moments of the play. The 
composition is musician-like, and the instrumentation 
is as good as the rest of the technical treatment. 

The performance was, on the whole, a good one. 
The choruses went mostly with spirit, in spite of some 
timidity in attack on the part of the ladies, who are 
comparatively inexperienced singers, and also in spite 
of fatigue due to over-rehearsal. Mr. Luening's en- 
thusiasm led him into this mistake. He needs to 
temper his zeal slightly, but is nevertheless entitled to 
great credit j. c. f. 



Baltdcorb. — (Letter of May 3, concluded from 
page fiO).— The following works have been performed 
during the fourteenth season of the Peabody Students' 
Concerts: — 

J. S. Bach: 

a. Air from the Whitsuntide cantata. 

Miss Lixzie Kruger. 

b. Toocata, £ minor. For piano. 

Miss Agness Hoea. 
Beethoven: 

o. Piano-trio, G. Work 1. No. 2. 

Miss Agnes Hoen, Messrs. Fincke and Jnngnlckel. 

b. Serenade, D. Work 8. For string-trio. 

Messrs. Allen, Fincke, 'and Jungniokel. 
e. String-trio, O. Work 9. No. 1. 

Messrs. Fincke, Schaefer, and Jnngnlckel. 
<f. Piano-trio, B flat. Work 11. 
Miss Nora Freenum, Messrs. l.Anier and Jungnickel. 
e. Piano-quartet, £ flat. Work 18. 
Miss Helen Todhnnter, Messrs. Fincke, Schaefer and 

Jungnickel. 
/. String-quartet, C minor. Werk 18. No. 4. 
Messrs. Allen, Fincke, Schaefer, and Jungnickel. 
y. Sonata, A. Work 30. No. 6. For piano and violin. 

Miss Helen Todhunter and Mr. Fincke. 
A. String-trio, C major. Work 87. (three times). 

Messrs. Allen, Fincke, and Schaefer. 

«. Piano-trio, B flat. Work 97. No. 6. (three Uraes). 

Mrs. Isabel Dobbin, Messrs. Fincke and Jungnickel. 

J. Fra^nents from opera " FIdclio." 

Miss Emma Berger, Miss Lizzie Kruger, Misses Seldner, 

and Barrett, Messrs. Glass and Lincoln. 



Cherublni: 

a. String-quartet, E flat. No. 1. (twice). 17aO-lM2, 
Messrs. Fincke, Allen, Schaefer, and Jungnickel. 

b, CavaUiia, from the opera "The Water Carrier." 
Mr. WlllUm Lincoln. 

R. Franz: 

Songs, with piano. 1815. 

Mr. H. Glass. 
Gade: 

Novelets, A minor. Work 20. For piano and strings. 
Miss Sarah Schoenbeig, Messrs. Fincke and Jungnickel. 
Asger Haroerik: 

Love Song, from work 25. Transcription for piano. 
1843 

Mis Mabel Latham. 
Handel: 

a. Recitative and Air, from " Joshua." 
Mr. Wm. Bym. 

6. Theme, with variations. "The Hamionloua Black- 
smith." 

Mr. Adam Itsel. 

e. Duet, from " Israel hi Egypt." 

Messrs. Wm. Byrn, and J. Dohefty. 
Emil Hartmann: 

a. Serenade, A. Work 24. For piano and strings. 1836, 
Miss Sarah Schoenberg, Messrs. Fincke and Jungnickel . 

b. Piano-trio, B flat major. Work 10. 
Miss Mabel Latham, Messrs. Fincke and Jungnickel. 

Haydn: 

a. String.quartet, F. Work 3. No. 3. 
Messrs. Allen, Fincke, Schaefer and Jungnickel. 

b. String-quartet, B flat. Work 71. No. 1. 
Messrs. Allen, Schaefer, Gibson and Jungnickel. 

e. String-quartet, B flat. Work 76. No. 1. 
Messrs. Allen, Fincke, Schaefer, and Jungnickel. 
J. N. Hummel: 

Piano-.trio, £ flat. Work 12. No. 1. 1776-1837, 
Mr. Adam Itzel, Messrs. Fincke, and Jungnickel. 

Ex-student, Edwin A. Jones: 
String-quartet, F. Work 1. 
Messrs. Fincke, Allen, Schaefer and Jungnickel. 

Fr. Lachner: 

Piano4)uintet, C minor. Work 14S. No. 2. 1804-1876, 

Mr. Ross Jungnickel, Messrs. Fincke, Schaefer and 

Jungnickel. 
Fr. Liszt: 

Mignon, song with piano. 1811, 

Miss Mary Kelley. 
Mendelssohn: 

a. Prelude and Pugue, £ minor. Work 3S. No. 1. 
Mr. Adam Itzel. 

b. Variations Serieuses, D minor. Work 54. 
Miss Lizzie Beltzhoover. 

c Songs, for two sopranos. Complete. 

Miss Kate Dickey, Miss Ida Crow. 
Mozart: 

a. Piano^uartet, G minor. No. 1. (twice). 

Miss Mabel Latham, Miss Esther Murdock, Messrs. Fincke , 

Schaefer, and Jungnickel. 

6. Piano-trio, £ flat. No. 7. (twice). 
Mr. Ross Jungnickel, Messrs. Fincke, and Schaefer. 

c. String-quartet, £ flat. No. 14. 
Messrs. Allen, Fincke, Schaefer and Jungnickel. 

(f. String-quartet, C major. No. 17. 
e. Song, from ** Figaro's Wedding." 
Miss Kate Dickey. 

/. Countess ah-, from '* Figaro's Wedding.** 
Miss Marie Becker. 

g, Oavatina, from "Figaro's Weddhig." 
Miss Rose Barrett. 

A. Bedtatlve and Air, from "Figaro's Wedding." 

BilssMaryKellv. 
Sohubert: 

a. Impromptu, C minor. Work 90. For piano. 

Esther Murdoch. 

ft.' Trout-quintet, A major. Work 114. 
Miss Agnes Hoen, Messrs. Fincke, Schaefer, Jungnickel, 

and Leutbecher. 

c. Songs, with piano. 

Miss Kate Dickey. 

d. Song, from Shakespeare's "Cymbellne." 

Miss Sallie Murdoch. 
Schumann: 

a. Carnival. Work 9. Fragmentb. 

Bilss Helen Todhunter. 

ft. Songs, with piano. 

Mr. H. Glass. 
Arthur Sullivan: 

Songs, with piano, (twice). 1842, 

„ ^. Miss Lhule Kruger. 

Verdi: 

Soene and Cavatlna, from " AttUa." 1814, 

Miss Helen Wintemlta. 

R. Wagner: 

Spring Song, from "ITie Valkyria." 1810, 

„ ^ Mr. H. Glass. 

Weber: 

a. Recitative and Air, from ** The Frelsckttta. 
Miss Rose Barrett. 



»» 



ft. Scene and Air, from " Oberon." 
Miss Rose Seldner. 



C. F. 



Jdjte 5, 1880.} 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



89 



BOSTON, JUNE s, iS8o. 

Entered at the Pott Office at Boston as Beeond-claas matter. 



All the articles not credited to other publications were ex- 
pressly writ ten for this Journal. 

Published fortnightly by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
Boston, Mass. Price, lo cents a number ; $2.30 per year. 

For sale in Boston by Carl Pruefer, jo West Street, A. 
Williams & Co., 283 Washington Street, A. K. Lorino, 
j6g Washington Street, and by the Publishers ; in New York 
by A. Brentano, Jr., jg Union Square, and Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., 2/ Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BoNBB ft Co., tro2 Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the Cui- 
CAOO Music Company, 312 State Street. 

THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S "FAUST." 



BT ADOLPHB JULLIEN.^ 



I. 

THE "FAUST" OP JOSEPH STRAUSS, OP G. LICKL» 
OF THE BITTER SEYFRIED, OF BISHOP, OF CARL 
EBERWEIN, OF BEANCOURT, OF BARON PEEL- 
LAERT, OF SCHUBERT, OF MI-LE. LOUISE BERTIN, 
AND OF LINDPAINTNER. 

Faust was the cods tan t and favorite occu- 
pation of Goethe, the work of his whole life. 
"Here it is more than sixty years since I 
conceived the Faust,** he says to William von 
Humboldt, on the 1 7th of March, 1832, in 
the last letter that he wrote ; "I was young 
then, and I had already clearly in my mind, 
if not all the scenes with their detail, at least 
all the ideas of the work. This plan has never 
quitted me ; throughout my life it has quietly 
accompanied me, and from time to time I have 
developed the passages which interested me 
for the time being,". . . . The poem of Faust, 
as everybody knows, is divided into two very 
distinct parts. The first appeared in 1807 ; 
the second, commonly called The Second 
Faust, only saw the light in 1831, after being 
the preferred labor of the great poet to the 
decline of his days. But music did not wait 
so long. Scarcely had seven years •passed 
since the appearance of the first Faust, when 
it resolutely attacked this gigantic work. 

Joseph Strauss ' was the first to enter upon 
the career. A musician of merit, pupil of 
Teyber and of Albrechtsberger, and a very 
able violinist, Strauss was by turns first violin 
at the theatre of Pesth, musical director at 
Temeswar in Hungary, and finally capell- 
meister at Mannheim. It was towards 1814 
that he brought out in a province of Transyl- 
vania, where he was director of the German 
Opera, his opera, The Life and Actions of 
Faust. 

One year later another musician, George 
Lickl,' distinguished as a professor of the 
piano and organist, got hold of the same sub- 
ject, and lengthening the title, to distinguish 
himself from his predecessor, gave his opera, 
The Life, the Actions, and the Descent of 
Faust to Nell, at the Theater Schikaneder, in 
Vienna. 

Five years rolled away between this at- 
tempt and the next. In 1820 the Chevalier 
Ignaz-Xavier von Seyfried * had represented 
at Vienna, under the title of Faust, a melo- 
drama of which he had composed the music. 
The Chevalier was no novice. He had had 

1 We translate from "Goethe et la Musique: Ses Juge- 
tnenis^ son Influence, Les Oeuvres qn'it a inspirtes." Par 
Adolphr JuLLiEN, Paris, 1880. —Ed. * 

> Bom at Briinn in 1796 ; died at Carlsruhe. I>ec. 1, ISes. 

• Bom in Lower Austria in 1760 : died in 1S43 at FUnf- 
kirehen after being Capellmelster in U angary. 

« Born at Vienna in 177G ; died there in 1S41. 



the honor of being a pupil of Mozart for the 
piano, of Haydn for harmony, and of Winter 
for dramatic composition. Of these three 
illustrious masters he had retained, it seems, 
only an unparalleled zeal for labor ; and, if 
he was destitute of all originality, he had at 
least the reputation of an indefatigable 
worker. 

Another interval of ^ve years, and an 
English composer, Bishop,* pupil of Bianchi, 
brought out in London, at Covent Garden 
Theatre where he was musical director, an 
opera Faustus, which, although signed with 
his name, was in reality only a more or less 
successful arrangement of Spohr*s Faust, 
This kind of work, indeed, was the not very 
meritorious specialty of this author, who after 
the same fashion wrote a considerable num- 
ber of dances, vaudevilles, melodies and 
pasticci. 

About the same period, Carl Eberwein, 
the same who, while a very young man, charm- 
ed the leisure hours of Goethe by his talent 
on the piano, composed an overture and some 
melodramatic music for Faust, at the same 
time that he wrote entr'actes for several 
dramas of the poet and an overture for his 
monodrama of Proserpine; these various 
works were given with success at Weimar. 
This composer, w^ho became musical director 
of that city, where he was born in 1784, had 
learned music under the direction of his 
father, while he made his literary and scien- 
tific studies at the gymnasium of Weimar. 
Later, he received lessons in harmony and 
composition from his older brother Maximil- 
ian ; but he possessed ideas more original 
than his brother, and a richer fund of inven- 
tion. These gifts of nature vanished as his 
admiration for the works of Mozart grew; 
he content-ed himself with imitating, as closely 
as possible, the style and formulas of his 
favorite master. 

At length, in 1827, the tragedy of Goethe 
was transported for the firs^time upon the 
French stage, but under what a form and 
with what music ! Faust, an opera in three 
acts, words by Theaulon and Grondelier, music 
by Beancourt, was played Oct. 27, 1827, at 
the theatre des Nouveaut^s. The music shall 
not have the privilege of arresting our atten- 
tion ; let it suffice to know that it was drawn 
from various French operas. But what a 
pitiful Scenario was this of Theaulon, what a 
miserable parody! Those of our readers 
who would like to form an idea of it, have 
only to open the journals of the time, es- 
pecially the Constitutionnel ; there they will 
find a very amusing recital of a piece which 
was very little so itself. Four actors of talent 
were charged with interpreting this lyrico- 
burlesque drama : Bouff^ and Armand played 
Mephistopheles and Frederic (read Faust), 
Mme. Albert impersonated Marguerite, and 
Casaneuve represented her father, the good- 
man Conrad, a retired old soldier, whose 
figure is often found in the vaudevilles of 
the period. 

Such is the charm inherent in the creations 
of genius that, even when disfigured by the 

• Biihop (Henry Rowley), bom in London in 1768 ; died 
there £n ISSS. 



most vulgar arranger, they preserve the gift 
of attracting and seducing real artists. Thus 
it was with Goethe's drama. Although cut 
up and travestied as we have seen, it had still 
the singular power of tempting a man sin- 
cerely fond of musical matters. The Baron 
de Peelaert^ was the son of an ancient 
Chamberlain of Napoleon I. ; he had been 
sub-lieutenant of infantry, was then attached 
to the staff, and was decorated at the siege of 
Antwerp. Unfortunately he could only con- 
secrate to Art the moments of respite which 
the military career allowed him ; but he was 
passionately/ond of work, and, in the want of 
librettos, he wrote the poems of his first 
operas himself. Finally he had performed at 
Brussels several works which were not with- 
out merit, notably his Faust (March 1834), 
which obtained a real success, being very well 
sung by ChoUet and Mile. Prevost for the 
parts of Faust and Marguerite. 

Without composing an opera of Fauttj 
Franz Schubert has set to music some scenes 
of the drama, and four of his melodies are 
exact transcripts from the text of Goethe. 
The best known, Gretchen at the Spinning 
Wheel, which he dedicated to Count MoriUs 
von Fries, renders in a touching manner the 
grief of Marguerite and the bitter joy she 
experiences in retracing the happiness that 
has vanished. The musician has found ad- 
mirable accents to convey all the phases of 
delirium, of passion, from the beginning, sad, 
calm, resigned, to the instant where the poor 
girl cries out with a voice broken by emotion s 
*^ And the charm of his voice, the daspof his 
hand, and, ah ! his kiss !'*.... to that last 
transport of love : '^Ah ! that I cannot seize 
him and embrace him forever ! " 

The ballad of The King of Thule, which 
Schubert wrote in 1816, is as touching in 
expression as it is simple in form. A year 
later he composed his Marguerite imploring 
the image of the Virgin, a page dramatically 
treated, which begins with a song full of 
unction, and grows more and more animated 
as the sinner, full of grief and of repentance, 
repeats her prayer more fervently and drags 
herself to the feet of the Mater Dolorosa. 
Three or four years earlier, Schubert had set 
to music the Scene in the Church, conceived 
exactly after the original text, but which may 
be sung by a single person, the chorus being 
written for one part. In imposing upon him- 
self so restricted a canvas, Schubert could 
not pretend to compose a great dramatic 
page ; but he knew how to lend true accents 
to each of his personages. The acrid irony 
of the demon, the burning despair of the 
ruined girl, the terrible grandeur of the re- 
ligious chant, are there expressed with equal 
felicity, and Marguerite's cry for "Air ! " is 
of heart-rending truth. This picture in min- 
ature must not be compared to any of the 
creations which this scene has inspired in 
other composers, but it contains the sketch of 
a picture hors ligne. 

These last two melodies, though compara- 
tively little known, may count among the 
most beautiful of the celebrated composer; 

• Bora at Brnges in 1793 ; died at St. JoMe-Tto-Nood«- 
lea-Bruzelles in 1876. 



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[Vol. XL. — No. 1021. 



but pages so pathetic are not so much melo- 
dies as they are veritable scenes of the drama, 
to which the orchestra alone is wanting. 
These four fragments of FavM^ augmented 
by an unpublished chorus of angels (prob- 
ably that of the Easter Festival), form, taken 
together, an ensemble of sufficient conse- 
quence to justify our title of the Faiut of 
Schubert. 

On the 8th of March, 1831, the Opera 
Italien of Paris announced the first perform- 
ance of an opera called Fatisto. It was in 
fact the first serious attempt in France to 
translate the work of Goethe. On this ac- 
count it 'deserves to occupy our attention for 
a moment. The author was a woman, but a 
woman keenly interested in her art, and who 
had learned from the best masters the science 
of harmony and the art of composing. She 
held the pen with a practised hand, and her 
works, of a learned texture, bore in no way 
a feminine impress. Like a true artist, Mile. 
Bertin had not consented to put into music a 
deformed pasticcio of the German work ; she 
professed a too profound respect for the great 
name of Groethe. Accordingly the scenario 
which she adopted was a faithful reproduc- 
tion of the capital situations of the drama. 
She had even the happy idea of preserving 
an episode disdained by those who came after 
her, and which lent itself singularly to the 
most fantastic colors. It is the scene entitled 
The Witches* Kitchen* It is midnight ; gnomes, 
dwarfs, goat-footed devils, sprites, apes and 
monkeys proceed to their frightful mysteries 
and dance a Sabbath rondo round the flaming 
cauldron. The demon and his pupil arrive. 
Faust wishes to ask of the sorceress the 
magic potion which will give him back his 
youth; and while Mephisto, reclining on a 
couch and playing with a sprinkler, sneering- 
ly says : '* Behold me like a king upon his 
throne ; I hold the sceptre ; I want nothing 
but the crown," Faust, handling a mirror, 
distinguishes there the ravishing image of 
Marguerite. "What do I see? Wliat ce- 
lestial apparition shows itself in this magic 
mirror ? Love, oh lend me thy most rapid 
wing and lead me where she lives I " etc. 

The work of Mile. Bertin met in the 
journals only kindly judges, who knew how 
to render justice to its merit, and also to dis- 
semble wise criticisms under compliments 
quite flattering for a young woman. With 
regard to a person of consideration and good 
birth, an exaggerated praise would have been 
as much out of place as a too sharp criticisuL 
There was a rock which the journalists turned 
with a great deal of address. See, for ex- 
ample, what was said by the JRevne de Paris : 

" Enlightened judges have appreciated and 
wHl yet appreciate this music, too new, too 
much out of the beaten track to be all at 
once popular For the rest, the an- 
ticipations of the public, as it always happens, 
have been completely deceived. One ex- 
pected from a young lady pure and graceful 
strains, sweet and perhaps tame melodies; 
one was afraid to see so grave, so powerful a 
subject thrown into feeble hands which it 
miglit crush. Great was the surprise to hear 
an instrumentation constantly new and varied. 



at times graceful, but more frequently ener- 
getic and sombre. 

Meanwhile musical Germany was far from 
letting alone the masterpiece of Goethe. In 
1832, Lindpaintner ' brought out with abund- 
ant success, at Stuttgardt, a Fattst, which was 
taken up at Berlin in 1854. The overture 
especially, is a piece of grand dramatic char- 
acter and of a striking color. This creation 
does honor to this artist of talent, who, while 
remaining faithful to his post of Capellmeister 
to the king of WUrtemberg from 1817 to the 
year of hi& death (1856), gave an example 
of a constancy too rare not be appreciated as 
it deserves. 

(To be continued.) 



MOZART'S SKULlv. 

On the fate experienced by Mozart's skull, 
the Vossische Zeitung contains tlie following very 
interesting communication, by the celebrated anat- 
omist, Prof. Hyrtle, living in Perchtold»lorf, near 
Vienna, who could not suppress some bitter and 
sharply contrasted remarks on the occasion of the 
Mozart Celebration, that lately took place in Vi- 
enna, and was received with great applause by 
the art-ioving portion of society, as well as the 
general public. When Mozart died, there was 
not enough money found to bury him, and he was 
laid in the section allotted to the poor of the com- 
munity. Only three persons accompanied this 
truly melancholy funeral, among them Schikane: 
der, the author of the Magic Flute. The most 
disagreeable, cold and rainy weadier, undoubtedly 
had its share in the scant notice taken of the 
event. 

When the sad train had arrived in the grave- 
yard of St. Marx, near Vienna, a slip of paper, 
bearing the name of Uie departed, was as usual 
handed to the grave-digger, and it was now his 
concern to add it, as well as a mark for the grave 
in question, to the list in his books. Through a 
most peculiar combination of circumstances, the 
gravedigger had retained Mozart's name in vivid 
recollection. Once namely, when he went as 
usual in the time of his boyhood, with his father, 
— who was butler to some magistrate, - - to mass 
at St. Stephens, ^ey found the Dom crowded 
with people. Mozart's first mass, whic^ he wrote 
as a boy of sixteen, was being performed. At that 
time, his father had held up Mozart so impres- 
sively before him, as the model of an ambitious 
youth, the imposing celebration made so power- 
ful an impression upon him, that he retained the 
name vividly in his memory. And this gifted 
man, who was the highest ornament to his coun- 
try, now received so miserable a burial in the 
** section for the poor I " Shaking his head, and 
much incensed over the fact, the grave-digger now 
put down more particularly in his journal : " A. 
W. Mozart, in the section for the poor. No. 4, last 
row, the first by the fence." 

In these common graves, there were generally 
placed six rows of coffins, ten beside and over each 
other, together sixty in all. After about ten years, 
the remains were exhumed, and when this took 
place with the grave in question, the grave-digger 
gave strict orders to go to work carefully, as he 
was anxious to know how "the great musician 
might look now ! " He found Mozart's head fal- 
len under his left arm, took the skull with him to 
his house, wrapped it carefully in paper, and pre- 
served it, again noting everything down. The 
man fell sick, and left to his successor, among var 
rious possessions, also Mozart's skull, which to 



1 Lindpalntner (Plerre-Joeeph), born at Coblentx In 1791 
•~" of Wetzka, of Winter, and- above all, of Joaepll 



Qrttts. who Uught blm ooonterpoint and the art of writ- 
ing; died at Nounenhohn in ISfiS. 



this successor was of double valne, as he was him- 
self a musician. 

At about this time died Prof. Ilyrtlc's mother, 
and was buried in the same graveyard. Hyrtle's 
brother, a very capable engraver in copper, and 
a still better violoncellist at the Beethoven 
Chapel, was an eccentric character, living alone, 
and possessing a kindly, childlike heart. Daily 
when his duties were ended, he betook himself to 
the churchyard, to spend a few moments rever- 
ently at his mother's grave. The grave-digger had 
remarked him for some time, and when once a vi- 
olent torrent of rain came down while he remained 
in the churchyard, the grave-digger very cordially 
invited him into his house, to wait for the passing 
of the storm. He did so, and the two men became 
friends, since both, as good musicians, instantly 
found in a common object of sympathy a like in- 
terest in each other. After the visit to the moth- 
er's grave they now played together, views and 
experiences were exchanged, and thus it hap- 
pened that one day the friend gave his friend the 
joyful surprise of presenting him with Mozart's 
skull as a gift. Prof Hyrtle immediately received 
an invitation to come to his brother, where to his 
unspeakable joy and surprise he heard of the 
event. As an experienced anatomist, he imme- 
diately proved the harmony between the lines of 
the skull, and tlie portraits of Mozart, wrote a 
pamphlet in order to communicate the glad news 
to the art-loving world, and requested his brother 
to procure for him exact information as to the 
name of that grave-digger, his family, etc., and 
the latter betook himself for that purpose to the 
magistrate, where he was very politely shown to 
that official in the registry who had such matters 
in charge. 

Here the story turns. The official, unpleas- 
antly touched in the first place by a demand re- 
quiring his time, — asks for what purpose Uiis 
name and date are demanded, listens to the report, 
and then remarks very indignantly that a grave- 
digger is under his oath of office, and has no right 
whatever to appropriate to himself any object, 
though 4t be only an exhumed bone. This re- 
mark was quite sufficient to fill the mind of Hyr- 
tle's brother with all the horrors of an illegal tran- 
saction, in which he was now himself involved, so 
that he turned about immediately, wished to hear 
nothing more of the pamphlet and the glad sensar 
tion ; nothing of publication, but peremptorily de- 
manded the skull to give it up to the waters of the 
Danube. No pj*ayers, no arguments were of any 
avail 1 The poor man was in such great excite- 
ment that the Professor, with a bleeding heart, 
was obliged to give up the precious relic. From 
that time a certain estrangement arose between 
the brothers. 

" When my poor brother died," said Prof. Hyr- 
tle, at the close of his interesting episode : " I 
had his musical instruments and different objects 
sold. I was present at the sad task of clearing 
out his room, when one of the men presented to 
me some object wrapped in paper, with the jeer- 
ing remark that here was something; very rare I 
That it was in truth ! for beside, myself with joy, 
I recognized the Mozart skull, which I have since 
then preserved like a holy relic. In my will, I 
have made it over to the city of Salzburg, for the 
Mozarteum erected there, and have already in- 
formed the city of that fact. The Edinburgh 
Museum of arts and curiosities has offered me 
three hundred ducats for the skull, and with this 
another strange story is connected. Haydn was 
court musician to Prince Esterhazy; .Embassador 
in London at the time of the Congress. When 
the Congress was assembled at Vienna, Ester- 
hazy invited the Englishmen to a hunting party, 
to his estates in Hungary, and there, — Haydn 
had then been dead for some time, — one of the 
Englishmen expressed the wish that Estcrhasy 



JtmE 5, 188.0.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



91 



might ahow them the Mausoleum of Haydn, his 
celebrated musician, who, like Mozart, was buried 
in Vienna. This put the Prince into an embai^ 
rassing position, and he gave as an excuse, that 
the mausoleum was not yet finished. Finally the 
Prince really erected one to Haydn. The body 
was taken up, but — the head was wanting. That 
is in Edinburgh. Gall's phrenological theories 
were then the order of the day, for neither pains 
nor expense were spared to procure skulls of cel- 
ebrated people, — it ha^l become a wide-spread 
mania, particularly in England. It is easily to 
be comprehended tliat they would have given a 
great deal to have Mozart's skull with that of 
Haydn." 

The former however, has been, through the 
reverential affection of the celebrated scholar, 
preserved to his own country, as a lasting me- 
mento of one of the most brilliant names in the 
world of German art. 



MR. DUDLEY BUCK'S CINCINNATI 
PRIZE CANTATA. 

(From the New York MuHcal Review, April 29.) 
.... As a libretto, the composer selected por- 
tions of Mr. Longfellow's poem, The Golden Legend . 
This poem is too long to be used in its entiiety for 
the purpose of musical composition. Mr. Buck, 
therefore, chose such parts as would give an out- 
line of the plot, and at the same time render the 
composer's task a congenial one. Sonie passages, 
in which the action was delayed by philosophical 
discussion or for otlier reasons, have been summed 
up in orchestral movements and as a whole the 
composition may be considered a musical emphasis 
of the leading points in Mr. Longfellow's narrative. 
The plot and incidents are portrayed by the prize 
cantata in fourteen scenes. 

The first of these is a prologue, and is that part 
of the poem which Liszt has set to music under the 
title, The Bells of the Strasbourg Cathedral, 

Lucifer and the spirits of the air are endeavor- 
ing to pull down the cross from the cathedral of 
Strasbourg. It is night, and the attempt is made 
during a raging storm. Lucifer's commands, the 
despairing voices of his spirits, who fail in their 
attempt, and the solemn chorus of the bells are 
heard alternately. The cross can not be torn down, 
for around it 

All the Saintu and Ooardiftn Angels 
Throng in legions to protect it. 

Then, as Lucifer hears the bells, he calls upon his 
host to seize them and '* hurl them from their windy 
tower." But the bells defy the unholy powers; 
for they have been anointed and baptized with 
holy water. Lucifer, infuriated, bids his servants 
aim their lightnings " at the oaken, massive, iron- 
studded portals." There, however: 

The Apostles 

And the Martyrs, wrapped in mantles, 
Stand as wardens at the entrance. 
Stand as sentinels o'erhead. 

The spirits are again baffled ; the bells chant once 
more ; Lucifer calls to retreat ; and the powers of 
the air sweep away, singing : 

Onward I Onward ! 

With the night wind, 

Over field and fftrm and forest, 

Lonely homestead, darksome hamlet, 

Blighting all we breathe upon ! 

As they vanish, voices are heard chanting : 

Nocte sorgentes 
Vigilemus omnes I 

This prologue, it has been seen, demands music 
which is not only descriptive in character but also 
eminently dramatic. It forms, in a measure, a key 
to the entire Golden Legend, which tells of a sinner's 
deliverance from the^evil one through the sanctity 
of a pure young girl who is willing to die in his 
stead. The triumph of religion over the powers of 
evil is portrayed both in the prologue and in the 
legend itself ; only that in the prologue religion is 
represented by a beautiful, sacred edifice, and in the 
legend by a beautiful, human character. Lucifer 



is prominent both in the poem and in the cantata. 
Mr. Buck has represented him by a malicious 
motive which occurs whenever he takes part in the 
action. Before tlie entrance of voices in the pro- 
logue, a powerful orchestral prelude {Allegro con 
fuoco ed agitato) presents an eloquent epitome of the 
scene. It is night. A fierce storm is raging arouud 
the spire of the Strasbourg Cathedral. The open- 
ing bars of the cantata represent a momentary lull 
in the tempest. The scene begins with a tremolo 
in the bass; and at the third beat rapid passages 
are heard on the violas and 'cellos. These gluts 
increase in fury as the rapid passages rush impetu- 
ously higher and higher, imtil at length, while the 
wind shrieks through the spire, Lucifer appears 
with the powers of the air. Mr. Buck has very 
cleverly imitated the shrill blast of the wind in 
high air, by suddenly ending the rapid chromatic 
runs and the shake in the bass, and allowing the 
wood instruments and violins to continue a tremolo 
far up in the treble. After this has lasted during a 
single bar, Lucifer's appearance is announced by 
the following motive : 




lf^_5 






S^^^ 



^^m 




s 



fc — ^ 

This theme is given to the trombones and the 
trumpet, while the storm is continued in the accom- 
paniment until a fine climax is reached.^ Then, as 
the motive grows fainter, the storm gradually sub- 
sides, and, after a few fitful gusts (flutes, clarinets 
and oboes), the bells toll solemnly and are followed 
by the chant to which the final words of the pro- 
logue, Nocte surgentes vigilemus omnes, are sung when 
the spirits of darkness are vanquished. Nothing 
could better represent the religious eleiftent in this 
triumph than the old chant which Mr. Buck has 
selected. It is the familiar Gregorian chant with a 
slight rhythmic alteration by which it assumes this 
form: 




It is continually interrupted by the storm, which 
grows louder and louder until the chant gives way 
to the Lucifer motive ; after which the vocal reci- 
tative of Lucifer begins. All the time that he is 
heard urging on his spirits, his motive is audible in 
the orchestra. In despairing cries his host deplores 
its inability to injure the cross. Then follows the 
solenelle of the bells. When Lucifer furiously com- 
mands the powers of the air to hurl the bells to 
the pavement, the orchestra breaks in with a bar 
of descriptive descending octaves. But again his 
spirits are baffled. As their cries are repeated, 
the fiutes, clarinets and oboes play a shrill, nutlig- 
nant accompaniment. Then the chorus of the 
bells is renewed, and during it the orchestra inton- 
ates a mournful song to the words : Defunctos ploro, 
and a triumphant strain to the words : Fetta decora. 
The music incidental to the attack which Lucifer 
directs against the portals is based on the same 



tliought as that which accompanied the preceding 
incidents. But the interest is sustained by a vari- 
ety of instrumentation. Finally the spirits rush 
from the scene, singing a chorus, whose quick time 
and sweeping rhythm well represent their swift 
departure. After they disappear the Gregorian 
chant alternates between chorus and orchestra; the 
orchestra gliding back to the chorus in gentle synco- 
pations. Toward the end of the prologue the 
music gradually fades away, until the last strain 
seems no more than a breath. Vigilemus omnes is 
alternately sung by male and female voices, while 
a peaceful orchestral accompaniment adds to the 
tranquility of the scene. 

The second scene represents a chamber of Vauts- 
berg castle on the Rhine, in which Prince Henry of 
Hoheneck, ill and restless at midnight, laments his 
fate. A disease for which he can find no remedy 
has blunted his powers of enjoyment and his life is 
a weary monotony of sorrow. His sadness finds 
expression in a touching melody. As he recalls the 
scenes of former days, the accompaniment becomes 
descriptive of his thoughts and in various changes 
depicts his fantasies as they follow one another. 
Finally he exclaims : " Rest ! Rest ! O give me rest 
and peace." The bars accompanying these words 
are typical of his longing and give musical expres- 
sion to its effect upon his character. Since they 
recur and in a certain sense may be regarded as a 
leading .motive, the vocal part is quoted : 



^ 



s^^^^s 



v^: 



X=±^ 



As the third scene of the cantata begins, a flash 
of lightning suddenly illumines the night; and Luci- 
fer appears in the garb of a traveling physician, 
his presence being announced by the orchestra 
sounding his motive. When Lucifer makes a storm 
which has detained him in the village an excuse for 
his intrusion, the tempestuous passages heard in 
the prologue are repeated, and he thus seems to 
have ridden to Vautsberg on the same storm which 
had borne him to the Strasbourg Cathedral; as 
though, immediately after his defeat by the guard- 
ian angels, the anointed bells and the apostles at 
the portals, he had thought of directing his attack 
against human frailty. Prince Henry describes his 
malady^ while a reminiscence of the tenor solo in 
the second scene is heard in the accompaniment. 
He tells Lucifer that even the learned doctors of 
Salerno have no remedy for him except one which 
it is impossible to obtain. Their prescription reads : 

The only remedy which remains 

Is the blood which flows from a maiden's veins. 

Who of her own free will shall die, 

And give her life as the price of yours. 

Lucifer then offers Prince Henry an elixir of his 
own concoction. As he pours out the limpid fluid, 
his motive is played on the trombones. Prince 
Henry dnuns the goblet, while a chorus of angels 
is heard warning him against the evils to which he 
who drinks the elixir is subjected. As he swallows 
drop after drop he feels new life in every vein. 
As golden visions hover around him he sings a 
delirious melody. In the accompaniment Mr. Buck 
has skillfully contrived to combine the mocking 
voice of Lucifer, a semi-chorus and a full chorus of 
angels. As the warning of the angels has been dia- 
regarded, their voices are mostly heard pianissimo. 
Only once, at the word ** contrition," they rise to a 
fortSf while, during the entire number, Prince Henry's 
melody must be delivered with ecstacy. 

Up to this point the libretto has followed the 
poem pretty closely. Now, however, many parts of 
Mr. Longfellow's work are omitted ; and, in order to 
understand the connection between the succeeding 
scenes in the cantata, it is necessary to glance from 
time to time at the poem itself. After Prince Henry 
has drained the goblet ofl^ered him by Lucifer, the 
scene changes to the courtyard of the castle. In it 
Hubert, the seneschal, relates to Walter, the minne- 
singer, that Prince Henry has been sent by the 
church into disgrace and banishment, and has found 
refuge with some of his tenants in the Odenwald. 
The second part of the poem brings the reader to 
Prince Henry's place of refuge and introduces 



92 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1021. 



Elsie, her parents, Gottlieb and Ursula^and Elsie's 
playmates, Bertha and Max. Elsie, Bertha, Max 
and Gottlieb sing, as they are lighting the lamps in 
the farmhouse, the evening song, which forms the 
fourth scene of Mr. Buck's composition. 

Elsie enters with a lamp. Max and Bertha follow 
her and they all sing the evening song on the light- 
ing of the lamps. It is a beautiful quartet for 
soprano, alto, tenor and bass without accompani- 
ment It will probably be the most popular part 
of the composition ; though there are other portions 
in the cantata which appeal more strongly to the 
cultivated musician. The melody is naive and its 
sentiment well in keeping with the graceful sim- 
plicity of the scene. 

Prince Henry is heard at the door pronouncing 
** Amen." In the conversation which follows, Elsie 
learns that he must die unless some maiden, of her 
own accord, offers her life for his and is willing to 
die in his stead. This brings us to the fifth scene of 
the cantata, where Elsie, who is determined to make 
the sacrifice for Prince Henry, is praying during 
the night for strength to carry out her purpose. 
In the sustained measures of the music there is a 
spirit of determination which well gives utterance 
to the feelings of resignation and of religious re- 
pose with which she looks forward to her fate. 

The poem then narrates Elsie's announcement of 
her purpose. Prince Henry will not at first accept 
the sacrifice until he has consulted a priest at the 
confessional. Lucifer disguises himself as a priest 
and in this assumed role advises the prince to accept 
the sacrifice. This advice Lucifer gives, 

** To foster and ripen an evil thongbt 
In a heart that Is almost to madness wrought. 
And to make a murderer out of a prince.** 

Thus he hopes to gain Prince Henry's soul. He 
has also persuaded Elsie's mother that God wishes 
her daughter's sacrifice. Accordingly, Elsie and 
Prince Henry set out for Salerno, where Elsie is to 
die. This pilgrimage to Salerno follows Elsie's 
solo in the cantata, since a musical treatment of 
the intermediate incidents and developments of the 
plot would have unduly lengthened the composi- 
tion. 

The sixth scene is, therefore, entitled The PiU 
grtmage to Scdemo^ and is scored for the orchestra 
only. It is an expression of certain thoughts which 
are suggested by the poem. The journey over the 
highway, which "onward and onward runs to the 
distant city," is described by a march movement 
heard almost uninterruptedly throughout the entire 
number. To recall the religious sentiment awak- 
ened by a contemplation of Elsie's character, the 
composer has introduced a choral melody (first 
heard on oboes, clarinets and bassoons), over which 
he has written the words sung by the pilgrims in 
Mir. Longfellow's poem : 



II 



Urbs ottleetis, urbs beata, 
Snpra p^ram collocata, 
Urbs in portu satis tuto 
De longinquo te salato * *' 



In the meantime the march motive continues in the 
rest of the orchestra. This combination of march 
and chorale reaches a very effective climax with 
the first fortiuimo, when the chorale is syncopated 
by the trumpets and trombones, while the march 
retains its old form. It continues with varying 
instrumental coloring until a movement, Pocopiii 
mouOf is reached. The march movement continues 
alone for two bars and is then employed as an 
accompaniment to the music (quoted above) in the 
second scene of the cantata, when Prince Henry 
sings "Rest! Rest! O give me rest and peace!" 
etc. Then the Lucifer motive appears; for it was 
Lucifer's evil prompting which induced Prince 
Ifenry to accept Elsie's sacrifice. Again part of 
the tenor solo of the second scene is heard. This 
time it is the music which accompanied the words : 
" Sweeter the undisturbed and deep tranquility of 
endless sleep." The same motive occurs again 
on the return of the Tempo di marcia, after the 
choms and march movement have again been com- 
bined and after several recurrences of the Lucifer 
motive. Finally, the majestic chords of the chorale 
with a Jubilate accompaniment for strings, depict in 



brilliant colors the triumph of religion. A com- 
pact Allegro motto — the march movement and a 
syncopation of the chorale — closes a most descrip- 
tive and interesting episode. It is, in a measure, an 
overture to the remaining portions of the cantata. 
For, without attempting to enter into many inci- 
dents of the plot, it gives, by recalling typical 
motives from former scenes and by the -intro- 
duction of the chorale, a terse but eloquent account 
of the characters. concerned in the pilgrimage, the 
causes to which it may be traced and the result. It 
is also interesting as a new musical form. Raff some- 
what approached it when he introduced a dramatic 
episode into the march of the Leonore symphony. 
But Mr. Buck has written a march with which he 
has combined other incidental themes. The con- 
stant reiteration of the march emphasizes the main 
fact, the pilgrimage; while numerous phases and 
incidents are introduced or recalled by the con- 
tinuous recurrence of typical motives. 

In narrating the pilgrimage to Salerno the poet 
has described a number of picturesque situations, 
many of which had to be omitted from Mr. Buck's 
work. At first the pilgrims are seen in Strasbourg, 
where they visit the cathedral and attend a miracle- 
play. From herd the reader follows them on the 
road to Hirschau, whither they are going to sojourn 
for the night in the convent and neighboring nun- 
nery. In the next part of the poem they pass over 
the Devil's Bridge, through the St. Gotthard Pass, 
and, after passing a night at Genoa, sail thence to 
Salerno. 

From these incidents Mr. Buck first selects the 
revel in the refectory of the convent at Hirschau 
for musical treatment. It forms the burden of the 
seventh and eighth scenes in the cantata. In the 
former Friar Paul sings a boisterous drinking song, 
which is followed by an equally boisterous refrain 
by the chorus of merry monks. After the first 
refrain Friar Paul sings a solo with exaggerated 
portamento, and this mock-religious dignity, while 
singing the praise of the win^, is a clever point of 
this humorous episode. 

The next scene, " The revel and appearance of 
the abbot," is an Allegro bachannale for orchestra 
only. The movement opens with a jolly, noisy 
theme which, when played with zest, calls up vividly 
the monkmiaking merry over their cups. Suddenly 
while the violas and clarinets continue the revel, the 
chords of the Gregorian chant are intonated by the 
horns. The religious sentiment of this chant is in 
strong contrast to the abandon of the carousing 
monks. Its orchestral combination with the boister- 
ous themea of the revel is an instrumental satire. 
The chant fymbolizes the servants of God as they 
should be ; the revel is typical of the worldly 
desires to which they only too frequently yield. 
After the orchestra has played the melody of Friar 
Paul's drinking song, and the revel theme has 
occurred as %,fugato and has entered into several 
interesting combinations with the chant — at times 
appea^ng as an accompaniment to it, and at other 
times accompanied by it, — the revel when at its 
height is interrupted by the appearance of the 
9} bot. His presence and his surprise at the scene 
are indicated by three sustained notes. As he gives 
vent to his anger, the three notes are repeated 
twice with increasing rapidity. Some time evident- 
ly elapses before all the revellers are. aware of his 
presence. For, as indicated by the fitful recurren- 
ces of the revel theme, the carousal subsides gradu- 
ally until, when quiet ' is restored, the movement 
closes with the Gregorian chant. 

Those parts of the poem in which the action takes 
place in Genoa, form the ninth and tenth scenes of 
the cantata. The former is a solo for Elsie. The 
night is calm and cloudless and, as she looks over 
the sea from the terrace, she hears the solemn litany 
from the rocky caverns and the shelving beach, and 
the ghostly choirs answering Christe Eleison. In 
the music this Christe Eleison does re-echo. It is 
sung at intervals by a chorus which, with the or- 
chestra, accompanies Elsie's solo. 

The following scene is a melodious barcarole, 
for orchestra only, descriptive of the verse begin- 
ning: 

" The flsherman who lies afloat. 
With shadowy sail. In yonder boat 
Is singing softly to the night." 



The instrumentation suggests a moist atmosphere, 
and the melody is sombre and mysterious, like the 
night and the sea. 

The barcarole is followed in the eleventh scene 
of the cantata by a sailors' chorus, the music of 
which is incidental to the voyage by sea from Genoa 
to Salerno. It is a manly song with a highly 
descriptive accompaniment, especially to the words : 



and 



" Around the billows bnrst and^oam.' 



it 



They beat her sides with many a shock.* 



In the twelfth scene Prince Henry, Elsie and 
their attendants enter the College of Salerno. The 
orchestra opens with a phrase which recalls Henry's 
solo in the second scene. Lucifer is disguised aa 
Friar Angelo and answers Henry's questions in 
recitatives accompanied by the Lucifer motive. 
When Lucifer asks Elsie if she comes of her own 
will and has thought well of the step she is to take, 
her religious faith is expressed by a short orchestral 
prelude, based on the Gregorian chant before re- 
ferred to ; after which she asks to be killed, while 
the chorus sings : 

** Against all prayers, entreaties, protestions, 
She will not be persuaded.'* 

As she turns to her friends and bids them rejoice 
rather than weep, the Gregorian chant is heard again. 
When Elsie has been led away. Prince Henry repents 
of having brought her to be sacrificed. He calls 
upon the attendants to aid him in rescuing her, and 
with cries of "Angelo! Murderer!" they burst 
open the doors and save her from destruction. 

The thirteenth scene represents Prince Henry 
and Elsie who have been wed at evening on the 
terrace of the castle of Vautsberg. They sing a 
melodious love-duet, which does not call for special 
analysis. It should be noticed that a silvery light 
passes over the orchestra at the words : 

" It is the moon, slow rising.** 

The next scene closes the cantata. It is entitled. 
Epilogue and Finale. An Andante molto maestoso 
opens with a forcible instrumentation of the Gre- 
gorian chant. Then the chorus takes up in triumph- 
ant strains the verse which begins : 

" O beauty of holiness, of self-f orgetf ulness, of lowliness I '* 

After the first fourteen bars of the chorus an organ- 
point, A, occurs in the bass, which lasts during 
twenty bars. Shortly afterwards reference is made 
to Lucifer, and his motive is now heard for the last 
time in the orchestra. It serves to increase by 
contrast the brilliancy of the music at the re- 
entrance of the original chorus, which leads almost 
immediately to an Allegro assai. In this the Gre- 
gorian chant is used with fine effect, and thus the 
final triumph of religion over the powers of dark- 
ness is portrayed in the last measures of this inter- 
esting composition. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

LoNDOw. — The Handel Festival, at the Crystal 
Palace, will be held on June 18, 21, 23 and 25. The 
list of vocalists (according to the correspondent of 
the New York Musical Review) includes the names 
of Mmes. Patti, Albani, Lemmens-Sherrington, 
Osgood, Trebelli, Patey, Anna Williams and Suter ; 
Messrs. Vernon Rigby, Lloyd, McGuckin, Maas, 
Santley, Iting, Bridser and Foli. " Cherubino" (of 
the London Figaro), however, writes: 

I am authorized testate that the principal engage- 
ments already made for the Handel Triennial iesti- 
val at the Crystal Palace are those of Madame 
Adelina Patti, who will .sing on the " selection " 
day, Madame Albani, who will sing the chief 
soprano music in the Messiah^ Madame Patey, Miss 
Anna Williams, Mr. Edward Lloyd, Mr. Santley, 
and Mr. Foli. A few other engagements of less 
importance are yet to be concluded, but these 
artists will be the chief vocalists at the Handel 
Festival. Those to whom the engagements have 
been entrusted have been careful — except in the 
case of Madame Patti, who may justly be regarded 
as the prima donna of the voc^l profession — to, 
as far as practicable, retain artisU of British nation- 
ality only. For this reason, and also because some 
a( least of them are either unversed in the tradi- 
tions of oratorio, or are not heard at their best in 
Handelian music, the claims of Madame Nilsson, 



JcNE 5, 1880.] 



SWIQHTS JOURITAL OF MUSIC. 



98 



Madame Gereter, Madame Marie Roze, Mrs. Osgood, 
Madame Sterling, and Heir Henschell have been 
set on one eide, and their absence will, except in 
one or two instances, be little regretted. It is suffi- 
cient that the Crystal Palace authorities have been 
able to put forth a very strong list of vocalists 
without needing the services of others than those 
of British nationality; and in these days when 
indifferent foreigners are preferred to efficient Eng- 
lish artists, the public spirit of the Sacred Harmonic 
Society and the Crystal Palace Directors is to be 
recommended. The arrangements for the choir of 
4000 voices, which will, as usual, be composed of 
the best choristers throughout the United Kingdom, 
arc now fairly on their way to completion, and, 
under the direction of Sir Michael Costa, the Han- 
del Festival bids fair to be as successful as it ever 
was. 

There seems to be a strong "Know-Nothing" 
party in the musical world of England; witness, 
also, the recent outcry about the appointment of 
Max Bruch, a " foreigner," at Liverpool. 

— Herr Hans Richter, the Wagnerian conductor, 
par excellence^ has commenced a series of concerts, 
of which the Musical World (May 15) says: 

The concerts, of which the first was given on 
Monday, are to be nine in number, with one extra 
for the benefit of Herr Franke, the leader of the 
orchestra and "artistic director." In each of the 
nine programmes a Beethoven symphony figures, 
but examples of Wagner's music appear in only 
four, while th^ selections from Schumann are two, 
from Schubert two, and one each from Mendelssohn, 
Spohr, Haydn, Cherubini, Liszt, Berlioz, Mozart, 
Chopin, Bach, Brahms, and Volkmann. 

With the selections from foreign masters, we are 
not disposed to quarrel. As regards some of them, 
Schubert is well represented by his Eighth and 
Ninth Symphonies, Mendelssohn by his " Italian," 
and Brahms by his No. 2 ; while, generally speak- 
ing, the difficulties of choice amid many equal 
claims have been fairly surmounted. Turning to 
the executive means placed at Herr Richter's dis- 
posal, we find that the orchestral strings number 
sixty-five — e.Q,, first violins, fifteen ; second violins, 
sixteen; violas, twelve; violoncellos, twelve; 
double basses, ten. Adding the usual complement 
of wind and percussion instruments, the g^and total 
reaches nearly to 100. A glance at the list of 
names in this strong band shows that a large major- 
ity are foreigners. Thus the principals in all the 
string departments are Germans, and most of the 
chefs de pupitre among the " wind " have un-English 
patronymics. 

The same critic says of Mr. Parry's Concerto in 
F-sharp minor, which was played in the first con- 
cert: 

Mendelssohn refers with good-tempered sarcasm, 
in one of his letters, to certain ambitious composers 
of that day who " wrote pieces in F sharp minor." 
Mr. Parry is their legitimate successor, not only as 
regards choice of key, but in respect of the quali- 
ties which Mendelssohn suggested without express- 
ing. He is a pretentious composer, and unites to 
pretence a degree of cleverness sufficient to " carry 
on " reasonably well before a public more sympa- 
thetic than discriminating. We are far from wish- 
ing to depreciate Mr. Parry's ability — indeed, seeing 
that he is an Englishman, we would magnify it in 
the eyes of the world. ,But, unfortunately, here is, 
to judge by the concerto, an Englishman gone 
wrong. Educated in Gem^ny, Mr. Parry has 
fallen in love with some of the worst features of 
modem German music, and now, gravely purport- 
ing to speak as an artist, he shows himself vapid 
in gentle mood, incoherent in passion, eccentric in 
construction, and in effect irritating. We stand in 
amazement before such a production as this con- 
certo, and ask ourselves under what strange delu- 
sion it was conceived and written down. An 
answer might, perhaps, be found in the depths .of 
the philosophy, so called, which is now disturbing 
the serenity of our art with its sounding but sense- 
less jargon. We are told to recognize the origin of 
music in the direct revelation oi the Will — with 
a capital "W" — to the outer world by means of 
the cry, or shriek, or groan, or any other inarticu- 
late and involuntary noise. The composer it seems, 
is only an organizer of these sounds, which, in 
their nature, are unconnected with exterior things, 
and become intelligible by conceding something to 
human weakness, and permitting themselves to be 
controlled by rhythmic measure. 

The other numbers of the programme were : .Wag- 
ner's Meistersinger Overture, Beethoven's Symphony 
in C, No. 1, and Schumann's Symphony in D minor. 
Of Herr Richter's conducting, the writer, after question- 
ing some of his tempi on the score of slowness, says 
with regard to the Schumann Symphony: 

"Never before in ov experience, did the beaut; and 



meaning of that fine work stand out so clearly. There 
was confusion nowhere — no distortion nor excess of 
color, nor sensational device. As the master thought, 
so Herr Richter, knowing well his thought**, assisted 
him to speak. In truth, the conductor was beyond 
praise. Able to diinpeuse with a book, his eyes were 
all over the orchestra, and the players seemed to be 
aware of it, and to feel their inspiration and authority. 
Wherefore every man became in his degree a Richter 
— and Richter maybe said to have played the sym- 
phonies. If we knew any higher testimonial than this, 
we would give it to the Napoleon of the baton. 

— Besides songs and other unimportant pieces, 98 
works of primary interest have been performed in the 
course of the recent Crystal Palace season. Of these, 34 
works are entirely new to the Crystal Palace. Xhe 
chief novelties produced during the season in the 
section of symphonies are Haydn's in E flat, No. 8 of 
the Salomon set, "La Chasse" in D, Hofmann's 
" Erithjof," Raffs ''Fruhlings Klange." and Rubin- 
stein's ''Dramatic." In overtures, the novelties have 
been Bazzini's " King Lear,'* Dr. Heap's "Birming- 
ham," and Verdi's " Aroldo." In concertos, Beethoven's 
violin allegro in B, Gotz's violin concerto, Joachim's 
variations for violin, Molique's A minor violin concerto, 
Parry's piano concerto in F sharp, Saint-Saens's third 
piano concerto in E flat, Schumann's violoncello con- 
certo, Shakespeare's piano concerto, and Spohr's 
twelfth violin concerto in A, have been the chief 
novelties, and there have besides been many new 
miscellaneous works for orchestra. Some of these 
novelties are, however, new only to Crystal Palace 
audiences, and have been heard elsewhere. But the 
total result is most satisfactory, and it may be said 
that, thanks to the ability of Mr. Manns, hm orchestra, 
and his soloists, and to the liberality and wisdom of 
the directors, the Crystal Palace Saturday Concerts 
have worthily upheld their fame, and have contributed 
largely to the diffusion of musical knowledge, and to 
an increased love of the divine art. — Figaro." 

— Sir Michael Costa has resigned the post of conduc- 
tor at Her Majesty' ^heatre, owing to a pecuniary dis- 
pute with Mr. Mapelson, which began some years ago. 
For some time past a cabal luis existed against Costa, 
who, besides being autocratic and unbending in his 
deportment, is accused of that lethargy which must 
accompany age. "You can't stir Costa," has been 
the cry and the excuse for the non-production of 
novelties. Sir Michael Costa's resignation has been 
followed by those of many leaders of the orchestra ; 
and notably M. Sainton, Mr. Weist Hill, Mr. Lazarus 
— and others who invariably follow Costa. 

— During to-day povrparlers are inactive progress for 
the engagement at her Majesty's, of Herr Hans Richter, 
to conduct Wagnerian and a few other operas. Richtre 
has obtained the necessar}* permission from Vienna; 
and the only reason why he hesitates is because it is 
feared his acceptance of the post would damage the 
success of his concerts. Still, it is admitted on all 
sides, that his engagement is devoutly to be wished; 
and it is not unlikely, if he occupies the conductor's 
desk at her Biajesty's, the course of opera in this 
country would be changed for the better. 

Meanwhile, Signor Arditti is acting as conductor-in- 
chief; and he will open the season, with Nilsson in 
Fausty on Saturday. Signor Boito has consented to 
come over to England, to direct the rehearsals and the 
first few performances of his opera, M^sto/elef at 
Her Majesty's Theatre.—Corr. Mus. Review^ May 11. 

— The performances at Covent Garden have hitherto 
excited but little interest, and people are beghining 
to ask whether Mr. Ernest Gye would not have done 
better to follow the example of Mr. Mapleson, and 
miike his summer season as short as possible. Madame 
Albani sang in "Sonnambula" on Saturday, and in 
"Faust" on Tuesday, and on Thursday she was 
announced to resume her famous character of Elsa in 
"Lohengrin." Meyerbeer's "L'Africaine" Is to be 
attempted to-night, with Mile. Turolla in the part of 

Selika made famous by Madame Pauline Lucca and 

Madame AdeUna PattL HappUy, the hist named 
prima donna will reappear on May 15 (the evening of 
the opening of Her Majesty's Theatre), and this will, 
it is hoped, infuse some new life and spirit into the 
season.— /'ifiraro, May 8. 

— Of Mr. Mapleson's Opera we further reM : 

In the soprano list Mmes. Nilsson, Gerster, Biarie 
Roze, and Crosmond, Misses Minnie Hauck, Marimon, 
Van Zandt, and Salla, are among the better known 
names, while Mme. Robhisson, Mile. Martinez, Mrs. 
Mary Swift, and Mile. Nevada are d^utantes. The 
contralto list is more than usually strong, including 
Mme. Trebelli, Mile. Tremelli, Madame Demeric, and 
Miss Annie Louise Cary, the last an old favorite at 
Drory Lane. Of tenors the list includes Signori Cam- 



panini, Fancelli, Lazzarini (from the American troupe), 
Maas, Candidus, FrapoUi, and Runcio. The baritones 
are few in number, and these will probably be added 
to ; while among the basses is Signor Papini, a buffo. 
The return of Mme. Cavalazzi will afford unalloyed 
pleasure to lovers of the dance. Boi'to's " Mefistofele " 
will, it has already been announced, be produced for 
Mme. Nilsson, and " La Forza del Destine " for Mrs. 
Swift and Signor Campanlni. 

Vienna. — A magnificent statue of Beethoven, the 
cost of which was defrayed by a subscription among 
m Aic-lovers all over the world, was unveiled on Satur- 
day in front of the square of the Academical Gymna- 
sium at Vienna. Beethoven is represented as sitting 
on a rock, his hands across his knees, his cloak fallen 
from his broad shoulders to his hips, and his body tn 
the attitude of one listeuing to distant music. Prome- 
theus gnawed by the eagle and the Goddess of Victory 
are at the left and right, respectively, of the pedestal, 
which is surrounded by nine geniuses. The word 
" Beethoven," in large Roman characters, is the only 
inscription. The monument, which is, altogether, 
twenty-five feet high, was designed by Herr Kaspar 
von Zumbusch, Professor of Sculpture at the Academy 
of Vienna, and it has been executed by that celebrated 
sculptor and his best pupils. 

Rome. — ^e Society MusicaleRomana is studying the 
music to be given at the inauguration of Palestrina's 
statue in the grand hall of the Palazzo Panflli. The list 
includes several works composed expressly, among them 
being a Psalm, by Bazzini; an "Agnus Dei," by Ped- 
rotti; a "Laudate Pueri," by Platania; a " Miserere," 
by Gounod; a "Prelude, for orchestra and organ," by 
Ambrose "Thomas, etc. Richard Wagner contributed 
a Psfilm of Palestrina's, arranged by himself, but the 
regulations of the festival not a<hnitting any non- 
original modem composition, it will not be performed; 
in fact, to use a well-known expression, " it is declined 
with thanks." Can "The Master's" refusal of the 
Municipality's invitation for the first performance of 
Lohengrin in the Eternal City have had ought to do 
with this strict adherence to "regulations."— 2^nd. 
Mus. World. 

Bonn. —The monument to Robert Schumann has 
just been inaugurated in the presence of Madame 
Clara Schumann and her family. Brahms directed 
the music, from a conductor's desk improvised on the 
monument, and the number " Schlaf nun und nih^," 
from Paradise and the Pegi, re-orchestrated by Brahms, 
was the leading feature of the programme. In the 
evening a concert was given, at which the £ flat 
Symphony, No. 3, the Requiem for Mignon, and part 
of the Manfred music, were performed, with the violin 
concerto of Brahms, pLiyed by Herr Joachim. Next 
day the string quartet in A minor, the piano quartet, 
and the " Spanisches Liederspiel" of Schumann, were 
performed by Brahms, Joaclkim, and others. A ban- 
quet terminated the festival. 

SDtotgI)t'jS( S'ournal of Sl^ui^tt. 

SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1880. 

THE FIFTH TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. 
(Concluded from Page 87.) 

Sixth Concert, Saturday Afternoon, May 8. 
— This was in one sense the galarday of the Fes- 
tival, although the givers of the fe^t, the old 
Handel and Haydn Society as such, in their own 
choral capacity, figured less than in any other 
concert. It was the people's day, when thoua- 
ands from the country, far and near, thronged to 
the Music Hall, attracted by the array of famous 
«olo singers. The great crowd is always drawn 
by a certain interest in the personal performer, 
more than by the beauty or die grandeur of the 
music in itself. Hence, such a day and such a pro- 
gramme are dear also to the solo artists ; it gives 
to each an opportunity to shine in pieces of their 
own selection ; each rides in upon his own hobby- 
horse, with which he has won before, and still 
feels sure to win. The consequence is, that non- 
descript affair, a miscellaneous programme. Bat 
in this case the miscellany was a remarkably good 
one. Ten out of the fourteen numbers were vo- 
cal solos; there were no instrumental, solos or 
concerted pieces; no full symphonies; but the 



94 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



rVoL. XL. — 1021. 



orchestra played one overture and one inter- 
mezzo ; and the great chorus sang a Jubilate by 
Handel, and a very phort, but splendid chorus by 
Bach — all that the whole week's Festival allowed 
to that great master I The crowd was over- 
whelming ; every seat was occupied and hundreds 
of applicants were turned away. The order of 
the programme was excellent : — 

1. Orertore, " Riibezahl,*' op. 27 .... Von Weber. 

2. Utrecht Jubilate, Handel. 

Solos by Mim Gaiy, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Whitn%. 

5. Bomanee from " La Fona del Destlno,** 

"OtfikeheinaenoagliangeUy'* Verdi. 

Signor Ounpanlnl. 

4. 8oiig,"LaCalandrina,>' Jomelll. 

Min Thursby. 

6. Aria from ** II Dnea d'Ebro," 

"DegiomiwUeiy" DaVUla. 

Mr. Courtney, 
e. Grand Duet from " WiUiam Tell/* 

** Ncnfuggin,** Boeslnl. 

Sign<Hr Campanini and Mr. Whitney. 

7. Intermesio from Symphony In F major, op. 9. Goetx. 

8. Air ftom "Le Nosze di Figaro/* 

" Voi eke aopete/* Mosart. 

MinCary. 

9. Mlrlam*8 Song of Triumph Beinecke. 

Min Uubbell. ^ 

10. Air from " Die Meisterstnger von Niimberg," 

"•fcrum,** Wagner. 

Mr. Whitney. 

11. Biegmund's Lore Song, " WinterBt&rme,** 

from" Die Walklire." Wagner. 

Signor Campanini. 

12. Aria from " Giulio Cesare," Handel. 

Mifls Winant. 

13. ArU from " L*£tolle du Nord,'* 

** Non g*ode cUcun," Meyerbeer. 

MiM Thursby. 
[Flute aeeompanlment played by Meesrs. SchUmper and 

Rie&sel.] 

14. Quartet and chorus from the " Cantata per 

ogni tempo," ^ . Bach. 

Tlie quartet by Miss Hubbell, Miss Winant, Mr. Courtney, 

and Mr. Whitney. 

The performance, singly and collectively, was 
most satisfactory. The two great choral pieces 
— which we have before described — were given 
with great spirit, especially the final chorus of the 
Jubilaie, and Bach's << The Lamb that for us was 
slain," which, with the full, power of five hundred 
voices, orchestra and organ, formed two of the 
climacteric points of the Festival. The orchestra 
of seventy, — as good a one as Mr. Zerrahn ever 
conducted in this city — was at its best in the 
Riibezahl (or "Ruler of the Spirits") overture of 
Weber, and the charming intermezzo from the 
Symphony by Goetz. 

The solo singing reached its climax in the mag- 
nificent duet from William Telly which unites all 
the fervor-of passionate love and of great-hearted 
heroism. Sig. Campanini's wonderful voice rang 
out superbly, with electric force, and seemed to 
inspire his companion, so that a new vitality was 
felt in his ponderous deep tones. The Italian 
tenor was almost equally successful in his two 
other selections, particularly in- Siegmund's '* Love 
Song," which he sang with feeling and with deli- 
cacy, saving the Italian liberty he took, for mere 
vocal display, with the concluding phrase. Mr. 
Whitney brought out the clumsy humor of Hans 
Sachs's comic air in a way that amused and 
pleased the audience. Mr. Courtney, the English 
tenor, always sings with true artistic style and 
feeling ; but all the interest of his single Aria lay 
in his singing and not in the composition, which 
is commonplace and sentimental, — written, it is 
said, by a teacher of singing in Cincinnati. 

We should have begun with the ladies ; but it 
is not a bad rule to keep the best for the last. 
Miss Thursby, with her exquisitely sweet, light, 
limpid voice, was in her element in the bright and 
florid melody of Meyerbeer, in which she was 
finely seconded by the two flutes ; as well as in 
the quaint and dainty little " Canary " song, by 
Nicolo Jomelli, which proved a fascinating bit of 
sunshine. Miss Cary took young Cherubino's love 
Bong a little too seriously, but her noble alto voice 
was very effective in the short passages of solo, 



duet, and trio in the Jubilate, Miss Hubbell 
threw a wonderful amount of sustained brilliancy 
and fervor into Reineckc's ** Miriam " song, which 
both vocally and instrumentally, is an exceedingly 
effective composition ; her clear soprano had just 
the telling quality for that. Miss Winant, with, 
her rich and sympathetic contralto voice, sang an 
Aria : " Empio dir6 " from Handel's Italian 
opera, Guilio Cesare, with faultless manner and 
expression ; it was one of the most truly artistic 
specimens of singing in the .Festival. 



. Seventh (Last) Cokcert, Sunday evening, 
May 9. — There was some falling off in the 
attendance, the evening being very hot, and Solo- 
mon being jnderstood to be not one of Handel's 
greatest oratorios. The effect produced essenti- 
ally accorded with the description we have 
already given of the work, based on our impres- 
sions after hearing it twenty-five years ago, as 
well as more recent examination of the score. 
One great obstacle to its success lay in the fact 
that the sketchy instrumentation of the original 
score required such completion as was made by 
Mozart for the Messiah, and by Franz for several 
works of Bach and Handel, to fit it for perform- 
ance. It was found impossible to procure Sir 
Michael Costa's parts from England, and at the last 
moment, when the Society were committed to tlie 
work, some parts for the clarinet vere written, 
and those for bassoon and horn were amplified by 
Mr. J. C. D. Parker, Mr. Zerrahn preparing parts 
for the trombones. But this was not enough. Of 
course the organ in the background became all 
the more important, and Mr. Lang put in some 
good work there. Under the circumstances it 
was a pity that the work was undertaken at all. 

Yet in spite of its tiresome length of solos of 
the old conventional cut, in spite of the compara- 
tively small number of the grandest kind of cho- 
ruses, and in spite of meagre instrumentation, there 
was much in Solomon to charm and to impress, 
much of the Handelian tenderness and sweetness 
in the airs, much of his graphic power, as well as 
majesty and lofty inspiration in its choruses. 
The latter were perhaps hardly sung with all the 
spirit shown in some preceding concerts, for 
naturally the singers had become fatigued ; but 
the gi*eat hymns of praise at the beginning and the 
end, the charming epithalamium : ** May no rash 
intruder," with its sound of nightingales, and the 
descriptive series in the last part, especially the 
mournful one: "Draw the tear from hopeless 
love," — a piece of solemn harmony in which 
Handel is at his very best — were all well ren- 
dered, and produced a fine impression. 

Of the solos the chief part, the alto part 
of Solomon, was carefully and smoothly sung 
by Miss Cary, though her noble voice showed 
some signs of fatigue. The same may be said 
abo of Miss Thursby, whose sweet voice, fin- 
ished style, and intelligent conception feebly 
expressed the tenderness and pathos of the parts 
of the Queen, and the Firdt Woman. Miss 
Fanny Kellogg's greater voice and greater earn- 
estness, in the parts of the Queen of Sheba, and 
the vindictive Second Woman, were in strong 
contrast with the other. Mr. Courtney sang in a 
thoroughly artistic manner in the part of Zadoc, 
rendering the long stretches of roulades with per- 
fect evenness and grace ; and Mr. J. F. Winch 
was fully equal to the trying bass songs in the 
character of the Levite. 

The Festival was in every senise an unques- 
tionable success. To Carl Zerrahn, who trained 
the great chorus and the orchestra, both separ- 
ately and together, and who conducted the whole, 
working with gigantic energy and endurance, in 
season and out of season, until all was ready and 
accomplished, inspiring all the forces with his 
own enthusiasm, the first praise is due. But to 



the rare organizing faculty of the Secretary o£ 
the Society, Col. A. Parker Browne, and to the 
President and whole board of directors, who so 
wisely plrnned the whole, we must give almost 
equal credit. In some respect.««, to be sure, the 
programme was not, in .point of grandeur and 
intrinsic musical importance, quite up to the high 
standard which the Handel and Ilaydn Society 
ha^d set in previous festivals. At (kis stage of 
our musical progress it really seems strange that 
there could be a whole week's festival of music, 
mostly sacred, without some one important work 
of Bach ; for it is in this direction that true pro- 
gress must be sought. Former festivals, too, have 
given us more in the form of great orchestral 
music ; and there was a pretty general desire to 
hear Mr. Paine's new Symphony on tliis occasion ; 
but room could not be made for it after the whole 
festival was planned. The Cincinnati festival 
certainly undertook greater work than our own in 
two important features: the Missa Solennis of 
Beethoven, and the cantata : Ein Feste Burg, of 
Bach. Let us comfort ourselves with the assur> 
ance that the Handel and Ilaydn Society propose 
to work upon the former during the coming year. 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

DEFERRED K0TICE6. 

JosEFFY. — The three concerts in the Music 
Hall, arranged by Mr. Peck for the great Hunga- 
rian pianist, drew large audiences, especially the 
last. There was no orchestra, and they were 
essentially chamber concerts (in too large a place), 
Herr Joseffy's only assistants being Messrs. 
Adamowsky and Allen, violins, Heindl, viola, and 
Wulf Fries, 'cello, and neither of these appeared 
in the last concert, of which the programme was 
essentially remodelled. In the first concert (May 
17), Mr. Adamowski's violin was heard to good 
advantage in the £-flat Trio, op. 100, of Schu- 
bert, which opened, and in the ''Kreutzer" 
Sonata, which closed the programme. The young 
violinist's solos — a bright, fantastic Scherzo by 
Spohr, apd a broad cantabile cavatina by Raff — 
were played with admirable technique, manly 
style and feeling, and were received with enthu- 
siasm, which rose to a greater height on his play- 
ing for an encore, a transcription of a Nocturne, 
by Chopin. Mr. Joseffy's solos were, first, the 
eight numbers of Schumann's Kreisleriana, very 
moody and fantastic, as well as very difficult, 
pieces. The slow movements are far more enjoy- 
able than the quick ones, which have a certain 
wilfulness and puzzling vagueness. The execu- 
tion and interpretation were singularly perfect. 
Next he played three of Mendelssohn's Songs 
without Words, and Liszt's Veneada e Najndi 
(Tarantella), all in the clearest, most delicately 
finished, and most brilliant manner, especially 
the Tarantella, a kind of thing in which he is at 
his best. 

The second concert (May 18) was the most 
satisfactory, both in programme and performance, 
of the three. It opened with the bright .and 
cheerful little Trio, No. 1, by Haydn, which was 
charmingly rendered by Messrs. Joseffy, Ada- 
mowski and Fries, so far as the Andante and the 
Adagio Cantabile were concerned ; but the Rondo 
Ongarese suffered from the extremely rapid tempo 
at which the pianist took it up, eompelling the 
violin to scramble through it at an uneasy pace. 

After a Prelude and Bourr^ from a Suite of 
Bach in A minor, played with wonderful grace 
and neatness, Joseffy quite astonished even those 
who had not been entirely satisfied with his inter- 
pretations of Beethoven, by the splendid fire and 
pathos, as well as the delicacy, the subUe finesse, 
and the superb biavara which he threw into the 
Sonata Appassionato. Something seemed to have 
roused in him a spirit he had scarcely shown 



JnMB 5, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



95 



before ; he played like one inspired, and with a 
magnetic influence on the audience. That Sonata 
we could not desire to hear better played by any 
artist. 

Mr. Adaniowski won new favor by his artistic 
and effective rendering of an interesting fantasia 
on Gypsey dances {Zitjeunenceisen) by the gifted 
Spanish violinist, Sarasate. 

Then came a remarkably interesting gronp^f 
pianoforte solos, chief of which in magnitude and 
intrinsic value was tlie Variations Serietues by 
Aiendelssohn, which JosefPy played most admi- 
rably. Two of the little one-movement Sonatas 
(in G minor and F minor) by Domcnico Scarlatti, 
arranged by Tausig, and a quaint Gavotte by 
Kirnberger, of Bach's and Handel's time, made a 
genial imprecision. But nothing more perfect in 
its jnrace and delicacy has vet come from Joseffv's 
fingers than the Nocturne in E flat bv John 
Field, the inventor of that form, and Chopin's 
model. A minuet by Schubert, from a sonata, 
was delightfully rendered ; and two flowery £tudes, 

fraccful enough, but too much alike, composed by 
oseffy and dedicated to Liszt, of course were 
faultless in the execution. The ^reat Schumann 
Quintet, in K fiat, for piano and strings, saving 
some accidents, due again, we fancy, to the ten- 
dency to hurry rapid movements, brought the con- 
cert to a noble close. 

The programme of the farewell matinee (Sat- 
urday, ilay 22) consisted, with only one excep- 
tion, of performances by Herr Joscffy alone, as 
follows : — 

1. a. Chromatlscbe Fantaaie and Fugae. 
b. Passf pied. £ minor. 

e. Qavott«. G minor J. S. Bach. 

d. Sonata. Op. 63. G major. . ' . . . . Beethoven. 

2. a. Menuet Mozart. 

b. Etude Henselt. 

e. Trauraerei Schumann. 

a. Two Preludes St. Heller. 

f. Prelude (D flat major.) Impromptu (A flat.) 
Mazurka (A niiuor.) Valse (F major.) . . Chopin. 

/. Four Etudes. Op. 25. (A flat.) (F minor.) 

(C sharp minor.) (A minor.) . . Chopin. 

3. Variations on a Thome by Beethoven. . Saint-Saens. 

Two Pianos. 
Herr Joseffy and Mr. J. B. Lang. 

4. a. Valse caprice. (Schubert.) 

b. An bord d'uue source. 

e. O^nsolation. No. 5. £ major. 

</. Gnomenreigen. 

e. Campanella. IJszt. 

5. a. Menuet. 
6. Serenade. 

c. rr<Ss du ruisseau Rubinstein. 

d. Midsummer Night's Dream. (Paraphrase.) . Liszt. 

Here was a marvellous amount of work in a single 
concert, for one pair of hands ! That the inter- 
preter was equal to it, all passes without saying ; 
and it is useless to try to invent new terms of 
praise and admiration for the faultless technique, 
the light and shade, the delicacy and the sti*ength, 
the exijuisite finish, etc., etc., which he again dis- 
played under so many forms. At the same time 
It must be admitted that the impression of his art 
lost, ratlier than gained by that afternoon's expe- 
rience. Left now to himself, and also, perhaps, 
unconsciously prompted by the anticipation of 
the long list of pieces to be gotten through with 
in a given time, it is no wonder that his tendency 
to rapid tempos had full swing. It showed itself 
in the smaller things by Bach, in the Beethoven 
Sonata, and in many of the following selections. 
To be sure, such an artist can execute such tempi 
evenly and clearly, and without a flaw, where 
others might have to scramble ; but is the mere 
fact that one can perform a certain feat a valid 
artistic reason for his doing it? There were,* 
moreover, some instances of affectation and sophis- 
tication in certain renderings, as, for instance, the 
Minuet from Mozart's E-flat Symphonv, and 
Schumann's Trdumerei, which Theodore Hiomas 
has in a qttestionable sense made ** everlasting." 
Besides, Uie audience were wearied and bewil- 
dered by 00 many pieces so alike in florid elegance 
and so much fairy arabesque. By no means 
Would we intimate that many of them were not 
played wonderfidly well, while, naturally enough, 
some in such a long procession of pictures seemed 
to be passed before us quite perfunctorily and 
coldly. In the variations by Saint-Saens, which 
went at a rational and steady time throughout, it 
must have been very hard for any listener to dis- 
cover that the two pianists were not capitally' 

well matched. 

(To b« oontinned.) 



MR. MASON IN JAPAN. 

It will be remembered that Mr. L. W. Mason, 
late Supervisor of Music in the Boston Schools, 
left three or four months since for Japan to under- 
take the introduction of the study of music into 
the schools of that £mpire. 

Letters lately received announce his arrival at 
Tokio, and the cordial reception extended him there. 
A banquet was given in his honor, at which were 
present all the high officials, including his Excellency 
the Minister of Kducation, with the Vice Minister, 
the President and Vice President of the Imperial 
University, and the heads of the Normal Schools, 
sixteen in all ; Mr. Mason being the only foreigner. 

No one, perhaps, of any nation has been furnished 
at the start with means so liberal as have been pro- 
vided him. A building has been erected purposely 
for Normal instruction in Music, with a view to pre- 
paring teachers in this branch of study for all the 
common schools. When in operation, this institu- 
tion is intended to be connected directly, not only 
with the two Normal and Training Schools, but 
with all the public schools of Tokio, which are to 
serve as patterns for the rest throughout the Empire. 
From this movement will probably result a National 
Conservatory of Music. 

For the present, Mr. Mason will confine himself 
chiefly to labors in school music, believing' that the 
beginning is to be made with the children. Their 
ears, it must be borne in mind, have yet to be attuned 
to our scale even — as their own consists only of five 
sounds; do, re,^ mi, sol, la. A year or two ago, 
while giving instruction in singing to a couple of 
Japanese pupils here in Boston, Mr. Mason happened 
to play over a song which attracted their attention, 
and seemed to give them special delight. This little 
air was none other than the familiar tune : 

" We have come from a happy land 
" Where care is unknown *' — 

A melody involving, as will be seen, only the sounds 
of the Japanese scale. No doubt it reminded the 
young men of home. 

Mr. Mason does not conceal from himself either 
the magnitude or the difficulty of the work he has 
undertaken. He recognizes, however, the very 
favorable auspices under which he has commenced, 
and hopes not to lose, in this new field of labor, the 
good wishes and kindly remembrance of his friends 
in America. N. L. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

The Handel and Haydn Society held its annual meet- 
ing May 31, in Bnmstead hall, and elected the follow- 
ing officers : President, C. C. Perkins ; vice-president, 
George H. Chickering ; secretary, A. Parker Browne ; 
treasurer, George W. Palmer; librarian, John H. 
Stickney ; directors, Henry M. Brown, M G. Daniell, 
F. H. Jenks, George F. Mil liken, George T. Brown, 
Eugene 6. Hagar, W. S. FenoUosa, Josiah Wheelwright. 
I'he report of the treasurer showed that 4^,a(X) had 
heen added to the pemianent fund, — $2,0(X) earnings 
of the society during the year, S5(X) a donation from a 
generous friend who does not desire his name to be 
made puhlic, and the remainder interest ; music to the 
value of 9^1,000 has been added to the library, and 9^)00 
remains ia tlie treasurer's hands. The receipts of the 
recent Festival, in round numbers, were $20,500, and 
the expenses $19,300. The profits of the three con- 
certs given previous to the festival were 3800. The 
amendment of Mr. Daniell, in which it was proposed 
to admit the ladies of the chorus to the privileges of 
hororary membership, after twenty years service, and 
to excuite them from further attendance on rehearsals 
and concerts, was not adopted. 

The Harvard Musical Association, finding the result 
of the past winter's Symphony Concerts in all respects 
encouraging, have re-elected the same committee 
(Messrs. J. S. Dwight, C. C. Perkins, J. C. D. Parker, 
Augustus Fhigg, B. J. Lang, S. L. Thomdike, S. B. 
Schlesinger, W. F. Apthorp, Charles P. Curtis, Arthur 
Foote and G. W. Sumner) to prepare another series 
(the sixteenth) of eight or ten concerts. 

At Wellesley College the 73d concert (Hfth series) 
was given on Monday evening, May 10. by the follow- 
ing performers : Miss Louise Elliott, Soprano^ Mr. A. 
L. De Ribas, Oboe and Enr/lish Horn^ Mr. K Strasser, 
Clarinet^ Mr. £. Schormann, Horn^ Mr. Paul Eltz, 
Bassoon^ and Mr. Charles H. Morse, the musical Pro- 



fessor at Wellesley, Pianoforte The programme waa 

a« follows : 

Quint«t for Piano and Wind Instruments, In B 

flat Monrt. 

(Largo, Allegro Moderato—Laivhetto— Allegretto). 

"Ave Maria." Schubert. 

(English Horn). 

3ongB — a. "Joys of Home*' Schumann. 

6. Serenade OoonodL 

Quintet in E flat. Op. 16, for Piano and Wind 

Instruments Beethoven. 

(Grave, Allegro ma non troppo— Andante cantablle — 
Allegro ma non troppe). 

Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood's Normal Musical Institate, 
wKich has been so successful in the past two summen, 
will be resumed at Canandaigua, N. Y., (one of the 
pleasantest spots imaginable) on the 7th of July next, 
and the session will continue five weeks, ending Tues- 
day, Aug. 10. The corps includes for the piano : W. BL 
Sherwood, Eugene Thayer, and Miss Grace Sher- 
wood; vocal culture: Harry Wheeler, Eugene Thayer; 
Mitsical TheoiTf, Harmony, Counterpointf MuHeal 
Form and Sight'Singing^ L. A. Sherwood; Organ, 
Church Music, Oratofio: Eugene Thayer; Violin: 
Gustav Dannreuther; Violoncello: Chas. F. Webber. 
Lectures will be given on Vocal Physiology and Culture, 
by Mr. Wheeler; on piano-playing, by Mr. Max 
Piutti; on various musical topics, by Mr. Thayer; on 
the Physical Theory of Sound, by M Armand Giiys; 
on Elocution, with dramatic readings, by Biiss Jennie 
Morrison. The opportunities to hear the pianoforte 
and organ compositions of the best masters both 
analysed and pkiyed by such able interpreters as Mr. 
Sherwood and Mr. Thayer, will be numerous. 

MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

THE FOURTH CINCINNATI MAY MUSICAL FES- 
TIVAL. 

It is a pleasure to be able to record that the prog>- 
ress which has been noticeable in each succeeding 
festival was again apparent this year. The pro- 
grammes in general design were far in advance of 
those of the past festivals, while the principal works 
they contained gave evidence that the musical 
director had reason to expect material, both in the 
chorus and orchestra, superior in quality and quan- 
tity to that formerly at his disposal. The sequel 
proved that he was not mistaken in assuming this, 
for it is acknowledged on all hands, that these princi- 
pal requisites were present and achieved a remark- 
able success, notwithstanding the extraordinary 
demands which several of the works performed 
made on them. 

The central figure around which the other choral 
.works were symmetrically grouped, was of course 
Beethoven's Missa SoUmnis, in D. It is not surpris- 
ing that this great woi;k is so seldom performed, 
for it contains difiSculties which under ordinary 
circumstances are almost insurmountable. When, 
in the year 1824, four parts of it were given under 
the personal direction of Beethoven, he was fairly 
besieged^ by the soloists and chorus director, with 
requests to allow them to make alterations in pas- 
sages which they claimed could not be sung. The 
composer, however, made not the slightest conces- 
sion, but insisted on the original reading. The 
physical exertion which is required of the chorus 
and soloists almost throughout the entire work, can 
only be overcome by earnest determination and 
never-failing enthusiasm. The intervals are fre- 
quently unsingable, while many of the passages 
wliich occur it is almost impossible for the chorus 
singer to execute in a manner technically correct. 
Whatever may have been his reason for so doing, it 
is certainly true that the composer has completely 
disregarded the ordinary rules of vocal composition. 
But in this case the end justifies the means. 

As is well known, the Mass was composed for the 
installation services of the Arch-duke Rudolph, as 
Archbishop of Olmutz. While it was evidently 
the purpose of the composer to adapt the work to 
the ritual of the Catholic church, he could not long 
remain under the restrictions thereby imposed upon 
him. It is interesting to note how in the course of 
the composition the musician Beethoven cast off 
these fetters. Thus it happens that the Mass is not 
a church composition in the strict sense of the word. 
Beethoven was not a believer in dogma. In his 
work we find expressed in music the general ideas 
which the texts suggests, such as humility, adonir 
tion, omnipotence, wonder at a supernatural occui^ 
rence, as for example in that exclamation et, which 



96 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1021 



introduce! the et incamatus eat, and Again the et homo 
/actus est. The narrative of the crucifixion, death 
and resurrection of Christ is treated dramatically ; 
likewise the Agnus Dei in the solo recitative, and, 
after the remarkable symphony in the thrilling 
phrase for the chorus. Frequently the meaning of 
the words is almost realistically illustrated in music. 
In the Gloria in excelsis, for instance, the voices 
ascend in a rapid scale passage to the outermost 
limits of their compass, suddenly to sustain full 
chords in the lowest register with the words et in 
terra pax. The et ascendit is interpreted in much the 
same way, while in the et sepultus esty the darkness of 
the grave is vividly depicted. From these few 
examples it is evident that Beethoven construed 
the text, not in an ecclesiastical but in a general 
sense. Whatever there was in the words calculated 
to give rise to musical ideas, he made use of to the 
fullest extent. He did not hesitate to represent 
violent emotions which are foreign and antagonistic 
to the traditional conception of the Mass. This 
also accounts for the prominence which he gives to 
the instrumental accompaniment. In the Mass, the 
preference with which Beethoven, during his so- 
called last period, made use of the highest forms of 
counterpoint, is very evident. Here, as in his last 
string quartets and piano sonatas, he does not permit 
the treatment of a musical idea to be in any way 
affected by a consideration of the technical difficul- 
ties i^iich may arise. In the Gloria fugue these are 
very great Skips of augmented and diminished 
intervals, of major sevenths and ninths, are not 
unusual. These difficulties, however, fade from 
sight in comparison with those of the Credo fugue. 
The composer seems to have had no regard for the 
compass of the different voices, or for technical 
possibilities. In view of this, it is really astonish, 
ing that the chorus sang not only well, but with 
excellent effect. Almost in every instance the 
phrases were attacked with precision and confidence. 
The intonation was very good, even in the most 
difficult and sudden modulations, of which there 
occur many. A remarkable feature of the chorus 
singing was the intelligent way in which the prin- 
cipal themes of the fugues were made prominent, 
as well as the discretion with which such parts as, 
for instance, the violin solo and solo quartet in the 
Benedictus, were accompanied. So close and con- 
stant was the attention paid to the conductor, that 
by the slightest sign he could control the entire 
body of six hundred singers. It was this thorough 
discipline which enabled Mr. Thomas to infuse life 
into the work of the chorus. The signs of expres- 
sion were observed not so much because they had 
been learned by rote, as because the singers had 
become accustomed to exercise their own judgment, 
and to catch the idea of the conductor by giving 
him their undivided attention. The parts were 
excellently balanced. The tenors and basses were 
especially good, owing in a great measure to the 
fact that there was present in these voices a large 
German element. The two solo quartets consisted 
of Miss Sherwin, Miss Gary, Sig. Campanini, Mr. 
Whitney, and Miss Norton, Miss Cranch, Mr. Har- 
vey, Mr. Rudolphsen. 

Next to the Mass in importance was the Bach 
Cantata: "A Stronghold Sure" {Ein feste Burg), 
with which the Festival opened. It is one of the 
most effective of the several hundred composed by 
the great master, for the Sundays and Festivals of 
the church year. Luther's grand choral yields the 
subject matter for the whole work. Its first line, 
with slight melodic and rhythmic alterations, con- 
stitutes the first subject of the grand opening fugue ; 
in remarkable contrast to which, the second line is 
introduced in its original weighty and incisive 
rhythm. The second verse of the choral: "Our 
utmost might is all in vain," is sung by the solo 
soprano accompanied with an uninterrupted running 
figure of the solo bass. Much after the general 
plan of the " Passions," there follows a moral reflec- 
tion, an admonition, called forth by the preceding 
words of the choral: "Consider then. Child of 
God, all the wondrous love." To this the soprano, 
representing the Christian soul, replies in an Aria : 
" Witliin my heart of hearts. Lord Jesus, make thy 
dwelling." Then follows the third verse of the 
choral : " If all tlie world with fiends were filled." 



The voices sing the melody in unison, while the 
orchestra storms and rages round about them. The 
order of the first part of the Cantata is now 
followed again. The tenor pronounces the admoni- 
tion : " Then close beside thy Saviour's blood-bc- 
sprinklcd banner, my soul, remain," to which in a 
duet for alto and tenor comes the reply : " How 
blessed then are they, who still on God are calling." 
The last v^se of the choral in beautiful sustained 
harmony, sung a capella, forms the fitting close. 
In accordance with tlie custom followed by Bach, a 
prelude written and played by Mr. Whiting, the 
Festival organist, formed the introduction. The 
laborious task of adapting the work from the mere 
sketch left by the composer, for a performance 
with grand orchestra, Mr. Thomas was compelled to 
undertake himself. He made use of all the re- 
sources of the modern orchestra ; but, as the result 
showed, with good judgment. No foreign elements 
were introduced. Only such motives and passages 
as are to be found in the original were employed. 
The original reading was retained wherever practi- 
cable. In the duet for alto and tenor, for instance, 
the only change made was in giving the part of the 
oboe da caccia to the English horn. 

The chorus sang the Cantata almost faultlessly. 
The choral in unison was rendered with the great- 
est precision and accuracy, notwithstanding the con- 
fusing orchestral accompaniment. In the last verse, 
for voices alone, a beautiful, sustained, yet power- 
ful volume of tone was developed, and the pitch 
from l>eginning to end held without the slightest 
deviation. In Handel's Jubilate the chorus did most 
excellent work. The final Adagio in the last 
chorus, with the mighty crescendo, made an over- 
whelming impression. 

The prize composition, " Scenes frdm Longfellow's 
Golden Legend," by Dudley Buck, was the novelty 
of the third evening concert. The work consists of 
fourteen scenes which comprise the principal and 
salient points of the entire poem. Of these, three 
are wholy instrumental. It would lead too far 
to attempt detailed analysis. There is apparent 
throughout a perfect knowledge of instrumental 
effects, alone, as well as in combination with voices. 
While the work contains but little tliat is strik- 
ingly original, the author can lay claim to the merit 
of having carried out successfully and satisfactorily 
all he has undertaken to do. There is no attempt 
to accomplish things which are beyond his power. 
Of contrapuntal writing and elaborate work there 
is but little to be found in the choral numlx^rs. 
There is almost throughout a sameness of rhythm 
in the different voices which borders on monotony. 
There are, however, many effective passages to be 
found which more than offset the weak points of 
the work. Its reception at the hands of the vast 
audience was most flattering. Every scene was 
warmly applauded, and several were demanded 
encore. At the close of the performance the com- 
poser was called for by the chorus and audience. 
Mr. Buck was conducted upon the stage and intro- 
duced by Mr. Pendleton, President of the Festival 
Association, and received an ovation which must 
have been a source of great satisfaction and pleasure 
to him. 

Of the work done by the soloists and orchestra 
at the evening and afternoon concerts it is impossi- 
ble to sneak in detail. The band consisted oi one 
hundred and sixty performers, and it was the 
general opinion that the like of orchestral playing 
has never before been heard in this country. The 
richness and power of tone which came from the 
army of strings, under the most perfect discipline, 
and in the most perfect harmony with the conductor, 
were grand beyond expression. The corps of wood 
and brass instruments was composed of solo artists 
who knew how to produce a large volume of tone 
without forcing their instruments and sacrificing 
its beauty. 

The Fourth Musical Festival was certainly a 
grand success, and beyond a doubt will prove a 
land-mark in the history of the musical develop- 
ment, not only of Cincinnati and the West, but of 
the whole country. 

Chicago, May 29. — The interests of the musical 
season have had two centres of culmination in this 
country, in the great Festivals of Boston and Cincin- 
nati. In our own city, the musical entertainments 
have been pLiced so far in the shadow by these great 
attractions tliat your correspondent felt that he had 
better not trespass upon the space of the Journul, when 
others had far more interetitiug matter to offer, and 
had a just claim upon the columns of the paper. 

Since my last note, we have had a visit from Mr. E. 
B. Perry, the blind pianiut of your city, who gave us 
the pleasure of hearing him in two recitals. His pro- 
grammes contained interesting music, and he played 
with a fine appreciation of the interest of the compo- 



sers he was interpreting. Indeed his accomplishments 
are of such a high order, that one is hardly able to un- 
derstand how it is possible, without sight, to obtain 
such a command over the pianoforte. In this respect, 
his energy, and the result of his work, are lessons to 
many a pianist who has the full use of all his powers ; 
for when one can accompliith ."o much under the per- 
plexities that the want of sight must produce, I am sure 
a man with his whole powers ought to be atthamed of 
an^ ordinary progress. In the We^^t, we need many 
lessons upon the proper development of talent, for the 
superficial is often taking the places which belong to 
real attainment. 

Sensationalism was again the active power in one of 
our recent concerts. Madame Rive-King, Miss Litta, 
Miss Sherwin, Messrs. Fritsch, Conly, and FLicher, with 
Mr. Dulcken, came here for a single concert, when it 
pleased the enthusia.stic mana^r to call the entertain- 
ment a " Musical Festival." That your readers mav 
have some idea of what this gentleman calls a Festival, 
I annex the programme : — 

1. Flotow— Duo from "Martha." 

Messrs. Fritsch and Conly. 

2. Servais — Fantaisie Brillante. 

Moiis. Adolph Fischer. 

3. Mozart —Aria from the " Magic Flute.*' 

Mr. George A. Conly. 

4. Meyerbeer— " Vane, Vane," (!) from " Roberto.*' 

Miss Amy Sherwin. 

5. a. Chopin— Prelude in D flat, from Op. 28. 

b, Mendelssohn — Andante and Rondo, from the Violin 

Concerto, Op. 61, transcribed for the piano by Mme. 

Riv6 King. 

Mme. R{t« King. 

6. Donizetti — Aria from ' * Lucia." 

Miss Marie Utta. 

7. Verdi- Trio from " I Lombardi." 

Miss Amy Sherwin, Messrs. Fritsch and Conly. 

1. Saint Saiins — Second Concerto in G minor. Op. 22. 
Andante sostenuto — Allegro Schersando — Presto. 

Mme. KiT«i King. 
Orchestral parts on Second Piano, with Organ Obligato 
written by Mr. Dulcken. 
Mr. P. Dulcken. 

2. Paccini— "HarvlnnDio." (Preghiera.) 

Miss Amy Sherwin. 

3. Fischer, a. " Au bord du Russian," (!) 

b. ** Caprice Fspagnol." 

Mous. Adolph Fischer. 

4. Benedict — " Carnival of Venice." 

Aria and Variations. 
Miss Marie Litta. 

5. Rossini — "Romanza." 

Mr. C. Fritsch. 
& Braga — Concertante. 

Mons. Adolph Fischer. 
7. Berlioz — Trio, from " Damnation de Faust." 
Miss Marie Litta, Messrs. Fritsch and Conly. 

The idea of so great a musical gathering as a " Festi- 
val," beginniug with so important a work as a Duo 
from Martha, may make tiie lovers of music, or of 
propriety, smile. ' The unfitness of the thing must 
nave also become apparent to the singers; for at the 
last moment they substituted *'the Fishermen," by 
Gabimsi, but unfortunately the work had not received 
that rehearsal that itM importance demanded, for Mr. 
Conly made many false notes, and at oue place lost 
himself completelv, but the tenor came in with much 

{>romptue9s, and fieli^ed over the difficulty, and the se- 
ection was euded with more effect than we had rea- 
son to exi)ect Yet it was a rather sad opening to a 
*' Festival." But seriously, the concert, notwithstand- 
ing it:* veiy bombastic announcemeuU**, had a uuraber of 
good i)oiuts. Mme. King played well, and gave us 
much pleasure. Also Mr. Fischer, the 'cellolst, and 
Miss Utta won the appUiuse of the audience for her 
brilliant singing. Miss Sherwin sang with much taste, 
although her voice upon the high notes was not as 
pleasing as one might wish. Perhaps she was not in 
ner best voice. 

On Tuesday evening Ust, the Beethoven Society closed 
its season with a concert, presenting the following 
works : — • 

The Erl-King's Daughter, Ballad, Gade. 

The Fisherman's Grave, A Ballad Cantata for Solo, 
Quartet and Chorus, with Orchestral and Piano 
Score, J. Maurice Hubbard. 

Finale from 1st Act of " Ix>hengrin " .... Wagner. 

This society has not had the support that it deserved 
this winter ; for, although the houses have been well 
filled at each concert, 1 am inclined to believe that the 
financial return has not been as large ns it ought to 
have been. This society has undeitaken to depend 
upon home talent in producing the many works they 
have given us this and past seasons, and unfortunately 
our people do not seem willing to encourage efforta 
made to aid musical development in our city, but de- 
mand the attraction that foreign artists |>re8ent, in 
order to be led to pav full tribute to enterprises in the 
concert direction, ft is a pity that such is a fact, for 
we have many miuticians m our city, who should be 
encouraged more than they are. 

At Hershey Music Hall, a number of popubir mati- 
nees have been given, at which our home artists have 
appeared. They have been reasonably successful. 

C.K. B. 



June 19, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



97 



BOSTON, JUNE ip, i88o. 

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cago Music Company, j/s State Street. 



THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S "FAUST." 



BT ADOLPHE JULLIEN.^ 



II. 



THE FAUST OF PRINCE RADZIWILL. OF RIETZ, 
OF CONRADIN KREUTZFJl, OF L. GOKDIGIANI, OF 
JOSEPH QKEGOIK, OF HENRY COHEN, OF HUGH 
PIERSON, OF BOITO. OF FERDINAND DE RODA, 
AND OF ED. LASSEN. 

In 1835, Prince Anton Radziwill,' gover- 
nor of the Grand Duchy of Posen for the 
king of Prussia, and for the rest a passionate 
amateur of music and a brilliant violoncellist, 
published at Berlin a musical poem of Faustj 
having perhaps the Capellmeister Wilhelm 
Schneider for a collaborator. This remark- 
able work, as F^tis says, has been executed 
in many cities of Germany, an4 represented 
many times at Berlin, where the Royal 
Academy often plays it on the anniversary of 
the Prince's death. Goethe has praised it in 
the year 1814 of his Annals: " The visit of 
Prince Radziwill awakened a desire difficult 
to satisfy ; the original music which he has 
composed for Fattst^ this happy and entranc- 
ing music, gave us only a remote hope of 
bringing upon the stage this singular work." 

Finally, toward the year 183G, Julius 
Rietz,' pupil of the celebrated Zelter, and a 
very able violoncellist, had FavM represented 
after his fashion in the theatre founded by 
Immermann at DUsseldorf. He had been 
expressly called there by Mendelssohn, who 
had confided to him the musical direction of 
that theatre. He soon succeeded Mendelssohn 
in the post of musical head of the city ; then 
he became at once director of the Gewandhaus 
of Leipzig and conductor of the orchestra 
at the theatre, and finally Capellmeister of the 
king of Saxony. 

At very nearly the same period, Conradin 
Kreutzer, whose works are more remarkable 
for qualities of technical structure and ex- 
perience, than for richness of invention, com- 
posed and had executed at Vienna a series of 
pieces on the principal scenes of Faust This 
renowned musician, who, of very low extrac- 
tion, had known how to elevate himself 
to the first rank in his art by dint of perse- 
verance and of labor, finished, as he had be- 
gun, under the patronage of Goethe. He 
had, in fact, composed his second theatrical 
work upon Goethe's comic opera libretto, 
Jefy und Bdtely, and had seen it played in 
the Court theatre of Vienna through the 

1 We tnuislate from "Goethe et la Musique: Ses Jugs- 
ments, sou injUience, Les Oeut*res qu'it a inspiries.** Pi&r 
Adolfhe JuLLiKN, Paris, 18S0. —Ed. 

* Prince Anton Heinrich Radziwill, bom 'at Posen in 
1775; died at Beriin in 1833. The c zact nomencUture of 
the scene* and pieces of hia score will be found in the 
IHetionaire des Alusiciens Polonaises et Slaves, by M. 
Sowinski. 

* Boru at Berlin in 1812; died at Dresden in 1877. 



miscalculation of the director, Weigl, who, 
always hostile to young debutants, had only 
given this piece under the conviction that it 
would have no success. The expectation of 
the envious man was deceived, and this rep- 
resentation recruited numerous partisans for 
the young musician. Goethe had served him 
favorably at his debut; he inspired him 
equally well at the end of his career; for 
these two works may be ranked among the 
best which Conradin Kreutzer has produced 
for theatre or concert. 

To adapt to the German poem the inspira- 
tions of the Italian muse was a perilous un- 
dertaking, only to be excused, in case of non- 
success, by the honor of attempting it. The 
Italian Opera, Fausto, by Gordigiani,* ap- 
peared in 1837 at the Pergola Theatre in 
Florence. The author had allowed himself 
to be seduced by a very bad libretto, and had 
finished his music in a very short time at a 
fixed date. The result was a flagrant fiasco^ 
one of the few such to be counted in the his- 
tory of theatrical revolutions. This check 
was due to the absurdities of the book, to in- 
sufficient rehearsals, to the negligence of the 
artists, and finally to the puerility of the 
machinery employed for the transformations 
and enchantments. The music, in which one 
remarked some facile melodies, was not of 
force enough to exorcize such a disaster. 
This unfortunate event was, as it were, a pre- 
sage of the career of the author, who went 
on composing pieces of chamber-music, and 
vocal melodies, without ever being able to 
succeed upon the stage. 

At the very period when Berlioz was writ- 
ing the first scenes of his Damnation de Faust, 
in the midst of the noise and agitation of 
Paris, a young Belgian musician was polish- 
ing and repolishing a. score inspired by the 
same subject, which he wished soon to pro- 
duce in public. On the 27th of January, 
1847, Joseph Gregoir had his work executed 
at Antwerp in a grand festival which he had 
organized with the aid of two hundred sing- 
ers and as many instrumentalists. The debut 
of the young composer made a great noise in 
his native country. The concert took place 
in the haU of the Cite, ** all resplendent with 
lights," say the journals of the time. Ladies 
of the city sang the choruses, and so the 
tickets for the festival Gregoir were at a pre- 
mium for some days at the Bourse. The 
author was received with acclamations, and 
was sung sin verse and prose ; then music and 
musician sank into oblivion. 

The plan of this " musical poem " is very 
nearly that which the collaborators of Gounod 
afterwards followed in writing their libretto ; 
for M. Gregoir has simply chosen the princi- 
pal scenes of the first Faust of Groethe, 
and has put them into music Strangely, he 
has conceived his yibject in very nearly the 
same manner with Gounod, and has rendered 
it in the same amiable and discreet gamut, in 
that demi-tint which is like the moonlight of 
genius. He pauses by preference at the sen- 
timental, touching and impassioned scenes 
which are met with in the philosophical drama 

> Gordigiani (Luigl), bom at Florence in 1814. Died 
there in loQO. 



of the German poet ; he is even so well quar- 
tered in this agreeable domain, that he has 
eliminated the person of the devil from his 
poem. A Faust without Mephisto is as bad 
as a Faust without Marguerite or without 
Faust. 

In that same year, 1847, a French com- 
poser, M. Henry Cohen, had performed in 
the hall of the Conservatoire, at Paris, a 
lyrical poem, Marffuerite et Faust, which met 
with a very good reception. One grand scene, 
entitled The Triumph of Afephistopheles, was 
especially applauded. This lyrical poem re- 
mains the principal work of the well-taught 
musician, who had learned harmony of 
Reicha, singing of Lais and Pellegrini, and 
who, after having twice gone to try his theat- 
rical fortune in luly, became director of the 
Conservatoire of Lille, a function which he 
soon resigned, on account of disagreements in 
opinion with an administrative commission 
which was joined to him as council. 

Some years later, England paid a new trib- 
ute to the poet in the person of Hugh Pier- 
son, an artist of merit (born at Oxford in 
1816), who had devoted himself to music 
against the will of his father, titulary preacher 
of King George IV., and who had made his 
musical education in rather a fragmentary 
manner, receiving lessons and counsels by 
turns from the organist At wood, from Paer 
at Paris, Walmisley at Cambridge University, 
Tomaschek and Reissiger in Germany. When 
Bishop died, he replaced him for an instant at 
the University of Edinburgh ; but he was soon 
tired of being professor, and returned to Ger- 
many, where his opera. The Triumph of the 
Sylphs, was played at Brunn with some suc- 
cess, while that of Leila raised a storm at 
Hamburg. He lived eight years in that city, 
then returned in 1853 to London, where he 
composed an oratorio of Paradise, and a 
second Faust, which passes for his best work. 
Pierson died at Leipzig in the beginning of 
1873. 

In March, 1868, an Italian composer, M. 
Arrigo Boito, who is, on the Peninsula, the 
most convinced partisan of the innovating the- 
ories of Richard Wagner, produced at La Scala, 
in Milan, a Mephistofele which must be 
counted among the mnsic&l pasticci of the dra- 
ma of Goethe. Thb opera did not succeed, 
and the second representation raised a fright- 
ful tumult ; it was for the work a sentence of 
immediate death. The principal reproach 
incurred by the young musician was the want 
of melody. Could it be otherwise, knowing 
his neo-German tendencies, his preferences, 
and his admiration for the " music of the 
future ? This check, then, did not imply that 
the opera was devoid of merit, and, by the 
admission even of the musical journals, it 
contained several pages of a fine conception 
and a powerful execution. Moreover, the 
merit of the author was recognized by all un- 
prejudiced judges when his opera was resumed 
at Bologna, October 4, 1875. It was for the 
city, which was the first in Italy to admire 
and applaud Lohengrin, to render justice, not 
without passionate discussion, to the efforts 
and the talent of M. Boito, whose sole offence 
was being born in Italy. 



98 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1022. 



It must be said, also, that this dramatic 
work is of a very singular conception, and 
of very unequal value. M. Boito, who ap- 
pears to be a real worshipper of Goethe, and 
who surely has studied ^he commentaries 
written in many languages on Faust, has 
carved a poem for himself out of the drama 
of Groethe, just as Berlioz or Wagner might 
have done ; but it is less an opera libretto, 
than it is a series of eight scenes badly 
dovetailed together, — the Prologue in Heav- 
en, the Easter festival, the scene on the 
ramparts of the city, Faust in his study, the 
garden, the Witches' Sabbath, the death of 
Marguerite and that of Faust, these last two 
episodes borrowed from the second Fatut, 
Furthermore, M. Boito, who is a philologist, 
and who, after the example of Wagner, at- 
taches almost more importance to his verses 
than to his music, has prefaced his score 
with a note, in which he examines the differ- 
ent orthographies and explanations of the 
word Mephistopheies ; finds himself author- 
ized by Le Loyer's book on Spectres to make 
those invited to the Sabbath sing Saboey while 
the witches sing Har Sabbah f explains why 
he has adopted the metre of Greek verse in 
the scene of Helen, and how the Italian lan- 
guage lends itself better than the French to 
all the pomps and graces of the Greek metre, 
and the Latin, etc. Finally, he is so pene- 
trated with his favorite author that, at almost 
every scene, he brings in evidence some verse, 
some tirade, in which he sees, not without 
reason, the essence, the knot of the entire 
scene. In Faust's study chamber, for exam- 
ple, that apostrophe of the doctor to the 
demon, " If I ever say to the passing moment. 
Stay, thou art so /air ! then maysC thou sur- 
round me with chains ; then I consent to an- 
nihilation " ; and for the amorous tete^ete 
in the garden, that reply of Faust, " My love, 
who dares say, / believe in Godf You may 
ask priests and sages, and their answer will 
appear but a mockery of the questioner." 

The score of M. Boito shows what efforts 
a composer trained in the Italian school must 
make to shake off those obsolete formulas, to 
conceive a truly serious work, and above all, 
to give it a severe form. Whatever pains he 
takes, so great is the influence of the artbtic 
medium, that he only succeeds in producing a 
very unequal, very laborious work, in which 
certain parts clash with others, and of which 
the merit, very real on the whole, consists 
more in tentative efforts than in any realized 
effect. In general, the fantastic passages 
have served M. Boito better than the scenes 
of tenderness ; in the latter his melody is for 
the most part conunon, and his orchestra but 
slightly interesting, while he treats the for- 
mer with great power, and not without origin- 
ality. Evidently it is toward force and dra- 
matic passion that his natural talent urges 
him ; but a composer of such merit ought to 
keep a severer watch over himself, and not 
fall back into the ruts in which a Fetrella 
has dragged himself all his life. 

At the beginning of 1872, March 7, Ferd- 
inand de Roda, pianist, harpist, composer and 
professor of music at the University of Bos- 
tock, brought out in that city a new musical 



drama of Fausty interpreted by the Academy 
of Singing and the united orchestras of Ros- 
tock and Schwerin. The author himself di- 
rected the execution of his work, which rec- 
ommended itself, they say, by real dramatic 
qualities, and obtained a certain success. 
However that may be, this first hearing was 
also the last ; and this musician, who had al- 
ready produced oratorios, cantatas, a sym- 
phony, several piano pieces, died in Septem- 
ber, 1877, at the Chateau de Btilow, near 
Crivitz (Mecklenburg-Schwerin), without 
ever having a chance to hear his Faust again. 
He would have been sixty years old on the 
26th of March following. 

Finally, in 1874, a Norwegian composer, 
Edouard Lassen, brought out at Weimar a 
new musical adaptation of Goethe's drama. 
Born at Copenhagen, but taken at the age of 
two to Brussels, having made his musical 
studies at the Conservatoire of that city, and 
having been several times laureate in the com- 
petitions in composition instituted in the prin- 
cipal cities of Belgium, Lassen made a 
grand tour in Germany, and was particularly 
well received by Spohr at Cassel, and by 
Lbzt at Weimar. It was Liszt who caused 
his opera King Edgar to be represented on 
the Grand-Ducal stage, though it had been 
pronounced impracticable at Brussels, and 
with such success that Lassen was offered the 
place of director of the court music, and be- 
came attached to Weimar, where he fixed his 
permanent abode after the great success of 
his second opera, Frauenlob, 

His new work, which follows Goethe's drama 
scene by scene, is very important, for it com- 
prises more than fifty pieces of all kin<ls ; but 
it is also very interesting, and contains more 
than one page that is remarkable. The Pro- 
logue in Heaven, with which the score natu- 
rally opens, and then all the melodrama ac- 
companying the meditations of the doctor in 
his study, are of an excellent color ; and the 
Elaster hymn is of a touching simplicity, with 
its persistent sound of bells. The scene at 
the gates of the city is very pretty, with its 
sad complaint of the mendicant and the ani- 
mated rondo of the peasants ; the murmur 
of invisible spirits in Faust's chamber, and 
their joyous whisper during the doctor's sleep, 
have inspired the musician with graceful 
thoughts of an altogether fairy lightness. 
The scene in Auerboch's cellar, on the con- 
trary, is rendered with a great freedom and 
rare vigor ; the short phrase in canon of the 
surfeited drinkers, ^* We are as happy as can- 
nibals, and gorged like Hve hundred swine," 
is inexpressibly clumsy and stolid. 

The scene of the Witches' Kitchen is no 
more wanting in color. But it is, above all, 
the chaste figure of Margaret and the different 
episodes with which it is associated, that Herr 
Lassen has treated in a# charming manner. 
So, too, the beautiful melody of the orches- 
tra when she enters her chamber, the old 
song of the King of Thuhy of which he has 
so well marked the archaic character ; Dame 
Martha's lamentation of her absent husband ; 
the brusque entree of the devil, etc ; also 
many little pieces, simple phrases sometimef, 
very varied accents, leading to the promenade 



in the garden, which the composer accompa- 
nies with a light rustling, the charm of which 
excites to reverie and to sweet confidences. 
The monologue of Faust dragging his disillu- 
sions through the woods and caverns is under- 
lined by ah orchestral piece which shapes the 
image of the wanderer, and seems to depict 
his repeated efforts to climb from height to 
height. As for the melodranui placed under 
Margaret's invocation to the Mater dolorosa^ 
it is impressed with a penetratmg sadness, 
which brings out the strangeness of the 
devil's song in bolder relief; and the exact 
transcription of the Dies irte in the scene of 
the cathedral produces a terrible effect. But 
the capital piece of this first part, that in 
which the author has displayed the most 

power and imagination, is, without contradic- 
tion, the romantic scene of the Walpurgis 
Night; there we find a rare strangeness of 
invention, served by a very skillful hand ; and 
these two qualities united were not too much 
to measure them with this astonishing concep- 
tion of the fantasy of Croethe. 

These same qualities are. found to an equal 
degree in all the fantastical scenes of the 
Second Part. But the prolongation of this 
kind of music, aiming always, by means 
slightly varied, at the fairy-like, the super- 
natural, can not fail to fatigue in the long 
run ; and this monotony, it must be confessed, 
sprang perforce from the subject, music not 
having resources multiple enough to paint epi- 
sodes of very nearly the same nature, with col- 
ors varying incessantly. There are, among the 
number, some delicious pieces of a vaporous 
lightness, like the chorus of Ariel and the elves 
which opens the Second Faust ; like the song 
of the Sirens in the upper Peneus and the 
whirling refrain of the Lamise ; like the inter- 
twining dances of Euphorion and the young 
gii'ls in the scene of Arcadia. This tableau 
begins with a pretty pastoral prelude ; and two 
other orchestral pieces of great importance, 
very richly colored, are the grand Bacchanale 
which terminates the third act, and the Polo- 
naise which accompanies the masquerade in 
the palace of the Emperor. 

The two fragments of the poem to which 
the author has given, by good right, the most 
musical importance, are the great scene of the 
Classical Walpurgis Night, and the charming 
episode of Helen ; he has rendered them with 
a lightness of touch and a variety of tones 
truly remarkable. 

In the second Faust still more than in the 
first, one meets with certain scenes which 
seem to demand some traits of purely de- 
scriptive music ; and the author could hardly 
avoid painting the noise of the car of Plutus, 
the course of the centaur Chiron, the wrig- 
gling of the gnome Homunculus, the fall of 
Icarus-Euphorion, etc. But he notes only 
what is strictly necessary in this rather puer- 
ile kind, and passes on. He has done wisely 
also to adopt as it were a connecting thread, 
to bind these scattered pieces together; and 
he happily brings back from time to time two 
characteristic melodies, differing in kind, — 
that altogether graceful one which has sig- 
nalized the first apparition of Helen in the 
scene of astrology, and the grave and sombre 



June] 19, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



99 



melopceia upon which the demon has revealed 
to the doctor the origin of things, the exis- 
tence of the primitive divinities, the Mothers. 

In approaching the end of the second 
Faustj in reaching the scenes where Care 
blinds the presumptuous doctor, where the 
Lemures dig the grave reserved for Faust, 
in arriving at the Chorus Mysticus^ the com- 
poser found himself, as in the initial scene of 
Ariel and the Sylphs, in the presence of 
pictures where music has nothing more to 
say after the admirable translation by Schu- 
mann. Accordingly Lassen has treated these 
scenes as briefly as possible without curtail- 
ing them, but also without developing them, 
BO as not to appear to wish to ent^r into riv- 
alry with a master whom he certainly ad- 
mires, for he proceeds directly from him. 

This valuable work, then, is the last at- 
tempt that has been made at a musical adap- 
tation of Faust; or rather, it was the last 
five years ago ; for, with the constant attrac- 
tion which the bizarre conception of Goethe 
exercises upon composers, it would be indeed 
astonishing should bo Fauit have been hatched 
since that time in the brain of a musician. 
Whether it be hatched, or whether it only 
germinate, there surely will arise some other 
in a little while, and then another still, and 
that will never be the last. 

(To be continued.) 



ANNUAL MEETING OF THE HANDEL 
AND HAYDN SOCIETY, BOSTON, 
MAY 81, 1880. 



PRESIDENT PERKINS'S ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen : In October last we met at the first 
rehearsal of the season, with the hope that, though 
arduous, it would be in aynry wAy successful ; and 
now at the end of May, being assembled at our 
annual meeting, we have the satisfaction of know- 
ing that we did not hope in vain. Certainty is 
better than hope, gentlemen ; and, pleasant as it 
was in the autumn to anticipate success, it is still 
more pleasant in the spring to be*- assured of it. 
The season has, indeed, been so exceptionally 
good, both in its artistic and its financial results, 
that I feel tempted to express my gratitude by 
pronouncing an indiscriminate eulogy upon it; 
but, although according to the proverb, nothing 
but good should be said of the dead, I shall 
refrain, knowinc; that it is wiser to allow of some 
falling short of perfection in the best' of seasons 
as in the best of completed lives, since wholesale 
praise is apt to challenge criticism; and, being 
convinced that those who search for spots, will 
find them, even in the sun itself. Were I to say 
that the season of 1879-80 has been the best so 
far in the annals of the society, and that the fifth 
triennial festival which closed it far surpassed its 
predecessors, I might be contradicted ; but when 
I say that no exertions were spared by the con- 
ductor, the singers, the organist and the board of 
management to make the concerts given before, 
and at the festival, as good as .possible, I cannot 
be gainsayed, for tms is strictly true. Beyond 
this I need not go. The public and the press 
have said all that we could desire in praise of our 
work, and, now that the grateful hum of applause 
has somewhat died away, it should be remembered 
not as a balm to our self-esteem, but as an incen- 
tive to self-examination. It is by studying tlie 
causes of such success as we have met with that 
we may learn what can be done to deserve a still 
greater meed of praise. Like the allegorical figure 



of Prudence, whom Raphael represented in a 
fresco at the Yatiuan, according to the quaint 
fancy of mediscval symboii8ra, as a woman with 
two faces, the one aged and turned backward, as 
if looking into the past, the other, young and 
beautiful, gazing into the mirror of self-knowl- 
edge, so should we study the present in the light 
of the past, and thus prepare ourselves for better 
work in the future. 

After the earliest period in the history of our 
society had been passed tlux»ugh, during which 
the footsteps of its founders were guided by the 
feeble rushlight of New England psalmody, it 
entered upon the study of works belonging to the 
higher levels of musical thought, which 1ms ever 
since been unfalteringly pursued. Every year 
the horizon widened, and, as the society advanced, 
the public, to whom it revealed the new treasures 
of which it had possessed itself, advanced with it 
in appreciative power. By this means it helped 
to raise the standard of taste in music, and aided 
in bringing about that more general enjoyment 
and cultured appreciation of the best sacred music 
in which we now rejoice. 

May we not justly claim that the Handel and 
Haydn Society has had some share in that im- 
pulse to advance in other fields of the divine art, 
which has brought about an improved state of 
public taste in what is distinctively, though obnox- 
iously, designated as profane music ? It taught 
our people to love the Haydn of the Creation^ 
and so made them eager to know the same 
Haydn in his symphonies and his quartets; it 
made them familiar with the Beethoven of the 
Mount of OlioeSy and thus prepared them to 
enjoy his great instrumental compositions. Thus, 
if we have today our excellent choral and sym- 
phony concert associations, it may be said that it 
is in some measure due to the initiative taken, by 
the Handel and Haydn Society so many years 
before they came into being. While we rejoice 
in their vigorous life, and wish them all pros- 
perity, we must be watehful lest they surpass us 
in attainment. They have the public ear now as 
well as we, and what they teach it to appreciate 
will be demanded from us under pain of censure. 
Nor is this spur to exertion limited to our imme- 
diate vicinity. We have rivals elsewhere, rivals 
in our special domain, young and enterprising 
societies who surpass us in numbers and in 
resources. " Westward the star of empire takes 
its way." Let us look to it that its light is not 
quenched in the East. I say this in no other 
spirit than that of thankfulness that the love and 
study of the noblest music is spreading in all 
directions. The more choral societies spring up. 
North, South, East and West, the better, for 
their multiplication can only serve to keep up a 
spirit of healthy emulation, and insure the best 
general results. 

As the progress of public taste is commensu- 
rate with our own, as each year increases the 
number of our judges, and as the better our 
performances are the stricter will be the account 
exacted from us, it is not only our duty but our 
best policy to labor faithfully to correct our 
defects and bring our performances up to the 
highest standard. At the end of every season 
we should ask ourselves, Have we made an 
advance? and to this question I think we may 
this year answer, yes. The excellent performance 
of St. Paul on the opening night of the festival 
proved it, as it seems to me. It was generally 
admitted that the chorus sang with a closer atten- 
tion to light and shade ; a higher comprehension 
of the more subtle shades of expression; a less 
frequent tendency to what a newspaper critic has 
called our *' stalwart style ** of singing ; and, in 
short, approached nearer to that form of per- 
fection, which consists in exactly weighing and 
rendering all those shades of difference in volume 



of tone, which lie between the extremes of pianis- 
simo and fortissimo. If it be difficult for the 
performer upon an instrument or a solo singer to 
do this with perfect evenness and accurate corre- 
spondence of result to intention, how much more 
so is it for a body of 500 or 600 singers, since it 
recjuires that each one should have perfect com- 
mand of his voice, an identical conception of the 
quality of expression needed to give effect to the 
words sung, and that, collectively, they should be 
inspired with one will and one impulse! The 
perfect chorus, like the air around us, has mastery 
over tlie extremes of delicacy and power. " Didst 
thou feel," says Diogenes to Plato, in one of Lan- 
ders* "Imaginary Conversations," "the gentle 
air that passed us ? That air, so gentle, so im- 
perceptible to thee, is more powerful than all the 
creatures that live and breathe by it." To sing 
softly as the zephyr blows ; to " shake the dome " 
with the full resonance of united strength ; to ask 
in hushed astonishment, " is this He? is this He 
who, in Jerusalem ? " and to make the heavens 
ring with the " Hallelujah Chorus," so that the 
exact volume of sound intended by the composer 
will be given to each composition — this is only 
possible to a body of singers each one of whom 
has perfect command of his voice and a perfect 
comprehension of how it should be used. The 
more closely the singers wateh the conductor and 
lose themselves in him, the nearer approach will 
they make to unity of style and feeling. They 
must yield to his every impulse, as the keys of a 
pianoforte to the pressure of a player's fingers, 
and dius embody the conception of the work 
which he has formed in his mind. When, then, 
you sing in the chorus, pay the closest attention 
to your leader and be plastic in his hands. Culti- 
vate a sense of individual responsibility, ever 
keeping in mind that your work will mar or 
enhance the general effect; and endeavor to give 
the full meaning and expression to words and 
music, for it is certain that, unless you interpret 
them with feeling and intelligence, you will pro- 
duce no effect upon your hearers. When your 
audience is before you, sing as if you thought 
that it depended upon you personally to rouse its 
enthusiasm, knowing that 

" Then la In soals a eympaihy with soandi. 
Aud as the mind \» pitched, the ear is pleased 
With melting air, or martial, brisk or grave. 
Some secret chord in unison with what we hear 
Is touched within us. and the heart responds." 

A rumor lately went abroad that our conductor, 
for more than a quarter of a century, had been 
tempted by the offer of an important post, to 
turn his back upon us and make his home else- 
where. To do him justice, I can honestly say 
that I never gave it a moment's credence. He 
has worked too well and too long with us to 
break the old tics, whose severance, when it takes 
place, will not probably be a matter of will on his 
part, nor on ours. We are all grateful to him 
for his unwearied efforts during the past season, 
and feel how much the success of the festival is 
due to him. Our thanks are also due to Mr. 
Lang for his most efficient aid, and to the mem- 
bers of the chorus, ladies and gentlemen, for their 
attendance at rehearsals, and their cheerfulness 
under necessary discipline and rebuke. I know 
that tlicy have found their reward in the con- 
sciousness that they have well served the interests 
of the society to which they are so much attached, 
and' ask for no other recompense. 

In conclusion, I have to offer you the usual 
statistics relating to the events of the season. 
Fifty-four rehearsals have been held, with an 
average attendance of 360 members, and ten per- 
formances given, with an average attendance of 
440 singers. Thirty-five new members have been 
admitted to the society, of whom two h'Sve not 
qualified. Fifty-five ladies have joined the chorus 



100 



DWIGETS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1022. 



and fourteen have been dismissed. Eight mem- 
bers have resigned, and three have been dis- 
missed. The works performed before the festival 
■were the Profligal Sony under the direction of its 
composer, Mr. Arthur Sullivan; The Messiahy 
Christmas, and Israel in Egypt, at Easter. At 
the festival we gave Mendelssohn's St. Paul 
and Fortij-third Psalm, Spohr's Last Judgment 
and Rossini's Stahat Mater, Verdi's Requiem, a 
portion of The Seasons, Saint- Sacns's Deluge, 
Handel's Jubilate and Solomon, Beethoven's Ninth 
(Choral) Symphony, a portion of one of Bach's 
Cantatas. The programmes of the miscellaneous 
concerts included a great variety of vocal as 
well as instrumental pieces, among which latter 
we must not omit to mention the two over- 
tures of our countrymen, Messrs. Dudley Buck 
and Chadwick. This is a long list of works, 
gentlemen, whose variety of school and period 
says much fpr the liberality of our musical creed. 

It is proper that I should ask you to remember 
those whom death has stricken from our list of 
members within tlie past year. They are six in 
number, namely : Charles Henderson, who joined 
in 1834; Henry A. Coffin, who joined in 1865; 
T. Frank Reed, who joined in 186C; Thomas 
Greeves, who joined in 1870; Leopold Lobsitz, 
who joined in 1876; and Philo Peabody, who 
joined in 1877. One among them, Mr. Reed, 
was a member of our board of government in 
1870 and 1871. Actively interested in the cause 
of music, always conspicuous among those who 
were best capable of promoting ft, genial, kindly 
and courteous to all who came in contact with 
him, Mr. Reed has been not a little missed by 
those who knew and valued him. 

One thing more, gentlemen, and I have done. 
You are probably aware that, so long ago as 
1867, Dr. Upham, the president of the society, 
suggested that some one should be appointed to 
write its history; that Mr. Farnham began the 
work, and that it was afterward committed to the 
highly competent hands of Mr. Samuel Jenni- 
8on, who entered upon his arduous task with 
enthusiasm. Having colhctcd a great amount of 
material through diligent research, and begun to 
collate and arrange it, he was obliged to turn his 
attention to other things, and finally to lay the 
work aside altogether. Several years having 
passed without hope of renewed leisure to resume 
it, Mr. Jennison informed the committee that to 
his great regret he must give up what he had so 
much desired to do, and asked that some one 
should be appointed in his place, to whom he 
liberally offered the materials which he had col- 
lected with so much labor. By vote of the board 
of government, the now vacant office of historian 
was offered to me, and I accepted it, after vainly 
endeavoring to break Mr. Jennison's resolve. 
I did so because I have so long been connected 
with the Handel and Haydn Society, that I felt I 
had no right to refuse, and, because incompetent 
as I feel myself to be to do the work as I could 
wish it to be done, I knew that whatever can be 
done through the stimulating force of affection 
for the Handel and Haydn Society I may hope 
to do. To serve it in any way is to me a privilege, 
and I therefore welcome the opportunity which 
now offers itself, of doing what I can to make its 
history accessible to the many who will wish to 
know it better than they can at present. 

Wishing the society increasing prosperity, and 
offering you my congratulation upon the highly 
encouraging result of the last season, whose re- 
Oeipts, despite tlie great expense of the festival, 
have allowed us to add $3,300 to the permanent 
fund, I offer you my thanks for the renewed 
honor of election to the presidency, and bring 
these all too long remarks to a close. 

Charlks C. Perkins* 



BEETHOVEN AND VIENNA. 



BY EDOUARD IIAN9LICK. 



It was as a lad of sixteen that Beethoven came 
from Bonn on his first flying visit to Vienna. He 
carried home with him at least one inestimable 
advantage : that of having made the acquaintance 
of Mozart, who heard him play, and spoke pro- 
phetically of his future greatness. Five years 
later, in November, 1792, he once more entered 
Vienna, never again to leave it. It was an 
Austrian Arch-duke, the Elector Max Francis, 
son of the great Maria Theresa, who sent tlie 
much-promising young man to improve himself in 
the Austrian capital; an Austrian gentleman. 
Count Waldstein, the Elector's favorite, procured 
him the means for his journey to and residence 
in Vienna. At the very earliest part of his career, 
even ere he set foot on Austrian soil, Austrian 
influence was, therefore, actively employed in 
protecting him and advancing his interests. After 
his arrival in Vienna, he (juickly amalgamated, 
socially and artistically, with the Austrian people. 
It was not Bach and Handel, but the grciit 
Austrian masters, Ilaydn and Mozart, who were 
his models in the task of creation, while Haydn, 
Albrechtsberger, Salieri, and Schenk were for a 
time Ills masters, though their pupil soon soared 
above all teaching. But it was not so much 
Beethoven the composer as Beethoven the piano- 
forte virtuoso who first afforded Vienna -matter 
for wonderful stories. Though he soon renounced 
this kind of fame, his career as a pianist and 
concert-giver left a deep and permanent impres- 
sion on the musical life of Vienna. His first 
public appearance took place on the 24th of March, 
1795; he played in the Burgtheatre, for the 
TonkUnstler-Society, his C major concerto. Op. 15, 
for the first time. The period of his career as a 
virtuoso is strictly comprised between 1795 and 
1814, Wherever we cast our eyes, we come on 
landmarks in his artistic life. If we follow, till 
it has wound along a short distance furtlier, the 
streamlet on which his monument looks down, we 
stand before the Theatre an der Wien, where his 
Fidelio and Christus am Oelberge were first per- 
formed, and many concerts, in which he himself 
conducted grand instrumental works, were given. 
For the opening of the Josephstadter Theatre he 
composed and conducted liis overture : Weihe des 
Hauses. In the inner town, the great Hall of the 
University reminds us of the remarkable first 
performance of the Seventh Symphony and the 
"Battle of Vittoria"; the Great Hall of the 
Redoute calls to mind the cantata : Der glorreiche 
AugenUick, and the concert of 1824, the last he 
conducted; the Burgtheater, his ballet of Pro- 
metheus and the share he took in the concerts 
of the TonkUnstler-Society: tlie Kiirntnerthor 
Theatre, Fidelio, as re-arranged, and the first per- 
formance of the Ninth Symphony. Even the 
modest rooms * zum romischen Kaiser,' * auf der 
Freiung,' and 'zur Mehlgrube,' could boast of 
works by him being played at concerts there. 
At the Morning Concerts in the Augarten were 
first heard the D minor Symphony and the C 
minor Concerto. Lastly, on May morning in 1814, 
Beethoven played in the Prater, with Schuppan- 
zigh and Linke, his grand Trio in B flat major ; 
this was his last appearance as a pianist. Who 
can calculate the amount of happiness, joy, consola- 
tion, and elevation of mind, which, from his 
* Adelaide,' his Septet, and his earlier Sonatas, 
down to his last Symphonies, he lavished on man- 
kind I And Vienna was first to possess and enjoy 
all these works. It was a publisher of Vienna 
who issued his Opus 1, and it was a publisher of 
Vienna who issued his Opus 137 (the last). Like 
one of the mighty Nibelungs, who migrated from 
the Rhine to the Danube, Beethoven came here 



and amassed an incalculable treasure. But it was 
not hidden away or buried ; it flowed as current 
gold from Vienna over the entire globe. 

The smiling villages which surround Vienna 
in a garland of forest-green, were, so to speak, 
his workshops, the garrets of the poet. Trees 
under which he thought and created still send 
forth their leaves. Sauntering among the vine- 
yards of Baden and Merkenstein, he thought out 
his Ninth Symphony ; at tlie foot of the Kahlcn- 
berg in Heiligenstadt, he conceived the Pastoral 
and the C minor Symphony ; in Hetzendorf and 
the Park of Schbnbrunn, Fidelio and Christus am 
Oelberge ; and at Moding, the grand ' Festmesse.' 
The cool, cozy, summer haunts so familiar to us 
are all disting lished and immortalized by his 
having repeatedly staid there; it was in their 
woods and their gardens that the precious fruit 
of his mind germinated and ripened. As it was 
in Vienna tliat he found the stimulus to his 
mightiest efforts in art, so it was Vienna over 
which his genius first diffused its fructifying light 
and warmth. We will name only tlie Incom- 
parable One, Beethoven's son in spirit, Franz 
Schubert I Not more than a few paces from 
Beethoven's grave is that of Schubert in the 
W'ahringer Cemetery, and — as we can now joy- 
ously add — only a few paces separate to-day 
Schubert's Monument among the green bushes of 
Town Park from the Statue of Beethoven. 

Who could ever calculate and name all tlie 
mighty results which emanated directly from Beet- 
hoven ! There is the immense influence exerted 
by him on modern pianoforte playing. Young 
Viennese virtuosos, Czerny, Moscheles, Ries, Bock- 
let, etc., after studying under his own eyes, publicly 
performed his works for their instrument, and, 
when they had themselves ripened into mastery, 
were able to hand down the tradition of the style. 
Through his Sonatas, which, for the first time 
overstepping the limits of five octaves, turned to 
account a greater range of sound and demanded 
a more powerful tone, he exercised a decisive 
influence on the gradual amelioration in the manu- 
facture of pianofortes at Vienna, and distinguished 
by marks of friendly attention the best represent- 
atives (Streicher, Stein, and Schanz) of the 
trade. Through Beethoven, whose new chamber- 
music was immediately studied by the Rasumowsky 
Quartet, quartet playing in Vienna attained a 
height of which no one had previously any con- 
ception. Schuppanzigh was the first violinist to 
organize in Vienna regular Quartet Concerts, 
and Vienna was, moreover, the first city which 
could boast of such concerts. This we owe to Beet- 
hoven, because the public were eagerly anxious 
to hear his quartets, while none save professional 
musicians could perform them. From Schup- 
panzigh the tradition was handed down to his 
pupil Mayseder, and from the latter partially to 
the artists of the Vienna of to-day. The seed 
Beethoven strewed about here has oome up 
well, the crop growing thicker and higher' 
with each successive year. If musical matters 
among us are immeasurably superior, as regards 
sterling purport and admirable execution, to what 
they were fifty years ago, to Beethoven is the 
credit -directly owing. In his days, amateurs 
executed his orchestral works, in the vast majority 
of cases, at the Sacred Concerts and the concerts 
given by the Society of the Friends of Music, 
etc. The increasing desire to enjoy hb difficult 
instrumental works rendered in a way worthy of 
them led subsequently to the establishment of our 
Philharmonic Concerts, to the engagement of 
professional musicians at the Society's Concerts, 
and to the stability and increase of Quartet 
Associations among us. We have penetrated 
more and more deeply into Beethoven's innermost 
being; we have extended more and more the 
circle of his works for performance ; and we have 



JcNS 19, 1880.] 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



101 



raised higher and higher the Aandard of execu- 
tive perfection. Our great concert institutions 
and our Quartet Associations cultivate his music 
above all other, and at domestic musical rites his 
songs and sonatas are heard in every family of 
Vienna. The most palpable proof of the Beetr 
huven cultus existing in Vienna and ever increas- 
ing in depth and consciousness, stands to-day 
proudly erect before us : His Monument. 

For ever will the view of the majestic bronze 
figure awaken in the spectator devout emotions, 
strong pure feelings and bravely aspiring thoughts. 
The bronze Beethoven shall work on us through 
tlie eye as his music works through the ear ; it 
shall master and elevate us, so that, in his own 
words, *• we may be freed from all the wretched- 
ness which other children of this earth drag 
about with them.' — Neue Freie Presse, May 1. 



MUSICIANS IN MOTLEY. 

The g^eat event of the evening was the prod ic. 
tion, under peculiar and distinguished auspices, of 
Komberg's " Toy Symphony." H%^'dn, who dearly 
loved a joke, is credited with being the first to bur- 
lesque symplionic music by associating toy instru- 
ments with those of a graver sort ; and Romberg 
follows his example, while not a few other com- 
posers since the time of these pioneers into the 
region of musical fun have allied the nufsery to 
the concert-room. But of all toy pieces, Romberg's 
was, perhaps, the best for last night's purpose. It 
is heavily "scored" for the toys, and, therefore, 
best adapted to convey the lesson intended by the 
managers of the concert. We assume that the 
managers intended a lesson, arguing with them- 
selves that when the audience witnessed the pleas- 
ure derivable from toys by grown-up people, they 
would reflect upon the infinite delight those can 
get out of them to whose " kingdom " they prop- 
erly belong. It would be a charming result of 
performing Romberg's piece if an avalanche of 
toys were to descend upon the Children's Hospital, 
making Great Ormond Street echo the wild chari- 
vari of St. James's Hall. The moral of the nur- 
sery instruments was well pointed by the distinction 
and gravity of the artists who played them. 
Messrs. Manns, Cusins, Carl Rosa, and Santley, with 
violins in their hands, supported by Mr. Ganz 
(viola), Mr. Daubert (violoncello), and Messrs, 
Co wen and Bamett (pianoforte), though a rare, 
could hardly be called a remarkable spectacle. But 
Mr. Arthur Sullivan imitating a cuckoo, Mr. 
Charles Hall^ peacefully piping the note of a quail, 
Mr. Joseph Barnby emulous of the nightingale, 
Mr. Arthur Chappell throwing his energies into the 
part of a woodpecker. Sir Julius Benedict ringing 
bells, Mr. Randegger beating a baby drum, Mr. 
Blumenthal "pleased with a rattle," Dr. Stainer 
and Mr. Kuhe lustily blowing tiny trumpets, and 
Mr. Louis Engel throwing the whole force of his 
nature into the tintinnabulation of a triangle ! This 
was, indeed, a striking and suggestive sight. One 
may be permitted to speculate upon it a little, and 
ask whether the toy performers were influenced by 
any law of " natural selection " in making choice 
of their instruments. It is a fair inference that 
they were. The sight of the toys would naturally 
revive in each manly breast the fresh and unsophis- 
ticated feelings of childhood. For a moment the 
warping forces of the world would relax their strain, 
and the genuine individuality be drawn at once to 
the toy best adapted for refreshment and consola- 
tion. Yet we cannot in every case make out the 
link between last night's players and their instru- 
ments. Why should Mr. Sullivan affect the cuckoo? 
The cuckoo is a lazy bird, that builds no nest, and 
hatches its young vicariously. Yet we know that 
American publishers and managers consider Mr. 
Sullivan as having been rather too solicitous about 
the personal incubation of the latest operatic egg. 
Then the idea of Mr. Charles Hallo's affinity with 
a quail, which has only one note, is absurd; while 
nothing in the course of Mr. Barnby's useful life 
suggests the nocturnal "goings on" of Philomel. 
Considering that the director of the Monday Popu- 



lar Concerts has "tapped" the British public to 
some purpose, we admit the fitness of his playing 
the woodpecker; and, having in mind a recent 
happy event, there was decided propriety in the 
bell-ringing of Sir Julius Benedict. But why 
should Mr. Randegger, who is what Lord Bacon 
would call a " full man," love such an empty thing 
as a drum; or Mr. Kuhe, who is modesty itself, find 
happiness in a blatant trumpet? These are the 
psychological mysteries of the occasion, which the 
thoughtful among the audience carried away to 
ponder. But whatever the facts as to affinities, it 
is certain that each performer played his instru- 
ment as though to the manner bom. The amount 
of expression in Mr. Sullivan's cuckoo might have 
revealed to the bird itself an unsuspected possi- 
bility of pathos ; Mr. Randegger's drumming could 
not have better shown how sometimes great results 
flow from an apparently disproportionate cause; 
Mr. Blumenthal, grasping two rattles, wore a smile 
so " child-like and bland " that obviously he was in 
the nursery again, and the glowing countenance of 
Sir Julius Benedict as he jangled his bells did one 
good to see. Of course the infection of innocent 
enjoyment spread to the audience ; St. James's Hall 
burst into smiles ; the smiles soon became laughter, 
the laughter ended in applause, and the applause 
secured an encore for Mr. Henry Leslie, who had 
conducted the performance with a due sense of his 
responsibilities. It is a pity all this could not have 
been telephoned to the Great Ormond Street wards. 
The little inmates there would easily have dis- 
cerned that the rich and happy folk in St. James's 
Hall were not far removed from their own poor 
suffering selves. — London Muaiccd Worlds May 22. 

Dtoiglit'jss S^ournal of ^\x^iu 

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1880. 
" SCIENTIFICALLY! " 

There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamt of tn your philosophy. — Hamlet, 

The number of persons who derive more or 
less enjoyment from hearing music is, undoubtedly, 
very great. The great art of tones makes itself 
felt, and hence is understood, in a certain mystical 
and transcendental sense of the . word, by very 
many who are by no means musicians. It were 
an interesting psychological study to discover 
exactly what 'the larger mass of listeners find in 
music ; to find an answer to the question : in how 
far is the evident enjoyment with which such and 
such a person listens to the Fifth Symphony 
intrinsically musical, and in how far is it a vague 
sense of being in the presence of something unde- 
finably gres^t? Is this enjoyment based upon 
even an approximate appreciation of specifically 
musical beauty, or does it spring from a sort of 
mystic revelation of the individuality of the com- 
poser or performer through the medium of tones ? 
Is it music, or is it animal magnetism that is at 
work? 

Certain it is, however, that the art appeals 
strongly to a vast number of people who, by the 
way tliey talk about it, would seem to the musician 
to be utterly incapable of receiving musical im- 
pressions. Yet let him but play to them, and he 
holds them spell-bound. But only let him try to 
talk to them about music, and it is almost impossi- 
ble for him to make himself understood. Here 
is the paradox: they enjoy the music, but can 
give no account of their pleasure; they cannot 
even have their pleasure accounted for. They 
enjoy they know not what. 

It is often curious to note by what a slender 
and, at times, undiscoverable thread, music con- 
nects itself with the consciousness of many an 
entranced listener. How subtile this connection 
is, is shown by the exceedingly odd conjectures 
people make concerning the nature of the differ- 
ence between their own enjoyment of music and 
that of the musician. Exactly what their own 



enjoyment is, they do not rightly know ; what the 
musician's enjoyment is, they have not (or think 
they have not) the faintest conception. But as 
people are not long comfortable in dealing with 
the unexplained, they cannot but try to fathom 
the mystery in their own way ; the upshot of their 
reasoning is usually this : 

*^The musician's enjoyment cannot be what 
mine is; mine is emotional, ergo the musician's 
must be intellectual." And then grasping at 
random among the various fields in which the 
human intellect exerts itself, they pounce upon 
science as one of the most universal and imposing, 
and say : *' I do not enioy music scientifically, as 
you do." This italicized word is much in favor. 

"Don't you think Mr. X — played the Moon" 
light Sonata beautifully?" 

'* I am sorry to say, that I do not." 

" Don't you think he played with expression ? " 

"Oh, yes! with a great deal of expression, 
with no end of expression, in fact." 

" Then I suppose his execution was not good, 
and that he played wrons: notes; but you know 
that poor I do not know enough about it to notice 
such things." 

" On the contrary, his technique is superb at 
every point; his execution is positively wonder- 
ful." 

"But if his execution is good, and he plays 
with expression, why don't you like his playing ? 
Ah I I suppose he did not play scientifically." 

Now let it be said, once for all, that, no matter 
what trying positions unkind fate may place people 
ui, it is never absolutely indispensable for a man 
to make a fool of himself. But as surely as he 
tries to make a long word do duty for an unknown 
something, he inevitably will perform that un- 
desirable feat. 

Music is not Science; people neither play 
music nor enjoy music scientifically. The very 
people who so misuse the word, feel in their hearts 
that it must mean sheer nonsense in this con- 
nection. When a person says, with apparent 
modesty : " You enjoy music scientifically, but I 
do not," it is always with the secret reservation : 
" But I enjoy it psychically, and that is better." 

Come, admit it ; is it not so ? 

Now what this peculiar something is which 
-people try to explain away by calling it scientific, 
is hard to describe. It has more to do with what 
we call cultured perception than anything else. 
But one tiling is certain ; scientific or scientifically 
have nothing ,to do with it. Listen to music 
scientifically (if such a thing be possible), and 
you at onee kill its whole charm. I can never 
hear people speak of scientific music without hav- 
ing a suspicion that their aesthetic capabilities 
are very much on a par with those of a man I 
once met in Switzerland. He was a fellow 
countryman. I had just come from Porlezza to 
Lugano, and was standing on the quay trying to 
console my self for two hours spent on the dock 
of the little steamer under a burning mid-day 
sun, by looking out over the beautiful lake at the 
entrancing scenery. It was one of those slightly 
hazy summer days when the thermometer's scor- 
ing 90^ in the shade gives but a faint idea of the 
all-subduing heat. But tlie thin haze, impregnated 
with the sun's rays, threw a gulden glory over 
the distant hills, and everything seemed to invite 
one to lazy enjoyment of the divine landscape. 
The hero of my story came up to tlie water's 
edge, and stood beside me a few moments; I 
recognized him as one of the passengers on board 
the boat, and thought at first that he was prob- 
ably enjoying the scene in peace and quiet, as I was. 
Feeling particularly lazy, I did not speak to him 
at first, but he soon oi)ened the conversation with : 
" There ain't muck enterprise about here I " 

The anecdote has not much relevancy, but I 
give it as showing an example of esthetic 
vacuity unsurpassed in my experience. Any- 
body, however, is at liberty to equal it by speak- 
ing of enjoying music scientifically. w. f. a. 



102 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1022. 



MUSIC IN BOSTON. 

DEFERRED KOTICB8. 

(Concluded from page 96). 
Among the various performances which occorred 
while our columns were pre-occupied with musical 
festivals here and elsewhere, as well as bj the 
Faust of Berlioz, were a number of interesting 
Pianoforte Concerts, or Recitals. We have already 
recalled our impressions of the three given by 
Joseffj in the great Music Hall; it remains to 
gather up, if only by way of record, some of the 
more important ones which were enjoyed in a more 
modest way in smaller halls, — Chamber Music in a 
proper place. We begin with the concert given by 
Mr. John A. Prestoit, at Mechanics' Hall, on 
Saturday evening, May 15. There was a goodly 
number of appreciative listeners to the following 
programme: — 
Tlieine with variatlODS, OpJM (first time). Anton DvdrtOc. 

Song, "Adelaide" Beethoven. 

Kreltleriana, Eight Fantasias, Op. 16. . . . Sohomann. 
Agitato assal — Molto espressivo e non troppo vivace — 
Molto agitato — Molto lento — Molto vivaoe — Molto 
lento— Allegro assal — Allegro Scherxando. 
Songs, Unter blUh'nden Mandel Bl&umen. . . . Weber. 

AuCimetiAre Salnt^aens. 

Marmelndea Lttftchen, Biathenwind. . . Jensen. 
Grand Trio in O minor, for Pianoforte, Violin and 'Cello. 

Op. 94 (first time) Edoard Nipravnik. 

Allegro oon f uoco — Allegretto grazioso, quasi Andan- 
tlno— Presto— Viraoe (Alia Russe). 

The vocaUst was Mr. William J. Winch. In the 
Trio Mr. Preston was assisted by Mr. Gustav Dann- 
reuther, violin, and Mr. Wulf Fries, 'cello. We 
were accidentally too late to hear the variations 
by Dvdrtfk, and will not undertake to speak know- 
ingly of the work. In his rendering of Schumann's 
KreisleruMa — the whole series of those fantastic 
pieces, some of them of a haunting beauty and 
Jeep feeling, others of a wayward, mystifying will- 
o'-the wisp persistency — we were astonished not 
only by the technical excellence, the clearness and 
finish, the sustained poise, ease and freedom of Mr. 
Preston's execution, but still more by a mental 
grasp and an interpretation of the work which left 
nothing vague or dull, but took strong hold of the 
attention and held it to the end. It would be hard 
to name his superior among our younger pianists ; 
and he is steadily gaining both in strength of con- 
ception and of execution. 

Of the Trio by Nipravnik, the imperial Russian 
Capellmeister, our impressions from a single hearing 
have somewhat faded away. But it struck us as quite 
exceptional in form, particularly the first movement, 
and as having a strong flavor of nationality through- 
out The term alia Russe, appended to Vivace in 
the finale, might with equally propriety, we thought, 
apply to the whole work. The Allegro is intense 
and fiery. The Allegretto grazioso has a dance 
theme steadily repeated, which seems to go on tip- 
toe, and is rather monotonous. The Scherzo, waver- 
ing between the major key and its relative minor, 
is alternately bold and charming, with interesting 
imitation in the strings ; and the Vivace, in G major, 
2-4 measure, has a short and barren sort of theme, 
of which the obstinate monotony lies perhaps in 
the nature of the Russian dance. On the whole, 
however, we found it one of the more interesting, 
certainly unique, among the recent novelties in this 
line, and it was finely played by the three artists. 
Mr. Winch's singing was tasteful and delightful, 
and so were Mr. Preston's delicate accompaniments. 

Mr. H. G. Tucker gave a concert at Mechanics' 
Hall on Thursday afternoon, May 20, with the assist- 
ance of the tenor singer, Mr. Charles R. Adams ; 
this being the programme : — 

Sonata, Op. 100, A minor Bnblnatein. 

Son^, " Buaslied " Beethoven. 

"lohgrollenieht** Sohumann. 

Prelude. E flat major. Prelude, E major. . . . Chopin. 

Etude, C major Rubinstein. 

Bon^i, ** Llebeafrahling " Sueher. 

'* Der Meugierige '* Schubert. 

" Die blaue unendliche See ! *' Sueher. 

Allegro de Concert, A major Chopin. 

The Rubinstein Sonata, the novelty of the occa- 
sion, is exceedingly long, — three quarters of an 
Ijou].^ — a length seldom reached by a grand Sym- 
phony. We lost the first two movements, and were 
told that the second, the Scherzo, was the one really 
rewarding thing for the listener. The slow move- 
ment (third), we must confess, appeared to us in- 
terminable, and vaguely wandering nowhere; it 



seemed like a huge blind creature burrowing in the 
ground ; in the Finale there was more of a savage 
sort of life; here the monster showed his teeth. 
Well, perhaps on better acquaintance we might like 
the Sonata better, and feel disposed to treat it 
seriously. It offered a plenty of technical difficul- 
ties, and called for great strength and endurance in 
the interpreter, to which Mr. Tucker proved himself 
abundantly equal. Much more clear and satisfying 
was the more familiar Etude by the same com- 
poser, in which, as in the two Chopin Preludes,, 
Mr. Tucker showed more of grace and' delicacy 
than was his wont. The Concert Allegro of Chopin 
was played with great brilliancy and freedom. It 
was a rare satisfaction to hear the Buselied of Beet- 
hoven and Schumann's " Ich grolle nicht " sung so 
artistically, with such fine phrasing and enunciation, 
and such commanding accent and expression, by 
Mr. Adams. All our singers may learn something 
from him. His second group of songs were fresh 
and pleasing, but not quite fresh his voice. 



Mr. Ernst Perabo's artistic zeal and resolution 
in the cause of new, as well as old and classical 
pianoforte music, dedicating his best powers with- 
out stint to let the new composers have a hearing, 
held out to the extent of eleven industriously pre- 
pared Matinees in Wesleyan Hall. Since our 
last report he has given two, on Monday, April 26, 
and on Friday, April 30. Messrs. B. Listemann and 
Wulf Fries assisted him in the concerted pieces. 
It may be taken for granted that the interpretation 
by these artists, single and combined, was all it 
should be. In the press of other cares we were 
compelled to lose the concerts; we can only, by 
way of record, give the programmes, in which it 
will be seen that almost every number is marked 
" first time in this country "; or something practi- 
cally equivalent ; the disciples of " the newness " 
cannot complain of Perabo : — 

KATIXEE X. 

a. Prelade and Fogue, in A minor, ) rw -n r Ti«in«AbA 
6. Prelade and Fugue, in D minor; f ^' ^' ^' K«wecke. 

(Finit time in this coimtry.) 
Sonata for piano and 'cello. Op. 46, £ minor. 

X. Seharwenka. 

1. Allegro ma non troppo. 

2. Andante. 

8. Vivace, ma non troppo. 

(First time in this country.) 
Romance, Andante, B flat malor. From ** Al- 
bum de Peterhof," Op. 7ft, ^o. 11. ... Bublnstein. 
(First time in this country.) 
" Acht Pianofortestikcke," Op. 3». No 1. 

O major' W. Bargiel. 

Valse — Impromptu. F minor, Op. 30 . X. Scharweulca. 

(First time in this country.) 
Grand Trio, No. 3, in B flat major, Op. 87 W. Bargiel. 

1. Allegro moderato con graxia. 

2. Andante, molto sostenuto. 

3. Scherzo. 

4. Finale. Allegro moderato. 

(Second time in Boston.) 

KATIMXB XL 

Prelude and Fugue, in E minor. From Album 
** Notre Temps.'* Mendelssohn. 

Sonata for piano and violin, Op. 10, F miaor . W. Bargiel. 

1. Allegro. 

2. Andante sostenuto. 
3b Finale, Allegro. 

(First time in Boston.) 
Qavotte No. 2, for 'cello and piano, Op. 23. 

D major David Popper. 

(First time In this country.) 
Adagio, for 'cello and piano, Op. 38, O. major. W. Bargiel. 
(Originally written for 'cello with orchestral aocompani- 

ment;. 
" Znm Abschied." Studie fOr das piano- 
forte. Op. CO, Q major J. Rheinberger. 

(First time in this country.) 
Trio No. 2, Op. 45, A minor X. Seharwenka. 

1. Allegro non troppo. 

2. Adagio. 

3. Scherzo. Molto Allegro. 

4. Allegro con f uoco. 

(Second time in this country.) 

Ms. AsTHUR B. Whitiko, a pupil for the past 

three years of Mr. W. H. Sherwood, made his d<fbut 

as a concert pianist on one of the very hottest 

evenings at the very acme of the " heated term " in 

the last week of May (Thursday, 27th). Nevei^ 

theless Mechanics' Hall contained about 400 listeners 

according to report. A concert of angels could not 

have tempted us at such a time ; and as for duty — 

perhaps length of service may be pleaded in excuse ! 

That the occasion may not pass here without 

record, we copy from a notice in the Transcript^ 

having good authority for believing that its estimate 

is a just one : 

Tlie opening selection was the Fourth Handel Con- 
certo, arranged for two pianos by D. Krug. The style 



of the compositioor is very precise and set, and re* 
quires a broad and firm rendering, with grciit precision 
in execution. Mr. Sherw<xxl took the ]Mirt for the 
sec4)nd piano, with Mr. Whiting in the prima. The 
piece was rendered in an ahnost fiiultlchs manner, the 
five movements being played with the strieteatt fidelity 
to the score, and with mathematicil accumcy in time. 
This piece is not heard in public of ton enough for our 
people to be very fomllinr with its rare merits as a 
technical work. Mr. Winch cave a group of !*o»gs 
from Rubinstein, Schubert and Frans. ♦'The A.sm ' 
was partieulnriv eujoyublo. The others — "Du bist 
die Rub," Die WaMserrose," and "Be not so coy, be- 
loved child " — were sun;; in Mr. Winch's well>known 
manner, and were warmly applauded. Mr. Whiting*B 
test piece was the " Appassionata '* son.ata, Op. 57, of 
Beethoven, and be is to be congratulated on the truly 
artistic maimer in which he rendered this masterly 
composition. Here he showed more than in auy other 
selection the careful and conscientious manner in 
which he has studied music, and exhibited unmistak- 
able Indications of deep musical feeling and sympathy 
which promises much for bis future as an exjibneut o*f 
cUssical music. He was deliberate, self-posseiised and 
dignified, and controlled the instrument, particularly 
in the pianissimo arpeggios, in a truly admirable man- 
ner. 

His technique Is easy and graceful, and he has a 
commanding, but not ostentatious presence at the 
piano. As a whole this sonata may well mark his ap- 
pearance as a concert pianist. 

The next nnniber on Uie programme was a group 
consisting of Chopin's Impromptu in A flat, one num- 
ber from Jensen, Novellette, Op. 21, No. 5, Schumann, 
and the great Faust waits by Liszt from Gounod. 
These Mr. Whiting pUyed entirely from memory. 
They were all executed with great care and with ar- 
tistic truth, and were fully appreciated by the audience. 

The closing piece, as Well as the most impressive of 
all, was the symphonic poem on Victor Hugo's "Ma- 
seppa " for two pianos, by Liszt This has never been 
produced here before, and it is trulv a wonderful and 
a majestic composition. It taxes the capacity of both 
piano and performer to a great degree, and* attracts 
the listener with irresistible power as it sweepa along 
like a whirlwind. ... Mr. Whiting has earned the 
right to recognition as one of the most prominent of 
our local pianists, and if his future may be judged by 
the past, ne certainly has a great musical career before 
him. 

Mr. Jaifius W. Hill, the accomplished piano- 
forte teacher, has for a year or more been carrying 
out an excellent idea with excellent results. It is 
simply giving to some of his pupils frequent oppor- 
tunities of ensemble practice in Sonatas, Trios, etc., 
with the violin and 'cello. We can think of noth- 
ing more beneficial in the way of musical culture 
and progress to pupils who have musical natures 
and sufficient zeal and talent. The young lady of 
that stamp is to be congratulated, who can take 
part in periodical rehearsals of such music with 
such experienced artists as those named in the 
following programme of an " Ensemble Rehearsal " 
of pupils from Mr. Hill's Second and Third Classes, 
which took place at his Music Room, 161 Tremont 
St., on the 19th of May: 

Trio in F sharp minor, Op. 56. Allegro mod- 
erato Reisslger. 

Miss Appleton, Messrs. Allen and Fries. 

Sonata for piano and violin, Op. 8. Allegro oon brio. Orieg. 

Miss Dana and Mr. Allen. 

«-__ ( a. " O! that we two were Maying.'* . Gounod. 

^^'^'^ \b. "May-dews.'* Bennett. 

Mn, £. Humphrey-Allen. 

Trio In E flat major. Op. 100. First movement. Schubert. 

Miss Bowker, Messrs. Allen and Fries. 

Trio in F major, Op. 42. Oade. 

a. Andantino. 

6. Allegro con fuoco. 

Miss Nolte, Messrs. Allen and Fries. 
Song, "Spring Flowers." (With violin obligato.) Beineeke. 

Mrs. £. Humphrey-Allen. 
Sonata for piano and violin. Op. 30, No. 2. Al- 
legro con brio. . . . . Beethoven. 

Miss Holmes and Mr Allen. 

Trio in B flat major. Op. 62. First movement. Rubinstein. 
Miss Ranney, Messrs. Allen and Fries. 

Thb Vocal Clubs gave each its final concert of 
the season in the latter part of May. First came 
the BoTLSTON Club, always kept in admirable drill 
and up to concert pitch by its conductor, Mr. G. Jj. 
Osgood. Tliis time it essayed no formidable work 
with orchestra, but fell back upon its old ground of 
" popular," mostly partrsong music, with the follow- 
ing choice programme of its kind, the only entremets 
being a Mendelssohn Fantasia played by Mr. Fcter- 
silea, the pianoforte accompanist of the Club : 

For the Male Chorus. 

"Shed no Tear," Mssker. 

" The Nightingale," Schubert. 

"Forsalcen," Koschat. 

" The Ruined Chapel,*' Becker. 

" Go, speed thy Flight," Otto. 

For the Female Chorus, 

" Ave Maria,*» MarchetU. 

"Fidelin," Brahms. 

"Presage of Spring," ,Hollander. 



Jdne 19, 1880.]" 



DWIQHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



103 



For the Mixed Chonu, 

"M*yDew," Bheinborger. 

" Have you my Darling seen,** Om»>m1. 

*♦ The Pino Tree." Rubinstein. 

" King Krio/' Rheinberger. 

" Feasant's wedding in Carinthia," .... KoscUat. 

Thb AroLiX) Club gave two conccrtB, the second 
(May 20) being mainly a repetition of the first, 
with the great improvement of an orchestral accom- 
paniment. The principal and longest piece with 
orchestra formed the opening nymber: selections 
from " A Night at Sea," by W. Tscliirch. As given 
with the instruments it proved to be a very graphic, 
well contrasted series of scenes in music (without 
the instruments we could hardly imagine it to be 
Tery interesting), consisting of, first, a chorus: 
" Hymn to Night ;" second, " Pleasant Voyage," a 
duet between the captain and helmsman, tenor and 
baritone ; t^ird, a tenor solo, " Home and Love ; " 
and finally an exciting " Storm,'* for chorus with 
interjaculations of captain and helmsman. It was 
all very efl^ectively and finely sung and played, Mr, 
Lang, as usual, conducting. Beethoven's Chorus of 
Dervishes, preceded of course by the Turkish 
March (substituted for Mendelssohn's part-song. 
The Turkish Cupbearer), was also given with orches- 
tra ; as was the concluding number, the Roman Song 
of Triumph, by Max Bruch. The orchestra also 
performed, for the first time here, a very bright and 
genial Overture, called " Spring," op. 16, by Goetz. 

The other numbers of the programme were : the 
old English Glee: ''Strike, strike the lyre," by 
Thomas Cooke; "Twilight Song," by Lachner; 
Schubert's grandly impressive Die AUmacht (" The 
Almighty ") for tenor, solo, and chorus ; ** O who 
will o'er the downs with me," by De Pearsall; 
" Evening," for Bass solo and chorus, by Lachner ; 
the Bass recitative and air, " The Husbandman, " 
from Haydn's 6WsoM;'sung by Mr. Clarence E. 
Hay ; and *' The Flower-Net," by Carl Goldmark. 
Throughout the Apollo sang with life and with 
refinement. 

Finally the Cecilia, May 24, gave the long con- 
templated repetition of Max Bruch's Odysseus, as 
before, with orchestra. The soloists were the same 
as before, with the exception of Miss L. F. Pierce, 
who sang very acceptably the parts of Pallas 
Athena and Nausikaa. The performance was even 
better than the first one; but the night was 
extremely hot, and the work with its ten scenes is 
very long : and with all the inventive talent which 
the composition shows, and all its elaborate wealth 
of orchestration, it did not seem to have enough of 
the magnetic quality of genius to keep the audience 
alive with interest to the end. 

There ! we have at last cleared off the old scores, 
and hope to be ready, after the summer's rest from 
concert worry, for whatever of real interest another 
season may bring forth. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Baltimore, Juns 7. —The season is now so far gone 
that there remains little or nothing in thtt way of classi- 
cal entertainments to chronicle. The halls are closed, 
the lights are out, the directors have flown to cooler 
shores, and there is a general air of tropical calm 
where, during the winter, there was musical bustle 
and activity. The Peabody Hall, on a hot summer 
night, frowns down on the passer by like a dismal 
man — solemn — the sepulchre of symphonies — and the 
doors of the Academy of Music are closed, even against 
the strains of the popular orchestral selections that 
were went to issue thence on warm June evenings. 

This state of musical inactivity, howe^'er, often an 
excellent opportunity for reflection on what has been 
accomplished during the past season, as well as for 
giving some attention to such musical events as have 
not received the notice they deserved. 

It will doubtless be of some little Interest to the 
readers of the Jot/rna/ — published in the city of 
choral societies — to hear something- new of at least 
two of our many chorus classes. The one Is the Bee- 
thoven Chorus Class, composed of about sixty lady 
voices, which gave two delightful entertainments dur- 
ing the season. The latter of the two concerts was given 
on the last day of May, and the following programme 
is an evidence of the taj«te and judgment employed in 
the selection of j ust the proper music for such a chorus : 

Motet Giovanni da Palestrlna* 

Motet Felix Mepdelssohn-Bartholdy. 

Cborufi from Btanche de Provence .... Clierubini. 

Serenade by the Seashore W. KJenilf. 

The Spanish Tambourine Girl . . . . R. S<^humHnnn. 
The Seasons Niels Gade. 



At the first concert there were compositions of Liast, 
Saint-Saens, Schumann, Hamerick, Rheinberger and 
Brahms. The fact of sixty well-trained female voices 
singing such music with so much charming grace and 
refinement, leads one to mar\'el why we do not have 
female choruses in abundance in every musical city 
in the Union. It is around such combinations of 
thoroughly schooled female voices that tenors and 
basses can be collected to form fine mixed choruses. 

The average male amateur singer is too much en- 
grossed in his daily pursuits to be able to devote nearly 
so much time to concerted vocal practice as the bet- 
ter half of a mixed chorus; and the separately and 
thoroughly trained female chorus should act as a con- 
fident and reliable nucleus. 

So much for the Beethoven chorus class, although 
not so much by far as could, or ought to be, said of it. 

The other choral event was t£e production of Han- 
del's Alexander's Feast (words by "Mr. Dryden") 
by the Wednesday club chonis, on the 29th of last 
month, complete and after the original score! There 
were some shortcomings, of course, in the orchestra, 
hastily brought together as it was, and with little time 
at command for rehearsing music entirely new — for 
within the recollection of the oldest musical inhabitant, 
there had been no Handel chorus sung here for — well, 
ever so long! But the chorus was conceded to. have 
reached the most sanguine expectations of all musical 
listeners. The rendering of the closing fugue, with its 
four beautiful themes — 

Let old Timotheps yield the Prize, 
Or t)oth divide the crown: 
He raised a mortal to the skies; 
She drew an angel down, 

was acknowledged by several musicians of excellent 
judgment in matters of voice, to have been as fine a 
piece of chorus work, for confident attack, force and 
precision, as could be expected from ninety voices, and 
an orchestra of twenty men. It must be admitted that 
a chorus which has been singing together for but one 
short season, no matter how good its material, must be 
making very satisfactory progress to produce an entire 
work of Handel with any degree of success. And so 
our chorus music for the past season has wound up in 
a blaze of glory, leaving behind the conviction that the 
best of chorus music is possible here, if only it be man- 
aged in a proper spirit. C. F. 

Vassab Colleor, PouoHKEEPsiis, N. Y., June 14.— 
An event, as novel as delightful in the annals of 
Vassar College, took place on Saturday, when the stu- 
dents of the School of Music of the college, celebrated 
the close of the most brilliant musical season of its 
annals, by an eight hours' sail on one of the large 
Hudson River steamers. Two hours of the time were 
spent in an impromptu concert, two hours in discussing 
the merits of an excellent collation, accompanied by 
speeches from the students. President Caldwell and 
Dr. Bitter; and two boors in dancing; the other two 
hours disappeared unperceived, a margin of delights 
fnl idlmg, marked with the red line of merry con- 
versation and happy laughter. 

The students entered into the whole affair with warm 
zest, feeling a just pride in the remarkable artistic and 
financial success to which tliis department.has attained, 
and sang and played co7i amore, encouraged by the 
enthusiastic applause of more than one hundred fellow 
students, and a limited number of guests — those mem- 
bers of the college government distinguished by their 
taste for musical art. Before starting down the river, 
the excursion party, by request of Dr. and Mrs. Ritter, 
steamed up to West Park, and there took on board Mr. 
John Burroughs, the delightful essayist, who had pre- 
viously most Icindly volunteered his services as cicerone, 
in case a majority of votes had led -the party into tlie 
recesses of wood and waterfall near his cottage, rather 
than to the possible haunts of mermaidens. Even the 
order of dancing was marked by a novelty. At the 
suggestion of Mrs. Raymond Ritter, who was present 
as a guest, and who took a warm and natural interest 
in the success of this first festival of a department over 
which her husband presides, dancing was opened by a 
^*Marche Polonaise," participated in by the entire 
company, to the music of a Chopin polonai«ie. For 
instruction in regard to the way in which this march 
should be danced, see Liszt's Life of Chopin. The gen- 
tlemen were in a very considerable minority; those 
ladies who took the gentlemen's side in the gay pro-, 
cession, donned pretty French costume hats and cape 
for the occasion. 

As the happy party neared Pougbkeexwie wharf, on 
its return home, one of the *' Midsummer Nights' 
Dream" chonuies was sung, and silvery cheers were 
raised for the captain, the college, and him to whom 
his attached students have given the sobriqvet of *' Our 



programme will give you a fuller idea of the novelties 
of the occasion, especially those of the menu I 

Salve I 

FIBST SUMMER FESTIVAL OF THE SCHOOL OF 

MUSIC, VASSAR COLLEGE, 

Jane 12, 1880. 

On Board the Steamer D. S. Miller, 1.30 P. ii. (In search 
of Arcadian happiness.) 
" Arcadia is the only country in which men of condi- 
tion dare not avow themselves unskilled in music; for in- 
struction in that science was established by the Arcadian 
government as a solid branch of education, and as a means 
of divesting the people of dullness, rusticity and brutal- 
ity.*'— Po/yWiM. 

IMPBOVPTU COVCEBT, 8 TO 6L 

Solos, and concerted music, for Voices, VoUn, Piano- 
forte. Guitar, by the students of the Music School, under 
the direction of Dr. F. L. Ritter. 

**Owr choir is a school whose aim is health, and wisdom, 
ami whose means are poetry, melody' and harmony.**^ 
Zelter. 

Collation, Addresses etc., 5.90 to 7. 

MENU. 

Oysters, from '* Fingal's Cave.*' 

Mennald Soup, i la " Lovely Melusina.** 

Broiled Bass, '' Flying Dutchman '* Sauce. 

** Maseppa Cutlets." sauce Uyron-Lisxt. 

Salmi de Pegasus, with eagles' brain sauce, Beethoven style. 

FiM ox singing swans, shot by the seventh bullet 

in ** Der FreischUts.'* Roast beef i la Handel. 

Coemopolitau hash i la Meyerbeer. 

Antediluvian devilled iMnes, i la Bach; broiled in the 

4th part of Berlios's " Damnation de Faust." 

Calves' sweetbreads, £ la Abt and Pinsnti. 

Roast shoulder of mutton, from Dr. Blow's " ^pheus 

BritannicuB.'* 
Vegetables, salads, pickles, etc^selected. with the 
morning dew upon Uiem, from Haydn's ''Seasons.*' 
Cheese. Deutscher Kunst Kise, from Wagner's 
Nibelungen Tetralogy. 
Locusts and wild honey, stolen from John Bnrroujdis* 
''Birds and Poets.'* 
Bellini fritters, water ice. 
Vol au vent i la Rossini, champagne sauce i la Offenbach. 
Chromatic cream i la Chopin flavored with rose- 
tragiq ue-uniq ue. 
Oriental fruits and sherbete, prepared by Moore's Peri 
during the Carnival in Schumann's Paradise. 
Coffee from David's " Le Desert." 
" No tme musician ever was a bad man, and no good man 
ever was a tiull man; therefore are all good mustcians in- 
clined to gayety " — Luther. 

DAKcnco, 7.30 to 9. 

Marche polonaise. Waltz. Quadrille. Polka. Walts. 

Landers. Scotch Reel. Quadrille. Galop. 



" And now the golden lyre of Apollo reaufates the measure 
qf the dance, source of order, health a»M//oy." — Pindar. 

" Poetrff, music, dancing, formed the enchanted circle of 
active livtng Grecian tvrt; a mystic cortege, vivijied with the 

Xlow, the pulee, the truth, qf actual f{fe .' All that humanity 
as since inventetl in the arts, seems but a pale, paasive 
memory of this once vital mocemeni of the tnret Immortal 
MuseSf noblest educators of the people ! " — Schur^. 

Towards the close of the evening, a grand performance 
will be given by Signor Maccherlgnoli Cavalierl and Count 
Noeneboff Flitterowski, two distinguished veterans, in 
reduced circumstances, who have appeared with great 
success before awe^tricken masses of crowned heads as 
well as select, cultured, and supercilious audiences ' in 
every quarter of the civilized globe. 

cobiuittee sympuovy. 

Andanfo risofuto. Miss Hartmann. Scherxo, Miss Shaw. 
Largo, Miss Cecil. Andantino grazioso, Miss Wetzel. 
Allegro, Miss Cooley. 

Programme (opus l), composed, by desire, expressly for 
this occasion only, by Mrs. Kaymond Ritter. 

Vale. 

Next week, Commencement week, will close the col- 
lege year; the musical season at Vsssar may be said 
to end with the annual Commencement concert, on 
Monday next; a fit close to other concerts in which the 
students have participated during the year, as well as 
those in which they have had the assistance of Messrs. 
Bergner, Mstzka, Remmertz, Werrenath, Miss Beebe, 
the Philharmonic Club of New York, the Mendelssohn 
Quintette Club of Boston, and others. A. Z. 



Dear Doctor." But Mrs. Ritter' s original and fantastic I ence I 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

Leipzig. Wagn>r's Ring des Niebdmtgen will be 
given here this month, with Fran Matema, Frau 
VogI, and Herren Jaeger and VogI in the principal 
parts. 

A concert in aid of the Orchestra Fund was 

given, under the direction of Hans von Bulow, 
May 5. The programme included: Overture to 
Benvenuto Cellini, Berlioz ; Fantasia in C, Schubert- 
Liszt; " Kaisermarsch." Wagner; and Ninth Sym- 
phony, Beethoven. 

Dresden. Here is the repertory of the Royal 
Court Theatre for one week : Sunday : Die Zauber- 
fllke, Mozart ; Mondays Drama, Schiller's Die Braut 
von Messina; Tuesday: Die Stumme von Portici 
{Masaniello), Aubcr; Wednesday : Drama, Goethe's 
Faust; Thursday: Don Juan, Mozart; Friday: 
Shakespeare's Othello ; Saturday : La Dame Blanche, 
Boieldieu. J^t us all emigrate to the Saxon Flor- 



104 



DWIGETS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1022 



Gbkmah Festivals. The London Musical Times 
(Jane 1), says: 

Two of the most important annoally recurring events 
in German musical life, took place during List montli, 
viz., the Music-Festival of the Lower Rhine, held this 
year at Cologne, from the 10th to the 18th ult., and the 
meeting of the Allgemeine Deutsche Mujiik-Verein, 
which assembled at Baden-Baden, during the days from 
the 19th to the 23d ult., and which invariably includes 
some interesting musical performances, in addition to 
the social intercourse of its members, which these an- 
nual gatherings are intended to promote. The musical 
programmes of both will be found below. The Cologne 
Festival was conducted by that veteran musician, Herr 
Ferdinand Uiller, and was, according to the Cologne 
Gazette^ a great artistic success, both as regards vocal- 
ists and instrumentalists, some 600 choristers and an 
orchestra of about 130 professors having taken part in 
the performances. Among the artists taking part in 
the Festival may be mentioned Frnu Clara Schumann 
and Herr Joachim. Of the performances held in con- 
nection with the Baden-Baden meeting, that of Weiss^ 
heimer's Oi)era " Meister Martin und seine Geselleu," 
the libretto of which is founded on HofTmaii's well- 
known tale, is said to have scarcely gained more than 
a succ4s ef estime; while among orchestral novelties, 
a Symphony', No. 2, by A. Borodin, a Russian com- 
poser, attracted universal attention. 

Cologne. — Music Festival of the lower Rhine (Mav 
16, 17, and 18); Overture, *'Zur Welhe des Hauses^' 
(Beethoven); Oratorio, ''Israel in Egypt'' (Handel); 
Symphony No. 8, (Beethoven); Andante for stiinged 
orchestra (Haydn); "Die Nacht," hymn for chorus, 
soli, and orchestra (Hiller): Pianoforte Concerto, A 
minor (Schumann); Cantata, "OewigesFeuer" (Bach); 
Overture, " Im Hochland " (Gade); Air from **Cosi fan 
tutte" (Mozart); " Schicksalslied " (Brahms); "Ave 
Maria," for one voice, with stringed orchoytra (Verdi); 
Symphonj', A minor (Mendelssohn); Violin Concerto 
(Beethoven); Scene and air from "Tmviata" (Verdi); 
Overture, "Freischutz" (Weber). 

Badrn-Badex. — Meeting of the Allgemeine Deut^ 
sche Musik-Verein (Mav II* to 2.'$): Opera, "Meister 
Martin und seine Gesellen" (Weisheimer); "K;tiser- 
marsch " (Wagner); Ballade for orchestra (£. K. 
Taubert); Violoncello Concerto (E. Hartmanu); "Die 
Lowenbraut," balhd for one voice and orchestra (W. 
Weissheimer); Overture, "Torauato Tasso" (Schulz- 
Schwerin); Concerstiick for violin, A major (C. Saint- 
Saens); Symphony No. 2 (A. Borodin): Introduction 
and Chorusei* from ** Chri<tus " (Liszt); String Quintet, 
Op. 10(0. Dessoflf); "Dolorosa," cyclus of songs (A. 
Jensen); Sonata for pbnofurte and viola, F. minor (A. 
Rnbinstein); Songs (E. I^Assen and R. Franz): Piano- 
forte Trio, Op. 9(C. Riibner); Prelude and Fugue, E 
ilat major, for organ (Bach); Adagio from Third 
Sonata, for violin and organ (Bach); T>%'o Sacred Songs 
(A. Becker); Rhapsody No. 1, for orj^an (Saint-Saens); 
Organ Fantasia, C shar|) minor (F. Kiel); Adagio relig- 
ioso, for violoncello and organ (A. Wolfermanu); Can- 
tique fnin^ais dc Deuizot, for organ (Pierre Francois 
Bocly); Two Songs (P. Cornelius); Introduction and 
Allegro from Organ Sonati, Op. 42 (A. Guilmaut); 
Oveiture "King Lear*' (Berlioz); Conceitstiick, C 
minor (Saint Saens); Two orcheKtral pieces to "Rom<?o 
et .Juliette '' (Dumoulin); Jeanne d'Arc, dramatic scene 
(F. Liszt); Phaeton, symphonic poem (Saiut^aens); 
Fragments from *• Tristan" (Wagner); l*ianoforte 
Quartet (Bnngeit); Theme with variations and Polo- 
naise, for pianoforte (Tschaikowski); Sestet, in G 
major. Op. 36 (Bnihms); vocal soli. 



London. The chief theme of interest In musical 
circles has been the conceits of Herr Hans Richter, who 
first came to London, two years ago, as a Wagnerian 
Conductor. The wise-acres shook their heads when it 
was announced that he would conduct Beethoven's 
Symphonies. But this season, Figaro (June 2) says, 
" He is showing his surpassing ability as a conductor of 
music of well-nigh every school. At the first concert 
of the present scison he proved he was e(]ually gre.'U 
in the ninsic of Schumann as he was in that of Beet- 
hoven and Wagner; at the second concert he added 
Cherubiui and Siwhr, at the third Mendelssohn, and 
last Thursdjiy Schubert (the great Symphony in C) to 
his London repertory." There is a good deal of jealousy 
towards him, it seems, among the older conductors : 
but the Rime writer thhiks that they had better in- 
vestigate the reason of his remarkable success, and des- 
cribes his method as follows : — 

In the first place, Herr Richter thoroughly masters 
his score in letter and in spirit ; that is to say, he has 
not only deeply studied every possible effect to be 
gained without violence to the comt)oser's hitentions, 
but he is often able to conduct without book. He 
does not always dispense witlf the score — a practice 
which is, indeed, by no means to be commended — and 
it was satisfactory to notice that last Thursday the con- 
ductor had before him the music both of Dvorak's 
Rhapsody and Schubert's Symphony, Herr Richter 
has ahio an intimate knowledge of every instrument 
in the orche<>tra, and at i-eheursiils he frequently plays 



to the performers the respective instruments in the way 
he wishes the passage performed. Armed with these 
gifts, he faces his orchestra, well knowing that he is iu 
truth a director able to prove his knowledge not only of 
the score but also of the paits and of the proper 
method of playing the various instruments. The 
orchestra has often been compared to a highly-spirited 
himter, which, unless its rider shows himself in every 
respect its superior, will speedily run away with him. 
It is a lamentable fact that in some — though happily 
not all — of our orchestras the members are perfectly 
well aware that they are superior in knowledge to their 
conductor, and all sort of respect and of subordination 
is lost. With Herr Richter, however, a movement of 
the left liand is equivalent to a touch of the spur, and 
all the members of his band aro only too willing 
and proud to implicitly obey the slightest hint of one 
who is admittedly and really their chief. At rehearsal, 
beside very complete instructions as to shading, and 
the keenest ear for eiToi-s and false notes, Herr Richter 
often adepts the system of sectional practice, each set 
of instruments playing separately ; and to this must 
be attributed not only the admirable precision, but 
especially the wonderful clearness, of the parts which 
characterises his performers. There is no need to 
carry a score to the concert luill. The parts may be 
distinguished witli the utmost clearness, and iu this 
respect Herr Richter is not only unrivalled, but 
stands alone among modern conductors. His method 
of beat is also, while firm, singularly modest; he does 
not, like some foreign conductors, dance about, kick the 
ground, nor thrash the music desk; the baton serving 
to give the betit and the cues, while the slight, and to 
the audience almost iniperoeptible, movement of the 
left hand supplies the shading. In short, tlie orchestra 
becomes under Herr Richter an unerring machine, and 
the conductor, by appareutly the simplest of move- 
ments, moulds it to his will and plays ui>on it iis surely 
and as easily as a great performer plays on the piiino. 

Sir John Goss, who died on the 10th ult., at the 
rii>e age of eighty, was a pillar in the temple of 
Anglican Church Music. He may be named with 
Samuel Sebastian W'csley, as twin founders of the 
modem anthem. Attwood, the prodecessor of Goss 
at St. Paul's and his teacher had all the intention 
of a reformer, but he had neither grace nor genius 
sufficient to give commanding form and expression 
to his thoughts. At the time when Goss and Wesley 
began to work, the composition of anthems luid 
virtually ceased for many years. Adaptions were 
offered in lieu of new works. These two men set to 
work to restore to the anthem its dignity, and at the 
same time to give it the benefit of all the resources of 
modern musical expression which could be used with- 
out detracting from its sacred character. Goss, not- 
withstanding his long life, was by no means a prolific 
composer. He was noted for a wise fiistidiousness iu 
the selection of words, and for deliberate habits in 
composing. Ho often kept his works in hand for 
years, and touched and retouched them until he was 
satisfied. To this habit of being his own critic we 
attribute the well sustained character of hw writing. 
Other men have more si)ontaueity, but he is always 
solid and strong. Goss's life as a producer extended 
over fifty years (181() to \m)\ but his best church 
work was done in the last ten yean of this period. As 
a church composer he stuck to his hist. The ctitalogue 
of the British Museum, where every man's liteiary 
transgressions are writ in letters of iron, holds hiiii 
guilty in early life of a few pianoforte arrangements, 
and a few songs, while one of his glees is popular, but 
these are the mere accidents of his artistic life. His 
Introduction to Harmony and thorough Bass {\>S1X\) is 
for the most part full of common sense. It may be 
commended sm easy and plcassint reading, but it by no 
means enables the student to parse the chords of one 
of (ioss's own anthems. We must remember, how- 
ever, that it is foity-seven years old. and that it has 
never been bi'<ui«;lit abrcsisl of the times, (ioss as a 
theorist lived in the past; he made uoadetiuate attempt 
to legalise the innovations of the present. None have 
suqmssed Goss as a harinoniser of our standard hymn- 
tunes. His arrangements are seen at the best in 
Mercer^s Collection, and they have a smoothness and 
solidity which marks the finest judgment and balance^ 
of tiiste. In character Sir John was remarkable for 
ditHdence and mcHlesty: in nrivate life he was known 
t<i a few friends as a iuost lovable man, and a truly 
English gentleman.— To/* <V tyul-Fa livportcr^ June 1. 

The death, after a very brief illness, of Mr. 

John Curwen, the founder of the Tonic Sol-Fa 

movement, occurred on the 30lli ult. Figaro says of 

him : 

A member of an old Cumbrian family, a son of the 
Rev. Spedding Curwen, the originator of the Tonic Sol- 
fa movement in this country was bom at Heckmond- 
wike, in Yorkshire, on Nov. 14, 18H5. John Curwen 
was eiUicated for the Ministry, first at Coward College, 



and afterwards at London University. He does not 
appear to have taken any degree, and he was in 18;J8 
apiK)iuted assi.staut minii^t^'r at the Independent church 
at Bassingstoke. Here he first experimented with his 
extraordinary talent for inakhi;^ ditficult things easy 
to the youthful mind; teaching the Sunday School chil- 
dren to sing, and inventing llie now celebratetl "Look 
and Say method of leaching to read." In 1H41 he 
moved to Stowniarket, iu Suffolk, and it was from this 
place that he visited Miss Glover s schools at Norwich, 
and gained the idea of the Tonic Sol-fa. In 1H44 he 
was elected pastor ^t Plaistow, in Essex, and from this 
api>ointment may be dated the foundation of the Tonic 
Sol-fa system. Having great energy, and abundant 
powers of organ iz:itiou, John Curwen entered hc:irt 
and soul into the new ideas, delivering lectures on the 
subject, and sending forth books and luiinphlets in 
large quantities. In 1853 he established the Tonic Sol- 
fa Association, a body through >\hose a^'ency thous;inds 
and tens of thousands of persons to whom music w.is 
previously a closed book« were taught to suig. In 
connection with, and in illustration of, Tonic Sol-fa, 
he issued the ** Standaixl Course of the Tonic Sol-fa 
Method," "The Child's Own Hymn Book," " How to 
observe HaruKmy," •*Ck)nstructioii Exercises in Ele- 
mentary Mu^iical (jomiw.'iition,'' and he likewise estab- 
lished the Tunic tiol-fa Jicporter, a perlo<ii«il which 
has attained a very wide circulation, as a disseminator 
of Tonic Sol-fa news, throughout the country. In 1KG2 
Mr. Curwen founded the Ionic Sol-fa Collej'e, for the 
education of teachers of this method; and in 18t»7, 
having retired from the ministry on the ground of ill- 
health, he established a printing and publication busi- 
ness iu support of the Tonic Sol-fa system. That sys- 
tem has had many enemies, and by partisans it lias 
been warmly attacked. But Mr. Curwen has lived to 
see the triumph of his method, and the wide adoption 
of a system oi music which now gives recrejition and 
enjoyment to many tliousauds of our fellow creaUures. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

New YoiiK. Of Chamljcr Mu'tic in private houses 
there are Ux) few examples in this country. Hero is 
one worthy of emuhition. A gentleman of New Vork, 
Mr. Cluirles B. BurrelJ, sends us a printed ** Souvenir 
of the Chamber Music performed at his reshlouce (:»} 
Seventh Avenue) during the season of 1H7JMJ0.*' This 
wjw the fifth seastm in which every other Sunday even- 
ing has been devoted In this way to the enjoyment of 
ckissical Trios, Quartets and Quintets. Tlie |>erform era 
luive been Mme. S. A. R:u'liau, pkmo; Dr. L. Dnmain- 
ville, first violin ; Joseph Lewenberg, second do; Samuel 
V. Speyer, viola; and Carl G. F. MarU'us, 'c»ll«i 
These formed the stringed quartet, assisted by I !d 
Meyer, violin, Eniil Gramni, viola, and E. W. Re .ic- 
cius. The list of works given during the past winter 
is remarkably large, including: 

Trios, for violin,\eUo and piano: Beethoven, Op. 1 , 
Nos. 1 and 3; Jadassohn, Op. 10; Bargiel, No. 1, Op. 
and Op. *JU: Schubert, B H;it. Op. 9il: RubinskMn, B tbit, 
Op. 52, and No. 1, Op. 13; Gade, *' Novellctteu," Op. 
2i»; Mendelssohn, Op. (Mi; Reissiger, Op. 107; Kiff, No. 
1, Op. 112; IL Schotte, Op. 51. 

(^aartctSf for >7ri/i//« ; Schubert, Posthumous (an- 
dante with variations); Fesca, Op. 28, aiT. from 2d 
Septet); Beethoven, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of Op. 18; 
Mowirt, No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and «», of **thc ten." 

Quartets, icith Piano : Rheinbergor, Op. 38; Men- 
delssohn, Op. 3; Fesca, Op. 215; Mozar^ G minor; 
Beethoven, Op. 16. 

Quintets, jor ^strings: Beethoven, Op. 29; Mozart, 
No. G; Mendelssohn, Op. 87. 

Quintets with Piano: Schumann, Op. 44; Reis.*(iger, 
Op. liil; Reinecke, Op. 83; Louis Ferdinand, Prince of 
Prussia, Op. 1. 

Concerto, Op. 34, for 'cello, Lindner. 

New York is to have its May Musical Festival. 
Arrrangements are hi progress for a series of peiw 
formances in May 1881, under the combined directkni 
of the Omtorio and Symphony Societies. The first 
public announcement says: 

"No exertion will he spared to put it on the highest 
plane of musical peifoimances. Ihechonil forces, of 
which the chorus of the Oratorio SiH'icty is the nucleus, 
will number alK>ut one thouKiud, andthe orchestra will 
comprise two hundred instiumcntH. The best talent, 
iNith of this countrv and Euroiie, for the solo part^i, 
will be secured, negotiations for eminent artiste* from 
abrotid being alrejidy in progress. The entire force 
will be under the musical lead of Dr. Ix'ojiold Diun- 
rosch." 

Dayton, O. The 21st concert of the Philharmonic 

Society, with chorus and orchestra of 150 performers, 

W. I... Blumenschein, director, took [ilace May 7, with 

the following programme: 

" Spring's MfHsagc." f<»r Chorus and Orchestra. . Gnde. 
" On Mighty I'cns, * recitative andsrin, ^Creation). Hsydn. 



MiM> h.niniA lieckle. 



. Beethoven. 



Symphony in C. for Orchetttni 

" Cnpriccio BrilliHiite." <Jp. 12, for Piano and 

Orchestra Mendelssohn. 

Miss Com Bat telle. 
" By Babylon's Wave." Chorus and Orchestra. . Gounod. 
[Arranged for Orchestra by W. L. Blunieuscheiii.] 

" ItenieuiLrance," for Flute SoU lerschak. 

Prof. Bngo Wittgenstein. 
" Forly-Secoud Psalm." Mendelssohn. 



July 8, 1880.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



106 



BOSTON, JULY j, iSSo. 

Entered at the Post Office at Boeton m second-class matter. 

All the carticl^ not credited to other publiccUiowt were ex- 
pressly ufritten/or this Journal. 

Published fortnightly by Houohton, Mifflin ft Co., 
Boston^ Mass, Frice^ to cents a number ; %a.y> per year. 

For salt in Boston by Cabl P&uefer, jo West Street ^ A. 
Williams & Co., sSj Wcuhington Street, A, K. LoRiifO, 
j6q Washington Street, and by the Publishers ; in New York 
by A. BRcyTANO, Jr., jg Union Square, and Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., 2/ Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boner ft Co., 1103 Chtstuut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, jtj State Street. 

THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S "tAUST." 



BT ADOLPHB JULLIBM.^ 



III. 



THE OVERTURES OP CHRETIEN SCHULZ, OP 
PERD. HILLEK AND OP K WAGNER. THE 
SYMPHONY OP P. LISZT. THE BALLET OP 
AD. ADAM. 

Before we come to the four great vocal 
composers inspired by the Drama of Faust, 
we must add to all these operas, op^ra-com- 
iques, musical poems, or collections of melo- 
dies, four orchestral creations, — a symphony 
and three overtures, — in which the authors 
have endeavored to condense the entire poem 
of Goethe. They are signed by Chretien 
Schuiz, Ferdinand Killer, Richard Wagner, 
and Franz Liszt. 

The first of these Faiut overtures dates 
back from the first years of this century, and 
was composed at Leipzig, between 1800 and 
1810, by Chretien Schuiz, who wrote from 
tliat time a quantity of overtures, choruses, 
marches, dance tunes, etc., for the ' 'dramatic " 
troupe of Seconda, and who every year 
directed the theatre orchestra during the so- 
journ of that troupe in Leipzig. This brave 
Schuiz, to-day so completely unknown, had 
arrived in this city at the age of ten, and 
never left it. At first a pupil in the Thomas- 
fichule, having had some inclinations toward 
theology, having then turned his attention to 
music, having studied first with the organist 
of the castle, Engler, then under the direc- 
tion of Schicht, he had finally obtained the 
place of director of the weekly concerts of 
the city, and he died in that position in Janu- 
ary, 1827. He had spent seventeen years in 
ofiice, had lived fifty-three years, and forty- 
three years in Leipzig. 

Killer's overture to Faust is a work of the 
youth of the celebrated Musikdirectory who 
composed it and had it performed in Paris, 
during the eight years he spent there from 
1828, in order to establish his growing repu- 
tation as pianist and composer among French 
amateurs. At the same time that he was 
producing himself with success by the side 
of pianists such as Liszt, Kalkbrenner, Os- 
borne and Chopin, he could, thanks to the 
fortune of his family, organize grand meet- 
ings with orchestra to submit his principal 
compositions to the public It was in the 
second of these concerts, given in December, 
1831, in the hall of the Conservatoire, that 
he brought out this overture to Faugl^ as 
well as a symphony and a concerto for the 
pianoforte. 

> We translate from "Ooethe et la Uusique: Svs Juas- 
mtnis, mm Jn/i^>enee, Us Oeurres qu'U a imapkr^:* Par 
Adolphb Jullikn, Paris, 1880. —Ed. | 



F^tis, whose declared hostility towards what 
he calls the romantic school is so well known, 
judges with comparative indulgence the work 
of the young composer ; but not without first 
bringing an inditement against French and 
German musicians, <* who, like Berlioz and 
Killer, try to follow up the revolution which 
Beethoven wished to consummate in music, 
and who are borne by their tastes and their 
conviction toward a vague style, where mel- 
odic charm is replaced by images more or less 
happily expressed; where variety, th6 fruit 
of an imagination without bounds, disappears 
before one dominant thought, with which the 
composer is always preoccupied, and to which 
he attaches all his ideas of melody, of rhythm, 
of modulation and of harmony . . •" 

Having once enunciated his grievances 
against this poetic music, which to-day ap- 
pears so just, so elevated, Fetis examines the 
symphony at considerable length, finding in 
it a fatiguing uniformity of thought, an irk- 
some monotony, which outweighs the real 
beauties of the work ; then he proceeds in 
these terms: "The overture for Goethe's 
Faust, having a definite subject, ought to be 
more easily comprehended ; accordingly it 
had success among the audience. Yet I con- 
fess, the success has not absolutely convinced 
me in favor of the system adopted by M. 
Killer. I saw indeed that he wished to paint 
the three characters of the drama: Faust, 
Mephistopheles and Marguerite ; but in this 
very design one might meet with a variety of 
effects which I have sought in vain. The 
color is generally sombre, and the rhythm too 
uniform. I have no doubt of the affection 
which M.* Killer has for this piece, several 
parts of which are, for the rest, very remark- 
able ; one never adopts half-way a system 
which he believes good, precisely because he 
has faith, but at the age of M. Killer it is 
easy to modify oneself ; and I believe that 
he will modify himself with time." The 
observations of Fetis were as vain as his 
hope, and M. Killer had the good sense not 
to modify in anything his tendencies nor his 
so-called system. 

But Liszt conducted not only the works of 
others ; he also directed his own, and he com- 
posed many of them at that period ; he wrote 
then and published his twelve Poemes Sym- 
phaniques for orchestra, his symphony La Com- 
media IHvina, after Dante, his Mass for the 
consecration of thjS basilica at Gran, a quantity 
of works for the piano, and finally his sym- 
phony of Faust. He was inspired by the 
poem of Goethe in the largest fashion, with- 
out endeavoring in any way to translate its dra- 
matic episodes. He only wished to portray and 
sum up, in three pieces very different in charac- 
ter, the three principal personages of the drama ; 
he has professed to give, in some sort, a musical 
and psychological synthesb of each of them. 
It is certainly a singular Idea to wish to per- 
sonify Faast in an AUtgro, Marguerite in 
an Andante soave, and Mephistopheles in a 
Seherxo moUo vivace ironico; but the very 
strangeness and the dlfficitlty of the ei^terprise 
were just what woald excite such an artist to 
attempt it, — one for whom the new has al- 
ways had 80 much charm, and. who, to inspire 



himself with Goethe and to measure himself 
with Berlioz, would doubtless be unwilling to 
do anything which any one would have done 
before him. 

The first piece of this symphony is built 
upon an agitated and impassioned phrase of 
the violins, which a short entrance of the bas- 
soon connects with a sombre and threatening 
introduction. This characteristic melody of 
Faust has power and spring ; it develops well 
and reappeai^s each time with new instrumen- 
tal resources, with a new increase of sonority, 
until it dies out at last in a long smorzando, 
as the doctor, after vain convulsive efforts to 
seize the youth that flees him, falls crushed 
under the weight of a life all doubt and ennui. 
Such is the general plan ; but these different 
resumptions of the symbolical motive, which 
form the unity of this long piece, are traversed 
now by short melodies, now by long episodes 
designed to render all the movements of the 
doctor's soul. Weariness of existence, invol- 
untary return to the springtime of life, doubt 
and disgust for all things human, mysterious 
appeals of love, dull sensations of terrestrial 
indulgence, — all these shocks of the human 
mind, all these fluctuations of the old man at 
once tired of life and eager to enjoy, has the 
composer sought to translate by sonorous com- 
binations the most diverse that can be im- 
agined. 

The Andante entitled Marguerite, rests 
upon two tender and dreamy phrases ; one, 
sung first by the oboe on a hatterie of altos, 
then taken up in duet by the flute and clar- 
inet, before reiippearing in the violins in a 
mysterious tuUi; the other, of a more amo- 
rous expression, more abandoned with its very 
marked syncopation on the third beat, ex- 
pounded in turn by the quartet of strings and 
by that of the wood wind instruments, which 
are not slow to melt away in a vaporous 
melody. The middle of the piece is filled by 
a passionate melody which the violoncellos 
and the violins sing with interchange of parts 
under a soft murmur of flutes united with the 
second violins ; then the primordial phrase re- 
appears under an uninterrupted stroke of the 
first violins and brings happily back the am- 
orous plaint of Marguerite. These various 
sounds are soon lost in silence; the altos 
alone repeat discreetly a few notes of the first 
melody ; all is hushed ; Marguerite succumbs 
to the temptations of the Demon and sinks 
into the arms of her beloved. 

After the seduction and the gushes of ten- 
derness, the strident laughter of the Devil 
and the frightful cries of the Sabbath ; after 
the swoons of love, the despairing remorse 
and the menacing appeals of hell; Mephis- 
topheles has lost the soul of Marguerite, but 
he has gained that of the doctor, and the 
demons celebrate the victory of their lord and 
master. This infernal tableau offered an irre- 
sistible attraction and an assured success to ^ 
composer so well versed as Liszt in the man- 
agement of the orchestra, and who knows so 
well how to draw from the instruments all 
that they can give — and even a little more. 
And so this diabolical finale has been success- 
fully treated by him even to the most bizarre 
and most audacious effects. All Hell resounds 



106 



DWI&nrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1023. 



in his orchestra, and these thonsand instru- 
ments hissing, growling, gnashing, howling, 
give to the damned a concert terrible in a 
different way from so many other rose-water 
hells where the demons sing waltzes to dis- 
tract themselves, and where the sinners ex- 
press their suffering by imitating the sound 
of the wind in the trees. This explosion of 
sardonic joy is suddenly arrested when the hu- 
man voices unite themselves with the orchestra ; 
the basses, aided by an organ or harmonium, 
then intone the final chorus under a myste- 
rious beating of bow instruments. This An- 
dante mitiicoy which closes the whole sym- 
phony, b truly of a beautiful character and 
develops itself with a remarkable placidity 
after so many bursts of laughter and of fury ; 
the choir of men, alternating with the tenor 
solo, above the groan ings of the organ and 
the broad strain of harmony united with the 
brass, calmly terminates this trilogy of doubt, 
love and hate, letting us hear the chants tnys- 
ticus which Groethe has placed at the end of 
the SeeoTid Faust: ^^Alles vergdngliches ist 
nur ein Gleichniu ; . . . . das Eung- Wetbli- 
eke zieht uns hinan.*' 

Just ten years after Hiller, Richard Wagner 
wrote, also at Parb, A Faust Overture^ dur- 
ing his first sojourn among us, at the same 
time that he finished his Rienzi^ with a view 
to our Grand Opera, and composed the Vais- 
seau Fantome (Flying Dutchman), the over- 
ture of which was inspired by the recollection 
of the terrible storm which had assailed him 
on the passage from Riga to Boulogne. 
Maurice Schlesinger, the publisher, who, on 
the recommendation of Meyerbeer, had taken 
an active interest in bringing forward his 
young countryman, giving him orders for some 
critical or musical labors with salary enough 
to supply his most pressing wants, had obtained 
a formal promise from the musicians of the 
orchestra of the Conservatoire, that they 
would try a piece by his protege and execute it 
in a public concert, if it should seem to them 
to merit that honor. Happy in this assur- 
ance, Wagner wrote with inspiration this 
overture, which, in his thought, was not to 
remain isolated, but to form the first page of 
a grand symphony summing up the entire 
drama of Goethe ; and the artists of the Con- 
servatoire tried the piece, ''which appeared," 
as Fetis says, " one long enigma to the execu- 
tants/' To produce such a lucubration in 
public was a thing not to be thought of ; 
and the author had to guard his precious work 
for better times. But it was written that 
this overture, composed in Paris for Parisian 
amateurs, should be performed in Paris, as 
in fact it was — at the end of thirty years. 
On Sunday, March 6, 1870, M. Pasdeloup 
gave it a hearing in the Concert Populaire, 
but without great success, and without mak- 
ing any great stir, for that hearing has never 
yet had a morrow. 

Nevertheless this production of the youth 
of the celebrated composer is quite superior 
to his operas which date from the same 
period ; it is in fact much more personal, and 
indicates in the author a nutturity of mind, a 
full possession of himself, not met with to an 
equal degree in Rienziy nor even in The Fhf- 



ing Dutchman, This overture, bearing the 
impress of a power, a passion, a melancholy, 
raised to the extreme, is like a work apart in 
the entire work of Wagner. It does not in 
fact affect that form of an immense crescendo 
which was to inspire the master with his 
magnificent overtures to the Flying Dutch- 
man^ to Taunhaiiser and to the Afeistersinger ; 
it is of a conception not more admirable, but 
more free, which permits him to follow nearly 
all the phases of the original drama and to 
translate them and accenjtuate them with a 
surprising truth. This incessant contrast of 
force and of gentleness, this perpetual shock 
of joy with sadness, these delicious melodies 
suddenly cut short with a cry of rage, these 
outbursts of gasping passion traversed by 
melancholic effluvia, these transports of fury 
followed by mournful despondency, this calm 
disillusion of the beginning, these fierce in- 
fatuations which plunge mind and body into 
a complete annihilation, form together a con- 
ception hors ligne* This overture, then, with 
that which Schumann was destined to com- 
pose later, offers the most admirable syn- 
thesis that can be found of Goethe's drama. 
We have unfortunately but an overture ; we 
should no doubt have to-day a whole sym- 
phony, if the doctors of the Conservatoire 
had not, in their infallibility, oondemned this 
creation of genius as a '' long enigma." 

Ten years after Wagner had written his 
overture, twenty years after Hiller had com- 
posed his, Franz Liszt approached the same 
subject, and wrote not solely an overture, but 
an entire symphony, a purely orchestral work, 
at the end of which merely there is joined a 
choir of men to reinforce the peroration. 
Liszt must have been much more taken with 
the dramatic legend of Berlioz than with the 
poem of Goethe; and if he undertook to 
translate it into music in his turn, it must have 
been from admiration for the creation of 
Berlioz, and from an ambition to measure 
himself on the same field with the great 
French musician. Two facts seem to prove 
the justice of this inference : first, the dedicar 
tion of the work — Berlioz had dedicated his 
Faust to Franz Liszt, Liszt dedicated his to 
Hector Berlioz ; — then the date of the com- 
position, for this symphony was written dur- 
ing the years which followed the appearance 
of the Damnation de Faust in France and in 
Russia. It was in 1848, two years after the 
first and unfortunate hearing of the Damnation 
de Faust at Paris, that Liszt, forced by the 
political events to interrupt his musical pere- 
grinations to the four corners of Europe, took 
definitive possession of his functions as first 
capellmeister at Weimar, never absenting him- 
self unless for rare musical festivals and short 
journeys, consecrating himself entirely to the 
amelioration of the Chapel, of the Grand 
Duke of Weimar, and of his Opera which, 
unrenowned before, soon fixed the attention 
of the whole musical world. It was on this 
stage, in fact, that there were represented at 
that time, through the care and under the 
du*ectio^ of Liszt, the principal works of the 
greatest contemporary composers, particularly 
those of Schumann, Berlioz, and Richard Wag- 
ner; first, thi^t incomparable chef-d*oeuvre. 



Lohengrin, played for the first time in 1850 
under the direction of Liszt, and dedicated to 
him by the author; then, in the following 
years, Genoveva and Manfred, by Schumann ; 
Alfonso and Estrella, by Schubert; other 
new operas by Sobolewski, Raff, Lassen, Cor- 
nelius; finally Benvenuto Cellini, in repara- 
tion for the check experienced by that fine 
work in Paris, and for which the Parisian 
public has not yet made the amende honor- 
able to Berlioz. 

Gluck composed a ballet of Don Juan, 
Adolphe Adam wrote one upon Faust, The 
idea, in either case, was singular, and I should 
not dare to aflirm that the idea was justified 
in the execution, with Glnck any more than 
with Adam. It was during a stay of nine 
months in London, in 1832, that the future 
author of Le Chalet accepted the strange 
proposition to write the music of a baUet com- 
posed by the dancer Deshayes on the poem 
of Goethe. It is true that this proposition 
was made to him by his brother-in-law, La- 
porte, who had taken the direction of the 
King's Theatre ; it would have been cruel to 
refuse this scenario in three acts, which they 
laid upon his arms while pressing him to com- 
pose it during the short visit which he was 
about to make in Paris to assist at the first 
representation of Le Pre aux Clercs. Adam 
labored very actively upon this new work, 
and when he set out again for London on the 
21st of January, 1833, his score was com- 
pleted. It was immediately put in rehearsal, 
and the ballet of Faust, danced and done in 
pantomime by Albert, Perrot, Coulon, Mmes. 
Pauline Leroux and Montessu, all artists of 
the Grand Opera of Paris, was played at 
the end of February or the beginning of 
March. "The success was very great," 
writes Adam, "even for the music." The 
final remark is becoming, for such an enter- 
prise is more bizarre than glorious, even after 
a success, and a little modesty was very well 
in such a case. 

We have rapidly passed in review nearly 
all the composers who have not feared to 
measure themselves with the sublime concep- 
tion of the German poet. There remain yet 
four, whose works, to be surely judged, ought 
to be studied at some length : these four com- 
posers are, — in order of date, — Spohr, Ber- 
lioz, Schumann and Gounod. 

^o be oontina«d.) 

GEORGE ONSLOW.- 

[l<Toin the French of A. Mahmositsi.. <] 
I shall now search back amongst the memories 
o£ my childish days, memories which are still 
fresh and green in my recollection though belong- 
ing to the distant past, and endeavor to describe 
the sympathetic character of Greorge Onslow. 
He first directed me in my artistic career, and 
became, later on, my affectionate and attached 
friend. Endowed with a charming disposition, a 
thorough gentlemao by birth and feeling, an emi- 
nent musician, few figures in the gallery of 
modern composers stand out in clearer relief or 
possess a more penetrating charm. 

The great French symphonist and composer 
of chamber music, which in Germany ranks with 
that of the most celebrated masters, never labored 
under any uncertainties as to his musical voca- 

> TruMUted from Le Mhtettrtl In iha London Musical 
St€mdard. 



JcLT 8, 1880.] 



DWIQHTa JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



107 



tion, and his profession was not interfered with 
by other and more material necessities. His 
father, Sir Edward Onslow, was a member of the 
English aristocracy, and it was during a tour in 
France that he made the acquaintance of Mdlle. 
Bourdailles de Brantome, a lady of great beauty. 
They were married shortly afterwards, in 1783; 
the bride possessing youth, beauty, intelligence, 
and a considerable fortune as her dowry. Greorge 
Onslow was the son of this union, and was born 
on the 27th July, 1784. 

Lord Onslow, the grandfather of the young 
Greorge, wished his grandson to live with him in 
London, in order to take charge of and person- 
ally supervise |ps education. He was taught 
music merely as an accomplishment and a pas- 
time, but this pastime soon became full of seduc- 
tion for the child. Hulmandel, Dussek, and Cra- 
mer were successiyely chosen to teach the piano 
to the young patrician ; but Cramer's lessons in 
particular left a lasting impression on his mind. 
Thirty years later, when I was still almost a 
child, he spoke to me about him with great enthu- 
siasm. It was owing to this careful training that 
George Onslow acquired in a few years brilliant 
execution, intense love of music, and a fine deep 
touch, as well as that legato manner of playing 
which was the basis of the teaching of Clementi, 
Dussek, and Cramer. Onslow retained all his 
life the traditions of that school which were so 
well appreciated by his friend Camille Pleyel. 
And yet, strange to say, this youthful enthusiast, 
full of delight at interpreting anything musical, 
pleased at overcoming any difficulty, and bring- 
ing out the finest qualities of the instrument, had 
no ambition to become a composer. 

Nothing denoted the musical fecundity that lay 
dormant in the young man. When he returned 
to live with his family in Auvergne, where his 
earliest days had been passed, he seemed destined 
to lead the life of a country gentleman, residing 
on his own estate, with a taste for literature and 
the fine arts generally, but with no desire to 
attain to more than mere brilliancy of execution 
in music. Greorge Onslow, however, soon began 
to experience that fever which Hal^vy so well 
describes in his "Souvenirs and Portraits" — 
that indefinable but intense sensation which he 
who loves his art, and finds in it priceless trea- 
sures, experiences, and yet all the while lacks the 
power; enthusiasm, and comprehension which 
alone are the key to masterpieces causing sublime 
inspirations to blossom into life. 

All Onslow's biogi^aphers, enlightened as to 
this part of his life by the master's own avowal, 
mention the astonishing fact of the musician 
endeavoring for nearly four years, to compose, and 
finding himself utterly unable to do so. He was 
insensible to the masterpieces of dramatic art, 
and was even indifferent to the beauty of Mozart, 
though eventually he became one of. his most 
ardent admirers. Intense intuition of the beau- 
tiful preceded his direct perceptions, and the 
desire to attain an ideal easier to divine than to 
grasp, at last conquered this tnerfio. The expe- 
rience was long and discouraging. Mehul's over- 
ture to "Stratonice" finally accomplished the 
prodigy, though it was not solely owing to that 
work tha£ this miracle was performed. Onslow's 
love of art was the supreme initiation. 

In order to comprehend more thoroughly Mo- 
cart, Haydn, Boccherini, and Beethoven — those 
masters of chamber music — and to take an 
active part in the execution of their trios, quatu- 
ors, and quintets, Onslow studied the violon- 
cello. He even acquired some proficiency upon 
this instrument, for which, later on, he composed 
irith marked predilection. Encouraged by his 
friends, who were as enthusiastic about music as 
himself, Onslow made lus first attempts at com- 
position in 1806, at the age of twenty-two.* 



But from being unacquainted with the study of 
counterpoint, and completely inexperienced in the 
art of developing his ideas, it only resulted in an 
elaborate copy of Mozart, without the genius of 
the master. 

This work, however, served as a basis for fur- 
ther study, when George Onslow received instruc- 
tion from Reicha, whose lessons he pursued with 
that determination which was so characteristic of 
his temperament. It was at the house of his 
friend Camille Pleyel that the young amateur 
composed his first quatuors and quintets for 
stringed instruments — violins, alto, and basso; 
liis first trios for the violin and basso, and his 
beautiful sonata for the piano. His individuality 
slowly began to assert itself from the imitations 
of style which had both guided and led away the 
budding composer; but the absence of early 
study was still visible. Freedom and clearness 
in musical dialogue were still wanting, so — fol- 
lowing Haydn's example — at the age of forty 
Onslow began to study counterpoint. He learned 
rapidly and thoroughly, and from that time the 
composer felt himself sustained by a real knowl- 
edge of his power. 

Then began a period of retirement and labor 
more known to myself personally than to the 
world in generaL My childhood was passed at 
Clermont, and I was fortunate enough to gain 
the affections of the celebrated musician. Greorge 
Onslow spent part of the winter at Clermont, 
passing six weeks in Paris, and remained during 
the whole of the summer at his Chateau of Chal- 
andrat, near Mirefleur, a small town where my 
grandfather, who was a friend of the Onslow 
family, was bom. Here the composer lived with 
his family and a few intimate friends, amongst 
whom were MM. Murat de Sevres and de Pierre. 
His friends were a source of great encourage- 
ment and support to him. I have often been 
present at his receptions of chamber music, and 
have preserved a lively recollection of the sym- 
pathy which existed between the audience and 
the interpreters. George Onslow's reputation 
increased rapidly, seconded as it was by his inters 
preters — ^Baillot, Tihnant, Kreutzer, V idal, Nor- 
blinp^rc, Alard, Sauzay, Cuvillon, Dahcla, Franc- 
homme, and Gouff^, who were among those 
invited the beginning of every winter to attend 
the first performances, which were as a rule 
enthusiastically received. 

In 1842 George Onslow was elected a member 
of the French Institute in place of Cherubini: 
The dramatic works, ^'L'Alcade de la Vega," 
<<Le Colporteur," *<Le Due de Guise," three 
symphonies, seven trios for piano, violin, and 
violoncello, thirty-six quatuors, thirty-four quin- 
tettes, a sextuor, septuor, duets for piano and 
violin, sonatas, one pianoforte sonata, and vari- 
ous themes, formed at that period the extent of 
his musical compositions. 

The name of Greorge Onslow was long cele 
brated and popular in Grermany ; it ranked with 
our neighbors, who are good and impartial judges 
of the merits of foreign composers, with those of 
the greatest symphonists ; and as an author of 
chamber music his name was coupled with the 
immortal ones of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. 
But in France, with the exception of a small 
number of real musicians, the majority of the 
public only knew of Onslow by lus lyrical works, 
which were not received with much enthusiasm. 
The composer of symphonies and chamber music 
remained unknown to the mass of the people, 
who only appreciate theatrical music 

In 1829, George Onslow, who was always fond 
of the pursuits and amusements of a country 
gentleman, and was a gpreat lover of the chase, 
nearly lost his life in a boar hunt which had been 
got up in lus honor. He was stationed near some 
treesy which partially hid him from the rest of 



the party, and fired at a boar which passed near. 
He missed it; but one of the huntsmen had 
noticed a rustling in the bushes near where Greorge 
Onslow stood. He fired, and the shot hit the 
composer full in the face, instead of the boar. 

His recovery was long and tedious ; his fine, 
clear cut features were not disfigured, but this 
accident was the cause of a partial deafness, 
which increased every year. This deafness was 
less painful than that to which Beethoven was a 
martyr ; nevertheless, it threw a gloom over our 
illustrious compatriot, and caused him to feel dis< 
oouraged and melancholy. Other causes added 
to his despondency. He suffered at not receiving 
from France the justice rendered by Germany to 
his works, and the admiration there accorded to 
his chamber music. I have often heard him 
speak bitterly of that want of appreciation which 
saddened his last days. 

George Onslow died on the 3d October, 1852. 
His friends can remember how much sympathy 
for tiie man was combined witii admiration for 
the composer. The best portrait of George 
Onslow is by Grenedon , but I do not require to 
see it to recall to my remembrance that handsome 
face, with its clear cut, noble features, one of the 
finest types of the great Anglo-Saxon race, soft^ 
ened and perfected by a mixture of French 
grace. His high forehead, Bourbon nose, the 
perfect oval of his face, his arched and smiling 
mouth, frank and genial expression were most 
attractive. He was tall, and his easy, graceful 
carriage added an additional charm of stateliness. 
and dignity. 



CRAZY CRITICS. 
The following (says the London Musical Stand- 
ard) has been brought to our office by a queer- 
looking individual, who stated that he had writ- 
ten to Franz Liszt to offer his services as analyst, 
whenever the Abbate wrote another Epic of 
Hades, and had sent this article as a specimen of 
his critical acumen. The advanced composer, 
however, declined to have anything to do with 
him, on the ground that he was evidently dement^ 
ed, and saw more in music than the composer 
had ever intended should be in it — a failing with 
which his (Liszt's) school had no sympathy what- 
ever. The writer of the article confessed to 
us in confidence that he was a ** Crazy Critic," 
and that he differed in only one point from many 
other critics — he was crazy, and knew it; while 
they were crazy, and didn't know it : — 

''The next item in the programme was the 
— ^th Synvphony of L. Van Beethoven. This 
important work is one of the immortal nine com- 
posed in one day to the order of the Emperor 
Francis Joseph. The story of the composer's 
wife keeping him awake with fairy tales to enable 
him to finish his task within the allotted time, is 
well known. This set of nine is, in its turn, part 
of that glorious series of twenty-one, familiarly 
referred to in the 'Esoteric Critic' as: the full 
score of Beethoven's Symphonies in all the maj<v 
and minor clefs, and including, among the rest, the 
popular Pastoral, ' Moonlight,' ' Reformation ' and 
' Blue Danube ' Symphonies — the third named of 
which will rank high even when compared with 
such masterpieces as the ' Battie of Prague,' the 
March from 'Athalie,' and the overture to 
' Tancred.' 

"The opening movement is in one of the 
master's characteristic moods. His individuality 
is reflected alike in the rallentando. treatment of 
the wind, and the half scornful, half beseeching 
tone of the syncppated passage for the dram— 
an instrument which, since the time of our own 
Orlando Gibbs, has rarely been treated with such 
felicity as in the present movement. As F^tis, 
in his standard Trak^ de VlmirtimeoiaiUnh haa 



108 



BWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1023- 



justly observed, the management of the drum is 
the one mark by which genius is distinguishable 
from mere talent : — * The capabilities,* says he, 
(we quote from memory), * of the violin, the horn, 
the flute, and the thorough-bass, may be taught 
in the schools ; genius alone can probe the hidden 
recesses of the drum.' Though briefly developed, 
this movement is nevertheless replete with feeling 
and fioritura. 

"The succeeding Non Troppo served well to 
display the penetrating adagio quality of the 
double-basses and oboes ; while the bravura pas- 
sages assigned to the horns were delivered with a 
sympathetic appreciation of the composer's hid- 
den meaning. We observed, by the way, that tlie 
players of these instruments used fresh mouth- 
pieces for this section of the work — a truly 
original idea ; interesting, moreover, as showing 
the ready command of the composer over the 
resources at his disposal. By the simultaneous 
employment of the ritardando and accelerando, 
a climax of an exciting nature is skilfully worked 
up, culminating, most unexpectedly, in a discord 
of the prepared sixth. The repeats were deli- 
cately played, and the resolution of tlie well- 
known double-bass produced all its customary 
effects. A passage in the reprise of the leitmotif 
suggests to us the thought — < Was not comic 
opera, after all, Beethoven's true mission ? ' But 
man is the creature of his own age. To Beet- 
hoven was the Usk assigned, of perfecting old 
material ; the glory of originating a new form of 
art was reserved for the present age, and for 
Offenbach. 

" The Andante, a soft and vivacious movement, 
consisting, as it does, of a binary counterpoint in 
the octave, three against two, might by some be 
considered pedantic, but, to our mind, is redeemed 
by the flowing staccato melody for the cUrinets, 
oboes, and bassoons, accompanied by an expres- 
sive pizzicato on the reed instruments. A note 
in the programme informs us that the movement 
is written in five parts. Of these, we confess our 
preference for the second, thu^, and fourth, though 
the opening and conclusion are also deservedly 
admired. Jn the Scherzo the composer reverts 
to one of the old forms perfected by his talented 
countryman, J. S. Bach — a composer, the trifling 
and ad captandum nature of whose composition^ 
procured him an ephemeral popularity, but whose 
works are now rarely heard except as act-music 
at some of our provincial theatres. The rapid 
dramatic passages for the horns were delivered 
with a brilliancy, and a purity of tone, that left 
little to be desired. In this movement an ethereal 
effect is obtained by causing the violins to be 
played < con sordini,' Le.y without rosin. We arc 
informed by a dilettante friend, that the same 
end may be gained by freely soaping the strings 
of the instrument It would be interesting to 
know whether this process, which seems to be not 
without its advantages, has been brought to the 
notice of the masters of the craft. In the Finale, 
science and genius combine to enthral the listener. 
The composer is here at his strongest. By turns, 
he enchants and terrifies. Whispers of hope are 
succeeded by wails of despair. The movement is 
a complete epitome of man and his destiny. 
Whole doctrines are set forth in single notes. 
Systems of philosophy are refuted within the 
space of a double bar; while, here and there, the 
curtain is momentarily raised that divides the 
known from the unknown, and, for a short time, 
man is brought face to face with the mystery of 
existence, grasping the illimiuble, sounding the 
unfathomable^ Every member of the band be- 
comes for the moment an inspired Hebrew — a 
Heaven-sent messenger of the decrees of relent- 
less Fate ; while every member of the audience 
yields himself up to the dominant harmony, and 
blindly, yet thankfully, dings to the guidance of 



the leading note. Swept along by the full torrent 
of passion, the enraptured hearer is hurried on- 
wards into the frenzied whirlpool of the Coda, 
where every truth that has been set forth at large 
before is now resumed in brief. By an uncommon, 
but not, we believe, unprecedented tour de forct^ 
the master has here made ever}' instrument play 
a different tune, in a different key, and in a differ- 
ent time. The crisis reached, tlie sound gradu- 
ally dies away, as the exhausted fancy softly 
sinks to earth; the meek bleating of the trom- 
bones proclaiming in language that only the 
scoffer can afford to despise as meaningless, that 
there is hope for man beyond the grave. 

"Mr. X. was a graceful conductor; and it 
seemed to us, as far as we could judge from our 
somewhat distant seat, that his gestures followed 
implicitly the windings of the music. Although 
we should be sorry to miss the chef d'orchestre 
from his accustomed throne, we think it our duty, 
in the interests of the art, to inquire whether his 
movements have not a tendency to distract the 
attention of the performers. We observed that 
several of the Irtter from time to time threw an 
eye in the direction of their chief. 

"With regard to the performance, though we 
have no wish to be unduly severe in criticising 
the efforts of amateurs, we would suggest that the 
tempi of the more strictly minor passages might 
have been taken a shade flatter. It is by atten- 
tion to minor details that general effect is secured. 
For the rest, the bars were nicely accented; 
many of the instruments seemed to come in very 
appropriately, and the clarinets struck us as 
being fairly in tune.*' 

JULES BENEDICT. 

The following account of Sir Julius Benedict's 
artistic career is taken from the Dictionary of Music 
and Musicians — edited by George Grove, D.C.L. : — 

" Sir J alius Benedict was bom at Stuttgart, Novem- 
ber 27, 1804. Sir Julius is one of the most eminent of 
the numerous foreign musicians who have settled in 
England since Handel's time. As composer, performer, 
and teacher of music, be has now held an exceptionally 
high position in this country for upwards of forty years. 
After studying under Hummel at Weimar — during 
which he saw Beethoven (March 8, 1827) — he was, in 
his seventeenth year, presented by the illustrious 
pianist to Weber, who received him into his house, and 
from the beginning of 1821 until the end of 1824, 
treated him, in Sir Julius's own words, * not only as a 
pupil, but as a son.' At the age of nineteen young 
Benedict was, on Weber's recommendation, appointed 
to conduct a series of operatic performances at Vienna. 
A few years afterwards we find him as ch^ d'orchestre 
at the San Carlo at Naples, where he produced his 
first opera, Giacinta ed Ernesto — a work which seems 
to have been too German for the Neapolitan taste. On 
the other hand, I Portoghesi in Goa, which Benedict 
composed in 1890 for Stuttgart, may have been found 
too Italian for the Germans ; since, unsuccessful in the 
city for which it was specially written, it was warmly 
received by the operatic public of Naples. The youth- 
ful master, who showed himself a German among the 
Italians, and an Italian among the Germans, went in 
1835 to Paris, at that time the head-quarters of 
Kossini and Meyerbeer, a frequent place of rendesvous 
for Donizetti and Bellini, and the home of Auber, 
Harold, and Adolphe Adam, of HaMvy, Berlioz, and 
V^liclen David. At Paris, Benedict made the acquain- 
tance of Malibran, who suggested his visiting London: 
and from 1836 until now, we have had Weber's favorite 
pupil residing permanently among us. In 1836 Bene> 
diet was appointed to the musical direction of the 
Opera Buffa, started by the late John Mitchell at the 
Lyceum Theatre. Here he brought out with success a 
little work caUed Un Amw ed un Giomu, originally 
given in 1836 at Naples. In 1838 he produced his first 
English opera, The Gipsy's Ifarniny— known in the 
present day to those who are not acquainted with it as 
a whole by the very dramatic air for the bass voice, 
*Rage, thou angry storm.' Benedict was engaged at 
Dniiy Lane Theatre as orchestral conductor throughout 
that period of Mr. Bunn's management during which 
Balfe's most successful works were brought out. To 
this period belong Benedict's finest operas, Tfie Brides 
of Venice^ and The Crusaders, both produced at Drury 
Lane under the composer's immediate direction. In 



1800 Benedict accompanied Jenny Land to the United 
States, and directed the whole of the concerts given by 
the 'Swedish Nightingale,' with such unexampled 
success, during her famous American tour. On his 
return to Enghnd he accej^ted an engagmeut as musi- 
cal conductor at Her Majesty's Theatre, and afterwards 
at Drury Lane, whither Mr. Mapleson's establishment 
was for a time transferred. When in 1860 Htc. Maple- 
son was about to produce (at Her Majesty's Theatre) 
an Italian version of Oberon^ he naturally turned to 
the composer who, above all others, possessed the 
secret of Weber's style, and requested him to supply 
the recitatives wantini^ in the Oberon composed for the 
English stage, but absolutely necessary for the work in 
Italianized form. Benedict added recitatives which 
may now be looked upon as belonging inseparably to 
the Italian Oberon, Eighteen hundred and sixty was 
also the year of Benedict's beautifal cantata on the 
subject of r79ui<ne— produced at the Norwich Festi- 
val — in which Clara Novello made her last public 
appearance. In 1862, soon after the remarkable success 
of Mr. Dion Boucicault's CoUeen Bawn, Benedict 
brought out The Lily of KiUarney, for which Mr. 
Oxenford (probably in collaboiation with Mr. Bouci- 
canlt) had furnished the exceUent libretto. In 1863 he 
composed the cantata of Richard Votur de Lion tot 
the Norwich Festival of that year. His operetta, Th€ 
Bride of Song, was given at Covent Garden in 1864; 
his oratorio of St, Cecilia at the Norwich Festival in 
1866 ; that of St. Peter, at the Birmingham Festival 
of 1870. As * conductor' at chamber-concerts, where 
the duties of the musician so entitled consist in 
accompanying the singers on the pianoforte, and in 
seeing generally that nothing goes wrong, Benedict has 
come at least as often before the public as in his charac- 
ter of orchestral chief. With rare interruptions he has 
officiated as conductor at the Monday Popular Concerts 
since they first started, now some sixteen^ years ago. 
His own annual concert has been looked upon for the 
last forty years at least as one of the great festivals of 
the musical season. There is no form of music which 
this versatile composer has not cultivated, and thonj^h 
more prolific masters may have lived, it would bo 
difticult to name one who has labored with success in so 
many different styles. In 1873 a symphony by the now 
veteran composer was performed for the first tune at 
' he Crystal Palace ; and a second in the following year; 
M that a complete edition of Benedict's works would 
include, besides ballads and pianoforte fantasiait, operas, 
oratorios, and cantatas, compositions in the highest 
form of orchestral music. Sir Julius received the 
honor of knighthood in 1871. On the occasion of his 
seventieth birthday he was named Knight Commander 
of the Orders of Francis and Joseph (Austria), and of 
Frederick (Wiirtemberg). It was determined in the 
same year, by his numerous English friends, to offer 
him a testimonial * in appreciation of his labon during 
forty years for the advancement of art, and as a token 
of their esteem.' In accordance with this resolution a 
ser>ice of silver, including a magnificent group of can- 
delabra, was presented to Sir Julius the following 
summer, at Dudley House, before a number of the 
most distinguished musicians and amateurs in London. 
Besides being a member of the before-mentioned 
Austrian and Wiirtembergian orders, Sir Julius Bene- 
dict has been decorated by the Sovereigns of Prussia, 
Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, and Hanover." 

With regard to Sir Julius Benedict's instrumental 
compositions, orchestral or otherwise, there is a good 
deal to be added to the foregoing, besides something 
to elucidate. The scherzo from the spmyhony in CI 
minor, for example, had been played at the Norwich 
Festival previous to its admirable performance (in 1873) 
at the Crystal PaUce, under the direction of Mr. 
Manns. The symphony No. 2, in C major, on the 
other liand, has never been given entire at the Ciystal 
Palace, or elsewhere. It may here not be inappropriate 
to notice what is passed over in the Dictionary of 
Music and Musicians: viz., that Benedict has conduct- 
ed the Triennial Norwich Festival twelve times, begin- 
ning from 1845 (when he succeeded the late Professor 
Edward Taylor). This explains his having composed 
three cantatas. Undine, Richard Cteur de Lion, and St. 
Cecilia (which has no pretensions to be an " oratorio,") 
for that important triennial event At the last festival 
(1878) he produced his Kdtchen von HeUbron, an 
overture intended^to illustrate the well-known drama of 
Heinrich Kleist— if not, indeed, to ser\'e as prelude to 
an opera bearing the name and telling the story of 
Kieist's impressive work. To all his operas and can- 
tatas, as well as to his oratorio, St. Peter, Sir Julius has 
written overtures ; so that these may be understood in 
connection with the works with which they are allied. 
But Independently of opera, cantata, and oratorio, he 
has composed what may be designated as "eoncert- 

> Twenty-one years. — W. D. D. 



Jolt 3, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



109 



overtures/* of which the subjoined may be accepted 
as a tolerably correct list : — Raoul de Cregvy, 1830 
(for Berlin; the Minnesinger^ 1842 ; a ** Feptival Ovei^ 
ture," in D, for the opening of the new Liverpool Phil- 
harmonic Hall (the annual series of conceits held, in 
which he has conducted since the demiFe of Alfred 
Mellon); overture to Shakespeare's Tempest^ 1854: over 
tures, The Bride of Song and Pnnce von Hamburg^ 
1864 and 1865 ; overture to Macbeth^ on the occasion of 
the marriage of the Princess Boyal ; and two over, 
tures — Return of the Crusaders and Axel and WaL 
btfrg, never yet made known to the public Apart 
from symphonies and overtures, however, Sir Julius 
Benedict has written other instrumental works, among 
which may be named a Rondo Brillante in Aflat (1824), 
A Concertino in the same key (1830), a Concerto in C 
minor (1849), and a second O>ncerto in £ flat (1870), 
all for the pianoforte with orchestral accompaniments. 
The Concerto in C minor was played by Sir Julius him- 
self, at one of the concerts of the Philharmonic 
Society, not long before his deptuture for the United 
States with the tiien famous Jenny Und. Three years 
later (April 26, 1853) it was performed at a concert 
given by the Harmonic Union, a society of which Mr. 
Benedict himself was conductor, by Mme. (then Miss) 
Arabella Goddard, who has also played the Concerto 
in E flat at the concerts of the Philharmonic Society, 
at the Crystal Palace, and at the Birmingham Festival 
of 1867— the year of the production of Sterndale 
Bennett 4 Wonxan of Samaria and John Francis Bap- 
nett's Paradise and the Peri. 

The Quartet for stringed instruments, in C minor, is 
the second composition of this form from the pen of 
Sir Julius Benedict, one in E major (still in MS.) hav- 
ing been written as far back as 1825. The Sonata in £ 
minor, for pianoforte and violin, has also two pre- 
cursors — the flrst in D minor, Op. 1, published in 1822 
by Peters of Leipzig, and dedicated '*to bis beloved 
master, C M. von Weber," the second in A major, 
composed in 1824, and still unpublished. He Ims, 
moreover, composed two sonatas for pianoforte alone 
— one in £, " C^. 2 ** (1824), another in D minor (1825), 
"Op. 4.'* 

The Quartet and Sonata, introduced for the flrst time 
before an English audience on the occasion of Sir 
Julius Benedict's recent beneflt concert in St James's 
Hall, were written in London --the Quartet, in 1872, 
the Sonata in 1868. 

That Weber treated Benedict "not only as a pupil 
but as a son," may be gathered from the letter 
addressed by the composer of Der Freischiitz to the 
father of the young student, who, having termbiated 
the period of his apprenticeship, was on the point of 
starting to rejoin his family at Vienna. Coming from 
such a source, this letter is worth being made public, 
and a translation is subjoined : — 

"If God grants Julius the perseverance and modest 
humbleness of the true artist who pursues his art for 
art's sake onlv, added to his eminent gifts and talent, 
he cannot fail to achieve considerable success in the 
world; provided he does not endeavor to sow and reap 
at the same time, and to snatch ,in a few months what 
for others is the labor of so many years. For myself, 
at least, I can solemnly assert and know that 1 have 
neither neglected, kept back, nor overlooked anvthing 
which, according to my b«lief, could make him a 
thorough artist and man. I could read to him from the 
book of experience, and have done so with affection, 
strictness at times even, with words of deep earnest- 
ness. I pray Godvoucnsafe his best bluing on his 
exertions." 

Had Weber lived to see the result, he would in all 
probability have admitted that his hopes were fulfilled 
even sooner than he had anticipated. 

%* The overtures to the Tempest and the Minne- 
singer were written expressly for the Norwich Festivals. 
The Bride of Song is an oj^retta virtually the same as 
Un Anno ed un Giomoy originally produced at Naples. 
It was performed at Covent Garden Theatre in 1864. 
her Print von Uomberg if another drama by Hein- 
rich Kleist. 

WmifyV^ S^outmal of ^ufiiu 

SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1880. 

— I ■ p I ■■ I ■■!■■■ ^^^— ^ I ■ I ■ ■ I ^^^l^^MMil^ ■< W 

JOACHIM AND CLARA SCHUMANN. 
There are reports of an intended visit to this 
country by the great violinist, — too good, we 
fear, to be true. But let as hope that he will 
come, and with him his wife, the admirable singer. 
We have had hopes before now that both Mme. 
Schumann and Joachim, so lon^ associated in 
artutic labors, would one day let themselves be 
heard in America; but we fear it is too late to 
expect all that. Meanwhile we are tempted to 



draw from our reminiscences of a week spent in 
Dresden, twenty years ago, when it was our priv- 
ilege to enjoy die friendly acquaintance and the 
daily performance, in rehearsal or in concert, 
of that noble pair of artists. 

It was in Leipzig, one October evening, after 
a Gewandhaus concert, while the wild harmonies 
of Schumann's Manfred music were yet ringing 
in the brain, that we took up the Zeitung and 
there read that on the morrow evening two of 
the noblest interpreters of the noblest in German 
art, whom more than any two perhaps we wished 
to hear and know, and to whose fame the readers 
of this Journal were not strangers would commence 
a series of three musical soirees in the Hotel de 
Saxe at Dresden. Is it not enough to say that 
these were Clara Schumann and Joachim I 

It is but four hours by the railroad. So off we 
start in the cold, foggy morning, seeing nothing 
nor caring much to see, while whirled across 
those flat, uninteresting battle plains that stretch 
beyond Leipzig. A white, dry fog; there is a 
sense of promise in it ; and by the middle of the 
forenoon the warm sun glows through, revealing 
through a hazy and poetic atmosphere, a pictur- 
esque succession of red-roofed towns, and little 
vine-clad hills (nothernmost region of the grape 
this I), with pretty glimpses of the Elbe spark- 
ling across green fields, and, beckoning in the 
distance, the domes and spires and palaces of 
Dresden. At noon we cross the stone bridge, 
over the swift, broad river that comes sweeping 
round through ^ Saxon Switzerland," whose hazy 
purple outline already tempts you on the far 
horizon, — the blue Elbe cradled in Bohemia — 
and enter the stately, cheerful city, and are soon 
housed in the pleasant hotel in which the concert 
is to be. Seated at the table d'hdte, there is a 
vacant chair beside us. Presently a sense of some- 
body entering and asking for somebody; and 
somebody introducing himself with cordial hand- 
grasp, and sorry to have been engaged in rehear- 
sal when our letter was sent in, afd *' shall we 
talk German or English? " (of course we choose 
the latter), has taken the vacant seat, and we are 
in full tide of eager conversation, as clear to one 
another as old friends, and in instant rapport on 
most topics of most interest to both. We talk of 
the *' Diarist," whom he knows and esteems ; of 
music, from Bach to Wagner, of the first of 
whom he is one of the truest exponents, entering 
into the very spirit of him, while he can afford to 
admire much in the latter; of Art, mutually 
pleased to find that each had been thinking of 
Kaulbach as a sort of Meyerbeer in painting. 
We talk of Emerson, of whom he is a warm ad- 
mirer, familiar with all his writings, and delight- 
ing in such free, quickening mountain air of 
thought; of America, whose generous idea and 
destiny he understands, and has more interest and 
faith in, than I have found before in Germany ; of 
England, and the rival musical critics, Davison 
and Chorley, both of whom he esteems, and Mac- 
farren more than either; of what music has to 
offer us in Leipzig and in Berlin, in Dresden and 
Vienna, and in his own Hannover ; of Schumann 
and his noble artist widow ; of Liszt at Weimar, 
and of his partie in Germany, and what not. 

Our companion is a strong, broad-shouldered, 
manly looking fellow, of two or three years under 
thirty ; with a massive, overhanging brow, Beet- 
hoven-like; a heavy mass of rich dark hair; 
large, gray, earnest eyes ; pale face, full of intel- 
lect, of firm will and geniid good feeling ; a cer- 
tain gleam of genius in those eyes ; a somewhat 
knotted habit of the brows, as from intense, con- 
centrated brain-work, and a strongly marked, 
almost severe look when the face is in repose; 
but quickly lit ufit with glad recognition, or 
softened with tender 83rmpathie8 ; the sunshine of 
a cordial, generoua, social nature InreakB out in an 



instant from those eyes. Decidedly a strong, 
fresh, wholesome individuality ; generous and sun- 
shiny; full of friendliness; moody withal, and 
capable of feeling bored ; high-toned, brave, and 
genial, both in our English sense of hearty, and 
in the German and artistic sense, implying imagi- 
native, creative energy — ^the adjective of genius, 
A large and catholic view of men and Uiings ; 
and a strong character. You do not often find 
all these traits in a virtttoso ; and this is no mere 
virtuoso; this young man is Joseph Joachim; 
who, though his chief medium has been the violin, 
has made himself more known and deeply felt by 
a certain magnetism of genius and of character 
that works behind all that. 

And now — ^begging our friend's pardon for thus 
unceremoniously and bunglingly attempting his 
portrait — let us leave him to the drudgery of put- 
ting on strings, while we talk a walk on the Briihl 
terrace along the Elbe, over the bridge and back, 
and by the royal palaces and church and theatre, 
coming unexpectedly upon the newly erected 
bronze statue of Weber by the way ; and back to 
the hotel to find ourselves in the evening in the 
pretty ooncert-saal, where are assembled all the 
beauty and refinement of Dresden musical society, 
awaiting the beginning of the first concert. It is 
a small hall, holding perhaps, from six to seven 
hundred persons, and b completely fulL This is 
the only regular concert hall in Dresden, strange 
to say ; and even the symphony concerts of the 
fine large orchestra, which Rietz directs, have to 
be given here. Here is the programme : 

Sonata (D minor. Op. 121) for piano and violin, 

played by the concert givars . . . Sebnnumn. 
Gavatina, from the "Swiss Family," . . . Weigl. 
Ballade (O minor), piano played by Clara Sehu- 

mann, . Chopin. 

AUegro brilliant, 4 hands, by Frl. Mario Wleck 

and Mm«. Schumann, . . • . Mendolnoluu 
Sonata for Violin, by Joachim, . . • . Tartini. 
3 lieder : a " Im Freien," Scliabert. 

.... Schumann. 



5 SchneogUSckchen,' 
c« Frist's 



} 



Sonata, (A minor, Op. 23) for piano and violin, Beethoven 

[We are writing twenty years ago, mind, and 
will continue now in the first person singular]. 

Of the first piece, as a composition, I can hard- 
ly venture to speak after a single hearing, and at 
this distance of time. It certainly interested me 
much, and impressed me with that sense of depth 
and power and passion, with passages of playful 
fancy of quite exquisite individuality, that Robert 
Schumann almost always gives me. But it was 
one of his latest and by no means clearest works. 
It is a high and worthy mission which Madame 
Schumann takes upon her, of interpreting to 
the world, through her wonderfully perfect pian- 
ism, so genial and so classical, the, as yet, but 
poorly understood and undervalued creations of 
her talented husband's genius. Of her I can 
speak, for the impression is distinct ; how could 
it fail to be t She has the look, the air and man- 
ner of the true artist and the noble woman. Her 
face is full of sensibility and intellect; large dark 
eyes, f uU of rich light, and lips that always quiver 
with the exquisite sense of music. A large, broad 
forehead, and head finely shaped, with rich 
black hair. The profile is just that of the twin 
medallion portrait which represents her with her 
husband ; but the face and head are wider than 
that had suggested to me, and indicate a greater 
weight and breadth of character. The features 
are in constant play, lit with enthusiasm, as if the 
music never ceased. Her technique as a pianist 
is beautifully smooth, clean and perfect; die has 
mastered all that, years ago, under the severe but 
admirable teaching of the old Wieck, her father. 
There is an inexhaustible energy in her playing, 
when she deals with the strong tone-poets such as 
Beethoven; you miss none of their fire and 
grandeur. I never heard more sustained nobility 
of play, nor more faciei nor more finely finished. 



110 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.-~No. 1023. 



But snch an artist does not play to exhibit her 
own skill; but to bring out and present in all 
their individuality, in just the right light, the 
beauties she discerns and feels in those creations 
of the masters which are worthy of such illustra- 
tion and will liye. She is a thorough musician ; 
has a clear and true conception of all the classics, 
the inspired tone-poems of the piano; and an 
equal contempt for all trivial or weakly senti- 
mental show-pieces; to the performance of mere 
operatic fantasias, and the like, she never conde- 
scends. Mere brilliancy is nothing; she knows 
the real gem from the bit of glass that also spar- 
kles in the sun. Her thorough acquaintance with 
her memory of, all the principal sonatas, trios 
ete., of Beethoven and other masters is remarka- 
ble ; in the rehearsals her memory often is the 
test to which the correctness of differing editions 
of the parts is referred. I have heard no more 
satisfactory rendering of Beethoven, Bach, Mo- 
xart or Haydn. Of Schumann's music she is, of 
course, the interpreter. The Ballade of Chopin, 
and all that I have heard her play of him, were 
admirably executed by her, especially the bril, 
liant side of Chopin ; but I would not dare to say 
that I had never heard the peculiar individuality 
and fineness of that poet par excellence of the 
piano, brought out with a more intimate and sym 
pathetic truthfulness. Altogether, Clara Schu- 
mann seems to me the noblest, truest t}*^ of 
the artistic woman that I have known, with 
the exception of Jenny Lind. Not that she has 
the same force of genius, or the same all-conquer 
ing magnetism. Without magnetism, of course, 
a great singer yrere inconceivable. But she has 
the same artistic feeling and entire devotion to 
the pure ideal. She is a living impersonation of 
the artist conscience, aided by rare native facul- 
ties smd rare educational experiences. She is 
gifted alike with' sharp, discriminating insight, 
and with unflagging enthusiasm. Some think she 
has not so much warmth as critical correctness. 
But she is a woman, large-hearted, loving, full of 
sensibility, as well as a skilled, clearsighted 
critical musician. Her art is religion to her ; re 
lates itself to the very ideal end of life. If she 
has not creative genius, if she does not compose, 
if she gives readings, no one can doubt the fervor 
with which she loves her authors, nor the deep 
genuine joy with which she reproduces them. 

It surely was a privilege, and not a shade of 
disappointment in it, to sit there and hear sonata- 
duos of Schumann and Beethoven rendered by 
those two large-brained artists. They have 
played much together, sympathise in tastes and 
principles, maintain the same uncompromising 
attitude of loyalty to truth in Art, agree in their 
conceptions of what they play together, are 
equally above all drawbacks of uncertain skill, 
and so are perfectly sure of one another in what 
they undertake. It is rarely that such artists 
meet in any work. 

Of Joachim's playing one owns first of all its 
magnetic, searching, quickening quality. It is 
not a violin, but a man that speaks. There is a 
feeling of depth and breadth conveyed in what 
he does. He draws the largest and most mar- 
rowy tones out of his strings that we have ever 
heard. There is force of character in every 
sound ; and yet the most subtle, fluid modulation 
throng^ all shades of feeling, the tenderest as well 
as the strongest. And nothing seems dramati- 
cally got up for mere effect; it all comes so natu- 
ral, so real that you yield yourself entirely to the 
music, aud never think to analyze, to mark just 
what is done. It is alike full of passion and of 
self-possession; strong emotion and repose. I 
had heard that Sonata of Tartini, with the trillo 
del diawclo, finely played before ; but never di J it 
present itself in half so vivid colors as when he 
played It. In Joachim's playing I neyer thought 



to notice in what particular technical feats or 
qualities he shone, or how he compared in any of 
them with others. These were aJl forgotten in 
his music Nor did he, the virtuoso, ever place 
himself between you and the music. Dignity, no- 
bility of style, depth of feeling, and a certain in- 
tellectual vigor characterized his playing. But if 
we are asked, wherein above all he shows the 
master, it is in what may be called contrapuntal 
playing. This is much more than giving out full 
chords with the melody ; it is the giving <rf a dis- 
tinct individuality to each of the four parts in the 
harmony ; it is tiie eliciting of a virtual quartet 
from a single violin. This makes him preemi- 
nently the player of the violin sonatas, preludes 
and f ttgu^ toccatas, ete., of Sebastian Bach ; and 
indeed, this art he must have learned from his 
deep, close study of the violin works of Bach and 
from his earnest penetration into the very spirit of 
Bach, into the very soul of his method. Among 
all violinists,' and all virtuosos, Joachim is the 
greatest Bach-ist. That height won, all the rest 
is easily and of course his. 

The only disappointment of this evening was 
that there was no Bach in the programme. But 
I was easily reconciled, knowing how soon that 
satisfaction was in store for me. The next morn- 
ing we had more long talk together in the artist's 
room, and then he fulfilled his promise of playing 
to me Bach's Chaconney the noblest of all violin 
solos that I had ever yet heard. It was without 
accompaniment, complete in itself as Bach wrote, 
and, as Joachim plays it, not to be improved by 
even Mendelssohn's piano part. How the in- 
spired sounds filled the room like a great flood of 
tone, and filled the soul of listener and player, 
and how the former felt that those whom he will 
never see on earth again must hear (for what so 
bridges over the gulf between time and eternity, 
as music that is so true and great ?), it were idle 
to attempt to telL In that listening I incurred a 
great debt which only a renewed life can pay. 
Visitors camt in ; Capellmeister Rietc^ Concert- 
meister Schubert, Hans Christian Andersen, the 
Danish novelist, and an intelligent, enthusiastic, 
gentlemanly musician, the conductor of the Ton- 
kiinsUer-vereln, a social club mostly of accom- 
plished musicians, who compose an orchestra, and 
meet once or twice a week to practice the less 
known works of Bach, Handel and other old 
writers; and he invited us to the club room in 
the evening to hear so rare a curiosity as a couple 
of the famous Hautboy Concertos of Handel.. 
From there I went to the Royal Gallery of Paint- 
ings, and was soon seated in wonder and trans- 
port before the incomparable ''Dresden Ma- 
donna" of Raphael Was it not a work of inspir 
ration? The parallel between Raphael and 
Mozart has been often drawn. I could not but 
feel the force of it after seeing this picture. As 
Mozart said of his own music, here was a work 
which must have stood before its author's mind at 
once, whole and entire In all its parts, completely 
realized in one fusing instant of genius at ito full 
heat. It is beauty, loveliness, holiness itself. 
Was not that a morning to thank God for? The 
Chaconne of Bach interpreted by Joachim, and 
the loveliest of all Madonnas, realized by Ra- 
phael 1 Nor was that alL 

NEXT SEASON'S ORCHESTRAL 
CONCERTS. 
The Harvard Musical Association has mainly 
planned its Symphony Concert scheme for next sea- 
son, and the prospect appears promising for a bril- 
liantly successful series of performances. This will 
be the 10th season of the associatiou, and eight con- 
certs will be given in the Boston Music Hall on Thurs- 
day afternoons as follows : Nov. 18, Dec. 1, 16, Jan. 6, 
90, Feb. ^ n, Bfarch 8. Mr. Carl 2errahn will conduct 
the concerts, and the orchestra (including Mr. Lis- 
temanns's Philharmonic orchestra) will be as strong 



in numbers, and even better in discipline, than that 
which gave such general satisfaction last year. 
Among the orchestral works in contemplation may 
be named the following : 

Symphonies. Haydn, in C (No. 3, Rietor-Biede- 
niADn), first time. Beethoven. Nos. 7 and 8. 8cha- 
manu, "Colcj^ne" (E flat). Qade, in D minor (with 
pianoforte), first time. Berlioz, Symphouie Fantas- 
tiqae, second time. J. K. Paine, '* Spring," second 
time. RafF, in O minor, first time. Symphony by 
Saint-Soens, first time. Ferd. Hiller, "Spring," first 
time. 

Overturee. Glock, *<Ipbigenia" (or <*A]oeste**). 
Mozart, **Titas." Beethovel^ "Leonore," So. 3. 
Spohr, "Faust" liendelssohn, "Melusina." Schu- 
mann, *' Manfred "and "Julias CaeMr." Bennett, 
"Wood Nymyb." And for the first time: Berlloc, 
"Camaval Romain": Goldmark, " Penthesilea" ; Bel- 
necke,"HakonJarr^; Bassini, " King Lear." 

MUeellaneaut. Bach, Psstoimle from Christmas or- 
atorio. Beethoven, Adagio and Andante from ** Pro- 
metheua" Mendelssolm, Sebeno from the Refor* 
nation symphony. Schumann, Overture, Scherzo and 
Finale. Berlioz, Marche Nocturne, from "L'Enfance 
du Christ," second time. Wagner, "Siegfried IdylL" 
Bennett, prelude and funeral march, from "Ajax," 
firrt time. Dvorak, Sdavic dances, first time. Norbert 
Bufgmuller, Andante (with oboe solo) from symphony 
in D, second time. Lisst, " Orpheus " (short symphonic 
poem), first time. Ooctz. intermezzo from symphony 
in F. Fnelis, serenade, fimt time. 

Other worlcs may be found desirable and prac- 
ticable as the concert season approaches. Solo 
artists, vocal and instrumental, will be announced 
in due time. Subscription lists for season tickets, 
with particulars, will be opened early in the autumn. 
Meanwhile, any persons eager to lend assurance to 
the enterprise by an earlier pledge for tickets have 
only to send in their names to the chairman (12 
Pemberton square), or to any member of the com- 
mittee, as follows : J. S. Dwight, C. C. Perkins, J. 
C. D. Parker, B. J. Lang, 8. B. Schlesinger, Charles 
P. Curtis, S. L. Thomdike, Augustus Flagg, William 
F. Apthorp, Arthur Foote and George W. Sumner. 

In addition to the above, there will be, pre- 
sumably, another series of the popular concerts of 
the Pliilharmonic Orchestra, under Mr. Bemhard 
Listemann ; and firobably Mr. Theodore Thomas, 
no longer tied to Cincinnati, will again organise an 
orchestra to travel through the cities, taking with 
him the Hungarian pianist Joseffy, who by a sudden 
somersault has vaulted over from the Chickering to 
the Steinway instrument. There has been much 
interviewing and reporting, and even controversial 
gossip about it in the musical and music^trade 
papers of New York, into which we do not care to 
enter; but whether Joseffy will ever play upon a 
better piano than those which he has used already 
in this city, remains to be proved. Thomas, with 
Joseffy, in the Boston Music Hall, any way, will be 
a strong attraction. 

PERKINS INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND. 

The annual graduation exerdses at this world-re- 
nowned institntum for the education of the blind are 
always an occasion of interest. Yesterday afternoon 
there assembled an audience which completely filled 
the chapel, and which included several prominent gen- 
tlemen, including Governor Littlefield and Secretaiy of 
StateAddeman of Rhode Uand, Hon. J. W. Dickinson 
of the State Voard of Education, and several clergy-. 
men. The chapel was prettily decorated,and the pa- 

Eils occupied seats facing the audience. The exerdses 
1 charge of the superintendent, Mr. Anagnos, opened 
with a selection of instmmental moslc, arranged by 
BCr. Joseph R. Lacier, one of the gradoatiag class. 
Then followed an essay, "The Growth ol Liberty," 
written by Edward Ware, and delivered 1^ Lemuel 
Titus. Tnis paper and all that followed were written 
in the direct style which gives peculiar force to the 
woriEs of the blind easajist. After a chorus by male 
voices, an exercise in physiology, illustrated by the 
use of models, was given by Henry Heniek. WOliam 
H. Wade performed upon the organ Bach's "Great 
Fugue in 6 Minor" witn excellent effect Miss EUsa- 
beth Hicki6*8 exercise upon diamonds furnished a won- 
derful example of the power of memory, a great vari- 
etv of facts and figures concerning the celebrated gems 
of' the world beiiu' given with accuracy. A declama- 
tion " The FresentTime," was forcibly given by Arthur 
Hatch, and the fouriMirt song, "Laugh, Boys, Laugh," 
by Messrs. Titus, Hammond, LAcier and Stratton, was 
most heartily enjoyed. George G. Goldth wait explained 
In an Interesting way the manufacture of the piano, and 
the delicate ear and careful instmction necessary to 
qualify a tuner of that instrument. William H. Wade 
executed Usta's difficult Rhapsodic HongrolscL No. 2; 
with delicacy. An lllnstiated exercise in botany by Miss 
EUen Hasaett was well given. The school sans in cho- 
rus a selection f Am Rossini's *' Cinderella." An essay 
by William H. Wade, was deUvered hy Henry W. 
Stratton, on the development of dvilisatioii. by means 
of coercion and conviction. In dosing, Mr. Stratton 



Jolt S, 1880.] 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



Ill 



briefly bade f nrewell to the school In behalf of his clas»* 
mates, and expressed their thanks and appreciation for 
the efforts of teachers and patrons of toe institution. 
The exercises of the gradnating class closed with the 
singing of the class song, the words and music of which 
were by Mr. Stratton. 

Mr. Anagnos, before introducing Dr. Peabody of the 
Board of Trustees, to conduct the remaining exercises, 
with a brief prelude, presented to the Rev. Mr. Photins 
Fislceof the United States Navr, the first copv of the 
Historj'of Greece, which his liberality had enaoled the 
school to have printed in raised letters for the use of the 
bHnd. Mr. Anagnos added that by means of a recent im- 

t)rovement in the stereotyping process, boolcs for the 
>lincd an now be published at a considerably lessened ex- 
pense than formerly, and the institution hopes through 
the liberality of its friends to issue other standard 
works. 

Rev. I>r. Peabody presented Governor Littlefield of 
Rhode Island, who expressed his interest in the institu- 
tion, and introduced Hon. J. M. Addeman, Secretary 
of State, llie latter gentleman added his cougratula- 
tiuns to members of tne graduating class, who had been 
able in so great degree to make up the deficiency 
caused by the loss of sight Mr. Goddard of the Ad- 
rtrtittr. Rev. George A. Thayer, Rev. Mr. Whittaker. 
Rev. Mr. Mansfield, Dr. Tourj^e, John S. Dwight and 
others added brief words of commendation and encour- 
agement to the pupils in their hard struggle against 
such formidable obstacles. 

Dr. Peabody, urging the clsssto even higher and no- 
bler work in the battle before them, presented diplo- 
mas to the following named graduates: 

George C. Goldthwait of Lynn. Arthur E. Hatch of 
Wilton, Me., Joseph R. Lucier of Worcester, Henry W. 
Stratton of Neponset, Lemuel Titus of St John, N. B.. 
WiUiaro H. Wade of Lawrence, EUen £. Hickie of 
Charlestown. — Transcript^ June 29. 

A delightful musicale was given on Thursday 

morning. June 24, at Mr. John Orth's rooms, 12 
West street, with the following programme : Fifth 
concerto, Beethoven, Miss Josephine Ware and Mr. 
Orth (two pianos); Phantasie, Max Bruch, Miss 
Ware and Madame Dietrich Strong ; Fugue, Rhein- 
berger, Mrs. MacKenzie ; Songs, Hoffman, Mr. C. 
F. Webber ; Songs, Schumann, Miss 8. £. Bingham ; 
Symphony, Schumann, Miss Ware, Madame Strong, 
Messrs. Whitney and Orth (two pianos) ; Polonaise, 
Liszt, Mr. Orth ; Variations, Schumann, Miss S. S. 
Winslow and Mr. Orth (two pianos). The charac- 
ter of the selections and the brilliancy of the per- 
formances made this musicale especially note- 
worthy. 

The Boston Conservatory of Music gave a 

concert in Union Hall Saturday afternoon. The 
programme consisted of vacal, piano and violin 
solos, and violin and comet duets, all performed by 
pupils of the institution. The closing number was 
a nocturne and terzetto, for three violins, played 
by some twenty-two of the smallest lads and misses 
belonging to the junior classes. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

Oxfoud Uhivehsitt. — The London Tdegraph*s 
correspondent (June 8), describing the Oxford Com- 
memoration, concludes his letter as follows: — 

The Oxford Philharmonic Society's Commemora- 
tion concert given in the Sheldonian Theatre this 
morning, was, perhaps, the most successful for many 
years. When we say that, instead of the usual can- 
taU and miscellaneons afterpart, Haydn's mastei^ 
piece of the Creation was selected for performance, 
and that besides the really strong choruses of the 
society and the powerful co-operation of an old 
Oxford favorite, Herr Henschel, the services of Miss 
Lillian Bailey and Mr. Joseph Maas and Miss Mason 
bad been secured; that Mr. Taylor conducted in 
his best style, and th^t the usual band, under Mr. 
Burnett, played with all its customary brilliance 
and precision, such a result cannot be wondered at. 

The music of the Creation has been so often 
criticized in your columns that I need not follow it 
in detail, but as deserving of especial mention 1 
would select the rendering of " With verdure clad," 
by Miss Bailey, who, though rather weak at times in 
some other of her parts, sang here with perfect finish 
and all the splendid compass of her voice. The 
fact that this charming vocalist was yesterday 
singing in Utrecht, and crossed the Channel only 
last night, would have sufficed to justify more than 
occasional weakness of voice ; but in tlds particular 
air, and in the " On mighty wings," she was at her 
very best, and carried with her all the admiration 
of her very critical audience. Herr Henschel was 
in grand voice, and gave with splendid feeling the 
p issionate music of " Rolling in foaming billows," 



and throughout the programme took all his parts 
with conspicuous success. Mr. Joseph Maas, in the 
air " In native worth," escaped a recall with diffi- 
culty, for his singing, which had been very fine 
throughout, culminated in the dignity and tender- 
ness of this air, and the audience tried hard to bring 
the singer back. The music assigned to Eve, in the 
third part of the oratorio, and taken by Miss Henri- 
ettc Mason was creditably rendered, but, to quote a 
recent American critique, "her voice exhibited a 
slight inaccuracy," especially at the beginning. 
The choruses were conspicuously bright and full, the 
quality of the soprano element being particularly 
rich, and Mr. J. Taylor, the conductor of the 
society, well deserved the hearty congratulations 
which he received from all sides. The organ was 
ably presided over by Mr. Parratt, the well-known 
and popular organist of Magdalen Qollege, so that in 
every feature of the day's performance, not omit- 
ting the audience, which was as large as the theatre 
could hold and as brilliant as even fastidious Ox- 
ford could wish, the society's concert - must be 
pronounced a most successful event of the present 
Commemoration. 



LoNDOW. — This day (Friday), says Figaro of June 
10, the public rehearsal for the Handel Festival 
will be held at the Crystal Palace, and the Festival 
itself will take place on Monday, Wednesday, and 
Friday of next week. This year the Handel Festi- 
val, which was established in 1859, will attain its 
majority, while four years hence English amateurs 
will have to celebrate the bi-centenary of Handel, 
who was bom at Halle, Upper Saxony, in 1684. 
English amateurs need not to be told how the Fes- 
tival has grown since the preliminary experiment 
projected by the late Mr. Bowley in 1867, and first 
carried out on the centenary of Handel's death in 
1869. Bowley had not only to form the idea, but 
to work out the details of the gigantic experiment 
— building the great orchestra (double the diame- 
ter of the dome of St. Paul's) and the great organ, 
causing fresh instruments to be constructed, and 
designing the arrangement of seats. Few minds 
could grasp deUils like that of Bfr. Bowley, and 
the success of the Festival was due in the first 
instance to him. The choir of 1869 consisted of 
2800 voices, and the band of 454 players, including 
02 first violins, conducted without adventitious aids 
solely by the bAton of Sir Michael Costa. The 
orchestra is now slightly reduced, and the chorus 
increased, the true balance being thus, it is hoped, 
foimd. The acoustic properties of the Central 
Transept, too, are also greatly improved, and the 
present Festival promises to be, both from an art 
and financial point of view, one of the most suc- 
cessful yet held. Outsiders know little of the 
magnitude of the details such an enterprise 
demands. To give an idea, in the department of 
the librarian alone, the "parts" for chorus and 
orchestra would, if piled one on the other, reach 
higher than the Central Transept, and these have 
to be placed each on its appointed desk every morn- 
ing of the Festival. The slightesi. hitch would 
cause disaster, and when the audience watch that 
enormous body of executants set in motion, and 
keeping time like clockwork to the beat of the 
18-inch wand of the speck in the distance we know 
to be Sir Michael Costa, they may imagine the 
trouble and organization necessary to accomplish 
the task. The Handel Festival is essentially a 
national festival, for the chorus and orchestra are 
drawn from the best voices in nearly 100 towns in 
the United Kingdom. 

The Meuiah was the oratorio for June" 21, and 
iMrael in Egypt for June 25 ; on the 23d a selection 
was sung from Solomon, Acit and Galai«a, Alex' 
aMder*t Feast, and other works. 

^The special attraction which sufficed to fill 

every seat at the final Richter concert on Monday, 
was indisputably the choral symphony of Beet- 
hoven. The performance of the Mozart symphony 
in 6 minor was a mistake, for with so great a body 
of strings the not very excellent wind of the Richter 
orchestra could not fail to be swamped. The intro- 
duction and death-scene from " Tristan und Isolde " 



was, of course, a repetition from a previous concert, 

but the marvelously delicate performance made it I readily recollect all recalled Mi. Sims Beeves as we 



well worth hearing again, even to the exclusion of 
a newer work. When, however, after a brief inter- 
val, Herr Richter took up the bAton, and without a 
score before him commenced the direction of the 
choral symphony, it was obvious that this was to 
be the crowning point of a fine series of concerts. 
As is not unusual with Herr Richter, the perform- 
ance of the first movement was a partial disap- 
pointment, and amateurs have heard equally fine, 
and perhaps superior, renderings at the Crystal 
Palace under Mr. Manns, and at the Viard-Louis 
concerts under Mr. Weist Hill. But from this 
point there was a steady increase of excellence. 
The scherzo, and especially the trio, were admir- 
able, while the slow movement offered one of the 
most beautiful readings of Beethoven's music Herr 
Richter has given us. The special clearness of the 
parts in the recitative did not escape notice ; and, 
indeed, in this and the two preceding sections there 
were many beautiful effects gained by Riianc«t 
which were quite new to many of the audience. 
It was, however, reserved for the vocal movement 
to show Herr Richter at his greatest. Rarely in 
London is the final section of the work performed 
in any other than a slovenly manner, and, indeed, 
it is, owing to difficulties which are often thought 
well-nigh insuperable, not imseldom omitted alto- 
gether. The four soloists — Misses Friedlander and 
Hohenschild, Messrs. Candidus and Henschel— 
indeed, were somewhat overweighted by the trying 
nature of the music, and the tenor and the soprano, 
both excellent artists in their special line, obviously 
found the choral sjrmphony beyond their capabili- 
ties. The fine chorus of 200 voices, however, had 
been well selected and thoroughly trained by Herr 
Theodore Frantzen, and they united with the orchea- 
tra in giving such a rendition of the final move- 
ment as few London audiences have .heard. The 
bald and often silly English translation was very 
wisely abandoned, and the vocal parts were sung 
to the original text of Schiller. Every amateur is 
aware of the terribly trying character of the choral 
parts, and the manner in which they were per- 
formed by Herr Frantzen's choir was worthy of all 
praise. Old concert-goers claimed that no such 
performance of the choral symphony had been 
heard in London since Berlioz conducted it at the 
New Philharmonic concert in 1862, and it certainly 
has not been so magnificently rendered within the 
memory of the large majority of those who were 
present on Monday. The choral sjrmphony was a 
worthy conclusion of a splendid series of concerts. 
— /Wrf. 

The dAut of the rising son of the retiring 

Sims Reeves was a topic which *'Cherubino" {Fi- 
garo, June 19) would naturally discourse about with 
interest. It was in one of Mr. Ganz's concerts. 
We copy as follows : 

When younc Mr. Herbert Reeves stepped for the 
first time in his life, upon a public platform at St. 
James' Hall on Saturday, he was naturally received 
with a roar of welcome. There was something so pecu- 
culiarly suited to English tastes in the spectacle of a 
great and popular tenor — well-nigh sixty years of age 
and who had been more than thirty years an honored 
representative of his art — in the autumn of his life be- 
queathing, as It were, his beloved son as a legacy to the 
public he has served so well, that If BCr. Herbert 
Beeves had been the veriest pretender on earth he 
would still have been as heartily cheered for his father* s 
sake. His friends— and there was not a member of 
that vast audience who was not Mr. Sims Reeves' friend 
or admirer— were aware that the peculiarly nervoui 
temperament of the father had been sorely tried in ex- 
pectation of his son's dAut. Sleep, we know, had been 
oanished from his father's eyes for nishts before the 
afternoon of the eventful dav, and if it bad been neceiH 
sary that Sims Reeves shoulo. throw his fortune and the 
high popularity which have rewarded his labor of years 
into the scale to assure his son's success, fhe sacrifice 
would have been cheerfully and gUdly accorded. Hap- 
pily, nothing of the sort was needed, and Mr. Herbert 
Reeves, for what a young artist of twenty-two can pre- 
tend to be, can very easily afford to throw aside all 
considerations of parentage, and to stand as an artist 
before the public on his own merits. His first appear- 
ance on the platform bore traces of a mother's care and 
a father's example: two benefits and virtues which 
must always enlist the deepest sympathies of a British 
audience. The dress, the personal appearance, the 
bow, first to the audience and then to the orchestra, 
the well-known Sims Beeves pose, the holding of the 
sheet of music in the exact line of the emission of the 
sound from the throat, and the curious wag of the head 
wliich everybody who has ever heard his fsther will 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vot. XL. — No. 1023. 



hHYB u long known him. Mr. Herbert ReeveB fl 
mngthe Icivial air, "Almft Sortg." (mm Dooliell 
happllv forgotten opera, " Maria dl Rohan," produc 
at dovent Garden in 1847; and, under the cunducU 
Bhip of Mr, Arthur Snllivan, howa? pubjeqiientlv heji 
to tar better effect in the aic, "Retniln tliy ViiicG fn:._ 
Weepinc." from thegomnalescent omtorlo " The Ligh 
of the World," and to >>tlll belter advantage In the " Xv< 
-- ■ of ^hub ■ -■--''- 









b.T Mr. Ganz 



.D of tv 



..,_._ _._., _e felt, be 

tooeinctiDK. At present, indeed, the i-olce of Mr. Her- 
bert ReeveK is that of a very light tenor, Inrnpable ,vet 
of decbimatlon or power, bnt jnit fitted for the mnric 
he nndertook. He waa, after he left the care of hia 
mother — once Miss Lurombe — placed nnderMr. Sims 



a' old U 



: Slgno 



gentlemen'! death, ander the t 
perti, at Milan. Bat the lotliie 



n 0^ Sii 



iznor Latn- 



.d any other proieaaor. We 

have In Mr. Herbert Reeve* the Mme purity of phms- 

lug which hRi>everchnnu:lerliedSiiniRMTr~ '* 



tem o( emisiiioD, tutd the Nune lovely qunllty o[ voice 
which, In yeHr«goneby,mideTedSlmiReevefl an Eug. 
llih sniKt dlatiugaiihed even among the [Mllans. There 
were old coDMn-Boen among the andlenee who ikiutly 
derbred that, in nlieariy jean, thev<^eot the father 
wu DO ttnmger than that o( the son ii now; and that 
Tlgor and power came wHh maturity. That thii freak 
of natun will be repeated in the ease of Mr. Herbert 
Keevea will be hoped by all who respect hia father. In 
the meantime, It la eatbtnrt^ry to know that big organ 
— at present the orean of Sims Keevea at bait power — 
will be watched and nurtured with a parent's care, and 
that, until his voice attains its full development, he 
will not be permltledtoattempl tasks which are beyond 
his atrength. 

Pabis. — Weu« Indebted to the industrious gleaner 
of the MuticiU World (London), for the [oUo«ing 
■■Scnipe": 

At the Opera, the ballet of Svtria, with itacharmlng 
mnsic slightly lonched up by H. Uelibes, hu been re- 
vived, M'lle Sangalll making her re-appearance, arter a 
conKideiHble absence, In her original part. What with 

Koved a trump card. . . . A nf 
ODtaiba, has made her lUbi 
Though extremely nervoua n! 

foruiance. ! . . In order to varr his somewhat limited 
repertory, M. Vancoi' 
Historical Coi 



1 Let li 



iV/"c 









uble, 



.11 probably not be 
iih little prospect 



house, and the eiperimont was absi i id 

uaual places. The programme of I irt 

Included pieces from LuTli's Alcfile i : ■ ■ I's 

Fitet d'llebi llTJi\): Olnck's 7/>/it'/' . ■ .-de 

(mar, Grctry's ^n<tcr^on (ITIT?); an I I; -i: , - U (e 
(1827). The second part of the concert na^ (ii.'.,j:ed 
entirely Ia La Viernt, a sacred legend in four paita, 
words by M. Gtandmougin, music by M. J. Masacnct, 
the [oar parts being entitled, respectlrelv: " L'Anon- 
elatlon," "Lee Noces de Cana," '' Le Calvalre,'' and 
"L'AseompUon." Though the merits of the new work 
were duly appreciated, the general uplnion^is that a 
theatre is not the place for mask of this description, 
and the public were much more Interested in the mun- 
dane compositions which preceded. If this was evident 
St the first concert, it was still more so at the second, 
and the chances are that H. Vancorbeil will quietly and 
qnictly return to his ordinary class of entertainment 
and hurry on the production at I/t Ci 



MUe. Edith Plom wlU make her dmu as Jemmy. . . 
M. Can-alho baa been doingwell at the Cominne. The 
TGtuni* lor April were 175,000 francs, and sabseqnont 
reeelpta were lo match. The first twenty-five perform- 
ances of Jean dt Hivellti brought in some 200,000 
francs. On the other hand, M. Carvalho's expense* 
are very heavr, no lew than 120,000 franrs a month, 
irrospeAlve oi author's tees and the droil des paavrei 
as well aa the outlay for new works and rerivals of old 
oner, such as Ijf. IJumino A'uir, for instance, which has 
been pnt upon the stage with the greatest care, and 
with a pious resUtnthMi o( the origlnnl text and score. 
Mils. I»ac especially dlstlngnlsbed herself as Angele, 
tbe character "created" by Madame Damoresu in 
1B31. This young lady, who has been gradually be- 
coming more and more popular, never atipeared to 
greater advantage. The reprtHentatives of the other 

peT»onage«, also, wereentltledwhigb praise Anew 

one-act comic opera. La F^e, words by U. Feulllet, 
mnsic bv M. Hemerv, organist at Saint-lA, Is In re- 
hearsnli'so b i< ^''ff^'.^y JJJ*- pubreoil^and Poiet; 






bv MM. PoiH a 



„. .A. Gulraud. will be the first novelty next winter. 
tt will be succeeded by Les Conta d Hoffmann by MM. 
Barbler and Oflenbacb, and then will come prohnhlv 
an opera as jet to be written by M. Oellbea. The book 
bv HH. Gondinet and tiUle, has for its principal pel" 
sonage the weQ-hnown Jacnpes Callot, the great delin- 
eator ol Bohemianlsm. . . . Madame Bngall has left the 
company, and will aoon start for Moscow. Madame 
Bbolgl, irbo succeeded her as Heala in Paul tt Virginie 



„ , .._..., _ . _ /,the 

._..jr-mnungcr, has opened the Theatre dn Cbateau- 
d'Eau with tiij'ttaii roi. This is to be followed by Le 
Jlifou perdu and La Fanchonnetle. He has n good 

company and deserves to succeed The Fine Art 

Sub-(Jommlltee'9 report has, after considerable discus- 
sion, been adopted bv tlic General Committee, and will 
be laid before the CRamher. It proposes to maintain 

"■" " lal granta made to the Opera and "" " " 

■K., ~^ . . ■ — ujjg (ranoi it— 

the library of the Opera in the pavilion originally des- 
tined for the "hewfof the state," i.e., Napoleon IlL 
The collection of models of scenery which figured In 
the Itxhlhition of 1S7B, will be added to the library, and 
the wliole open to the nubile. The 30,000 francs foi 
the Pasdelonp and the 10,000 for the Colonne Concerts 
are continued. . . . The "festival" organlied for the 
benefit of M, Pasdelonp at the Trocaderu was a grand 
affair. The huge building was crammed with an Im- 
mense concDuiae, anxious to show bow much they es- 
teemed the founder of the Concert Populairea, In honor 
of whom Madame tides Devriea, who left so prema- 
turely the Opera where she was so triumphant, and M. 
Alard, emerged from^ their retirement Ohce more to 
ino. so seldom, alas, now 
IS beet. M. Guil- 



the vast audience enraptured bjihbi mastery oi .. 

the king of instruments, MM. Gounod Keyer, Ueli- 
bcs, Qudarcl, Guiraud, Joncieres, and LaIo swelitd the 
ranks of volunteen in the good cauM, each conducting 
a composition of hia own.. . Writing to £e Jf^nf'stret, a 
" Vieiliard '' says : "Madame MallEran n.ia celebrated 
the moment she came out, and Instantly proclaimed 
without a riial. I recollect that, one evening, having 

Eromlsed her services at a concert given by an artist 
I distress, she came late. On arriving, all out of 
;used herself by stating that she had first 
tv given by the Uuc d'Oritans (this 
July, la'WI; after the concert she 
handed a small purse to tbe lady for whose benefit the 
concert was orgauiied; 'My dear,' she said, 'this 
belongs to vou, since I pronolsed you mv evening. It 
Is what the Due d'Orleans gate me.' The small purse 
1; It contalnea three hundred francs in 
Now-a-days, it Is said, an lenelltlsh banXer, 
who is not only rich, but liberal and chartlable, gives 
Madame Panl ten bank notes, of a thousand francs 



ras opened; it contalne 



Thuse who undertook 






«r»r,.kl J 



of It are dead, and an 

o the surviving friends and to 

ceased for funds to ensure the 

mh. The Princens Marceline 

xruirysKi, luh jiHiuness Natbanlel de Hothschild, 

ince I^lslas Caartoryshl, MM. C. Dubois, A. 

!icbtal, Franchommo, and Ch. Gavard have formed 

themselves Into a committee to receive subscriptions. 

The amountof each subscription is limited to 20 francs. 

M'll Kranss has been decorated with the Cross of 

Venxuela; she was alre.idy an "Offlcier d' Academic" 

here H. Victor Masse, thecomposer of />niiJ el Vir- 

ginie. Is busy at 3t. (lermains on his new score, CUo- 

palre M'lle Mnrimon has returned hen from 

America. ... A petition Is in course of signature to tbe 

Dcput; "■-" - ------- - ---' 



presented the library of the Conservatory with 
lumoerol Italian scores, dating from the end of the 
ihteeuth and the commencement ol the nineteenth 
..Jitury. Be-ides scores by Jomolii, Sarti, Tarcbi, 
Cimarosa, Martini, Por|iara and Scarlatti, the collec- 
tion Includes a book containing the paTt-chanls for- 
merly in use at the Slxtine Chapel. Another portion 
nf the Iniiy's gift is all the sacred music compoaed by 
her late husband. 

COLOOME. — As It began, ■< 

.uccess, the Festiial of the Lo* . ._ 

priikclpal features of tbe second day was tbe perfc . ._ 
ance of Schumann's A Minor Concerto by Mine. Schn- 
mann. When she concluded, tbe audience burst out 
into a hurricane of applause, and the orchestra gave a 
"Tusch,'" or flourish. Another attraction wasKerdi- 
nand Hilier's remarkable cantata, Pie Xaehl, one of 
the most effective and most inspired works the vener- 
able master ever wrote. It produced as'deep an im- 
pression at this Feetival as it did on Its first production 
eighteen yeara ago. The composer received an "ova- 
tion," one factor In which was tbe presentation to him 
of two laurel wreaths. The programme included, alno 
another cantata: Bach's " Pfingstcantate," or " Whil- 
simtlde Cantata,'' and Beetboren'i Eighth Sympttony. 
On the third day. half the progmmme was, as usual, 
devot«d to the solo nrtinta, and Joachim achieved a tri- 
umph bv his magnificent rendering of Beethoven'B Vio- 
lin Concerto. — L'orr, iomf. if us. World. 

DBESDiH. — Carl August Kreba, the well-known 
Capellmeisler,"dled here on May 16, at the ripe age 
of seventy-six, honored by all musical Gcnnany. 
The Miuual IVor/ii (London) says of him: 

The career of Herr Kr«bs. if neither brilliant nor 

the work' he undertook. His was not the world-wide 
mission of a Beethoven or a Hoiart. But with what 
success he labored in a more restricted sphere, tbe 



record et his life and tbs t> 
since his death put in the dearest light Yriim a very 
early nge his inclination towards music was deter- 
mined and irresistible. The good lady and well-known 
vocalist, Mme. Krebs. who adopted him on the death 
of his mother, Mme. Miedke, and whose name he took, 

other bom musician, so with Kreba. He gravitated 
Into the profession of the art divine as by a natural 
law, and at twenty-three years of age found himself 
musical director of the Hamburg Theatre. In that 
post he remained until 18S0. meanwhile using the com- 
poser's pen as Industriously as the conductor's baton. 
It was here that he produced his successful opera, 
Affnet Bemauren, a work still spoken of with admira- 
tion. In IKSl. Krebs removed to Dreeden. and dwelt 
in that city tor the revt of his life. Till 1B72 he dis- 
charged the functions of capeilmelster at the Uoyal 
Chapel and Opera, remming then to the (^thnlle 
Cathedral, to the service of which he devoted his whole 
energies. Hhi Dresden iieriod was pivlific in works for 
tbe i^noforte.SongB, and church mnsic. no small pro- 

Krtlon of which obtained more than local recugniuoiL 
■rr Krebs's first wife having died at Hamburg, he 
contracted a second marrLtge soon after his removal 
to Drraden, his choice falling upon Mile. Aloysia 
MIchaleiil, ene of the court singers. This lady became 
the mother of tbe Harie Kreba, (the pianist, who 
visited America some years ago), whom a (Sermsn 

a per has Just described as the " gf«alest pride and 
I " of the worthy capeilmelster' i life. 

MUSICAL CORKESPONDENCE. 
AiTHOBA, N. Y., June 21. — The Thirty-Fifth (Com- 
mencement} Concert at Wells College took place June 
Ifi, under the direction of Mr. Max PiutU. We give 
the programme ; 

1. Trio: "Calm Is the glassy ooeaB,"(fnni "Ides' 

Hisses A.' Ames, N. Pettlbone, 'Walker, White. 

2. Valss Caprice, Up. IK Baff. 

Miss Starr*. 

3. a. '-TIios'nLlksaLovely Flower." . BuUnsteia. 
b. Dedication. Schumann. 

HK* Boraton.* 

*. Danoa ol QaoiM* Liait. 

Hiss Annie PetUbODB. 

8. o. Slnmber Song Franx. 

t. Who is Sylvia? Schubert. 

Miss Nettie Pettibone. 

S. Capriocio in B minor. Op. :a . . MendelsKihii. 

maoo i^nio; HlH Shepard. 

1. Concerto in E minor. (Boniaiice.; . ChoplB. 

Plana Prima: Miss Qoldsniltli. 

2. Conoerto In a mlnoi, IPrcato) Mandeliaokn. 

Piano prima: Hiss Kendall. 

3. Cavatlna: " Althongfa a eland o'enpread the 

hoaTens." (From " Fnitehtutz.") , Weber. 

4. Spianlng Bona V*<nu-Ll«tt. 

Miss Mettle Pettibone. 
G. a. Slnmber Song, ifrom " Suawdrop,") , . Belnecko. 

b. Boat Song . .* Proch. 

Choral Class. 

The Department of Music of Wells College closea 
with this concert its most Buccesstnl year. We team 
that during the year twelve concerts have been given 
by the teacher* and artists from elsewhere. Mr. W. H. 
Sherwood took part In three concetta. Mr. Plntli has 
' tllvered twenty-eight musical lectuite. This Collette 
ijoys a wide popularity, partly for its musical work, 
\ shown by the large number of pupils from all patta 

MawAtncKK, Wu., June 19. — The Arion Club hai 
just glvA its fourth concert of the seaaon, Tlie pro- 
gramme ought to have been Elijah entire; but bad 
management, and singnUr perversity of view on Mr. 
Tomliru'R part, resulted first In repeated changes of 
plan and waste of time lu rehenraala, and finally in a. 
programme made up of one-half of Elijah and some 
selections from the Creation. Moreover, a series of 
accidents disabled three ont of the four soloists en- 
gaged, and prevented the nse of an orchestra, so that a 
complete failure was feared. However, the lingen 
•ere on their mettle, Mr. Tomiins braced up tor a vig- 
orous effort, and the chorase* went weU. on the whole. 
MiB. (Harrington was the principal soloist, and acquit- 
ted herself nobly. Mr. Knorr and Mrs. Hayden did 
creditable work. Mr, Tomlhia himself sang the part 
of Elijah very effeetively. 

Conductor Bach has b^nn summer coDMrti at 
Bchilti'B Park. I have no programme*. 

I append the closing programme of the Milwaukee 
College Musical Department, where He. John C Fill- 
more 1* in charge : 

1. SoTwta Id C major. (Allegro modarato, An- 
dante cauUbila, Allegretto.) Monrt. 
Hl» UBorgluia Pain*. 

1. Arabesque, Op. 1« Sohnmana. 

mU Carrie J. Smith. 

5. BerwaM Caio(pln, 

Hiss Orella Tnmar. 
*. Silver Spring . - . . . Wm. MawB. 

HlSi Anna Camp. _ 

S. Cascade Paaer. 

Miss I Julie Falna. 

& Spinnlna Song Utolff. 

Miss Janaie Hedbarr. 

T. Fantasia on Themes from " FausO' . Usit. 

MlM Kate A. Stark. 



JcLT 17, 1880.] 



DWIGUrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



113 



BOSTON, JUL Y 17, 1880. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boiiton as second-class matter. 

All the articles not credited to other publicatioiut icere ex- 
pressly written/or this JoumaL 

Published fortnightlp by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
Boston, Aiitis. Price^ ro cents a numt)er ; $2,so per year. 

For sale in Boston by Caui/P»uefku, jo West Street^ A. 
Williams ft Ci>., 283 Washington Street, A. K. Lorino, 
jbg Washington Street, and by tfie Publishers ; in New York 
6y A. Brkktano, Jr., j^ Union Square, and Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., 2/ Astor Place ; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boner & Co., i/o» Chestnut Street ; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, j« SttUe Street. 

— ^»^^^^^- ■■■■ m — - . » . m , ■■■» . ■■■ ^^^^^.^ 

THE MUSICAL VKRSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S " FAUST," 

BT ▲I>0LFHE JULLIKN.1 



rV. — THE "FAUST" OF SPOHR. 

Spohr*8 Fatt$t has long continued popular 
in Grermany ; this gives it a right to our at- 
tention, although it is in no way a translation 
of the masterpiece of Goethe. This opera 
has nothing of Faust besides the name ; the 
author of the poem (libretto), who has pru- 
dently concealed his name, has only borrowed 
from the master two of his personages, Faust 
and the demon, to launch them on a series of 
adventures, now of the most absurd, and now 
of the most naive, purely of his own inven- 
tion. We will presently give the reader an 
idea of them ; let it suffice for the moment 
to know, that in this drama there is no Mar- 
guerite. 

However it may be with the poem, we owe 
it to the musician to study his work seriously ; 
it merits it in all regards, once for all setting 
aside this fallacious title. By the date of its 
representation, the work of Spohr is but the 
third of the operas which have been inspired 
by Goethe's poem, or which have decorated 
themselves with the name of his hero ; but it 
is the second in the order of conception. 
Written at Vienna in 1814, the very year in" 
which Joseph Strauss brought out his Life and 
Actions of Faustj Spohr's opera was suc- 
cessfully represented at Francfort in 1818. 
From that time it has maintained itself for 
more than thirty years in the repertoire of 
the great theatres of Germany, without any 
loss of public favor. It was played with 
especial success at Berlin, where the cele- 
brated singer Devrient shone in the part of 
Faust, and at London, where the author went 
to direct the execution of the work in person. 
Finally in 1830, France was permitted to hear 
this much vaunted work ; the German opera 
troupe directed by Roeckel, which came to 
give performances at Paris, in the salle Favart, 
played on the 20th of April the Faust of Spohr. 

But it is necessary to know the drama be- 
fore speaking of the music. Faust, rejuve- 
nated, enriched, has long been enjoying the 
advantages which his compact with the devil 
has procured him. But, like grand seigniors 
and kings, he suffers ennui. Mephistopheles, 
on his part, is tired of being the lacquey of 
his slave, and, to hasten his ruin, he inveigles 
him in adventures which may draw him into 
crime. £nter Faus't : he comes from a ball 
and is thinking, of Roschen, a young peasant 
girl with whom he is enamored. Soon he 
carries her off, swears love and fidelity to 

> We translate from •* Goethe et la Musique: Ses Juge- 
ments, son Injhtence, Les Oeucres gu'il a inspiries,** rax 
Aix>LPHS JuLLiEN, Paris, ISSO. — £d. 



her in a duo, of which the situation is the 
same as that of ** JA ci darem la mano " in 
Don Giovanni. The jeweller Franz, a regu- 
lar Masetto, arrives in force, and, sword in 
hand, reclaims his affianced bride. Mephis- 
topheles conceals her from all eyes; Faust 
and his friends escape by a trap door, to the 
great disappointment of the jeweller and his 
companions. Koschen remains in the hands 
of the devil, who restores her, to all appear- 
ances, to Franz, since it is with him that we 
find her again afterwards. The scene changes 
and transports us to the castle of Gulf, a 
brutal and discourteous lord, who holds in 
captivity the beautiful Kunigunde, and threat- 
ens to employ all means with her to obtain 
the gratification of his amorous passion. 
Resistance of Kunigunde, rage of Gulf ; the 
scene changes, and we see a forest where 
Count Hugo sings a cavatina, after the man- 
ner, of an harangue, to engage his soldiers to 
deliver Kunigunde, whom he wishes to marry. 
Roschen reappears with Franz ; Mephisto- 
pheles puts them to sleep and carries them off, 
making the grassy bank on which they are 
seated move away. We are before the strong- 
hold of Gulf. Faust and the Devil meet 
Hugo ; the Count accepts their services, and 
they assault the citadel, which crumbles to 
pieces. Kunigunde is saved, but Gulf still 
lives ; the demon gets possession of him and 
casts him into the fire that consumes his castle. 
' The second act opens with a chorus of 
witches ; Faust comes to consult them and 
demands of them a love philter. The next 
scene passes before the church where Count 
Hugo is married with Kunigunde; we hear 
the religious chants ; Franz and Roschen are 
still together in spite of the artifices of a 
maladroit imp. The wedding procession- 
passes ; Faust is invited, Roschen complains 
of the coldness of this lover and follows him 
to the ball offered by Hugo. All the nobility 
of the neighborhood is assembled at this fete. 
In the midst of the ball Mephistopheles reveals 
to the Count the culpable enterprises of Faust, 
and shows him at the knees of Kunigunde. 
The seducer offers to the lady the love potion 
which he has received from the witches. 
Kunigunde wishes to defend herself; but the 
poison glides into her veins. . . . Hugo draws 
his sword, Faust puts himself on guard, they 
cross blades, Hugo falls mortally wounded, 
Mephistopheles has turned his sword aside. 
It were useless to point out the resemblance 
of this scene, which terminates the second 
act, with that of Don Juan. Faust escapes 
the anger of the Count's friends, but he 
becomes a prey to remorse ! Roschen, in 
despair, throws herself into the river ; Kuni- 
gunde seeks to poniard her seducer, Mephis- 
topheles arrests her hand, and, seizing Faust 
by the hair, drags him down to hell. — Such 
is the beautiful poem upon which Spohr has 
not feared to write his music ; this ingenious 
imbroglio is after the fashion of the German 
poet, C. Bernard. 

In spite of the epithet which he has given 
it, this work of Spohr has nothing of the 
romantic. The music of the Grerman master, 
in general not very melodious, and of very 
closely interwoven harmony in the vocal parts 



as well as in the orchestra, is full of classic, 
even of scholastic forms, and of the tours de 
chant in use in the last century. 

This opera begins with a learnedly-written 
overture, which would require a fulminating 
execution to produce much effect. Toward 
the middle is found an Andante, of which the 
entrances in imitation are not wan tin cr in ele- 
gance; but the whole piece has a character 
more instrumental ^an dramatic The intro- 
ductory duo between Faust and the demon, 
preceded by recitatives in the Italian manner 
and so written by Spohr himseH, does not 
mark the outline of the persons very strongly ; 
at all evehts, it is a general reproach to Spohr 
that he has not known how to give the demon 
a different color from the other rdles. The 
love duo between Faust and Roschen is of an 
expressive melody; the doctor would soon 
seduce the heart of the young girl, did not 
the jealous Franz arrive with his friends and 
defy his rival. This scene is treated with 
great fire and vigor. 

The following tableau transports us to the 
castle of Gulf. The air of the captive Kuni- 
gunde is graceful at its beginning, and the 
agitato includes a good movement of the 
orchestra. The air which Hugo sings to 
exhort his partisans to deliver his beloved 
forms the counterpart of the preceding scene ; 
it is written with choruses and begins largely, 
but the passage in roulades which concludes it 
is of a superannuated taste. The trio which 
follows, between Roschen, Franz and Mephis- 
topheles, is one of the most beautiful pieces 
of the score ; the dialogue of the two lovers 
is gracefully accompanied by a violin passage, 
interrupted by languishing sighs of the oboe. 
The fine phrase of the devil evoking sleep 
detaches itself upon a soft rustling of the 
orchestra; the lovers yield to the power of 
the demon, and fall asleep; all is hushed, 
the 'thousand sounds of night are lost in 
space. The finale of the first act is an im- 
portant page, which does not lack brilliancy ; 
accordingly, it produces much effect when the 
work is performed in Paris. 

The whole scene of witchcraft which opens 
the second act is of good color. The witches' 
chorus has sufficient originality, and the alter- 
nation of the melody from 2-4 to triple meas- 
ure has something strange and fantastical. 
In the following tableau we are before the 
church where is celebrated the marriage of 
Count Hugo and Kunigunde. The religious 
chorus, in imitation of the Protestant chorals, 
has a beautiful effect The young Roschen 
then sings a cavatina in G minor, of an ele- 
gant form and of a harmony full of delicacy. 

The air of Faust which follows contains a 
beautiful phrase: ''Ma di Rosa il dolce 
amore," but it soon plunges into a series of 
roulades altogether unseasonable. Spohr, as 
afterwards Schumann, has written the part of 
Faust for the baritone voice. So far, nothing 
could be better ; the timbre of the baritone is 
as well suited as that of the tenor to the char- 
acter of the rdle; but it seems singularly 
exaggerated to let it roll down to Ejflai, below 
the bass sUiff.^ Schumann, on the contrary, 

> Only once. to. be sure, and at the extremity of a rapid 
downward arpeggio. Some measures further on, Spohr 
makes his hero mil on a low a. 



114 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1024. 



knew how to guard against this rock. The 
great scene of the ball has only half inspired 
the composer; the dialogae at the beginning, 
between Hugo and his wife, is tender and lan- 
guishing; the dance airs are graceful ; but the 
final catastrophe, the defiance of Hugo and 
his duel with Faust, are not rendered in a 
sufficiently impressive manner. The part of 
the devil is not put in strong enough relief; 
he acts no more ; he sings a part ; he does 
not seem to direct this scene of murder with 
laughter and sarcasm on his lips; he is no 
more the demon. 

One may bring the same reproach against 
the air which Mophistopheles sings after this 
great scene ; it is diabolical in intonation and 
in construction, but it Is not so in character. 
There are yet fine accents in the finale, touch- 
ing phrases — t^i of Roschen among others : 
'' Chi I'amato ben m'addita ? " But the author 
has not met with the powerful inspiration 
necessary to retrace in music the ruin of 
Faust — the eternal loss of the man who has 
given himself to the Evil One. 

Such, sketched in rough outline, is this 
work, which, for a long time, was the only 
opera of Faust known and admired. It is 
interesting to study. Of a melody often a 
little short and devoid of originality, of a 
very curiously-wrought, sometimes too learned 
harmony, this opera addresses itself more to 
the erudite in music than to the mass of the 
public Nor is it exempt from a fault with 
which the author has often been reproached, 
and which consists in accumulating unlike 
harmonies in the shortest possible space, in 
such a manner as sometimes to make too 
many different chords pass under a. single 
note of the melody. The Fttust of Spohr is 
anterior to Der Freytchuiz by eight years, 
and yet there exbts between these two works 
a family resemblance, which can only be ex- 
plained by the taste for novel combinations 
which Spohr, like Weber, pleased himself 
with trying. 

To judge it in a word, Fcaut is the work of 
an artist whose temperament and faculties 
were much less suited to the theatre than to 
instrumental music, to the symphony. In 
fact, although it contains some fine pages, hb 
opeirm in general is devoid of ilan^ of con- 
trasts, of variety, of what gives life to music, 
and, above all, to dramatic music. And yet 
Fautt Is, with JeaondOy the best lyrical work 
which he has produced* 

^FauMt! grand subject, worthy to inspire 
a Grermanic muse," wrote F^tis, at the time 
of its representation in Paris. << But Fauti^ 
for the French, is the work of Goethe, with 
its beauties, its defects, the vagueness of its 
style, and the exaggeration of its ideas. The 
characters so strongly traced, the situations 
so interesting, although improbable, which 
distinguish thb (^eation, are what one desires 
to see upon the stage. Unfortunately, noth- 
ing of all this is found in the formless lihretto 
of which Spohr has written the music. . . 
Only a very strong music could struggle 
against the disadvuitages of such a canvas ; 
unhappily I am forced to avow that that of 
Fauti is not what was needed. It has not 
justified the high reputation of its author, and 



I have difficulty to persuade myself that this 
is the work of which I have read so many 
praises. And do not believe that the compo- 
sition here in question is one of those whose 
novelty in kind, whose subtie combinations 
and audacities demand time to make them 
comprehended; for, beyond a few modula- 
tions which are too precipitate, nothing is 
more simple or less new than this music 
From an artist like Spohr, accustomed to 
manage instrumental masses, and of whom I 
have heard in London a symphony full of 
beautiful effects, I hoped for a vigorous over- 
ture, analogous to the nature of the subject, 
and I only feared to find some Germanisms a 
litUe too bold ; instead of that, I have heard 
a symphony in the ancient manner, of a style 
more gay than sombre, filled with well-worn 
formulas, and which one would have taken 
for the overture of an opera houffe, if the 
title of the work had not been upon the play- 
bill. . . In short, Fauit has not justified the 
hopes to which it had given rise." 

On the other hand, Mendelssohn, arriring 
the next year at Paris, and, pressed by his 
father to choose a French opera libretto, in 
the want of a German poem such as he would 
have liked, replied to him, in his letter of 
Nov. 19, 1831: ". . . . The success which 
these subjects {La Afuette and GuiUaume TeU) 
have throughout all Germany is not owing to 
the fact that they are good or dramatic, for 
Guinaume TeU is neither the one nor the' 
other ; but it is because they come from Paris 
and have pleased there. Assuredly if there is 
a road to take to be appreciated in Grermany, 
it is that which passes through Paris and Lon- 
don ; yet it is not the only one, as is proved 
not only by all of Weber, but by Spohr himself, 
whose Fatui is now placed here in the rank 
of classical music and will be given the next 
season at the Grand Opera of London. . . ." 

A few years after being played at Paris, in 
German, this opera was sung at Marseilles, in 
French. It had been translated by the direc- 
tor of the theatre, Clerisseau, and by an ilrtist 
of the orchestra, De Groot, the father of M. 
Ad. de Groot, who was ehef-^orehutre at the 
Chatelet and at the Vaudeville. Hubert, 
the husband of Mme. Hubert-Massy, played 
Faust; Potet, Mephistopheles ; and Mme. 
Margneron, Rose. To break the monotony 
of the work, the director conceived the idea 
of introducing into it some dancing airs, and 
De Groot undertook to compose them, pre- 
serving his incognito. The opera was only 
half successful, but the dance music made a 
furore. The whole Marseillaise public was 
in ecstacy, declaring that never had Spohr 
composed anything so beautiful as these airs 
de haJQM ; that it was the most charming page 
of his opera, that none but a Gierman musi- 
cian was capable of writing such delicious 
dance airs, etc, etc • . Good care was taken 
not to undeceive these enthusiastic admirers, 
and they continued to fdte De Groot, under 
cover of Spohr, just as one day at Paris 
they applauded The Flight into Egyptj by 
Pierre Ducr^, which they would not have 
failed to hiss under the name of Berlioz ; and 
just as our fathers had received with enthu- 
siasm, under the name of Gluck, Lee Danr 



dides^ a'masterpiece which they would perhaps 
have disdained if it had been signed SalierL 

( To b« ocmtlnued.} 



HANDEL'S CONCERTOS FOR ORGAN 
AND ORCHESTRA » 



M. OniLMAHT AHD M. COLOHIfB. 



At the admirable concerts organised by M. 
Guilmant at the Trocadero, the intelligent specta- 
torv, thoughtfully listening to his marvelous pro- 
gramme, honor in him the musiciiinVho hat been 
the first to reveal to us the superb concertos 
written for the organ and the orchestra by Han- 
del. And so we think we are responding to a 
desire generally manifested, in presenting these 
concertos in a serious study from an esthetic and 
a technical point of view. 

This work of Handel is the historical revela- 
tion of a whole epoch and a whole civilization. 
. . . We begin at once the scientific analysis of 
tlie four concertos already heard at the Tro- 
cad^ro, and henceforth preserved in certain mem- 
ories as a feast of the mind and soul, through 
the memorable interpretation of them by MM. 
Guilmant and Colonne with his select orchestra. 

Handel's concertos, so popular in England, in 
Germany, in Scandinavia, are, according to Fdtis, 
eighteen in number. Treuttel has published 
them in three series of six each. We find in 
reality but seventeen concertos for organ and 
instruments, to which must be added six con- 
certos for organ without instruments, making 
twenty-three in all. Schcelcher, who is law in 
this matter, verifies but seventeen. In the edi- 
tion of Walsli, recognized and signed by Handel, 
the last six concertos present themselves uninstru- 
mented. For the first two only, in this series, 
is the instrumentation indicated, but it has not 
been discovered. M. Guilmant has never been 
able to find it in England, and we remember that 
in our original edition this orchestration was want- 
ing. This precious edition, the loss of which is 
irreparable, had been personally presented to us 
by M. Louis Blanc from London, at the request 
of Mme. George Sand. To make it complete, 
M. Louis Blanc had availed himself of the 
researches of English publishers and musicog- 
raphers. During the bombardment of 1871 it 
was all destroyed. 

Of the seventeen concertos, M. Guilmant has 
chosen the four which he preferred, which popu- 
lar success has always oonseorated, and whieh 
the savants cite for models. All the other con- 
certos are also interesting, and they will be 
executed and applauded in their turn. But in 
the four now known, and familiar to French audi- 
ences, are well summed up the genius of Handel, 
his exquisite and superior style, his expert hand, 
and that cleverness of expression and of mtie-tffi- 
ictne which prove that the great man elaborated 
his thought and his success, and consulted the 
pleasures of the public as well as the austere 
exigencies of art. Our study will consult the 
dates and numerical order in the work of the 
master, and will then proceed historically. 

The first concerto b in'G minor and major. 
It is divided, like nearly all the concertos, into 
four parts, or two double parts. The first piece 
is marked Larghetto e stacccUOf a strange indica- 
tion which belongs to Handel. It is in 3^ tempo. 
The organ plays here the part of a dreamy per- 
sonage, and maintains itself in solemn contrast 
with the nervous and jerky movement of the 
orchestra. The debate terminates, the instru- 
ments reproduce the accents of the organ, and at 
the end, organ and orchestra unite in an energetic 
and masculine ensemble. 

1 We tniisUte from Le MAnuinl, Paris, Jan« M, 



July 17, 1880.] 



DWIGUra JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



115 



The Allegro, in G major, is very brilliant It 
is cut by an expressive phrase resumed, now by 
the organ, now by tlic orchestra. We give it in 
'Substance on account of its rare charm, and on 
account of certain allurements of expression, and 
a certain changeful play of form, in which is 
revealed all that Handel's muse contained of 
what is learned, co<juetti8li, excpnsite. 







This Allegro is chained to the preceding piece 
by a cadence which presents itself invariably in 
each concerto, major or minor, and which is quite 
characteristic. In the org^ part it is generally 
surmounted by the words ad libitum. One can 
then vary it, as in an example which will be seen 
in the second concerto before the finale. In thb 
cadence, which ends on the dominant, we recog- 
nize a familiar process of Handel's for binding 
the pieces together, making a bridge between two 
pieces of contradictory physiognomy, as, for ex- 
ample, when he leaps from an Adagio to a brill- 
iant Finale. 




f=^ 



^^B 



^& 



The Finale is an Andante in 8-8 tempo. It 
moves with the elegant gait of a minuet. The 
violins and the organ question and respond, then 
blend in variations in which the organ monopo- 
lizes the preponderating part. The working oat 
of this concerto is very fine and very profound. 
Piquant sonorities abound in it. The serene joy- 
ousness of Handel sets every phrase in sunshine. 
Here there is nothing of that doctrinal hypocrisy 
which under a pedantic mantle hides poverty of 
imagination, absence of knowledge and emptiness 
of brain. Of all the concertos it is the most 
beautiful in the purely musical sense. . . . 

The second concerto is in B flat It begins, as 
Handel marks it, A tempo ordmario, e $taccato. 
It is in 4-4 measure. The chords are very large. 
The whole has a beautiful gait A moment of 
repose arrives, and we hear the habitual cadence. 
The Allegro moves off lithe and slender, like the 
popular inspirations of £ngland in its historir! 
songs and dances. It is well known that a whole 
mafveloDs library of these has been preserved, 
and that Handel had a deep acquaintance with 
all this jeweh-y. Our French public thrilled to 
these accents as if it recognized them : and this 
is explained when we think how much the popu- 
lar music over all the pUmet is animated with the 
same inspirations. 

We will give a single example. In 1758, the 
. English being at war with France, a company of 
Welsh mountaineers disembai^ked on the beach 
of Sain^Cast in our old Britanny. Immediately 
the Breton peasants seized their muskets and 
flung themselves before tlie enemy. All of a sud- 
den the Webh mountaineers intone their song of 
war. The arms fall from the hands of the Bret- 
ons. Our peasants halt, and, in their tarn, with 



a strong voice, full of sobs, they join their French 
music with the Welsh music, and sing the same 
warlike hymn, at once Welsh and Breton, which, 
in the two camps, tlie combatants have heard 
during Uieir infancy and have repeated all their 
lives. Same word?, same music. On both sides 
the oflicers, Welsh and Breton, give the command 
to fire in the same language. How can they 
fight, how can they kiU each other I The arms 
are thrown aside^ tears run from all eyes, they 
embrace. Together they sound forth the same 
hymn, which is no longer a song of war, but a 
song of reconciliation. 

The Adagio is a recitative confided to the 
organ, and accompanied by a few harmonies of 
string instruments. It is again tied to the Alleg- 
ro by the inevitable cadence on the dominant, 
but Uiis time with an ornamentation on the organ 
which we copy from the edition of Walsh. 







^m 



m 



In the Allegro ma non presto we find again the 
easy carriage of minuets, the grace, the gayety, 
and that freshness of soul which Handel pre- 
served through all his life, as an artist and as a 
man. 

The gift of communication wiA the public 
belongs essentially to Handel. The popular fibre 
is in him. The artistic mediocrity of a stiff and 
formal talent, seek it not in this musician. He 
has neither puerility, nor affectation. His lively 
perception, his vast knowledge, his active thought 
renew themselves from the songs and dances of 
a triple nationality : Ireland, Scotland, England. 
You will feel the breath and balm thereof in the 
fourth concerto, in F. M. Guilmant had happily 
chosen it to inaugurate his idances and win the 
public at a blow. Aristotle and his learned cabal, 
La Harpe and Lebatteux have nothing to be seen 
here. We have politely taken leave of them, to 
give reception to Shakespeare and lus undisci- 
plined beauties, to Milton, religiously inspired, to 
Dante, to Ariosto, to Cervantes, to Moliere, to 
all the geniuses whose thought is deep, undulating, 
luminous as the vast, vague expanse of the 
Indian oceans. The beginning is in unison and 
challenges attention. The musician meant to 
strike sure and quick. The phrase is energetic ; 
the Andante announces itself by successions of 
grandiose chords confided to the organ and 
repeated by the instraments. It continues in 
delicate ouUines, in light phrases, which form an 
opposition with the beginning. The organ com- 
mences, the orchestra responds ; then there nn- 
rolls, in triplets, a fine ribbon of lyric arabesques. 
M. Guilmant lets them fall from his delicate, free 
fingers like the scattered drops of a summer 
shower, while a rainbow detaches itself upon the 
stormy horizon. A double thought appears in 
all this clever and simple arrangement It is the 
religious sentiment, and the sentiment of ele- 
gance, of fine ornamentation. Then comes the 
episode, an air declaimed by a solo register, and 
the traditional cadence which binds the Adagio 
to the Finale. Maurice Cristal. 

(To be oontliiiMd.) 



CARL KBEBS.1 

Carl Krebs, Royal Saxon Capellmeister^ died at 
Dresden on the afternoon of the 16th of May, 
and, though he had been suffering for some time, 
his death was somewhat unexpected. By this 
sad event, musical art loses another of its well- 

1 From the SignaU. 



approved and renowned old masters, one of those 
genuine musicians with whose name an entire 
chapter of the history of art is closely mixed up. 
It was in a triple capacity that Carl Krebs at^ 
tained celebrity : he was a distinguished pianist, 
a sterling composer, and an excellent conductor, 
displaying in the last character rare energy, men- 
tal freshness, and vigor, up to a very advanced 
age. As an artist active in only the best sense, he 
was, as a man, universally beloved and esteemed, 
being one who, in the thorough uprightness and 
honesty of his nature, met everybody openly and 
frankly, and was utterly ignorant of petty pro- 
fesstional envy. 

Born on the 16th of January, 1804, at Nurem- 
berg, Carl Krebs soon lost his mother, Charlotte 
Miedke, an excellent singer, who died at Stutt- 
gart, and, with his father's consent, he was adopt- 
ed by Herr Krebs, a member of the operatic 
company at the Theatre Royal there. His extra- 
ordinary natural gifts were shown even in his 
earliest boyhood, and, in his sixth year, he was 
one of the child-phenomenons of that time. He 
played pianoforte concertos by Mozart and 
Dussek, and, when seven years of age, wrote his 
first opera, Feodora, to a libretto of Kotzebue's. 
In 1825 he went to Vienna, for the purpose of 
improving himself in thoroMgh-bass and establish- 
ing still more firmly his reputation as a pianist 
A year later he received his appointment as third 
Capellmeister at the K'arnthnerthor-Theatre, and 
it was under his direction that La Dame Blanche 
and Le MaQon were performed there for the first 
time. The year 1827 saw him exchange this 
honorable sphere of action for Hamburgh, whither 
he was invited, on brilliant terms, as conductor at 
the Stadttheater, then jast built He exercized 
an extraordinary influence on the elevation of 
musical matters in the old Hanse-Town. For 
ten years he organized grand masical perform- 
ances, which, in their way, were musical festivals, 
held in high esteem far and wide. In Hamburgh, 
too, he wrote his opera Agnes Bemauer — he had 
previously completed another, 5y/<Mi,in Vienna^ 
and produced it in 1848, with gratifying success. 
He retained his appointment for twenty-four 
years, till, in 1850, he received an offer from the 
Theatre Royal, Dresden, and, to the great regret 
of the Hamburghers, accepted it In June, of 
the same year, he entered on his new duties, and, 
at the age of forty-six, married Aloyse Michalesi, 
till 1870 one of the chief ornaments of the Dres- 
den Royal Opera. She was his second wife, his 
first having been Adelheid von Cotta, whom he 
married at Stuttgart on the 6th of June, 1828, 
and who died on the 9th of December, 1847. A 
daughter bom of the second marriage, has added 
fresh lustre to her father's name; that daughter 
is Marie Krebs, the pianist 

At the end of July, 1872, Krebs gave up his 
post at the Theatre Royal, and retained only the 
direction of the sacred music at the Royal Roman 
Catholic Church, for which he composed several 
valuable masses and cantatas, as well as a ** Te 
Deom." Of his other compositions, his brilliant 
pianoforte pieces and songs were especially 
successful, some of the latter, the one entitled 
** An Adelheid," for instance, obtaining world- 
wide renown. 

The deceased enjoyed the rare happiness of 

celebrating on the 1st of April, 1876, his fiftieth 
anniversary as a conductor. On that occasion, 
the numberless congratulations and offerings from 
all points of the compass, as well as the various 
marks of distinction from crooned heads, proved 
once more in what high esteem his professional 
services and busy life were held. As recently as 
June, 1878, he conducted, with vigor unimpaired, 
a part of the musical performances organized to 
celebrate the Silver Wedding of the Royal 
couple of Saxony. Since last Autumn he was 



116 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1024. 



ailin<^, but no one expected 90 soon the lioiir which 
would summon the youthful old man, whose Intel* 
lect was as brij^ht as ever, from the life to which 
he was so attached. 

On the 1 9th of .Mav, his mortal remains were 
laid in their last resting-place. The evening 
before, the Dresden Liedertafel gave him who for 
years had been an honorary member a fu\>eral 
serenade by torch-light. Manifestations of pro- 
found sympathy were received from various 
places ; the Brunswick Ducal Chapel forwarded, 
through Ilerr Abt, llieir conductor, a cushion with 
laurel, and a large number of hvurel wreaths were 
sent by professional admirers and private friends 
in Hamburgh. All the most prominent represent- 
atives of art and science in Dresden attended 
the funeral, and the imposing procession wended 
its way towards the Roman Catholic Cemetery 
to tlie strains of Chopin's Funoral March. At 
tlie grave, Herr Stollc, Court Chaplain and Presi- 
dent, first delivered an address in the name of 
the Church, and was followed by Dr. Pabst, 
Hofrdthj s|)eaking in that of the Direction General 
of the Theatre Royal. Herr Miiller, cantor, as 
representing the choir, recited some valedictory 
verses. After a composition of tlie deceased 
Master had been given by the chorus from the 
Theatre Royal, the proceedings were brought to 
a close with a "Salve, Regina,'* sung by the 
choir-boys of the Roman Catholic Church. 



DR. RITTER ON "CHAMBElf MUSIC." 

Dr. Fre<leric L. Ritter's lecture in Standard 
Hall, New York, on May 13th, concerning the 
historical and sstlietical development of " Cham- 
Inir Music," (says our contemporary. The Musical 
Jieciew)^ was one of the most instructive as well 
as entertaining events of the musical season. No 
other musician in this country has a more thor- 
ough knowledge of such subjects and no other is 
more practised in their exposition than Dr. Rit- 
ter, who, by similar instruction of numerous stu- 
dents at Vassar College (who afterwards return 
to their homes all over the land) is continually 
sowing the seeds for future development in this 
country. Music as an art is a growth. When, 
in tliis sense, it is not indigenous to our soil, it 
must be transplanted here ; and that is what is 
going on at present — thanks to many pioneers 
who have patiently tilled among us for many 
years. 

One of the characteristics of Americans is a 
love for sensationalism; and it is against the 
abuse of this characteristic as applied to art that 
the leaders of taste find it most necessary to 
guard. Hence, music which, while good, is char- 
acterized also by high coloring and varied adorn- 
ment, is more apt to be appreciated by the 
multitude than good music (and even better mu- 
sic) with less flashy pretensions. Anything, 
therefore, which tends to make more intelligent 
the appreciation of the less obtrusive merits of 
good works, by explanation and illustration of 
works which are characterized almost exclusively 
by such refined beauties, should be heartily wel- 
comed in our midst. Of such good service are the 
various "chamber-music" concerts now inci*eas- 
ing in number in many American cities ; of such 
good service, also, was Dr. Rittcr's lecture last 
week, when the professor was assisted in the illus- 
tration of his subject by so good a string quartet 
as Messrs. Brandt, Schwarz, Matzka and Berg- 
ncr, and accompanist as Mr. J. H. Wilson. 

There were two facts which impressed most 
prominently those who listened tlioughtfully to 
the lecture and the illustrations ; and these were : 
first, the fact that music is a growth ; for you 
could almost see the sprouting as the first six illus- 
trations were played, beginning with the incom- 
plete and monotonous long chords of Maschera 



(1593) and culminating in Corelli*s soulful " Ada- 
gio" for violin (1700), played on the Velio by 
Mr. Frederick Bergner in his noblest st}'le ; and 
you could see in the later composers represented 
(ending with Haydn) tlie germs of expansion into 
the subsequent development of Mozart, Beethoven 
and others. Secondly, the individuality of the 
viirious composers, notwithstanding their depend- 
ence on tlie past, was brought out into striking 
prominence. For example. Bach, Handel and 
Haydn could easily have been identified from their 
handiwork without the appearance of their names 
upon the programme of their selections which 
were played. 

The lecture was, in substance, as follows : 

Modem instrumental music owes its most essential 
{esthetic qualities to the development of the different 
forms of chamber music, culminating in that of tbe 
sonata. A fine understanding of the forms of chamber 
music id sure to widen the listener's horizon, and to 
stimulate his appreciation of the large orchestral forms. 
In the illustrations of such an historical sketch as tlie 
present, we can uot expect to find invariably the finish, 
the melodic charm, the harmonic variety of our classic 
epoch. Some possess merely an historical interest; 
euphony, perfection of form, and sufficient emotional 
expression and meaning are yet wanting. In listening 
to them the hearer must transplant himself mentally 
into that epoch during which they were written. 

Giovanni Pierluigi da Fslestrina died at Rome in the 
year 1594. He was a composer famous, not alone on 
account of his unique, unsurpassed genius, as evinced 
in his wonderful works, but also as the artist pointed 
out by historA' us the one in whose labors culminated 
the first great epoch of Christian musical art develop- 
ment — based then exclusively upon the culture of 
vocal music. ''^When music began to be associated with 
religious service, the human voice was considered the 
only appropriate organ to sound God*s praises. But, 
besides, before the perfection of artificial instruments, 
this natural organ was the best at the disposal of men 
for artistic purposes. During the mediaeval period, 
Harmony, the great vital agent of modem music, was 
discovered, and Counterpoint (the art of uniting two 
or more distinct melodies into one logical form, grow- 
ing out of the harmonic basis as the flower grows out 
of the root) was invented and perfected, and straight- 
way became the almost exclusive mode of composing 
both sacred and secular works. Variety of timbre and 
compass of the different voices afforded full scope for 
the most complicated contrapuntil development. 

With Palestrina the climax of that age was reached 
and even the germs of the coming epoch were mani- 
fested. The invention of instrameuts led to transposi- 
tion for them of prevailing vocal pieces. But the in- 
struments of that time were not considered capable of 
responding to the artistic requirements of the learned 
contrapuntists. Minstrels and strolling players were 
the agents of this transition. Gradually these instm- 
ments found their way into the music-rooms of princes 
and nobles and into monastery halls, whence eventually 
they took a foothold in the organ gallery of the cathe- 
dral — lending, although still awkward in form and in 
production of tone, additional power and brilliancy to 
the vocal parts. 

For the present purpose, attention will be confined 
to those of the instruments of that time which were 
played with a bow upon strings and belonging to the 
family of violins. These were first thought of as imi- 
tations, in diversity and compass, of the human voice; 
and consequently, the treble violin, tbe alto or tenor 
viola and the bass violoncello were produced; and 
their introduction revolutionized music and paved the 
way for the great modem orchestra. 

The first development of the art of composition and 
performance along this line originated, like the most 
important musical forms, in Italy ; and, of course, the 
first improvements in formal constraction of stringed 
instruments, so as to become artistically manageable, 
emanated from Italy. At the end of the 16th and be- 
ginning of the 17th century, the Gabrielis (Andrea and 
his nephew, Giovanni) had already begun to assign to 
the violin important parts in connection with other 
instruments. About the same time, Claudio Monte- 
verde, distinguished also in the dramatic development 
of the opera, penetrated deeper into the true character 
and technical capabilities of the violin and discovered 
that motion, railier thnn the sustaining of tones, is the 
essential element of stringed instruments. On this 
principle he was able to give to some of the scenes in 
his operas increased vivacity, intensity, and dramatic 
expression. He introduced, also, the "tremolo'* and 
the "pizzicato." These changes, of coarse, incited play- 



ers to new efforts; «nd so, grndnally compositions for 
stringed instruments alone began to be written — the 
fir;>t models for their forms (atfide from tlie dances) 
being found in the vocal music, and the new comi>osi;« 
tions being written in accordance with the strict rules 
of counteriwint. Often, too, vocal pieces were played 
instrumentally, without the Kllghtest regard to the nat- 
ural capabilities of the different instruments. The 
composers even wrote on the title-pages of their motets, 
madrigals, cauzonettas, etc., " Da cantare e sonare " — 
to be snng, or played on instruments. And even in 
distinctively instrumental works at that time, the vocal 
forms were closely followed. The harmonic construc- 
tion, like that in vocal pieces, was based upon the old 
ecclesiastical modes, which differed, in many essential 
points, from our modem major and minor keys. All 
this imparts to these early instrumental efforts an air 
of stiffness, awkwardness and archaic quaintness. Tbe 
instraments sound as if groping In the dark, outside of 
their natural sphere, and endeavoring tn find a more 
congenial, artistic existence. All these peculiarities 
are presented by the first illnstratioo, a " Onzou " by 
Florentine Maschera, whO) 4it the end of the IGth cen- 
tury, lived in Brescia, as organist of the cathedral, and 
was considered a very able musician. The piece, pub- 
lished in 1593, was originally written for or»an ; but, 
the four parts having been printed separately, it may 
be assumed that it was intended to be played also by 
four instruments. What kind of instruments the com- 
poser neglected to state. The piece is in two parts, 
each to be repeated. The first has twenty and the 
second has thirty measures, closing with a *' coda " of 
seven bars. This form, though in an improved state, 
we meet again in the modem sonata as illustrated by 
Haydn. In each part one principle " motivo " is worked 
out contrapuntally. Our modern tonality, G minor, 
already pr^ominates. Each part closes upon the key 
— the decisive inter\-al (the third) which would deter- 
mine the nature of the chord, being, however, left 
out; while the closing chord of the whole piece sounds 
that of G major. This is a characteristic harmonic 
peculiarity used in connection with the eccletiiasticil 
modes — its raiton dCetre being based ou acoustic 
grounds. 

Here followed the performance of Maschera's 
*' Canzon," and attention was called to the fact 
that it shows the melodic element in its veriest 
infancy. 

Only when forms could be oonstracted with a regard 
to the tone-element and the technical character of the 
different instruments, was an independent and original 
instramental melody possible. As composera began to 
understand the distinctive marks of stringed instru- 
ments, and the manifold, rich resources that lay dor- 
mant within those strings, chaos began also to disap- 
pear, and, step by step, the previously almost identical 
forms of Toccata, Canzona, Preludia, etc*., received 
more logical, esthetic shapes. One became slower in 
motion and broader in melodic phrasing ; another 
moved more swiftly, its assthetic constmotion being 
characterized by shorter Uiemes and simpler rhythmi- 
cal phrasing. Thus each separate movement adopted 
a distinct character and individual physiognomy. One 
was called Allegro; another. Adagio; a third. Presto, 
and so on. Eventually they were united in a succes- 
sive progression, in order to form relieviug aesthetic 
contrasts. This was the origiu of that noble form, the 
Sonata, which eventually enabled the genius of a 
Haydn, a Mozart and a Beethoven to create so many 
immortal works. It became at once the favorite form 
of the old Italian instrumental composeia. The word 
Sonata is derived from Suonare (to sound) and was 
used at first to signify that a piece was to be played by 
instruments, instead of being sung. 

Afterwards the word came to signify a distinct form 
of instramental music; and still hiter (about KSSO) it 
began to be used interchangeably with the word Sin- 
fouia (symphony) — there existing no formal distinc- 
tion between the two. 

(Conclusion In next Number.) 



ViBKHA. — Beethoven's statue, which was inaugu- 
rated on the 1st of May last, is the work of the 
sculptor Zumbnsch ; it was exhibited at the Paris 
Exhibition and formed one of the principal orna- 
ments of the Austro-Hungarian facade in the Rue 
des Nations. About £7,000 have been collected 
towards the monument. The Emperor of Austria 
gave 1,000 florins, the Viennk opera 1,043 (the result 
of a representation of Fidelio), Liszt 10,396 florins 
(the proceeds of a concert), and Verdi 600 francs — 
several musical societies, the Conservatoires of 
Vienna, Munich, Brussels, Baltimore, etc., have 



July 17, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



117 



also subscribed various sums. — It is proposed to 
perform Wagner's opera, Tristan und holde at the 
Imperial Opera. The master will stop at Vienna 
on his return from Italy to make arrangements 
with the superintendent of the opera house for the 
execution of his work. He will be invited to direct 
personally the first performance of Tristan. 

S[>toiffl)t*iS 3Pournal of a^ujfic* 



SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1880. 

MUSIC AT COLLEGE FESTIVALS. 

This seems to be one of the hopeless problems, 
like the squaring of the circle. It would natu- 
rally be presumed that a time-honored, cultured 
University, classical in everything else, and fond 
of the dear old '^classic shades," and setting a 
nioilcl in all the arts and influences of refinement, 
would also, in its annual festivals, Commence- 
ments, dinners and processions of Afumni and 
stK-iclies uf the elect, set a high example of mi^ 
flic such as could be regarded as in some sense 
classical, — at all events superior, tasteful, apro- 
pos of the ideas and sentiments of the occasion, 
and as well worth listening to as the orations, 
poems, toasts and after-dinner speeches. Where, 
if not to a University, should we look for such 
line ministry of the tone-art ? 

Several times, in summers past, have* we allud- 
ed to the condition of things in this respect at the 
ancient seat of our own Alma Mater, Harvard. 
The plea for all shortcomings has always been 
economy, the want of means. A cheap mili- 
tary band, mostly brass, to regulate the tramp 
of the procession from the library to the the- 
atre an^ to the dining<^all, has been the last 
extremity of grace, and grudgingly allowed. 
This band, in furtherance of the same economy, 
has entered the hall with the procession, and fur- 
nished such occasional preludes, interludes, diver- 
timenti, echoes to patriotic toasts and speeches, 
as were deemed appropriate, — though nine times 
in ten they are most inappropriate. For instance, 
at the Alumni dinners of several summers past, 
the band, stationed in that sacred entrance tran- 
sept of the memorial tablets, has kept up its ring- 
ing; march until all the classes have entered the 
vast dining-hall, and then ascending to the end 
gallery has prolonged its stunning brazen din, so 
overwhelming that no one could talk or even 
think, for some ten or twenty minutes, until all 
were seated. For the rest, an occasional operatic 
pot-pourri, or sentimental air, or galop, would be 
played, out of all relation to what wa.s passing, 
and apparently for no end whatever, but to relieve 
the tediousness of speech. 

This time (Commencement 1880), the manage- 
ment — whether the young President of the Uni- 
versity, in his heroic way, or the Committee of 
the Alumni, we are not informed — as if asluimed 
of past short-comings, surprised the sons of Har- 
vard, assembled for the annual procession, with 
a practical joke — there was no hand at all ! The 
hot, dusty march, huddling and measureless, 
seemed doubly long and tiresome. No note of 
music of any kind, in Sanders Theatre, or in the 
dining-hall, except the venerable hymn : *' Give 
ear, my children," to the tune of Saint Martinis 
led off by the venerable ex-librarian. Well, per- 
haps this was better, for once, than the old order 
of things. At least it called attention to the sub- 
ject, as going without dinner might invest the 
gastronomic problem with a new importance. 

On the following day, the Phi Beta Kappa So- 
ciety provided better for its guests and members. 
There was a band, and a good one.^ And, better 
yet, when all were seated at the bounteous tables 
witiiin those bare, white-washed, ^ storied walls " 
of old Massachusetts hall, and the feast of wit, 



of rea«on and of soul, had begun, this b^nd had 
put aside some of its loud brass instruments, and 
transformed itself into the gentler and more artis- 
tic semblance of an orchestra with strings, and 
once at least, (the rule of secrecy, we presume, 
does not apply to the music as well as to the 
speeches of the Phi-Beta symposiums), they played 
a somewhat lengthy piece of a rather delicate and 
refined character, not severe nor profound, which 
might have been worth listening to, if the talka- 
tive and genial company had only thought of it. 
As it was, it was entirely lost, — music scattered 
to the winds, — nobody heard, or cared to hear 
it, thoush its tuneful murmurs mav have mingled 
certain pleasant, half conscious sensations with the 
other pleasurable circumstances of the fiying 

hours. 
And this brings us to the point of the whole 

matter. Music is of three kinds : that which is 
to be listened to, that which is not worth listening 
to, and that which may or may not be listened to, 
inasmuch as its end resides not in itself, it being not 
music for its own sake, but for the sake of some- 
thing else, as dancing, marching, soothing the im- 
patience of a waiting crowd at a spectacle, etc. 
Music of this third kind is certainly legitimate, 
and may be good of its kind ; it times the march 
or the procession, and relieves the weariness 
thereof. It gives the measure and the rhythmic 
impulse to the dance, and sets the brain and sen- 
ses of the dancers whirling : they have no need 
to listen to it ; one outside may listen and may 
find it good, nay exquisite; but ten to one he 
finds it a bore, from the persistent mill-wheel 
monotony of the rhythm, even in the most luscious 
waltz of Strauss or Lanner. Of bad music, music 
insufferably commonplace and shallow, coarse and 
noisy and obtrusive, not worth listening to, always 
untimely, out of place, the less said the better. 

But real music is that which has a right to lis- 
tening attention. In a feast of wit and intellect, 
of poetry and fine or noble sentiment, it appeals 
to heart and soul and mind by as divine a right 
as the eloquent speech that is made, or the in> 
spired verses that are recited. It is as much an 
insult to this Muse, as it would be to St. Cecilia 
in church, to cease to listen and plunge into a 
general hubbub of chatty conversation the moment 
the minister stops speaking and her voice begins. 
That there is so seldom any music really worth 
heedins: on occasions of the kind referred to, is 
doubtless mainly owing to the fact that, be it ever 
so good, we know that it stands no chance of be- 
inz listened to. We think that a better state of 
things might gradually be brought about in the 
anniversary festivities of our Universities. It is 
they that can and ought to set the good example 
and try to realize some true ideal, or approximate 
ideal, of a possible mutual relationship between 
music, poetry and eloquence in the theatres and 
dining halls where college men meet once a year. 
To define this ideal satisfactorily and fully, 
and sketch out its working programme, would 
be a matter of much thought and tentative ex- 
periment. But one principle, and that the cen- 
tral one, is clear. Whatever music, whether of 
instruments or voices, is set loose on such occa- 
sions, it should have significance and purpose; 
it should utter no uncertain sound ; iCS raison 
d'etre should be clear and unmistakable. That is 
to say, it should, in Music's way, cooperate to the 
same end that the speeches and the poems do in 
their way. Either i( is there to be listened to, 
and taken to heart, or it had better stay away. 
Silence is golden, but music unheeded, not ex- 
pected to be heeded, is not even silver. Rightly 
prepared, and rightly heeded, think what inspir- 
ing, edifying and idealizing contributions this di- 
vine art might make to such feasts of reason 
and of soul. When the silver-tongued welcome 
and exhortation of the chairman of the feast are 



uttered, let music take up the theme in noble har- 
monies responsive to the very thought, — not rat- 
tle off a waltz or pot-pourri, entirely irrelevant, 
as at a picnic on a steamboat. If there is a 
poem full of sentiment and tender memory of 
youth and college days, let there be a fit selection 
ready which shall heighten and prolong the feel- 
ing, and not rudely break the spell with brassy 
clamor fitter for a circus. If the eulogy of the 
noble dead be pronounced, let the dirge, or the up- 
lifting strain of comfort, which follows, be selected 
from the best that Mozart's or Beetlioven's death- 
less treasures have to offer. If ringing eloquence 
of high resolve and aspiration swells the common 
breast, let the musical response be grand enough 
and vital enough to intensify the effect and make 
it haunt us afterwards. For lighter flashes of 
wit and humor, there is plenty of heat-lightning 
music that would seem born of tlie same simulta- 
neous inspiration. But there would have to bo 
a previous understanding about it all. The pro- 
gramme, in its essential features, leaving room 
enough for inspirations of the moment and for 
happy accident, should be carefully prepared. 
Music would be sure to do her part much better, 
if she knew that she would be respect.ed, that her 
voice would be listened to, and tliat she would be 
treated as an essential, vital, equal element in the 
festive communion of choice spirits. It would be 
very difficult undoubtedly ; the problem might be 
quite as hard to solve as that of Civil Service for 
the unfortunate man who is or is to be the Presi- 
dent of these United States. It would require a 
committee of rare tact and judgment, if not of 
imaginative, creative faculty. Or, better yet, there 
should be some one all-competent '* Philostrate, 
master of the sports," who should be in the secret 
of all the speakers and the poets and the musical 
director beforehand, able to divine their thou<rht8 
even without consulting them ; with a rare gift 
for combinations, for bringing together by sure 
instinct what belongs together ; and with a quick- 
witted faculty for seizing the apt moment, for 
seeing just when the music can come in to good 
advantage, when it fairly should have somethiacr 
to say, and when it had better hold its tongue ; 
and what it ought to say in keeping witli each 
text. He should have an ample, various reper- 
toire provided from the best artistic sources, with 
electric signals of the eye or hand established be- 
tween him and the conductor, so that somethin<r 
good and fit and worth the hearing should be sure 
in every case to be forthcoming. 

Of course all this is very sketchy, vague and 
general. Nothing but careful tliought and slow 
and gradual experiment and many partial failures, 
can even begin to approximate so lovely an ideal. 

But is it not worth studying and attempting? 

■ ♦ 

"MUSIKER" AND "MUSIKANT." 
Continuing in the same strain as above, we say : 
If true music be worth listening to, if music be an 
Art, entitled to respect, and not a mere accessory 
or humdrum accompaniment to something else, as 
dancing, circus shows, etc., then, for the same rea- 
son, is the true musician an artist, one who respects 
his art, and who respects himself, and mast not, 
therefore, be confounded with the man who only 
makes a trade of music, gets hold of some of its 
instruments, acquires some knack or sleight of hand 
with them, and uses them mechanically with no 
higher sense or aim .than to grind out a living, 
whether by scraping a fiddle, blowing a squeaking 
clarinet, or shouting ballads in the street. Yet the 
names artist and musician, like the titles Doctor 
and Professor, are most indiscriminately assumed 
and worn. Even the man who " shines ** your boots 
puts up the sign of "artist." Our attention is 
turned to this phase of the subject by reading the 
following paragraph in the London Musical Times : 



Passing through a back street in London the other 
morning our attention was attracted by a board nailed 
against a door, announcing thiit on the second floor 



118 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1024« 



lived "Jones, maaician." Nov without wi^hin^ to 
detmct from the public estimate of Mr. Jones's artistic 
acquirements, we came to the concloslon that this 
** jnnsidan's ** talents were more usaalW exhibited 
outside than inside houses — a surmise which, on in- 
quiry, we found to be correct It certainly seems 
stranxe that whilst a certain amount of knowledge 
should be absolutely essential before a follower of other 
arts and sciences can legitimately exercise his powers 
as a means of living, any person who can scrape on a 
stringed instrument, blow tluough a tube, or shout 
out popular songs, should be styled a "musician." 
True it is that the public aclmowledges srades amongst 
the professors of music; but there can be little doubt 
that the indiscriminate use of the word we have men- 
tioned tends very much to lower the status of the real 
artist An instance of how this term is perverted oc- 
curred very recently at a polioe-oflioe. A chimney- 
sweep was charged with assault, and on being called 
upon to state the charge, the complainant said, ** Well, 
your Worship, me and my missus gets our living by 
the musical profession, and they are sweeps and al- 
ways come qnarrellinz with us." Naturally, the magis- 
trate asked, *' What ao you mean by the musical pro- 
fession?" to which the witness answered, " WelL sir, 
we sings, sir, at races and other places, and we keep 
ourselves respectable.*' It is gratifying to find that 
theje members of the "profession" keep themselves 
*' respectable": but we can scaroelv think that, even 
with this social claim to their regard, " Musicians," in 
the highest seuMC of the word. Would care to consider 
them as belonging to their- own fraternity. It is of 
course immaterial what these peripatetic vocalists and 
instrumentalists call each other; but the want of any 
deflnite term to separate them from artists is a sign of 
the times, and the sooner this is remedied the tetter 
will it be tdt the position of those whose lives are de- 
voted to further tne progress of intellectual music in 
this country. 

We do indeed need some distinction of terms. 
The Germans have it in the terms Musiker and 
Musikant, The former designates the real mosician, 
in the sense of artist ( TonkUnsUer), the man whose 
study and whose practice, whether as composer or 
performer (that is to say, interpreter), is inspired 
by a true love and reverence for Art, for the ideal. 
The MtuUcaiU is the term for the strolling street 
musician, the man who sings and plays out of tune, 
in a mechanical and humdrum* way, at fairs and 
races, in pothouses and beer saloons, using the 
implements of a divine art, commonly in a most 
bungling way, merely to make the pot boil and 
keep body and soul together. Who will invent 
some equally distinctive and convenient terms in 
the English language ? 

MUSIC ABROAD. 

Tub Havdbl Festival. — That the triennial 
assembly of amateurs and musicians in honor of 
the grand Saxon musician who (with brief inter- 
vals of absence) made England his country and 
London his residence from 1710 to 1760, the 
year of his death, and whom Germany herself 
hardly dares to claim as her own, so thoroughly 
did he succeed in meeting English tastes and 
conquering English hearts, should have absorbed 
all attention during the week which ends to-day 
may easily be understood. Mendelssohn, although 
he composed EliJ<tk for Birmingham, and was al- 
most worshipped in this country, could never be 
entirely happy away from Germany; while Handel 
(a naturali«!d Englishman), despite his German 
birth and his successes in Italy, could never be 
entirely happy away from the new country of his 
choice. In fact, he was celebrated here before he 
can be said to have been recognised at home in any 
degree proportionate to his absolute worth. What 
the Handel Festival, held triennially in the Crystal 
Palace, signifies, is a theme so familiar to our musi- 
cal readers that to dwell upon it again would be 
sacrificing space to no purpose. Enough that from 
1857, when the idea was first put into action by the 
spirited directors of the Sacred Harmonic Society, 
with the iate Mr. Robert K. Bowley at their head, 
Mr. George Grove as secretary tans partil, and Sir 
Michael Costa " generalissimo of all the orchestras," 
justly so styled, as conductor, they have been 
carried on until now with ever increasing interest. 
The meeting of 1867, thoug:h advertised as " Handel 
Festival," was but tenUtive, the first "Festival" 
properly so denominated taking place in 1860, when 
the centenary of Uandel's death was commemo- 
rated. The success on that occasion was so marked, 
that in 1802 another meeting was organized, with 
results so satisfactory that it was determined by 
the Committee of the Sacred Harmonic Society and 



the Crystal Palace directors to perpetuate the 
festivals as " triennial." Thus it has been continued, 
with always increased and increasing resources, 
until the present time, and is likely to be continued 
on the same footing, so long as the Crystal Palace 
(for no other " locale " could be found so happily 
suited to the purpose) remains at disposal of the 
promoters. It is gratifying to be able to state that 
the festival which came to an end yesterday with 
such a performance of hrad in Egypt as in no other 
circumstances could be possible, has been as remark- 
able as any of its predecessors — more remarkable, 
indeed, in some respects. 

The festival comprised two oratorios — Tkt Mu- 
tiak and Israel, separated from each other by a 
miscellaneous programme made exclusively out of 
Handel's works, sacred and secular, and preceded, 
as on former occasions, by a general public rehear- 
sal — a sort of epitome of all that was to come, 
comprising, as it did, the most admired pieces from 
the oratorios and the intervening " selection." For 
such a celebration nothing could be fitter than the 
oratorio of the New Testament and the oratorio 
of the Old, subject, nevertheless, to the sugges- 
tion tliat, by logical order of precedence, Israel 
should come first, and Tke Messiah last. About 
the rehearsal we need say no more than that it 
brought a large concourse of visitors to the Crystal 
Palace, and that all the leading singers, with the 
exceptions of Mme. Adelina Patti, took part in it. 
The first test was the performance of The Messiah, 
on Monday, than which we can remember nothing 
more admirable. The "Sacred Oratorio" was 
brought out in all its glory by a host of interpre- 
ters, vocal and instrumental, over 4,000 in number. 
There were upwards of 21,000 visitors, and the 
sight, favored by a glorious sunshine, was as impos- 
ing as tlie sound was magnificent The reception 
given to Sir Michael Costa was no more than a 
just tribute to one who has directed these festivab 
from the beginning, and has, since 1848, been con- 
ductor to the Sacred Harmonic Society, by whose 
directors they were first set on foot, and by whose 
responsible ofiicers they have been so ably managed 
from the beginning. The first grave and stately 
measures of the overture showed the orchestra at 
its best; and this efllciency was sustained to the 
very end. The chorus were not only strong in 
numbers but in excellence, and this was proved no 
less clearly by the ease and pointed accentuation 
with which they executed such pieces as " He shall 
purify the sons of Levi," where florid passages 
abound, than in their emphatic rendering of "For 
unto us a Child is bom," the superb " Hallelujah," 
and the overpowering' "Amen" — worthy clinrutx 
to a masterpiece in all essential respects unequalled. 
We have little but praise for the leading vocalists. 
To Mme. Albani was confided the soprano music 
throughout, and rarely has she won more honorable 
distinction. Only to single out two pieces — " How 
beautiful are the feet," was given by this accom- 
plished artist with all the simple and plaintive 
tenderness which is its chief characteristic, while 
" I know that my Redeemer liveth " was sung with 
a fervor of expression that revealed all its deep 
significance. An unbeliever might have been con- 
verted by such unaffected and persuasive vocal 
eloquence. Mme. Patey, our reigning contralto, 
sang all the recitatives and airs allotted to her 
register; and to more competent hands they could 
hardly have been confided. Her renderings of " He 
shall feed His flock," and of the truly pathetic air, 
"He was despised and rejected of men," were 
equally to be admired, as examples of model 
Handelim singing. The tenor music was shared 
between Mr. Barton McGuckin and Bfr. Maas, the 
former earning good opinions on all sides by the 
earnestness imparted to the " Passion " recitatives 
and airs, the other creating quite a sensation by his 
energetic delivery of the declamatory air, " Thou 
shalt break them with a rod of iron," immediately 
following upon the defiant chorus, "Let us break 
their bonds asunder." The "future of Mr. Blaas 
may henceforth be regarded as secure." The bass 
music in the opening part devolved upon Mr. Foil, 
who gave the recitative and air, " The people that 
walked in darkness," with commendable judgment, 
and Mr. Stanley, whose Handeliau singing happily 



stands in no need of eulogy, and whose " Why do 
the nations " and " The trumpet shall sound " (with 
Mr. T. Harper's splendid oUitfttto), were, as usual, 
worthy unqualified praise. In fact, the perform- 
ance of Tfie Messiah was such a beginning to the 
Handel Festival as its best well-wishers could desire. 
The miscellaneous concert was, as always, an enter- 
tainment of varied interest, consisting, however, 
exclusively of solo airs, choruses, and instrumental 
music, including the concerto in G — first of twelve 
for stringed instruments, which, played by all the 
violins, violas, etc., under Sir Michael Costa's 
control, produced a unique effect There was no 
concerted music, not even a duet or a trio. The 
effect, in consequence, was somewhat monotonous. 
Mme. Adelina Patti, liowevcr, being one of tho 
solo singers, the vast audience were more than 
satisfied, applauding her unanimously in " Let the 
bright seraphim" (Samson), and insisting upon a 
repetition of " From mighty kings," {Judas Macca- 
Ueus) — both in her hands models of taste and per- 
fect execution. All the leading singers took part in 
the concert, wlilch ended in triumph with " See the 
conquering hero comes" (Joshua). Sir Michael 
Costa, conducted with his accustomed vigor, and 
that perfect comnrutnd of a multitude of singers 
and players in which he is unsurpassed and unsur- 
passable. — Graphic, 

" Israel in Egypt" brought the Festival to an end 
on Friday (26th ult) with all possible distinction, 
save that the audience did not appear to be quite as 
large as on the preceding days. A better performance 
has never distinguished a Handel Festival. It was not 
perfect, we admit, and no reasonable person, know- 
ing the difllculties in the way, expected it would be, 
but perfection was more nearly approached than 
ever before. This fact had a striking exemplifica- 
tion in "The people shall hear," where Handel dis- 
regards the convenience of his singers much as 
Beethoven might have done. In this chorus, gener- 
ally so unsteady, and ragged, the choir showed a 
marked improvement, and the effect of the wonder- 
ful music proportionately gained. Tlie less exact- 
ing numbers went thoroughly well, enthusiastic 
applause following "He gave them hailstones" 
(encored), "The horse and his rider," "But as for 
His people," " But the waters overwhelmed their 
enemies," and other favorite exan^les of the mas- 
ter in his most gigantic aspect To sum up, the 
choral display on this occasion satisfied the most 
exigent It was ad achievement justifying English- 
men in making as much boast as befits the modesty 
imposed on natives of a land which by the general 
verdict of foreigners is "unmusical" The solos 
can be briefly dismissed. They were intrusted to 
Madame Sherrington, Miss Anna Williams, Madame 
Patey, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Bridson, and Mr. King, the 
honors falling to Mr. Lloyd in " The enemy said " 
(encored), aqd Madame Patey in " Thou shalt bring 
them in." At the close of the performance loud 
cheers were raised in honor of Sir Michael Costa, 
and by way of mutual congratulation upon the 
result of a Festival worthy to rank among the best 
of those given in the Crystal Palace. 

The toUl attendance was 79,643, being 6,610 more 
than in 1877, and 804 more than in 1874.— If iwica/ 
Times, July 1. 

LoKDOif . — Of the Opera, Figaro ( Jime 26) makes 
note as follows : 

There have been no novelties at Covent Garden, 
but " Le Ft4 aux Clercs " is announced for to-night, 
and " Estella " for next Saturday. . . . 

On Saturday Mr. Mapleson revived " The Force 
of Destiny," with the alterations made by Verdi 
after the failure of the opera in St Petersburg and 
London. That this tinkering-up of a feeble work 
will cause the public of to-day to reverse the ver- 
dict of thirteen years ago is unlikely. Piave's 
libretto still smacks too much of the charnel- 
house to excite sympathy, while the music is some 
of the poorest Verdi has ever written. Some of 
the incongruities which rendered the epera ridicu- 
lous in 1867 have now been eliminated, and although 
a good deal of stage blood is still spilt, much of 
the butchery is done behind the scenes. The Don 
Carlos no longer chases his stage sister round the 
stage, the floor is not now strewn with corpses, and 



July 17, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



119 



we miss the spectacle presented by Signor Mongini, 
who, finding he was tlie only man still alive at the 
fall of the curtain, rushed up the scene to a mimic 
rook and plunged liimself in efBgy into the torrent 
below. Tlie Alvaro now lives to repent, less of any 
particular crime than of the offence of participating 
in a tedious story. Signor Verdi is at his brightest 
in the camp scene, in which a friar, clad in a cos- 
tume which strangely resembled the dressing-gown 
of the comic stage-father, sang a song on a tub ; 
and Mme. Trebelli, beating a drum at the head of 
80 full-grown men and women, sang a " Rataplan," 
the males safely concealed behind the females 
accompanying her with the words "Pirn, pam, 
pum." No more ridiculous situation is to be found 
in modern opera. It would be waste alike of space 
and of patience to criticize with seriousness the 
efforts of the Leonora, Mme. Marie Louise Swift; 
and the revival of " The Force of Destiny " will 
only engender a feeling of regret that money and 
trouble have been wasted upon an opera that ia 
unworthy of either. 

The Henry Jjeslie Choir gave the first of 

their farewell concerts at St. James's Hall, June 19, 
there being yet two more to follow before the choir 
is disbanded. The choir was on Saturday heard 
in Bach's Motet, " The Spirit also helpeth us"; in 
a "Pater Noster" by Meyerbeer, in Mr, Leslie's 
part song, "The Pilgrims"; in Wilbye's madrigal, 
"Sweet sucking bees"; in Festa's "Down in a 
flowery vale," and other favorite works of their 
repertory. A new and pretty part song, " It is not 
always May," by Mr. J. F. Bamett, was also given 
and repeated. Mile. Renz, who made her d^ut, 
was hardly equal to the solo part of Mendelssohn's 
" Hear my Prayer," Madame Patey sang the cradle 
•ong from Mr. Leslie's "First Christmas Mom," 
and Mr. Maas sang " Cujus Animam." — Ilnd, 

A new opera entitled "The Veiled Prophet 

of Khoras^an," composed by Villiers Stanford, 
organist of Trinity College, Cambridge, is to be 
performed (presumably in German) at Hannover 
during the winter season. 

The Richtbk Coitckrts. — The series of 

nine concerts thus designated have terminated suc- 
cessfully, and to the infinite honor of the magnifi- 
cent Viennese conductor. The nine symphonies of 
Beethoven have been given, as promised, in chrono- 
logical order, and though the third ("Ero'ica"), 
fifth (C minor), and seventh (A major) created an 
extraordinary impression, the ninth (the " Choral ") 
perhaps excited more interest than any of its pre- 
cursors. St James's Hall was thronged on the 
occasion, and some hundreds of eager amateurs 
wer« unable at any price to obtain admission. Mo- 
zart's inimitable Symphony in G minor began, and 
the " No. 9 " of Beethoven ended the concert The 
bitterest enemy of Richard Wagner could not have 
dealt him a severer blow than by placing the intro- 
duction and death scene from Tristan itnd Jtolde 
between the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven. 
How little this strange and tortured music had to 
do with the earlier master, who died nearly a quar- 
ter of a century before Wagner was bom, and will 
live centuries after Wagner is forgotten, was at 
once seen; but still more apparent was the mon- 
strous assertion of the "advanced" party that 
Beethoven's noblest inspiration is but a link between 
the past glories of art and the incommensurable 
nonsense we are now told to accept as the art work 
of the future, and of which such amazing speci- 
mens were presented at the seventh Richter concert 
in the shape of Wagner's "Kaiser March" and 
Liszt's "Battle of the Huns" — each an outrage to 
art and a defiance of Common sense. The effron- 
tery of such wild empurics in making a stepping- 
stone of a Colossus like Beethoven surpasses com- 
prehension. But for the Tristan selection, so 
absurdly out of place, the programme was as inter- 
esting as the performance was superb. At the con- 
cdosion, Herr Richter was enthusiastically cheered 
— an honor in the highest sense merited. — Graphic. 



Utrecht. We have before us the handsome 
pamphlet programme and book of words of a musi- 
cal festival held in this old Dutch city on the 4th, 
5th and 6th of June. It will interest Bostonians 
from the fact that our own favorite young soprano, 



Miss Lillian Bailey, together with her teacher 
and affianced lover, Henschel, the baritone, took 
part in it. Other principal singers were: Mile. 
Hoh nschild, alto, from Berlin, and Herr Raymond 
von Zurmiihlen, tenor, from Frankfort ; pianist, Carl 
Heymann, from Frankfort. The programme of the 
first day consisted of the first three parts and the first 
choms from the fourth part of Bach's Christmas 
Oratorio, followed by the second Symphony (in D) 
by Brahms.— Second day: Concert Overture in C 
minor, by It Hoi ; Det Sangert Fluch, Ballad by 



director of the "Stemsche Gesangverein," in the 
place of Max Bruch. Before M. Brach takes his 
departure for Liverpool he will preside over the 
performance of his grand cantata Ulysses. 

•! At a quiet secluded spot, in one of the most 

pleasant parts of the Thiergarten, near the Branden- 
bargh Gate, the ceremony of solemnly unveiling the 
Goethe Monument was'celebrated at 11 o'clock, a. m., 
on the second inst. Opposite the site and on the west- 
em side of the park, a stand had been erected for the 
Emperor, the Grown Prince, Prince Wilhelm, and the 
Meiningen Princes, with other distinguished personages* 



Schumann, Op. 139, for chorus, soli and orchestra ; | The Empress, now at Baden, expressed in an autograph 
Beethoven's £-flat piano Concerto; and Mendels- 
sohn's Walpurgitnacht, for chorus, soli, and orches- 
tra.— Third day, matm^e for cliamber-music : 
String Quartet in E muior. Op. 16, by^S. de Lange ; 
two songs with piano, Beethoven, (1. Irish : " Sad 
and luckless," 2. Scotch: "Faithfu' Johnie"), 
sung by Miss Bailey ; piano solos : 1. G-minor Fugue, 
Bach-Liszt, 2. Barcarole, Chopin, 3. Elfenspiel, C. 
Heymann ; three songs (" Wohin," " Pause," " Eif er- 
sucht und Stolz") from Schubert's Schifne MUllerin, 
G. Henschei; Serbisches Liederspiel, Op. 82, (ten 
Servian folk-eongs, for soprano, alto, tenor and bass,) 
by G. Henschel ; Female choruses, with accompani- 
ment of two horns, harp and piano, Op. 18, by 
Brahms, (1. "Es tout ein voller Harf enklang " ; 2. 
Lied von Shakespeare; a "Der Giirtner"; 4. Ge- 
sang aua Fingal); Duets: a, "Tanzlied," by Schu- 
mann, 6, " So lass una wandem," Op. 76, Brahms, 
sung by Mile. Hohenschild and Herr Zurmiihlen; 
Kreutzer Sonata of Beethoven, played by Herren 
Heymann and H. Petri. 

It seems odd that a musical festival in Utrecht 
should not include Handel's Utrecht Te Deum and 
Jubilate in its programme ; but doubtless they have 
given these in former festivals. 



Lbz^zio. The Carola Theatre opens for a six weeks' 
season of " model " operatic performances by some of 
the most eminent lyric artists from the leading theatres 
in Germany, including those of Desaau, Hamburgh, 
Brunswick, Munich, Dresden,. Schwerin, Carlsruhe, 
Bremen and Stuttgart The operas to be given are: 
Fidelio, (Beethoven) ; Don Juan, Die Zaxiberjldte, 
Die En^/ihrungf Figaro's Hochzeitf and Der Schau- 
spieldirector (Mozart) ; Der betrogene Cadi (Glack); 
LaServa Padrorui (Pergolese); £iiryan(^ (Weber); 
Der Vampyr and Hans Heiling (Marschner); Lohen- 
grin (B. Wagner); Jl Barbiere and Chtillaume Tell 
(Rossini) ; Jean de Paris and La Dame Blanche 
(Boieldieu); Le MagontatdFra Diatfolo (Auber); Le 
Postilion de lAmgjumeav (Adam); Der Waffen- 
schmied and Czaar und Zimmermann (Lortzing); 
Jessonda (Spohr); and Der Haideschaeht (F. von Hoi- 
stein). — Herr and Mad. Vogl, from the Theatre Royal, 
Munich, opened an engagement at the Stadttheater 
with Lohengrin^ followed by Armida and TannhSuser. 
They were subsequently to sing in the Nibelungenring, 
Matema and Jiiger being also included in the cast 

Badext-Badbk. The annual meeting of the "Allge- 
meine Deutsche Mnaikverehi," held this year in Baden- 
Baden, under the dhrection of Franz Liszt, was a brill- 
iant one. The point d^appui of the performance was, 
of couree, the Abba's ** Christus," an oratorio hi name, 
but in little else, for it ia an utter deviation from the tra* 
ditional oratorio form and style. The words of the 
evangelist instead of being sung hi recitative are in- 
toned, and the main part of the work consists of 
powerful choruses or instrumental movements. The 
lyrical character of the oratorio is discarded en- 
tirely, and Herr Liszt's "Christus" may be re- 
gaitled as a return to the early earnest spirit of the 
music of the Romish church. Among other works 
performed were Weisshehner's " Meister Martin," and 
an original and it would appear boldly humerous sym- 
phony by the Russian composer, Borodin. Mons. Saints 
Saens and Guatav HoUiinder also appeared, the former 
directing his "Phaeton," the latter as the interpreter 
of a concerto of his own for the violin.— Xo/idon Musi- 
cai Standard, Jum 19. 



Bbblw. — Goethe's Faust is being arranged for 
the stage by Otto Devrient,the music by Edouard 
Lassen; it is to be performed at the Victoria 
Theatre. Faust will be thus divided into two dis- 
tinct parts, with two scores; so it will require two 
performances. The work has already made its 
mark — it was executed at Weimar two years ago. 
— M. E. Rudorff has been unanimously elected 



letter to the committee, her regret at not being able to 
attend. All round the site were stands and platforms 
for the Ministers of State and other high government 
officials, military officers, municipal authorities, repre- 
sentatives of art, literature, and the press, and otheis 
who had received invitations. The only relative of 
Goethe's present was Mad. von Stralendorff, grand- 
daughter of Mad. Nicolavlus, the poet's sister. In 
front of the statue, to the right, were the members of 
the committee, headed by Uieir chairman. Dr. von 
Loper, a great Goethe-scholar, while to the left were 
the members of the magistracy and of the corporation. 
The approaches to the open space round the monument 
were lined on both sides by representatives of the 
Academy of Arta, the University, the Technical High 
School, etc., with their respective emblems. Punctu- 
ally at 11 o'clock, a band concealed from view and un- 
der the direction of Joachim struck up the chorus, ar^ 
ranged for brass instruments ; " Welche Hoheit, welcfae 
Anmnth," from Gluck's Iphigenie in Aulis, This 
was followed by the speech in which Dr. Loper deliv- 
ered over the statue to the town of Berlin. The speaker 
began by observing thatVienna had recently erected a 
monument to Beethoven, who came from the Rhine, 
and that Bonn had raised one to Robert Schumann, a 
native of Saxony, and that, therefore, it was a matter 
of more than ordinary congratulation that Berlin, the 
capital of the newly-united German Empire, was that 
day discharging a debt of honor bequeathed her by men 
like Wilhelm Grimm and Bockh. The covering bow 
fell to the ground, and the splendid marble monument, 
the work of Fritz Schape^ stood revealed. Herr von 
Forckenbeck, chief-burgomiuster, replied in a few words 
to Dr. Van Loper, and the proceedings closed with a 
chorus of Goethe's, set by Zelter. Wreaths and gar- 
lands were laid at the base of the monument by the 
admirers of the poet, and later in the day there was a 
grand dinner. 

St. Pbtebsburqh. Besides A. Rubhistetai's Ka- 
laschnikoff, The Merchant of St. Petersburgh, and 
Wagner's Bienzi^ the list of novelties at the Russian 
opera house included A Night in May by Rimsky- 
KorsakofF, who himself wrote the libretto, constructed 
upon one of Gogol's stories. Ctoldmark's KOnigin von 
Saba, performed by the Italian Company at the close 
of the season was not so well received. A concert was 
given by the Free School of Music, assisted by the 
band from the Russian Opera, under the direction of 
Rimsky-Korsakoff. Several interesting novelties were 
ffiven, noticeable among them being the symphony, 
Jeanne d^Arc, by Moszkowsky; Les Troiennes, by 
Hector Berlioz; choruses from Liszt's Prometheus; 
Hcenes from Borodin's. /yor and Korsakoff's Pskowit- 
janka. Charles Davidoff's hist composition, a sextet^ 
has been performed at a concert of the Association for 
Chamber music. The works of other native compopors 
contributing to the programmes of the Assocmtion 
have been Tschaikowsky's second Qnaitet, Fitcenha- 
gan's ditto, and Afanasjeff's Double Quartet The 
concert-season, limited, properly speaking, to the short 
period of the grand fasts, was, nevertheless, a bufty 
one. The concert which made the most stir wan that 
of Anton Rubinstein. The net receipts exceeded five 
thousand roubles. The Imperial Russian Musical So- 
ciety organized a concert in aid of the Fund for Musi- 
cians, wlien Professor Brassin played apianofoite con- 
certo of his own composition, and iTofessor Auer, 
Beethoven's Violhi Concerto. Mad. Lawrowskaja, ahto, 
figured on the list of solo artists. 

NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

Many of the arrangements for the coming season of 
the Handel and Haydn society have been decided upor, 
though the possibility of a failure in the supply cf 
suitable vocalists may necessitate some changes in the 
works contemplated during the winter. The regular 
performance of the Messiah will of course he given at 
Christmas, this grand work being announced for the 
Sunday following the holiday. About a month ]kU i 
it is proposed to give a performance of Mozart's R - 
quiem Mass, last given in March, 1857, and Beethoven's 
Mount of Olives, heard here last in March, 1837. On 
Gk>od Friday a performance of selections from Bach's 
Passion Music will be given, the numbers to be chosen 
so that the performance shall he of average length. 
On Easter Sunday evening, the Uist oratorio of the sea- 



120 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1024. 



8on will be presented, but the choice of the work has 
not yet been made. Aside from this regular season, 
it is more than probable tliat the society will be heard 
in the Messiah and Elijah during the first week in 
October at the new Treraont Temple. It is about de- 
cided that a performance of one or the other of these 
works shall constitute the opejiing attraction at the 
new hall on Monday evening, October 4, and some 
other work will probably be presented by the society 
during the opening week, a series of musical attrac- 
tions being contempLited to celebrate the completion of 
the edifice.— //era/d. 

So far, good. But is not the complete success of the 
experiment of giving the entire Passion Music in two 
performances on Good Friday, year before last, worthy 
to be repeated, arid to become ns much an annual ob- 
servance, as the singing of the Messiah at Christmas ? 

Mr. B. J. Lang is considering the idea of giving, 

late in the coming season, a number of Symphony 
Concerts, in a hall of moderate dimensions, with an 
audience exclusively of subscribers for the season. 
This plan, perhaps through a certain piquant attraction 
of real or seeming exriusiveness, has worked well in 
the Chamber Concerts of the Euterpe: why may it not 
upon a larger .<icale ? 

The Baston Philharmonic Orchestra, says the 

Heraldy will give but five (.-oncerts in this city during 
the coming season, instead of the larger number at 
first contemplated. 

The Mendelssohn Quintet club has returned 

home to Boston after a very brilliantly successful con- 
cert trip of 19 weeks. Miss Abbie Carrington has proved 
an excellent vocalist for the club during their tour, and 
won favor throughout the western circuit. 

Mr. S. B. Whitney, organist at the Church of 

the Advent, in this city, gave an organ recital atf Bev- 
erly, on Tuesday evening, June 15tli, on the new organ 
in the Unitarian Church. This is the O^Sth organ that 
has been built at the factory of Messrs. Hook & Hast- 
ings, and takes the place of an old instrument which 
was the Op. 28 of the same firm. 

WeIjLEslky Collkge. Here is the programme of 
the 75th cx)ncert, Friday evening, June 11th, by the 
pupils, with the assistance of Mr. C. N. Allen, Prof. C. 
H. Morse, and Miss Mary £. Turner, teacher of vocal 
culture : 

Concerto in D minor,* Moxart. 

a, Allegro. 6, Romanza. 
Miss Skeele. 

Song— "Expectancy," Buck. 

Capriccio Brilliant, Op. 22, in E minor,* . Mendelssohn. 

Miss Richardson. 

Song—" Angels' Serenade," .... Braga. 

(Violin Obligato.) 
IfllBS Emerson. 



Ballade in G minor. Op. 23, .... Chopin. 

Miss Lyman. ' 

Song—'* It M'iis a Dream," Cowen. 

Miss Stowe. 

Symphonic Poem—" Le Bouet d'Omphale '* Salnt-Saens. 

(As arranged by the composer for two Flano-fortes.) 

Miss Tolf oni and Miss BeU. 

SonK—" Spring Flowers," Reinecke. 

(A'iolin Obllffato.) 
Miss M. M. C leery. 

Piano Solos— rt, " On the Mountains " Op. 10-1, Grieg, 
b, " Norwegian Bridal Procession 

Grieg. 



Passing by." Op. l»-2, 
>iiB8 Jones. 



Tourt. 



Song— " Heavenward," 

Miss Rollins. 

\iolln Solos— a, Cnvatina, RaiT. 

e>, (iavotie, Popper. 

c, Slumber Song, .... Aiard. 

d. Ungarisch Hauser. 

Mr. C. N. Allen. 

Concerto in A minor,* Hummel. 

(Last Movement.) 

Miss L. 0. BeU. 

Sbngs-^, "Thel^rk," .... Rubinstein. 

e>, " Dormi pure," Scuderi. 

Miss Sheam. 
Concerto in E flat, Ko. 5, Op. 73,* . . Beethoven. 
Adagio un poc« moto — Rondo. 
•Orchestral pi^ts on second piano. 

The 78th (June 21) was a Chamber Concert, the per- 
formers being Messrs. B. and F. Listemann, violins; 
Mullaly, viola ; A. Heindl, 'cello ; E. Strasser, clarinet ; 
P. Eltz, bassoon ; E. Schormann, horn, and H. A. 
Greene, contra-bass. Tlie selections were : Mozart's 
Quintet, No. 9, with clarinet; Raffs Quartet, (No. 7, 
Op. 192), *'The Miller's Pretty Daughter," a cycle of 
tone-poems; and Beethoven's Septet with all the in- 
Btmments. 

Worcester, Mass. Among the soloists engaged 
for the Festival in September, are Miss Lillian Bailey, 
and the famous baritone of London, Mr. George Hen- 
ecbel, whom she is about to marry; also, Mrs. J. M. 
Osgood (who makes the trip home for this engage- 
ment), Mr. M. W. Whitney, Mr. W. C. Tower, and Mr. 
Adamowski, the Polwh violinist, now in London for a 
short season. 



New York. Mr. J. H. Mapleson, (according to 
FlifarOy June 26) has decided not to open his American 
season until after the Presidential election, and to re- 
main in England until October. His New York season 
will, therefore, not begin until November 1. He has, 
however, practically pettled the details of his prospec- 
tus, which may now be announced. The sopranos will 
in all probability, be headed by Madame Gerster, Mad- 
ame Mario Roze, Miss Minnie Hauck, Mile. Lilli 
I^hmann, and Mrs. Swift, while the chief contralto 
will be Mile. Tremelli. The tenors will be MM. Cam- 
paniiii, Candidus, Frapolli, and perhaps Fancelli, and 
the basses MM. Galassi, Pantaleoni, Del Puente, and 
Nannetti. Such a troupe would bo a strong one, even 
without the assistance of Madame Christine Nilsson, 
with whom negotiations are still pending. Should 
Mme. Nilswm come to terms, she would play Semira- 
midCy ValentinUy Klsa, and very likely Norma ; Mad- 
ame Gerster will resume the roles of the light soprano; 
Miss Hauck will, of course, play Cannen^ while Mme. 
Marie Roze, who has refused an engagement under 
Mr. Max Strakosch in order to continue with Mr. 
Mapleson, will perform the great dramatic parts for- 
merly in the rej^ertory of Titicns. The novelty of the 
American season will be Bo'ito's oft-promised "Mefis- 
tofele," with, should Madame Nilsson be engaged, that 
lady in the part of Margaret, The conductor will be 
Signer Arditi, and the American season will be pre- 
ceded by a short tour in the English provinces. 

Strakosch advertises as something new, a "Grand 

International Opera Company," for next season. Al- 
though not heretofore advertised, the "international" 
has been the distinguishiug feature of the Strakosch 
Italian opera for several seasons. The principal artists 
during the last two years have been the Americans, 
Kellogg, Gary, Litta, Marco, Lancaster, Adams, Graf, 
Gottschalk, Verdi (Green), and Conly ; the English, 
Palmieia, Marie Roze, Tom Karl, and Carleton; the 
French, Castelmary; the Spanish, Martinez; the Ger- 
mans, Teresa Singer, Behrens, leader, and Behrens, 
basso, and the Russian, Petrovich. Indeed, the Italian 
was the only nationality not prominent in the Strakoech 
Italian Opera, the only representatives of the land of 
song being a second-rate contralto, Belocca ; a little 
light tenor, Lazzarini; old Brignoli ; and two baritones, 
Pantaleoni and StortL These, with a good German 
orchestra and a bad Italian chorus, constituted a genu- 
ine international opera company, with which Strakosch 
managed to lose ^40,000 last season. International 
English opera will meet the same fate. People will not 
put up with such indifferent acting in English as chai^ 
acterizes the average Italian opeia singer. — Svnday 
Mirror, Philadelphia, 

Buffalo, N. Y. The Music Teachers' National 
Association, in convention at Buffalo, has listened to 
elaborate papen on subjects relating to their calling 
from Mr. Eugene Thayer and S. A. Emery, of this 
city, and Mr. H. G. Hanchett of St. Louis, and to an 
address (in the course of a debate), by Mr. W. H. Sher- 
wood, of Boston, on '* Music, its Relation to Piano Play- 
ing." The discussion was opened by Mr. Sherwood, 
whose remarks are thus reported: "There is," he 
said, "a great mental discipline to be obtained from 
the study of any important subject, and, of course, so 
of music." He called attention to Dr. Mason's writ- 
ings on practice, which phould be'slow enough to allow 
perfect mastery. Some masters made a great mistake 
with l)cginuers in not giving them an incentive which 
will give them an interest in their studies. Give them 
cause to climb instead of merely trying to push them. 
The second order of practice, according to Dr. Mason, 
was to ^ from one thing to another without stopping. 
The third otder of practice was in velocity. If the 
slow, mechanical practice were carried too far, as in 
the German conservatories, the pupil became a mere 
drudge. There was very little danger of that in this 
country as yet. *'Now what is music?" asked Mr. 
Sherwood. '*' What is music ?" he asked. "Thereare 
probably few here who could give a good definition of 
It." He related an anecdote m the life of Rubinstein, 
who, after playing some magnificent numbers of Beet- 
hoven and otner masters, was approached by a man 
who complimented him upon his execution, asked why 
he did not play more music *' for the soul. " Whose 
soul?" asked Rubinstein. "In America," said Mr. 
Sherwood, "there are too many people of the mind of 
Rubinstein's questioner. They like the simple airs 
like ' Home, Sweet Home,' and do not find any enjoy- 
ment in classical music. It ought to be the aim of 
music teachers to instil a love for the great, immortal 
musical powers of Beethoven, Mozart and the other 
great masters, lliere is more music written for the 
piano than for any other instrument, and an immense 
amount of it is bad. If the piano had the power of 
prolonging a tone indefinitely and of swelling it, it 
would be the most perfect iiii^tiument in existence. 
As it is, both the organ and the human voice have im- 
mense advantages over the piano. For this reason it 
is much easier to please an audience by a simple bal- 
lad than by piano playing. It ought to be our duty to 



make piano pLiying as attractive as possible. Music 
ouglit to be nlive to be efloctivo. It maives a ^leat 
deal of difTercnce whether the piano be struck with a 
stick, with mechanical fingers, or with finders tlmt aie 
full of life and magnetism. I liave examined Kuhiii- 
stein's hand and arm and found that they are uoi only 
full of magnet i.«im, but that they are extremely elas- 
tic and the fingers are so soft' that the boues aie 
scarcely to be felt. Can practice produce these quali- 
ties ? I believe so, and I make it a point both with my 
pupils and myself to practice flow motions. It is much 
easier to strike quickly than slowly, and practice in tlie 
slow movements will clevelop both muscular and nerv- 
ous power. And the tone made b^' this motion is much 
better than that obtained by striking. The mechauiunl 
practice in vogue at Lcipsic and other European c<jii- 
servatories often fails because the subject of aesthetics 
and tone beauties are neglected." Mr. Sherwood c;ir- 
ried out this line of thought a little more in detail and 
then turned to the mccluinical movement of the hand 
and wrist, illustnitiiig the difference between well and 
ill balanced playing. Mr. A. H. Pease and Mr. W. H. 
Sherwood have' given lecitals of piano music with sig- 
nal success. Mr. Sherwood's prpgiamme included a 
Liszt-Bach fugue, a Beethoven sonata, Schumanirs 
" Etudes Symphoniques," a barcarolle by Rubin.'^tein, 
and polonaise by Cnonin, the Biilow- Wagner *' Faust 
Overture" and the Liszt polonaise in b. The local 
pai)er says the " real excitement showed how well the 
great pianist was appreciated." 

To tne above, from the IVonscHpC, it may be added 
that organ recitals were given by Mr. Eugene Thayer, 
and by Mr. W. Kaffenberger, of Buffalo; the foimer 
playing Handel's twelfth Organ Concerto, Bach's V«)r- 
spiel, " Wir glauben all'," Schumann's " Skizzeu," Nos. 
4 and 2, Op. 58, Guilmant's Caprice in B flat, and a 
Concert Fugue, a Chromatic Fantaisie, and Vaiiatioui 
on Old Hundred of his own composition, llie latter 
plaved a Fantaisie Sonata by Rhembei^er; Allegretto, 
"Marche Funebre and Chant Seraphique," by Guil- 
mant; Choral in three voices, by Merkel, "Reigeu" 
by Jensen, and a grand Toccata by Widor. Mr. 
Tnayer, also, delivered an address on "Reform in 
Chuich Music," which seems to have met with great 
favor; and Dr. Carl Seller, of Philadelphia, read a lec- 
ture with interesting illustrations, on "Vocal Aoous- 
tica." 



New Orleans. M. de Beauplao, who, it will be 
remembered, visited this country with his wife, Mme. 
Ambre, last season, is the first to announce the plan of 
his o^ieratic scheme for next season. It is interesting 
reading, through some parts of it recall the brilliant 
prospectus of nuf<h times a decade ago. M. de Beau- 
plan's centre of operations will be New Orleans, where 
he has subscriptions for a four months' season, ending 
on March 17th, '81, and subeeauentlv the comi>any will 
vutit Chicago, Philadelphia, Kew York and B< >n. 
Official information regarding the scheme is a .ol- 
lows : 

'* The repertoire will be something of a change from 
what we have had for some years, as you can see by 
the following: The 'Jewess,' ^ Violetta,^ * Fauit,' * Wil- 
liam Tell,' 'Trovatore,' ' Norma,' *Africaine,' * Mig- 
non,' 'Robert the Devil,' 'Rigoletio,' 'Favorita,' *The 
Barber of Seville,' 'Charles YL' *The Prophet,' 
'Huguenots,' 'Hamlet,' 'Lucia,' 'Don Juan,' * Jeru- 
salem,' ' Obcron,' ' The Queen of Cyprus,' ' Mid-sum- 
mer Night's Dream,' ' Freischutz,' 'Don Pasqnale,' 
' L'Etoile du Nord,' ' Borneo and Juliet^' ' Aida,' * Cai^ 
men,' 'Paul and Virginia,' etc. 

" The company will be a grand one in every respect, 
nnmberine nearly 'iOO persons. One of the first prima 
donnas wfll be Mme. Emilte Ambre, who san^ last sea- 
son in this country with OL Mapleson's Italian opeia. 
M. Beauplan has just signed a contract with one of 
the greatest tenors in Luiope, M. Tournea, and at a 
very nigh salary, 20,(X)0 francs a month for a season of 
six months, it is stipulated in his contact that for non- 
fulfilment of the same, he forfeits 'iOO,000 francs. It 
was in doubt for some time whether he would stay 
with M. Vaucorbeil, the director of grand opera, Paris, 
but the inducements offered to him in the way of 
money, etc., decided it, notwithstanding the tempting 
offer of M. Vaucorbeil for Touinea to create the tenor 
role in the new opera of Ambrose Thomas, (which is to 
be brought out this coming fall in Paris) of ' Fian^oise 
de Rimini.' The stage w-ill be in charge of Mr. La- 
blache. This gentleman is a professor of the Conser- 
vatory of Paris, and has been m charge of the princi- 
pal opera houses in St. Petersburg, Havana, and Cairo, 
Egypt. In the latter place it was under his direction 
that 'Aida' was first brought out, and from which the 
representations since throughout Europe and America 
are onl^ copies, that is, in the way of stage setting, 
proi)erties, etc. Mr. Momas has been engaged as direc- 
tor of the music and conductor. He has, until lately, 
been the musical director of the Lyric Theatre, ana 
ranks as one of the great conductors of the day. 

" Mr. Jordan, the most celebrated ba.«so in Europe, 
and who has just finished a long season in Russia, has 
signed for the season here in the States, and Mile. La- 
blache, daughter of Mme. Lablache, contralto with 
Col. Mapleson, will be one of the prima donnas. Her 
voice is similar to Mme. Gerster' s, only stronger. She 
is young and very pretty. M. de Beauplan is negotiat- 
ing for other artists, of whom due notice will be given. 
We shall have the pleasure of hearing in Boston next 
season Les Huguenots in Fiench, co ni (.rising the 
last act, which has been so often omitted in Italian. 
We shall have VAfricaine and a number of others, with 
which Bostonians have not been familiar for yean." — 
Boston herald. 



July 31, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



121 



BOSTON, JUL Y jr, i88o. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boeton as second-claM matter. 

All the articUa not credited to other publications were ex- 
preuly yorUtenfor thit Journal, 

Fubluhed fortnightlff bp HouOHTOK, MlPFLTV ft Co., 
Bottonj Masi, Pricey lo eenta a wimberf $2.so per year. 

For tale in Bo$ton by Carl Pruefer, jo West Street^ A. 
Williams ft Co., iSj Washington Street^ A. K. Lorino, 
j<Hf Washington Street, and by the Publiahera; in New York 
by A. Brent ANO, Jr., s9 Union Square^ and Houghton, 
Mifflin ft Co., ai Astor Place ; in Philadelphta by W. H. 
Boner ft Co., i/oj Chestnut Street; in Chica^ by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, jn State Street, 

THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S " FAUST." 



DT ADOLPHB JULLIBN.^ 



v. — THE "FAUST" OF BERLIOZ. 

[Wb deem it unnecessarj to tnwslate what the 
author has to say of the origin and of the contents 
of La Damnation de Faust^ since it does not differ 
substantially from what has already api>eared in 
this journal at the time when the work was first 
performed in New York and Boston, during the last 
Spring. (See pages 36, 49, 68, 87 of this volume.) 
We will only give the closing paragraph of the 
chapter, and pass on to the next, which treats of 
Schumann's Faust music, and will be comparatively 
new to English readers.] 



The Damnation of Faust, we must recog- 
nize in conclusion, is a work of the great- 
est value. Berlioz has been served in this 
perilous attempt by an imagination of the 
richest order, highly excited by the grandeur 
of the work and by the ideal beauty of the 
model. Even when he departs from the 
original text, and when, combining after his 
own fashion various episodes, he brings forth 
a totally different situation, such as tlie love- 
scune interrupted by the arrival of the de- 
mon, the musician feels himself still sustained 
by the poet, and his inspirations gush forth 
just as richly and as grandly. It is, assuredly, 
a work worthy to figure in the future by the 
side of the original drama, one which, like 
the designs of I>elacroix, would have snatched 
from Goethe, could he but have heard it, a 
word of admiration. How welcome would 
that word have been in Paris! How that 
encouragement, coming from so high a source, 
would have brought to the composer a just 
consolation for the criticisms and the railleries 
for which he was the mark ! Unfortunately, 
Goethe had long been dead when the French 
musician produced his work, and nothing 
came to sustain him in this trial but the con- 
viction of having by his labor made the work 
of a veritable artist, and the rare delight of 
having been, during this assiduous intimacy, 
the pious disciple of that illustrious master. 



VL— THE "FAUST" OF SCHUMANN. 

Fau9t — with Manfred, with the Pilgrim- 
age of the Rose, with Genoveva, with Paror 
diss and the Peri, — is one of the master- 
n^orks of Schumann ; unhappily he had not 
time to finish it. It was his favorite work. 
He had occupied himself with it from the 
age of thirteen years, and he returned to it 
con amore in the moments when he felt him- 
self the best inspired. In fact few subjects 
offered to his eminently poetic genius a more 
living spring of graceful or fantastic inspira- 

^ Wo translate from. *^ Goethe et la Musique: Ses Jnge- 
mentSj son Injlitence^ Les O^vres Qu*il a inspirieM,** Par 
ADOLrHB JOLLiKX, Paris, 1S80. — £i>. 



tions. No one, better than he, could have 
known how to paint the tormented character 
of the doctor, or the gentle figure of Mar- 
guerite ; no one could have lent a more satanic 
color to the demon. But it was above all, the 
second Fausty a work all ideality and fantasy, 
that must have charmed and inspired his 
nature so inclined to mystery and reverie. 
Accordingly in this interpretation, by him 
alone attempted, of the life-like or the abstract 
conceptions of the poet, he has lifted himself 
to a great height. Several of the most 
remarkable pieces of this second part were 
written by the composer in the midst of the 
political storm of 1848, which, by a singular 
phenomenon, seems to have given new nerve 
to his creative faculties. '^ I have to thank 
God," he wrote at that time to Ferdinand 
Hiller, " that he vouchsaves me, in such times, 
the courage and the faculty to labor ! " And 
again elsewhere: '^Let us work while it is 
day."« 

And so he did. Toward 1850 he at last 
finished, not his entire work, but the second 
part. He wrote then the last two pieces, and 
judging, as by a melancholy presentiment, 
that he would not have time to complete the 
first part of his work, he collected the various 
fragments which he had put into music, and 
preceded them by a grand instrumental intro- 
duction. '^I have worked much in these 
latter times," he writes, toward the end of 
1853 to M. Strackerjan, a young officer who 
was a great amateur of music, '^I have writ- 
ten a Faust overture, £he crown of the edifice 
of a series of scenes drawn from the tragedy." 
Does it not seem, to look at this unfinished 
work, like a cruel irony of fate, which, of so 
many composers, imposes silisnce precisely 
upon that one, who comprehended the con- 
ceptions of the poet best of all, who thought 
(so to say) his thoughts, and translated them 
with genius into the inimitable language of 
music? 

It is not a dramatic legend that Schumann 
has professed to write, still Jess an opera ; he 
has simply taken the poem, the very text of 
the master, and put it into music There 
could not be a simpler manner of proceeding ; 
and none could serve the musician better; 
thus his work is better than a translation, it 
is a veritable musical transfiguration of the 
drama of Gk>ethe. The Faust of Schumann 
comprises three parts. The first, unfortu- 
nately very incomplete, counts only three de- 
tached scenes. The second includes several 
fragments of the second Faust ; at the beginning, 
the scene of Ariel and the Sylphs, then vari- 
ous episodes : Midnight, the scene of the four 
witches, the dialogue of the doctor with Care, 
and the death of Faust. Finally, the third 
part, the only one that is complete, contains 
only the final scene of the second Fausty but 
it is much the most considerable scene, thanks 
to the grand developments which the com- 
poser has given it. 

The overture, which Schumann has placed 
at the head of his work, bears the impress of 

s Notice of M. Eruouf on ScbainMin (Aente Conlempor- 
a«iie, Jan. 31, 1864). There exist, as yet, in French, but two 
oomplete works on Schumann : that erf M. Emouf , who, 
the first In France, has rendered homage to the musician 
of genius, and the biography by Wasieiewsky, which has 
appeared in Le AiinestnUj translated lu a very fimtastlcal 
fashion by M. F. Uenog. 



his genius. At once proud and charming, full 
of grace and of terror, it gives a marvellously 
good ensemble of this admirable poem. And 
the musician, in these inspired pages, written 
late in life, does he not seem to exclaim with 
the poet, in the dedication of Faust: 

Once more, sweet visions, are ye floating hither — 

Forms, who of old oft gladdened my dim sight I 
Shall I now hold you, Beautiful, together? 

Yearns my heart still for that illusion bright? 
Nearer ye throng I Let not your beauty wither. 

As from the misty cloud it bursts In light. 
How with the Joy of youth my boeom springn, 

Breathing the magic air shoodc from your dewy 
wings I 

The three scenes of the Jirst Faust which 
Schumann had time to write are: the scene 
of the garden, that of the church, and of Mar- 
guerite imploring the image of the Virgin. In 
each of these pages he has endeavored to 
translate the spirit and the very word of the 
poet. Others will expend themselves upon 
the same scenes (the garden and the church) 
with lengthier developments adapted to the 
exigencies of the stage ; no one wijU put more 
of veiled charm and infinite tenderness into 
the first avowal of the two lovers; no one 
will overwhelm the tardy repentance of the 
unfortunate Marguerite with a more terrific 
Dies ira. 

The garden scene, tl^t chaste prattle of 
two souls yet pure, is one of exquisite melody ; 
the phrase of Faust excusing himself for hav- 
ing taken the young girl's hand has a pene- 
trating suavity, as well as the timid response 
of Marguerite. She plucks a fiower and 
pulls off its petals, and the sweet murmur of 
the orchestra accompanies with burning words 
spoken in a low voice. '^ He loves me ! " she 
cries, and Faust with transport launches forth 
an admirable melody, which seems to bear 
his cry of triumph up to heaven. All, in 
this music, all, even to the dry laugh of the 
demon, paraphrases in an inimitable style the 
original scene, the garden of Martha. 

Schumann and Prince Radziwill alone have 
had the idea of treating the scene where Mar- 
guerite implores the Mater Dolorosa, while 
dragging herself to the foot of the holy image. 
What an admirable page the affrighted sup- 
plications of the fair sinner have inspired the 
master of Zwickau with ! At first her prayer 
is full of unction, but grief tortures her 
at the thought of finding the mother of 
Christ inflexible, and she cries out with a 
panting voice: ^^Come, save me from shame 
and death. Deign, O mother of griefs, to 
cast ddwn one look of pity upon my distress." 

As for the scene of the church, Schumann 
makes an untranslatable creation out of it 
Never has music expressed with more force 
the ardent repentance of the guilty girl, the 
railing and burning imprecations of the de- 
mon. And when the crushing appeals of the 
choir break out, it seems as if the earth 
opened, feady to engulf the unhappy victim, 
so pure yet in her shame. 

After these pictures of a passionate and ter- 
rifying color, the author abandons himself, in 
the scene of Ariel and the Sylphs, to his most 
dreamy inspirations. The veiled arpeggios 
of the harp transport us to the etherial regions 
where the gentle voice of genius enchants ue 
by i^ sweet cantilenas. It is the very scene 
which opens the second Faust : An agreeable 



122 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1025. 



landscape. Scarcely m the voice of Ariel 
hushed, when the doctor comes out of his 
strange dream and sings a canticle of thanks- 
giving to the day that dawns, to natnre re- 
awakening ; this exquisite melody is deli- 
ciously accompanied hy the altos and the vio- 
loncellos. But doubt is bom again within 
this troubled soul, and the music, changing 
character, paints to our ears his unappeased 
desires, his distracting anguish. 

Midnight. — It is the dreary chant of the 
Graif Old Womeny Guilt, Want, Misery. It 
is the exulting cry of Care, who glides in 
where her sisters cannot penetrate. **The 
door is closed, we cannot enter. It is the 
abode of a rich man, we do not wish to enter." 
'* Tou, my sisters, cannot and dare not enter ; 
Care slips through the key-hole." Faust ap- 
pears, his soul the victim of a dull inquietude. 
*^ Hast thou never known Care ? " asks the 
malignant genius. ^^ No," replies the Doctor 
in an air full of warmth, accompanied by an 
incessant figure of the orchestra, true image 
of life's whirling vortex. '* I have done noth- 
ing but rove about the world ; I caught each 
pleasure by the hair; what did not content 
me, I let it go ; what escaped me, I let it run. 
I have only desired and satisfied my desires, 
and still oonUnued to wish more." But Care 
responds in a chant full of bodeful menace : 
** To him, whom I once possess, the whole 
world is useless. Eternal shades descend 
upon him ; the sun does not rise, nor does it 
set; with senses perfectly sound, darkness 
dwells within him ; if he own%l all treasures, 
he would not know how to enjoy them." The 
doctor laughs at the absurd anger pf the witch, 
and refuses to recognize her power. '* Try 
it then ! " cries Care, who breathes in his face 
as she fiies away; and Faust, made blind, 
loses himself in senseless projects, in dreams 
unrealizable. This scene, so abstract as it 
is, has found in Schumann a musician equal 
to it ; for he has rendered this stru^le be- 
tween man and Care in a very moving man- 
ner. 

7^ great court he/arc thepalace, — such is 
the scene which Schumann has literally trans- 
lated from the original poem, under this title : 
The Death of Faust. At the beginnmg, the 
fantastic scene of the demon evoking the 
Lemures and exhorting them, with a strange 
laugh, to dig a grave, the fatal end of all hu- 
man existence. It is needless to say with 
what sombre color, with what sinister tones 
Schumann has painted this strange episode, 
as well as the appearance of Faust, awakened 
by the dull sound of the spades, and issuing 
from the palace stumbling against the door- 
posts. Even now, on the brink of th^ grave, 
the doctor gives himself up to the most chi- 
merical projects. To toil, to sow, to embellish, 
to construct, — such are the last di^ms of 
the man who is about to die. *'Let it be 
given to me to see such a movement on a free 
territory, with a free people, and I will say 
to the passing moment : '* Stop ! thou art so 
beautiful I Tbe trace of my terrestrial days 
cannot be lost in the course of ages. ... In 
the presentiment of so great a felicity, I taste 
the most beautiful moment of my life !" And 
Faust falls backward into the pit dug under 



his feet by the phantoms, amidst harsh bursts 
of laughter from the Devil. 

The last chapter of the second Faust, enti- 
tled : Forests, Rocks, JRamnes, Solitudes, has 
furnished Schumann the canvas of his third 
part, and inspired him with a long suite of 
admirable pieces. What can be more fresh 
than the first chorus with its sweet responses : 
'^ The forest waves, the rocks weigh heavily 
around, the clinging roots intertwine, trunks 
lean against trunks, waves dash upon waves ; 
the deep grotto shelters us ; the lions creep 
about us, silent and caressing; they respect 
the consecrated place, love's holy sanctuary! " 
What more inspired than the invocation of 
Pater extaticus, with its figure of violoncellos 
enlacing the melodic phrase like a flowering 
ivy round the arches of an ancient cloister? 
What canticle more full of unction than that of 
Pater profundus: '*0 God I appease my 
thoughts, enlighten my heart which seeks for 
thee!" What melody more vaporous than 
that of Pater seraphicus f What song more 
full of a holy ardor than that of the Blessed 
Boys, beginning with a caressing melody, 
then bursting out in brilliant concert, in a 
burning hynm of thanksgiving: "Tell us, 
Father, whither we are going ; tell us, good 
Father, who we are? We are happy ; for all, 
yes all of us, it is so sweet to live." 

Another marvelous piece of grace and 
freshness is the Chorus of Angels hovering in 
the upper air and bearing the immortal part 
of Faust : '* Saved is the noble member of the 
world of spirits, saved from evil. He who 
always strives, him can we deliver, and if 
even Love has taken interest in him from 
above, the troup of the blest meets him with 
hearty welcome." One knows not what to 
prefer in this marvelous page, the songs 
of the perfected angels, or those of the 
younger angels, the grand final ensemble, or 
the seraphic murmur of the little choir of 
happy boys : " With joy receive we this one 
in the chrysalis state ; in him we obtain an 
angelic pledge. Remove the slough that en- 
velops him ; already is he great and beauti- 
ful with holy life." 

What resplendent beauties ! and we have 
not yet done with this superb work. Here is 
the beautiful invocadon of Doctor Marianus, 
accompanied by a soft concert of oboes and 
harps ; here is the chorus of Penitent Women, 
with its long suppliant phrase of those three : 
the Magna Peccatrix, Mulier Samaritana, and 
Maria JEgyptiaca, uniting their repentance 
and their prayers. Here is the supreme invo- 
cation of Marguerite, imploring the divine 
clemency for Faust : " Deign, O deign, incom- 
parable radiant Virgin, to turn thy propitious 
countenance toward my happiness ! He whom 
I loved on earth, no longer troubled, has 
come back. Surrounded by the noble choir 
of spirits, the new-comer scarcely knows him- 
self, scarcely suspects his new life, so like is 
he already to the holy troop. See how he 
tears himself loose from all the terrestrial 
bonds of the old envelope, and how under his 
etherial vestment the first youthful vigor 
shows itself! Permit me to instruct him. 
The new day still dazzles and confuses him." 
And here, at last, we have the double final 



chorus {Chorus Mgsticus), the song of tri- 
umph, the celestial hosanna, for which Schu- 
mann has reserved his most sublime ideas, 
his most original harmonies, his most resplen- 
dent colors :^ 

An that b tmnsient 
Ib bnt aBymbol; 
The unaiUinable 
Here becomes real; 
The indescribable, 
Here ii H done, 
The eTer-Womanlj' 
Beckons HI on. 

Such is this exceptional work; such is this 
unrivalled translation of the work of Goethe. 
Schumann, we have said before, is of all the 
composers the one who has best comprehended 
the poet's thought We cannot regret too 
much that he did not have the leisure to trans- 
late all the capital situations of the drama. 
After reading these scenes, admirable para- 
phrases, by a man of genius, of a work of 
genius, we can judge how much the musical 
art has lost by Schunutnn's not being able to 
complete the first part of Faust. Then we can 
comprehend, seeing him rise to such a height 
in this musical interpretation of the second 
Faust, which he alone has dared, and he alone 
perhaps was competent, to make so exact and 
so brilliant, how truly Groethe saw when he 
wrote, not dreaming of the masterpiece with 
which he was about to inspire this great com- 
poser, ** My works are not capable of becoming 
popular. I have not written for the masses, 
but for a class of men, whose will, whose 
studies, and whose tendencies have some anal- 
ogy with mine." 

(To be eonUnned.) 

THE MUSICAL SEASON IN LONDON. 

(From the " Cootinent aikd Swiit Times,'* GeneTa, Jme SO.) 

It is the justified boast of English philharmonic 
dilettanti, when twitted by carping Germans and 
fikeptical Frenchmen upon the sore subject of 
British shortcomings in the way of musical cul- 
ture and taste, that during some ten or twelve 
weeks of each successive year this huge me- 
tropolis attracts to its opera^ouses and con- 
cert-rooms four-fifths of the leading vocal and in- 
strumental executants of the Continent ; and that, 
between primrose-dde and rose-blowing, better 
periormances of classical and operatic works, ren- 
dered by absolutely firstK^lass artists, may be heard 
in the western, and western central districts of 
London than in all the other capitals of Europe put 
together. This vaunt is unquestionably founded 
upon fact; and those who advance it as an argu- 
ment in support of the postulate that the metro- 
politan public is, by instinct or cultivation, as in- 
telligently appreciative of musical excellences, 
creative or executive, as that of Berlin, Vienna, 
Leipzig, Munich or Paris, are not altogether 
illogically encouraged in their entertainmei|t of 
that assumption by an inferential process of rea- 
soning which may be succinctly summarized as fol- 
lows : — " London imperatively requires (on pain 
of its high displeasure, expressed 'by withdrawal 
of patronage), from those who stand pledged to 
provide it periodically with musical entertain- 
ments, that they should, regardless of trouble and 
expense, produce upon the boards of our two 
opera-houses and upon the platforms of our half- 
dozen concert-rooms all, or nearly all the foreign 
celebrities whose fame has reached our shores by 

1 Schnmiuui retomed severml tlmei to thic eapitel jMfe. 
Ho has even left two different renloiw of It, whten ere 
equally heeatif ol, except that ont of them admlti of mneh 
larger developments. 



JuLT 31, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIO. 



123 



trustworthy report during the nine months imme- 
diately preceding the opening of the London sea- 
son, or who are recognized celebrities in their re^ 
spective specialties, firmly established in public 
favor. In order to secure the fulfilment of its 
will in this respect, London is content to pay 
higher prices for its opera and concert tickets 
than are obtainable by impresarii in any other 
capital, except St. Petcrsburgh, to fee artists 
extravagantly for their performances at private 
parties, and to offer tliem generous tribute of 
hero-worship into the bargain. Therefore Lon- 
don must be not only a musical, but the most 
musical of cities. In proportion to its expendi- 
ture in securing the services of the very best 
artists in existence must be its love and taste for 
music, its knowledge of the art, and faculty of 
discrimination between the relative merits of pro- 
fessional competitors for its approbation." The 
deduction is a plausible one, and the vast majority 
of Englishmen, including many musically edu- 
cated amateurs not altogether forlorn of reasoning 
power, is prone to admit its correctness. In our 
sea-girt realm, even art-dilettanti are frequently 
patriotic, and strongly disposed to defend British 
taste against any ill-natured foreign sneers and 
imputations, levelled at its quality. The wish is 
father to the thouorht with such eascer vindicators 
of our judgment's soundness in matters musical. 
We are angrily intolerant of the very notion 
that we can possibly be inferior in development 
of the sesthetical faculties to mere Germans or 
Frenchmen, and comfortably assume that, be- 
cause we pay more money than these latter for 
our indulgence in the higher executant efforts to 
attain artistic ideals, we are truer lovers of art 
and *' know more about it " than they. 

To run counter to popular fallacies is ever a 
thankless enterprise. From the purely conscien- 
tious point of view there is not, probably, a loftier 
duty nor one which, like many another virtuous 
practice, is more inevitably foredoomed to be its 
own reward, for lack of any other. Neither does it 
always commend itself to fervent promulgators of 
abstract truths, when large-minded enough to rec- 
ognize and respect honest instincts and laudable 
motives underlying frail superstructures of defec- 
tive reasoning and erroneous assertion. But Eng- 
lishmen are in possession of so many indefeasible 
titles to equality with, if not superiority to, their 
Continental competitors in science and art, man- 
ufacture and commerce, manners and morals, that 
no serious breach of patriotic considerations is in- 
volved in hinting to them from time to time that, 
as far at least as musical taste, instruction and 
judgment are concerned, they are still remote 
from having attained the standard obtained in 
Germany, Austria and some parts of Italy and 
France. To convince any educated musician of 
their inferiority in this regard, it is only necessary 
that he or she should bestow careful and un- 
prejudiced attention upon the musical incidents 
of such a London season as that now rapidly 
drawing to its close — upon the character and 
composition of the audiences thronging opera- 
houses, concert-rooms and music-halls, their at- 
titude towards performers and performances, the 
nature and quality of the works eliciting their 
plaudits or provoking their condemnation — and, 
finally, upon the evidences of advancement in the 
culture of musical art afforded by the composi- 
tions of strictly English origin brought forward 
in the course of the fashionable trimester by rival 
impresarii, who, be it remembered, are accurately 
and exhaustively cognizant of their customers' re- 
quirements, and scrupulously supply them witli 
what they want, no more and no less. Watchful 
contemplation of the London public during its 
spring surfeits of costly musical pabulum will lead 
the Intelligent observer to conclusions widely dif- 
ferent from those deduced, as above, from the 



broad fact that Englishmen willingly pay twice 
or even thrice as much for their vocal and instru- 
mental entertainments as Germans, Austrians, 
Frenchmen or Italians. Indeed, the vulgar in- 
ference drawn from that circumstance will be 
found, upon examination of its merits, to be totally 
unworthy of serious consideration. There are 
more wealthy people, forlorn of any engrossing 
occupation and chronically plagued by the crav- 
ing for sheer amusement, no matter of what kind 
or quality, in London, than in any other four 
European capitals, not exclusive of Paris. These 
people's lives are chiefly passed in the enjoyment 
of superfluities, material and sesthetical. Cheap 
pleasures lack charms for them ; nay, are almost 
unknown to them. In order that they may ap- 
preciate aught, or, more correctly speaking, think 
that they appreciate it, the thing itself must be 
extremely expensive. If it achieve that desidera- 
tum, they will consume it crreedily and without 
stint, but not otherwise. That they are lavish 
of their money in what is conventionally termed 
'* the encouragement of art," is simply attributable 
to two causes wholly irrespective of taste and 
judgment, of which, however, the wealthier classes 
of English are by no means devoid, though their 
pretensions to the possession thereof are seldom 
based upon a solid foundation of technical edu- 
cation. Firstly, they have more money to spend 
than they know what to do with ; and secondly, 
the chief aim of their existence is to purchase 
excitement and diversion of one description or 
another — to kill time, in fact, at a maximum 
of pecuniary outlay, and minimum of personal 
trouble. 

A brief retrospective glance at the perform- 
ances and audiences of the 1880 London musical 
season will serve to exemplify the views above 
propounded. London supports two magnificent 
opera-houses, in which representations of the 
lyrical drama, in the Italian language, take place 
every night in the week. Both these establish- 
ments are in the hands of entrepreneurs married 
to prime donne, and neither of them are remuner^ 
ative to their lessees, notwithstanding the exorbi- 
tant prices demanded and obtained by the latter 
from the public for places. The working ex- 
penses are so heavy that nothing short of crowded 
houses every night can avail to secure the least 
margin of profit upon the whole season's perform- 
ances. At one theatre the chief attraction and 
managerial anchor of hope is a cantatrice of sur- 
passing abilities, who never opens her mouth until 
two hundred guineas have been paid in to her 
bankers ; at the other, several stars of lesser mag- 
nitude compete for public favor with varied suc- 
cess, one of whom, well aware that her name on 
the bill is sure to fill the house, and being, more- 
over, profoundly penetrated with the wisdom of 
the axiom that pronounces prudence to be the 
progenitrix of prosperity, sternly exacts the pay- 
ment of her stipulated honorarium before she goes 
upon the stage. Are the performances at these 
two great theatres truly artistic, or even such as 
would be tolerated in the Hofoper at Vienna or 
the Berlin Opernhaus? It were Midsummer 
madness to answer this question affirmatively. 
Apart from the leading artists, some of whom are 
superexcellent whilst others are simply intolera- 
ble, either from the musical or dramatic point of 
view, there is no single element in the operatic 
entertainments offered to tlie public at Her 
Majesty's or Covent Garden that can be pro- 
nounced deserving of unqualified praise: The 
orchestral accompaniments are frequently faulty 
and always coarsely rendered — the chorus-sing- 
inz is beneath criticism — the incidental ballets 
are exexiuted by females so il^favored and un- 
sn*acef ul as to be scarcely human — and the seen- 
ery and decorations, with a few brilliant excep- 
tions where timely expenditure has been incurred 



for the mise en scene of absolute novelties, incon- 
ceivably inartistic and shabby. Turning to the 
audiences orathered together to witness and listen 
to these unsatisfactory performances — audiences 
(hiefly composed of well-to-do and fashionable 
pleasure-lovers — we find amongst their salient 
characteristics that they will mildly applaud a 
primo tenore who sings every note of his part out 
of tune, if only he shout out the notes of his upper 
register loud enough to capture their attention — 
that they will receive a musical revelation of ex- 
quisite beauty with perplexed silence, whilst they 
will respond spasmodically to any hackneyed air, 
rendered familiar to their ears by the irrepressi- 
ble barrel-organ or by the dismal iteration of 
school-room practising, a process that has not its 
equal for grafting conventional operatic selec- 
tions upon intrinsically unmusical human natures. 
These, the bestrpaying London audiences — and 
therefore, according to the corollary afore referred 
to, the most musical — applaud without discrimi- 
nation and calmly condone executive derelictions 
that stridently invite, in discordant accents, the rep- 
robation of gods and men. A few nights ago such 
an audience assembled, some two tliousand stron<;, 
in Covent Garden to the dullest and tamest of 
Rossini's operas, the sole interest of which to any 
musician present was Adelina Patti's transcen- 
dent vocalization, vehemently encored the over- 
ture to " Sdmiramide," played as no scratch band 
engaged for the season at? a Bohemian watering- 
place would have ventured to perform it to a 
Kursaal full of valetudinarians. 

A conspicuous musical feature of the season 
has been the Richter concerts at St. James's Hall, 
relative to which some genuine excitement of an 
eminently healthy character has been displayed 
by English dilettanti. These entertainments, 
under the personal direction of the greatest living 
orchestral conductor, who slaved night and day 
during a whole month to such purpose that he 
may be said to have revolutionized all the vener- 
able traditions of tempi and treatment to which 
contemporary British leaders have rigidly adhered 
for the last forty years, were splendid successes, 
financially as well as artistically ; but pnncipally 
owing to the enthusiastic support they received 
at the hands of the Grerman residents in this me- 
tropolis. On more than one " Richter evening " 
whole rows of sofarstalls which should have been 
occupied by wealthy English-folk, Beethoven-wor- 
shippers and seekers after truth in the interpreta- 
tion of that immortal Titan's compositions, were 
dismally empty ; but the galleries and balconies 
were crammed well-nigh to suffocation by bearded 
and spectacled Teutons, accompanied by the 
homely, thriftily attired females of their families^ 
and laden with full-scores or " pianoforte reduc- 
tions " of the glorious symphonies played, they 
might well think, for their especial delectation. 
It is no exaggeration to say, too, that all the really 
cultivated amateurs resident in London were 
present at one or other of these superb perform- 
ances. But how many benches did these, the 
elect of our musical public, fill — and, had they 
been told off in line as against the musically in- 
structed Teutons thronging the galleries, could 
they have held their own, in numbers or appre- 
ciativeness, with these latter ? It is to be feared 
that, had such a comparison been instituted by 
any accomplished and unbiased votary of the di- 
vine art, it would have resulted unfavorably to 
the British dilettanti, who $r«, like angels' visits, 
few and far between, too frequently lacking in 
technical knowledge aihd executive skill, and, in 
ten cases out of twelve, painfully cramped in their 
conscientious efforts towards advancement in the 
practice of the musioal art by the unsympathetic 
character of their immediate entourage, and the 
chiUing pococurantism of English society in gen- 
eral. Wm. B. Kingston. 



124 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1025. 



THE LYRICAL DRAMA. 



BT 



O. A. MACFARRBN, S8Q., M.A., 

Doe. Cantttb., Prof. Hub. Cantob. 



WheD the subject of this address was decided 
npoD, I had an idea that I might bring before the 
attention of this meeting many unfamiliar facts 
in connection with a most important, possibly the 
most important branch of musical composition; 
bat in the interim there has appeared the begin- 
ning of an article in Mr. Grove's Dictionary — 
which, although it is not yet signed, I guess from 
internal evidence to be the production of Mr. 
Rockstro — which anticipates many of the novel- 
ties I might have advanced, and set those forth in 
the most clear, in the most interesting, and (I can 
say nothing short of the highest terms of eulogy) 
the most satisfactory and instructive light. I can 
with the fullest confidence refer persons who are 
attracted to the subject td that article, which, in 
supplying many dates which are difficult to recol- 
lect in a viv& voce enunciation, and many unfa- 
miliar names, will be of very great service as an 
authority, and will, I am certain, repay anybody's 
attention and careful reading. If Uie article con- 
tinue as it has begun, 'it will give to the world a 
concise, but a most valuable, history of the course 
of the lyrical drama. 

As to the lyrical drama itself, we must first 
regard the familiar objection that, as mankind do 
not sing their sentiments, the dramatic representa- 
tion in music is wholly artificial, and apart from 
nature. Being artificial constitutes it a work of 
art, apart from nature, in so far as it is not a 
fnotimile, but true to nature in so far as it is the 
heightening of the realities of ordinary life, and 
heightening them with the bright color of poetry. 
It is the province of art to heighten and to 
brighten, to embellish and to beautify the facts 
of nature. It is Bacon who has stated that there 
is no such means of enforcing a lesson as by pre- 
senting it in living action, and thus the drama in 
itself is a most powerful means of instruction. I 
think it is a happy omen for the coming time that 
the best authorities seem now to entertain this 
view of the drama. The Institution of the Society 
for Dramatic Reform, the many speeches of dis- 
tinguished men of letters, and distinguished theo- 
logians, at the meetings of the Social Science 
Congress on the great importance to the world at 
large of dramatic production and dramatic per- 
formance, show that the greatest minds of the 
time are taking the possibilities of the drama 
into earnest consideration. 

If a work of art were to be limited to the 
realities of the world, a looking-glass might stand 
in place of a picture, a police report in place of 
a tragedy, ^and music would drop out of being 
entirely. But it is in a picture, as distinct from 
the reflection in a mirror, that one sees nature 
through the mind of an artist. It is in poetry 
that we can enter into the feelings of men through 
the representation of an artist's imagination; 
and music expresses those feelings more forcibly 
than words can utter them, more delicately, more 
intensely ; and if the hearer have the perception 
which can rise to the fullest power, of the work 
addressed to him, he may find in musical expres- 
sion the grandest presentation of the feelings of 
man. The drama "holds the mirror up to 
nature." Music is that mirror, with such spectral 
phenomena as show nature in a beautified aspect. 
The lyric drama is the mottt ancient of all 
dramatic representation. It b attested that 
^schylus composed the music for his own trage- 
dies. That those tragedies were musical through- 
out there can be no doubt, the dialogue being, as 
we should now describe it, chanted or intoned 
upon some prescribed arrangement of musical 
potes, and the choruses which intersperse this 
dialogue being set to more formal music. This 



identity of musician and poet, constituting a two- 
fold '< maker," was not continued in the case of 
subsequent Greek tragedians. It seems not to 
have been with Sophocles and Euripides as it 
was with ^schylus; and although it. has been 
rarely that the musician and the literatist have 
been combined in the same person, there have 
been instances in after times where this has been 
the case ; and it must be maintained that if the 
lyrical drama is to be at its best, it must be the 
result of concerted work between two persons, if 
two are concerned in it. No musician can do 
himself, or his work, or his art justice, who shall 
take a stereotyped libretto without the power to 
extend, or contract, or alter, or diversify it, 
according to the exigencies of his own view of 
the subject, and thus it will be found that where 
the musician-composer has not been also the text 
composer, in the best instances, his poet has 
played into his hands, and modified the situations 
of his drama and varied his text according to 
the musician's casual requirements. 

The principle of the Greek drama was con- 
tinued in Christian times in a very remarkable 
and signal instance ; that was a religious rite to 
keep alive in memory the men and their deeds 
which were held sacred, and this, of which it is 
now to speak, appropriated the same means to 
the same end when persons and facts of another 
character claimed reverence. Gregory of Nanzi- 
anzus, a town of Cappadocia, wrote a tragedy 
upon the Greek model, embodying the stor/ of 
the Divine Passion, in which the chanted dialogue 
was interspersed with choruses ; and we have at 
the present moment a genealogical descendant 
from this drama of the fourth century, in the 
Passion Play represented every ten years at Ober- 
ammergau, save that the musical element has 
dropped out of the play, and the dialogue of the 
present day is spoken instead of intoned. Sub- 
sequently to the tragedy by Gregory, in the 
miracle-plays and the mysteries, there was always 
incidental music, but not music connected with 
the action — music interspersed more or less to 
illustrate the situations or the sentiment of the 
text, but not to be necessarily or at all concerned 
in the presentation of the incidents. 

We find, however, in the fifteenth century, a 
drama on the subject of OrfeOt by Poliziano, for 
which Enrico Isaaco, I believe of Crerman birth, 
wrote music ia Italy, but little or nothing, as to 
the musical merits of this work hasxeached us. 
In the English drama, subsequently to this, music 
was introduced episodically, but with such seem- 
ing necessity for the satisfaction of the audience, 
that there are not a few instances where person- 
ages are brought on the scene for the sake of 
singing their song, and not for fulfilling any inci- 
dent in the story or taking any part in the action ; 
such as the appearance of the two pages in the 
fifth act of As You Like It They enter to 
Touchstone and Audrey, and, at the invitation 
of these two, sing " It was a lover and his lass ; " 
and having sung and having received the com- 
ment on their performance, they leave the stage, 
and then the action goes on as if it had not been 
broken by their presence. This is, I think, an 
evidence that the audience of the time wanted 
the embellishment of music in the course of a 
long dramatic performance. More directly con- 
nected with the action of the scene is the music 
of the witches, introduced in Macbeth, and this 
music, with the doggrel text to which the greater 
part of it is set, was previously in the play of 
The Witchy by Middleton, and it had attained 
such general esteem that when Macbeth was to be 
produced it became almost a necessity, or Shakes- 
peare must have felt it as an entire necessity, to 
surround his witches with music, because this 
class of beings was in the public mind thus associ- 
atedi from the success of this preceding play ; and 



no music could so well fulfill his idea as that which 
already existed, and the verses to which this 
music is set were transplanted entire into the 
great tragedy of our greatest poet. 

Now comes into consideration the real founda^ 
tion of the modern opera, and this has an intimate 
connection with that great movement for art, the 
Renaissance. Letters, paintings, sculpture, had 
received already the benefit of the revival of 
classic principles, and then it came to be con- 
sidered that the same view might be applied to 
music. The tradition was exUnt — nay, we have 
written evidence — that music had been the most 
powerful means of impressing on the audiences of 
the Greek theatre the poetic power of the plays. 
The music of the period at which we have now 
arrived, namely, the end of the sixteenth century, 
was either the scholastic music now described as 
polyphonic, of which a very main interest lay in 
the imitative nature of the part-writing, or else 
the music of the people, which may be best 
described in our English idea of the ballad, that 
is, the recitation of a story to many and many 
repeats of one rery concise melody. 

Now from those two styles of music, declama- 
tion and expression of the poetry were necessarily 
excluded. In the fugual, or canonic, or imitative 
style, which prevailed as much in the madrigal 
compositions as in the music for the church, it 
would be impossible to express or to declaim 
words, since the many voices would be singing 
different words at the same moment. In the 
ballad, there could be small expression in a tune 
that was to be again and again repeated through 
a long and various story, which might comprise 
incidents of gaiety, of gravity, of regrrt, and of 
rejoicing ; and the utmost that could either be in 
the ballad tune or in the polyphonic composition 
of embodying character, would be a general 
resemblance to the nature of the subject, but by 
no means to the proper declamation of the words. 

Then a society oi gentlemen, men of letters, 
lovers of art, was formed in Florence. Count 
Yernio was at the head of this ; Vincenzo Galileo, 
father of the astronomer, and a nobleman of the 
name of Corsi were among his associates. These 
formed the idea of restoring to music that de- 
clamatory character which it is supposed to have 
held in the Greek tragedy. They employed a 
poet, Ottavio Rinuccini, to construct some verses 
with a view to musical declamation, and they 
engaged, at first, two singers, Giulio Caccini and 
Jaco^ Peri, who were, from the point of musical 
composition, little skilled, but were well adapted 
for the task proposed, from their habit of singing 
and from a singer's point of view regarding the 
exigencies of the words, and the capabilities of 
the voice for vocal expression. 

You, sir (addressing the Chau-man), and many 
other persons here, can very well estimate how 
important it is to one who undertakes the task of 
setting poetry to music to feel the singer's 
quality in approaching his subject, and from a 
singer's point of view he may be able to do a 
higher justice to his music and to his verse than 
any one dould who had not the habit of singing or 
the experience of listening to singers. It was in 
1590 that the first productions of these singer- 
composers were privately performed, at the house 
of the gentleman I have named. 

Then also came upon the scene Emilio del 
Cavalieri, a Roman by birth, who was an educated 
composer ; and he brought to the task a theoreti- 
cal knowledge of musical principles. Now it is to 
be considered that this term " l^-rical drama" is 
not necessarily, or by any means, limited in its 
application to secular subjects; and whereas the 
performances of Peri and Caccini were in the 
first place monologues, Cavalieri wrote a con- 
tinuous drama, interspersed with dancing and 
action, which was represented with scenery, and 



July 81, 1880.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



125 



which was not on a Biblical story, but on a relig- 
ious tliemc. La Rappreseniazione di Animo e di 
Corpo was performed in the oratory of a church, 
and classes at the head of the dramatic oratorio, 
distinct from didactic oratorio, — this being exem- 
plified in works at present familiar by the Passion 
of Bach and the Messiah of Handel, whereas 
specimens of the dramatic oratorio are many 
other works of Handel, which are always de- 
scribed by himself with the epithet " oratorio or 
sacred drama," such as Samson, Judas MaccabcBUSy 
and Jepthlka. ' The composer last named had so 
keen a sense of the dramatic treatment of his 
subject, that he wrote always in his scores such 
stage directions as would be given for a theatri- 
cal performance of the works in a theatre, de- 
scribing the entrances and exits of personages, 
and other actions bearing upon the conduct 4>f 
the story. Many and many such instances are to 
bo found throughout the MSS. of Handel, al- 
though Uiey are, I believe, always omitted in the 
printed copies of the music. They are still, how- 
ever, to be found in some of the separate librettos, 
and I think they clearly show how strong was his 
sense of the scene, although he wrote with the 
view of his pieces being sung without the adjuncts 
of theatrical effect. 

"MUSICALLY MAD." 



identity with the unfortunate Lucy Ashtorij and 
merrily warbles away at the audience regardless 
of the sympathetic chorus behind her back, which, 
as in duty bound, puts in an occasional * Gran 
Dio ' or * Di lei, signor, pieti.' " 



The London Times, in criticizing a recent per- 
formance of " Lucia," very sensibly says : " Owing 
to a curious perverseness of fate, the age which 
lias produced perhaps the finest * light' soprani 
ever heard is by no means prolific in operas 
adapted for their special gifts. The modern 
German school on principle abhors roulades and 
Jioriturey but even in modern French and Italian 
operas the chief task is rarely intrusted to the 
quality of voice just referred to. The Queen in 
tiie * Huguenots,' FUina in *Mignon,' such are 
the parts with which light soprani have to be 
satisfied ; even Marguerite in * Faust ' does not 
properly belong to their domain, although it ap- 
proaches the border-line. The consequence is 
that they have to fall back upon the earlier 
Italian repertoire; and many a good old-fashioned 
opera owes its survival to tiie circumstance. We 
do not say that this is altogether tlie case with 
Donizetti's * Lucia.* No unprejudiced critic can 
deny its merits. The septet in the second act is 
a masterpiece, and the entire finale of that act full 
of dramatic power of the highest order. The 
duets of Lucy with her lover and her cruel 
brother also are not without beauty of their 
special kind. On the other hand, there are 
shallow places innumerable, and the mad scene 
in the third act is from a dramatic point of view 
grotesquely absurd. In a curious volume entitled 
•Fills to Purge Melancholy,' by Tom D'Urfey 
(published in 1719), that prolific poet and play- 
wright distinguishes five varieties of * the lady 
distracted with love.' We have the lady * sullenly 
mad,' 'mirthfully mad,' * melancholy mad,' 'fan- 
tastically mad,* and 'stark mad.' Had Tom 
D'Urfey lived in our days, Donizetti, M. Gounod, 
and other composers would have taught him that 
there is still another species, — the lady « musically 
mad.' A person thus afflicted would, according 
to Donizetti's notion, seem to be inclined and 
able to sing the most difficQlt and florid music 
conceivable, to venture without hesitation upon 
scale passages and Jioriture and shakes, at which 
a prudent singer might certainly well stand 
aghast. To speak plainly, the composer, like 
many other writers of his school, forgets in the 
scene we are speaking of his dramatic mission 
entirely. He wishes to write a show piece of 
musical execution, and in this task, at least, he 
has not failed. The singer very naturally fulloi^s 
the composer's example. She also forgets her 



DR. RITTER ON " CHAMBER MUSIC." 

(Concluded from p. 116.) 
At this point the second illustration, AUegri's 
Symphonia, was played, and attention was called 
to the form of it — there being three rather short 
movements ; the first, common time, of a lively 
character ; the second, triple time, of a slow cast ; 
and the last, common time, consisting of two parts 
— one rather slow, the other swift The first 
movement is worked out in two themes ; the sec- 
ond is rather melodious, in the style of the Can- 
zon. The contrapuntal treatment and the group- 
ing of the instruments are still similar to those of 
vocal compositions. The tonality wavers between 
C major and G major. The old ecclesiastical 
mode still predominates. The musical effect is 
still antiquated for modern ears; yet, here and 
there already appear passages peculiar to the 
mechanism of stringed instruments ; especially in 
the first movement. This piece is published in 
full in the second edition of Dr. Ritter's " His- 
tory." 

The impulse given by Montevorde developed violin 
virtuosity. Trills, skips, quick passages, based upon 
chords or scales — all these, widely differing from char- 
acteristics of vocal compositions, were gradaally intro- 
duced. Violinists began to publish works for their 
instruments alone. These were mostly in the dance- 
forms of the epoch— such as Favanes, Gaillards, Glgnes, 
etc. Success in this new line bred vanity in the violin 
virtuosi— as, for instance, in Carlo Farina, of Mantua, 
who, before 1650, published, among other violin works, 
a Capricclo stravagante, in which passages occur imi- 
tating the noises of dogs, cats, roosters and hens. And 
Farina showed the seriousness of his vanity by care- 
fully explaining how these effects should be produced. 
This was, truly, coarse materialism in tone-painting. 
A difference between instrumental and purely vocal 
means began now to be noticed. The livelier and more 
distinct rhythms of the dance-tunes lent to the instru- 
mental melody a more concise phrasing and more elas- 
ticity. Violin players at this. time did not venture to 
make an eliborate use as yet of the "G-«trlng," its 
technical difficulties being considered too great Tai^ 
quinlo Merula, of Cremona (about 1600), is said to have 
made the first success in this respect. It took, also, 
a long time even measurably to conquer the technique 
of the violin, beyond the "first position." The cele- 
brated twenty-four fiddlers of the band of Louis XIV. 
seldom succeeded, in spite of great efforts and bodily 
contortions, in reaching with pure intonation the C, 
two leger lines above the treblenilef. Their audiences 
knew this, and were accustomed to cry out, whenever 
they knew the C was coming: " Gars & Tut I"—" Look 
out for the C !" Thus the compass was enlarged in 
every direction; and this was supplemented by in- 
creased facility In working out characteristic themes 
melodlcally as well as harmonically, giving more unity 
and more logical construction to the different move- 
ments. The inventive variety resulting from the adop- 
tion of the major and minor modes (leading, for exam- 
ple, to the Introduction of cadenzas to designate har- 
monic changes and cuts of phrases and periods) made 
the whole construction of works more lucid, symmet- 
rical and effective. The modem chronuitlc element 
began to relieve the diatonic monotony of the ecclesi- 
astical keys which was manifest in the previous 
illustrations; and the next Illustration, a sonata for 
violin solo, with violoncello obligate, by GuLseppe 
Torelli, of Verona (1660-1708), shows this advance. 
Torelli is said to -have been the first composer who 
wrote concertos for solo instruments with accompani- 
ment of orchestra. The form he chose was the sonata. 
The Illustration here is a sonata in four movements. 
The custom of uniting four movements and calling the 
whole a sonata became thus raised to an sesthetic 
principle. This sonata consists of an Allegro, fre- 
quently interrupted by a short Adagio; again an Alle- 
gro; then an Adagio; and histly, an Allegro. The first 
movement has more tlie effect of a varied, brilliant 
introduction; the second Is in three parts— two being 
assigned to the violin. In fugue style; while the violon- 
cello adds brilliant, contrasting passages. A figured 
bass is directed to fill out the harmony. The whole 



movement is easy, giju^ful and rather brilliants The 
instrumentalist per se now stands firm upon his own 
feet. 

The next two illustrations were a Sonata da 
Chiesa, for two violins and 'cello, by Giambatista 
Bassini, written in 1685; and a Sonata da Ca- 
mera, for the same instruments, by that great 
"Bach of Italy," Arcangelo Corelli, written in 
the same year, 1685. 



The sonata began to be varied in form by circum- 
stances. It was introduced into the organ gallery, 
where the violin, sustained by harmonic accompani- 
ment of the organ, began to replace the solo singer and 
the chorus. Instead of a Salve Regina or an Ave Maria, 
a sonata would frequently be played. This use of It 
changed its character; it then consisted of three or 
four movements and was of a generally serious cast, in 
accordance with Its sacred surroundings. The first 
movement was generally grand and majestic; the sec- 
ond an animated fugue; the third, a pathetic Adagio; 
and the last, a lively Allegro. This was called the 
'* Church Sonata " -t- Sonata da Chiesa. Its more 
mundane sister, " Chamber Sonata," or Sonata da 
Camera, was of a light, cheerful character and com- 
posed of a succession of dances, such as the AUemande, 
Pavane, Air, Corrento, Sarabanda, Minuetto, or Gigue 
and the like. The order and number of pieces had no 
rule, but varied with individual fancy. But they were 
all (three or six) In the same key; while, In the 
"Church Sonata," the Adagio (second) movement was 
written in a relative key to that of the sonata —major, 
if the other was minor, and vice versa. In France the 
*' Chamber Sonata " was called Suite or Une Suite de 
Pieces — a form diligently cultivated by Bach and 
Handel and their German contemporaries. At a later 
period the sacred and secular sonatas were merged Into 
one, as we have them now. 

Bassani was bom at Padua, 1657, and was chapel- 
master successively at Bologna and Ferram cathedrals. 
-He died in Ferrara in 1715. He was one of the most 
distinguished musicians of his time — composing ope- 
ras, church music and Instrumental pieces. In the 
sonata be crystallised Ideas In which his predecessors 
had waverlngly groped ; and unity and symmetry 
characteri]^ his works. He idealized the sonata in 
his use of contrapuntal means, rhythm, melody, har- 
mony. A gracefulness of style is predominant. In 
the present example, the principal motivo of the first 
movement (similar to that in I^tboven's Fifth Sym- 
phony) is worked out vrith ingenuity and mastery — 
for his time. The two violins and 'cello have a fig- 
ured bass accompaniment for the organ. The second 
movement is a short, pathetic Grave; the third, an 
Allegro, with many interesting points of a contrapun- 
tal Imitation; the fourth, an Adagio, In triple time — 
a short Canzon, sweet and melodic, followed by a light, 
graceful, humorous Prestissimo, the prototype of 
Haydn's cheerful finales. The hist movement is sud- 
denly interrupted by a return of the Adagio (this time 
In another key), after which the Prestissimo Is repeated 
and closes the sonata. A similarly happy thonght is 
embodied (but, of course, with much greater effective- 
ness) in the finale of Beethoven's Fifth S}'mphony, 
where strains from the Scherzo interrupt the triumph- 
ant mareh movement. Batisani exercised great infiu- 
ence, not only in Italy; for even the English composer, 
Pnrcell, studied him diligently, and wrote sonatas in 
similar style. 

But Italy's ** Arch-angel " was Corelli, who was bom 
In Fusignano, Bologna, in 1653, — four yean earlier 
than Bassani, who nevertheless, instructed him in 
violin playing. His teacher In coimteipoint was Matteo 
SimoneUil a member of the Pope's Chapel. As a young 
man he visited Germany and passed several years at 
the court of the Elector of Bavaria. In 1681 he settled 
in Rome, under the protection of his friend. Cardinal 
OttobonL Here he was at home for the rest of his 
life. Here he founded the famous Roman school for 
vk>lin playing. Here he died in 1713. He was a great 
musician and a noble man. His tone and soulful ex- 
pression he magnified beyond mere technique, and he 
far outshone all his predecessors. In fact, he marks 
the first epoch in this form of instmmental music. 
The same qiuilitles which distinguished his playing are 
to be found in his sonatas. He filled Torelli's and 
Bassani's form with far deeper sentiment than thehrs. 
The present ** Sonata da Camera" illustration is a 
string trio, with figured bass accompaniment; in four 
movements, Preludio, Allemanda, Sarabanda and Cor- 
rento — the fint two in common time (Adagio and 
Allegro), the others in triple time (Largo and Allegro); 
all four in the key of E major. The names are the 
regular dance denominations of the secular sonata; 
but an artistic approach of the composer to the dignity 



126 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1025, 



of the more Berious "Church Sonata" is manifest 
The work is Op. % No. 10. 

A second selection from Corelli was played on 
the 'cello by Mr. Bergner, with piano accompani- 
ment, although written for violin. The selection 
from Biber which followed, after explanation of 
the immigration of the Italian sonatarform into 
Germany, was inferior to the climax of Corelli, 
and was interesting only as foreshadowing the 
greatest Bach, of whom an Andante followed 
from a Sonata for Viol da Gamba, played also 
on the 'cello by Mr. Bergner. The Biber Gavotte 
was admirably played by Mr. Brandt. It was 
from a violin sonata, published in Salzburg in 
1681. Dr. Ritter paid a glowins: tribute to the 
genius of Johann Sebastian Bach, who so trans- 
formed the Italian Sonata as really to keep only 
its name and its four movements. His sonatas 
were so difficult as to lead one to think he must 
have calculated for an organ key-board on the 
neck of the violin ; and it was many years before 
musicians, after great exertions, learned to do 
justice to these works in performance and in 
appreciation of their nobility and deep poetical 
charm. 

Handel was next illustrated, for contrast's sake, 
by an Allegro (preceded by a few bars. Adagio) 
from a violin sonata (1732), played by Mr. 
Brandt. Great as were Handel's achievements 
in other branches ill the sonata form, he did not, 
in Dr. Ritter's opinion, open new roads like his 
great contemporary. Bach. 

The rest of the lecture showed how Carl 
Philipp Emanuel Bach made a compromise be- 
tween his father's severely contrapuntal style 
and the more simply melodious Italian style ; and 
also how much Haydn owed, by his own acknowl- 
edgment, to this later Bach. In fact the Largo 
from a Trio by C. P. E. Bach, for two violins and 
'cello, which was subsequently played"by Messrs. 
Brandt, Schwarz and Bergner, showed how much 
inspiration even Mozart may have got from him. 
Dr. Ritter called attention to the fact that, before 
Haydn's development of the true quartet form, 
the viola was neglected in its individuality. The 
characteristics of Haydn's fully crystallized quar- 
tet form were then explained in too much detail 
for report at this time; and, after % glowing 
tribute to the elevated refinement of music, the 
lecture closed with an earnest peroration, after 
which Haydn's First Quartet in B flat was per- 
formed in full ; and the audience dispersed after 
a most interesting evening. The peroration of 
the lecture was as follows : — 

Bat where are those amatenra to be found in our 
days, for whom a Haydn, a Moairt, a Beethoven wrote 
so many exquisite works ? The uuiveisal piano-forte, 
stimulating musical egotism, has killed the modest and 
unobtrusive quartet player ; wldle it has helped to 
render miuical culture more uarrow, more superficial 
and also more sensationaL Do we not see that even 
orchestral conductors, misled by outside considera- 
tions, endeavor to tear the refined string quartet from 
its ideal sphere and lend to it a temporary, sensational 
effect by having it performed by a numerous band of 
orchestral strings ? According to my views, this is a 
misunderstanding of the true ssthetlcal form and 
functions of the quartet. In this case orchestral mech- 
anism, uniting a number to the beat of one, takes the 
place of the highest ideal individuality; and, formal, 
conventional expression replaces the free flow of the 
imagination of the intelligent one exponent of the 
idea. The four performers are not slaves; each of 
them follows his own heart-beat; the ideal symmetry 
harmony and unity of the whole form bhids them all 
naturally together, without tampering with the neces- 
sary, spontaneous, free life of the spirit. In the in- 
terest of a more solid, refined and substantial lesthet- 
ical development of music, I should like to see a more 
universal cultivation of the forms of chamber-music. 



2Dtoi0l>rjS S^ournal of ^w^iu 

SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1880. 



REFORM IN CHURCH MUSIC. 



The American Art Journal (New York) prints 

as original editorial articles several pieces on " The 
True Office and Dignity of Music," etc., etc., which 
may be found, word for word, in an address deliv- 
ered before the Harvard Musical Association, Cam- 
bridge, m 1841! 



This was the subject of an address or lecture 
delivered by Mr. Eugene ITiayer, the well-known 
organist of this city, before the annual meeting, 
at Buffalo, a few weeks since, of the "Music 
Teachers' National Association," a brief abstract 
of the proceedings of which was given in our last 
number. Mr. Thayer's paper is interesting and 
suggestive enough (and here and there pleasantly 
spicy withal) to warrant copying in full ; but at 
present we can only call attention to certain points 
in it, thoughtfully and ably treated, which seem to 
go pretty nearly to the root of the matter as to 
the reform needed in the music of the churches of 
to-day — at least, in the vocal music, to which we 
shall confine our extracts and our comments for 
the present. 

After a very brief historical introduction, 
sketching the progress of church music from the 
Ambrosian chants and the Gregorian "Tones," 
barely enumerating the great church composers 
who came after the long, dark period between 
that time and the fifteenth century, and then trac- 
ing the progress of our New England Psalmody 
from Billings and Holden down to Lowell Mason ; 
alluding by the way to our fathers' puritanical 
aversion to the organ, Mr. Thayer expresses his 
enthusiastic faith in tlie religious mission of music, 
as the one language that can reach all hearts, and 
that will live forever. Now he is ready for the 
question of reform. Beginning with the church 
choir, he says : 

I believe that the first thing to do is to have true 
choirs in our churches, if we are to have any choirs 
at all. Good music is of little worth unless we 
have it properly produced. The true choir is the 
cliorus choir. This might or might not include a 
quartet; it properly should. For it is hardly possi- 
ble to call together a large body of singers without 
finding at least four who could creditably, if not 
most ably, serve as soloists. I would, in fact, to 
have our choir perfect in its organization, have a 
double quartet ; that is, four male and four female 
soloists. To be more explicit, I mean a high and 
a low voice on each of the parts, and a chorus of 
from sixteen to sixty, or even a hundred voices 
according to the size of the church. I doubt if it 
is ever best to exceed the latter number except in 
very large churches. Mere numbers do not neces- 
sarily increase the effect desirable, and too many 
hinder rather than help. Of course, I presuppose 
a good organ well played; for a weak or poor one 
or a badly played one, is worse than a poor preacher 
to drive away the ungodly or even the faithful. I 
do not believe in quartet choirs as such ; that is 
simply and only quartet choirs for church service* 
Quartet choirs will agree with me, I think, when I 
assert that there is always felt to be something 
wanting in their musical service, however good it 
may be: a want of contrast, a want of climax, a 
want of heart as well as of mind; a want felt' if 
not always understood. That want I believe to be 
the universal play of the feelings, the universal 
sympathy of the people, which can only come when 
all jom in praise to the Lord. I would not be 
understood as saying that the people should always 
jom in the singing. Let them listen sometimes ; let 
them receive as well as give a part of the tjme. 
When the smgers carry through the whole of the 
musical service of the church, it becomes a perform- 
ance, and nothing else but a performance ; and the 
better the singers the more in fact is it a perform- 
ance. Now, if the people wish to go to church 
simply to listen to a fine performance ~ in a certain 
sense, the same as they would at the opera or con- 
cert-hall — then there is nothing more to say about 
choirs. Church music either means something more 
than a performance or it does not. If it does not 
then banish a usage which at once profanes our 
divine art, and commits sacrilege in the house of 
God. It remams for pastors and people to Take 
hold of the work, and raise it to a higher plane 
than Its present one. Upon the pastors chiefly 
devolves the duty of bringing this matter before 
the people, and arousing them to a full sense of its 
importance. Many a sensational sermon, or even a 
practical or doctrinal one, could well give place to 



this work. If pastors only knew of the unlimited 
power of music to assist them in their work, I could 
almost believe that half their sermons would be 
about music in the church. 

All this is sensible and to the purpose. We 
only wish that it were a little more explicit on 
the point of congregational singing, or the part 
the people are to take in the tuneful portion of 
tlie service. It is only by implication that Mr. 
Thayer appears to allow any place for this. He 
would not be understood as saying that the people 
should always join in the singing; they should 
sometimes listen. This implies, then, that they 
should sometimes sing. But how? when? with 
what preparation, organization and arrangement? 
We should think this the first point to settle, and 
the choir the next ; and we wonder at the omis- 
sion all the more, inasmuch as our reformer far- 
iher on is so strong in his recommendation of the 
choral in place of the trashy four-line psalm-tune, 
the choral being in its very origin and essence a 
sort of tune or simple melody to be sung in uni- 
son by the whole congregation, though capable 
of wondrous transfiguration in the polyphonic 
harmony developed from it by a master spirit like 
Sebastian Bach. Of this hereafter. Let us fol- 
low Mr. Thayer's own order, and first give what 
he says about the hymns, the words to be sung. 
We entirely sympathize with him in his aversion 
to the unlimited number of hymns of all kinds, 
lyrical, didactic, prosy or poetic ; and in the idea 
that twenty-five or fifty hymns, each inseparably 
wedded to its tune, are quite enough for tliat 
form of the musical service, — age and old associa- 
tion and familiarity being of far more consequence 
than novelty. (To be sure, this would be a death- 
blow to the trade of the endless multipliers of 
mere psalm-tunes and " collections ; " but let them 
find some better work to do, if they are compe- 
tent ; if not, let them seek it outside of the art 
of music ; but Mr. Thayer suggests a better occu- 
pation for competent musicians in what he calls 
the " hymn anthem," a form capable of multipli- 
cation without all this fore-doomed monotony and 
emptiness). All this portion of the lecture is so 
good, that we must give it here without abridge 
ment: 

After the choir has been properly organized, the 
of the church needs revision and re- 



hymnology 

form ; for it will scarcely be possible to reform the 
music of the church until the hymn-books are 
reformed, or, at least, used in a different manner 
than now, by pastors and congregations. The lead- 
ing collections have from six to sixteen hundred 
hymns, including, possibly, a few repetitions. Now, 
there are not sixteen hundred good hymn-tunes in 
the world, and I hope there never will be. I doubt 
if there are even fifty thoroughly good ones, if we 
except the chorals. Unfortunately, most of the 
chorals cannot be used for American church service ; 
for, being mostly of German origin, the metres are 
of such an irregular kind that they will not adapt 
themselves to our hymns. Such of them as have 
been used in our service, as, for instance. Old Hun- 
dred, Nuremburg and others, have proved beyond 
question how well the people like them, and by 
their singing of them how perfectly they are 
adapted to the wants of the great congregation. 

I fully believe that fifty hymns or even half of 
that number are enough for any congregation ; for 
a congregation that can sing twenty-five hymns and 
sing them well is a rarity; and one that can Ring 
fifty good ones well does not exist hereabouts. Let 
me say here that I believe it best in congregational 
singing that each hymn be sung to a certain tune. 
This law of association of certain words with cer- 
tain melodies will not only give a better devotional 
effect, but will surely make the people sing better. 
We all know what words we expect and wish to 
hear to such lovely melodies as " Sweet Home" and 
the " Last Rose of Summer," and when the oreanist 
gives out " Old Hundred " even the children know 
what to sing. For these and other reasons I con- 
clude that there are altogether too many hymns in 
our hymn-books. Shall we, then, ignore or cast 
out all above the half hundred? Certainly not. 
Many of the others can be sung by the choir, if 
there be one ; if not, let them be read by the pastor 
as often as may be wished. Why should not the 
reading form a part of the service ? Many a hynon, 
which is most beautiful in its religious sentiment 



JuLT 81, 1880.] 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



127 



and deyotional character, is totally unfit for the 
people to sing — in fact, for anybody to sing. The 
only h^mns nt to be sung are those of prayer and 
adoration, or those of praise and thanksgiving. All 
of a didactic, reflective or simply rational character, 
are much better read than sung. Of course, a choir 
or congregation can find some tune of the same 
metre and worry through the poetry ; but musically 
and devotionally the result will be a failure. If the 
pastor or people have favorite hymns which are not 
singable, let them be read as often as desirable, but 
let any attempt to sing them be abandoned. 

There should be an entire reform about reading 
hymns that are to be sung. Don't read them at 
all I Let the number of the hymn be announced 
and the first line, or, possibly, the llrst verse be 
read; and let that suffice. If it is to be read 
through, and played through, and sung through, 
why not have a grammar lesson and parse it through, 
and then have a spelling match and spell it 
through ? 

One of the customs of the Germans could be 
adopted in American churches to great advantage. 
Not a word is said over there about the hymns, 
except, of course, by the female portion of the 
congregation. As one enters the church he sees 
posted in some conspicuous place, generally in front 
of the pulpit, and in figures large enough to be 
read anywhere in the church, the numbers of the 
hymns to be sung. When the time comes for the 
hymn the organist plays a short prelude and the 
people rise and sing without being asked or com- 
manded to. All appears so spontaneous and natu- 
ral that the effect is enhanced a hundred fold. It 
seems as if they sang because they wanted to ; and 
they certainly do sing as if they loved to, for they 
are never given any hymns or tunes but what are 
adapted to them both devotionally and musically. 
I make this -suggestion for the l^nefit of both pas- 
tors and people, and hope it may soon be generally 
adopted. If pastors will give the people only such 
hymns to sing as are suitable to sing, and if organ- 
ists and choir directors will give the people only 
such melodies to sing as are proper for large num- 
bers of people to sing, we shall hear no more com- 
Slaint about congregations failing to sing both 
eartily and well. 

So much of the hymns, the verbal text, and of 
the desirable limitation of their number, as well 
as of the tunes that are to go with them, and 
which properly belong to them by true afifinity 
and time-hallowed, fond association. Here again 
Mr. Thayer implies, but has not once distinctly 
treated, the singing of the people, of the congre- 
gation, of course in unison, as the common ground- 
work of the whole church music. And now for 
his arraignment of the automaton psalm-tune 
multiplier : 

If the choir is to sing any of the hymns in the 
service, let the music be in the form of the hymn 
anthem ; or, if we cannot always have this, let the 
hymn-tune be in the form of the eight-line or 
double hymn-tune. The four-line hymn-tune is 
essentially an incomplete, weak and meaningless 
thing. The reason is plain : the /orm is meaningless 
and incomplete, and therefore worthless. The 
shortest form in music should have at least four 
parts, to be satisfactory either to musical taste or 
common sense. These four parts are as follows: 
First, a theme ; second, a counter theme or answer ; 
third, an episode or digression ; fourth, the coda or 
conclusion. As these cannot all be comprised in 
the limits of a four-line hymn-tune we are forced 
to the conclusion that the form is defective and 
inade<|uate, and therefore practically worthless. . . 

As It is now, we have a mere rhythmical play of 
three or four chords, and the thing comes to an 
untimely end, dying of sheer inanition. It is not 
only not a hymn-tune but it is not a tune at all^ sim- 
ply because it has not the requisites of a theme or 
tune. See, too, the practical result of its use in 
church service. Let us take a hymn of four verses, 
and we have not infrequently, a greater number. 
First we hear the pastor read the four verses ; then 
we hear the tune from the organ ; next the choir 
sings the tune once, then over again, then once more, 
and finally, to conclude with, they do it some more. 
Five times we are forced to listen to a tune which, 
in all probability, was never fit to be heard once. 
Barrels full, cartloads full, warehouses full of this 
nonsense have been published and sold, and will be 
as long as there is a gullible public, or organists, 
choir directors and singers cannot see the everlast* 
ing sameness of the stuff and refuse to be further 
fooled and plundered. 

What shall we have in the place of it? For 
choir singing we must have the hymn anthem, 
wherein each verse has its appropriate setting, and 
all the verses are so joined that we not only have 



unity in the poetry but in the music as well, and 
really get a whole piece of music instead of half 
a dozen fragments of one — a whole uncut loaf 
instead of a half dozen thin slices. sAre such things 
to be found in the psalm-books already issued 1 
Yes ; only unfortunately, in very limited numbers. 
But I believe as soon as our church music com- 
posers awake to the importance of the subject and 
see what nonsense the four-line hymn-tunes are, 
they will issue no more books for choirs except such 
as shall practically prove the truth of these asser- 
tions. 

And now we come to the heart of the whole 
matter, — to the importance of the choral as the 
true church music (why not say plain-song f) of 
the people ; and we might add, as the pregnant 
germ of the whole development of sacred music, 
at least the Protestant music, in its larger and 
more complex forms. Our reformer advocates it 
on these grounds : 

The best and only true hymn-tune for the people 
is the choral — not necessarily the German cnoral, 
but any choral or hymn-tune of like character. 
Now the choral is generally a four-line tune, and 
doubtless every one will think me involved in a 
hopeless dilemma of contradiction. Let us see if 
this apparent inconsistency cannot be clearly ex- 

f>lained. If the form of the four-line hymn is worth- 
ess and nonsensical fur the choir, how is it so good 
for the people ? Let us see. First, the conditions 
are entirely different, and the principles upon which 
the choral is founded are entirely different. In the 
choral no melodic treatment or development is de- 
veloped or desired; it depends wholly on its har- 
monic structure. In the choral, except possibly at 
the end of the lines, there should never be any 
repetition of harmony in two consecutive chords: 
each melody-note, so called, should have a new har- 
mony. This does not mean that there should be no 
repetition of any given harmony or chord in the 
piece, but only that it shall not occur on two suc- 
cessive chords. A choral will then contain all, or 
nearly all, the chords possible in any one key ; and, 
so far as harmony is concerned, really does all that 
can be done, and is so far wholly and unqualifiedly 
satisfactory. I said that there was no attempt at 
melody, in the ordinary acceptation of that word, 
neither was melody essential or desirable. First, 
because the choral had its origin in the chant, the 
oldest form of all church music; and the chant, 
as we all know, has no melody proper, and can have 
none and needs none ; it is above melody, for it is 
harmony; and harmony is melody transcended, or 
many melodies together. That is, not any special 
melody in the upper part, or at the top, but melody, 
in a certain sense, everywhere. So we do not look 
for melody, or for the satisfaction for the sense of 
melody, in the choral ; or for any thematic develop- 
ment, or contrast of themes, or variety of form. Its 
one theme is like the sun at noonday ; one is all suf- 
ficient. 

Why, then, is not the four-line hvmn-tune equally 
satisfactory? Or, why has not the church music 
composer of to-day the same right to make a four- 
line hymn-tune as the old composers had to make 
their four-line chorals ? He undoubtedly has the 
same right, and, if he did not attempt rhythmic or 
melodic treatment in this short limit, might produce 
something to rank with these grand old chorals. But 
the joke of the thing is that he would produce — 
what do you suppose ? It would be either a chant 
or a choral, for it couldn't be anything else. These, 
then, are the reasons why a four-line choral is good 
and a four-line hymn-tune is worthless. The four- 
line hymn-tune attempts rhythmic and melodic 
treatment in four lines, in which limit no satisfac- 
tory treatment is possible. The choral ignores mel- 
odic treatment, but gives us a complete harmonic 
structure to a plain succession of notes. The former 
attempts and promises the impossible and conse- 
quently fails ; the latter does all it promises or su^:- 
gcsts, and aU that is possible in this compass, and is 
consequently complete and wholly satisiactory. 

My further reasons for claiming the choral as the 
only music for congregational hymns are: that it 
has notes of equal length and the people can sing it 
together ; that it is within the compass of the voice 
of the masses ; that little, indeed, we might almost 
say, no knowledge of music is required to sing what 
is termed the melody. For it must be remembered 
that the masses, considered as such, have little or 
no knowledge of music, and never can have so long 
as they must struggle for bare existence. 

These are excellent reasons in the main ; and 
the infinite superiority of the choral to the hum- 
drum modern psalm-tune, with its would-be mel- 
ody and its helpless monotony of harmony, is well 
explained. Indeed, so many good things are said 



here of the choral, that we wish the statement 
were more accurate in some particulars. For 
instance, how can anybody think that the best of 
the old chorals, say the Lutheran, lack melody ? 
Take for example, as among those which have 
become somewhat known here of late years, the 
chorals introduced in Bach's Passion Music ; not 
only do they shine transfigured and immortal in 
Bach's wondrous harmony, but the chorals in 
themselves, the mere tunes, as sung by rote, in 
unison, by the people, are full of the sweetest, 
tenderest, most haunting melody, every one of 
them. It is possible that some of them may have 
been invented by musicians, who composed them 
in tlieir four-part melodic harmony at first ; but 
the mass of them undoubtedly were simple mel- 
odies for one voice-part, which received harmonic 
treatment later. The truer statement would be, 
that these melodies were of such peculiar preg- 
nant quality that they implied all that rich and 
ever-varied harmony which Mr. Thayer so well 
describes; these harmonies were latent in them, 
in the very soul and genius, so to speak, of every 
melody, and men like Bach divined them there 
and brought them out. 

Again, we do not understand his description of 
the choral as commonly k four-line tune, and as 
composed of notes of equal length. Many chorals 
arc so doubtless, at least in earlier ages when they 
stood nearer to the chants. But in the Lutheran 
hymn and choral books, the great majority are in 
six or eight lines, and lines of every sort of length, 
making it difficult, to be sure, to iUiapt many of 
them to the stanzas in our hymn-books; but, if 
we should adopt Mr. Thayer's plan of reducing 
the number of tunes and hymns sung by the peo- 
ple to some thirty or forty familiar ones, would it 
not be possible to find fitting poetry for each ? 

Moreover, we fail to see that Mr. Tha^r has 
quite absolved himself from the " apparent hicon- 
sistency," which he undertakes to explain. For 
in claiming that the choral is wholly a tJuntr of 
harmony, and not of melody, he takes it at once 
out of the mouths of the singing congregation, 
and relegates it to the choir, — unless in so far 
as the organ represents the harmony, while the 
people sing the melody. 

Could not a wholesome and inspiring, at once 
artistic and in the best sense popular, church 
music, or music of public worship, be composed 
of Hie following elements?- 1. As the ground- 
work, a few real chorals, wedded each to its own 
words, to be sung in unison by the people, tlie 
harmony supplied by the organ. 2. Altei'nate 
verses of the choral to be sung in the best four-part 
polyphonic harmony, without accompaniment, by 
the trained choir, giving the effect of a celestial 
choir responding to the earthly, — as we have 
heard it done in Germany with almost mystical 
impressiveness. S. The *' hymn anthem " to which 
Mr. Thayer refers, and other freer forms of an- 
them, not necessarily to metrical texts ; these, of 
course, for an artistic, or at least a musical and 
select choir ; music to he listened io^ with edifica- 
tion, if it be only good. 4. Still other and it may 
be larger forma of truly artistic religious music ; 
such as some noble Gloria or Benedictus from a 
mass, or chorus or quartet from an inspired orato- 
rio, drawing from the greatest masters such prac- 
ticable pieces as are most sure to lift the thoughts 
above the world. If we were thinking of great 
cathedrals, we might go even further and call in 
the orchestra. 

But we must not omit the peroration of this 
part of Mr. Thayer's discourse, his plea, namely, 
for the choral ; it makes a good conclusion. Here- 
after we may copy what he says of the organ and 
the organist. 

Finally, the choral is the grandest simple expres- 
sion of the religious life and feelings of humanity. 
All can sing it, and all love to sing it better than 



128 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1025. 



anything else in the service of the church. Let 
anybody listen to a great congregation singing Old 
Hundred, Dundee^ Nuremburg or America, and doubt 
this if he can ; and these mentioned are by no means 
the best of chorals, as the^ are both poorly and incor- 
rectly harmonized. Wait until bye and bye when 
we get all the good ones, and you wUl see that no ordi- 
nary inducement will tempt the people to sing, any 
other music to the hymns of the church. All this shall 
as surely come as day follows night. The weak and 
worthless shall all disappear, and to the harmony 
of the grand old chorals shall the people praise God 
with heart and soul and voice ; and the church ser- 
vice be one for the people, and of the people, and 
music shall shine out in fullest glory and power in 
the sanctuary of God the Lord. 



SIGNOR BOITO'S " MEFISTOFELE. 



i> 



The musical world just now seems to have Faust 
on the brain. Gounod's opera is still popular. 
Berlioz's dramatic legend of ihe. Damnation of Fatut 
was the last stone thrown into the still water, and 
the widening rings of agitation have by no means 
yet died out But with Berlioz, Mephisto is the 
real hero of the drama, Faust but a puppet in com- 
parison. Now comes a new sensation, the Italian 
musical version of the theme, which calls itself 
outright by the name of the devil, M^sto/eie, Of 
Sig. Boito's work we have already translated in 
these columns what M. Adolphe Jullien has to say. 
After a fiasco at Milan in 1868, and a successful 
revival at Bologna, for which the way was paved 
by the success there of Lohengrin, it has come to 
be recognized as the finest opera which modern 
(tliat is to say, recent) Italy has produced. It has 
now reached London, where it was brought out at 
Her Majesty's Theatre in the beginning of the pres- 
ent month, under the personal superintendence of 
the composer, but with Sig. Arditi as conductor, 
and with great €clat. And now we hear that Col. 
Mapleson intends to produce it in New York and 
Boston during the next season, — at the Boston 
Theatre in December. Below will be found some 
description of the work and its performance from 
the London papers. Sig. Boito is, it seems, a Goethe 
scholar ; and he draws his text both from the first 
and second parts of Faust, actually beginning with 
the Prologue in Heaven, where Satan, as in the book 
of Job, appears before the Lord, and gets leave to 
try to tempt a mortal from the right path. But 
this, brought upon the stage, would shock the Eng- 
lish sensitiveness; therefore the scene is modified 
in the English version of the libretto, and Mephisto 
makes his proposition to a choir of angels, instead 
of to the Lord. Any how, the opera is but a suc- 
cession of a number of detached scenes, with no 
very continuous dramatic progress. And, strangely, 
he brings Into the Prologue in Heaven the chorus of 
Female Penitents from the very last scene of the 
second Faust, 

Meanwhile, we read that still another Faust opera, 
that by E^ouard Lassen, of Weimar, is soon to be 
revived at Berlin. Of this, M. Jullien speaks in 
high praise. Oui* readers must have been aston- 
ished by the long list of Faust composers whom 
that French writer has enumerated ; and after his 
^description there might be some curiosity (while 
Faust, and still more Mephistopheles, are " on the 
brain") to hear that other full-fledged opera of 
Faust by the Parisian lady. Mile. Benin. But, as 
will be seen by the chapter of M. Jullien's book 
which we present to-day, he gives a most decided 
preference, over all the musical versions of Goethe's 
drama, to that of Robert Schumann, who, to be 
sure, lived to complete only certain scenes of it, but 
these, particularly the las^ and most important, in 
a way only possible to a musician of his rare and 
deep poetic genius. We are happy to say that 
there is a fair chance of our hearing Schumann's 
Scenes from Goethe* s Faust sung by the Cecilia, with 
orchestra, next winter. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

BsBLiN. The Royal Opem-house closed on the 22d 
June^ for two months, with Robert le JHable. The fol- 
lowing statistical items are famished by Ferdinand 
Gumbert^ the critic of the Neue Berliner Musik- 
zeUung : — 

From the l5th August, 1879, to the 22d June, 1880, 
there were 236 operatic performances of SO works by 



28 composers. The novelties were Die KSnigin von 
Saba by Goldmarck; Der Rattenf&nger von Jlameln, 
by Nessler; and Carmen, by Bizet. Die Konigin von 
Saba scored 16 performances; Lohengrin, Tanrihdvser, 
and Carmen, 12 each; Czar und Zimmermann, 11; 
Fidelio and Les Huguenots, 9 each; Die lustigen 
Weiber von Windsor, Der Freischutz, and Der Rat- 
tenfSnger, 8 each; Don Juan and Le Lac des F^es, 7 
each; La Muette de Portici, Le Prophete, L'A/ri- 
caine, and Die ZauberfiSte, 6 each; Derfliegende Hoi- 
Hinder, Hans Heiling, Das goldene Krevz. II Trova- 
tore, Le Nozze di Figaro, La FUle du Regiment, and 
Robert le Liable, 5 each; Rienzi, Die Maccabaer, La 
Traviata, Le Domino Noir, and Fra Diavolo, 4 each ; 
Das FeUUager in Schlesien, Genoveva, and Die Meis- 
tersinger, 3 each ; Alda, Lucia, Hamlet, Faust, Fera- 
mors, Armin. Rom6o et Juliette. Oberon, Olympia, 
and Martha, 2 each; Templer una Jiidin, Earyanthc, 
Iphigenia in Tauris, Jessonda, La Juive, Armida, 
La Dame Blanche, Joseoh en Egypte, and II Bar- 
biere, i each. Richard Wagner claimed 36 perform- 
ances with 5 works; Meyerbeer, 29 with 5; Auber, 21 
with 4 ; Mozart, 17 with 3; Goldmaick, 16 with 1; 
Bizet, 12 with 1 ; Lortzing, 11 with 1 ; Weber and Verdi, 
each 11 with 3; Beethuveu, 9 with 1; Nesisler and 
Nicolai, each 8 with 1; Donizetti, 7 with 2; Marschue- 
and Hubin8tein,'each 6 with 2; Briill, 5 with 1 ; Gounod, 
4 with 2 ; Schumann, 3 with 1 ; Gluck, 2 with 2; Sponr 
tini, Hoffmann, Flotow, HaMvv, and Thomas*, each 2 
witli 1; Spohr, Meliul, Rossini, and Boieldieu, each 1 
with 1. 

Uerr Kahl, hitherto chorus-master at the Royal Opera- 
house, has been appointed conductor. The appoint- 
ment has been received with general satismction. 
There are two conductors at the Royal Opera-house. 
The other is Herr Radecke. 



Lkipzio. Active preparations are making at the 
theatre here for bringing out, during the coming win- 
ter, the whole series of Gluck' s French operas, as well 
as the operas of Weber. Independently of these great 
enterprises, several operas will be performed for the 
first time; viz., Lancelot, composed by Uentschel, 
Ivein, by Klughardt, and Agnes Bernauerin, by Mottl. 

Brussels. The representation of Belgian works, at 
the TbeAtre de Ui Monnaie, during the fetes of Inde- 
pendence, began with Gretry's Richard Cutur de Lion, 
which was finely interpreted and produced a consider- 
able effect. M. Soulacroiz, in the part of Blondel, and 
M. Rodier, in that of Richard, distinguished them- 
selves particularly. In the third act was interpolated 
a ballet, composed of dances borrowed from other 
scores of Gretry. 

ViKNNA has raised a monument, at the Grinzing 
cemetery, to Ambros, the celebrated historian of music, 
and writer of those delightful papers collected in two 
volumes under the title, "Bunte Blatter," several of 
which we translated a few years since in this Journal. 

London. The progranmae of the last week of the 
season (July 12-17) at Covent Garden Theatre offered: 
EsteUa, by Jules Cohen, with Patti, Nicolini and 
Cotogni; / Puritani, with Albani, Gayarr^ and Gra- 
ziani; Lucia, with Mme. Sembrich; Semiramide, with 
Paul, Scalchi and Gailhard (PaUi's benefit); the first 
two acts of Mignon, and the grand scena of Norma, 
for Albani' s benefit, with Mmes. Scalchi and Valleria, 
and Messrs. Engel and Vidal; and La Traviata, with 
Patti, Nicolini and Grazianl. 

The event of the London season was the long 

expected Mefistofele of Arrigo Boito, poet and com- 
poser in one, at Her Majesty's Theatre, July 6. The 
Graphic says of it: 

"The cast of the dramatis personts was In moat re- 
spects all that could be desired, even by Sig. Boito 
himself — who can hardly have witnessed so consum- 
mately natural and, at the same time, artistic embodi- 
ment, in one and the same person, of the Gretchen and 
Helen of his own conception, as that of Mme. Chris- 
ti|ie Kilsson. Withoot entering into details, for which 
space is wanting, we may briefly say that the now uni- 
versally accepted 'Swedish Nightingale,' by this her 
latest assumption, han added fresh laurels to a brow 
already overcharged. Her Margaret was the Margaret 
of Goethe and Boito (not the Ary-Schefferued Mar- 
garet of Gounod and his two librettists); her Helen 
was the very type of antique grace and beauty ; so that 
we had before us, first the ' romantic.' then the 
' Grecian ' ideal, which at the end seemed fused and 
moulded into one. Signor Campanmi was the Faust 
we all know so weU — in one piit as in the other the 
same marked individuality. Mme. Trebelli was the 
Martha of the first, and the ' Pautalis ' of the second 

SArt — in both, it is needless to add excellent; and 
ignor Grassi 'doubled' the characters of Wagner 
and Nereus. The Mephifirtopheles of Signor Nazmetti 
(who, with Bignor Campauini, first appeared in the 
opera of Signor Boito at Bologna) is in every respect a 
notable performance — open, however, to criticittm as 
it is to praise. With such a combination it is not sur- 
prising that all the vocal music should fare well. The 
orchestra was throughout what might have been ex- 
pected from such a body of executants, in a work so 
new and Strang as to excite all their interest and rivet 
all their attention." 



The plot of the opera is thus described in Figaro : 
"The opera opens with the ^Prologue in Haaven.' 
consisting of a dialoa[ue between an unseen chorus and 
Mefistofele, in whicn the demon derides the inhabi- 
tants of earth, and lays a wager with the angels that 
he will entrap Faust. At the end of the prologue a 
chorus of i)enitents arises, and the scene ends with an 
eight-part chorus, in which tlie two choirs are united. 
The first act proper opens with the ' Kermesse ' scene, 
the people holiday-making, and the Elector and his 
cavalcade passing at the back of the stage. The choir 
of holiday-makers have a walt2, but Faust is troubled 
at the approach of a certain gray friar, whom the leit- 
motif in ^6 prologue proclaims to be Mefistofele. 
From this scene in the same act we are carried to 
Faust's cell, and the philosopher is seen studying the 
Scriptures. He is startled by the appearance oi the 
gray friar, who, quickly throwing off his gown, is dis- 
covered as a gallant. He sin^s a diabolic aria, in which 
he proclaims himself the Power of Darkness, and 
Faust, by a shake of the hand, sealn with him the con- 
tract by which the devil is to be Faivt's servant on 
earth, ne becoming Satan's slave in hell. As Mefis- 
tofele is about to carry off the philosopher in his cloak 
the curtain falls. The warden scene, which opens the 
next act, is very curiously treated, certain fragmentary 
duologes, in wnich the various leitmotifs figure, serv- 
ing to disclose the love passages between Faust and 
Margaret and Mefistofele and Martha. At last Faust 
gives Margaret the potion, and the scene is changed to 
the Brocken. Here the wildest and most powerful 
music of Signor Boito is c^ven. Mefistofele carries 
Faust to the summit of the neights, and. amidst a dia- 
bolical chorus of witches, he seats himself on hia rocky 
throne, breaking the ball of pasteboard, in type of the 
destruction of eartk The diabolical cborus is renewed 
with even greater fury, and amidst a scene of general 
excitement the act ends. The third act is the death 
scene of Margaret. Alone, lyin^ on a straw pallet, 
and bereft of sen.«es, she awaits the coming of the exe- 
cutioner who is to award mundane pnniahment for the 
death of her babe and the alleged murder, by the po- 
tion, of her mother. « Tempted to escape by both Faust 
and Mefistofele, she resists, and after tender love pas- 
sages, at the break of day, when, the devil becoming 
more importuiMte as he finds his power escaping, she 
dies. Mefistofele shouts ' She is damned,' but the 
choir of angels retort * She Is saved,* and as the exe- 
cutioner with his escort arrives Faust and the devil 
disappear. In the next act we are carried to the shore 
of tne Peueus, and, amidj<t scenes of Uurel and Doric 
temples and flowers, Helen of Troy with Pantalls 
sits on her jewelled throne, with Faust reclining on a 
mossy bank at her feet. The duet between Helen and 
Pantalis is one of the most beautiful numbers of the 
opera, and after a stately Greek dance of sirens it is 
succeeded by a love scene between Helen and Faust, 
the latter atttred (for what reason does not appear) in 
all the panoply of a fifteenth century cavalier. As 
Helen and taiist embrace, the act closes. The epi- 
logue, between which and the succeeding acts much 
has happened, takes place in the laboratory of Faust, 
the philosopher reading the Scriptures and Mefistofele 
looking over his shoulder. In vain the devil tempts 
him by lust of gain, of.safetv, and of fle^b. Uhe 
trumpets of Heaven and the Celestial Choir are heard. 
Faust, sorely tried, seizes Holy Writ, and as he dies 
angels shower roses on his boliy, Menstofele sinks to 
earth, and the Celestial Choir p'roclaims the sinner is 
clouded with the odorous roses of salvation." 

Of the musical merits of the work and its- interpre- 
tation, the same authority continues : 

"That Signor Boito has been uniformly happv in hia 
musiod treatment of this great subject cannot be said. 
The opera was written when tiie composer was but 
twenty-seven — that is to say, at an age when ^pneat 
ideas are usuaUy followed by slender f raition. Signor 
Boito had obviously heard or read Wagner's works, 
and he adopts from them the leitnwtif and, to a cer- 
tain extent, independence of orchestration. WiUi 
these are allied tne Italian love of pure unfettered 
melody, and so far as its groimd plan is concerned, 
* Mefistofele' far more resembles Meyerbeer than 
Wagner. It is in the fantastic portions of the work 
that he has succeeded best, and although ' Mefiatofele' 
is indisputably the finest work which has emanated 
from modem Italy, the power and the weakness the 
composer has alike displayed show that he is capable 
of far better thiun. Signor Boito was fortunate in 
his interpreters. No finer nor more artistic exponent 
of Mqfisto/ele, on whom the burthen of the work rests, 
could well be desired than Signor Kannetti. A good 
singer with an admirable voice, and a powerful actor, 
the laurels of the opera indisputably fell to the artist 
who performed the title-role. A Faust more certain 
in his intonation and less superabundant in energv 
than Signur Campanini (who, with Signor Nannetti, 
was concerned in the revival at Bolo^pa) would have 
been desirable ; but Madame Christme Nilsson, the 
successor of Madame Borghi Mamo, looked charming 
alike in the simple dr^w of Margaret and the not too 
classic robes of Helen of Troy ; and Madame Trebelli 
as Martha and Pantalis did the little she had to do In 
the spirit of a true artist. The opera is splendidly 
mouuted, and the stage management, particularly in 
the scene on the Brocken, was unusuallv effective. 
Signor Arditi, although he, like Herr Kicnter, could 
not induce the worn-out chorus of Her Majesty's Thea- 
tre to sing in tune, conducted admirably, and the pro- 
duction of 'Mefistofele' was a marked success. The 
fraud season ends to-night, but the extra season will 
e prolonged while 'Mefistofele ' runs, at any rate." 



AcotTsT 14, IdSO.] 



DWIGHT'S JOUnNAL OF MtTSIC. 



129 



BOSTON, AUGUST 14, 1880. 

Entered at the Poet Offloe at Boeton as seoond-olaM matter. 

AU the artieUt not endited to other publicationt were ex- 
prtesly wrUtenfor this Journal, 

PublUhed fortnightly by HouoHTOir, Miffliv ft Co., 
Bo9ton, Miu$, Frice, io cents a number; fg.jo per year. 

For aaU in Bo$ton by Cakl Pbukfkk, jo West Street, A. 
Williams ft Co., gSj Wcuhixigton Street, A. K. Loriko, 
J69 Wiuhington Street, and by the Publishers ; in Ntu) York 
by A. Brentano, Jr., jq Union Square, and Houohton, 
HiFFUX ft Co., ai Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BOKKR ft Co., ri02 Chestnut Street ; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, jn State Street. 

DIALOGUE 

BBTWBBK AN SVQUIRIMO YOUVO MUSICIAN AKD A 
DOCTOR OF THB ADVANCKD SCHOOL. 

Y*cxG Mus. God saye thee, master. QIto me speech of 
thee. 

Doctor. Hare vith thee, sir. Mine ear is bent thy way. 

YovKO Mus. Doctor, most learned in the subtleties 
Of music's mysteries, I pray thee aid 
A youth who but commences his career, 
And fain would learn to be as great as thou I 

Doctor. What 1 can tell thee shall be told at once. 
Far be it from me to deny the hand 
Of welcome and good fellowship to one 
Who comes with simple faith to learn of me. 
Now that the glorious light of modem thought 
Hap dawned for music as for other things, 
Tour path seems plain. £schew decayed old creeds ; 
Heed not the dotards who would have you keep 
An old-world style ; throw antiquated forms 
To the four winds. We for Sonatas read 
Rhapsodies, and for Symphonies, Tone-poems, 
Unmarred by idle tunes in order ranged, 
Or page on page of loathsome prettlness. 

YOUNO Hvs. Is music then not made of melody? 

Doctor. By no mesns, sir. For sll our best effects 
Are gained with what uneducated ears 
Would take for discords, in a strange array 
Made up of accidental sharps and flats. 
And double sharps snd flat* which cannot be 
Comprised within the diatonic scale. 
A few strange octaves in the inner parts 
(Sounded on some unwonted instruments), 
Provided they but be consecutive, 
Are seldom out of place. Ihen some throw in 
A dash of fifths for seasoning, and mind, 
Thou may'st not quarrel with an unresolved 
Seventh or ninth ; for it has doubtless been 
As unprepared as it is unresolved ; 
And so by Nature's equipoise {nihU 
Ex nihi/ojlt) that or any chord 
Which prudes deem doubtful, but which we admire, 
Passes along unquestioned if unloved, 
Back to the limbo whence it first emerged : 
Its very weirdness makes it exquisite, 
And fills with peace all true musiciaMOuls ! 

[Smiles u>ith ecstcuy, and, closing his eyes, is /or some mo- 
ments lost in thought. 

Youira Mub. Have I your leave to prosecute my art? 

Doctor. Do so, my son. But of all things beware 
Of too much tune. Full many have there been 
Who, like thyself, have sought to soar and sing 
Of Time and of Eternity, whose fault 
Was that they fancied themselves larks, whereas 
Twittering sparrows they were mostly like, 
And, snapping beaks in childish crudity, 
Unlike the lark who has somewhat to sing, 
Gave to the world what theTworld wanted not. 
Or had been given better long before. 
Youiro Mub. Alas ! meseems I had beet hold my peace. 
For ever I a sparrow must remain 
Compared with larks like Beethoven. 

Doctor. Stop there t 

Precisely now we touch the very point, 
Which I ^d others of the Grand New School 
Labor to demonstrate. Thou sayest well 
That, Judged by Beethoven's, thy precious airs 
Seem rather less than feeble. 

Youjro Mub. Pardon me. 

I never said so, though may be *tis so. 

Doctor. No doubt *tis so. Yet is there hope for thee. 
No woman yet looked ugly in the dark I 
Ah I how beeoming is a bridal veil I 
A ruin Is most picturesque o* nights I 
What we see least of we admire the most I 
So with thy melodies. Let listeners have 
So little of them that they long for more : 
'Tis wonderful how even oommonplaee 
And unoriginal airs, if quaintly garbed. 
And nieely broken^ff in nick of time, 
Just as the attention of the swinish crew 
Begins to be ooneentred, charm the ear 
Of true musicians qualified to Judge. 
Believe me, chUd, these last will gladly bear 
IniUctions of a really cruel kind, 
So thou but wand*rest through sufllclent keys, 
And bear'st in mind the golden rules of sound, 
— Suspension's strain, delicious dissonance, 
VagiienesB aikd wailing, * vUderlng wonderment, — 



These, with the octaves and aforesaid fifths. 
And unexpected enharmonic change. 
Will gain thee hearing amongst men like US, 
And stamp thee as a SYMPATHETIC SOUL I 

YouKO Mus. Ah Sir, thou meanest this : that I must 
hide 
Myself as much as may be in a guise 
Of cumbrous and extrsneous mannerism, 
Must start in horror from simplicity. 
And clothe my meanness in pretentious rags ! 

Doctor. {Delighted. ) Heyday, heyday I not badly put. 
I shall 
Be able to make somewhat of thee yet I 

" London Musical World. Prrcy Rrrts. 



THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S "FAUST." 



BY APOLPHB JULLIEN.' 



Vn. THE " FAUST " OF GOUNOD. 

This last Faust is first of all an opera ; it 
cannot therefore, with the exception of some 
few pieces, he compared to the romantic 
legend of Berlioz, nor to the musical poem of 
Schumann. Being an opera, the work of M. 
Gounod had above all to satisfy the exigencies 
of the stage. Thus the authors have pre- 
served the principal personages, and the most 
dramatic situations of the German drama, 
leaving aside what seemed to them unljrical, 
notably the whole of the iantastical part, in- 
cluding the Walpurgis night 

Musical history has singular turns. A work 
which for a long time has a great popularity 
suddenly finds itself replaced in public favor 
by a work more young in inspiration and in 
structure. So it was with the Faust of Spohr. 
The French opera was not slow to unite all 
suffrages and make the German opera for- 
gotten, even in Germany. The fact is, M. 
Gounod's Fav$t is above all a work of the 
epoch, which responds to the musical tastes 
and to the aspirations of the middle of our 
century. For long years Spohr's Faust had 
the same success. Who knows if time, that 
supreme judge of works of art and literature, 
will not rob the French Faust of the whole 
or part of this favor, ever so little mundane 
though it be ? 

Do not mistake our meaning ; we have no 
idea of depreciating a work which we regard 
as one of the best lyrical products that have 
appeared in France for a long time ; but, for 
the very reason that we so estimate it, we 
would fain express our thought precisely, al- 
though it run counter to the general opinion. 
In spite of his respect for the situation and 
the characters, M. Gounod does not seem to 
us, except in certain instants, to have rendered 
the interior sense of the German legend. 
Above all he fails to convey the simplicity, 
the naive candor, which breathe through the 
slightest words of Marguerite or of Faust, 
that learned doctor whose science, painfully 
acquired, flies away at the breath of youth, 
at the spectacle of nature. This music so 
minutely polished, so curiously refined, so 
classical — although it affects certain timid 
audacities which the author would be glad to 
have pass for bold strokes, — seems to be a 
skillfully managed compromise between the 
French, the German, and even the Italian 
school. This manner of proceeding offered 
great chances of success, but it exposes the 
work to the risk of being more severely 

> We translate from "Qoethe et la Mueigue: See Jw^ 
ments, son Injhtenee, Les Otuvres gu*U a inspirUs" rur 
Adolprb Julubm, Paris, 1S80. — £i>. 



judged by posterity ; every fashion i^igns but 
once. 

Sometimes too, the author takes too much 
liberty with the original poem. Certainly the 
choral of the swords is a large and powerful 
page, but why suppress the couplets of 
Brander? What false modesty could have 
counselled the librettists to modify the famous 
song of the Flea ? The composer, as it seems 
to us, could only have gained inspiration from 
the very words of the poet. Moreover it is 
very curious to remark how much the com- 
poser raises him in proportion as he ap- 
proaches the original drama. The opening, 
the soliloquy of the doctor who has resolved 
to die, and the end, the act in the prison, 
where are combined passionate love, religious 
enthusiasm and satanic rage, are felicitous 
pieces. The scene of the duel is poorly 
treated, and the musician has tried to get 
away from Berlioz by giving to the devil's 
serenade a less intoxicating, but more mock- 
ing color : he has not succeeded. The song 
of the King of Thule (setting aside the 
interjections of Marguerite, of which there 
is no trace in the monologue of Goethe) is a 
delicate inspiration ; the scerie even of Mar- 
guerite at the wheel, — without having the 
value of Schubert's melody, which is a master- 
piece, — is full of fire and anxious fervor. 
Finally, the aria of Faust: ^* Salve, dimora 
casta e pura," though inferior to the melody 
of Berlioz, breathes the calnmess and the 
peace of the virginal sanctuary. 

Turning to the impassioned part of the 
drama, we meet in the French opera two capital 
pages ; the scene of the garden, and the great 
love duet. M. Grounod, in his love scene, 
which begins with an exquisite phrase: 
*'Dammi ancor contemplar il tuo viso," 
restores the delicious episode of the star 
fiower, which he had cut out from the preced- 
ing scene. Here, and in the exclamation of 
Faust: "He loves thee! Dost comprehend 
the meaning of that? He loves thee! " the 
musician has remained below his model ; but 
he quickly repairs this moment of oblivion 
by two ravishing pages, the Andante, '^O 
night of love ! " and Marguerite's invocation 
to the stars. The quartet in the garden is 
also a beautiful piece of dramatic music. M. 
Gounod has combined here the- two episodes : 
TTie house of the neighbor^ and the Garden of 
Martha. Schumann has painted but a comer 
of the picture, and yet the French composer, 
whatever his merit, is vanquished by the 
German master writing from inspiration a 
melody of incomparable expression ; one has 
made a work of talent, of great talent, the 
other has made a work of genius. 

Let M. Gounod approach his model once 
more, a^d he will write two very superior 
pages. We speak of the death of Valentine 
and of the scene in the church. Here the 
author follows step by step the German text 
At this contact, his melody rises, his concep- 
tion becomes more large. The imprecations 
of Valentine, the stupor of the crowd, the 
bewilderment of Marguerite, all, even to the 
closing chorus of the act, so terrible and so 
true in its brevity, all happily renders here 
the color of the original scene. And one 



130 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1026. 



may say as much of the scene of the Cathe- 
dral. To be sure, the picture of the French 
musician is not so terribly grand as that of 
Schumann ; but, such as it is, it merits regard. 
These are two effective scenes, but with this 
difference, that the German composer reaches 
a much grander effect by simpler means. 

We know not what the future has in re- 
serve for the capital work of the French 
musician ; but if several pages run the risk of 
becoming less esteemed hereafter, it is those 
very ones which, we believe, are too much 
admired to-day. Whatever may be said or 
done, the time is near when we shall demand 
of the composer, before all, a music in exact 
accordance with the realities of life, — not 
our life, but that of his characters. All that 
is merely conventional will disappear. And 
this will happen by the very force of things, 
l)y the reiterated attempts of musicians, whose 
strokes of boldness will perhaps be condemned, 
only to be afterwards admired. And for the 
rest, what composer of genius has not inno- 
vated in his day ? Is it Gluck ? is it Spontini ? 
Is it Weber? Rossini? Wagner? M. Gou- 
nod's mistake was in not daring enough. 
Half-boldness never succeeds, in music, nor in 
anything else. Attacking a subject of this 
grandeur, he should not have recoiled before 
any audacity, although it would make the 
critics and the world cry out. 

And after all, has not the transportation of 
Faust to the opera begun to realize what we 
have said ? The pieces, the scenes which 
were the most admired still appear charm- 
ing, but we think that we discover under 
these chords something of trickery and senti- 
mentalism; the fine harmonies of the musi- 
cian, his favorite cadences, begin to seem 
a little finical. En revanche^ the finale of 
the prison produces a greater effect than it 
did formerly ; the maledictions of the expir- 
ing Valentine, and the fine scene of the 
Cathedral which used to be heard with dis- 
tracted ears, now send a thrill of terror 
through the surprised and troubled audience. 
These are the scenes in which, in our opinion, 
the author has the most closely approached 
his redoubtable model. Here it is that he 
has best surrendered himself to the inspira- 
tions of his rich artist nature, and has most 
forgotten the rules and exigencies of fashion. 
And it is here that he has composed the best 
pages of dramatic music that it was ever 
given him to write. 

(GoncluBlon in next number.) 



BACH AND HIS MUSIC. 
On the twenty-eighth of July, one thousand 
seven hundred and fifty — one hundred and 
thirty years ago — died John Sebastian Bach, 
as Cantor of the Thomas Schule in Leipzig. 
It is said that when Frederick the Great had 
heard Bach extemporize a fugue in six real 
parts, he exclaimed, ** There is only one 
Bach ! " A hundred and thirty years have 
elapsed since the great composer died, and 
those years have given to the world the 
works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, 
and Mendelssohn; yet, after taking a wide 
out-look upon the treasures which those 
honored names cover, we turn to the astound- 



ing compositions of him of Leipzig, and 
exclaim with Frederick — "There's only one 
Bach!" .The humble Cantor is alone: he 
occupies a place which is unique in the history 
of music. 

1l0 collate his works, and estimate them at 
their true value, is in these days happily 
unnecessary. His very name is to-day the 
synonym of whatever is learned, great, noble 
and majestic in music. His masses and other 
vocal works are masterpieces of contrapuntal 
skill; his organ works are the treasure of 
every competent player; his preludes and 
fugues (the " Forty-Eight "), are a deathless 
monument of his inimitable power in com- 
bining science and art. Before this last 
magnificent work we fall in rapt admiration 
and mute astonishment. If Bach had written 
nothing else than the forty-eight Preludes 
and Fugues, the world would owe him un- 
bounded thanks for that sublime work alone. 
Well might Mr. Hullah say that it is not 
conceivable that a time should ever arrive in 
the history of the race when the human mind 
shall grow weary of the " Forty-eight ! " They 
are as bright and as fresh now as when they 
were published nearly a century and a hall 
ago, and as long as music gives pleasure to 
the mind and solace to the soul, these precious 
gems will remain as pure and as beautiful as 
they are to-day. They are to music what 
the cathedrals are to architecture, and the 
works of the old Italian painters are to paint- 
ing ; they are the classic models of antiquity ; 
and to lose them irretrievably would be like 
burning the Vatican or destroying the British 
Museum by an earthquake. 

The works of Bach are wonderful if only 
for their feeding and sustaining power. They 
act upon the mind of a musician like whole- 
some food and pure, fresh air upon his body. 
They invigorate, strengthen and stimulate. 
To play them or to hear them played is a 
treat of no ordinary kind, and when the soul 
becomes weary of modern romanticism and 
sickly sentimentalism, it goes down to the 
edge of that great sea, feels the bracing 
breeze, hears the rolling of that mighty tide, 
and is restored almost as by the touch of 
Omnipotence. These preludes and fugues 
seem fit food for natures of all kinds. Chopin, 
when he had to appear in public, did not 
practice his own pieces, but had a fortnight 
of Badi. Mendelssohn knew the forty-eight 
by heart; Beethoven knew them; all the 
great masters knew them, and all profited by 
them. To open the forty-eight at all offers 
a tempting field of inquiry ; to analyze them 
would be a labor of love. We need only 
point to a few of them to show what we 
mean when we speak of their feeding and 
sustaining power. Could anything surpass 
the first C-major prelude for sweetness (not 
played at Herr Pauer's pace — that is much 
too fast) or the second in the same key for 
marvellous dignity and mighty moving power ? 
Or the F-minor prelude and fugue (No 12 
second set) for plaintive touching tenderness? 
Or the first B-flat prelude for an irresistible 
rush of music? Who are the people, and 
what can thev be made of, who have studied 
the " Forty-eight," and ever found them to | 



tire? When we are weary of the Maudles 
and the Postlethwaites of maundering medioc- 
rity we turn to Hamlet, read " In Memoriam," 
go to the National Gallery, or sit down and play 
some of these preludes and fugues ; and the 
jaded soul lives again under the magic touch 
of genius. It would be utterly impossible to 
estimate the influence which the immortal 
** Forty-eight " have exercised on music dur- 
ing the last hundred and thirty years ; and if we 
add to this the effect which Bach's other 
works have had, we shall realize, to some 
extent, the debt of gratitude which musicians 
owe to the great Cantor. If one hundred and 
thirty years have only tended to establish his 
fame more and more firmly, we may be sure 
that coming years will not dim the brightness 
of his glory, or lessen the veneration in which 
he b held to-day. — Lond, Mus, Standard. 



THE LYRICAL DRAMA. 



BT 0. A. MACFARREir, ESQ., M.A., 
Mus. Doe. Ccntab., Prof. Mus. C&ntab. 



(Continuod from p. 125.) 

Another composer, who was also a cultivated 
musician, and who had already gained great 
celebrity by hi.s composition of madrigals, but 
greater celebrity by his introduction of some im- 
portant new principles in musical theory, was 
Claudio Monteverde, a man of the highest note in 
the history of art, as having been the first person 
who felt the natural basis of music as distin- 
guished from the artificial rules, which up to the 
time of Ills appearance on the scene of history 
had always prevailed. He it was who first em- 
ployed what must be called the natural discords 
— those discords, namely, which, consisting of 
the notes of the harmonic series, are naturally 
produced, as distinct from those other discords 
which can only be satisfactorily heard when their 
harshness is mitigated by the formula of prepar- 
ation. These let us call artificial discords ; those 
which Monteverde originated, natural discords. 
And modern music may be said to date from his 
first use of the chords in question, the best known 
of which and the most used is that ever-ready 
chord of the dominant seventh ; and when once 
the principle of its use was understood an en- 
tirely new field was open in the range of the 
composer's art, and all time since has been most 
valuably, most beautifully engaged in the cultivat- 
ing of this field. And how great, how noble, is 
the iiarvest it has yielded ! Must we not feel 
that the mind of the artist is the virgin-mother, 
from which proceeds the divine child, that, pass- 
ing through the world, bears its burden of beauty, 
and this is scattered freely among those whofee 
hearts of faith enable them to receive and per- 
ceive the bounty that is offered them ? 

Monteverde composed first an opera called 
AriannOf of which but a small fragment remains. 
This was in 1607. It had a very great success, 
in consequence of which, and by its encourage- 
ment, he wrote in the following year an opera 
which has been preserved entire, having been 
contemporaneously printed, Orfeo, The work is 
highly remarkable in the fact that it employs a 
very large number of instruments, that it not 
only aims to declaim the words and portray the 
dramatic situations, but to characterize each indi- 
viduality of the action, and distinguish Orpheus 
from Eurydice, both of them from Pluto, and 
every other person in the drama ; and it b remark- 
able as giving us the oldest e\tant attempt at 
what we now call an overture — an instrumental 
prelude. A most remarkable piece is this said 
prelude, comprising nine long bars directed to be 



August 14, 1880,] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



131 



played through thrice, and entirely consisting of 
the one chord of C from the commencement to 
the end. This would seem an extrayagance, but 
there is a composition which but a few years ago 
was first publicly performed, and which has 
drawn the attention of many musical CFitics and 
the admiration of some, that has for overture 
what amounts to five pages of pianoforte arrange- 
ment, and consisting wholly and exclusively of 
one chord of £ fiat, which is mostly dispersed over 
the melodic figure that is employed conspicuously 
in Mendelssohn's overture to The Beautiful Mel- 
usine. I was once present when an admirer 
spoke of this composition as sublime, and a by- 
stander said he thought it went a step beyond. 
However, this is by the way. It is only to show 
that Monteverde, in his originating the overture, 
in his having a large orchestra, in his intermix- 
ture of chorus and solos, in his giving substantial 
characterization to each person in his story, indi- 
cated, although not in those early days fulfilled, 
but indicated all that dramatic art can fulfil in 
music. 

Shortly after the time of Monteverde, appeared 
a Venetian of great merit, whose name is famil- 
iar as Cavalli ; but this is an abbreviation or a 
pet name given by the world, and is not his real 
patronymic. He had very great success in Ven- 
ice, and seemingly from very great desert ; and 
so great was his success there, that he went to 
Paris after a time, to reproduce some of hit 
works. 

Having named Paris, we now come to a very im- 
portant phase in tlie history of the musical drama. 
We have to speak of Giovanni Battista LuUi, a 
born Florentine, who went to Paris as a page tc 
a princess when thirteen years old ; who, because 
of his ugly face and awkward manner, wa^ 
thought unfit for the position to which he wat 
called. He was driven into the kitchen to act as 
scullion, but so greatly entertained his fellow-ser- 
vants by his performance on the violin, that hi? 
fame for musicianship rose upstairs; and here 
really may be felt to have been an illustration, or 
an anticipation, of true *' high life below stairs," 
since, with Lulli in the kitchen, there was a 
higher art than was to be found in the KingV 
chambers. Lulli was called to take part in the 
music of Louis XIV., and such excellent part did 
he take that a separate band of twenty-four vio- 
lins, which I suppose must have included the bass- 
viol as a branch of the violin family, was ap- 
pointed for him to direct, for him to teach, and 
for him to write for. One result of this was that 
when Charles II. returned to his throne in Ens- 
land, after his sojourn in the Court of Louis 
XIV., he set up also his royal band of musicians, 
also consisting of twenty-four, with John Banister 
as its leader ; and from that may doubtless have 
come down to us the nursery lines of " Foiir-and- 
twenty fiddlers all in a row." Now before the 
King it was very frequent to have performances 
of ballets. There had been in the latter part of 
the sixteenth century ballets interspersed with 
choruses performed before the Court, and Lulli 
was engaged to compose the music for a continu- 
ation of this line of dancin*; dramas. 

It is worth while to rest here a moment on the 
somewhat remarkable fact that whereas France 
is regarded as the centre of taste — fashions are 
drawn from France, and our standard of likes 
and dislikes is placed in the French capital — the 
French themselves have in a remarkable degree 
referred to Italy for their music. Thus, the 
origination of the French opera springs from 
those ballets for which Lulli composed the music 
— Lulli, an Italian. Previous to that, Cardinal 
Mazarini, whose name was abbreviated and is 
more frequently pronounced in its French form, 
had introduced some Italian operas in France ; 
uul long Bobsequeatly Piccim was Invited -to 



Paris to compose operas, and to stand at the head 
of the most important and significant controversy 
on the merits of the musicianship of two nations, 
and to arbitrate the taste of the Parisians. There 
was then founded the Paris Conservatoire, of 
which Pacr, an Italian, was the first principal, 
and Cherubini succeeded to him. Thus, howfever 
great power the French have had in spreading 
their principles of taste, they have been modest 
enough to derive these from whatever good 
sources they could draw them. The ballets of 
Lulli were presently extended. Some operas by 
Cavalli were .performed by the French Court, 
and Lulli composed dances for insertion in them. 
Then was given to another composer, Cambert, 
and to a librettist, Perrin, a patent for the per- 
formance of operas in the Institution then called 
the Acad^mie Royale. The King, after two 
years, withdrew the patent and gave it to his 
favorite Lulli, who was so great a favorite, indeed, 
that he was not intrusted alone with musical 
affairs, but he was appointed private secretary 
to the King, and held other functions of great 
importance. Now because the French opera 
arose from ballet, it has never been entirely ex- 
empted from it ; and there will be presently occa- 
sion to show how imperative became in the con- 
stitution of French grand opera the mixture, or 
intermixture, of singing and dancing. Lulli's 
operas consisted of music throughout, ^ither vocal 
or instrumental. 

A great light in Italy, Alessandro Scarlatti, in 
1680, produced at Rome his first opera, and this 
is said to have been followed by 108 others; a 
stupendous number in sound. But it is to be 
borne in mind that the operas of that day were 
neither of the length nor of the elaborate struc- 
ture of those of later time. There may be dated 
from this period the two-fold school of the French 
and the Italian opera, with Lulli, the Italian, at 
the head of the French school, and Scarlatti, the 
Neapolitan, at the head of the Italian school. 
But the rest of the world was not entirely inact- 
ive in operatic composition up to this time. We 
fi^d in 1625 a translation of one of Rinuccini*s 
lyrical dramas, Dafhe, set to music by Heinrich 
Schiitz, in Germany, but it appears to have been 
a solitary work. About the same period Nicolo 
Laniere, an Italian, settled in England, and wrote 
music to a masque by Ben Jonson, which music 
comprised the entire of the text. This masque, 
however, like those first Italian attempts, was not 
aimed at public performance, but was privately 
represented in the Court of Charles I., by persons 
of the highest social condition. 

Very much to do with th^ growth of this de- 
clamatory style of music must be considered the 
cantata, of which Carissimi, in the first instance, 
produced many remarkable specimens. The can- 
tata was at fil'st a term applied to compositions 
for a single voice, which had an intermixture of 
recitative — that is, musical declamation — with 
rhythmical melody. After Carissimi, Stradella, 
Francesco Rossi, and others obtained great dis- 
tinction in the composition of cantatas. The 
word has now come to have a different applica- 
tion, but such was its original meaning. These 
declaimed pieces were always of a dramatic char- 
acter, although they were monologues. There 
are in the spoken drama instances of pieces that 
are entirely monologue ; and there was, in the 
latter part of the last century, a fashion in Ger- 
many for such monologues interspersed with music 
that aimed to illustrate the passions set forth in 
the text, and this music would either separate the 
sentences after the manner of interludes, in what 
we call accompanied recitative, or sometimes very 
softly accompany the spoken declamation. These 
monologues would not bear the name of cantata, 
which, of course, signifies " sung," but they are 
the spokeo analogy to the c^tat^ of- $tradall% 



Carissimi, Durante, and persons of that class. 

Let us now turn to the opera in England. It 
is a remarkable and an important fact that the 
first opera in England was represented in the time 
of the Commonwealth, in 1656, by the express 
license of Cromwell granted to Sir William Dave- 
nan t, for performance in Rutland House, Alders- 
gate, of an opera in five acts, called the Siege of 
Rhodes, The libretto of this is extant, but, un- 
luckily, none of the music The title-page states 
that each act was set to music by a separate com- 
poser, and this opera was throughout, from first 
to last, entirely sung. Besides that this was the 
first English opera, there is another remarkable 
circumstance connected with it, that in the princi- 
pal character, lanthe, the first female performer 
that ever was heard upon the English stage sus- 
tained a part — Mrs. Coleman, the wife of Dr. 
Coleman, who composed the music of one of the 
acts. Thus, from the Puritan time in England 
dates the opening of the English opera, and that 
very important introduction into musical perform- 
ances, the beautiful sound of the female voice. 

Directly after this appears Purcell on the scene. 
In his youth — nay, his youth was all his life; 
he died young, but he was in freshest blossom 
throughout his entire career — but in his earliest 
days he wrote an opera. Dido and ^neas, which 
was on the Italian and French model, beins: en- 
tirely sung throughout. Later he wrote for the 
public theatre (Dido and jEneas having been com- 
posed for a private school), and then the so-called 
operas were spoken dramas interspersed with 
music. In this fact I chink there is much to be re- 
gretted for the art, since, whenever there is in the 
scanty materials afforded him any opportunity for 
dramatic painting, for personal characterization, 
or for illustration of the scene, he grasps this with 
a master-hand that might well have maui])u]ated 
the materials of an after a^e. He was cloj^elv 
hampered by principles enunciated by the chief 
dramatic poet of the time, Dryden, who alleged 
that on the stage the use of music should be limited 
either to mythological beings or to supernatural 
agencies; and thus, in the so-called ojieras of 
Purcell, either enchanters, or spirits, or gods, or 
goddesses, or as a great stretch of the supernat- 
ural, mad men and women, are the only persons 
who appear as singers. Thus, in the operas on 
the story of Don Quixote j the scene, ** From rosy 
bowers," and the scene, "Let the dreadful en- 
gines," are assigned respectively to the poor girl 
who has gone mad for love, and to Cardenio, whom 
Don Quixote encounters in his frenzy among the 
mountains. 

Shortly after the time of Purcell's birth, but 
contemporaneously with his later writings, ap- 
peared in Germany a most important hero in our 
history, Reinhard Keiscr, who produced an im- 
mensely large number of operas, which had very 
great success, firstly in Hamburgh and subse- 
quently in Berlin. In Hamburgh he directed the 
theatre, and as director he engaged Handel to 
play in his band, in the early youth of that musi- 
cian, who, while holding his place among the sec- 
ond violins, still had opportunity to convince the 
world of his dawning powers as a composer, for 
there in Hamburgh he wrot« his first operas. 

The principle upon which the opera had first 
been instituted now began to degenerate. The 
art of the singer had greatly advanced. The 
power of execution, of rendering fiorid passages 
with a volubility that seems now almost incred- 
ible, since all but unattainable, made it necessary 
that the composer of an opera should insert pieces 
for vocal display rather than for dramatic pro- 
priety ; and one finds in the operas of the period, 
that the entire action is carried on in recitative, 
and this action is interrupted by songs where the 
personages have to stand and either address the 
audience, or address one* another; while if other 



132 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1026. 



persons have to listen there is the exceedingly 
difficult task of filling out the scene where there 
are no words and no notes to utter. 

The opera now became more and more arti- 
ficial. The songs or arias were arranged in five 
express classes. There was the aria cantabiley 
which was for the most part a grand pathetic 
adagio, containing very much florid ornament, 
but rather as a grace than as matter of continu- 
ous execution. Then there was the aria di porta- 
mento, which corresponded to a great extent with 
what is now understood by "cavatina." Then 
the aria di mezzo caraUere ; then the aria parlante^ 
in which one had scarcely ever more than a note 
to a word, so that it approached more to the cliar^ 
acter of declamation than any of the other classes ; 
and lastly the aria di bravura or d*agUith, It was 
required in an opera that every character sliould 
have two specimens of each of these five arias, 
that no two of the same class should ever come 
in succession, and that each act must have its 
aliquot portion of the sum total. Thus it will be 
readily seen that the dramatic action was a mat- 
ter secondary to Uie exhibition of the five different 
qualifications of a singer, and the story of tlie 
drama of minor importance to vocal display. 

We find in Handel, and in others whose names 
pale under the brilliant lustre of his, the power of 
dramatic characterization. We find a different 
class of music and form of phrase and idiom as- 
signed to the several personages in his drama ; 
and we find this, which seems to me to have been 
a new element at his time, for I have not been 
able to trace it earlier, combining several person- 
ages with their individual characters in one com- 
position. Thus, \VL Ads and Galatea there is a 
trio, where two lovers utter their words of tender- 
ness to one another, while the Cyclop expresses 
his rage that Acis should stand between him and 
the gratification of his monstrous love. There is 
in Semele a quartet where the four personators are 
strongly individualized. In Jephtha we find a 
quartet and quintet ; in the quartet especially there 
are the anguish of Jephtha that he must sacrifice 
his child, the anger of his wife that her daughter 
should be torn from her, the devotion of Iphis 
who feels she is fulfilling a divine duty in becom- 
ing the willing victim of her father's oath, and 
the grief of the betrothed lover of Iphis at the 
prostration of his fondest hopes. All tliese char- 
acters are personified, each in a separate and dis- 
tinct phraseology, and all sing together. Now in 
this quality, before all, of giving different char- 
acters to different persons, and combining in one 
performance in simultaneous action these several 
characters, I feel that dramatic music excels every 
other class of vocal composition. We may talk 
of the sublimity of the oratorio, and in so far as 
the oratorio is based upon sublime subjects its ex- 
pression of the subjects may be sublime. But the 
dramatic oratorio is capable of all the sublimity 
which can be infused into didactic oratorio, and 
it can have thb great quality of personification at 
the same time. It is to be regretted that such 
rarely occurs in the structure of oratorios, but 
where it does so occur it gives a most valuable 
resource to the composer, and opens to him a rich 
field for musical expression. 

(To be oontiiiuML) 



REFORM OF CHURCH MUSIC. 



CONCLUSION OF MB. THAYER'S ABDBE3S. 

THE ORGAN. 

I cannot forego the opportunity of saying a few 
words about organs and organiflts. 

Whether professed Christian or not, I believe 
the organist's first duty is to consider his playing, 
and all his acts in the sanctuary, as worship. To 
enter the place for poitenal display, to show what 



skill is in feet and fingers, to exhibit his knowl- 
edge in the art of registration, to simply earn 
some money, or have a fine entertainment, is all 
false and wrong ; and if soone^ or later he meets 
with failure or rebuke, let such an organist con- 
sider it well deserved. I hold that no person, be- 
liever or infidel, Christian or heathen, has any 
right to step foot inside a church door without a 
full sense of tiie sacrcdness of tiie place. 

On the Sabbath day, or any worshipful occasion, 
the organ should simply guide and sustain the ser- 
vice of the sanctuary. That is, it should not — 
festival days, perhaps, excepted — become promi- 
nent or aggressive, nor should the organist during 
the service seek to display either tiie instrument 
or himself. Let the service prelude, except on 
festal days, be always of a quiet and meditative 
character, or of soUd, noble and dignified har- 
mony, rarely, if ever, employing more than the 
fundamental registers of the organ. In the an- 
thems and other pieces for the choir, let the organ 
simply and fully sustain the voices, and never at 
any time be played so as to render the voices 
obscure or the words unintelligible. When played 
for the congregation — as it always should be at 
least once in every service — let it give a full, 
deep, grand undertone which shall sustain and 
uplift all who may care to join in the grandest and 
noblest of all praise. After the benediction let 
there be a short and quiet response which shall 
fittingly close the service. Then I believe the time 
has come for the organ to speak aa only thb king 
of instruments can speak. Save on occasions of 
mourning or sorrow, let it speak forth the ever- 
lasting beauty and power of music, and the un- 
speakable goodness and glory of the Infinite 
Father. Is there anything beautiful in the organ, 
let it speak of infinite beauty. Is there anything 
grand in the instrument, let it speak of the 
grandeur of the universe, the goodness and great- 
ness of Grod's infinite mercy and love to his 
children. For thi.«, and this alone should the 
organist acquire and use his powers of heart and 
mind. These, most briefly stated, are tiie organ- 
ist's duties and responsibilities; and I believe 
that he should be fully prepared for them before 
he assumes the office of musical pastor, or at* 
tempts to lead others in the service of the sanctu- 
ary. 

What are the church organist's rights and priv- 
ileges? First, he has Uie right of access to the 
church and organ at any and all times when they 
are not in use for service. This has been acknowl- 
edged throughout all Christendom ever since the 
organ was placed in the sanctuary. A few at- 
tempts have been made to abrogate this right, but 
they have always ended by all players of recog- 
nized ability shunning such places, as at once 
inimical to art and the cause of true church 
music. Who shall fill the ever-recurring vacancies 
if this right be interdicted? The only reason 
[ have ever heard for such action was on account 
of the wear and tear of the organ and the church 
furniture. As for the furniture, if it be worth 
more tban Christianity, let it be sold, and cheaper 
obtuned, or the church go bare, if thereby the 
service of the sanctuary fail not for want of new 
disciples in our divine art of music. As for wear 
and tear to the organ, no more nonsensical reason 
was ever assigned. I am perfectly sure that every 
competent organist on the face of the earth will 
uphold me in the statement that the surest and 
quickest way to ruin an organ is to let it alone. I 
believe I have seen as many good and great 
organs of both continents as any person, and I 
have always found the best preserved ones — some 
of them from one to three centuries old — were 
those which had been most used. Unless willfully, 
no one can injure a good organ by playing on it. 
Weak and poor instruments might thereby receive 
injury, bat to my way of thinking the aoonier then 



are annihilated the better for the church, the 
people and the cause of religion. 

Among the privileges now accorded by many 
churches is one which I hope may soon become 
a recognized right of the church organist — I 
mean th^ right to give organ recitals. **Why 
don't more people come to church?" is asked 
from many a sacred desk. And tiie people 
reply, " Who wants to go to a place which six 
days out of seven stands up a great, cold-hearted, 
forbidding presence, with doors locked and barred 
as if it were a prison, when on the seventh day it 
seems so new, so strange, so un-homelike that the 
people can soarcely enter without fear of intru- 
sion?" With all possible respect would I say it, 
I believe that ministers and congregations who 
allow all this may ask the question until dooms- 
day before they see churches filled, or the people, 
the grand mass of humanity, enter their doors 
gladly. The church shall become in all things the 
religious home of man, or it must give way to 
something else. But such a step backward can 
never be taken. The good work b begun, and 
many have thrown open their doors and bid wel 
come to all who will come. It shall go on till 
neither bolt nor lock be on a church door ; until all 
shall see and know and feel a welcome greeting 
when they enter the house of the Lord. 

But how does all thb specialty concern church 
organbts ? Well, if they would be men of power 
and worth in the world, they must have a chance 
to speak to the people. If they would do any 
good in their art, or with their art, they must use 
it for the benefit of the people. If they would as- 
sist and second the labors of the beloved pastors 
of our land, they must also have an opportunity 
to woVk in the vineyard of the Lord. The true 
church organist b a musical pastor who must 
speak to the hearts of the people. Whoso among 
us does not feel this, is not yet worthy of hb sacred 

calling. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL HYMNS. 

And ^ow I want to speak about something 
which deeply concerns us all— ^ about the dear 
little folks for whose care and well-being I devoutly 
believe we are held answerable before the throne 
of judgment. The children of to-day are the 
Church and State of to-morrow. If these be 
wrongly trained and guided,, it is certain that the 
future will be one of ignorance, wrong-doing and 
misery. So our work should begin here, and 
begin at once. 

If we examine the words and music of the 
Sunday-school books, what do we find? Save 
here and there a passable selection, nothing but a 
mass of stupid, incongruous stuff, nonsense and 
twaddle; illiterate, ungrammatical, and utterly 
unpoetical jingle, and music that trash would be 
too good a name for. And this b not the worst 
of i|^ The little innocents are actually obliged 
to sing this driveling nonsense. 

Think of children beginning life with : — 

" 'Twill all be over soon ; 
'Titf only for a moment here, 
'TwUl all be over soon." 

Or singing such dismal meditations as thb : 

" A few more prayeis, 
A few more tears, 
It won't be long. . It won't be long." 

Or such enforced juvenile hypocrisy as : 

" Almost anchored, life's rough journey 

Shortly now wUI all bo o'er. 
Unseen hands the sails are furling; 

Soon I'll reach the heavenly shore. 
Almost home! how sweet It soundeth 

To the heart that's worn with care." 

Think of it ! Worn with care at the age o£ 
twelve I Further, I have seen and played from a 
Sunday-school book which had the words '*For 
Jesus b my Saviour," set -to that drunkard's 
melody, " We won't go home till morning ; " three 
or four notes cbanged» but the rest note lor note. 



August 14, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



133 



And this in my blessed native State of Massachu- 
setts ! Now the music was not bad, for there is 
no such thing as bad music. But there are such 
things as bad associations; and when we hear 
this, or any other melody, repeatedly sung by men 
reeling home at midnight, we must conclude that 
it is unfit for church service — unfit, because of 
bad association; unfit because of inappropriate- 
ness; the only things that can render music 
valueless for good influence and good works. 

'* As the twig is bent tlie tree 's inclined." So 
we must begin in the Sunday-school if the music 
of the church is^ever to be reformed. If you 
have any Sabbath-school books like this, buy no 
more fire-kindlings until they are in the ash-barrel, 
past resurrection. Far better that the children 
should have but a half-dozen hymns, or none at 
all, than that they be made to sing such arrant 
nonsense as the majority of these books contain. 

CONCLUSION. 

A word to choirs, and I have done. Has the 
choir any part or lot in these things ? Most cer- 
tainly, and a large one, too. What have choirs 
so far really done ? Precious little compared with 
what they may do. Heretofore they have felt 
called upon to attend a Saturday evening re- 
hearsal, when many of them would rather have 
gone to the dentist. A weary, listless struggle 
of an hour or so, and home they rush — all except 
the unmarried portidn; this part usually don't 
rush much about getting home. Sundays the vol- 
unteers come, or stay at home, or go out driving, 
two in a carriage. The paid ones come, and plac- 
ing their hands tenderly on their throats, tell the 
organist half the time that they have got either 
the diphtheria, or the epizootic, or both. They 
sing just enough to please the treasurer, draw 
tlieir salary, and, with of course exceptions, take 
about as much interest in the worship as they do 
in paying the national debt. The rest of the 
week what are they doing for the church, for 
public worship, or for the people? Just what 
coald safely be stowed away in a mosquito's vest- 
pocket. What sliOuLd they do ? Well, they should 
awake and do something — do almost anything 
rather than live torpid and useless six days out of 
seven. Instead of singing all sorts of operatic 
and other arrangements and loaf-sugar music on 
Sunday, and taking that day to show what they 
can do in vocalization, let them at least once a 
week give to the people, without money and with- 
out price, some music which shall make them both 
better and happier. It is time for choirs to do 
their part in unbarring the church doors and 
making people love to come to church. Let them 
but shake oif this lethargy and show what they 
can do for the people and the uplifting of human- 
ity, and we shall never again hear of churches 
discussing the advisability of dispensing with the 

choir. 
My conclusions are : 

First : Have true church music, or none ; for 
choir hymns, the hymn anthem or full hymn-tune ; 
for congregations, the choral or hymn-tunes of a 
similar character. 

Second : Sing only such hymns as are singable ; 
read the others or let tliem alone. 

Third: Have true choirs, or give up choirs 
altogether and do your own singing. 

Fourth: Let organists and singers, on other 
days than Sunday, give ^ee to the people all the 
good 'music they can ; always letting the people 
take a generous share in this musical service. 

Fifth and lastly : Open your churches freely to 
the people and let music speak to them, to com- 
fort, to cheer and to strengthen them ; and they 
will soon love to come to church, looe to join in 
adoration and praise; and when they enter the 
house of God it shall be as a home to them, and 
they shall all see and know and feel his loving 
prewDce aod sweet benedicti D tt> 



GUEYMARD. 

Gneymard, the tenor, who filled for many years one 
of the first places at the Paris Opera, has just died at 
the village of SalDt-Faigau, near Corbeil, where he 
lived in retirement since 18G8. Louis Gaeymard, born 
at Chapponay (Mre) on the 17th August, 1822, studied 
at the Conservatory of Paris, which he left in 1848 to 
fH^i at once to the Opera. After '' creating" a paA in 
Clapisson's Jeanne la Folle and playing some subor- 
dinate characters, such as Jonas In Ije Prophete, he 
soon reached the first rank. He held hU ground for a 
long time, thanks to a powerful voice and robust con- 
fltitntion, which enabled him to bear the weight of the 
repertory, without giving way under it. His principal 
original characters were in La Nonne Sanglante, La 
Heine de Saba^ and Sapho, bv Charles Gounod; Len 
Vipree Siciliennee and Le Trouvh'e, by Verdi; La 
Magicienne, by Hal^vy; and Roland a Roncevauz, by 
Mermet. He possessed a voice of extraordinary ful- 
ness; it lacked, however, refinement. His style had 
something roujch and brutal about it, but he never hes- 
itated when unusual demands were made on hi« larynx, 
and for these, to use a common expression, he paid 
money down. He married Mme. Lanters, who, after 
her success at the Theatre-Lyrique, became one of the 
stars of the Opera. The union did not prove a happy 
one, and Was soon dissolved. As we have said, ever 
since 1868, he lived in retirement, though the luim- 
paired condition of his vocal powers would have en- 
abled him to pursue for some years more hU profes- 
sional career. From the time we have mentioned, be 
did nothing to .«hake off the oblivion which he philoso- 
phically allowed slowly to close over his memory. His 
f nnt^ral took place on the 10th inst., in the little village 
where he passed away. —Le M^nestrel. 



MUSIC IN CHICAGO. 



TWO GANl'ATAS BT LOCAL GOMPOSEBS. 



(From the Chicago Tribune, July 4.) 
The Commencement concert of the Hershey 
School of Musical Art, which took place on Fri- 
day OTening last, was an event of unusual import- 
ance, and marked an era in the progress of musical 
education in this city, inasmuch as two original 
compositions were brought out by graduates of this 
institution. The first was a sacred cantata, written 
on the verses of the 121st Psalm, for chorus and 
four solo voices, with organ accompaniment, by 
Philo A. Otis, who has been for the past four years 
a pupil of Mr. H. Clarence Eddy. The second work 
is a secular cantata, entitled " Domroschen," or 
" Little Rosebud," adapted from the German legend 
of the ** Sleeping Beauty." This is scored for solo 
voices and chorus, with orchestral accompaniment, 
by John A. West, who has studied with Mr. Fred- 
eric Grant Gleason for about three years. Each 
work was conducted by its own composer. 

Mr. Otis's cantata opens with a chorus of ladles' 
voices, which is preceded by an introduction of 
twenty-four measures in three-quarter rhythm. 
This is followed, after a short interlude and a 
change of rhythm, by a positive and characteristic 
theme given out by the bassos. This is worked out 
in imitative style, and a climax is reached by full, 
massive chords, which is remarkably effective. By 
a clever management of the movement, the three- 
quarter rhythm is again taken up without disturb- 
ing the melodic form, and the theme of the 
first part is treated ior mixed voices in a most 
pleasing manner. The second number, a contralto 
solo, was sung by Mrs. Oliver K. Johnson with great 
breadth of style and beauty of expression. It 
begins quasi recitativo, and introduces a number of 
charming bits of melodic and harmonic effects. 
The principal theme of this number is given to the 
wordis, " Behold, He that keepeth thee shall neither 
slumber nor sleep." It is a high type of melody, 
and the accompaniment is admirably adapted. The 
design is orchestral, and the blending of the flute, 
reed, and string qualities was successfully given by 
the organ. Taken altogether, this is one of the 
most beautiful numbers of the cantata. The third 
number commences in a vigorous and brilliant man- 
ner, the words of the chorus being: "The Lord is 
thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade at thy right hand. 
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved." This was 
brought out with great animation ; but the splendid 
dixnai^ which was reached. o]\ the words " The son 



shall not smite thee by .day," was thrilling, and 
showed that the composer was master of his sub- 
ject and of the means of expression. A fine con- 
trast was given on the words, "Nor the moon by 
night," where everything was subdued and peaceful. 
The flute obligate in the accompaniment at this 
place is exceedingly beautiful, the movement given 
out in this passage is taken up by the other parts, 
and a second climax is brought out with telling 
effect. From this point there is a gradual diminu- 
endOf and the movement dies away to the faintest 
sounds of the organ. No. 4 is a quartet, written 
in canon form, which is technically of the greatest 
difficulty. Mr. Otis has not only succeeded in ad- 
hering to the strict form of writing, but has pro- 
duced a musical compwition of rare beautj: and 
Interest. It was delightfully sung by Mrs. J. A. 
Farwell, Mrs. O. K. Johnson, Messrs. C. A. Knorr, 
and J. M. Hubbard. The last chorus, with its 
" Amen," served to display the general musical 
ability of the composer in the broadest sense. In 
this he has employed free four-part writing, the 
choral, simple and double counterpoint, as well as 
fugue form. It may be pronounced a success not 
only from a technical standpoint, but from an object- 
ive point of view. The style is grand and massive, 
and the variety always well contrasted. The theme 
of the fugue, which is introduced by the altos, is 
characteristic, and never fails to assert itself dur- 
ing the development of the same. The counter- 
point is smooth and flowing, and the modulations 
well defined. The effect of the choral, which ap- 
pears as an episode, is peculiarly pleasing. The 
accompaniment to this is an exposition of the fugue 
theme, and to those who could distinguish the inner 
workings this was probably the most fascinating 
feature of the whole cantata. The work is brought 
to a highly satisfactory close with the full powers 
of the chorus and organ. Mr. Otis is to be con- 
gratulated on producing a work of this magnitude, 
and of such sterling qualities. His abilities as a 
conductor are also to be commended. He possesses 
a large degree of personal magnetism, and the grace 
with which he wielded the baton showed that he is 
unusually talented in this direction. 

THB CANTATA OF " DOBV BOSCHBK," 

or the " Sleeping Beauty," is a setting of the beau- 
tiful German myth of that name. It is divided 
into three ' scenes, the first being preceded by a 
hunting-chorus of spirited expression. The first 
scene proper is laid in the enchanted forest and 
begins with a recitative for the Prince, in which he 
speaks of the mysterious stillness wiiich pervades 
the forest. Here the color of the orchestral accom- 
paniment is dark and sombre and tinged with an 
air of mysterious melancholy. The legend follows, 
related by a baritone voice, tilling of the castle 
and enchantment, and of the golden-haired maiden 
who sleeps in her chamber awaiting a deliverer. 
At this point enters the "love motive," a tender and 
passionate strain, which aids largely in the dramatic 
working out of the subject. The Prince deter- 
mines to undertake the adventure, but is warned of 
the terrible fate which has overtaken those who 
have essayed it. The whole of this warning is 
conceived in a very original and dramatic form and 
works up to a climax that is powerfully descriptive, 
and is scored with a tremolo of the strings against 
a rush of chromatic scales in the high register of 
the flutes, while the harmonies are sustained and 
colored by clarinet and bassoon. But the Prince's 
determination does not waver, and, after singing an 
exquisite prayer for help and guidance, in which 
occurs a beautiful accompanying melody for flute 
and oboe, the cliorus closes the scene. 

The second scene is in the enchanted castle, and 
opens with a charming fairy chorus, announcing 
the termination of the hundred years of the dura- 
tion of the magic spell, and the close of their vigil. 
At last the Prince makes his appearance, and awak- 
ens the fair sleeper with a kiss, the love motive of 
the first scene again occurring, worked up into 
many new and beautiful forms, and finally blending 
with a beautiful and passionate love duet, sung by 
the Prince and Rosebud. 

The third scene is devoted to the festivities and 
rejoicings of the now awakened court, who thank 
their detiyerer, to whom the King presente 



134 



DWIOHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1026. 



daughter in marriage. Again the fairies make 
their appearance with their henedictions. These 
fairy choruses are of the most delicate construction, 
and are uahered in and accompanied by beautiful 
orchestral effects. The finale consists of full 
choruses and semi-choruses of men and maidens, 
conceived m a very unconventional vein, and finely 
expressive of the happiness of the occasion. The 
work is full of beautiful melodic and harmonic 
effecU, and the scoring displays a fine knowledge 
of the color to be derived from the various instru- 
mental combinations. Mr. West is to be congratu- 
lated upon this, his first work, which is one of the 
greatest promise for the future as well as a present 
success. He has been a faithful and diligent stu- 
dent, and has a fine knowledge of the various 
devices of the science of counterpoint, which he 
uses with great facility. The soloists all sang with 
much finish the difficult parts allotted to them. 
Miss Ettie Butler, who impersonated the part of 
Rosebud, sang exquisitely the intensely passionate 
music given to this character. She was ably sec- 
onded by Mr. J. L. Johnson as the Prince, who is 
the possessor of a remarkably beautiful and sym- 
pathetic voice, and sang with the greatest steadi 
ness and precision, contributing largely to the suc- 
cessful issue of the performance. Mr. James Gill, 
as the King, sang with much fire and dramatic 
power, and received many tokens of approbation 
from the audience. The orchestra, it is to be 
regretted, was out of tune and more than once out 
of time, so that full justice was not done to the 
work ; and yet, while it was not heard to its best 
advantage, the impression created by it was very 
favorable. Chicago may certainly boast two ama- 
teur composers of no ordinary ability. We hope 
to hear from them again. 

Wmti^Vfi ^'ournal of ^n^it. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 1880. 



MUSICAL DYSPEPSIA. 

This is an old world infirmity which young 
America is fast becoming heir to. Every 
spring and early summer of late years we 
hear complaint of too much music, a plethora 
of concerts. The musical appetite is sated, 
and musical digestion spoiled by such con- 
tinual listening, or half-listening, to all sorts 
of performances, good, bad, and indifferent, 
by all sorts of artists. And the most deli- 
cate stomachs, the most easily deranged or 
paralyzed by too dainty or excessive musical 
indulgence, are just those of the most refined, 
fastidious, experienced music lovers. How 
often will you hear one of the most truly 
musical of men declare himself not only tired, 
but heartily sick of hearing music ! 

The worst of it is, that in our great musical 
centres, our cities to which all artists bring 
their musical wares, and before whose audi- 
ences they are all eager to produce them- 
selves, we never have precisely a natural, 
wholesomely regulated supply. It is always 
either too much or too little, always either 
drouth or a protracted deluge ; for one spell 
none at all, and for another an overwhelming 
quantity all at once. No digestive powers 
are fairly equal to it. Of course we speak of 
music which is supposed to be listened to, 
which we go to with respect and take more 
or less in earnest. The other kind, that 
which is not listened to, which we do not go 
after, but which comes to us, accosts us every- 
where in our walks and through our windows, 
through the long summer days and evenings, 
— that persecutor never gives us any peace ; 
like the poor, it is always with us. But then 



one may get accustomed to it, and hear all 
the street organs and singers and band-horse- 
cars which go round to advertise the various 
shows, with about the same indifference that 
he hears the rumbling of cart-wheels or the 
general street hum. It is your regular, con- 
tinual, set concert-going, your listening to 
endless programmes of music, classic and mod- 
em, but each claiming your particular atten- 
tion, that does the mischief. It is this that 
dulls the sense, confounds the brain, over- 
loads the stomach, paralyzes the fine nerves 
of musical appreciation, until all music begins 
to sound alike, and you are conscious of a 
vague humming in your ears, and of a morbid, 
over-sensitive condition of the very faculties 
and nerves through which you have enjoyed 
such exquisite delight, such quickening inspira- 
tion. 

The greatest sufferers from this experience, 
of course, are those who make it a duty, pro- 
fessionally, to keep the run of all the operas 
and concerts, to try to appreciate them and 
to do justice to each one in the expected 
daily or weekly criticism or report. We are 
tempted just in this musical vacation-time, 
these August dog-days, when no one has a 
right to ask from us a serious essay, to give 
our readers, by way of lighter reading, a well- 
known German musical writer's experience, 
as related by him in a letter from Switzer- 
land, which we translate from the last number 
of the Leipzig Signaie, 

" . . . . You suffer with humming in your 
ears, sleeplessness, nervous irritation, shrinking 
from society. That's musical indigestion. All 
you need is rest. Gro into Switzerland, as hi«;h 
as you can ; seek the stillest air-cure place that 
you can find, and you will soon be better I . . ." 

A brave man, my good doctor. He is fond 
himself of music making, but he has never played 
me any tiling. He knows what a musical season 
in Baden-Baden means t 

I pressed his hand with grateful fervor, and 
took an express train ticket direct to Thun, so as 
to 1:0 on the next mornino: as far as Lauterbrunn. 
•* If tSvere done — then t'were well t*were done 
(|uickly.'* I had no idea of stopping in Inter- 
laken. Interlaken is the Baden-Baden of Swit- 
zerland: magnificent hotels, cure-gardens, cure- 
fees, cure-music — to get all that, I do not travel 
to the Bernese Oberland. That I can have more 
conveniently and cheaper in Baden-Baden. 

In Lauterbrunn I stopped no longer than was 
necessary to admire the landlord's pretty daugh- 
ter at the ** Sttiinboch," who stands all the day 
Ions in Bernese-Oberland costume at the door of 
the hotel, to draw strangers in, who are then taken 
in by her father. 

Mlirren was to be my place of rest. It lies so 
high among the mountains, and so far off from 
the high-road of tourists, that I could hope to 
hear no music there. 

Free from all forebodings, I climbed up the 
bridle-path. A very cultivated, not musical fel- 
low-countryman was my friendly travelling com- 
panion; we threw ourselves exhausted into the 
Hdtel des Alpes. I got an excellent corner 
chamber, from which I could overlook the mag- 
nificent panorama of the Jungfrau mountain range 
as conveniently as in a diorama, and I praised my 
good star that had led me there. 

Alas ! too early. Scarcely had I settled myself 
comfortably down, when directly beneath me tiiere 
was piano playing. Involuntarily I listened -7 one 
gets accustomed to that, like a cavalry horse to a 



trumpet — and a shudder came over me. Beetho- 
ven's C-minor Symphony for four hands, played 
bv two Euslish ladies I O God 1 Furious I went 
down stairs to reconnoitre. There sat the whole 
assembly of the pension boarders in the music- 
room, and listened in sweet rapture to this piano, 
hideously out of tune. I had fallen into a 
downright English pension, and a musical one be- 
sides. For, after Beethoven had been sufficiently 
broken on the wheel, there came other ladies and 
sang English songs, Irish songs, etc. *' We have 
music here in this way every evening after din- 
ner," said mine host in a tone of high satisfac- 
tion. I begged for another room, no matter how 
far back, only as far as possible from the draw- 
ing-room. But that was no help at all, what with 
the always open windows and the thin partition- 
walls. So, away from here ! 

In sheer desperation I climbed the Schilthorn, 
of which Yerlepsch flippantly asserts, that the 
ascent is " without danger." He certainly never 
went up himself I That I was not seized with 
vertigo and hurled headlong from that bald slate 
rock, that falls off so steeply and so many thou- 
sand feet into the Lauterbrunnen valley, I owe only 
to the compassionate clouds, which hid the dan- 
ger from me, while on the other hand I could not 
once see Uie Jungfrau for sheer mist, still less all 
the other beauties which one prescriptively is 
bound to admire. I was vividly reminded of 
" Mignon," especially of the cla|f<ical line : 
'* Where loaded mtdei climb o'er the misty ridge!** 

I would not have returned by the same way for 

a kingdom. I preferred to slide down for 1200 

feet on a great snow-field, arriving in Miirren 

with ragged clothes and soaking boots. 

"That, with her ~ singing. 
Had the EngliBh lady done!*' 

I remained at this *' stillest " and highest habit- 
able spot of the Bernese Oberland only long 
enough to have the village shoemaker of Miirren 
— who watched the cattle all day — nail my ' ^ts 
together again. Then I packed my knapsack and 
bade good riddance to Miirren forever. 

But where now ? — Schonegg, very charmingly 
situated above Beckenried, on the lake of tlie 
Four Cantons, was said to be a very quiet pension. 
Englishmen, regarding whom I cautiously in- 
quired, are not there ; they -prefer the neighbor- 
ing Seelisberg. There are Swiss families almost 
exclusively in Schonegg, and the Swiss know in 
their native land where it is good and cheap. I 
was fricndlily received by the young " director," 
was contented with the quarters, and resolved 
here to set up my tabernacle. " You come to-day 
just in the nick of time," said he with a smirk, 
"for we are to have a little evening musical 
party." I started back in dismay. He took it 
for joyful surprise. *^ Yes, a musical farewell 
soiree. A very musical lady from Basle leaves 
the pension in tlie morning, and all the forces of 
the house are to unite in her honor, to give her a 
worthy farewell. I sing tenor myself." 

All !' if this very musical lady had only gone 
off yesterday I The worst of it was, that 1 
could not escape from this choice circle. As the 
latest arrival, I was formally invited and I had to 
stay. The overture to Martha, twice bungled 
through with four hands, opened the feast. 
What followed, thank the Lord, I don*t remem- 
ber. For I went "but cgi the balcony, as far as 
possible from the piano, and gazed upon the won- 
derful night, where a thunder-storm moved back 
,and forth between Pilatus and the Rigi, and with 
its flashes magically lit up the wildly foaming 
lake. And, for accompaniment, Abt, Kucken, 
Goimod and the Trovatore ! , , , 

" The world is perfect everywhere, 
If man brings not his tortures there.*' 

Only one thing amased me in it all. The 

Herr '^ Director " sang duets with the leave-tak- 



August 14, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



135 



ing beauty from Basle. During her stay at the 
pension they had evidently sung themselves into 
each other's hearts. Now they shook out their 
woe in heart-rending tones of parting, and little 
dreamed that an inhuman critic was making 
merry over their anguish. "Ich wollt' mein 
Lieb' ergosse " was the crown of all their efforts. 
It had to be sung da capo, for the hundred-thou- 
sandth time since the duet came into the world 
through Kistner. 

The following day was a Sunday. At the din- 
ner table the door of the corridor was set open. 
Around a table sit eight musicians and tune 
— or rather they do not tune. "They give a 
concert here twice a week," explained the direc- 
tor. " They play by turns in Kaltbad, Seelisberg, 
and for us." " And not on the Rigi-Kulm then ? " 
« No." " Good I Then I go to the Rigi-Kuhn." 
It was the stubbornness of despair that inspired 
me with this hasty resolution. I knew not what 
I was doing. In MUrrcn I had tied from tlie 
English, in Schoncgg from the Swiss, only to 
fall mto a wasp-nest of Bcrliners in Schrieber'8 
hotel. That is to say, out of the frying-pan into 
the fire. Real genuine imported Spree-Athen- 
ians, — some of them, however, had never been 
baptized in the Spree* water. They took me for 
an anti-Sbemite. 

I fled to the reading-room, to bury myself in 
tlie newspapers. There I took up a yellow writ- 
ten placard: "This evening, after the table 
d^hofe, concert of the T}Tolese Singing Society 
Jodel-Fritze from the Zillerthal." Holy Cecilia 1 
What sin have I committed, that thou should'st 
do this to me ! 

But — when the need is greatest, help is also 
nearest. . . . 

Berthold Auerbach was stopping last autumn 
in Carlsruhe, where he lived in the hotel Ger- 
mania like a prince — " and am I not a prince ? " 
he replied to my remark, — and wrote " Brigitta." 
Spielhagen, who was resting from his charming 
" Quisisana " in Baden-Baden, was on a visit to 
him; B. von Scheffel completed this triad of 
literary celebrities, such as are seldom seen to- 
gether in such harmony. The conversation turned 
on the Swiss air-cure places. Auerbach praised 
above all Tarasp. It was so splendidly situated, 
so idyllic, so invigorating. The Lucius spring 
was not inferior to Vichy and Marienbad; but 
such splendid Alpine air was to be found in no 
other bathing-place. That suddenly occurred to 
me when I took flight before the Tyroleans. So 
down I went by rail the next morning toward 
Zug, and by evening was already in Landquart, 
after a gondola ride of a few hours on the Wal- 
lensee. Davos, the Eldorado of consumptive 
patients, I passed not without a secret shudder. 
For behind the cloister, our mail-coach overtook 
a wagon load of musical instruments ; the double- 
bass was packed on the top. These instruments 
of torture were just then being unloaded in Davos. 
Lucky for me I Only a zither went on by mail 
with us, but turned off in Siiss toward the upper 
Engadine. 

Now I breathe freely. Snow, to a man's height, 
still lay on the grand Fltielen pass, the little 
lake at the Hospiz was still frozen fast. But 
then the car flew like the wind into the Alpine 
summer, and all music was left far behind me, in 
the gray and misty distance. 

The Cur-house in Tarasp was still closed, the 
season only begins on the 15th of June. And 
that was fortunate; for a peep through the 
window showed me in the salon a musical instru- 
ment of the most dangerous description — a 
concert grand piano. In former years Meister 
Hauser of Carlsruhe has moved more than one 
lady's heart here by his singing, — now it was all 
still as death. Yes, the seaifon is so completely 
dead, that not even a barber can be found here. 



The Figaro of all Cur^ests has not yet arrived, 
so that suffering humanity — so far only a dozen 
persons — drinks the Lucius spring perforce un- 
shaved, but at the same time unrasped by the 
Cur music, which at present makes Meran unsafe. 
But I, well satisfied, have ascended to Vulpera 
(4200 feet high), and here I live as the only guest 
in tlie idyllic pension Conradin, which I recom- 
mend to all, who would live ])leasahtly and cheaply 
and hear no music. For in the parlor there 
stands no piano. I hear nothing but the bells 
of the cattle on the Alpine pastures, the call of 
tlie cuckoo in' the neighboring wood, and the 
murmur of the impetuous Inn. Hither come, ye 
music-weary I Richard Foul. 

Vulpera, June 16, 1880. 



in these meetings, gave four Chamber Concerts, 
assisted by Mr. John Orth, of Boston, and other 
artists. 

This is but a part of the long story, but it is im- 
possible to find room for all. 



PER CONTRA. — NORMAL MUSICAL 

INSTITUTE. 

Writing and translating as above — and we con- 
fess wc did it con amore, enjoying, if with "bare 
imagination of the feast," that picture of absolute 
rest from music far away in the high Alps — we 
could not help thinking all the while of those indus- 
trious spirits, who, after working like beavers in the 
city eight months of the year, teaching, concert 
giving, organ-playing, training choirs and what not, 
have been even now in these two hottest months 
holding a " normal " session there in Canandaigua, 
and, besides lectures and class exercises, giving re- 
citals, vocal, for piano, organ, chamber music, etc., 
with seemingly exhaustive programmes. Of what 
stuff are such workers (Sherwood, Dannreuther, 
Thayer, Max Piutti, Orth, etc.,) made, that musical 
digestion never fails them? They seem to know 
nothing of that peculiar dyspepsia about which we 
have been talking; the appetite never gives out; 
they are always ready for more. But then theirs 
is serious work, and that seldom hurts ; that buildb 
up, rather than exhausts the constitution. And 
there is the sense of doing good, of teaching and 
enlightening others, of seeing a love for something 
nobler in the art of music lighting up new faces. 
It makes an old truth, or an old good piece of music, 
fresh, to find a new and a responsive audience. And 
this, we suppose, is what keeps our friends alive 
and up to their work. Well may they say : Leave 
musical dyspepsia to mere passive enjoyers of music, 
to the critics and the dilettanti ; we have no leisure 
to be sick ; we work on and are well, thank Heaven ! 

We have before spoken of some of the lectures 
and programmes of this five weeks' Convention, 
which closed on the 10th of August. To give a 
fuller idea of the amount and variety of music in- 
terpreted and analyzed to the pupils, we may state 
that there were : 

1. Eight Piano Recitals by Mr. W. H. Sherwood; 
one made up of works by Handel, Mozart, Rhein- 
berger, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt; 
one mainly of Bach, besides a Violin Concerto of 
Bruch, played by Mr. Dannreuther, and a group of 
piano pieces by Rubinstein. One was mostly from 
Beethoven, including the E-flat Concerto and the 
Sonata, Op. Ill, in C-minor, besides things by Schu- 
bert, Mendelssohn and Dupont. One was chiefly 
devoted to Schumann : Concerto in A-minor, Etudes 
Symphoniques, Kriesleriana, etc., besides a Violin 
and Piano Sonata by Grieg. Another offered the 
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue of Bach, the G-major 
Concerto of Beethoven, a Violin Prelude and Ro- 
mance by F. Ries, Liszt's Sixth Hungarian Rhap- 
sody, etc. Then there was a Chopin Recital, with 
lecture by Max Piutti; a Li8Z^Wagner Recital; 
and one devoted to a miscellaneous assortment of 
very recent European and American piano compo- 
sitions. 

2. Eight Organ Recitals by Mr. Eugene Thayer. 
In these, four of Handel's Organ Concertos figured 
twice each. Also three of the Choral Vorspiele, 
the Toccata in C, the great Toccata and Fugue in 
D-minor, the Pastorale in F, the Prelude and Fugue 
in B-minor, the Toccata in F, and the Passacaglia 
of Bach ; besides much more of interest from other 
important composers. 

8. Mr. Gustave Dannreuther, whose violin play- 
ing appears to have been very warmly appreciated 



MUSIC IN JAPAN. 

Further letters have been received from .Mr. 
Luther W. Mason, formerly Supervisor of Music in 
our Boston schools, who went out last spring, in the 
employment of the Japanese government, to intro- 
duce the study of music, according to our system, 
into the schools of that empire. It was a most 
formidable undertaking, but most liberal provision 
was made there for his comfortable residence. He 
has been treated with sincere respect, and all the 
conveniences he could desire have been placed at 
his disposal, for the carrying out of this great edu- 
cational experiment, which he has had to begin, as 
it were, ab ovo; for hitherto the Japanese have 
known nothing of music, in our sense of the word. 
Their scale consists of only five tones, and their 
ears have actually to be attuned to the complete 
scale, which is the basis of all real music. He has 
therefore almost to create the sense, as well as 
teach the music. 

Many friends here — indeed, all the friends of 
popular musical education — are watching with 
great interest this new work of Mr. Mason, who 
iias shown for many years, in our primary schools 
especially, what we have before called a genius for 
teaching little children both to sing and to read 
dimple music, and in parts. In one of the letters to 
which we have referred (dated Tokio, June 27,) he 
writes as follows : — 

" I am in very good health ; have been at work in 
the two Normal fcychools three months. My success 
iias been greater than I expected for so short a 
time. The building for the 'School of Music' is 
tiuished, and the ten pianos are in their rooms. 

" My first class out of tlie Normal School is com- 
posed of seven court musicians. They are young 
men, and are anxious to know our music. They 
have not the slightest idea of any system of har^ 
mony. They are much delighted with wliat I have 
shown them." — We find the following statement, 
based on other letters, in the Transcript : 

" Professor L. W. Mason, who has gone to Japan 
to establish a ' school of music ' for the educational 
department of the Imperial Government, is much 
satisfied with the progress of his labors. By actual 
experiment, he finds the Japanese teachers readily 
learn our system of musical notation. They know 
the Arabic numbers, 1, 2, 3, etc., and, with the aid 
of the reed organs sent out, have no difliculty in 
learning the system of the Mason charts. In order 
to more fully carry out the plans of Professor 
Mason, money has been sent to this country and 
instruments purchased in Boston for the establish- 
ment of instruction in the use of stringed instru- 
ments, and for a court band. Mr. Benjamin Cutter, 
of this city, was commissioned to select the instru- 
ments, in expectation of taking charge of the 
orchestra in Japan." 

Verily, the tuneful missionary who has set out to 
make a musical people of the Japanese, exhibits a 
faith, a courage of conviction, like that which 
revealed a new world to Columbus ! But we have 
no doubt his faith will be rewarded, since we believe 
that music is a principle divinely planted in the 
soul, and that it exists potentially, if not actually, 
in our common human nature every where. America 
has sent out the right man with the key to fit the 
lock, and realize some of the possibilities of the 
divine art to the Japanese, who show so much 
appreciation of the importance to a people of a 
large and many-sided education. 

In case any person should wish to communicate 
with the Professor on this subject, we add his 
address : **L. W. Mason, Professor of Music, 16 Kaga 
YashUn, Hongo Tokio, Japan* 



»$ 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

London. The two opera-houses (Covent Garden 
and Her Majesty's Theatre) had completed their sea- 
^najby July 24. The former lasted fourteen weeks, 
the latter ten. The Times sums up the Boyal Italian 
Opera (Mr. Qye's) as follows : 



136 



LWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1026. 



Though one of the flhortest, if not the shortest, on 
record at Covent Garden, extending over little more 
than three calendar months, no fewer than 22 operas 
were given with more or less satisfactory completeness. 
Twenty of these were from the current repertory, 
including among them Le Roi de Lahore (the gi-aud 
spectacular lyric drama of M. Massenet, producecTwith 
success last season) and a revival of mgnon, for the 
sake of Mme. Albani, who, by her lively, charactei^ 
istic aud altogether charming impersonation of Goethe's 
romantic heroine, showed herself worthy of a new 
work being composed expressly for her. What are 
our composers about? —and especially Dr. Arthur 
Sullivan, whose once projected Jiarie iStuart would 
just have fitted the always aspiring and enthusiastic 
daughter of Albany. 

Tne pieces added to the repertory this vear have 
been an Italian vei-sion of Harold's Pre aux Clerc9 and 
another of M. Jules Cohen's l^t Bluets, under the 
title of JSstellOy the former providing a new part 
for Mme. Albani, the latter another for Mme. Ade- 
lina JPattL We shall doubtless hear more of them 
both next year. In the instance of these, Mr. Oye 
has thus faithfully redeemed his pledge, bungiug out 
twu works hitherto not included in his catalogue. Pala- 
dilhe's JSuxanne was set aside, and the revival of La 
Gazza Ladra, one of KusMini's brightest scores, for 
the young aud promising MUe. Tuiolla, will probably 
be ifcoDttidered a twelvemonth hence. While several 
artiste named in the prospectus made no appearance 
(the popular bass baritone, M. Maurel, for example), 
others were substituted, and notably Mme. Bembiich 
from Dresden, who, one night quite unexpectedlv, 
took the house by storm in Ltouizeiti s Lucia di Lam- 
mermoor, aud has since maiutained her position in 
other operas, paiticulai ly in the Hui/uenots, act Maigue- 
rite de Vaiois, the music of which is precisely suitea to 
her florid aud bravura style of vocaliuition. Thla 
German sougwtretf s may be looked upou as au acquii<itiou 
of real value. From among those rising arti^its whose 
progress is watched with inieiest it is but just to single 
out tue youug aud prepossessing Mme. AU iua YalleiUi, 
whuse receut peiioimauce of liliua in Miymm has 
m«.tejially advanced her in public estJmatiou. M. 
Lassalie, tbe Jhiiisian baritone, has faiily established 
his posiuou } Signer de Keszke, a new bass, has afforded 
general satislnction ; and. not to enter into lurther 
particuhus, the old-established members of the com- 
pany, it is almost supeiHuous to add, have held their 
owiL Tue two conductors, biguors Viauesi aud Bevig- 
naui, uia^v be complimeuted on the seal with whicU 
they coutiuue to perform tlieir duties, and tlie latter 
moie especially on the judicious manner in which he 
contrives to make the orchestral accompauhneuts sub- 
servient to the exigeiicien of the singeis on the staae, 
instead of drowning their voices with excess of no£e, 
and huriyiug on tiie ** tempi*' so as to give them no 
chance of taxing breath, which of recent years has 
threatened to become a persistent habit. Tbe chorus 
remains what it has been for some time— decidedlv 
susceptible of improvement. In conclusion it is woith 
nothig that the influence of Wayruir'a operas is senn- 
bly on tiu ctec/ine— at any rate in this great theatie. 
Lohengrin ceases to attract, while (all the better for the 
tender {sympathetic voice of Mme. Albani) lamihauser 
has not been given once. 

Of the season at Her Majesty's, Figaro says : 

In Mr. Mapleson's liit, besides portions of // ^Tali*- 
mano aud Linorah, we have the following sixteen 
operas: hoito' BMejistojele, Wagner'n Lohengrin, Beet- 
hoven's Fidelio, Biset's Curnien, Mozart s // JJon 
Giovanni, Gounod s Favst, Verdi's La Traviaia, La 
Forza, U Trovatore, Alda, and Eigoletto, Donizetti's 
Lucia and Linda, Bellini s La Sonnambula and I Puri- 
tani, and Thomas's Atiunon. Many of us could have 
dispensed with the Bemni and Donizetti repertory to 
have heard Les Uuguen/ots and RobeH, Le Nozxe di 
Figaro, and other works of a high order. 

The Graphic (July 24) adds :— 

Beyond stating that Mi^sto/ele has been repeated 
twice to crowded houses, thanks in a great meatture to 
the Margaret of Mme. Christine Nilsson, one of the 
most pngiual and in every respect remarkable per- 
formances of hue years ; that Riaoletto has been given, 
with Mme. Etelka Gerster as Gilda (a part in which she 
has frequently b«en heard and applauded), Sig. Gahuisi 
as Rigoletto, Mme. Trebelli as Maddaleua, and the 
much-extolled new tenor, 8ig. Bavelli, who obtained 
a general "encore" for "La donna e mobile" as the 
Duke: aud finally, that Bizet's picturesque Carmen, 
with* Mme. Tlrebelli as the heroine, was presented for 
the last time on Thursday, there is nothing to record 
about the proceedings at this establishment during the 
last ten days. Last night, Balfe's chivalric opera, Jl 
Taliwiano, was given, the part of Edith Plantaeenet 
devolving upon Mme. Gerster, who succeeded Mme. 
Milsson, the original at Drury Lane. This evening yet 
another performance of 8ig. Bo'ito*s very successful 
open. 

Of Christine Nilsaon's new Marguerite, the Morn- 
ing Advertiser (July 8) says:— 

Act the third, descripuve of the repentance and 
death of Margherita in the nrison, settlea the question, 
if question there was, of Signer Bo'ito's success, and 
the effect of the very beautilul music he has supplied 
was made as perfect as possible by the singing of Mme. 
Nilsson. "" 
common 

pathos 

as she sang it, inconceivably touching. It was artless 
and yet an emanation of consummate art, it was 
deeply affecting and yet perfectly unaffected, and as 



an example of exquisite parity was simply "npnn 

ble. The helplessness oi the girl condemned to death, 
her dreamy abstraction, and her gentle resignation 
lived and breathed through every note of the music as 
Uds truly great arUst sang it. Later on, in the scene 
when Marguerita, wandeiing hi her mind, speaks, with 
infinite tenderness, of her dead child, aud in the duet 
with Faust, ** Loutano, lontano," Mme. Nilssou's siiur. 
ing was absolutely perfect. Pathos could not farther 
go, and when, roused from her sweet dream of return- 
ing love, Margherita calls despairingly upon the angels 
to nelp, Mme. Kilsson rose to the »ituaUon. Ueract- 
ing was maguificent, and in its tragic force, nothing 
le»s than a i-evelation. 8ach an effort as this is very 
rarely seen, aud can only be made by an artist of the 
very highest order. Spontaneity, inteusitv of expres- 
sion, aud true abandon, all were forthcoming, and the 
worth of this gilted hidy was never more clearly de- 
monstrated than in the prison scene of Boito s opera. 
Mme. Milssou crossed the stage twice with hignor Cam- 
pauini, and biguor Nanuetti, aud amidst a storm of 
applause; but tnis was insuincient, and the audience 
insisted upon seeing her again, when she came on 
alone, U> receive a tulrd **ovaUou." 

Mr. William Shakespeare, tlie tenor singer, has 

been elected conductor of the orchestral aud choral 
practice, and of the students' coucerts, of the Koyal 
Academy of Music. Figaro says: 

He hi au excellent musichin, and is believed to 
be an edlcieni score reader; he is an admirable tenor 
vocalist, a geuUeman, aud a past student and present 
prolessor oi ^iugiug at the Koyal Academy. Hia first 
tmiuiiig was at Dr. Wyldes Loudon Academy at 
St. Geujges Uall, and he then removed to the Koyal 
Acauemy, wheie he was the last *- King's Scholar " 
in ItAb. Ue subsequently Uavelled in Germany and 
Italy to leaiu the art of a vocalist, aud he letniued 
to luis couutry seven years ago, since when he has 
practi^ea iiis proiessiuu as a tenor vocalist aud a teacher 
of smgiug. Mr. Shakespeare is ahio the composer 
of au o\eAture in D, of a piauo concerto, and seveial 
suugs. Ue hi so popuhir aud respected a musichiu 
that it hi hoped he will as a couductor justify that 
'^coufidence in the uuasceitained " which the Bo\al 
Acauemy autiiorities have expressed. 

Bbussels.- Gr^tiy's Richard Cwur de Lion has 
been luiluwed at the 'lud&trede la Mouuaie by UaJ^vy s 
Uiarits VL, lor the rentiee of MM. Devojod aud 
Masbait. Mile. Deschanips sang the part of Odette 
lor the first tmie. Lharus VI. was succeeded by Les 
vragons de Viitars, which has long been a great lavoi- 
ite here. 




BsRUK. Edouard Lassen's music to Devrient's ar- 
rangement of Faust is di awing good houses to the 
Victorhi llieaUe. 

The Neue Berliner Mustk-Zeitung contains the 

following anuouucement: 

A Iritheito unpublh^hed MS. of J. S. Bach's is at pres- 
ent afioidiug matter for lively discussion to the little 
town of Greusseu in the priucipality of Schwarzburg- 
Soudershauseu. Some years ago there died there Ueir 
A., a Justizrath, or **Couucillor of Justice," who was 
considered^ by persons entitled to give an opinion, a 
great musical ainatear. His heirs heard that he had 
received, as a maik of friendship from Herr Heim- 
stedt, a well-known Capellmeister and vhtuosoof Sou- 
dershaaseu, a piesent in the shape of an unpublished 
work by J. S. Bach. They determined to set about 
looking for the valuable treasure, which, it is said, 
they succeeded in finding. Thej offered it to the 
Leipzie Bach Society, who are reported to have ex- 
pressed their willingness to pav a very fair price for it, 
but that price was not considered high enough, any 
more than that which Professor Spitta, of Berlin, was 
ready to give. After the heirs had separated, a short 
time since, the matter was reported to Uerr Bitter, the 
Minister of Finance, in Berlin, who, as we are aware, 
has written a biograph v of Bacn. Some weeks ago. His 
Excellency applied to tne authorities in Greusseu for in- 
formation about the supposed treasure, adding that there 
was a possibilitv of its Ming purebased by the Frussian 
government. After a long search, a packet of m usic is 
said to have been discoveied bearing marks of great 
age and an insciiptionthat it was written by J. S. Bach's 
own hand. Some days ago, the pcu;ket was sent to the 
authorities at Greussen, who forwarded it to Herr 
Bitter. The Leipziger Tageblattjto which the inteUi- 

5ence was communicated from Thuriugia, very pru- 
ently leaves to its correspondent the responsibility of 
this very mysterious discovery. 

Pabis. Muaic played a prominent part in the na- 
tional rejoicings on the 14th July. First and foremost 
among the performers must be reckoned the sovereign 
people who from early mom till after midnight were 
always singing the " hlazseillaise" when not indulging 
in **Le Chant du Depart," and "Le Chant du Depart" 
when not indulging in the "Marseillaise.'' Never 
probably vras snch an amount of patriotic — and un- 
tutored — vocalization within the same space of time; 
nor was there any lack of the professional element. 
Innirmenble reed and brass iMuids in squares and 
streets discoursed more or leas sweet music, in divers 
cases evoking the Terpdchorean prodivities of the mul- 
titude. Choral societies, singing their best^ trayersed 



the principal thoronghfares, and in the evening there 
were many torchlight processions to the strains of Boa- 
get de Lisle's ever-recurring melody. A great treat 
was afforded to lovers of high-class music by two eve- 
ning open-air concerts, one, under M. Pasdeloup, at 
the Tuileries, the other, under M. Colonne, at the Lux- 
emboarg. The weather being unfavorable the musi- 
cians had to accompUsh part of their task amid a heavy 
downpour. M. Pasdeloup's orchestra numbered 200, 
the programme differing inaterially from those of the 
Cirque. At the Luxembourg M. Colonne had also 200 
instrumentalists, besides 800 singers. A feature was 
*'La Marche du Drapeau," from the Tfe Deum of Hec- 
tor Berlioz, who contributed also an arrangement of 
the " MarseilhUse " for chorus aud orchestra. Among 
the vocal pieces were **Gloire It notre France Immor- 
teUe"(an unpublished composition by Harold); ^'La 
Marche republicame," by Adolphe Adam (1848); 
** Paris," by Ambroise Thomas; something by Boi'el- 
dieu, and something ehie by Fraufois Bazin. The gaUi 
performance at the Giaud Opera to the representatives 
of the new flags coiuihited of two acts from GuiUaume 
Tell, with the first and third acts of Yedda. The 
"Marseillaise," after the ballet, served to play the 
audience out. 



St. Pstebsbitboh. The following is Sig. Merelli's 
company for the Italian operatic season, commencing 
iu October aud extending to Maich: Soprauos. Mmes. 
Cait)liua Salia, Bhiuca biauchi (of Vienna), A. Bruschi- 
Chbitti. K. Kepetto-Tiissoiiui, GiuJhi Nordica, Emma 
liomeldi, Doia de Ciairvanlx; Mezzo-Sopiauus, Mmea. 
Scaichi-LuUi, GiiUia Praudi, Coisi; Teuora, Signoii A. 
Aiasiui, O. ^ouvelli, Petiovich, Delillieis, Igiuio CorA, 
Luigi Maufiedi; Baritones aud linstes, SiguoiiCotogni, 
Bouny, Bro^i, Leone Mhauda, UghetU, Gasveihii, uu^ 
lacciolo, Scolaia; chief Stage-Mauagcr, M. Albert Vi- 
zeutini; Conductors, Siguurl U. brigo and Dalmau. 
Ihe repertory will probably compiire Alda, li Trova- 
tore, Rigolttio, La Iravtata, Ln Balio in Matchera 
vVeidi); Gti Ugonotti, Roberto U Liavolo, L'Ajri- 
cana, JJinvrah, La bteila del Hord (Meveibeer); btm- 
iramide, Oteilo, 11 Barbiere di t^iviglia (Bossiiil); 
Z/'A6/i}o(Ualevv);i>on Giovanni, Le liozze dxtigaro, 
n Flauto Maffico (Moiait); Liiida, Lucia, L JUisir 
d'Amore. Iai Jfiglia del RegiTnetito (Douheeui); La 
6onnambula, I Jfuritani (Beliiui); Jfuust (Goimod); 
Mignon (A. Ihomas); Carmen (Bket); Lohengrin, 
Tannhduser (K Wagner); La Regina di ;saba (Gold- 
marck); i/O Vita per lo Tzar ' Glinka); M^stoJeU 
(Boitu). As at present arranged, the opening opeia will 
be L'hbrea, with Mme. SaUa in the pi indpal pai t. 

M. Gounod is about to write au oiaiorio in three 

paits, called 'Ihe Redemption, for the Biruiiugham 
iTestival of 1882. The libietto, of which M. Gouuod is 
himself the author, is already wriUeu, and said to btf 
worthy of the subject The work hi to be on a giand 
Kcale, and it has been intiuiated by the composer that 
he intends it to be his ciowuing effoit. The oratorio 
will be brought out by the Festival Committee, with 
the oo-operation of Messrs. Novello, Ewer & Co. 

Messrs. Kovello, Ewer & Co., are preparing for 

publication a translation of Spitta's Life of Bach, the 
author having undertaken to revue the proofs and pro- 
vide additional matter specially for the English edition. 
The work is to consist of two volumes, aud it is hoped 
that the first volume may be issued in 1881. A trans- 
lation of Otto Jalm's Life of Mozart will early in the 
same year be published by the same firm, like the 
L\fe of Bach, it is to be issued in two volumes. Lovers 
of music in this country will be well pleased to read in 
their own language works which have obtained so high 
a place in the artistic literature of Germany. 

Messrs. Movello, Ewer and Co. are preparing 

for publication editions of the Pull Scores of Spobr's 
**Last Judgment" aud Handel's ** Acis aud Gahitea," 
the last-named work with Mozart's accompaniments. 
They/ will be issued to subscribers at a modeiate price, 
which will afterwards be raised. Considering that this 
Is the first time the full scores of these popular com- 
positions have been printed in any country, and that 
they will be published in the style which distinguishes 
ail the works emanating from this firm, there can be 
no doubt that they will command an extensive sale; 



DRBSDSir.- Herr Lauterbach has been ofEered the 
poets of first ConccrtmeisleT at the Imperial Opera 
House, Vienna, and professor of the violin in the Con.* 
servntory. In each instance he would succeed Hellmes- 
berger, who retires on a pensioiL 



BouMiNA. — The once well-known Russian tenor, 
Ivanoff, died recently in this town, where he had re- 
sided for a lengthened period. Bom at Pultawa in 
1810, he went, at the age of twenty, to MHan, and took 
lessons of Eliodoro BhuichL He won applause, even 
by the side of Rubini, in Italy and England, hut failed 
to maintain his positioiL Some forty years ago Ivanoff 
wisely abandoned professional life, to which he was hi 
no way suited. 

Sig. Bo'ito has returned to Mibin, and is busy on 

the instrumentation of his ilTerone. Mr. Gye will in 
all likelihoo d prefer this to the Nero of Rabinstein. 



August 23, 1880.] 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



137 



BOSTON, AUGUST 2%, i88o. 

Entered at the PoetOffloe at Boston MMeoDd^laae matter. 

Ml the ctrHclf fuA credited to other pubUeatkmt were ea> 
preaelff written for tkU Journal, 

Fmblieked fortnightly bff Houohtov, MiFTLiy U Ck>., 
AMtoM, ilau, JPrice^ ro eente a tmmber ; $2,so prr year. 

For eoU in Boetonity Cakl Pburfrb, jo Weet Street^ A. 
Williams ft Co., 98j Waehinffton Streett A. K. Lobixo, 
j69 Waehington Street^ and by the IhMiekeref in Nrw York 
by A. Brkittako, Jr., jg Union Square, and Houghton, 
MiFFLlv ft Co., a/ A»tor Place ; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BoiTKB ft Co., //or Chtetnnt Street,- in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Ck>MPAirY, j/a State Street, 

THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF 
GOETHE'S " FAUST." 



BT ADOLPHB JULLIBW.^ 



(Conoloded from p. 130). 
VIII. THE "FAUST8" PROJECTED BY BEBTHQ^ 
YEN, MENDELSSOHN, MEYERBEER, B06SINI AND 
BOIELDIEU. RESUME. 

We have now arrived at the coDcIusion of 
this study. We have in coarse cited or com- 
mented on some thirty works, endeavoring to 
lend an equal attention to the principal ones 
and to show forth their real value, without 
regard to the preferences of the world. We 
have drawn several names from oblivion, and, 
for an instant, have revived these authors 
and their works; and then we have studied 
at some length the four capital creations 
with which music has been inspired by Goethe's 
drama. The Faust of Spohr offered only a 
apeculative interest; it was carious to run 
through an opera which defied all competition 
for a long time, but which cannot bear com- 
parison with any one of the three rival works. 
There remain then Grounod, Berlioz and Schu- 
mann, three composers of great talent, or of 
genius, worthy to enter the list and to contend 
which will best comprehend and translate 
this gigantic poem which embraces all the 
universe, beings and abstractions, causes and 
results, realities and chimeras, the possible 
and the impossible. 

The drama of Faust is like a mirror which 
should faithfully retrace to our eyes the whole 
life of the poet. To see the successive alter- 
ations it has undergone under his hands, one 
would imagine himself a witness to all the 
transformations of Groethe ; one would seem 
to follow the immense and subtile labors of 
his mind during the latter part of his career. 
The first scenes, which appeared in 1790, 
attach themselves to his youth. Proud, bold, 
passionate at the beginning, Goethe, when he 
resumed the work and composed the scenes 
which were published in 1807, to complete the 
First Faust, became more mysterious, more 
symbolical.' Finally, during nearly thirtj' 
years, he conceived and caused to germinate in 
hb mind that Second Part, that strange and 
striking work, defective perhaps in an artistic 
point of view, but which only genius could cre- 
ate. Groethe, then, has in some sort lived his 
poem oi Faust : generous, passionate, roman- 
tic at the age of twenty; enamored of antique 
art, of what is serious and calm, on his return 
from Italy; seeking finally, in his mature age, 
a universal eclecticism, uniting poesy to sci- 

> We translate from "Ooethe et la Muaique: See Juge' 

" " «." Par 



r, eon injtnenee, Lee Oeuvres g%*il a imepiriei 
ADOLPm JuixuN, Paris, 1M)0. — kd. 

* We may eite among these episodes the monologne of 
Faost after the departure of wagner. his attempt at 
sotelde intermpted 1^ the Easier hymn, the doable promo- 
nade in the faroen, and the death of Valentine. 



ence, the spirit of antiquity to that of modem 
life. 

Beethoven, as afterwards Meyerbeer, had 
during his whole life a desire to put Goethe's 
poem into music One day even, about 1807, 
in a moment of good humor, he wrote a Song 
of the Flea ; but his attention, suddenly di- 
verted, was obliged to return to more pressing 
labors. *' I do not always write what I wish," 
he said sadly to his friend Bihler, '' I work for 
money I But when the bad times have passed, 
I will write what will please myself, for art 
alone: it will probably be Faust,*'* 

Unhappily, the bad times never passed, and 
some years later, when the literary writer 
Rochlitz proposed to him on the part of the 
house of H&rtel, in Leipzig, to compose music 
for Faust, as he had done for Egmont, Beet- 
hoven, then all absorbed in the conception of 
the Ninth Symphony, replied: *'I have al- 
ready three other great works in hand for 
some time past; they are partly hatched in 
my head, and I should like first to disem- 
barrass myself of them, to wit: two grand 
symphonies, different from the first ones, and 
an oratorio. That will be long, for, you see, 
since a certain time I have no longer the same 
facility for writing, I wait and I think a long 
time, and that does not come just in time 
upon paper. I hesitate to commence a great 
work, but once started, it goes on."^ This 
was in July 1822. Of the works announced, 
no one saw the light except the symphony 
with chorus. 

Goethe, we have said before, would have 
been pleased to have had his FauU put into 
music by Meyerbeer, who was almost on the 
point of realizing the secret desire and the 
prediction of the poet ; for he had many times 
the idea of writing a score of Faust. If he 
renounced thb project, it was, it seems, from 
fear of disobliging first Spohr, his friend, and 
then M. Grounod. Nevertheless Meyerbeer 
left at his death an unfinished work. The 
Youth of Goethe, the drama by M. Blaze de 
Bury, for which he had composed a very 
important musical part. This intermhU com- 
prises, besides other fragments borrowed from 
Groethe's poem, the scene of the Cathedral 
and the final Hosanna of the second part. 
Unfortunately, the musician's will, confirmed 
by the French tribunal, expressly forbade 
the representation and the publication of thb 
work. .... 

Mendelssohn had been equally struck- by 
the grandeur and the affecting pathos of the 
drama of Groethe. In that fruitless quest 
after a good opera po^m, which was the con- 
stant preoccupation of his whole life and the 
regret of hb age, he returned by preference 
and as if by instinct to the ineffable loves of 
Doctor Faust with the young orphan girl, to 
the sombre incantations of the demon, which 
he felt would surely infiame hb imagination 
and lend more of tenderness and of fantastic 
poesy to hb inspiration. But he never dared 
to pass beyond the thought to the act and to 
write the first notes of a work which, never- 
theless, exercised an all-powerful charm over 
him. 

* Schindler : Fk de Beethoven, Sowlnsid's translation, 
Pb2M. 
« Ibid, p. S17. 



a 



• • . You are precisely the only man 
who could aid me if he would I " he wrote. in 
1843 to his dear friend Edouard Devrient. 
" Why will you not ? Art occupies in your 
heart as considerable a place as in mine, and 
we have been in accord <^ all the questions we 
have agitated. Has nothing, then, ever fallen 
under your eyes of which you might make a 
masterpiece? Have you nothing in your 
portfolio ? Lately I have thought that, if one 
were to throw into as few verses as possible 
some five or six pieces of Shakespeare, it 
would be a pleasure to put them into music 
Do you not think the same ? King Lear, for 
example, — or then again Faust, to which I 
am always coming back ?.../' 

Rossini, also, for a long time caressed the 
idea of writing an opera of Faust on a libretto 
which Alexander Dumas was to prepare for 
him. Count Piilet-Will, whose intimate rela- 
tions with Rossini are well known, has given 
to a trust-worthy person, from whom we have 
them, the following details upon thb subject. 
Rossini had signed with Yeron a contract, by 
which he engaged to compose for the Op^ra 
^ye works entirely new, in different kinds. 
The first was GuiUaume Tell, the second was 
to be Faust. Some time after the representa- 
tion of Robert le DiaJUe, he went to find V^ron 
to talk with him about hb future opera; but 
the happy director, all intoxicated by the 
success of a work which he played only 
against .hb inclination, received him coldly, 
pretended many and many a reason for de- 
ferring it : in short, Rossini, out of patience, 
tore up hb contract on the spot, and went 
away. A short time after that, he returned 
to live in Italy. There he received one day 
a vbit from F^tis, and showed to the astonbhed 
musician a huge score, adding: *'Thb b a 
Faust by me." 

F^tb himself related thb occurrence to the 
person from whom we have learned it. Did 
Rossini speak the truth, or was thb one of 
those mystifications of which hb mocking 
humor was so fond ? We do not know, but 
we wbh to believe that he was not joking. 
It pleases us to think that the author of 
ChtiUattme TeU could not withdraw himself 
from the charm which Goethe's poem exercised 
over the imaginations of the eHte, that he had 
yielded to the temptation to write, and that, 
alone, with no other object but hb own pleas- 
ure, he had composed an entire opera, with 
the fixed idea that it should never see the 
light. It b true that we find no mention of 
thb work in the Ibt of the unpublbhed works 
of Rossini which appeared just after hb 
death ; perhaps he had destroyed or lost iL 
None the less does it appear establbhed that 
we owe to the indifference of Yeron our hav- 
ing never seen thb genius of light and out^ 
ward passion at dose quarters with the sombre, 
chaste and naive poetry of the master of 
Weimar. 

On hb part, Boieldien, without being vividly 
moved by the poem of Cioethe, was solicited 
to set it to music by a well known author, 
who saw there a chance of one more success 
for a certain style of drama. It was at the 
time when Boieldieu wrote Les Deux Nuiis 
that Antony B^raud, the friend of Frederic 



138 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1027, 



Souli^, afterwards director of the Opera-Coiii- 
iqae, made him the offer — well enough re- 
ceived at first — to arrange the FaiLst as a 
comic opera on his account. Beraud has him- 
self related, in a newspaper article, the 
propositions he had made in this sense to the 
celebrated composer, the hesitations of the 
latter, his indecision and finally his refusal. 
Boieldieu, it seems, had asked him if he 
would like to make with his cooperation a 
work a grand frct-lct-la ; these were the musi- 
cian's own expressions. Proud of such an 
honor, Beraad, who was then working at a 
drama of Fautt for the Porte-Saint-Martin, 
with the cooperation of Merle, assistant direct- 
or of that theatre, had the idea of transform- 
ing thb drama into a comic opera, in spite of 
the first opposition of his fellow-worker, 
which he had no diffcultj in overcoming; 
and some days afterwards he submitted to 
the musician the plan of a Fausi turned in- 
to a comic opera, with a feminine Mephis- 
topheles. 

But Boieldieu had already changed his 
mind, and he presently returned the poem to 
Beraud, with a very amiable letter, in which, 
while manifesting a desire to be his collabo- 
rator for some subject that should be original, 
and possibly a trifle diabolical, and while 
recognizing the piquant details and the dra- 
matic effects which this piece would present, 
above all with the devil in the guise of a 
pretty woman, yet he did not believe he could 
accept his offer for the following reason : *' As 
I have had the honor of telling you, M. 
Scribe has treated, or is to treat this subject 
for Feydeau. He designs it for M. Meyer- 
beer, and, as I have been in the confidence of 
this project, it would be an unhandsome pro- 
ceeding on my part to engage you to treat it 
for the Opera-Comique." Whether this were 
the real reason or only a pretext in order not 
to disoblige B^raud by a groundless refusal, 
certain it is that Boieldieu did not undertake 
to cope with the vast conception of Goethe, 
for which it is no disparagement to say he 
was not at all prepared. The musician's letr 
ter of refusal is dated March 9, 1828. Nine 
months afterwards, on the 20th October, the 
first representation of Beraud's grand drama 
took place at the Porte-Saint-Martin. It ob- 
tained a brilliant success, to which the sweet 
and melodious inspirations of Boieldieu would 
no doubt have added nothing — even if they 
had not hurt it. 

But let us return to the musicians, who, 
more happy than Beethoven, Rossini and 
Meyerbeer, have been able to give free course 
to their inspiration, and allow their soul to 
sing as it was moved and troubled by the read- 
ing of this admirable poem. 

Schumann is the only one among them who, 
after the example of Goethe, has made of his 
musical conception the work of his whole life ; 
who has translated the aspirations of its dif- 
ferent- ages; who has, so to speak, lived the 
life of his personages. This complete simili- 
tude with his model gives him already an in- 
contestable superiority over his rivals. But 
he has also, over Berlioz and over M. Gou- 
nod, the precious advantage of being essen- 
tially German in mind, heart and tendencies ; 



of seizing, consequently, better than any one, 
the most secret meaningSf the most abstract 
thoughts, the most mysterious depths of the 
German poem. Thus, compare the episodes 
of the Garden and of the Cathedral (the only 
two which both he and his rivals have treated), 
and instantly his superiority will flash upon 
the eyes of all, without searching in the other 
parts of his work, which abound in inspira- 
tions of the first order, and which bear on 
every page the undeniable mark of genius. 

M. Gounod and Berlioz have the advantage, 
rather insignificant in its kind, over their rival, 
of having been able to complete their work ; 
the one with the care and the research which 
he brought erewhile to his least productions, 
the other with his eager passion and his 
romantic enthusiasm. £ach work bears, pro- 
foundly graven on it, the imprint of the artist ; 
the one remarkably elaborated, finely chiseled, 
filled with a gentle passion and a chaste rev- 
erie, but sullied now and then by trickery and 
affectation; the other, more powerful, more 
vigorous, full of burning passion and of fever- 
ish ardor. The one seduces, charms, intoxi- 
cates; the other seizes, ckominates, exalts. 
The one is the work of a reflective inspira- 
tion, the other of an ardent imagination. 

Groethe may count, then, with good right, 
among the musical works which his poem has 
inspired, at least three exceptional creations, 
one of them truly incomparable. Around 
these three stars gravitate numerous satellites. 
Around the names of Schumann, of Berlioz, 
of Gounod, shine with a tempered lustre those 
of Spohr, of Mile. Bertin, of Lindpaintner, 
of Radziwill, and of so many others, who, in 
default of success and glory, have had the 
precious honor of measuring themselves with 
genius, and have thus merited that their name 
should not die. 

And who can tell the secrets of the future ? 
Perhaps one day some new name will shine 
by the side of those who have been the most 
favored of fortune; perhaps there will arise 
some man of genius who will create yet 
another masterpiece upon the poem of the 
master, and who will come, anew, after Grou- 
nod, after Berlioz, after Schumann, at once to 
confirm by his attempt, and to contradict by 
his success, this severe prediction of Goethe : 
*^ The Fauit is essentially a work which can- 
not be measured entire ; every attempt to give 
the complete understanding of it must fail. 
It is necessary, moreover, to take account of 
one thing, which is that the first part is the 
expression of a thought still beset with ob- 
scurity. This very obscurity exercises an at^ 
traction over men, and they strive to triumph 
over it, as over every insoluble problem." 

MEPHISTOPHELIAN MUMMERY. 
Most of our contemporaries have launched 
forth into lavish praise of Bo'ito's '* Mefistof ele ; " 
and we suppose we ought also to have gone mad 
over it, and done the usual amount of ecstatic 
raving. But there are certain reasons for our 
moderation, or rather for our silence. We do 
not, at the best, think very highly of Italian 
opera, at any rate as cultivated in England, as a 
branch of musical art ; we do not like the nses 
to which it is put ; and we have a special aversion 
to the degradation of music and the distortion 
of pure art which this particularly Mephisto- 



phclian opera displays. It has portions which 
come within the realm of pure art, there is no 
doubt ; but they are injured by their connection. 
It has been " an immense success," ** the feature 
of the 1880 season,'* a '* veritable triumph," and 
so forth ; and as these facts have hail so many 
chroniclers, there was tlie less need that we* should 
occupy our space by recording them. Notwith- 
standing its thousand-and-one trumpeters, how- 
ever, we must protest against the tendency of 
things which ** Mefistofete " illustrates. We 
shall, doubtless, protest in vain — but we shall 
still protest. We have had a "Ride to the 
abyss," and have seen Faust " Delivered to the 
Flames ; " now we are bidden to rise to cooler 
and serener localities, and listen to a '* Prologue 
in Heaven." Ye gods, what next? To what 
further uses is music to be put ? To what still 
more daringly impious lengths will these degrad- 
ers of the divinest of all the arts be led by their 
feverish thirst after originality ? Nothing seems 
to escape the prying eyes of these hunters after a 
name, and no subject seems too sacred to be *' set 
to music " by this erratic and epileptic school of 
composers. We are not at all disposed to be 
prudish in these matters; but we think these 
modern Athenians, in their desire to hear some 
new thing, should exhaust earth before going 
either to heaven or to hell for a libretto. We 
have no words to express our supreme contempt 
for the corrupt, meretricious, depraved taste 
which writes musical "prologues in heaven," 
tries to paint the laughter of fiends by clarinets 
and fiddles, and dares to attempt to realize by 
musical cacophony the sensations of a miserable 
wretch about to be delivered to the tortures of 
the damned. If earth is not enough for these 
musical maniacs, let them keep their impious 
hands away from heaven, and confine their frantic 
efforts to the other place. Or, if they have 
exhausted (I) the almost boundless possibilities of 
earth, with its ever-varying kaleidoscope of human 
life, and human love, and human woe, and cannot 
write any original melodies or harmonies nor de- 
vise any new musical situations, let them acknowl- 
edge that their occupation is gone. The " pro- 
logue in heaven " style of music may or may not 
be to the taste of those critics who have fallen so 
violently in love with Boito's opera as a whole — 
it is certainly not to ours ; and we should consider 
ourselves traitors to the best interests of art if 
we did not cry out against such profanations of 
music. There have been great composers of 
pure music whose works will always be heard 
because they appeal to the artistic sense in man ; 
and it is quite possible that the composers whose 
vagaries we condemn may be able to walk worthily 
in the steps of the illustrious dead. If they are, 
let them show it; by their fruits we shall know 
them. If not, let them be forever silent. We 
have enough good musi9 to form a museum of 
great composers; but if the moderns can add 
nothing better than "prologues in heaven," we 
had better close the list, mark the last two centu* 
,ries as "the musical epoch," and regard the vein 
as worked out. If no other Purcells, Bachs, 
Haydns, Mozarts, Beethovens, Spohrs, or Mendels- 
sohns are ever to appear to the end of all time, 
we have at least one of each to fall back upon, 
and their works can never die. The world will 
worship at the old shrines until newer i^d better 
ones are erected. We have at least enough pure 
and beautiful music to fill a Yety large library, 
even if no more should ever be written ; and its 
beauty can never become threadbare, lliese 
composers did not degrade their art : they exalted 
it to the very pinnacle of grandeur. " Prologues 
in Heaven " do degrade it, and posterity can yerj 
well spare the heap of rubbish which has of late 
years accumulated under the hands of composers 
of that ilk. — Xon. Mus. Standard. 



August 28, 1880.] 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



139 



THE LYRICAL DRAMA. 



DT O. A. MACFARKKir, B8Q., M.A., 

Mas. Doo. Cautab., Prof. Mua. CanUb. 

Concluded from page 132. 

We will now advance to the period of Gluck. 
He beg»n his career as a writer of Italian operas. 
On this Italian modern (for then it was modern) 
model Gkick recited tlie whole story in what they 
call « dry recitative " (jecUatico secco) or recita- 
tive, accompanied only with the harpsichord and 
with the bowed instruments, to sustain tlie bass 
note, interspersed with one or other of the five 
classes of ari<u He attained groat celebrity, in 
consequence of which he was engaged to write for 
the King's Theatre in London. Here he sup- 
posed that, his works being unfamiliar, a pasticcio 
would supply all tliat was necessary, and there- 
fore his opera. La Caduta de* GigarUi, was a col- 
lection of pieces from several of his other operas 
adapted to a new text, and the work produced 
small effect. This brought upon him the convic- 
tion that music, to fulfill il« highest functions, 
must be written for, and written to, the situation 
in which it was presented ; that an adaptation of 
old music to new words, or new words to old mu- 
sic misrepresented both, and that the true dra- 
matic qualities could only be fulfilled if words 
and music were written for each other, and when 
these both belong to the situation for which they 
were deftigned. Such, indeed, was the idea 
which had been germinated by tlie Florentines, 
in their institution of recitative and thence of the 
opera. Such had been set forth at length by that 
distinguished Venetian amateur, Benedetto Mar- 
cello, who in 1720, published an essay on dramatic 
music " II teatro alia modo," in which he satii^ 
ized the vices of the dramatic music of the time. 
It became, hereafter, the province of Gluck to 
put the theory of Marcello into practice. Gluck, 
for many years, pondered this new view, although 
in its novelty it was but a revival of the treat- 
ment of the drantiatic element in music. He met 
with a poet, Calzabigi, who entirely agreed with 
him in this perception of dramatic propriety, and 
wrote for him, and with him, and into his very 
thoughts, the text of the opera of Alceste, 

Tliis was produced in Vienna, in 1767. It was 
an extraordinary change from what had been 
heard before, and met with very great success. 
In consequence of this success Gluck thoucrht 
that still higher things were possible to music 
than had been hitherto accomplished. He knew 
that the resources of the Paris Theatre exceeded 
those in any other capital; he knew the great 
powers ol scenic effect, and how all the accesso- 
ries then incident to the stage were to be met with 
in Paris. He went thither for the sake of extend- 
ing his practice in the composition of opera, and 
he brought forward his opera of Iphigenie en 
Atdide with a success which fully realized all his 
desires. But here he was bound by the exigency 
of the French opera of intermixing with his mu- 
sic very much dancing. He met with the famous 
Vestri, another instance of French recourse to 
Italian genius, for although the French is the 
dancing nation of all the world by universal ad- 
mission, this great Vestri, who bears the title in 
French annals of " Le dieu de U danse," was 
Italian born, and added the <' s" to the end of his 
name only after he had been some years settled 
in France. When then Iphigenie was to be prd- 
duced, Vestri went to Gluck to make arrange- 
ments for the ballet. He said he must have his 
gavolte, he must have his aUemande, he must have 
his hourrie, Gluck exclaimed, *' Agamemnon 
never danced a gavotte!** Vestri replied, " So 
much the worse for Agamemnon ; the people of 
Paris cannot witness an opera without one " ; and 
consequently such dances were necessarily in- 
serted into the drama which represented the woe 



of Agamemnon compelled to sacrifice his daugh- 
ter in. order to propitiate Diana for fair winds to 
carry the Greeks to Troy. 

We find in Handel tlie representation of sev- 
eral characters contained in one piece of music, 
but they have still this stagnant quality of singing 
so many asides together, and never addressing 
one another. A composer who is only known by 
name, for I have never been able to meet with 
any specimen of his works, Logroscino, is said to 
have, in some operas he wrote for the small 
theatre in Naples, represented continuous action 
in music, and to have had great success. Nicolo 
Piccini, afterwards the rival of Gluck in the great 
Paris musical warfare, extended the idea, and in 
his opera. La buona Figliuola, there are specimens 
of long-continued music during a varied action, 
where the characters address one another, where 
sometimes each sings his own sentiment aside 
while others sing theirs, and where this particular 
element in lyrical composition is brought to a very 
high standard. This was set to a text founded 
on our Richardson's novel of Pamela. The opera 
had an immense success, and, in consequence of 
it, Piccini's fame was very greatly extended. 

The particular combination of characters and 
continuation of action has its highest example in 
the masterpieces of Mozart, and we need but re- 
fer to the great finale of Don Giovanni^ to the 
finale of each act of Figaro, and to tlie sextet in 
tlie second act of Don Giovanni^ to perceive the 
utmost to which the dramatic musical art has yet 
attained; the utmost to which it seems possible 
human genius can ever reach. The only prob- 
ability that dramatic music may exceed these ex- 
amples may be in tlie choice of a loftier subject 
than the gallantries of Don Giovanni and the in- 
trigues of the Count's valet in Figaro. But with 
the application of such resources to a great tragi- 
cal or a great religious subject, the opera is 
capable of becoming the greatest development of 
the musical art. It is especially to be notioed, in 
these works of Mozart, that all the principles of 
musical construction are manifestly fulfilled, and 
that while they illustrate the action, while they 
express and declaim the text, the musical com- 
position is in itself so complete and so perfect 
that were the words withdrawn we should still be 
delighted to hear the music ; were the action im- 
perceptible, one still would feel his musical sense 
satisfied in the admirable pieces which these works 
present. 

I have now to speak of a particular quality in 
dramatic composition mych vaunted of late as a 
novelty due exclusively 40 one composer, and 
characterized by the German term of leit-motif. 
The rise of this may grow to be an abuse, and 
one must bear in mind the remark of one of the 
humorous journals on some more or less recent 
performance of the kind, that the Portuguese 
proverb Byron quoted may be applied to some of 
the works in question, and we may say that " Val- 
halla is paved with good motives," and those mo- 
tives are not always realized. One finds a par- 
ticularly strong anticipation of this allusion to a 
musical idea that has been previously stated in 
the first ^no/e of Beethoven's Fidelio. In the 
scene in this opera where the governor of the 
prison, Pizarro, requires Rocco, the jailor, to ful- 
fill his dreadful purpose upon the prisoner, Flores- 
tan, he has described the contemplated murder, 
and, after exclaiming <* £in Stoss," siMgs to four 
notes, with terrible emphasis, " Und er vers- 
tummt." In the^na/«, Rocco is pleading for the 
prisoners to be allowed to range the prison-yard, 
and enjoy for the first time the fresh air of heaven. 
Pizarro is angered to find them at large, and de- 
mands how has this man dared without order to 
set them for a while at liberty ? No word is in 
the text replied ; but in the orchestra are those 
four notes by which we read the conscience of 



Pizarro — that he feels he has confessed his in- 
tention to murder his victim — that he has made 
this man his confidant, and, of course, as he has 
made him his confidant, he cannot deny him the 
privilege which he has used, of giving the pris- 
oners a few moments of freedom. 

The same appropriation of a musical idea to 
the constant expression of one specialty may be 
noticed in the FreischiUz of Weber, where the 
influence of the evil spirit is always indicated by 
that particular tremolo with the soft note upon tlie 
drum, together with the pizzicato (or the basses. 
Again, in his Euryanthe, by that peculiar passage 
which occurs in tl^e centre of the overture in 
slower tempo than the rest of the movement, with 
muted violins, which 'u always used in the opera 
when allusion is made to that ghost story, which 
isi the means employed to injure the character of 
Euryanthe. I^t us look further : there is scarcely 
to be met with in an Italian opera a mad scene, 
where the prima donna lets down her back hair, 
but she is sure to sing some portions of the love 
duet she had with the tenor in the first act. And 
in all the operas of this century, where it has been 
found convenient, is displayed a natural, but not 
lavish use of this resource. The resource is not 
confined to dramatic music« 

It may be said to be an application of the same 
thing, that in setting even music for the church 
the recurrence of a musical .idea at a later portion 
of the text, which idea was previously heard with 
other words, is employed by the composer to 
throw the light of tliat former text upon the latter 
expression. Thus, for instance, we find in some 
settings of the canticle Te Deum that when in the 
latter portion of the hymn the words come, '* Day 
by day we magnify Thee," the same musical 
phrase is appropriated which is set to the word:*, 
"We. praise Thee, O God." To magnify, to 
praise, are one outpouring of the heart ; and the 
sense of this magnifying and worsliipping, in the 
latter portion of the hymn, is aggrandized and 
made more forcible by such musical reference to 
the corresponding words at the outset of the can- 
ticle. And in such manner as this, the principle 
of recurrent musical ideas is to be used, not as a 
pantomime trick of bringing up a stage goblin, but 
as a very high medium of enforcing the musical 
meaning. Further, it is not confined to vocal 
composition alone, but I maintain that in the 
symphony in C-minor of Beethoven, when in the 
last movement the theme of the scherzo recurs, 
this is quite as much an application of the princi- 
ple of leit-motif S3 anything that has occurred in 
recent operas. This is to recall in the midst of 
the grand heroic movement whatever sentiment 
the composer designed to express in the music of 
the scherzo; and this was not original in Beet- 
hoven, because in a symphony of Haydn in B, which 
is very little known, in precisely the same manner, 
and in precisely the same situation, namely, in &ie 
middle of the last movement, there occurs a phrase 
from the minuet of the same symphony.^ 

Again, in the first quartet of Mendelssohn for 
violins, at the end of the last movement occurs 
that bvely melody in £-flat, which opens the first 
movement. In the second quartet he begins with 
the melody, which he Ivui previously set to words, 
and the reference to which setting is a very strong 
index toward comprehending the expression in- 
tended by the whole quartet, and the quartet 
terminates with the same song set forth at length 
which is only hint^ at in the beginning. That 
is the quartet in A-minor. Then again, in his 
octet, there recurs in the midst of the last move- 
ment, a portion of the scherzo which is interwoven 
with the themes of the last movement, most in- 
geniously oombiiied, and the one is made to form 

> This liffle Haydn symphony was performed in one of 
the Harvard Symphony Uoucerts here In Boeton about 
twelve years ago. — Ed. 



140 



DWIGBTS JOOENAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1027. 



R counterpoint to the other. Here again we find 
this application in instrumental music of the ele- 
ment tliat I think is verv valuable, but bv no 
means a recent acquisition in the operatic treasury. 
We have to distinguish now between what the 
French call their grand opera and their comic 
opera, understanding that the term comic does 
not signify, as in ordinary speech, matter for jest 
and laughter and fun, but the comic opera corre- 
sponds with what was here called the ballad 
opera, or the opera of the days of Purcell ; an 
opera, namely, in which there is song, but in 
which much is spoken. And this has in France 
a very carious origin. A patent for the perform- 
ance of the lyrical drama was granted specially 
to the Acaddmie Royale. It was therefore, for- 
bidden to sing on the stage of any other theatre. 
There were, however, performed at the Op^ra- 
Coroique spoken dramas, which were interspersed 
with songs ; these songs were set to popular tunes, 
and when the situation for their insertion occurred 
a scroll was displayed, on which the words were 
written at length and in large characters; the 
band played the tune, and the audience sang the 
song. From this has been developed the Vaude- 
ville, and thence the op^rarcomique of the French 
stage. 

Corresponding with the opdra-comique, which 
has — more than our ballad operas possess — some 
occasional largely developed pieces, is the sing- 
spiel of the German stage, and it is to be remem- 
bered that it has been so highly developed that 
many of the best works in the German school are 
of this structure. Such are the Seraglio, the 
Zauberfldte of Mozart, the FreischiUz of Weber, 
the Fau8t of Spohr, and many others which might 
be named. 

It is in the last fifty years only that the com- 
position of the highest class of opera has been 
aimed at in England ; and although we have lost 
some of our dearest friends who have had best 
successes in this department, there are still some 
who aim at dramatic composition ; and let us hope 
that they will have the opportunity, as no doubt 
some of them may have Uie talent, to add yet 
glories to the lyrical drama. I would lastly re- 
mark that the sunshine of the poet draws from 
that great ocean, the musician's mind, the clouds 
which reflect its light prismatically broken into 
countless colors, and which ^ur their riches upon 
the earth to warm, and strengthen, and nourish 
men's hearts with the wealth of harvest — the 
harvest of the human mind. 



SACRED CONCERTS AND ORGAN MU- 
SIC IN PARIS.1 

[1780 amd I860.] 

It is neither by chance, nor mere caprice that 
the above dates, 1780 and 1880, stand side by 
side at the top of this rapid essay, which, while 
rethwpecUve, treats also of Uniay. What they 
prove, is that, in matters of art, tradition always 
presides, to a greater or less extent, at the birth 
and the development of everything useful and 
beautiful, and that the present cannot be explained 
without our knowing and comprehending the 
past. The concerts given for the last three 
years by M. Guilmant in the hall of the Trocar 
d^ro are related to those which, a century ago, 
found a home at the Tuileries, in a much less 
spacious locality, the Salle des Suisses, afterward 
called the Salle des Mardchaux. 

The " Concerts Spirituels," or Sacred Concerts 
of the last century were originally intended to 
replace theatrical performances during the period 
of Easter, and at certain solemn festivals. It was 
the brother of the celebrated composer, Philidor, 
who founded them, and the King lent him a 
special apartment in the Tuileries. The 18th 

< Fr<>m La Retve et Gazette MuticaU. (Translatioii from 
the London Aiuaical World,) 



March, 1 725, was the dav which saw the birth 
of what was a genuine Academy of Music, the 
number of concerts given annually being twenty- 
four or twenty-five. There were eighty-two per- 
formers, including a conductor, an x^rganist, 
eight reciters, or solo singers, male and female, 
and fifty-four symphonists. These concerts, which 
soon enjoyed .a very great reputation in France 
and Europe, lasted till the end of 1791, when 
there was a long period of silence extending 
down to 1805. 

In the year 1 780, then, if we look over the pro- 
grammes of the Sacred Concerts, at the head of 
which stcxxi Gossec to direct the orchestra, and 
one of the Couperins for the organ, we find 
among the principal works interpreted by such 
singers as Le Gros, Lays, Mmcs. Todi and 
Saint-Huberti, symphonies by Gossec, and airs 
by Ficcinni, Sacchini, Faisiello, Gluck, etc., be- 
sides melodies and concertos by Bach, sympho- 
nies by Haydn and Mozart, Pergolesi's Stabatj 
fragments from the Carmen Sceculare of Philidor, 
who had just achieved a great success in Eng- 
land, oratorios by various composers of the day, 
a " Te Deum," a " Dies iraj," and a " Veni, sanc- 
tus Spiritus," by Crossec, these different piticcs 
of the liturgy being adapted for the festivkls of 
Whitsuntide, All Saints, All Souls, etc. Among 
the eminent instrumentalists we may mention 
Duport the violoncellist ; Ozi, the bassoon play- 
er ; and Punto, the hornist. Among the prodi- 
gies of the period were Mile. Murdich, a dis- 
tinguished flautist, and Rodolphe Kreutzer, then 
scarcely thirteen, who was greatly applauded in 
a violin concerto, written by his master, Stamitz. 

The Sacred Concerts were discontinued 'at the 
end of 1791, to be revived about 1805, with vary- 
ing fortune and elsewhere than in the Tuileries. 
Gradually, what had so long been a brilliant insti- 
tution disappeared, or was hardly ever mentioned, 
save at very rare intervals, and during Passion 
Week. From twenty-four or twenty-five, the num- 
ber of concerts annually was reduced to two or 
three. 

One especial obstacle to the continuation, or 
rather resurrection, of these interesting and use- 
ful meetings was the want of a locality large 
enough to enable their directors to render them 
accessible to the masses. At last, in 1878, the 
erection of the Salle du Trocad^ro supplied this 
lamentable deficiency. In future, classic music 
has at its disposal a building worthy of it. There 
is a huge difference between the thousand or fif- 
teen hupdred places at the old Sacred Concerts 
and the five thousand of the amphitheatre at the 
Trocad^ro. M. Cavaill^Coll's grand organ — 
more favored in this respect than Uie other instru- 
ments and the voices, which have not much to 
thank the acoustic qualities of the edifice for 
— sounds powerfully through the vast space, and 
replaces Cliquot's charming, but too modest instru- 
ment, which lent its aid at the old concerts. An 
immense distance has been traversed, a great 
advance made, by passing from the fourteen or 
fifteen registers of Cliquot's instrument to the 
sixty of the organ at the Trocad^ro. M. Cavaill^- 
Coll's organ, by itself, is equal to the most power- 
ful orchestra in the world. 

The concerts inaugurated and carried on with 
SQch brilliant success by M. Guilmant for the last 
three years are in very many respects a revival of 
the old Sasred Concerts. They are, it is true, 
essentially organ concerts, but vocal and instru- 
mental music fill a sufllcient space in them for the 
assimilation to suggest itself naturally to the mind. 

But this year more especially, M. Guilmant has 
attempted a resurrection possessing all the attrac- 
tion and charm of something previously untried. 
We refer to the performance with organ and 
band, of Handel's concertos, so popular in Eng- 
land but hitherto not known in France. Some of 



the great master's oratorios gave, a few years ago, 
a foretaste of these fine works, which arc at one 
and the same time popular, and highly artistic in 
character. Handel wrote eighteen concertos for 
organ and orchestra. M. Guilmant, with the 
assistance of M. Colonne's excellent body of 
players, has given us four of these remarkable 
compositions with, in addition, a notable fragment 
from a fifth ; thereby constituting the great and 
legitimate success of his very interesting enter- 
tainments. We had the fourth concerto in F; 
the seventh in B-minor; the first, in G-minor; 
the second, in B-minor; and, lastly, a fragment 
of the sixth. We lay particular stress on Handel's 
concertos without again analyzing, after the re- 
ports published in this paper, the programmes of 
which they formed the chief ornament ; indeed it 
was the announcement that they were to be given, 
which attracted to the four concerts so numerous 
an audience that more than 800 persons had to be 
turned back on each occasion. Having come with 
a feeling of curiosity mingled with a certain 
prejudice against works supposed to be purely 
scholastic and consecjuently wearisome, the public 
were first astonished, then charmed, and finally 
enraptured with such melody united to such 
science, and disguising art by art itself. The 
frank rhythms, the genuine good humor, the rapid 
pace which caused tolerably long pieces to appear 
too short, all combined to ensure the immediate 
success of these masterpieces, which have so long 
formed part of the regular repertory in Germany 
and more especially in England. The effect pro- 
duced by their performance was well expressed 
by an amateur who observed : ** Tliis music 
possesses a rustic flavor which is charming ; we 
breathe it like the perfume of a meadow ; it has 
the odor of thyme." M. Guilmant has been 
worthily rewarded for his efforts by a degree of 
success hitherto unprecedented in this branch of 
art. His concerts have been more than an agree- 
able recreation for the crowd ; they may lay claim 
to the character of an artistic imitation. Are 
there many of which we can say as much ? 

Ch. Barthelemy. 



WAGNER ON BEETHOVEN.* 

Touching Beethoven, Wagner declares 

that it was the mission of the master to assert the 
proper function of his art ; to release it from the 
bondage of the external and trivial, and make it 
a revelation of the inmost soul. On this point 
our author, after referring to the retardation of 
Mozart's development by " unprecedented devia- 
tions," goes on to say: "We see young Beet- 
hoven, on the other hand, facing t^e world 
at once with that defiant temperament which, 
throughout his life, kept him in almost savage 
independence ; his enormous self-confidence, sup- 
ported by haughtier courage, at all times prompted 
him to defend himself from the frivolous demands 
made upon music by a pleasure-seeking world. 
He had to guard a treasure of immeasurable 
richness against the importunities of effeminate 
taste. He was the soo^sayer of the innermost 
world of tones, and he had to act as such in the 
very forms in which music was displapng itself 
as a merely diverting art." We will not stop to 
inquire whether Wagner's picture of Beethoven's 
** savage independence " is exactly warranted by 
the facts of, at least, the early part of his career. 
It is more important to raise a question as to the 
obligation expressed in the last-quoted sentence. 
Wagner was bound to meet the argument that 
his hero accepted, and, to the last, worked upon 
the recognized form of art, and we find here 
some sort of necessity assumed. Our author 
admits that Beethoven ** never altered any of the 

1 " BeethoTen." By Richard Wagner. With a Supple- 
ment from the Philoec^hical Works of Arthur Sehopen- 
haner. Translated by Edward Dannreuther. [LMidon: 
Beeves]. 



August 28, 1880.] 



DWIQHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



141 



extant forms of instrumental music on principle ; 
the same structure can be traced in his last sona- 
tas, quartets, symphonies, etc., as in his first/' 
He would have acted according to reason, we are 
told, if he had overthrown those forms as a lot of 
useless '* external scaffolding " ; but he did noth- 
ing of the kind, although the '' rough vehemence 
of his human nature shows how he felt the ban 
these forms laid upon his genius, with a sense of 
personal suffering almost as great as that which 
he felt under the pressure of any other convention- 
ality." The entirely gratuitous assuinption ex- 
pressed in these words makes it all the more 
Imperative that Wagner should explain to us why 
the savagely independent spirit of Beethoven 
did not burst asunder the chafing fetters of form. 
But our author does nothing of the kind. He 
tells as, in words already cited, that Beethoven 
** had to " observe form. Why " had to " ? We 
can see no obligation, and the fair inference is 
that the master adhered to accepted artistic 
methods in tlie exercise of his right of choice, 
conscious that they did not hinder 'but rather 
assist a full and intelligible expression of his ideas. 
How much Wagner is at a loss to reconcile his 
theory of Beethoven with Beethoven's acts appears 
by his riding out of the matter on the back of a 
compliment to the German nation : ** Here again 
is apparent the peculiarity of the German nature, 
which is inwardly so richly and deeply endowed, 
that it leaves its impress upon every form, re- 
models the forms from within, and thus escapes 
the necessity of externally overthrowing it." This 
may be very true, but affords no proof that 
Beethoven despised the forms he, through life, 
BO scrupulously observed. While we challenge 
Wagner on this point, it is impossible not to agree 
with his glowing description of the manner in 
which Beethoven's genius gave new life to the old 
methods. He may be somewhat hard upon the 
master's predecessors when he likens their works 
to a painted transparency with the light held 
before the picture, and Beethoven's to the same 
transparency with the light behind it, but every 
word of the following is true : ** Assuredly it is 
an enchanted state we fall into when listening to 
a genuine work of Beethoven's. In all parts and 
details of the piece, that to sober senses look like 
a complex of technical means cunningly contrived 
to fulfill a form, yre now perceive a ghost-like anima- 
tion, an activity here most delicate, there appall- 
ing, a pulsation of undulating joy, longing, fear, 
lamentation, and ecstasy, all of which again seem 
to spring from the profoundest depths of our own 
nature. For the feature in Beethoven's musical 
productions which is so particularly momentous 
for the history of art is this : that every technical 
detail, by means of which for clearness' sake the 
artist places himself in a conventional relation to 
the external world, is raised to the highest signifi- 
cance of a spontaneous effusion." Surely if this 
prove anything beside Beethoven's greatness, it 
shows that the classical forms which ** for clear- 
ness' sake " the master used are not incompatible 
with the complete manifestation of even a stu- 
pendous genius. Why then assail or ignore them, 
as some of Beethoven's successors take pride in 
doing ? 

Wagner next gives us some interesting remarks 
upon the difference in the essential natures of 
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The first-named 
master was satisfied to be a Prince's attendant. 
'' Submissive and devout, he retained the peace of 
a kind«hearted, cheerful disposition to a good old 
age." Mozart, on the other hand, found servitude 
unbearable, and spent himself in "an incessant 
struggle for an undisturbed and secure existence," 
sacrificing his fugitive earnings to the petty enjoy- 
ments of life. On his part, Beethoven, far too 
haughty to attend either prince or public, lived so 
much within himself that he was comparatively 



indifferent to the world of external things. And, 
as he withdrew farther and farther from that 
world, the clearer became his insight into inner 
and inward things. In urging this upon us 
Wagner becomes truly eloquent, and we follow 
his argument with unalloyed pleasure. In the 
light here shown, deafness came to Beethoven as 
a gift from the gods : " For the outer world now 
became extinct to him ; not that blindness robbed 
him of its view, but because deafness finally kept 
it at a distance from his hearing. The ear was 
the only organ through which the outer world 
could still reach and disturb him ; it had long 
since faded to his eye. What did the enraptured 
dreamer see when, fixedly staring with open eyes, 
he wandered through the crowded streets of 
Vienna, solely animated by the waking of his 
inner world of tones ? " 

We must pass over Wagner's remarks upon 
Beethoven's optimism in religious belief, and in 
the capacities of human nature, simply pointing 
out how, in view of it, he compares the master to 
a saint whose suffering is enhanced by every dis- 
play of evil works and ways. Beethoven's reason 
we are told, impelled him '' to construct the Idea 
of the Good Man," and then to find a melody 
proper to him. In working out this fanciful 
hypothesis Wagner becomes extravagant to the 
cool-headed reader. He speaks of the ** Eroica " 
Symphony as '* almost" indicating Beethoven's 
search after the Good Man; who is, however, 
more obviously found in the finale of the "C- 
minor," to which the '^ Eroica " appears as *< a 
protracted^ preparation, holding us in suspense 
like clouds moved now by storms, now by delicate 
breezes, from which at length the sun bursts 
forth in full splendor." As for the melody fitted 
to the Grood Man, Wagner discovers it in the last 
movement of the Ninth Symphony ; " The most 
consummate art has never produced anything 
more artistically simple than that melody, the 
childlike innocence of which, when it is first 
heard in the most equable whisper of the bass 
stringed instruments in unison, breathes upon us 
as with a saintly breath. It now becomes the 
Plain-Song — the choral of the new congreg]^ 
tion, around which, as in the church choral of 
Sebastian Bach, the harmonic voices form contra- 
puntal groups as they severally enter. There is 
nothing like the sweet fervor to which every newly- 
added voice further animates this type of purest 
innocence, until every embellishment, every glory 
of elevated feeling, unites in it and around it, like 
the breathing world round a finally revealed 
dogma of purest love." This is not less true 
thui eloquent ; but Beethoven would probably be 
surprised, could he live again, at the theory 
which connects his beautiful theme with search 
after a melody fitting for an ideal Grood Man. 
He might also want to know why such a melody 
is not recognised as having been found when the 
Choral Fantasia was written. Wagner now goes 
on to insist that Beethoven <* emancipated melody 
from the influence of fashion and* fluctuating 
taste," and not only so, but gave to vocal music, 
in relation to that which is instrumental, a new 
significance, by treating the voices, not with refer- 
ence to their verbal text, but as ** human instru- 
ments." An orchestra with voices thus became 
simply an orchestra with enhanced capabilities — 
in other words, additional instruments. '* We 
are all aware," says Wagner, ** that music looses 
nothing of ita character even wheni very different 
words are set to it ; and this fact proves that the 
relation of music to the art of poetry is purely 
illusory; for it holds true that when music is 
heard, with singing added thereto, it is not the 
poetical thought, which, especially in choral pieces, 
can hardly be articulated intelligibly, that is 
grasped by the auditor, but, at best, only that 
element of it which to the musician seemed suit- 



able for music, and which his mind transmuted 
into music." This leads our author into a philo- 
sophical discussion of " the most complete drama," 
as we should have it from the combination of a 
Shakespeare and a Beethoven, each speaking out 
of his inmost consciousness, regardless of forms 
and conventionalities. As to this part of the 
argument we must refer the reader to the book 
itself, since to touch it all would necessitate the 
taking up of large space. 

Wagner anticipated that his peculiar ideas 
about Beethoven would be held up to ridicule, 
and he here discusses at some length the literary 
and Aesthetic degeneracy of our age. He attributes 
it almost entirely to fashion — the subordination 
of individuality to a common pattern. The true 
paradise of mental activity, he tells us, was found 
before letters were invented, or written upon 
parchment or paper. But when written charac- 
ters were introduced, mental activity abated, and 
still more was this the case after the inven- 
tion of printing. Down to this point, however, 
there was some hope. ^ The genius of a people 
could come to an understanding with the printer," 
but the rise of journalism removed the last chance. 
" For now opinions Only rule, < public opinions,' 
and they can be had for money. Whoever takes 
in a newspaper has procured its *■ opinions ' over 
and above the waste paper ; he need not think or 
reflect any further; what is to be thought of 
God and the world lies ready before him in black 
and white." Thus, hopelessly in bondage to fash- 
ion or '* public opinion," we must, on Wagner's 
showing, look to music for comfort. The kingdom 
of music, like that of religion, is not of this world. 
" Let every one experience for himself how the 
entire modern world of phenomena, that, to his 
despair, everywhere impenetrably hems him in, 
suddenly vanishes away as soon as he hears the 
first bars of one of these divine symphonies. 
How could we possibly listen with any devotion 
to such music at one of our concert-rooms, if the 
physical surroundings did not vanish from our 
optical perception ? Yet this is, taken in its most 
serious sense, the uniform effect of music over and 
against our entire modern civilization; music 
extinguishes it as sunshine does lamplight." It 
is the spirit of this powerful and unfettered art, 
from which Beethoven struck the last shackles of 
fashion when he emancipated melody, that, accord- 
ing to Wagner, will re-animate our civilization as 
far as concerns the artistic Man. On the same 
authority, the task of re-animation devolves upon 
the German spirit, and will be achieved by it pro- 
vided it learn \f> comprehend the situation properly 
and relinquish every false tendency. — Lond. Mus. 
Times, 



THE LEIPZIG CONSERVATORIUM. 

In the columns of the Parigian, a young English 
lady, Bliss Bessie Richards, gives a brief but inter- 
esting description of life in Leipzig, with special 
reference to the career of young ladies who enter 
at the Leipzig Conservatoire. Miss Bessie Richards 
was, it is well known, a student at the Leipzig Con- 
servatoire, and she therefore speaks from experi- 
ence. Altogether her picture of life in the Saxon 
city is a highly favorable one. For a home you 
have the choice of boarding with a family — married 
officers and persons of similar standing freely receiv- 
ing boarders — or having private apartments. Miss 
Bessie Richards chose the latter alternative, and 
she had a room which served at once as a bed, sit- 
ting, and reception room. A large Berlin stove, 
without any visible fire, but which warms the apart- 
ment far more effectually tha^ the open fire-places ; 
a wooden bed, which is concealed by a screen dar- 
ing the day, a few chairs, a table, two or three rugs, 
and a parquet floor, rendering a carpet annecessary, 
form the furniture of these apartments. The 
examination to secure admission to the Conserva- 
toire is almost nominal, and the thiog is clenched 



142 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1027. 



hj the reading aloud of the rales and the payment 
of the fees. Miss Bessie Richards says : — 

'*As the professors present did not understand 
English, I fear, when on one occasion I was deputed 
to read the above-mentioned rules to some of my 
country-people, my sense of the humorous over- 
came my respect for the authorities; and some 
clauses which I added on my own account, delivered 
with a gravity befitting the occasion, slightly 
astonished my hearers. After giving the dates of 
their birth, with brief biographies of their nearest 
relations, the students arc ^.ovided with a plan of 
the daily lessons and can begin work." 

Into the system of study adopted at the Leipzig 
Conservatoire Mist Bessie Richards unfortunately 
does not enter in detail. She merely says that 
each student or " Conservatorist " and " Conserva- 
toristin," as they are called, has a right to from six 
to eight lessons a week in piano, violin, violoncello, 
or singing, and harmony ; besides which there are 
weekly lectures, ensemble classes for the practice 
of concerted music, and entertainments (Abend- 
unterhaltungen), every Friday evening, arranged 
for the purpose of accustoming the inexperienced 
artists to perform in public. These take place in 
the concert-hall, a room capable of holding from 
four to five hundred people ; and all interested in 
the success of the Conservatorium are admitted. 
Miss Richards complains that at the Conservatoire 
"the male and female classes are kept carefully 
apart : a precaution which appeared to me very un- 
necessary, since I never met a member of the institu- 
tion who could have succeeded in diverting my 
attention for one moment from my studies." After 
some cursory remarks on the hats of the gilded 
youth of Leipzig, Miss Richards proceeds to describe 
the amusements of the city. She says : — 

" The amusements offered in Leipzig during the 
winter are the theatres, numerous concerts, and 
skating. The new theatre is a large and handsome 
building, where operas and dramas are given alter- 
nately every evening. Although the 'stars' of 
London, Paris, and St. Petersburg are seldom heard 
there, great attention is paid to the orchestra and 
chorus, resulting in a generally good performance. 
The low prices (the most expensive seats costing 
only four shillings on ordinary occasions) enable 
even persons of slender means to indulge frequently 
in these entertainments. The principal 6rchestral 
concerts are the Gewandhaus, the Euterpe, and 
occasional church concerts for the performance of 
oratorios, masses, etc. There are also'lhe Hammer- 
musik Soin^en, or chamber music soirees, once a 
week, and occasional concerts organized by stray 
artists visiting the town. The Gewandhaus Con- 
certs every Thursday evening are the event of the 
if^eek. The rehearsals, at which members of the 
Conservatorium have the privilege of being present, 
take place on Wednesday morning, beginning at 
Aine o'clock — the early hour raising murmurs, in 
which even the most enthusiastic amateurs cannot 
but Join. All the numbered seats having been sub- 
scribed for by the same families for years, and 
being looked upon as heir-looms, outsiders wishing 
to be present at these concerts are condemned to 
sit in the Kleiner Saal, where it is possible to see, 
but not, except from the lew seats facing the door 
which leads into the large room, to hear. To secure 
the coveted chairs is the ambition of all ; and a 
formidable party may be found assembled on the 
stairs of the Gewandhaus an hour before the doors 
ore opened, prepared on the ringing of the bell, the 
signal for their admission, to incur any risks in com- 
passing this end. The new comers, uninitiated in 
these customs, are slightly astonished on arriving 
shortly before the beginning of the concert, to find 
all chance of obtaining a seat at an end. But, shortly 
after, the novice, who a few weeks earlier would 
probably have been sauntering leisurely into St 
James's Hall in all the splendor of evening array, 
might be seen scampering madly along the passages 
of the Gewandhaus, upsetting any one who barred 
the way to the longed-for seat The discovery of a 
less-f requ. nted entrance on the other side of the 
hall caused at one time a certain amount of excite- 
ment, and a few admitted to the secret were missed 
from their usual posts on the stairs. The result 
was that the two parties, mshing frantically from 



opposite directions, fell into each other's arms ; and 
in the struggle the seats which had been the object 
of this unseemly encounter fell to the lot of the 
less enterprising competitors bringing up the rear. 
The Euterpe Concerts are also of considerable 
repute, but not sufficiently so to necessitate a resort 
to strong measures in order to obtain a stall." 

Miss Richards also describes the cafi^s, giving 
an amusing picture of the fondness of grown men 
and women for chocolate, and the horror of the 
average German for a current of fresh air in a 
room ; and with a description of the arrangements 
for skating, and a warm panegyric of the hospitality 
and kindness of the inhabitants towards strangers, 
her interesting essay concludes. 

Wos^xffyV^ S^ountal of ^u^it. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1880. 

LOCAL ORCHESTRAS. 

Mr. C. Villicrs Stanford, one of the rising com- 
posers of England, and a musician of culture, 
living and working at Cambridge University, has 
addressed the following letter to the organists of 
the English cathedrals. Though we have no 
cathedral cities, and no military centres of the 
kind here alluded to, yet the principal suggestion 
in the letter would seem to be, mulatU mutandis, 
equally applicable to the musical condition of 
some parts at least of our own country. 

We have frequently insisted in these columns 
on the desirableness of having a good local orches- 
tra in every city and large town which has ac- 
quired importance as a musical centre.* Nothing 
could do so much to secure the musical independ- 
ence of a community. It would leave us far less 
at the mercy of speculating managers and agents, 
with their travelling bands and orchestras. If 
we have not truned cathedral choirs, we have in 
many towns and cities vocal societies, which study 
with enthusiasm oratorios and cantatas of the 
highest character, and would perform them of tener 
if they only had the means of a suitable instru- 
mentsJ accompaniment without going to Boston 
or New York for it What gives real musical 
character to a place is its possession, all within 
itself, of its own orchestral, as well as its own 
Yocaly organization. The same thing may be 
said also of the opera; there will bo no true 
opera in America until we cease to be dependent 
for this costly and luxurious entertainment upon 
the travelling impresaril, and have permanent, 
established, local lyric theatres of onr own. 

Mr. Stanford suggests to his brother cathedral 
organists that ^'outpgoing choristers" (boys we 
presume) in the several choirs might be taught to 
play instruments against the time when their voices 
would naturally fail them. This resource would 
amount to little here. But, on the other hand, with 
all our music schools and ** Conservatories," and 
with the increasing interest in music everywhere 
about us, might not the materials for a small orches- 
tra be found and made available by training, not 
only in principal cities like Boston, but in large 
towns like Worcester, Salem, Springfield, etc, — 
in short, wherever an oratorio society exists? 
And it would also serve for purely instrumental 
concerts. Mr. Stanford writes : — 

Sir, -^ In the present acknowledged dearth of 
local orchestras in England, I venture to ask your 
attention to, and if possible cooperation in, a plan 
for supplying a want so widely felt Good chorus 
singers and choral societies are in plenty, while the 
means of adequately accompanying them is so rare, 
that either an orchestra must be obtained at great 
expense from London or Manchester, or else re- 
course must be had to the miserable substitute of 
a harmonium or pianoforte. If we except Bristol, 
and a very few of the larger cities, local orchestra- 
concerts, such as are to be found flourishing in the 
smallest German towns, are unknown ; and that too, 
not from the absence of mnsieal appreciation in the 



English public, but from the lack of instruction in 
orchestral instruments. I have tried, and hitherto 
with success, the expedient of having out-going 
choristers in my choir taught orchestral instru- 
ments, and their previous musical training stands 
them in such good stead, that I confidently expect 
to find eventually good results in a competent local 
orchestra. The knowledge of orchestral instru- 
ments will be profitable to them, in that it will sup- 
plement their income from whatever mercantile or 
other pursuits they enter upon when they leave 
the choir. I trust that you will see your way to 
developing this idea in your town and choir. If 
the Cathedral cities were to make an effort in this 
direction, the effect both upon English audiences 
and English music, would, I feel convinced, be a 
most marked one. As many Cathedral towiis are 
also military centres, no difficulty would be found 
in procuring the services of a band-master or other 
qualified person to teach the various instruments. 

Hoping for your valuable co-operation in this 
plan, and for any suggestions you may make for 
its furtherance, I remain, dear Sir, yours yery 
faithfully, C. Villi ekb Stanfobd. 

TaiNITY GOLLZOX, CAMBBIlXiB, Jolj 27th, UlM. 



HOUSEHOLD MUSIC. 

One of the most powerful means for the dis- 
semination of musical knowledge and the conse- 
quent progress in musical art, is the proper prac- 
tice of music in the household. Sufficient atten- 
tion is not given to the cultivation of this phase 
of the art It is too generally looked upon as an 
unimportant branch of education, which may take 
care of itself. But this is a mistake ; because it 
denies the people a vast amount of pleasure and 
profit MusicaJ enthusiasts who are continually 
running wild over music and musicians would do 
well to devote some of their exuberant energy to 
the propagation of music in the home circle. The 
average young lady amateur should be taugl t 
that outside of her two or three little piano pieces 
there is a world of music, which, if she will, she 
may enter with delight and profit to iierself. As 
a household instrument, the piano is unsurpassed ; 
but its abuse must be guarded against It is so 
popular a form of music-making that people are 
apt to look upon it as the only musical instrument 
available for the household. The interchange of 
sympathy and enthusiasm, brought about by the 
practice of partrsinging or part-playing in the 
household, is far more conducive to the propaga- 
tion of musical art among the people than is the 
incessant and indifferent use of any one ioBtru- 
ment 

The violin and orchestral instruments generally 
are now much studied by ladies, so that, besides 
the gentleman players who can be procured, the 
material for home orchestras is not lacking. Thia 
form of home music combines informal social 
enjoyment with deep study of the works of the 
great masters. Moreover, it has the additional 
effect of familiarizing the casual listener with the 
masterworks of musical genius, until their intrin« 
sic beauties grow upon him. Hence, side by side 
with the spread of concerted music in the house- 
hold, will grow the popular appreciation of that 
classic music which is now too rigidly believed to 
be far above the comprehension of the masses. 
Many persons do not enjoys classic music, not 
because they lack a natural tast« for it, but 
because they do not listen to it often enough to 
grow familiar with it The practice of holding 
musical evenings in the house, for the perform- 
ance of both solo and concerted music, is one 
likely to stimulate a love for the art In the per- 
formance of part music, the piano can be brought 
into use in numerous ways. Apart from ita 
unique use as a solo instrument, the piano is in- 
valuable for accompanying, on account of its har- 
mony-producing powers. Though it has not that 
perfection of intonation to be found in the stringe.1 
instruments, its unique qualities wUl always sus- 



August 28, 1880.] 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



143 



tain it as the instrument of instruments for house- 
hold use. It certainly is a much abused thing, 
but its use is so important tliat the abuse is, in a 
measure, excusable. Very few people take prof)er 
care of the piano. They allow it to be exposed 
to the vagaries of the atmosphere and of piano- 
thumping young ladies. Not having an acutely 
musical ear, they do not know when tlicir instru- 
ment gets out of order, or, knowing, they neglect 
to have it tuned often enough. The consequence 
is that such neglect inflicts a permanent injury 
upon the instrument, destroying its quality of 
tone and purity of intonation. These defects 
combine to blunt the musical sensibilities of the 
learner on the instrument, as well as to grate 
upon the sensitive ear of the musician. 

The quality of the musical compositions for the 
piano in use of late years is much better than 
formerly, yet much room remains for improve- 
ment. Trashy songs and piano pieces still occupy 
too prominent a place upon the household music- 
stand. When a higher standard of musical ap- 
preciation is reached by the general public, this 
demand for trashy music will cease. Meanwhile, 
it is reasonable to think that an inferior quality 
of music in the household is better than none at 
all, since it may indirectly lead to the apprecia- 
tion of something better. Many hot-headed 
musicians and ultra-classicists do not endorse this 
view of the matt^, but erroneously urge tlie in- 
troduction of classic music into every household, 
where not even the slightest preparation has been 
made for its reception. The adequate apprecia- 
tion of classic music is tk matter of education and 
time. There is no reason why the best and 
highest music may not, in course of time, become 
a common means of household enjoyment. The 
general public has begun to find that tliere is 
greater beauty than they had supposed in classic 
music, as the appreciation of it at concerts testi- 
fies. And so, in very many homes it has justly 
usurped the place of the light and ephemeral 
trash which has so long held sway. 

To place music in the house upon its legitimate 
footing, it is necessary that it should be some- 
what systematized. Every household ought to 
form a musical club, composed of a few select 
members, who would meet together regularly for 
practice and for social enjoyment. The musical 
duties ought to be carried out earnestly, and the 
evening's pleasure ought not to degenerate into 
a mere pastime. Nor is it sufficient that de- 
votees of the art be merely executants. There 
arc many branches outside of the playing of music 
which are of deep interest to the true music-lover. 
Tlie perusal and discussion of the several branches 
of musical literature are never-failing means to 
arouse in thinking minds an interest and enthu- 
siasm which cannot but bear good fruit. To read 
the biography of a composer, then to study an 
analysis of certain of his works, and hear those 
works performed, is an absorbing treat to the 
man who is not a practical musician, as it is to 
one who is a deep student of the art. It is the 
intellectual pluue of musical appreciation which 
our household musicians need to cultivate. The 
perusal of standard musical literature and the 
musical periodicals is one means to this great end. 
In a«ldition to his inherent love for music, the more 
general culture a man possesses, the more will 
he be enabled to appreciate the depth and gran- 
deur of the art — the broader will be his capa- 
bilities of conception and appreciation. If people 
thus gifted would bestow some of their attention 
on the cultivation of mu^ic in the house, in course 
of time there would be very little heard about the 
lack of general admiration for the best and highest 
in musical art. The sooner people learn that 
musical appreciation does not wholly consist in 
their passive attendance at concerts and operas, 
the sooner they will learn that their perfunctory 



contributions to musical societies and the like are 
not the only requisites for the elevation of music ; 
the better it will be for the ennobling art which 
demands active, personal sincerity from those fol- 
lowefs who would elevate it to its proper place 
among the people. George T. Bulling. 



OLE BULL. 

A despatch from Bergen, Norway, by way of 
London, received here on the 19th Inst., announced 
the death of the veteran violinist and great popular 
favorite, Ole Bull. For many years, and even until 
the past few months, he was a familiar figure in 
these parts, still attracting attention and admira- 
tion by his noble stature, his courteous demeanor, 
his outward dignity and grace, his benevolent and 
beaming countenance, crowned by the copious mass 
of hair white with age, which made his aspect ven- 
erable. He lived last winter at Cambridge, in the 
house of James Russell Lowell, enjoying the 
friendly intercourse of Longfellow and other friends 
of culture and distinction, wlio celebrated liis sev- 
entieth birthday there last -February; and he was 
often seen in concerts, both as performer and as 
hearer. 

As a man, a mind, a character, he could be ad- 
mired, without much admiration of his music. His 
personality was striking. There was a touch of 
genius, or something like it, in his face and in his 
conversation, and there was a certain charm in all 
his eccentricity. He was noted also for his public 
spirit, his generous aid of charitable or noble causes, 
and for the outspoken freedom of his opinions 
always on the side of liberty and of humanity. He 
could tolerate no nonsense, no affectation (although 
he has been often charged with the latter weakness, 
himself, in his art). He hated Wagner's music; we 
have heard him say : " There's murder in that music, 
it appeals to the lower passions." On the other 
hand, he was an intense admirer of Moaart, even 
more so than of Beethoven. Schumann seemed to 
be too much for him. 

As a violinist, and as a composer, Ole Bull ranked 
rather as a virtuoso, than as a musician in the best 
sense. He had undoubtedly a sincere love of his 
instrument, could woo from it the sweetest, richest 
tones, and had acquired, in certain respects, a rare 
mastery of execution. But he dealt too much in 
brilliant, startling effecta and in exaggerated senti- 
mentality. He played down to his audience. He 
became the spoiled child of popular applause ; 
always repeating himself , playing over and over for 
many years the same small stock of pieces, which 
were sure to please the multitude ; manifesting no 
progress whatever as a musician and composer from 
the time of his first popular triumphs here in 1843. 
His compositions, which he almost always played, 
as well as his fantastic, rarely felicitous improvisa- 
tions, were mostly of the flimsiest and even claptrap 
character ; they pleased the crowd, and he was always 
upon exhibition, caring more for that, apparently, 
than for real earnest growth in art. Yet there was 
a certain halo of romance about him, a certain 
legendary something, that made him still a hero 
with the people. To them he seemed to embody 
and continue into our modem times the outworn 
minstrel character and function of the middle ages. 
Wlule he has added nothing to the history of Art, 
Ids memory will be cherished as tliat of an impos- 
ing, genial, attractive personality. We take from 
the Trantcript the following sketch of his career: 

He was bom in Bergen, Norway. His passion 
for music manifested itself at a very early age, but 
was discouraged by his father, who destined him 
for the church. At eight years old he played in 
the Philharmonic concerts at Bergen, and at nine 
he played first violin in Beethoven's symphony in 
D. When he was eighteen years of age his father 
sent him to the University of Christiana, which he 
soon left on account of taking charge of an orches- 
tra at one of the theatres during the illness of the 
leader. In 1829 he went to Cassel to study with 
Spohr, but his reception was so cold as to almost 
entirely suppress his musical enthusiasm. He then 
began the study of law at Gottingen, but soon 
recovered from the despondency caused by his 
interview with Spohr, and once more determined to 
devote himself to his art, and went to Minden, 
where he gave his first conceit with considerable 
success. At this place a quarrel with a fellow art- 



ist resulted in a challenge, and in a duel which fol- 
lowed his antagonist was mortally wounded. Com- 
pelled to leave the country, he went to Paris, where 
he led a most precarious and wretched life, and 
after bein^ robbed of everything he possessed, 
including his violin, he attempted suicide by drown- 
ing. He was rescued and taken to the house of a 
recently bereaved mother, who found in him a 
remarkable resemblance to her dead son, and as- 
sisted him so liberally that he was enabled to 
appear in public in the profession he had chosen. 
The next seven years were spent in professional 
tours through Europe, by which he acquired not 
only an extended reputation but a handsome for- 
tune. In 1838 he returned to his native place with 
his wife, a Parisian woman, and five years later 
made his first visit to the United States, where he 
was enthusiastically received, his concert tour yield- 
ing him a rich pecuniary harvest. In 1846 he re- 
turned to Europe, and during the succeeding seven 
years gave a series of concerts in the principal 
cities of the continent, made a campaign in Algeria 
against the Kabyles under General i usuf , built a 
theatre in his native town, and made an effort to 
establish in Norway national schools in literature 
and art. His liberality and patriotism brought him 
in contact with the police because of his political 

§ references, and a number of vexatious lawsuits 
issipated his fortune, and in 1852 he made his 
second visit to this country. In the same year he 
purchased a tract of uncultivated land, comprising 
120,000 acres, in Potter County, Pennsylvania, and 
founded an agricultural colony, to which the name 
of Oleana was given in honor of its founder. The 
project, however, was only partially successful, and 
to relieve the pecuniary embarrassments which fol- 
lowed he resumed his concerts. Upon the comple- 
tion of the Academy of Music in New York in 1854, 
he leased the building and undertook the manage- 
ment of Italian opera, which, however, proved ex- 
tremely disastrous, and at the end of two months 
was abandoned. He again returned to Europe, 
where he gave concerts with much success. In 
April, 1866, he was reported to have died in Quebec, 
but since that time he has had a very busy and pros- 
perous life. On June 1, 1870, he was married to Miss 
Sarah C. Thorp, daughter of Hon. J. G. Thorp of 
Madison, Wis. Some months later he came again 
to America. Since then he has lived in America 
most of the time, and during last winter was a resi- 
dent of Cambridge, where he occupied Hon. James 
Russell Lowell's estate. During recent years he 
has frequently appeared here in concerts, and he 
has taken a deep interest in all matters pertaining 
to music, the drama and art. 



LOCAL ITEMS. 

Miss Lillian Bailey and Mr. George Henschel, the noted 
baritone, late of London, arrived here last week, and 
are now visiting at Haydenville, Mass. Mr. Henschel 
will not sing here before bis return to England, where 
he is engaged' for the Leeds Festival in October. He 
will make his American d^ut on hin return here, Nov. 
6, in New York, and will be heard first in this city in 
the Bay State coarse, Nov. 11. Pity that the Handel 
and Ha\'dn Society cannot have him to sing the part of 
Elijah, at the opening of the new Treroont Temple I 

The Handel and Haydn Society will perform the 

MeBtiah and Elijah in the opening week of the new 
Tremont Temple. In the first oratorio, October 11, 
Miss Lillian Bailey will be the soprano soloist, making 
her first re-appearance in this city after singing at the 
Worcester Festival. 

The Mendelssohn Quintet Club's new memben 

for the coming season are Isidore Schnitsler, first vio- 
lin, from Rotterdam, and Ernst Thiele, violin, from 
Philadelphia. Messrs. 'William Schade, Ante, and 
Frederick Giese, 'oello, make their second season with 
the club, and Thomas Ryan begins his thirty -first year 
with the organization which he created. The dob, 
with Miss Lewis, who has Just returned from Europe, 
after an absence of two yean, are prepairing to make 
a concert tour in Maine and the Provinces, appearing 
in St. John, N. B., Sept. 7, returning to Boston about 
the 2Sth. 

The Boston PhiUiarmonic Orchestra, Bemhard 

Listemann, conductor, is to be increased for the coming 
season to forty4wo men, and will give five concerts of 
classical and miscellaneous selections before the New 
Year. The principal works promised are the follow- 
ing:— 

Symphonies: Beethoven ~ Pastoral in F, No. 6; Liszt 
— A "rauHt" symphony in thiee parts, with Schluss 
chorus and Dsnte symphony (first part, *' Inferno"): 
Raff— "Im Walde'^; Tschaikowski — Suite, Op. At, 
Overtures: Weber — "Freischutz " : Berlioz — " Le 
Carnival Remain "; Gluck— ''Iphlsenia in Anils" 
(finished by 'Wagner); Beethoven —**KiuK Stephen"; 
Wagner — "Eine Faust Ouverture*'; Goldmark — 
— 'HPenthesUea " ; Dvorak — " Der Bauer ein Scbelm " 



144 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1027. 



(The PeaMuit a Roj^ue). Miscellaneous : Rubinstein — 
"Don Quixote" (munical character picture); HofFman 
— Three character pieces: Mozart — Divertimento in 
D; Warner— "Siegfried's Funeral March," *;Wald- 

wnhAn '^ an/1 '< ICnininrmaminh *' • Tphftilrnurttlri — An. 



weben'^ and " Kaktermarsch 



dante for strings; Dvorak — Slavonic Dances (new); 
Kd. Kretschmer — " Abendruhe/* for strings; Brahms 
— Hungarian Dances; Saint-Sticns — "The Youth of 
Hercules" aud "Phaeton"; Paine — Scherzo from 
" Spring Svmphony " ; Handel — Andante and Menuet 
from the Fourth Concerto, and Musette from the Sixth 
Concerto ; Bach, Gavotte in D minor ; Liszt — " Carni- 
val of Peeth " and " Rakoczy March ' ' : Zopf — " IdyJ- 
len/' for two orchestras ; Strauss — Waltzes, etc. 

The Sunday Herald tells us: — 

Few musicians have been more in demand than 
Theodore Thomas has since his return, managers from 
all sections vleiug with each other in their efforts to 
secure his services. Offers for one hundred night en- 
gagements and for more extended concert toun have 
been made him by a number of responsible amuse- 
ment caterers, but largely with no result. Manager 
Peck has, however, secured his services, with that of 
his newly-organized orchestra, for the last week in 
October, when a series of concerts will be given in this 
locality. It is more than probable that one of the at- 
tractions of this engagement will be the production of 
"The Damnation of ]?anst," with all the attractions, 
as regards a perfect orchestra, efficient soloists and 
chorists that can be desired. A number of the novel- 
ties brought over bv Mr. Thomas, and so strictly 
guarded [!J 'i^na puolic knowledge, will also be pro- 
duced during this engagement. 

WoRCBSTBR, Masji. The twenty-third annual fes- 
tival of the Worcester County Musical Association will 
occur September 20th to 24th inclusive. Its scheme 
embraces eight concerts of a very high character, intro- 
ducing artists prominent in every department, in Eu- 
rope as well as this country, in solo aud concerted mu- 
sic; and, in connection with the great chorus of the 
association an augmented orchestra and the Worcester 
organ, in works of the largest and most brilliant char- 
acter. 

At the head of the long arraj of eminent artists, un- 
der engagement tor the festival, is the name of the 
charming soprano, Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, who, having 
been engaged at large expense by the association for this 
festival, retires for a short period from the scenes of 
her recent triumphs in England, to return there at 
once upon the fulfillment of her contract at the Wor- 
cester festival, in order to fill an engagement as prin- 
cipal soprano with AJbani, at the Leeds festival of 
October 14th to 18th, and other engagements immedi- 
ately following. Mrs. Osgood is one of the very fore- 
most sopranos in public estimation, and the committee 
who boldly assumed the necessary expense to secure 
her services desen'e commendation. 

Miss Lillian Bailey, the pleasing young soprano just 
arrived from England, Italy, Germany and Holland, 
where she has created great enthusiasm by her pure 
voice aud svmpathetic, artistic singing, has also been 
secured. Miss Bailey's api)earance here at the festi- 
val of 1877 is well rememoei-ed, and she will be wel- 
comed home again from successes abroad with much 
pleasure. 

As it is a part of the plan of the committee to Intro- 
duce new and, to our audiences, unknown but merito- 
rious talent each year, they have made an effort to do 
this the present year, and have engaged the services 
of Mrs. tf. C. Hull, a rising soprano, lately secured as 
soprano at the Church of the Incarnation, New York 
city, who will appear on one or more occasions during 
the festival. Mrs. Hull has sung the leading role hi 
Auber's Crown Diamonds and Balfe's BoKemian Girl 
as well as in most of the oratorios, and good things are 
expected of her. 

Annie Louise Carv, who sustains the principal alto 
solos at the festival, requires no word of praise from 
us, and no introduction to a festival audience. It is 
nnderatood that the committee, by insisting upon the 
fulfillment of her contract with them, simply occa- 
sioned Annie (sic) to conclude an engagement follow- 
ing with Mapleson here, rather than In England; con- 
traltos of the calibre of Miss Cary are not common 
enough on either side of the AtUntic to remain long 
unemployed. Miss Ita Wehih will assume the mezzo- 
soprano solos in the Bequiem Mass by Verdi, which 
will be brought out with the same grand orchestral 
and general dramatic effect as called out such interest 
at itM presentation in Boston at the triennial festival of 
the Handel and Havdn Society in May last. 

Mr. C. R. Adams,* who sang the work under its com- 
poser, and who first brought it to this country, will 
sing the great tenor airs in the Bequiem Mass, while 
Mr. Clarence £. Hay will sustain the baritone solos in 
the same work, also appearing in other concerts during 
the festival. Mr. Theo. J. 'foedt, the principal tenor 
of last year's festival, will sing, as will also Mr. W. C. 
Tower and Mr. C. F. Bonnev, the latter having hitely 
returned from several years study abroad ana recent 
successful appearances at the Crystal Palace conceits, 
London. Myron W. Whitney heads the list of bassos, 
which also contains the name of D. M. Babcock. 

The Schubert Concert Company, comprising sixteen 
of the leading membera of the Apollo CIud, (male 
voices) of Boston, will also appear. The Eichberg 
Quartette of young lady violinists will undoubtedly re- 
peat their success of last yeAr's festival and confirm 
the good impression then made by them. 

Tiinothie Adamowski, the violin virtuoso, lias been 
secured, as has also an increased orchestra of selected 
musicians. Negotiations are in progress with a fintr 



class pianist for concert solos, and also with other 
vocal and instrumental artists. 

We have said enough to show conclusively that the 
coming festival will take a step in advance in interest 
over any its predecessors, and need only add, as a still 
greater assurance of success, that Messrs. B. D. ^Uen, 
George W. Sumner, aud E. B. Story are to be the ac- 
companists, and Carl Zerrahn conductor. 

The festival chorus begin their fall series of rehear- 
sals on Monday evening, August '<jO^ contiuuing them 
on the evenings of September 2, G, 0, 13, IG and 17, the 
festival beginning the 20th of September, aud continu- 
ing five days. — Worcester Spy. 

CiNCiirKATi. The Inquirer has the following intel- 
ligence, which has also been widely disseminsled by 
c&cular: 

The College of Music, it may be safely said, is 
now a permanent institution of our city. It passed 
through a fiery furnace during the first few months of 
ita existence, and has come from the flames of dissen- 
sion, jealousy and discontent purified and perfect. 

There are many of the doubting kind, who, when 
Theodore Thomas withdrew from the college, with 
looks of wisdom and nodding heads, said, "they knew 
the college would not be a permanent institution," and 
with the passing away of Mr. Thomas these people ex- 
pected the college would also disappear; but they have 
been disappointed. 

The name of Theodore Thomas undoubtedly gave 
prestige to the college and proved a charm, but as he 
was not the soul of that institution, its life was not even 
threatened when he withdrew. 

The college directora recently announced that a new 
department " A School for Operatic Training," was 
soon to be added to its already numerous branches of 
study. Col. George Ward Nichols, president of the 
college, has been in New York city for some time 
makfug arrangements to secure a competent teacher 
for this department, and it will be gratifying to our 
people to kjiow that he has secured the services of the 
well-known and popular impresario, Max Maretzek. 
Mr. Maretzek will bring to the college his invaluable 
services as a teacher of singing, which, toother with 
his long experience as an impresario, eminently fits 
him for this position. The letter of Mr. Maretzek to 
Colonel Nichols accepting the appointment is so inter- 
esting that we publish it. He pays a high compliment 
to the "native talent of America," aud displays his 
confidence in the College of Music and its success 
when he says that there is no need for American sing- 
en to go abroad to attain a perfect training when they 
have an operatic department in such a school as the 
College of Music. The acceptance of the position is 
also an evidence of the faith Mr. Maretzek nas in our 
Ck>llege of Music and its ultimate perfect success. It 
will not be out of place to state here that the number 
of pupils at the college during the coming winter will 
be almost double that of last year. The applications 
of scholars are coming in daily, and it is now thought 
that at least one thousand pupils will be instructed in 
the college during the coming fall and winter terms. 
The letter of Mr. Maretzek is as follows: 

Nkw York, August 7, 1880. 

'* Georob Wabd Nichols, Esq., President College 
of Music of Cincinnati. ~ Z>«ar Sir: I accept with 
pleasure the flattering invitation of the Board of Direo- 
ton of the (;k>llege of Music,' of Cincinnati, to perform 
the duties of Professor of Voice and of the Operatic 
Department in your great institution. For over thirty 
years I have been associated as conductor and manager 
of the operatic stage, and during that time I have as- 
sisted in the appearance of the most prominent artists 
who have, visited this country, aud of many others who 
have been ambitious to become great artists. This 
long experience has revealed to me an immense 
amount of native talent, which only needed the right 
kind of musical training to produce American singera 
equal, if not superior, to any in the world. There is 
no need to go abroad to attain such' training when 
there is, as you propose to have in connection with a 
school like yours, where the rudiments of music are 
already taught, a department where the student can be 
placed upon the stage and taught to act as well as sing. 
The position you oner to me suits my inclination, and 
I sincerelv hope and believe that it may result in the 
much higher elevation of the standaitl of the operatic 
stage in this country. 

" Believe me, yours truly, Max Mabktzek.*' 

Speaking of the Cincinnati college circular, an- 
nouncing the engagement of Max Maretzek, the 
Worcester Gazette says: "Again appeare to us the 
now familiar envelope of the Cincinnati College of 
Music, containing another circular. Both the enclos- 
ure and the shell bear the device of the college, witH a 
lion rampant, regardant, with his tail curled round a 
post to steady himself, while he sings wildly of the de- 
parture of Theodore Thomas, accompanying himself 
on the harp. It is an ingenious bit of neraldiy." 

» 
MUSIC ABROAD. 

Paris. '* C. H. M." writes (July 81) to the London 
Musical Standard: 

The public competition which has Just ended at 
the Conservatoire has not disclosed many un- 
suspected Pattis or sucking Rubinsteins, nor indeed 
can it be said to have satisfied even the modest 
expectations we had formed of it. One artist of 
unquestionable talent has however been made 
known to us through it — Mile. Tua, the young 



lady who carried off the first prize in the violin 
competition. First prizes for singing were awarded 
to Miss Griswold (a clever American pupil of M. 
Barbot), and to Mile. Mcrguiller. Tlie first prizes 
for piano fell to M. Ren^ (a pupil of M. Mar- 
montcl), and to Mile. Blum, (a pupil of M. I^e 
Couppcy). It is worth remark that Stephen Heller, 
the veteran composer of so many original and beauti- 
ful works, was one of the members of the jury in 
the piano section. The number of lady competitors 
in the violin class was this ^ear larger than ever. 
Besides Mile. Tua, two ladies, Miles. Hillcmacher 
and Roger, figure in the honor of the list — the first 
with a premier accessit, the last with a deuxieme 
aecessit. 

In opera and opera comique the results have been 
disappointing in the extreme. The first prize for 
opera comique in the masculine department went to 
M. Piccaluga, a baritone whom we have heard on 
several occasions at the concerts. No other bari- 
tone need be singled out for mention. As to the 
tenors, all of the five who were admitted to the con- 
test failed miserablv. So the coming Mario must 
be looked for outside of Paris. In the wind instru- 
ment competition I was glad to notice that that 
effective and much-neglected instrument, the trum- 
pet, is being cultivated more than it has been of 
late. And this is, I think, all that need be said of 
the great annual event at the Conservatoire, so far 
as aetails are concerned. If the matter were 
examined from a more general standpoint, perhaps 
a great deal mi^ht be added. It might be asked for 
the hundredth time, whether the principle of these 
competitions is not radically mischievous and cruel : 
whether it would not be better to suppress all such 
delusive distinctions as accessit^ and second prizes, 
and whether it would not be better still to suppress 
even the first prizes rather th«n encourage fond, 
and in so many cases utterly unrealizable hopes, in 
the breasts of the unfortunate prize winners. 

There is quite a romantic story attached to Mile. 
Tua, the winner of the violin prize. The young 
lady (who is barely fifteen, I believe) is the daughter 
of a strolling Italian player, of whom she received 
her firat notions of music, and with whom, when 
quite a child, she performed very often in humble 
places of amusement in Italy. A charitable French 
professor heard her play during a voyage a year or 
two ago, and was so struck by her extraordinary 
promise that he at once undertook to get her admit- 
ted to the Paris Conservatoire. With the aid of 
some generous friends he collected the modest sum 
necessary to support her and her father here till 
she could finish her studies and earn her own living 
by her art. She proved, as the result of this year's 
competition shows, an apt pupil, and her future, at 
least, may be now considered as assured. Tlie dis- 
tribution of prizes will have taken place by the 
time this finds its way into print. M. Turquet, the 
Under Secretary of State, is again to preside at 
the ceremony. It is said that he will have the pleas- 
ing task of handing M. Ambroise Thomas the 
decoration of a grand oifioer of the Legion of 
Honor on the occasion. 

There is absolutely nothin|f stirring in musical 
ciroles outside the Conservatoire and the opera of a 
nature to interest the general public. I may however, 
mention the report that the Paris Municipality has 
resolved to subsidize the Gaiety Theatre, and to use 
it in future for alternate performances of drama 
and opera. 

At the opera we are being surfeited with " Gull- 
laume Tell" and " Freischiitz." M. Masstf has 
just finished his new opera, "Les Nuits de Cleo- 
patre," and we are, it appeara, very shortly to be 
allowed to hear M. Widor's ballet, the scene of 
which is laid in Brittany. 

A daily paper, says of Miss Griswold : 

"The principal honors of the Concoune de 
Chants, of the Paris Conservatoire, have fallen to 
Miss Gertrude Griswold, an American young lady, 
the niece of Mr. Brett Harte. This is the first 
time since the establishment of the famous Consei^ 
vatoire that an American or even an English-speak- 
ing penon has carried off the grand priie. The 
Parisian MLys: 'Miss Grisw old's grand success this 
year is only the more gratifying because it was not 
only wholly deserved, but was achieved despite 
many and what would have been to almost any 
other person overwhelming difficulties. Day after 
day, through all the twelve months of three long 
yean, she has sung and studied at the Conserva- 
toire. It is not necessary for us to review Mist 
Griswold's labors ; it is sufficient to sa^ that after 
a more than usually hard* contest, she was pro- 
nounced both by the jury and public the best singer 
in the school, and the first prize was accordingly 
awarded to her. As to her artistic future Miss 
Griswold is not yet determined. After the public 
distribution of prizes, next month, at which Miss 
Griswold will sing, she may be engaged for a sear 
son at the Grand Op^ra.' " 



September 11, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



145 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER ii, i88o. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boston as second-class matter. 



AH the curticlesjMt credited to other pvMiccUions teere ex- 
pressly written/or this JoumcU. 



Published fortnightly by Houohtox, Mifpux ft Co., 
Boston f Mass* Pricey ro cents a number ; $2.jo per year. 

For sale in Boston by Carl Pbuefeb, jo West Street^ A. 
Williams & Co., 2S3 Washington Street, A, K. Lobixo, 
j6q Washington Street, and by the Publishers; in New York 
by A. Brentano, Jb., jg Union Square, antl Houohtow, 
MiFFLix & Co., gi Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boner & Co., 1102 Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, 5/j State Street. 



A WEEK IN DRESDEN, 1860. 
(Continued from page 110.) 

Oct. 30, 1860. That Tuesday shall be 
memorable for a long day's excarsioii, in com- 
pany with Clara Schumann, her daughter, (a 
blooming maiden with musical voice and the 
father's features), the sister Marie, and our 
strong tone-hero Joachim — in a great open 
carriage, a driver that would lose the way, so 
as to prolong the pleaspre — and the finest of 
October days, though far from warm — out to 
one of the most characteristic and romantic 
points of the so-called " Saxon Switzerland," 
the Bastei. When such artists have holiday, 
it is a good thing to be of the party ; that 
is, if they want you. And was it not a charm- 
ing way to take, to make the stranger ac- 
quainted — a stroke of hospitable genius on 
the part of the warm-hearted artist woman, 
ever occupied with earnest cares and duties, 
mother of seven children, thrown upon her 
art for their support, busy with the concerts, 
busy with a thousand artistic relations, and 
with the laborious practice necessary to main* 
tain, as she fully does, her pre-eminent posi- 
tion among genial classical pianists ? A few 
hours' drive brings us to the path down in the 
famous Uttewalde Grand, through which won- 
derful ravine we thread our way afoot, wind- 
ing upwards to find ourselves upon a narrow 
gallery of rock, perched high in air, some six 
or seven hundred feet above the Elbe that 
sweeps right round its base. This is the 
Bastei, and you look off over a vast plain, 
broken by low mound-like mountains, round 
and flat like huge Titanic mill-stones, each en- 
tirely by itself, with miles of deadest level 
between it and the others. The sun is just 
dropping down in the West, purpling the 
water and the skies, (how short the days!) 
and the great round moon is already taking 
color and serenely throned above the whole 
magnificent, cold scene. Art has contrived 
curious towers, and bridges, sacred niches and 
inscriptions all about our rocky perch; and 
feudal legends, of robber knights who used to 
swoop down upon their prey on that quiet 
river, are not wanting ; while close around us, 
springing from the plain, and rising to an 
equal height with us, are strange fantastic 
shafts of rock, a sort of Giants' Causeway, 
only all set apart, as if the whole sand-stone 
mass had been cleft this way and that way to 
the very bottom, as we see a block of wood 
cleft into a bunch of matches. But I am not 
going to describe the Bastei ; you will find it 
very well done in Murray. Suffice it to say 
the only title of this region to be called a 
"Switzerland" lies in the fact that it is as 
unlike Switzerland as possible. That is the 



very charm of it. It has no snowy moun- 
tains, no glaciers, no blue peaks and needles, 
no coU, no mountam chains, nor valleys, nor 
pasture Alps and Matten — nothing that is 
Swiss, nothing that is grand. But it is a wild 
kind of beauty on a smaller scale, entirely 
sui generis and unlike anything else; a weird, 
romantic beauty ; some strange old poetry 
and magic seems to haunt there ; the tones of 
the wind seemed fraught with mystical sug- 
gestion as they swelled and died away around 
the Gusthaus, in which our merry company 
were sitting after yielding to the fascination 
of the scene outdoors as long as cold and 
hunger would permit. I wonder if their secret 
did not pass into the strings of that matchless 
violin, whose soul and master we had with us ! 

What a cold drive we had home under that 
harvest moon! The fields and hills spread 
white with frost around us, blanched in the 
pale^oon-gleam. And when we reached the 
broad part of the river where we had to cross, 
behold, the ferry boat was on the other side, 
and Charon snug asleep, insensible tQ our re- 
peated shouts, or hearing in his dreams the 
halloos and shrill whistles of our driver mel- 
lowed into the wild hunter's waldhorn or the 
Wunderhorn of Oberon. Happy boatman ! 
What cruel disillusion waits thee I Still we 
shiver. A whole half hour we stand there at 
the water's edge and freeze ; the glistening air 
itself is frozen white and solid. At last a 
light begins to wave reluctantly and sleepily 
about the cottage ; and there are sounds of 
chains and paddles, and a boat steadily ap- 
proaching through the small eternity it takes 
to cross a rapid stream in such an hour, and 
brisk exchange of tongue artillery between 
our charioteer and Charon, and we are un- 
derway again — or underweigh — chilled into 
society of silence like a Quaker meeting, 
musing on the rich day we had had, and own- 
ing the majestic beauty of the night, grateful 
for all this to nature, although her hand-grasp 
just now is none of the gentlest. But we 
were soon thawed, we two, after we had bid 
good night to our fair entertainers, and were 
snuggled over a good fire and other good 
things in our hotel, just in the mood for talk, 
and quite agreed that such a day was worth 
the freezing. 

Oct. 31. A sharp, clear air, fit to be 
breathed upon this day of the Reformations- 
j*'est — proudest anniversary of Protestant 
Germany. And where should it be celebrated 
if not here in Saxony, in spite of the anomaly 
of a king, one of whose Elector ancestors slid 
back to Rome and then picked up a crown ? 
The shops are closed, and the streets have an 
almost New England Fast or Thanksgiving 
aspect. All the large churches — the court 
church excepted — are thronged two or three 
times during the day for solemn, cheerful ser- 
vice ; the old Lutheran hymns ring out with 
a will from thousands of united voices, and the 
debt of Grermany, of civilization, to Luther, 
with the duties thence arising, is the theme of 
many a glowing preacher. I go in the morn- 
ing to the most curious and interesting, per- 
haps, as well as one of the largest of these 
old churches, the Sophien-Kirche. There we 
may hear perchance some organ-playing by the 



most famous of the German organists now 
living, the old Johann Schneider. His post 
of duty is here, at the old Silbermann organ, 
stuck up in the gallery in a corner of the vast 
and unsymmetrical interior. Such was the 
crowd, standing in every aisle, that there was 
no penetrating beyond a place directly under- 
neath the organ gallery. If there had been 
any fugue or voluntary before service, I had 
lost it. But it did edify and thrill one some- 
what to stand there part and parcel of that 
crowd, when there went up from young and 
old the mighty intonations of Einfeste Burg, 
sustained by the great flood of organ harmon^. 
Many stanzas were sung ; and between them 
were short interludes, often of a very brilliant 
character, which showed a master-hand in- 
deed, but not a very sober taste. One could 
not help thinking that the old man had taken 
a strange time to figure in the character of 
virtuoso and indulge in such fantastical sur- 
prises. 

Then came an hour of chamber music, of 
Bach and violin, kll by ourselves. A beauti- 
ful Andante of the old master was pla3&ed to 
an audience of one — and it is probable that 
not so much as one was thought of when the 
thing was written. The full brook flowed just 
as steadily and sweetly in the unbroken soli- 
tude, as when the world looked on. And so 
it would have kept on running (for it was the 
right master-hand that smote the rock, that 
is the strings) that morning, but that a visitor, 
a poet, dropped in full of talk, Hans Christian 
Andersen, the Dane, a homely, tall, good- 
natured, lively, gaily-dressed, enthusiastic in- 
dividual, pleased with his own echo in the 
world. And should he not feel pleasantly ? 
Had he not just been bidden into the pres- 
ence, to read before his Saxon Majesty, the 
royal Uebersetzer of the more than royal 
Dante, his last drama, romance, or what not 
in MS. ? But now adieu ! auf Wiedersehn ! 
because my lady waits. We step across the 
hall, into the concert room, where the two 
artists must rehearse for their last soiree. 
So, after cordial inquiries and assurance on 
all sides that all are safely thawed out after 
the last night's cold adventure (for surely 
Charon, the real mythological old fellow, 
never had a colder, stiller set of ghosts to 
ferry over — though we were no ghosts, nor 
that stream a Lethe, as these presents show), 
the audience of one is ensconced in a comer, 
and the morning business proceeds. Sonatas 
for piano and violin, one by Mozart and one 
by Haydn, are the subject. Fine specimens 
of their authors' finest art and genius, and 
not dismbsed until the rendering was so fault- 
less, that one saw the genial masters in a fresh 
light and conceived a new love for both of 
them. It is a good thing, after long preoccu- 
pation with such deeper spirits as Bach or 
Beethoven, to be reminded, in such a way as 
a pianist like Clara Schumann can remind 
one, of a Clementi, a Haydn, etc. Such in- 
terpreters as these two know how to place 
them all in the right light, relatively, before 
you. 

Nov. 1. Another morning rehearsal. Mo- 
zart, Haydn, Beethoven (glorious sonata), 
Bach. After dinner a long walk, over the 



146 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1028. 



bridge, through the Neustadt, and round 
towards the right bank of the river, to the place 
of entertainment called the Linksche Bad, 
where there is another large and sumptuous 
caf^ concert-hall. The programme was rich ; 
containing, besides lighter things, the '^Pas- 
toral Symphony," Gade's '< Ossian " overture, 
duet from **Jessonda," overture to " Egmont," 
Andante and variations from Haydn's 12th 
Symphony, overture to "Nozze di Figaro," 
and to the " Swiss Family," Lieder ohne Worte 
by Mendelssohn, and au arrangement from a 
very striking song., by Schubert, the Greisen- 
getang (Song of the Old Man), which im- 
pressed me as one of the best things for this 
kind of treatment, if we must have such things 
served up by an orchestra. The frigid chords 
(so Schubert-like) which describe the wintry 
snows of age upon the head (*' the roof "), 
contrasted with the warmer harmonies of the 
summer that abides within, are quite effective. 
It would be a good change in our Music Hall 
'* Rehearsals " from the '* Serenade " and Lob 
der Thraneny now so staled by repetition 
(186P). 

In the evening came the third and last 
soiree of Clara Schumann and Joachim, with 
the assistance of Frau Garrigues-Schnorr von 
XIarolsfeld as singer. The illness of Herr 
Schnorr, the husband, caused a real disap- 
pointment, and some change of programme, 
making it as follows : 

1 Sonata (F major), piano and Ticlln: 

Allegro, Variations. Tempo dlMennetto . Mosart 
a "Thrinenregen,** ( Wir saasen ao traulich beisammen.) 
h ** Mein.** (Bltchlein, laas dein Bauacben seln). 

S. Sonata (Op. 101) for piano Beethoven 

4. Three Duettlnoa, piano and rioUn . . B. Schumann 

0. a Bomansfi, for Tiolin Beethoren 

6 Bourrtfe and Doable, do J. S. Baeh 

8. aBallad; "HelnrichderVogler" .... L9we 

^"LithuaniacheaLied" .Chopin 

7. Sonata (G major), piano and Tiolin: Andante— 
Adagio. — Cantab. — Finale all* Ongarese . Haydn 

The piece by Haydn is found as a Trio ; 
but the violoncello, which scarcely more than 
doubles the bass in the piano, could be left 
out without loss — by such players. It is one 
of the happiest strokes of Haydn's genius ; 
the last movement exquisitely sunshiny, like 
jack o' lantern on the wall. It was played 
can amare, with the most accurate and nimble 
fingers, and such nice and vital accent as the 
best player only can command when all the 
nerves are rightly strung. Those variations 
by Mozart could not have been more generally 
perfect and Mozartish in the rendering. It 
certainly was a notable achievement for a 
woman to bring out clearly, finely, warmly, 
grandly, as Mme. Schumann did, the beauty, 
force and meaning of a sonata which is one of 
the most difiKcult, alike to comprehend and 
execute, of those remarkable works of the last 
period of Beethoven — and one of the most 
richly imaginative and original. If there is 
any part of it into the sense of which perhaps 
a man might enter more completely, It is that 
singular quick inarch, the like of which no other 
hero mood of genius ever marched by ; for that 
treads airy heights for which, methinks, only 
ft man's brain can be at once enough in- 
toxicated and enough self-possessed. Talking 
the thing over together, afterwards, we did not 
find the lady fully sympathized with our admi- 
ration of Uiat particoliMr n^oyement (Among | 



the " Davidsbtindler " — Eusebius, Meister 
Raro, and the rest — there would have been 
none to say us nay). As Joachim dealt with 
it, tiiere seemed a great deal more in that 
often played Romanza of Beethoven, than 
there ever had before. It held the audi- 
ence in ecstasy. The BourrSe (old dance 
rhythm) and double (or variation), were given 
with masterly vividness and truth of outline, 
and afforded stil^ new evidence that old Bach 
is the youngest man alive in music, as well as 
the ripest. The vocal selections were choice ; 
each with a characteristic charm ; the singer 
could not be charged with neglect of expres- 
sion ; there was only too much of it ; a certain 
extra dramatic infusion of energy, which let 
the melodies have no peace to *'fiow at their 
own sweet will." The three little instrumen- 
taLduos by Schumann were, a nice substitute 
for some duets of his which were to have been 
sung. More rare or charming song selections 
one can scarcely hear than graced these con- 
certs. Robert Schumann is never more genial, 
more felicitous than in his songs ; and where 
should one expect to make their acquaintance 
in the right way, if not in just these concerts, 
which are pious tributes to his memory and 
genius, by one who has the best right to in- 
terpret him ? 

The concert over, now imagine a very 
pleasant, sociable symposium in an upper room 
of this same nice Hotel de Saxe. It is ifc gen- 
uine German sitrdown, where everybody is 
expected to be just as free and happy as he can. 
And everybody can be just as happy as he has 
a right to be ; and no more, nieht wahr f It is 
at once an artist and a family GeseUschaft, 
All of the Wieck and Schumann representa- 
tives are there, who chance to be at hand. 
But the Amphytrion is our hero of the violin, 
who would insist upon the iinountain's coming 
to Mahomet. There's magnetism in the man, 
as we have said ; and where do you ever find 
power that is not tyrannically used ? So, not 
content with ^'ascending me into the brain" 
in the form of Beethoven and Bach, he must 
needs start other subtle effervescing spirits on 
the same track. We are a dozen all told. 
Three generations of that musical family of 
Dresden represented. A right Grerman party ! 
But it is not complete, the younger branches 
are not happy, nothing can go on, until the 
grandpapa is found, dragged from his Kneip^ 
led in triumph and installed with all due 
honor and uproarous rejoicing at the head of 
the table. Then all are very happy ; the 
middle-aged and youngest are very talkative 
and jokeative, and the dear old lady looks a 
deal of silent happiness ; and Altmeister Wieck 
is very wise and fatherly and witty in his 
chair of state, and jokes about the Wunder' 
kindervater, as the father and the teacher of 
two such artists as Clara and Marie, with such 
a son-in-law as Robert Schumann, may well 
call himself. Not a few sharp criticisms he 
drops, too, on the new school music — all in 
fun of course ! And very comical and to the 
point are some of his illustrations of prevail- 
ing tricks in fashionalble false schools of sing- 
ing. For this old man possesses the true art 
of disciplining the voice as well as the fingers. 
The daughter Marie, who is full of generous 



good nature and good sense, as well as musi- 
cal talent, is a fine singer, has a rich mezzo- 
soprano admirably developed, and sang one 
evening in my hearing Mendelssohn's Auf 
FUigeln de$ Getangety and that impassioned 
song of Beethoven, to Goethe's verses. Hen, 
mein fferz, in a way to make them felt. I 
think I forgot, in speaking of the first soiree 
to mention the artistic touch and finished, 
tasteful execution with which this young lady 
played the upper part in the '^ Allegro Bril- 
lante" of Mendelssohn with her sister. I 
have heard her also play Handel's '^ Harmoni- 
ous Blacksmith " variations, and some of those 
bewitching little quicksilver clavier move- 
ments of Bach, with a spirit and a nicety not 
to be surpassed. Grood for the Wunderkinder- 
vater! Health! J. S. D. 



GEORGES BIZET.i 

The public, being in a hurry or used up, often 
judges flippantly the early works of young com- 
posers. Those spectators who, indifferent or 
weary, attend the first efforts of such novices, 
sometimes destroy, with a shrug of the shoulders, 
an edifice laboriously constructed at the price of 
long years of study and sleepless nights without 
number. Serious criticism hardly knows — and 
does not always deign to recollect — how many 
painful struggles every young composer must go 
through, and how many desperate attacks he must 
make, before he obtains even a moderate success. 
Side by side with the courteous judges who do not 
decide off-hand — who think it worth while to 
listen and take the trouble of dl*<cu8sing a subject 
in detail, — how many indulge in peremptory sen- 
tences, brutal condemnations, and unreasoning, 
foregone conclusions, crushing in the bud the legit- 
imate hopes of young composers. AU artists do not 
possess Uie admirable stoicism of F. Hal^vy, who, 
referring one day to some bitter and unjust criti- 
cisms on his fine score of Clutries VI, observed : 
" Let them say what they choose ; do not let us be 
affected by criticism. * If the work is strong, it has 
nothing to fear ; if there is no life in it, criticism 
will simply have accelerated its fall." Few com- 
posers possess this firmness of soul. Ill-natured 
or simply indifferent criticisms irritate the major- 
ity of conscientious workers; their life is worn 
away on this ever-revolving grindstone, on which 
they leave the best part of themselves. 

Georges Bizet's honest, frank nature suffered 
cruelly from the often excessive harshness of criti- 
cism. Under a cold exterior, the heart of the 
valiant composer beat quickly and strongly, and, 
though finely tempered, his soul was prematurely 
crushed in the daily combats in which a man 
should be able to look at his enemies with a smile. 
Had Bizet been less taken up with his art, and less 
jealous of his works, he would still be the glory of 
the French school. Extreme nervousness, com- 
bined with a strong feeling of professional dig- 
nity, has conferred on him the sad privilege of 
figuring in our gallery of the celebrated dead. 

Bizet (Alexandre, C^sar, Lipoid, called 
Georges) was born in Paris, on the 25th of Octo- 
ber, 1888, amid essentially artistic surroundings. 
His father, an excellent ringing master, was mar- 
ried to a sister of Mme. Delsarte, a talented 
pianist, who carried off the first prize at the Con- 
servatory. Bizet's uncle, A. Delsarte, a friend of 
my childhood, was a musician of taste, but his eru- 
dition was not well balanced. He undertook to 
combine with vocal science a mass of subjects 
which appeared to unprejudiced judges quite dis- 

> From Le Mtmt»tTtL (Tmislation from the Londoik 
M%9ical World,) 



Sbptbxbeb 11, 1880.] 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



147 



tinct from this branch of art An ardent apostle 
and sincere Utopian, he advocated preparing the 
way for vocal studies by a knowledge of physiol- 
ogy, anatomy, phrenology, etc. ; previous to their 
attempts to emit a sound, his pupils had to study 
the rationale of acoustics, as well as of look and 
gesture. The really solid part of his instruction, 
on the other hand, was deeply interesting. The 
study of sound in its gradations and varieties, 
and the gamut of its coIoa, were the theme of at- 
tractive demonstrations; reading and reciting 
aloud, declamation, spoken and sung, formed a 
body of subjects which often frightened timid 
pupils, but fanaticized those of finely tempered 
minds. 

Delsarte sent his young nephew to me. Georges 
Bizet was nine years old, and, though not very 
advanced, played with good taste and natural 
feeling Mozart's sonatinas. From the very first 
day I was able to perceive in him a strongly 
marked individuality, which I endeavored to pre- 
serve. He did not wish to show off, but to ** ren- 
der well;" he had his favorite authors, and I 
took a pleasure in learning the cause of his pref- 
erences. It is thus, I think, that, by awakening 
the intelligence and reason, a master may guide 
and form the taste of his pupils. Admitted into 
my own class, and successively into Benoist's for 
the organ, and F. Hal^vy's for fugue and ideal 
composition, Bizet won, surely, if slowly, all his 
grades, never allowing himself to be discouraged 
when not successful, but always redoubling his 
efforts. He gained one after the other the prizes 
for solfeggio ; the second and the first prize for 
the piano, extempore playing and organ ; the sec- 
ond and the first prize for counterpoint and 
fugue; and lastly the '* Prize of Rome." We 
see with what patience he went through his musi- 
cal humanities before appearing as a master ; an 
example to bo noted at a time when eagerness to 
come forward, united to the suggestions of self- 
love, persuades so many students that they are 
wasting their best years on the benches of the 
Conservatory. It was step by step that, from 
1849 to 1857, Bizet went through the due course 
of study and of recompenses. Here are some 
probatory dates: 1849, prize for solfeggio; 1851, 
second prize for piano ; 1852, first prize for piano. 
Under the above dates must be placed also the 
first "accessit," the second, and lastly the first 
prize for the organ in Benoist's class; 1854, sec- 
ond prize for fugue; 1855, first prize for fugue; 
1857, second *<Prix de Rome"; 1857, Grand 
" Prix de Rome." 

We must not forget to record here an incident 
which Georges Bizet never forgot When I was 
nominated to the piano class, Zimmermann begged 
me to point out among my pupils those who would 
like to study counterpoint under his direction, 
that being a study of which he was especially 
fond. Bizet was one of those I selected, and thus 
it was that, before entering the class of the illus- 
trious master Hal^vy, the young man was already 
familiar with the contrapuntal style according to 
the pure lines of Cherubini, whose traditions Zim- 
mermann had inherited. It is also interesting to 
remember who were Bizet's fellow-pupils at the 
Conservatory. My class then comprised among its 
members, Wieniawski, Thurner, Francis Plants, 
Martin Lazare, Jules Cohen, Deschamps, etc., 
a brilliant generation of accomplished virtuosos 
and future composers, with which are directly 
connected the pupils of the following years : Gui- 
raud, Paladilhe, Dubois, Fissot, Duvernoy, Sal- 
vayre, and many others, and it is not without a 
melancholy feeling that, when contemplating their 
living celebrity, I think of the glory, so soon 
ended, of Georges Bizet 

The new << Grand Prix de Rome " had valiantly 
earned his artistic holiday. A residence in the 



Eternal City was the realization of his youthful 
dreams. His letters, of which I possess several 
from Rome, breathe an ardent love of art, as well 
as a lively and confident faith in the future. But 
there was a black spot obscuring the radiant hori- 
zon. The young composer's mother was in bad 
health, and yery strong fears abridged his stay in 
Rome. It was written, however, that Providence 
should preserve some years longer, for her affec- 
tionate family, their worthy and courageous 
mother, so eager to devote herself to their happi- 
ness. On his return from Italy, Georges Bizet, 
while bussing himself in looking about for a poem 
satisfying his aspirations and musical tempera- 
ment, was wise enough to make a modest income 
by giving lessons in pianoforte playing, harmony, 
and singing, or by undertaking arrangements and 
reductions for the music publishers. This was a 
halt, but not a period of repose ; it was a period 
for the concentration of the young composer's 
living force, so that he might make a breach in 
the stormy conflict of life, in which every one too 
frequently fights for himself alone, and a brother- 
in-arms, an old schoolfellow, rarely uses his influ- 
ence and his connections for the comrade of one 
day who has become his rival on the next 

It is only right to state that, thanks to the intel- 
ligent and artistic initiative of the popular impre- 
sario, Jacques Offenbach, G. Bizet and Ch. Lecocq 
were bracketed as ex cequo to receive the prize for 
a buffo opera — Le Doctewr Miracle, Bizet's 
work was a clever pasticcio in the old Italian 
style, containing several excellent pieces, and 
especially an exceedingly well-written ^no/e; but 
this excursion into buffo composition was destined 
to be the only instance of Bizet's playing truant 
His robust temperament and conscientious nature 
inclined him to treat impassioned subjects, really 
suitable for the stage. Les Pecheuru de Pedes 
offered him an interesting canvas, moving scenes, 
and an opportunity of proving his value as a musi- 
cian. Despite some portions which were too long, 
the public must have recognized in so important a 
first work, a composer of style, capable of frank, 
true melodies, speaking his language with great 
facility, and able to make his inspiration bend to 
dramatic sentiment Ycff Les Picheurs de Perles 
scarcely reached fifty representations, despite the 
efforts of M. Carvalho, who had a presentiment 
that Georges Bizet was a lyrical musician. Les 
Picheurs de Perles was followed, some years later, 
by La Jolie Fille de Perth, the book being written 
by Saint-Georges, and very skilfully arranged for 
the stage. It was an easy task for musicians and 
sincere critics to note great progress, undeniable 
firmness of style, and, lastly, a more strongly 
marked individuality, real originality in the form 
of the pieces, and new effects of sonority as well 
in the choruses as in the orchestra. Thencefor- 
ward, and despite the half success of this highly 
meritorious work, Georges was in the first rank of 
new composers. The score of DJamileh, one act, 
for the Op^ra Comique, was a charming work, 
dreamy, impassioned, and bearing the stamp of 
that Oriental morbidezza which F^lician David 
and Ernest Reyer have so happily transferred, 
palpitaUng with life, to the delicious pages of 
Lalla RoUkh and La Statue* Georges Bizet's 
work may, with due allowance for difference of 
proportions, take its place unchallenged side by 
side with these two masterpieces, and that without 
his having borrowed aught of the originality and 
peculiar style of the two masters of Orientalism. 
In the intervals between his larger creations, 
Bizet produced orchestral suites, fragments of 
symphonies, and a characteristic overture : Patrie. 
We must not forget to mention, also, his poetic 
score of VArUsienne. These orchestral and sym- 
phonic works, while proving the young composer's 
supple talent, rich imagination, and learning, af- 
forded him, likewise, an opportunity of demon- 



strating his great ability, his perfect tact in the 
art of orchestration and of musical color. He 
followed, Within due bounds, and without allowing 
himself to be carried beyond the limits of good 
taste and a sense of the beautiful, the happy 
audacities of innovators ; but, while adndtting tlte 
grandeur of certain Wagnerian conceptions, he 
admired unreservedly the genial works of Verdii 
and delighted in praising the ardent inspirations 
of that great master of Italian dramatic art It 
is to be remarked that his predilection for the 
German and for the Italian school did not render 
him unjust towards our own national dramatic 
music. Auber, Hal^vy, Grounod, and Ambroise 
Thomas were to the last his favorite masters, and 
we have often heard him analyze, with the most 
sincere admiration, Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet^ 
of which, by the way, he left two remarkable 
transcriptions for the piano» the one two-handed 
and the other f our^ianded. 

We are now nearing the happiest years of his 
life. After marrying Hal^vy's second daughter 
and becoming the father of a charming little girl, 
it was not long ere he was to know the delight of 
a real theatrical success. Carmen, a three^ct 
work, which the Op^ra Comique public, at first a 
little startled by the realism of the libretto, even- 
tually applauded with enthusiasm, established his 
reputation on a solid basis, and justified his having 
received a short time previously the knight's cross 
of the Legion of Honor. Carmen, so warm and 
so full of color, at one and the same time original 
and frank in its inspired flights, soon became a 
modem stock-piece in France and abroad. But 
the already celebrated artist was about to be 
struck down in the midst of his triumph. Death 
came and seized him surrounded by those near 
and dear, by the side of his wife and in the arms 
of liis friends, in his charming villa of Bougival, 
of which he was so fond, and whither he was* 
always going to awaken inspiration. The catai^ 
trophe occurred the same year that Carmen 
achieved its success. Carmen was brought out in 
March, 1875. On the 8d of June, that same year, 
Bizet succumbed to acute heart disease, accel- 
erated by the emotions he had gone through 
during the few preceding months. The emotion 
caused by the event was considerable, and the 
sorrow general. All who, like us, knew Bizet 
will bear evidence to the noble and generous qual- 
ities of his heart, as well as to the elevation and 
delicacy of his sentiments. Endowed with healthy 
and correct judgment and a rigid conscience, he 
would hear nothing of compromises; he enter- 
tained to a supreme degree a sense of justice and 
a horror of intrigue. Possessed of refined and 
ready wit, he shone in conversation with intimate 
friends by his amusing and original repartees, 
observations full of sense, and happy sayings. 
On his days of gayety he delighted in maintain- 
ing paradoxical theses, after the manner of Mtfry. 
But in these games of wit he never employed 
irony. His sharp-pointed darts were always arms 
of courtesy with his friends, and, when he might 
with certainty have wounded, he was contented 
with indicating- he had touched. He was good, 
generous, devoted and faithful in all his affec- 
tions ; his friendship, sincere and unalterable, was 
as solid as his conscience. 

When a child, he was blond and ruddy, with a 
somewhat chubby but highly intelligent face. 
When a young man, his round features assumed 
a firmer character. His clear glance, open physi- 
ognomy, and smiling mouth, testified to great 
energy. Confidence was their predominant ex- 
pression, and I still see him, despite the bitterness 
of his earlier dramatic essays, happy at living, 
and easy as to the future, cashing the joys and 
the glory he had so well deserved. 

A. Marmontbl. 
[To be oontinoed.] 



148 



DWIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1028. 



THE LONDON SACRED HARMONIC 
SOCIETY. — ITS LIBRARY. 

On account of alterations to be made in Exeter 
Hall, this fine old Oratorio Society is obliged to 
move into more narrow quarters. Its concerts 
for the present will be given in St. James's Hall, 
which does not afford accommodation for more 
than 200 choristers. Figaro tells us what is to 
become of its valuable library, as follows : — 

The question, what is to be done with the library 
of the Sacred Harmonic Society when the Corpora- 
tion of the city of London declined to take charge 
of it, has been solved. Messrs. Novello, Ewer, and 
Co. have, in the most handsome manner, agreed 
to take care both of the library and the famous 
statue of Handel by Roubillac, and if at any time 
the Sacred Harmonic Society again has a habita- 
tion of its own, the goods will of course be restored. 
The Sacred Harmonic library is both a large and 
important one. It contains about 3,000 volumes, 
about 450 volumes of which are manuscripts. 
Among other rare printed works, it contains the 
Sarum Missal of 1627, and that of Ratisbon of 
1518, much of the ecclesiastical music of Pales- 
trina, Orlando di Lasso, Willaert, and other writers 
of the Italian and Flemish schools ; the Cantiones 
of Tallis and Byrd, the Musica Deo Sacra of 
Thomas Tomkins ; the very rare and curious sheet 
published by Matthew Locke, containing his com- 
munion service, with the Kyrie set ten different 
times; Lowe's directions for the performance of 
Cathedral Service, and a perfect set of Barnard's 
Selected Church Music, published in 1641, said to be 
the first collection of English Cathedral music ever 
issued. First, or early editions, in type, of the 
"Psyche "of Matthew Locke,'of many of Purcell's 
works, and the operas of Lully and other French 
composers, are also in the library. In specimens 
of madrigals by the great English madrigal writers 
of the Idth and 17 th centuries, the Sacred Har- 
monic library is peculiarly rich, most of the speci- 
mens being original editions. The song collections 
of John Playford and his contemporaries of the 
days of the Commonwealth and Restoration down 
to the time of George I, are also included in the 
collection. The library also possesses a large quan- 
tity of music for the lute and other obsolete instru- 
ments, and particularly the rare " Book of Tabla- 
ture," published in London by William Barley in 
1506, with Gaspare Fiorini's "NobiltJi di Roma," 
published in Venice, 1573, and the " Lautten Buch 
of Wolf Heckel," printed at Strasburg, 1662, exem- 
plifying the different kinds of tablature for the lute 
in use in England, Italy, and Germany respectively. 
Indeed, from the point of view of musical typog- 
raphy, the library is one of the finest in the world, 
as it contains specimens of type-printed music pro- 
duced in different countries and at various times 
during a period of upwards of three centuries. In 
the brief account of the library appended by Mr. 
Husk to the catalogue of 1862, it is stated that the 
collection Includes specimens of the beautiful types 
used by the English-Flemish and English printers 
in the sixteenth century, the bold but less finished 
English and the rough Italian types of a succeed- 
ing age, and the rude German printing of the last 
century. Since then, large additions have been 
made to the printed portion of the library. Nearly 
400 different English operas and other musical 
pieces, many of them unique, are now in the 
library, besides Starter's " Friesche Lusthof ," pub- 
lished at Amsterdam in 1621 ; a " Bishop's Bible," 
dated 1585; and a collection (by no means com- 
plete) of musical literature and journals. 

It is, however, in the manuscripts that the Sacred 
Harmonic library is the most valuable. It contains 
the vocal score of the " Elijah," mostly in the 
handwriting of the composer; the autograph of 
Auber's "Exhibition " march, autograph " services" 
and other works by Greene, Arnold, Samuel Wes- 
ley, Balef, Henry Purcell, Blow, Croft, Boyce, Ame, 
Durante, Clari, Geminiani, and others, for the most 
])art never published. Among the manuscripts 
U also a complete opera by Joseph Haydn, entitled 
" Armida," in full score, and in the autograph of 
the composer. This work was, it seems by the 
brief but admirable account written by Mr. Husk, 



sent to England by Haydn in fulfillment of an 
engagement entered into by him when in this 
country to furnish an opera for the King's Theatre, 
now Her Majesty's Theatre, in the Haymarket 
During the interval between the making of the 
engagement and the sending the opera, an altera- 
tion had taken place in the management of the 
theatre. On the arrival of the work the new 
manager refused to receive it, and it was conse- 
quently never produced. There is also a curious 
manuscript score of an opera called "The Demon," 
which proves to be an adaption by Sir Henry 
Bishop, Tom Cooke, Hughes, and Corri, for per- 
formances at Drury Lane, of Meyerbeer's " Robert 
the Devil." It is in instrumental score only, and 
is in the autograph of the adapters. A manuscript 
copy of Carey's "Dragon of Wantley," in the 
autograph of Thomas Barrow, one of the gentlemen 
of the Chapel Royal, is also here. The full score 
of Blow's "A Song on New Year's Day, 1700," in 
the composer's autograph, is likewise here, together 
with the commonplace-book of John Stafford Smith, 
the cuttings from newspaper criticisms collected 
and pasted in books by John Parry between 1834 
and 1848, with manuscript notes by him, and the 
whole of Professor Edward Taylor's unpublished 
lectures. These lectures (which should repay pub- 
lication) comprise discourses on church and dramatic 
music, on Purcell's " King Arthur," on the Italian, 
Flemish, and German schools of music, on Eng- 
lish vocal harmony, English vocal part music, and 
on English madrigal-writers. 

The special autographs in the library of the Sacred 
Harmonic Society are curiosities, if they have no 
abiding interest. One is a letter from Franz Abt, 
asking for a ticket for a Handel Festival. A curious 
letter from Beethoven's brother Johann, dated 
Vienna, 24th of February, 1825, offers the right of 
publication in Great Britain, America, and England, 
of seven of Beethoven compositions (Op. 124 to 130) 
for sale for £40. There are two letters from 
Beethoven, one of them addressed to Herr von 
Holz, apprizing him of his discovery, after Holz 
had left his house on the previous evening, of some 
mislaid spoons which he had supposed lost, and his 
subsequent recovery of his equanimity. He invites 
Holz to dine with him on the following Sunday, 
when he would give him fuller explanations. By 
the tone of the letter, it is evident that crusty old 
Beethoven had accused, by implication, his friend 
of stealing the spoons) and wishes to remove 
the disagreeable impression he has created. The 
second letter is dated from Baden, July 10, 1813, 
to Herr Narena, in which he requests his friend to 
return his symphonies in C-minor and B-flat ; his 
oratorio he did not immediately require, and thank- 
ing liim for fifty florins. A letter of introduction 
sent by Donizetti to Sir Michael Costa is also 
here. A receipt by Orlando Gibbons, dated 24th 
February, 1617, for £10, a quarter's pension due to 
him as one of his Highness' musicians, is mutilated, 
only the initial of the signature being preserved. 
There is a letter from Handel dated October, 1723, 
to Francis Colman, British envoy at Florence, 
thanking him for negotiating the engagement of 
Senesino, the vocalist; and autograph letters or 
other documents of Attwood, William Ayrton, 
Bishop, Bo'ieldieu, Gn^try, Hummel, Lnlly, Meyer- 
beer, Paer, Spontini (respecting a performance of 
portions of "La Vestale"), and Weber. A letter 
dated Paris, November 6, 1866, to Sir Michael 
Costa thanks the great conductor for the present 
of a Stilton cheese, and compliments him on the 
success of "Eli." Perhaps the most important 
manuscripts, are, however, from Mendelssohn, and 
particularly two having special reference to the 
Sacred Harmonic Society. The first* is written in 
English to his librettist, Mr. Bartholomew, and is 
dated May 11, 1846. He tells Mr. Bartholomew 
that the oratorio for the Birmingham Festival is 
" not the ' Athalia ' nor the * CEdipus,' of course, 
but a much gn^ater, and, to him, more important 
work than both together. He says it is not yet 
quite finished; but that he writes continually to 
get it finished in time, and that he intends sending 
over the first part (the longer of the two it will 
have) in the course of the next ten or twelve days." 
We now know that the oratorio referred to was the 



immortal " Elijah." He begs Mr. Bartholomew to 
try and find some leisure time towards the end of 
the month, that the chorus-parts may be in the 
hands of the chorus-singers as soon as possible. 
And he concludes by begging Mr. Bartholomew 
to give it his best English words, for lie (Mendels- 
sohn) feels so much more interest in this work 
than in any of the others, and he only wishes 
it may so last with him. xxnother letter from Men- 
delssohn accepts the invitation of the Sacred 
Harmonic Society to come over and conduct " Eli- 
jah" in April, 1847, though he cannot give a 
positive promise. Last of all, in the autographs is 
a letter from Nicolo Zingarelli, dated Naples 0th 
November, 1829, to Sir Michael Costa, inquiring as 
to the success of the cantata written by Zingarelli 
for and produced at the Birmingham Musical Fes- 
tival in the preceding October. It is the charge 
of this work that brought Costa to England and, 
as we all know, after failing as a vocalist at this 
same Birmingham Festival, he remained here to 
become conductor at the King's Theatre, and laid 
the foundation of a fame which has lasted half a 
century. ^ 

THE "MONDAY POPULAR CONCERTS." 

Without counting the " extra " concerts when the 
later quartets of Beethoven are annually brought 
forward, the season recently closed brought the 
total performances to the number of seven hun- 
dred and twelve. Such a scries of concerts, of 
the same character throughout, and under one 
director, is probably unique in the history of mu- 
sic. The programmes alone form an extensive 
library, and must have afforded to thousands the 
first opportunity of becoming acquainted with the 
lives of the great composers. Taking a glance at 
random through the volumes of two or three sea- 
sons, we find biographical sketches of Brahms, 
Gernsheim, Grieg, Raff, Rubinstein, and others of 
the modem school; Marcello, Leclair, Corelli, 
and others of more distant periods ; while inter- 
esting notices of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and 
Mendelssohn — to say nothing of Bach and Han- 
del — abound in almost every programme. Mr. 
Arthur Chappell has earned the gratitude of mu- 
sicians, as well as an enduring niche in the temr 
pie of Fame, by his unprecedented achievement. 
It is unnecessary to write the history of these 
"Popular Concerts," for an interesting though 
brief account appears in the second volume (p. 
352) of Doctor Grove's "Dictionary of Music 
and Musicians," which will, it is hoped, endure 
to inform future ages of the doings of the present. 

As a generation has passed away since these 
concerts were established, and The Musical Start' 
(lard was not then in existence, our readers will 
not perhaps think it is out of place, before exam- 
ining the work accomplished, to have placed be- 
fore them a brief account of the plan of the ear- 
lier seasons, from contemporary notices and 
personal recollections. The instrumental music 
will alone be considered, deferring notice of the 
artists engaged till a future time. The vocal 
selections we do not propose to notice. 

The only musical journals in 1859, when the 
" Monday Popular Concerts " started, were the 
Musical World and the Musical Times ; the lat- 
ter not at that time tlie important and infiuential 
paper it now is, being devoted chiefly to the inter- 
ests of choral societies, does not notice the per- 
formances till the commencement of the sixth 
season. To the Musical Worldy then, we must 
go for a description of the early days of this now 
celebrated institution. As stated in Grove's 
"Dictionary," the concerts were originally of a 
truly popular character, the "classical series" 
being k continuation of them, and regarded as an 
experiment — the last miscellaneous concert be- 
ing held, February 7, 1859, and the first " classi- 
cal " taking place on the Monday following. The 
notice in the Musical World of February 12, 
1859, of the last " popular " is amusing : — " The 



September 11, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



149 



success of these concerts is undoubted. Hyper- 
critics may object to them on the ground that 
they are calculated to please, not to enlighten or 
elevate the hearers. The directors, we take it, 
have no ulterior object beyond that of gratifying 
the general public, and thus lionestly filling their 
own pockets. They resign to the Philharmonics, 
to the London Musical Society, and other insti- 
tutions of the kind, the task of instructing through 
the medium of amusement, and only claim credit 
for carrying out their intentions in perfect conso- 
nance with these principles. Their aim is to 
render their entertainments popular — no more. 
For this purpose they invariably engage for each 
concert one or more artists of celebrity. A name 
like that of Arabella Goddard, or Sims Keeves, 
is attraction sufficient to fill the hall. If the hall 
be filled, and the people pleased, the captious 
critic becomes a secondary consideration. The 
success the popular concerts have achieved is a 
proof of their necessity. Besides, are we not to 
have a Mendelssohn selection on Monday ? " 
The following extracts from the director's adver- 
tisement puts a different face upon the matter : — 
" In commencing a new series of entertainments, 
the design of which may be understood by ref- 
erence to the programme of this evening, the 
Directors of the Monday Popular Concerts wish 
to endow their undertaking with a more univer- 
sal character than it has hitherto assumed. The 
advantages offered by St. James's Hall, and the 
resources placed at their disposal by the generous 
patronage they have experienced, will, it is confi- 
dently hoped, enable them to carry out their 
plans with success. So rapidly is the taste for 
pure and healthy music spreading through all 
classes of the community, that no enterprize of 
this kind can hope to prosper for any length of 
time, much less to attain a solid permanency, 
without taking this great social fact into consid- 
eration." ..." It will be perceived that the pro- 
gramme of this evening's concert is made out 
from compositions, vocal and instrumental, by one 
master (Mendelssohn). In its exclusive applica^ 
tion to chamber-music, the experiment may claim 
to be regarded as in some measure new ; and so 
rich is the catalogue of vocal and instrumental 
works bequeathed to us by the great composers 
in this special branch of their art, so marked by 
sterling excellence, and so undeserving of neglect, 
that, backed by the suffrages of the public, the 
Directors of the Monday Popular Concerts have 
no doubt whatever of being able to present a suc- 
cession of entertainments unprecedented at least 
in variety of attraction." 

The programme of the first concert was re- 
peated, in part, at the five hundredth, January 
18, 1875, and will bear a further quotation; — 
Quintet in B flat, Op. 87, strings; Sonata in F 
minor. Op. 4, pianoforte and violin ; Prelude and 
Fugue in C minor, organ ; Quartet in D, Op. 44, 
No. 1, strings ; Tema con variazioni in D, Op. 1 7, 
pianoforte and violoncello ; Fugue in B fiat (from 
the Magnificat), organ. The organ-pieces were 
omitted in 1875. From the date of this " Mendels- 
sohn " concert to the present day, the " popular " 
element — in the common acceptation of the 
word — has disappeared ; but the directors' esti- 
mate of public taste has been fully justified by 
the support their enterprise has received; and 
" popular " the concerts still remain. A " Mo- 
zart " night was given on Monday, Febru- 
ary 21, 1859, and the Musical World devotes 
a leader to the subject, from which we quote the 
opening paragraph ; — " The Monday Popular 
Concerts at St. James's Hall have taken a turn 
which promises excellent results. The directors 
have, at length, condescended to assume for 
granted — however much against their inward 
conviction — that the public generally is not an 
aggregate of dolts, with cars wholly insensible to 



the influence of divine harmony. They have con- 
descended to admit just so much, and begun to 
act upon the admission extorted from them * a re- 
brousse poll* To their surprise, no doubt (if not 
to their satisfaction), the two concerts already 
given, at which nothing but good music was allot- 
ted to either singer or jilayer, proved eminently 
successful. To their astonishment, perhaps, (if 
not to their satisfaction), the quintets, quartets, 
and sonatas, not only pleased the multitude, but 
were heard with greater attention, and applauded 
with greater enthusiasm, than anything else. In 
short, most probably to their utter consternation 
(if not to their satisfaction), the two so-called 
* classical ' concerts threw all that had preceded 
them into the shade — and this without the aid of 
great names, but solely on account of the musical 
attractions quand meme" This is rather cruel, 
after the remarks by the critic first quoted. The 
next concert was devoted to Haydn and Weber. 
Beethoven filled the programmes of March 7, 21, 
and 28 ; the Mozart selection being repeated at 
an extra concert, on Wednesday, March 9. The 
original series of six concerts was extended ; Bach 
and Handel being represented April 4 ; Mendels- 
sohn again on the 18th ; and an ** English " night 
on the following Monday ; the season terminating 
with another Beethoven night, May 30th. As, 
though the directors felt parting to be *<such 
sweet sorrow," they announced another extra 
concert for June 27. We were present for the 
first time on that occasion, and heard a Sonata, 
by Dussek, for piano-forte and violin (Op. 69), 
the themes from which still "haunt the ear." 
The second season commenced November 14, 
1859, and was continued till July % 1860. The 
arrangements were generally the same ; eve- 
nings being devoted chiefly to one composer. 
There were two " Italian " nights, and one more 
"English" night, April 9, 1860 — the last, un- 
happily. The next»few seasons presented the 
same features — the fourth being prolonged to 
July 29, 1862 ; two concerts taking place on con- 
secutive evenings, owing to large numbers being 
unable to obtain admission to the director's bene- 
fit, July 7. The fifth season began October 13, 
1862, with the one hundred and third concert 
from the commencement. The seventh season 
did not begin till January 16, 1865. Morning 
performances, on the Saturday — now a perma- 
nent feature — were introduced this vear. The 
remaining period is sufliciently familiar, and re- 
quires no particular notice. In another article 
attention will be directed to the works performed, 
and the numl)er of composers represented. — 
Lond. Mus, Standard, A ug, 7. 

THE LETTERS OF BERLIOZ. 
The letters of Hector Berlioz to Humbert Fcr- 
rand prove that the composer's memoirs do not 
tell the whole story. Like other Paris critics, 
Berlioz draws a sharp line between written and 
spoken truth. His letters to Ferrand contain the 
latter. W^hat has so far appeared in Madame 
Juliette Adam's (Lamber's) Nouvelle Revue and 
in the Neue Freie Presse is indescribable, and 
there is more to come, unless Charles Gounod pre- 
fers not to edit the rest. Berlioz was haunted by 
the idea that he must be wretched, ever in love, 
and constantly changing. In February, 1830, a 
few days after he had fallen in love with Harriet 
Smithson, while she acted Ophelia, he writes: 
"Horrible! Could she but comprehend for one 
moment the poetry and infinity of such love, she 
would rush into my arms and die of my kisses." 
A mere rumor then led him to execrate the same 
woman, to vilify her name, and to begin another 
affair. Both his love and his hatred he inva- 
riably desires to express by an orchestra and 
chorus of not less than two hundred and fifty 
performers. By way of contrast, Beethoven's 



" Adelaide " may be recalled, and Mozart's musi- 
cal glorification of Konstanze. From Florence 
he writes : " Saw an opera here, Romeo and 
Juliet, written by a dirty little pig called Bel- 
lini — mind you, I saw it, and the Shades of 
Shakespeare did not appear to destroy these 
Myrmidons ! " When a Roman Music dealer 
was unable to show him anything of Weber, 
Berlioz wrote: "Do what? Sigh?— Childish. 
Gnash my teeth ? — Trivial. Patience ?— Still 
worse. One must concentrate all poison within, 
let nothing evaporate, let it ferment until the 
heart cracks." 

October, 1833, after he had married Harriet, he 
writes : " I kept my faith in defiance of you all, 
and my faith has saved me." He had to borrow 
three hundred francs to pay his marriage ex- 
penses ; but he pretended for once to be happy, 
and when he wanted to please his bride he sang 
to her from the same Symphonie Fantastique 
which he had written to execrate her. She liked 
Auber's music, whereupon Berlioz remarks that 
her taste is not good, but yet lovely. A few 
weeks before his marriage he abandoned Harriet 
again, and wrote : " To make this terrible separa- 
tion bearable an unheard-of accident led a poor 
girl of eighteen into my arms. . . If she loves me, 
I shall crush a little love out of my heart and 
imagine that I love her. What a foolish novel ! " 
In 1 84 1, he writes : " They telk of giving me Habe- 
neck's place ; but they would have to place him 
in the Conservatory where old Cherubini is 
sleeping persistently. AVhen I am old and inca- 
pable the management of the Conservatory 
cannot slip away from me." In 1841 he says: 
" France is getting duller and duller in musical 
matters ; the more I see of foreign countries, the 
less I like France. Pardon this blasphemy, but 
" art in France is dead, rotting." At Brunswick 
he was given a public dinner ; a hundred leading 
men were present, he wrote, so you can imagine 
the feeding. " Victor Hugo is raving because he 
is not emperor, that's all," he writes in 1853 ; " I 
am a thorough imperialist. I shall never forget 
that the Emperor has redeemed us from that dirty 
and lunatic republic. In matters of art, he is a 
barbarian, but the barbarian is a savior — and 
Nero was an artist." 

In 1 864 he wrote : " I have heard enchanting 
little Patti as Martha ; as I left I felt like covered 
with fleas, and sent word to the dear child that I 
should pardon her singing such platitudes at me, 
but could do no more for her. Fortunately the 
work contains * The Last Rose of Summer * 
which she sang with so much poetic simplicity 
that the sweet fragrance is almost enough to 
disinfect the rest of the opera." When Scudo 
of the Mevue dea Deauz Mondes died insane, Ber- 
lioz remarked that his rival and enemy had been 
crazy for fifteen years. In 1862, when quite ill, he 
asked innocently : " Must we suffer all this be- 
cause we have adored the beautiful for a life- 
time? Very likely." In May, 1854, he wrote: 
" A part of our little musical circle is mourninc^ ; 
so am I ; the rest is merry because Meyerbeer 
is dead." In 1833 he wrote of himself; one day 
good, quiet, pensive, poetic ; the next day sick, 
annoyed, doggish, malicious like a thousand 
devils, and ready to spit out life were there not 
prospects of some possible intoxication, friends, 
music and curiosity. My life is a novel in which 
I take much interest." This he wrote in his 
honeymoon ; he might have written it on the eve 
of liis death. His life is a sensational novel a la 
Zola, but he never read it, he never understood 
it, and it never did him any good. Like Byron, 
he thought it bliss to look extremely unhappy. 
He wanted to be sick with Chateaubriandism, 
Wertherism, Shelley ism, Byronism — with all the 
most civilized products of the century tliat usually 
sicken him whom thev need not in the least concern. 



150 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol, XL. — No. 102a 



fiDtnigiir^ S^outnal of ^}x$iu 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1880. 



WHAT LACK WE YET? 

Our good town of Boston has a certidn pride 
in what is called aesthetic culture. If we do not 
all plume ourselves upon being artists, we at least 
have an idea that we are something rather hor$ 
ligue as intelligent art-patrons. We are not, as a 
rule, a close-fisted people, and although we do not 
claim to being more munificent than our neighbors, 
we have been brought up to fane/ that when we 
give our thousands or hundreds of thousands to 
establish, or enrich an/ art institution, we ma/ 
possibl/ do so a thought more intelligentl/ than 
the/. Be this as it ma/, we certainl/ have this 
in common with other American cities, that so 
soon as we are thoroughl/ persuaded that we 
reall/ want a good thing, the means of getting it 
— that is, the mone/ — comes quite easil/, almost 
of itself, a« it were. 

Thus, we wanted a large music-hall, well situ- 
ated, architecturall/ fine, and of good acoustic 
properties. J^o sooner said than done ; the Music 
Hall was built 

We wanted a large and expensive organ, and 
we got one which leaves nothing to be desired, 
either in point of size or expensiveness. 

We wanted an art museum, and we have it 
We. had onl/ to assure ourselves of the realit/ 
of our want, and to assure our mone/ed fellow- 
citizens of its reasonableness, and the dollars 
poured in as fast as we could desire. 

Now wo have another vcr/ cr/ing want, and it 
is rather odd, b/ the wa/, that just this want has 
been so long in formulating itself in Boston, of 
all cities in the Union, — toe want an orchestra. 

One would have said that, if Boston were any- 
thing in an artistic wa/, she was musical ; not- 
withstanding the noble arra/ of Boston names 
which are famous in the annals of Painting and 
Sculpture, our chief esthetic pride has been that 
we are — almost par excellence — the musical cit/ 
of the United States. Yet we neither have, nor 
ever have had, an established orchestra. 

Remember : an orchestra is not merel/ a large 
or small bod/ of musicians pla/ing together at 
this or that concert after a few preliminar/ 
rehearsals. It is a bod/ of musicians who pla/ 
and rehearse together from one end of the season 
to the other. Its members do not pla/ various 
strinsred and wind instruments in as various 
militar/ bands and theatres or ball-room orches- 
tras, and meet together en masse onl/ when some 
grand concert is to be given, to be dispersed 
asrain after the concert In a real orchestra the 
members pla/ together all the time, ever/ week 
and ever/ da/. 

We have for /ears had most excellent material 
for an orchestra at eas/ command, although this 
material is /earl/ growing smaller, and more diffi- 
cult to concentrate; but we have never had a 
real orchestra. 

The reason? An orchestra costs mone/, a 
great deal of mone/. But this is not the whole 
reason, neither is it an insurmountable obstacle 
in the wa/ of our having one. 

One thing is certain: without a standard 
orchestra we shall die out of the musical world. 
Boston has alread/ fallen behind New York and 
Cincinnati as a musical centre, simpl/ and solel/ 
for want of an orchestra ; and, if things go on in 
the same course, we shall sdon sink to the level 
of the mere musical provincialism of Baltimore 
or Portland. An orchestra is the musical focus 
of a cit/ ; it is idle to sa/ that we can have Mr. 
Thomas's admirable and admirabl/ drilled bod/ 
of pla/ers whenever we want it. Admitting that 
we can ; an orchestra, no matter how superb it 



ma/ be, that is attached to our cit/ onl/ b/ so 
man/ miles of telegraph wire can never become 
a musical focus. 

How are we to get an orchestra of our own, 
for that is what we need ? 

B/ paving for it Nothing more or less. But 
how ? A/e, there's the rub I 

It is ver/ evident that we cannot look to the 
general concert-going public merel/. An orches- 
tral fund can onl/ be raised b/ appealing to 
individual munificence; b/ large subscriptions 
and donations. An orchestra is too expensive a 
machine to be purel/ self-supporting ; it cannot, 
especiall/ in the beginning, live on " gate-mone/." 
Still less can it be established and founded upon 
the mere hope of possible ''gate-mone/." It 
must rest upon k foundation^ in ever/ sense of 
the tei^. 

The question is : Can our mone/ed men, our 
merchant princes and millionaires, be got to give 
their mone/, and give it f reel/ for this object ? 
Well, the/ have given before now to other artistic 
objects not more worth/ than this one. Take 
for instance, the Art Museum. 

It is not necessar/ for a rich man, inclined to 
be munificent, to have an individual svmpath/ 
with the object of his donation. He needs onl/ 
to be satisfied of its worthiness, its utilit/, and 
above all things that it is something tangible. 
He ver/ naturall/ wishes /ou to show him some 
tangible and permanent equivalent for his expendi- 
ture; in other words to get his mone/'s worth. 
He knows the value of his mone/ better than 
an/ one else, and is not willing to see it wasted 
on chimseras. It is a mistake to think that he 
has a prejudice against music ; look at the great 
organ I he grave his mone/ readil/ enough for 
that 

But on the other hand, look at the Harvard 
Musical Association. This most excellent societ/ 
has never been able to la> hands on an/ mone/ 
that did not come from the annual assessment of 
its members, or from its S/mphon/ Concerts. It 
has not been the recipient of large donations. 
Wh/ ? Because the Harvard Musical Association 
has stood in the public mind as the representative 
or a merel/ abstract idea, of a certain musical 
tendenc/. Its object has been to raise the stand- 
ard of musical taste, to preserve, as far as might 
be, the purit/ of musical tradition, to present 
the public with finel/ constructed programmes. 
True, its desire has been to found an orchestra, 
but it has never had the means of setting to work. 
How much mone/ does an/ one suppose would 
have been given b/ individual capitalists to a 
societ/ for the improvement of artistic taste in 
painting and sculpture ? Not much, surel/. But 
a great deal of mone/ was gi /en to found an art 
museum. 

Now an orchestra is something tangible. When 
once formed, it has a corporeal existence, and has 
at least the possibilit/ of permanenc/. Ask a 
man to give his mone/ to found an orchestra, 
and /ou can show him some tangible equivalent 
for his giving something that, whether he be 
musical or not, he can feel sure is more solid than 
smoke, and which can make him realize the fact 
that he has been in truth a public benefactor. 

When the Harvard Musical Association estab- 
lished its s/mphon/ concerts, one cannot help 
feeling that it began at the wrong end. It said : 
" We want concerts of good music." It should 
have said : '' We want an orchestra that can pla/ 
an/ music." The s/mphon/ concerts are a great 
deal that is good, and ver/ little that is bad, but 
the/ have the fault of hovering in mid-air ; the/ 
rest on nothing solid. Take awa/ the fift/ musi- 
cians who pla/ on the Music Hall platform, and 
the/ fall to the ground at once. But an organ- 
ized orchestra is something solid; no matter to 
what uses it ma/ be put — whether to the pla/ing 



of waltzes and potpouris, or to the rendering of 
Beethoven s3rmphonies, it. is still there, with its 
powers and energies unimpaired, a never-failing 
stand-b/ in all emergencies, a centre of musical 
force. Let it pla/ quadrilles in a beer-garden for 
six nights in the week, on the seventh it is read/ 
for s/mphonies and overtures. 

It is unquest&onabl/ to this object that our rich 
fellow-citizens should now give their mone/. If 
the Harvard Musical Association comes forward 
and asks for donations, and large ones too, for 
this purpose, we think that it will not be disap- 
pointed. Who indeed should be better trusted to 
spend mone/ intelligentl/ for this object than it ? 
Onl/, if it does ask it, let it assure ever/ one it 
asks that the orchestra itself is to be the main and 
onl/ object ; that ever/thing shall be done to keep 
up the orchestra when it is once organized ; that 
it shall be made as self-supporting as possible, 
and that its existence shall not be sacrificed to the 
fighting out of an/ special principle. If it has to 
live by pla/ing '' popular " music, it can still live 
for pla/ing the ver/ highest music. So long as 
it reall/ exists it can do an/thing. W. F. A. 



MUSICAL ADVERTISING. 

Time was when musicians were hired lacke/s 
in great men's households ; now the/ are not onl/ 
their own masters, but are, in appearance at least, 
masters of a good man/ people beside themselves. 
The arts are making fortune, as the French sa/. 
Musicians — composers and performers — are 
now kings and princes in comparison to what 
the/ used to be ; yet their kingship rests upon 
ver/ singular foundations. One would think that 
if an/ man were king over men ** b/ the grace of 
God," that man was the heaven-inspired com- 
poser. But if we look a little curiousl/ into the 
situation, we find tliat his master/ is far more of 
the democratic sort, and that his reputation — in 
other words, his title to office — rests, to a great 
extent, upon more or less universal suffrage. It 
is difficult to find a musician who is not, to a 
greater or less degree, a part/ leader or a promi- 
nent part/ adherent It is to the strengtli and 
enterprise of his constituents that he owes much 
of his own material strength. 

An artist now-arda/s is not onl/ a man who 
makes mone/, but one out of whom a great deal 
of mone/ can be made. In all communities where 
the ballot-box pla/s a part in political machiner/, 
a man wins the suffrages of his constituents, not 
so much as a mark of personal esteem and admi- 
ration, but because his constituents believe him to 
be at once more willing and competent to further 
their own interests than an/ one else. 

Just so a large proportion of the loud admirers 
of certain composers and performers are men 
who are anxious to make mone/ out of them. 
Most of us remember that great patriotic proces- 
sion from Boston to Bunker Hill, on June 17, 
1876. At first sight it looked like a pure expres- 
sion of veneration of the heroes of the Revolu- 
tion and of renewed fratcrnit/ between North 
and South, shaking hands over the blood/ chasm. 
But upon closer examination it was found tliat a 
good half of that brilliant procession was nothing 
more than a gorgeous phantasmagor/ of bakers', 
brewers' and shoemakers' advertisements. One- 
half of our fellow-citizens shouted praises to the 
Spirit of '76, while the other half pasted adver- 
tisements all over her wings. 

A prominent composer of to-da/ ma/ imagine 
himself to be an scsthetic world-power, and the 
recipient of the unrestrained homage of men, 
while he is in realit/ looked upon b/ man/ in the 
crowd merel/ as a successful advertising medium. 
He is covered all over with flaming placards. It 
would be well, in one sense, if artists went about 
with a strip of paper pasted on their foreheads, 
bearing the inscription « Stick no bills I " 



Septevbeb 11, 1880.] 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



151 





There are many musical journals in Germany, 
and each one extols a particular composer. Every 
new work he produces is declared to be epoch- 
makin*;. The world stands astonished at this 
enormous quantity of epoch-making compositions, 
until it finds out that the musical journal which 
proclaims these works as divine is edited by the 
very firm that publishes them. Hinc iUcs—-jvhiLar 
Hones ! 

Does the composer imagine that these lauda- 
tory articles show that the writers appreciate his 
genius at its full value ? Perhaps he may ; but 
they really show that the writers appreciate at its 
full value his power of advertising their publish- 
ing-house. Business is business. But this adver^ 
tising system has one unfortunate result, and that 
is, that if you look for sound criticism on contem- 
porary music in Germany, you must not look for 
it in the musical press, but in the larger daily 
papers. 

What are nine pianists out of ten, to^ay, but 
walking advertisements of pianoforte manufac- 
turing houses ? Of course it is dinned into your 
.ears that So-and-so is the greatest living pianist, 
but even that consoling announcement is made 
secondary to the all-important fact that he plays 
upon the Such-and-such pianoforte. And yet it is 
hinted that So-and-so, in spite of. his being the 
greatest living performer, could not earn his bread 
and butter without allowing himself to be used as 
a show-card. 

Kings and princes ? No 1 Musicians, from being 
rich men's hired lackeys, are fast becoming the 
servants of ingenious speculators. They wear 
crown's made of newspaper and adorned with 
gaudy job-print. It is only years and years after 
their death that they are placed upon ideal thrones, 
when their works have had time to prove their 
divine greatness, as saints in the Roman Church 
are canonized only after their relics have worked 

indisputable miracles. W. F. A. 

» 

MR. MASON IN JAPAN. 

TOKIO, July 21, 1880. 
JoHK S. DwiGHT, Esq : — 

Dear Sir, — If I recollect rightly, you are one of 
the trustees of the Perkins' Institute for the Blind. 
My object in writing you is to obtain specimens of 
printed music for the blind, also of all elementary 
instructions in music. They have an institution for 
the blind here on a small scale, not supported by 
.the government. While I am here I desire to do 
what I can for them. I have as a pupil a blind 
man, who is the best performer and teacher of the 
Cota, their harp of thirteen strings, in Japan. 

Their most scholarly musicians seem to have no 
scientific knowledge of harmony. I have seven of 
the court musicians, all young men, as pupils In 
singing and harmony. Our simplest ideas of har- 
mony seem to open a new world to them for the 
study of music. My work thus far has been in the 
two Government Normal schools and in the train- 
ing school connected with them. So I have had 
about five hundred boys and girls, corresponding in 
their ages to our primary and grammar schools, to 
work with. I can say that my success for the time 
and under the circumstances (less than four months 
and knowing but little of the language) has been 
the best I ever experienced. 

I will not speak of my special work in the schools, 
but will briefly mention some of the roost important 
things which 4 met with, and how I manage to 
get over the difficulties which come in my path. 

I found that their two scales, in which the Cota 
was tuned, contained each five sounds, one in F- 
major, 4th and 7th omitted, and F-minor. 



i 



b* 



s 






^ ' g'^^ ^ 



8 9 10 11 14 18 



:s 



■^ 



•^ 



.a. 



s 



z: 



i 



m 



32:^ 



JZ 



IS. 



-&• 



■^- 



\ 



8 9 10 11 IV IS 



m 



r^r^- 



-SL 



-TO 

19 8 4 5 



\ 



gy 

1 8 8 4 S 8 7 

This is the key and scale in which they mostly 
sing. I enclose a melody of one of their most 
cheerful songs, a New Year's song, sung by every- 
body high and low, men, women and children, all 
over the empire. It has twelve verses, one for each 
month in the year. 



Rather slowly. 




i 



b* 



s 



SL 



^m 



fc^=t 



m4\iin'\)\^ 



y>N'j';jiJJiij'j'j ^i 



This is a favorite way of ending their songs. If 
the Cota be tuned in F-major, the above cannot be 
played. 

In the Girls' Normal School, which ir patronized 
by her Majesty, the Empress, the court musicians 
taught this kind of singing, while I was trying to 
teach in our scale. I found it veiy difficult to get 
the young ladies to sing 8 and 4 and 7 and 8, and 
mentioned the fact to the authorities upon the dif- 
ferent scales. They then wished to know which I 
thought was the true scale. I replied that I had 
not come to Japan to decide matters of that kind, 
but suggested that, as they had a first-class Profes- 
sor of Physics in the University, I had no doubt that 
he could decide the matter upon scientific princi- 
ples. They seemed to jump at that suggestion, and 
arranged that Professor Mendenhall should be 
invited to give a course of lectures upon the sub- 
ject of sound, especially illustrating the musical 
scale, and the harmonic relation of sounds ; which 
he did in three lectures. 

Professor M., having all the apparatus for this 
purpose, was entirely successful in his demonstra- 
tions. The result was that it decided the whole 
matter : (1), that their scale had not even been sub- 
mitted to scientific treatment; (2), that they had not 
included the idea of the harmonic relation of 
sounds in theif system. At these lectures they 
took good care to have all the Japanese musicians 
of note in the capital invited, including the court 
musicians. A large number attended. From this 
time I had my hands full. The musicians come to 
me to learn about our scale and about harmony. 

A commission was appointed by the educational 
department, to decide (1), as to the scale ; (2), as to 
nomenclature ; (3), as to the poetry to be furnished 
me to set to music for all grades of schools. This 
commission consists of three of their literary men, 
and one blind musician, the Cota^player, whom I 
have mentioned, Mr. Isawa, and myself, including 
my interpreter. We have met three times a week 
and spend about three hours each time. The first 
hour is taken up by my giving a course of lessons 
based on our system of music and in our notation. 
They copy all my exercises from the blackboard, 
and then go to work with their songs or words for 
songs. 

By the above you may get some idea as to what 
I am trying to do. Every thing seems to proceed 
with an excellent spirit, and I feel very much 
encouraged in every respect, for I feel that, if I do 
not progress very far, we are working in the right 
direction ; and I feel that you would approve our 
course. Yours truly, L. W. Mason. 



ne to ue uiooe ineaire auring tne laaer pan oi loe 
Lson, and, with a repertoire Inclading " Romeo and 
liet," "Lover's PUgrimage/' "Kfeiry Wives of 
indsor," as its novelties, will introduce Big. Brie- 



LOCAL ITEMS. 

Ot the operatic outlook last Sunday's RtraJd tells 
us: 

In the absence of an established operatic season, such 
as New York has enjoyed the last two years, Boston 
will during the coming months enjoy a series of short 
visits from nearly a dozen different organizations for 
the presentation of Italian, Frencii and English grand 
opera, as well as opera comiqne and opera bouffe. The 
list of companies expected during the season includes 
the *' Boston Ideal," Manager Hapleson's, the Stra- 
kosch and Hess and Emma Abbott English, the Gil- 
bert and Sullivan company, with the new and un- 
named work of those notable workers, the Aim^e and 
Soldene opera bouffe, the De Beauplan and Grau 
French, the Roosevelt English, Mahn's ** Boccaccio," 
the Bijou, the Flora E Barry company, and an organ- 
ization for Italian opera, headed by Sig. Tagliapietra, 
now being formed. The ** Ideal" company will open 
at the Boston Theatre late in the season and present 
**The Pirates,*' *'Chimes of Normandy,'* "Bohemian 
Girl," in addition to their former repertoire, with Mary 
Beebe, Marie Stone, Adelaide Phillips, and Messrs. M. 
W. Whitney, W. H. MacDonald, Tom Karl, W. H. 
Fessenden, H. C. Bamabee and George W. Frothing- 
ham as the leading soloists. The Mapleson company 
come to the Borton Theatre Dec. 27, for two weeks, 
and will, undoubtedly, make the entree of Mme. Gers- 
ter the leading event, and Bo'ito's " Mefistofele " and 
"Rienzi" the novelties of the season. The Strakosch 
and Hess English Opera Company open at the Globe 
Theatre Nov. 15, for a single week, producing first in 
America Boito*s '* Mefistofele" with Mm£. Marie Roze 
as Margherita. The Emma Abbott English company 
oome to the Globe Theatre during the latterpart of the 
season, 
Juliet, 
Windsor, 

noli in English opera. Beyond the fact that the 
new opera by Gilbert and Sullivan will be first pre- 
sented in this city at the Globe Theatre, nothing is 
known as to this promised new composition. 

Of the singing societies we learn from the same 

source: 

The opening concerts to be given by the Handel and 
Haydn Society will serve as the leading events in the 
dedicatory week of the rebuilt Tremout Temple, a per- 
formance of **The Messiah" being announced for the 
evening of Monday, Oct 11, and one of "Elijah" on 
the evenhig of Wednesday, Oct. 13. Miss Lillian Bailey 
makes her entree to the Boston concert ballon the 
former occasion, singing the soprano rdle. The other 
soloiKU will be Miss Emily Winant. contralto, William 
J. Winch, tenor, and Mr. M. W. Whitoev, bass. For 
the '* Elijah" the soloists have' not been fnllv decided 
upon, but Messrs. John Winch and Charles R. Adams 
and Miss Emily Winant will probably be heard on that 
occasion. „For the resiilar season of the society there 
have been plans made for four performances, "The 
Messiah" at Christmas, Mozart's "Requiem Mass," 
and Beethoven's *^Mount of Olives," a month later, 
selections from Bach's "Passion Music" at good Fri- 
day. 

The Cecilia Club programme for the season is full 
of attractions, and promises a far more enjoyable series 
of concerts than have been given the last few seasons. 
The works to be given by this organization are can- 
tatas by Bach and Grieg, two motets bv Beethoven, 
Berlioz's *' Romeo and Juliet," Liszt's *^Die Glocken 
des Strassburger," Beethoven's "Ruins of Athens,'' 
Mendelssohn's " Ijoreley" and Schumann's " Faust," all 
with full orchestral accompaniment, to which rare array 
of attractions will be added four unaccompanied psalms 
of Mendelssohn. It is quite possible that these con- 
certs will be given in the new TTemont Temple. 

The absence (in Enrope) of the conductor of the 
Boylston Club, Mr. George L. Osgood, has made it im- 
possible as yet to arrange the season's programme for 
this organization. Mr. Osgood will unquestionably 
bring with him more or less novelties for the Boylston 
singers on his return late this month, and the notably 
choice selections included in the concerts of this clnb 
the last few years ensure an equally interesting series 
of performances the coming season. 

The Old Bay State conrseof entertainments will 

begin on Thursday evening, Sept. 27, with a concert 
by Miss Annie Louise Gary and the Temple Quartet 
Glee Club, and subsequent evenings will be filled with 
a reading of " Midsummer Nisht's Dream" by George 
Riddle, with all of Mendelssohn's music by the Phil- 
harmonic orchestra; and concerts by the Theodore 
Thomas orchestra; Marie Roze and the Listemann con- 
cert company; the Ideal opera concert company, con- 
sisting of a double quartet of the principals; the Men- 
delssohn quintet clnb and Lillian Bailey and George 
Henschel as soloists: the Bamabee concert compauv 
and readings by Prof. Churchill and Miss Qiy van. At 
some of the entertainments Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Sher- 
wood, pianists, will appear, and Miss Fanny KeUogiP 
will also be heard in this course. 

First among the miscellaneous concerts of the 

season come those announced by Manager Peck for 
the evenings of Oct. 4 and 8, and the aftemoon of Oct. 
9, by Miss Annie Louise Gary, Wilhelnij, Joseffy and 
the Temple Quartet. ^ 



152 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1028. 



MUSIC ABROAD. 

LoNDOK. Mr. Henry C. Lunn writes, in the Musi- 
cal Times (Aug. 1) : 

The rise of new Associations for the practice and 
promotion of music is a sure indication of the growing 
Interest in the art. The London Musical Society, un- 
der distinguished patronage, has this season given a 
concert of the utmost interest; and there can he no 
question that as this Society appeals not to the general 
public for encouragement, the professed object it has 
in view — that of performing high-class works, either 
ancient or modem, and of any country — will be car- 
ried out. The Bach Society, too, continues its career 
of usefulness, under the conductorship of Mr. Otto 
Goldschmidt; and amongst the Societies in other parts 
of the metropolis we may mention the Borough of 
Hackney Choral Association (which, since Mr. Ebenezer 
Front has assumed the conductorship, lias grown into 
the greatest importance), the Hampstead Choral So- 
ciety, so ably directed by the founder, Mr. Willem 
Goenen, and the Highbury Philharmonic Society, 
placed under the efficient conductorship of Dr. Bridge; 
many others, however, deserving the warmest praise 
for their seal, not only in presenting compositions of 
recognized worth, but in performing new works which, 
but for the existence of such iustitutions, would scarcely 
obtain a hearing. 

We think it may now be safely said that the antici- 
pated dissolution of the Sacred Harmonic Society will 
be averted. Exeter Hall, it is believed, will undergo 
such extensive alterations that the concerts of the So- 
ciety will probably not be given there next season, but 
the following year it is hoped that they will be resumed 
-in the old locality; and we sincerely trust that the con- 
servative policy which has for so many years ruled 
supreme at the councils of this Association will at least 
be slightly relaxed in the future. It is true that the 
works of one living composer have annually a place iu 
the programmes of the concerts; but there are many 
othera anxiously waiting, and the Sacred Harmonic 
Society msy not only do good to the art, but benefit its 
funds, by^ admitting their claim to a hearing. The 
concerts this season have been quite up to the usual 
standard. 

RoTAL Normal Colleob fob thb Blind. 

The Musical World (July 17) says: — 

Some very interesting proceedings in connection 
•with this college took place at the Crystal Palace 
on Saturday last, but before noticing them in detail, 
it may be well to state precisely the obje'cts of the 
Institution and the means by which they are at- 
tained. According to the just issued report of the 
energetic Principal, Mr. F. J. Campbell, a misconcep- 
tion exists on this vital point, it being often supposed 
that the College is an academy of music and noth- 
ing more, consequently that, as in an academy of 
music, only persons with special gifts can be re- 
ceived, its field of operations is a restricted one. 
But, in reality, the charity exists specially as a 
normal school for the training of blind teachers, 
and generally as a place where blind persons are 
fitted, by thorough physical, mental, aqd artistic 
development, for the task of earning their own liv- 
ing. Its doors are open, therefore, to all afflicted 
with loss of sight, and its mission appeals to a 
universal sympathy with those whom hard fate 
has deprived oi a precious sense. The instruction 
afforded at the college is carried on in four depart- 
ments. First comes that of general education; 
next, that of special training for teacher's work ; 
next, that of the science and practice of music ; and 
last, that of pianoforte tuning. In addition, par- 
ticular regarci is paid to such physical exercises 
as tend to encourage confidence and independence, 
even skating on ice or concrete being part of the 
regular course. But while the charity thus seeks 
to render the widest possible service to blind persons, 
its usefulness is, perhaps, more apparent in the 
department of music than in any other. For some 
mysterious reason, loss of sight is often partially 
compensated by susceptibility to the influence of 
music, and skill in the practice of the art. It 
follows that a blind school anywhere must be, in a 
particular sense, a school of music. The Royal 
Normal College is such a school, and its "Annual 
Prize Festival " on Saturday last was, with entire 
propriety, a musical demonstration. The latest re- 
port contains some interesting facts illustrative of 
the good already done in preparing pupils, musical 
and other, for the work of life. We read of an ex- 
acholar " successfully engaged in the coal trade at 
Belfast;*' of another who emigrated to Canada, 
and is doing well as a pianoforte tuner; of two 
others who have established themselves as music 
publishers, etc., in Glasgow ; of three young ladies 
who are employed under the School Board for 
London at good salaries; of a youth who is earning 
his bread as an organist ; of two young ladies, still 



connected with the college, who are more than self- 
supporting ; and so on to the number of forty-five 
out of fifty-five whom the college has sent forth 
into the world. The percentage of successes is a 
high one, and it is impossible to read the details 
given in the report without pleasure. 

But the highest value of those details lies in the 
testimony they give as to the thoroughness of the 
training imparted by Mr. Campbell and his assistants. 
Blind persons compete at enormous disadvantage 
with those who can see, and to equalize their condi- 
tions in any tolerable measure, the education of the 
blind must be as painstaking and as thorough as 
possible. This necessity is amply recognized at the 
Normal College, for proof of which take the depart- 
ment of music. Not only do the pupils receive the 
ordinary instruction, but the professors of the piano- 
forte (Mr. Hartvigson), and of the organ (Mr. Hop- 
kins), give weekly recitals throughout the year, at 
which classical compositions are systematically ana- 
lyzed and performed. In twelve months 045 differ- 
ent pieces were thus brought to the knowledge of 
the pupils by Mr. Hartvigson. Nor is this all. The 
young people are themselves required to give reci-' 
tali from tim^ to time. A weekly rehearsal of the 
music under study takes place, and by frequent at- 
tendance at the Crystal Palace concerts the high- 
est forms of creative and executive art are made 
familiar. 

As a result of so much thoroughness we find the 
examiners in music dwelling with emphasis upon 
the attainments of the scholars. They tell us of a 
lad who plaved Bach's organ fugue in B-minor 
** excellently, and gave an account of its construc- 
tion, after having had the copy " only a few days." 
We read also, of a young lady, Miss Amelia Camp- 
bell, who could play by itself alone any one of the 
four " voices " in Bach's C-major fugue — an achieve- 
ment nothing short of wonderful under the circum- 
stances. The examiners ( Messrs. Manns and Stainer) 
say further : " Regarding the principles on which 
the various teachers' seem to develop the reproduc- 
tive powers of musical art of their sightless pupils, 
frequent and searching questions put to the latter, 
sometimes at the cost of interrupting their perform- 
ance, placed the fact beyond a doubt that they are 
made as familiar with the notation and the practical 
details of the compositions they perform as if they 
had not the sad experience and heavy labor of gain- 
ing information under the deprivation of one of the 
most important 'doors of the mind.'" Better 
testimony to success than this could neither be 
given nor desired. 

According to the balance-sheet issued last Septem- 
ber, the financial state of the charity is good, the 
excess of receipts over expenditure for the nine 
months then ending being, £1,894. This, however, 
is due to a self-sacrificing economy which may be 
measured when we state that the total cost of the 
educational department during that period was but 
£1,138, while the expenses of management amounted 
tb no more than £140. A charity so administered 
should, by preference, be helped, and we need 
scarcely say that f urtlier assistance in this particular 
case would meet with thankful acknowledgment. 
The property of the college is mortgaged to the 
extent of £12,000, and the executive committee — 
of whom Lord Richard Grosvcnor, M.P., acts as 
chairman — have, no doubt, good reasons to say 
that ''the annual interest on this sum is a heavy 
strain upon the income of the college." The friends 
of the institution, however, look forward to a time 
when it will be self-supporting. There is room in 
the present building for 120 pupils, and were these 
forthcoming, "the annual income would, from 
scholarships and fees, cover the expenditure." That 
the empty places will soon be filled we have every 
reason to hope. The patronage liberally bestowed 
upon the college by members of the Royal Family, 
the influence untiringly exerted in its favor by 
the president, his Grace the Duke of Westminster, 
K.6., and many other distinguished persons, and 
the effect inseparable from such proof of good 
work done as is occasionally given, cannot fail 
to raise the institution to the place it deserves. 

Katharine Stephens. A correspondent 

writes to ask me the date of the death of Miss 
Stephens, who became the Countess of £^sex. 
Happily the lady is still alive, and although nearly 
blind, her great age sits upon her as lightly as it 
should upon one who has led a useful and spotless 
life. Katharine Stephens was born on September 
18, 1794, and in 1807 she studied music under a for- 
gotten teacher, Lanza. It was during 1807 and 
1812 that she sang under articles to this Lanza at 
Bath, Bristol, and Southampton, and also at the 
London concert-hall then called the Pantheon, but 
now used as wine and spirit vaults. The lady's 
flrst appearance in London, therefore, dates back 
about seventy years. Sixty-eight years ago we 
And her playing the part of ManJane in Arne's 
" Artaxerxes," and such characters as Clara in the 



"Duenna," and Polly in the Beggars' Opera," at 
the old Covcnt Garden Theatre. Sixty-six 3'ears 
ago she was singing at the Ancient Concerts, and 
aiterwards at Drury Lane (then a comparatively 
new) Theatre. More than half a century since 
she declined an engagement at the King's Theatre 
(now Her Majesty's) to succeed Catalani, and in 
1838, after a public career of 31 years. Miss Kathe- 
rine Stephens became the second wife of the fifth 
Earl of Essex. On her marriage she of course re- 
tired from the stage. The Earl died in 1830 with- 
out issue, and his widow has since resided at the 
family mansion in Eaton Square. After a public 
career of thirty-one years the Countess of Essex 
has enjoyed a retirement of forty-two years, and is 
still, at the advanced age of eighty-six, in fair health. 
One of her few contemporaries who seemed likely 
to survive her was Plancht^, who was, of course, 
one of her oldest friends. — Figaro. 

Figaro quotes the following testimony in 

favor of London rather than Milan as the best place 
for students in the art of singing: — 

Signer Brocolini (Mr. John Clarke, of Brooklyn), well 
known on the operatic stage here, has been giving hia 
experiences of matters musical in various parts of 
Europe. Signor Brocolini first studied in Italy, and he 
gives a horrible, but by no means over-drawn, picture 
of the dangers to which young English and American 
girls are subjected in Milan: — 

** What should be exposed is the extortion practised 
on students in Italy by the operatic managers. Just 
before the commencennent of the season they would 
come to Milan, visit thd different professors of music, 
and inform themselves couceniing those pupils who de- 
sired to make a debut. The price which the de'butante 
was to pay would be fixed according to the amount of 
monev which he or she could command. After one or 
two nights the manager would have the singer hissed 
by the audience, and making that an excuse for dis- 
missal, would engage another de'butante who had more 
money, perhaps. The Whole system was connected 
with extortion and abuse. Lady students, especially, 
were hounded by the sixpenny Italian nobility, and I 
knew of one case in whicJi an American lady having 
refused to receive calls from a Baron, the latter would 
order his carriage, which was well known, to be kept 
standing in front of the ladv's residence till two or 
three o'clock in the morning." 

Signor Brocolini next discussed the relative advan- 
vantages of study in London over Italy. He said: — 

''I should advise all young people to study in Lon- 
don. The only advantage to be found iu Italy is the 
opportunity for studying and practising the Ian- ge. 
In London you can have the finest teachers iu - ery 
branch of the art. There are, for instance, Profs. Dea- 
con and William Shakespeare, and also Madame Dolbv, 
one of the most successful teachers of female voices in 
London. Many of the teachers aVe connected witli 
academies, but not all. The Royal Academy and the 
London Academy are under the management of pro- 
fessors, and furnish a syctematic and thorough course 
of instruction. The South Kensington Training School 
is under the. directorship of Sullivan, the composer, 
and is the especial pet of royalty. All the principal 
orchestral solo players are connected with the acad- 
emies. Joseph Bamby, the well-known composer and 
conductor, is professor of music at Eton. Prof. Garcia 
is connected with the Royal Academy. Outside the 
academies there are also Profs. Voschetti, Li Galsi, and 
Sir Julius Benedict, who are all eminent in their pro- 
fession." 

Signor Brocolini has by no means exhausted the list 
of singing professors in London, and, indeed, one of 
the most popular, Signor Randegger, and many of the 
best, such as Mr. Welsh, Mr. Walworth, Ifr. Montem 
Smith, and numerous others, he has not mentioned at 
all. The name of Professor Deacon, too, I do not recol- 
lect, while Sir Julius Benedict does not teach singing. 
In regard to the cost of tuition in London (and the fig- 
ures, which are correct, may be quoted for the benefit 
of provincial and foreign students), Signor Brocolini 
savs : -^ 

^' The best teachers charge from 10s. to £1 per lesson. 
It is customary in London to take fumiiihed apart- 
ments, which can be bad for from 15s. to 296. per week. 
Meals will be furnished at one's apartments at any 
hour, or can be procured at a neighooring caf€. One 
can live very comfortably on £3 per week. This is 
more than the same accommodations will cost in Italy." 

Signor Brocolini likewise details a few of the many 
musical performances of all sorts which the student 
can enjoy, and which will interest and instruct him, 
and with'a brief sketch of his own career, his interest- 
ing paper concludes. 

Germant. The vacant post of organist at St. 
Thomas Church, of Leipzig, has been conferred on 
Prof- Carl Piutti. 

The recent repetition of the performances « 

in chronological succession, of the whole of Mo- 
zart's operas at the Imperial Opera at Vienna has 
proved, as in January last, a most complete success. 
Among the vocalists specially engaged for the 
"cyclus"of representations were Mmcs. Pauline 
Lucca, Marianne Brandt, Prochaska, and Schucli- 
Proska. 



September 25, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



153 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER 2$, 1880. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boeton ae eeoond-claM matter. 



All the artieleM not credited to other publicaiion* were ex- 
presily written for this JoumaJ, 



Publighed fortnightly by HouoHTOX, Mifflin ft Co., 
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For scUe in Boston by Carl Pruefrr, jo West Street , A. 
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Mifflin ft Co., 2/ Astor Place,' in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boner ft Co., //oa Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, ji2 State Street. 

SONNETS. 



TO AN ARTIST. — J. M. 



I. 

What if then spurn me, slight me, {Mss me by 

In hnughty silence, O thoa proud and grand I 

Where sometimes meekly on thy path I stand, 

And, with vain patience and a secret sigh, 

Pray humbly that on me might light thine eye, — 

If, like a pilgrim from some foreign land, 

J knock upon thy door with weary hand, 

And nerer hear a friendly voice reply I — 

The feeble heart may bleed, but while thou still 

Art deathless true to thy immortal goal. 

And godly purposes thy spirit fill, — 

UnchiUed, unchanged, unflagging, my strong soul 

Soaring triumphant o'er such petty 111, 

Shall follow thee from distant pole to pole. 

n. 

Ah no, ah no I I was deceived ! — In yaln 

The daring courage and the dauntless song ; 

The flight is weary and the way Is long ; 

The soul, grown feeble, faints beneath the strain 

Of aching toil, while from the founts of pain 

The heart draws nourishment, and waxes strong. 

Back to its core the purple life-drops throng. 

And All it full of flushing power again. 

—Aye, from thy path shall my dumb prayers ascend. 

Until a smile shall kindle in thine eye 

For me alone, — still with a noiseless cry 

1*11 knock upon thy door, till thou shalt bend 

From thy high state, and draw me gently nigh. 

And clasp my hand in thine and call me friend ! 

Stuart Stkrkv. 

RICHARD WAGNER. 
.1 ... In approaching the twentieth period of 
our history, the last into which we have 
thought it necessary to subdivide it, we find 
ourselves brought face to face with a master 
whose earuest devotion to the cause of Art 
entitles his opinions to a more than ordinary 
measure of respectful consideration. We 
have, it is true, expressed our intention of 
avoiding, as far as may be, the invidious task 
of criticizing the productions of living authors, 
from a firm conviction that the time for fairly 
and dispassionately considering the extent of 
their influence upon the progress of Art has 
not yet arrived ; but in this case no choice is 
left to us. The theories of Richard Wagner 
have already been so loudly proclaimed and 
so freely discussed, his works have been so 
fiercely attacked by one class of critics, and 
so extravagantly praised by another, that it 
is no longer possible to ignore either their 
present significance, their connection with the 
history of the past, or their probable effect 
upon the future. We therefore propose to 
conclude our rapid sketch of the changes 
which the opera has undergone since its new 
birth in the opening years of the seventeenth 
century, by reviewing, as briefly as the nature 
of the case will permit, the peculiarities of the 
phase through which it is now passing, and thus 
enabling our readers to form their own opinion 
as to its relation to, or points of divergence 
from, the schools we have already attempted 
to describe. 

[From the article "Ofrra," by W. S. Bookstro, In 
Part XI. of GroTe's Dictionary of Mnaio.] 



Wagner's contemplated regeneration of the 
lyric drama, as he himself explains it, de- 
mands changes far more significant than the 
mere adoption of a new style ; changes which 
can only be met by the creation of an entirely 
new Ideal — a conception so different from 
any proposed since the time of Ghick, that 
the experience of a hundred years is utterly 
valueless as a guide to its elaboration, except, 
indeed, as affording examples of the faults 
to be avoided. Rejecting the very name of 
opera as inapplicable — which it certainly is 
— to this new conception, he contents him- 
self with the simple title of drama. The 
drama, he tells us, depends, for the perfection 
of its expression, upon the union of poetry 
with music, scenery, and action. Whenever 
one of these means of effect is neglected for 
the sake of giving undue prominence to an- 
other, the result is an anomalous production 
which will not bear the test of critical analysis. 
If we are to accept him as our oracle, we 
must believe that, hitherto, composers, one 
and all, have erred in making the music of 
the drama the first consideration, and sacrific- 
ing all others to it. That they have weakened 
rhetorical delivery, for the sake of pleasing 
the ear by rhythmic melodies which cannot 
co-exist with just dramatic expression. That 
they have impeded the action of the piece, by 
the introductfon of movements constructed up- 
on a regular plan, which, whether good or not 
in a sonata, is wholly out of place in a musical 
drama. That they have kept the stage wait- 
ing, in order that they might give a favorite 
singer t|ie opportunity of executing passages 
entirely out of character with the scene it was 
his duty to interpret. In place of such 
rhythmic melodies, such symmetrically-con- 
structed movements, and such brilliant pas- 
sages of execution, Wagner substitutes a 
species of song, which holds a place midway 
between true recitative and true melody-^ a 
kind of mezzo recitativoy to ^hich he gives the 
name of *^ melos." This he supports by a rich 
and varied orchestral accompaniment, de- 
signed to form, as it were, the background 
to his picture, to enforce the expression of 
the words by appropriate instrumental effects, 
and to individualize the various members of 
the dramatis persona by assigning &> special 
combination of harmonies, or a well-defined 
lett-motify to each. The management of this 
accompaniment is incontestably his strong- 
est point No man now living possesses a 
tithe of his command over the resources of 
the orchestra. The originality of his com- 
binations is as startling as their effect is varied 
and beautiful. He can make them express 
whatever he feels to be needful for the effect 
of the scenes he is treating; and he frequently 
does so with such complete success, that his 
meaning would be perfectly intelligible even 
were the voice part cancelled. His " melos," 
thus supported, adds power and expression to 
the poetical text, and furnishes us with a very 
high type of purely declamatory music — 
the only music he considers admissible into 
the <^ drama,'* except in an incidental form; 
while the infinite variety of orchestral color- 
ing he is able to impart to it deprives it, to 
soDie extent, in his hands, of the intolerably 



monotonous effect it would certainly be made 
to produce by an inferior composer. 

That he has selected this style from con- 
viction that it is more exactly adapted to the 
desired purpose than any other, and not from 
any natural inability to produce rhythmic 
melody, is certain ; for his earlier operas 
clearly show him to be a more than ordinarily 
accomplished melodist in the best sense of 
the term. " Mit Gewitter und Sturm aus fer- 
nem Meer," " Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere 
an," and "Steuernmnn! lass die Wacht!" 
in Derjliegende Hollander^ would alone prove 
this, had he never written , anything else. 
His principles, however, were but very faintly 
perceptible in Der fliegende HoUdnder. We 
find them more clearly enounced in Tann- 
hauser, more strongly still in Lohengrin and 
Tristan und Isolde; but they only attain 
their complete development in his last great 
drama, Der Ring des Nibelungen, a so-called 
" Tetralogy," consisting of four divisions, each 
long enough to form a complete work, and 
respectively named, " Das Rheingold," " Die 
Walkiire," "Siegfried," and "Gotterdam- 
merung." From this quadripartite concep- 
tion the aria in all' its fomis is strictly 
banished, and music is made throughout the 
handmaid of the libretto, and not its mistress. 
The correlation existing between the two is 
80 intensely close, that we may well believe 
it could never have been satisfactorily carried 
out, had not the poetical text been furnished 
by the composer himself. Wagner evidently 
takes this view of the matter, for he has 
written the libretti as well as the music of all 
his later operas ; and it is evident that, where 
this arrangement is possible — that is to say 
where the dramatist is great, and eijually 
great, both as a poet, and a musician — it 
must of necessity lead to higher results than, 
any which are attainable when the work is 
divided between two men of genius, who, how- 
ever closely their ideas may be in accordance, 
can never think exactly alike. In the " Te-. 
tralogy," the subject selected, and carried on 
throughout the four grand divisions of the work, 
is founded upon certain Teutonic myths, which 
it is scarcely possible for two great writers 
— a word-poet and a tone-poet — to contem- 
plate from exactly the same point of view : 
the advantage, therefore, is immeasurable, 
when one mind, of great and varied attain- 
ments, can arrange the whole. Wagner in- 
clines to the idea that myths of this description 
furnish the best if not the only subjects on 
which the musical drama can be founded, 
though both Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde 
are founded upon Keltic legends. But, in 
this he would, perhaps, lay down no very 
strict law; for the Teutonic myth could 
scarcely appeal very strongly to the imagina- 
tion of an English audience, and, to a French 
one, the Nibelungenlied would be utterly 
unintelligible. 

The force of our remarks will be best 
understood by those who have enjoyed an 
opportuni^ of hearing Wagner's works per- 
formed in his own way ; but a mere penisaP 
of the score will illustrate them with suffi- 
cient clearness to answer all practical pur- 
poses. In -either case, the student cannot 



154 



DWIQETS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1029. 



fail to be struck by the undoubted originality 
of the style : but, is the general conception a 
new one? AssuYedly not. It is the fullest 
possible development of the Ideal which was 
proposed, in the year 1600, at the house of 
Giovanni Bardi, in Florence. Wagner looks 
back to Greek tragedy as the highest avail- 
able authority on tlie subject. So did Rinuo- 
cini. Wagner condemns rhythmic melody as 
altogether opposed to dramatic truth. So did 
Peri. Wagner keeps his instrumental per- 
formers out of sight, in order that he may 
the better carry out the illusions of the drama. 
So did Emilio del Cavaliere, and Peri after 
him. Wagner uses all the orchestral resources 
at his command, for the purpose of enforcing 
his dramatic meaning. So, in 1607, did 
Mouteverde. The only difference is, that 
Monteverde had but a rude untutored band 
to work with, while Wagner has a magnificent 
orchestra, fortified by the experience of two 
hundred and eighty years. It was not to be 
wondered at that Mouteverde's style of recita- 
tive grew wearisome, or that, when the power 
of introducing orchestral coloring was so very 
small, Alessandro Scarlatti endeavored to in- 
crease the interest and beauty of his works 
by the introduction of measured melody and 
well-constructed movements. In process of 
time these well-intentioned improvements at- 
tracted too much attention, and weakened the 
true power of the drama. Then Gluck arose, 
and resolutely reformed the abuse — but for 
the time only. No one can say that his 
principles have been fully carried out by later 
composers — that too many operas of the 
present day, in more schools than one, are 
not grievously lowered in tone by the perni- 
cious habit of introducing irrelevant, if not 
positively flippant tunes, in situations where 
they are altogether out of place. Against 
these abuses Wagner has waged implacable 
war; and, in so doing, he has merited the 
thanks of all who have the true interests of 
the lyric drama at heart : for the evils which 
he has made it the business of his life to 
eradicate are no light ones, and he has entered 
upon his task with no faltering hand. Only 
while giving him all due honor for what he 
Has done, let us not wrong either himself or 
his cause by pn\tending to give him more 
than his due. He has called our attention, 
not, as some will have it, to a new creation, 
but to a necessary reform. He has nothing 
to tell us that Gluck has not already said ; 
and Gluck said nothing that has not already 
been said by Peri. The reformation, so far as 
recitative, declamation, and melody are con- 
cerned, is nothing more than a return to the 
first principles laid down at the Conte di 
Vemio's reunions. It brings us therefore 
not one step in advance of the position that 
was reached little less than three centuries 
ago. 

These, however, are not the only points con- 
cerning which it is necessary to call the reader's 
attention to the strange analogy existing be- 
tween the new school of the nineteenth century 
and that which flourished in the seventeenth. 
The disciples of Peri and Caccini cast aside, 
as mere vexatious hindrances, the restrictions 
imposed upon them by the laws of counter- 



point. Modem composers have done the 
same; and striving, like Monteverde, to in- 
vent harmonic combinations hitherto unheard, 
have justified their innovations by the not 
very easily controvertible dictum, "That 
which sounds well must, of necessity, be 
right.'* Admitting the force of this argu- 
ment, must not its converse — "That which 
does not sound well must, of necessity, be 
wrong" — be equally true? It seems difll- 
cult to dispute this ; yet our ears are some- 
times very sorely tried. Can any one, for 
instance, really take pleasure in the hideously 
" out-of-tuue " effect of the following "false- 
relation " from the third act of Der fiiegende 
Hollander f 



^IJSL^ ^ ^f^ 




p espressivo. 



etc. 



E 



The great dangeV attendant upon such aber- 
rations as these is that the progression used 
by the master, in a few isolated instances, for 
reasons of his own, is too often mistaken by 
the disciple for a "characteristic of the 
style," and introduced everywhere, ta^ue ad 
nauseam. Should the disciples of the school 
we are considering fall into this pernicious, 
though almost universally prevalent error, its 
results cannot fail to exercise a most disas- 
trous effect upon the future prospects of the 
drama. We have already said that the value 
of a work of art depends entirely upon the 
amount of natural truth it embodies, whether 
that truth be exhibited in the perfection of 
symmetrical form, as in II Don Giovanni or 
Le Nozze di Figaro, in power of emotional 
expression, as in Za Sonnamhuloy Norma, or 
Lucia di Lammermoor, or in purity of har- 
monious concord, as in 77 Matrimonio Segreto. 
Wagner's strict adherence to dramatic truth 
distinguishes his writings from those of all 
other composers of the present day. He 
declared himself ready to sacrifice all less 
important considerations for its sake, and 
proves his loyalty by continually doing so. 
No one will venture to assert that the value 
of his own works, strengthened as they are 
by his conscientious adhe]:ence to a noble 
principle, is materiailly diminished by a heter- 
odox resolution, or an occasional exhibition of 
harshness in the harmony of an orchestral 
accompaniment; but should his school, as a 
school, encourage the use of progressions 
which can be defended upon no natural princi- 
ple whatever, we may be sure that no long 
time will be suffered to elapse before it is 
pushed aside, to make room (or the creations 
of a twenty-first period. 

(Coneliiiloii in next niimb«r.) 



THE LONDON « MONDAY POPULAR 

CONCERTS." 

II. 

Having, in our last, given a short sketch of the 
" Rise and Progress " of this Institution, ivLich 
may now fairly claim to be of national interest 
and importance, we purpose entering somewhat 
into detail with regard to the work accomplished 
daring the twenty-two seasons of its existence. 



Our readers are probably familiar with the " cat*' 
logues " which Mr. Arthur Chappell has issued 
from time to time, containing lists of the works per- 
formed to the various dates* Having a two-fold 
purpose in view, we shall select as our starting- 
point that published at the end of the eighteenth 
season, April) 1876. The genius of a Gladstone 
can throw the halo of poetry around such a prosaic 
subject as the *' Budget ; " scarcely less is required 
of him who would make a work of art of a *' cata- 
logue," even though the subject-matter be the 
divine art itself. We have no such lofty purpose 
in view ; but shall be satisfied if we can make our 
survey useful, and perhaps interesting. The last 
programme of the eighteenth session concludes 
thus: — "End of the Five Hundred and Fifty- 
seventh Concert." The number of pieces given, up 
to that period, may be put down in round numbers 
as five hundred and fifty — it being impossible, 
without examining every programme, to get at the 
exact number ; as detached movements from the 
Suites of Bach and Handel, selections from the 
" Lieder ohne Worte " of Mendelssohn, and other 
extracts, occur from time to time. The number 
of composers represented is sixty-two. The 
following season — the nineteenth — consisted of 
thirty-five concerts, and the new works amounted 
to nineteen, and new composers to five. The last 
three seasons show the following results respec- 
tively: — Forty-one concerts, thirty new works, 
nine new names ; forty-one concerts, twenty-two 
works, four names; thirty-eight concerts, thirty- 
three works, four names — bringing the grand 
totals to seven hundred and twelve concerts, six 
hundred and fifty-four works, and eightynFour 
composers. We beg to draw particular attention 
to this apparently " dry " enumeration, for reasons 
which will appear later on. 

In the course of our investigation we shall fre- 
quently find cause for surprise : and the first is 
afforded by the above figures. Whether in the 
aggregate, or in detail, we invariably find that 
the " concerts " outstrip the " works " in number 
— the first few seasons being a necessary excep- 
tion. The second ** surprise" is, the small 
number of composers — only eighty-four 1 Of 
these, thirty are still living ; five have died with- 
in the last ten years, leaving less than fifty to 
recall to mind that great army of musicians of the 
past whose works exist to delight and ejify the 
civilixed world. 

To classify the names according to nationality 
would be a pleasing and interesting task. But 
our purpose will be better served by dividing them 
into periods — thus affording ready means of com- 
parison as to the relative proportions of the music, 
ancient and modem, that Mr. Chappell has brought 
before his audiences. This classification is rather 
difficult, as some names obstinately refuse to 
enter either category — their owners living too 
long for the one, and bom too early for the other ; 
still we give our best judgment to the matter, and 
submit the result to our readers. 

Firstly, we will take the "Old Masters," and 
their immediate followers. To avoid wearisome 
repetition, we shall give^ the names in alpha- 
b^cal order ; and, excepting the " giants," refer 
to them once only. Antoniotti, and AsloU, are 
each represented by one work only — for the 
violoncello. The next name is that of Sebas- 
tian Bach, the bare enumeration of whose works 
that have been given would form a decent " cata- 
logue" in itself. Fifty-three pieces have been 
presented — some, complete works ; others, selec- 
ted movements. The number of performances 
amount to one hundred and forty-six. The first 
work given was the Oi^n Fugue in G^minor ; 
the last, the sixth " Suite Anglais," in D-minor. 
Many of his works have been performed several 
times — including the concertos for three and two 
pianos; the celebrated Chaconne in I>miiior, for 



Septekbeb 25, 1880.] 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



155 



▼iolin alone, has been played twenty-four times. 
The name of his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann 
Bach, appears in the programmes but twice — in 
1870 ; on the second occasion, his fine *' Fantasia 
Dramatica," in C, was given. There were a good 
many "Bachs," as Mr. Chappell is doubtless 
aware. We hope the future may bring some of 
their works to a hearing. Boccherini is repre- 
sented by eight pieces; two quartets, the re- 
mainder for the violoncello — the favorite sonata 
in A coming in for nineteen performances. Cor- 
elli only appears twice. His Sonata in D, for 
violin, has been given four times; and the Trio in 
£-flat, once only — at the first*' Italian" night, 
February 27, 1860. Pierre Gavinies appears on 
the scene so late as December, 1876, when a 
sonata of his, for violin, was performed. Tlie 
programme states that he made his dehut at the 
age of fourteen, and played in public when 
seventy-three — such an "old stager" surely de- 
served a little more notice 1 Geminiani, who 
passed half his life in England, is limited to a 
sonata and gavotte, both for violoncello -•- a curious 
thing about them being that they were performed, 
the one, March 20, 1875, the other, March 20, 
1876 (one on a Saturday, the other on a Monday). 
Another curious thing is, the different estimate 
of the composer's age. The programme (follow- 
ing Burney, I presume,) gives the year 1666 as 
• that of his birth; Hawkins (followed by the Har- 
numicont Mendel's Lexicon^ and Grove's DicHon- 
<wy)> giv«» *^« year 1680, or " about" Grove's 
DictUmary states that he died in 1 761 ; the others, 
without exception, give the date, September 1 7, 
1 762. When " doctors " like these disagree, who 
shall decide? Handel, like his great contem- 
porary, was introduced by a composition for the 
organ — the concerto, No. 6, according td the 
" catalogue ; " No. 8, according to the notice in 
the Musical World, Our readers will recall our 
mention of the Bach and Handel night, April 4, 
1859. There is a great difference in the number 
of works given by these masters; the last named 
only counting fifteen, and forty-four perform- 
ances. The fifth " Suite," first collection, is the 
favorite, and has been played fourteen times; 
the Air therefrom, known as the "Harmonious 
Blacksmith " (with how little reason, our columns, 
years ago, gave evidence), once in addition. 
The last work heard was the Sonata in A, for 
violin, performed for the twelfth time, November 
1 7, 1879. The last four seasons show only five 
performances from Handel — the work just named, 
coming in for four of them. For a nation of 
Handel worshippers this is a sorry record, and 
furnishes another " surprise." Hasse, an illustri- 
ous contemporary, fares much worse, being repre- 
sented ^y a solitary sonata, and that so late as 
January, 1879 — almost a century after his death. 
Leclair and Locatelli are represented by two 
works each ;*one from the latter, being a " derange- 
ment" for the violoncello, of a violin sonata. Two 
works, by Manello, for violoncello, have been given 
several times. Nardini only figures once — in 
1878. Porpora, the same ^- in 1868. Rameau; 
ditto — but not till 1878, when his charming and 
well-known Gavotte with variations, in A-minor, 
was given. Bust's D-minor Sonata (the only one 
performed,)^ has met with better success — not 
allowed to " rust," we are tempted to add — hav- 
ing been brought forward seven times between 
the years 1871 and 1880. Domenico^Scarlatti, 
anoUier debutant at an "Italian" night (the 
second), has had ten performances devoted to his 
" Harpsichord Lessons ; " and, after an interreg- 
num of seven years, is coming again to the front, 
several sonatas having been introduced during 
the last three seasons. " Let not the Germans," 
says the critic of the Musical World, referring to 
the " Italian " nights, " imagine that they are 
the only people who can compose chamber-mosio.'' 



And BO say we; without any disrespect for Ger- 
man music, and having other than Italian com- 
posers in our mind's eye. Tartini numbers only 
three works ; but the " Trillo del Diavolo " has 
been heard twenty-three times at these concerts. 
Veracini, Vitali, and Valentini, close our list of 
names for this period. They number six workR, 
and twenty-one performances between them. Our 
readers will notice the preponderance of Italian 
names, and the total absence of English ones — 
of this, the " Old School ; " still, with that one 
exception, we must admit that Mr. Chappell has 
dealt liberally with this period ; having present- 
ed twenty-two composers, and one hundred and 
ten pieces — "Old Bach" claiming nearly one 
half. For the next few years Mr. Chappell can 
easily find as many more from the same sources. 



III. 

Our second period will embrace the founders 
of the " modern school," and range from Haydn 
to Schumann. Towering high above a race of 
" giants," it is^only natural to expect that Beet- 
hoven should surpass them all in the number of 
works presented in these programmes, and such 
we find to be the case. It would be a much eas- 
ier task to enumerate the works not given than 
to mention those performed. No fewer than 
ninety-three works have been presented ; the per- 
formances reaching the enormous total of eight 
hundred and sixty-one 1 To the complete reper- 
toire of the " Monday Popular Concerts " we find 
Beethoven contributing one-seventh — another of 
the " surprises " we hinted at in our last. There 
are so many points of interest ift looking over this 
vast array, that we would fain linger over our 
task ; but, space forbidding, a few instances must 
suffice. The first work given was the Quintet in 
C, Op. 29 ; the last the " Kreutzer '* sonata, March 
20, 1880. Sufficient evidence of the popularity 
of the last-named work is afforded by the fact 
that it has been played forty-eight times. The 
Septet in E-flat, Op. 20, comes next in order with 
thirty-four performances. Of this work, a critic 
writes (1828) : " As a happy union of musical 
science and beautiful melody, no work of Beet- 
hoven equals his Septet." Eight other works 
appear twenty times and upwards. All the quar- 
tets for strings have been given, with the excep- 
tion of the Grand Fugue, Op. 188 (so numbered 
in Breitkopf & Hartel's edition); the six trios. 
Op. 1 t9 97, for pianoforte and strings; the whole 
of the sonatas for pianoforte and violin, for 
pianoforte and violoncello; thirty sonatas for 
pianoforte, and much besides. Indeed the diffi- 
culty in finding novelties seems to have been so 
great, that the last four seasons only produce one 
— ^the variations " Se vuol ballare," for pianoforte 
and violin. We might ask. Why are none of the 
pianoforte quartets given? Why not perform 
occasionally the octet, or sextet for wind,, or the 
sextet for strings and horns? We believe the 
subscribers would be pleased to hear the clarinet, 
oboe and bassoon somewhat oftener. This hom- 
age to Beethoven may be truly described as mag- 
nificent; and any city in Germany might be 
challenged to produce its equal. 

We pass on to the next name : that of Cherp- 
bini, who wrote but little chamber-music, of 
which still less is published. He is represented 
by three string quartets, and the pianoforte So- 
nata in B-fiat, the total perfornvances numbering 
fourteen. Chopin comes next. He is introduced 
by his Valse in A-flat, Op. 42, April 8, 1861 ; 
but according to the Musical World, that work 
was looked upon as a trifle — along with Schu- 
bert's Impromptu in B-flat — infringing the sys- 
tematic order of the concerts, and, to the minds 
of many, out of place. He does not appear again 
till June 18, 1864, when the Scherzo, Op. SI, was 
given, and the valse repeated. The number of 



works given now reaches twenty-seven, of which 
thirteen have been introduced during the last 
four seasons : a proof that his music is making 
way — ^the performances numbel^ing fifty-six. The 
favorite work appears to be the Polonaise, Op. S, 
for pianoforte and violoncello (composed in early 
youth), which has been given eight times, the 
Scherzo named above coming next with six per- 
formances. We now reach Clementi, " the father 
of all such as handle the pianoforte," as was -re- 
marked on the occasion of the " grand dinner " 
given in his honor in 1828. Among hundreds of 
" pianoforte solo " performances, we might expect 
to find a fair proportion allotted to the music of 
Clementi. As a matter of fact we do not find it 
so. Six works and seven renderings are all the 
programmes record. He was represented at each 
" Italian " night (there were three in all during 
1860); at the first, Feb. 27, was played his 
sonata "Didone abbandonata," which, says the 
Musical World, " created the profoundest impres- 
sion. The sonatit is the work of a poet as well 
as a great musician, and sets at naught the idea 
entertained by some modern amateurs, that 
Clementi was a pedant." One work was given 
in 1861, another in 1866, and the last in 1877. 
We will only remark that here is another ^* sur- 
prise." Donizetti was represented at the second 
" Italian " night, by his fourth quartet for strings 
(in D), which we are informed was " heard to 
perfection." Dussek, who follows in our list, is 
fairly well treated, a quintet for pianoforte and 
strings, two string quartets, two sonatas for piano- 
forte and violin, and five for pianoforte alone, 
gracing the programmes at intervals; the total 
performances numbering thirty-five, of which 
fifteen were devoted to the beautiful sonata men- 
tioned in our first article. Like Clementi, Dussek 
has not been heard since 1877. More's the pity I 
Ernst had a "benefit" concert, June 6, 1864 (a 
concert of great interest, says the Musical Times), 
when five of his compositions were brought for- 
ward, including three numbers of the "Pensees 
Fugitives," written in conjunction with Stephen 
Heller. A string quartet had been given two 
years earlier, with some of the pieces repeated at 
the " benefit," making in all six works and nine- 
teen performances — the " Elegie " coming in for 
eleven. 

At the name of Haydn the mind instinctively 
reverts to quartets; it is no matter of surprise 
that forty-seven of the eighty-three have already 
found a place in these programmes. 'It would 
cause no displeasure, we venture to predict, if 
Mr. Chappell should think fit to give one at every 
concert each season till the "cycle" was com- 
plete. The performances of the quartets alone 
reach the Urge number of one hundred and sev- 
enty-three. The other works given include six 
trios, a sonata for pianoforte and violin (ar- 
ranged from a quartet), two sonatas, and the 
variations inF-minorfor pianoforte solo — mak- 
ing in all fifty-seven works and two hundred and 
six performances. Seven pieces were marked 
"first time" last season. "Papa" Haydn has 
been well looked after. To Hummel is accorded 
ten works and twenty-seven performances, thir- 
teen of these belonging to the Septet in D-minor, 
last heard November 18, 1875, after which date 
the name of Hummel disappears. Krommer, who 
follows, appears only once, December 17, 1861, 
when his string quartet, Op. 24, No. 3, was intro- 
duced. The Musical World remarks: "The 
programme commenced with a quartet by Krom- 
mer, a composer doubtless new to the majority of 
the audience, and, judging from the specimen 
produced, not likely to become familiar, although 
this same 'Moravian' composed no less than 
sixty-nine quartets for stringed instruments, be- 
sides a vast quantity of music for the church." 

Mendelssohn is well represented, numbering 



156 



dwight'S journal of music. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1029. 



forty-nine works (selections from the Lieder ohne 
Worte, Books 3 to 8 here counting as six), and 
tliree hundred and twenty-one performances. 
The favorite pieces seem to be the trios ; that in 
€-minor appearing twenty-six times, and the D- 
minor, twenty-three. The splendid quintet in 
B-ilat was given twenty-four times ; the Octet, fif- 
teen; the Sextet (posthumous), once only — 
March 16, 1868. The »*Preciosa" variations 
written by Mendelssohn and Moscheles (" impro- 
vised " at the PliiJharmonic Concert — see Life of 
Moscheles), were performed July 6, 1863, the 
only occasion when the name of the latter com- 
poser is mentioned. MoJique has four works and 
seven performances. Mozart, who comes next, 
has fifty-three, and numbers two hundred and 
seventy-nine performances. There is a fair dis- 
tribution of pieces in the various departments of 
" chamber-music,'' the quintets and quartets, per- 
haps, taking the lion's share. The clarinet 
quintet comes in 'for twenty-five performances; 
the Quintet in £-flat, for pianoforte and wind, 
for one I — a like fate to that of the similar work 
by Beethoven. Of the quarteU, that in C, No. 
6, has been played the most frerjuently : twenty- 
one times. Paganini and Romberg we class 
together as composers and virtuosi; they have 
three works in all ; the former, two, and the lat- 
ter, one — each performed once. 

Hossini has had three of his string quartets 
performed — one at each of the " Italian nights." 
The Musical World says : " Rossini's quartet 
(in D), an amusing bagatelle, was (together with 
four others) written at the age of sixteen, and 
published without the consent or knowledge of 
the master." We have only heard of five, but of 
one a writer remarks in 1828, when Rossini was 
a score of years beyond sixteen, that it was then 
about to be published simultaneously in Milan 
and London, to secure the copjTight. Schubert 
shared the honors of the programme with S^wlir, 
May 16, 1859, when his Quartet in A-minor, Op. 
29, introduced his name to these concerts. lie 
has kept his place well, the last novelty having 
been the Quartet in B-flat, Op. 168, given Janu- 
ary 28, 1878. His works reach the total of 
twenty-nine, with one hundred and seventy-two 
performances, the lovely Trio in B-flat counting 
twenty-five, the Quartet in A-minor, eighteen, 
and the Octet, sixteen. Schumann, whose name 
comes next, exceeds Schubert in the number of 
pieces, but not in the performances, having forty- 
six of the former and one hundred and fifty-six 
of the latter. The first work that appeared by 
Schumann was the famous Quintet in £-flat, for 
pianoforte and strings, introduced December 1, 
1862. There is along notice of the performance 
in the Musical Worlds which space will not allow 
us to quote, and of which no extract can give Uie 
"argument" clearly. That the work is now 
better understood is shown by tlie fact that it has 
reached its twentieth performance, and appears 
to be classed with the regular ** annuals." 

Now we -come to Spohr, who is down for 
twenty-nine works — the number given to Schu- 
bert, with whom he was introduced. His part 
of the programme opened with the Double Quar- 
tet in E-minor, No. 3, Op. 87 ('* This was a very 
great performance of a great master-piece." Alwt- 
ical World f May 31, 1859), and which has been 
given altogether seven times. The greatest num- 
ber of performances fell to the barcarolle and 
scherzo from the " Salon Duettinos," Op. 135, 
which were played twelve times, the total per- 
formances numbering only fifty-one. Steibelt 
appears but once, December 17, 1860, when his 
sonata in £-fiat, dedicated to Mme. Bonaparte, 
was performed. We cannot resist inserting 
another extract from our much-quoted contem- 
porary and senior: *^The last of the Monday 
Popular Concerts was interesting lor more than 



one reason, and especially for the introduction of 
a name which has hitherto been somewhat unac- 
countably neglected," Further on, attention is 
directed to another sonata. Op. 60, possibly with 
the hope that it may be introduced — a. hope not 
yet realized. Viotti is represented by three 
works and six performances. Our next name is 
that of Weber, who, it will be remembered, was 
introduced with Haydn at the tliu'd concert, Feb- 
ruary 28, 1859. The works then given were the 
Trio in G-minor, Op. 63, for pianoforte, flute, and 
violoncello, and three of the Chamber Duets, Op. 
60, (on two pianos). To these works we can 
only add six others — the (quartet in B-flat, for 
pianoforte and strings, the four pianoforte sonatas, 
and the sonata for clarinet and pianoforte ; tlie 
total ]>erformance8 being thirty-six. The last 
name belonging to tliis period is tliat of Woelfl, 
who appears on the scene December 5, 1859, 
with tlie " Ne plus ultra," which has been given 
in all seven times. The only other work intro- 
duced being the Introduction, Fugue, and So- 
nata in C-minor, Op. 25. " 

Our survey of this period gives a total of 
twenty-three composers, and four hundred and 
forty-eight works. Embracing, as it does, the 
names of Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mo- 
zart, Schubert, Schumann, Spohr, and Weber, 
few will be disposed to cavil at the enormous 
total — more than half the " catalogue." If there 
were "communists" in the musical world, they 
might clamor for a more equal distribution. 
Our present object being simply to record the 
work done, we reserve further comment till our 
examination is completed. We might, and do, 
wonder at the omission of names by no means 
unfamiliar to tlie student; we might, on the 
other hand, have included at least, two English 
names as belonging to tills eix)ch, but we prefer 
keeping the "little flock" of native composers 
for separate notice. — London Musical Standard, 



GEORGES BIZET.i 

(Concluded from page 147.) 

A faithful friend and a devoted comrade, know- 
ing neither envy nor petty jealousy, Georges 
Bizet, whose generous heart was never found 
wanting, felt delighted at the success of his fellow- 
competitors of the day before and his rivals of 
the morrow. His elevated mind and delicate 
sentiments impelled him to encourage those less 
fortunate than himself, ,to console those whom 
Fortune had betrayed, and it was in perfect sin- 
cerity that he applauded the triumph of his com- 
petitors. I have under my eyes several letters 
dated from Rome, in which the young inmate of 
the Villa Medici speaks with frank enthusiasm of 
his comrades and fellow-students, Guiraud, Th. 
Dubois, Paladilhe, pupils, as he was, of our 
masters, Halevy and Thomas, and also of myself. 
These unreserved communications, penned without 
premeditation, with thorough open-heartedness 
and freedom from artistic and literary affectation, 
are, as it were, the reflex of his temperament, so 
vigorous and marked by such individuality. Side 
by aide with sincere criticism, free from prejudice 
or disparagement, I find examples of warm en- 
thusiasm and outbursts full of frankness. A fe^ 
extracts will enable the reader to judge : — 

"aOth January, 1858. 
" I reached Rome safely the day before yesterday 
and hasten to send you a little visiting card. I did 
not forget to think of you. on the 17th ; though far 
awa}', I drank your health and shared with all my 
heart in your family rejoicings. ... I was highly 
delighted when informed of the great success of 
Le M€decin Malffr^ Lui, Have you heard it ? I fear 
your health has not allowed you to do so. As 
for myself, I have had a splendid journey ; I have 
seen Lyons, Vienna, Valencia, Orange, Avignon, 

1 From Le MinestreL 



Nimes, Aries, Marseilles, Toulon, Nice, Genoa, Pifia, 
Lucca, Pifltoia, Florence, Perugia, Temi, etc. Aa 
you perceive, I have lost no time. I will soon for- 
ward you particulars of the life we lead at the 
Academy of France in Rome. . . ." 

"11th January, 1859. 
"... Though I am actually absent, my heart 
will be all with you. I wish you, my dear master, 
as much success this year as last. . . . This, I 
think, is about the most affectionate thing which 
can be wished for you and consequently for myself. 
With you, a pupil learns more than the piano ; he 
becomes a musician. The further I get, the more 
plainly do I perceive the large part which belongs 
to you of the little I know. Your manner of teach- 
ing suggests to me a very great deal, which I will 
develop at length on my return. Just as you make 
students who are not first-rate play Haydn's earlier 
sonatas, might we not employ for sol-faing, the easy 
works of the great masters instead of the A, B, C, 
of M. X . . . whom I like very much — and whom 
I should be deeply grieved to see at the Institute? 
I am at this moment giving a short course of musi- 
cal instruction to a painter and a sculptor in the 
Academy. I make them sol-fa f ragmenU from Don 
Juan, Le Nazze, etc. I can assure you they do not 
complain. Had I the courage to undertake any- 
thing educational, I would try and turn this idea to 
some account ; but I am not strong enough, and I 
am foo egotistical. This is not a piece of pleasantry 
or a paradox ; I confess it with shame. I liave not 
much to tell you concerning myself. I indulge in 
long and delicious draughts of the delights of liome, 
which at present are superior to those of Capua. 
What a life ! And to think that in two years it will 
be ended ! This grieves me ; but I shall come back 
here, that I swear ; perhaps we will come back to- 
gether. ... I am working very hard now. I am 
finishing a buffo Italian opera, with which I am not 
too dissatisfied, and I hope the Academy will think 
my style exhibits progress. With Italian words, 
one must do the Italian ; I have not attempted to 
escape this influence. I have made every effort to 
be intelligible and distinguished ; let us hope I have 
succeeded. I shall send for the second year an 
opera of Victor Hugo's, Esmeralda, and for the 
third a Symphony. I do not avoid difficulties ; I 
want to test my strength while the public are not 
concerned in the matter. I will not disguise from 
you the fact that I expect to be exposed to a great 
many annoyances on returning to Paris. The ' Prix 
de Rome ' are not spoilt, but I have a little will of 
my own which will overcome a great many obstacles, 
and it is on that I rely. Faust will soon be given. 
Tell me what you think and ce qui est. It will be a 
master-piece, that is certain. Will it be a success ! " 

"8d August, 1869. 
** It is an Infinitely long time since I had a talk 
with yo I. I should be very angry with myself 
were this the result of f orgetf ulness or indifference ; 
it is only idleness at the worst. To begin with, I 
worked very hard to finish what I had to send, Don 
Procopio, a two-act buffo opera. Then I have been 
travelling and had a splendid trip to the mountains. 
What a country, my dear master, and^hat travel- 
ling companions 1 At Astura, Cicero ; at Cape Circe, 
Homer and his Ulysses ; at Terracina, Fra Diavolo. 
. . . This is thoroughly Scribish, and when I think 
that from Homer to M. Scribe there are only three 
leagues, I feel amused. I start to-morrow for 
Naples, and I shall go and spend a few hours with 
Tiberius and Nero. This is a step in the wrong 
direction, you will remark, but Virgil and Horace 
will console me for the tyrants. I am busy on the 
work I have to send. It is a grand Symphony on 
Camocns' Lusiade. 1 have just despatched my 
scene-plot to a friend. If he can put it into verse, 
I shall feel encouraged in my design. But let me 
speak a little about you. ... I must congratulate 
you on your success at the Institute, for I know 
better than any one else how largely you contribute 
to the education of those who are lucky enough to 
pass through your hands. I am delighted at Gui- 
raud's getting the prize; he is a real musician; I 
hope he will console me a little for the small 
sympathy existing between poor X . . . and n^- 
self . I am really not very fortunate with my musi- 



Septeiibeb 25, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



157 



cbI comrades. Dubois, also, has had a good year, 
for he carried off the organ-prize, did not he? 
Paladilhe must be enchanted. . . . Jules Cohen like- 
wise has achieved a fine success at the Th^&tre 

Fran^ais. . . ." 

"17 th Jamuabt, 1«60'. 

"... It is with regret that I see the end of my stay 
in Italy approaching. Shall I have made during 
the three years sufficient progress to take the place 
I wish to occupy in musical art? That is some- 
thing which I dare not yet hope. ... I wanted 
a long time ago to write a symphony on Camoens' 
Lusiade ; I made a plan of the work and then I had 
to find a poet. I put my hand on a certain D. . . , 
a Frenchman, very learned but destitute of taste. 
I am obliged to re-write a portion of his poetry, 
which is not an amusing process, especially as I per- 
ceive with terror that my lines are infinitely superior 
to his. ... I am expecting Guiraud from day to 
day. I shall experience all the more pleasure in 
seeing him, because I have not spoken to an intelli- 
gent musician for two years. My colleague X. . . . 
is pretentious and wearying. . . . Our musical con- 
versations always end by irritating me.- He talks 
to me about Donizetti and Fesca, and I answer 
Mozart, Mendelssohn, Gounod. . . ." 

" 26th July, 1860. 
" So then I am at length about to leave Rome. 
When shall I see it again ? It is the true home of 
artists. . . . The class is distinguishing itself and 
among your boys are some of the right stuff for 
' Prix de Borne,' such as Fissot, Diemer, Lavignac, 
etc. I was sorry to hear of poor Goria's death. . . . 
What is there new in musical Paris? There are 
no master-pieces, are there? Revivals, and what 
revivals ? Ridiculous old vaudevilles adapted to 
music still more ridiculous. I have a horror of the 
little ' musicket ' of Monsigny, Philidor, Nicolo, and 
Co. ; to the deuce with all the people, who saw in 
our sublime art merely an innocent amusement for 
the ear. Stupidity will always find numerous 
worshippers; I do not complain, however, and I 
assure you I should experience great pleasure at 
being appreciated by none save persons of pure 
intelligence. I do not care much for the popularity 
to which men now-a-days sacrifice honor, genius and 
fortune. . . ." 

On becoming a composer, and one of our most 
highly endowed masters of dramatic and sym- 
phonic art, Greorges Bizet continued to be a skil- 
ful virtuoso, an intrepid reader, and a model 
accompanist. His execution, always firm and 
brilliant, had acquired an amplitude of sonorous- 
ness, a variety of expression and gradations which 
imparted to it an inimitable charm when he per- 
formed his orchestral transcriptions and especially 
his vocal pieces, L*Ecole du chanteur italien'y alle- 
mandf etfran^ais, a collection of one hundred and 
fifty specimens, transcribed for the piano and con- 
stituting an admirable preface to Thalberg's work, 
VArl du chant appliqud au piano. Bizet excelled 
in the art of modulating sound and of rendering 
it fiuid under the pressure, delicate or intense, of 
his fingers. Like a consummate virtuoso as he 
was, he possessed the secret of causing the mel- 
ody to stand well out in the light while leaving it 
the envelope of a transparent harmony, the undu- 
lated or cadenced rhythm of which was identified 
with the recitative portion. The auditor submitted 
unresistingly to the seduction of the performer's 
suave and persuasive touch, similar to the — sq to 
say — magnetic charm of Grounod, when he sings 
his adorable melodies, and for the voice substitutes 
a genuine echo of tiie soul. 

Among the works written especially for the 
piano by the author of Carmen we may mention 
his Chants du Rhin, six characteristic Lieder 
which may unhesitatingly compare with the col- 
lection of Songs without Words, by Mendelssohn. 
Bizet was also most nearly related, as regards 
form, to Robert Schumann. His Chasse fantas- 
tique, dedicated to me, is characterized by the 
chivalric and diabolical accents of the old legends. 
It is an imaginative piece, exceedingly interesting 



in its details and finish — an epic ride through 
the world of spirits. The Theme varie in the 
chromatic style, dedicated to Stephen Heller, is a 
composition written with a master's hand. It is 
impossible to carry imagination and ingenuity to 
a higher pitch. Some of the variations are ex- 
quisitely charming and elegant. The self-imposed 
necessity of adhering to the chromatic style is 
productive, however, of a few dissonances ; but 
these shadows bring out all the more strongly the 
real beauties of the picture. We must mention, 
furthermore, some delicious little infantine pieces 
for four hands, and the Scherzo of Saint-Saens' 
Concerto in Gr-minor, transcribed with very great 
skill as a pianoforte solo. The beautiful scores, 
too, of Mignon and Hamlet found in the future 
poet of Carmen a conscientious translator, full of 
tact and delicacy. It is not our purpose to give 
a complete catalogue of the varied labors of the 
young master who has been snatched from our 
admiration, and we will content ourselves with 
naming his fine collection of melodies, so full of 
such charming individuality, of such delicate and 
penetrating emotion. Among so many rare gems, 
we will point to VHoiesse Arahe, which Mme. 
Bataille interprets. like a great artist — a master- 
piece of sentiment which she completes by putting 
into it the sorrowful accent of regret and of ten- 
derness inseparable from the exquisite melody. 
The orchestral pieces and the choruses written 
for UArlesienne were highly appreciated by ama- 
teurs of taste and the dilettante portion of tlie 
public. The thoroughly picturesque local color- 
ing, the true and expressive sentiment of the sym- 
phonic pieces interpolated in Alphonse Daudet's 
moving melodrama were praised witliout restric- 
tion by the musical critics, happy to encourage 
the young master's novel tendencies. Carmen 
was the brilliant consecration of the transforma- 
tion of Bizet's style, and hb most splendid day's 
march on the ascending road to the ideal of which 
we had caught glimpses in his former works. The 
composer had at length effected an alliance be- 
tween ingenious, brilliant orchestration and vocal 
melody of light and elegant outline. The equi- 
librium of the harmonic edifice, without being dis- 
turbed, assigned to the symphony a more than 
usually large space ; the more than ordinary vig- 
orous coloring of the accompaniments or sym- 
phonic fragments corresponded with the inspired 
flights of the musical poet, without being inju- 
rious to the full and reassuring afiSrmation of his 
return to the healthy traditions of dramatic art. 
Carmen, no matter at what point of view we 
place ourselves to judge it, is a work of high 
value. The inspiration in it is sustained; the 
warm melody, full of color, is distinguished by 
expressive sentiment thoroughly suited to the 
stage; the different numbers, perfectly proix)r- 
tioned, well arranged and well conceived, belong 
without exception, by the originality of the ideas 
and the way in which those ideas are set in a 
light at once expressive and limpid, to that nor- 
mal and rational art which is accepted by all, and 
to which we owe so much strong emotion as well 
as so much sweet and pure enjoyment. Apart 
from its incontestable melodic value, the music of 
Carmen is scored with really surprising ingenuity. 
It is no longer the work of a musician of the 
future, rich in hope, but a lasting monument con- 
structed by a musician sure of his effects, master 
of himself, and expressing his thought with the 
certainty of saying what he thinks in the form he 
has chosen. Two symphonic fragments and an 
overture, Patrie, were performed with success at 
the Concerts Populaires conducted by Pasdeloup. 
These instrumental pieces exhibited the com- 
poser's talent in a special light. The symphony, 
broadly treated and written with the firm hand 
and style of a master, exhibited the science of a 
consummate musician, possessing the most secret 



resources of his art. As for' Patrie^ it is a noble 
specimen of inspiration, vigorous, full of color, 
and vibrating with emotion. Among the vocal 
and instrumental pieces written for UArlesienne, 
many also figured in the programmes of the Pas- 
deloup Concerts. The orchestral Minuet was 
transcribed, with great fidelity of details and 
effects, by Delaborde, who, like Guiraud, was one 
of the composer's intimate friends during the later 
years of his life. 

Greorges Bizet, by virtue of his laborious life, 
so courageously employed, may be held up as a 
model for young composers, too yielding either to 
premature discouragement or to the more danger- 
ous seductions of early success. He devoted his 
whole existence to searching for new forms, taking, 
at the same time, religious care not to stray from 
those grand principles without which, art is no 
longer aught save phantasy. Being a man of pro- 
gressive mind, he underwent the reaction of the 
numerous transformations and evolutions which 
affect the domain of music. He never lost his 
interest in the novel tendencies of the German 
school towards a special expression of dramatic 
sentiment; the descriptive, picturesque, philo- 
sophical, realistic, and other designs of the Wag- 
nerian group, did not leave him indifferent, but 
he knew how to make an inteUigent selection, as 
they say in the vocabulary of the other side of 
the Channel. He was sometimes beguiled, but 
never assimilated. 

And no one was less calculated to undergo the 
exclusive influence of an absolute system. Bizet, 
on the contrary, represented the French school, 
so profoundly jealous of its characteristic quali- 
ties, and too personal to allow itself to be taken 
in tow by new prophets. He was a "clairvoy- 
ant " in all the force of the term. His straight^ 
forward natural good sense, his sound judgment, 
prevented him from going astray after subtle dif- 
ferences. Sometimes finical, he had on the other 
hand a hon'or of what was obscure ; his distin- 
guished harmonies go as far as labored refinement 
without falling into affectation. Even the para- 
doxes with which he enameled current conversa- 
tion, the way in which he was pleased to parody 
certain airs by Mehul or Boieldieu, ornamentin*' 
their melodies with old-fashioned embroidery 
work and repetitions, was only an exaggeration 
of his '^musical straightforwardness;" but his 
passionate admiration for the flights of Verdi or 
the sublime inspirations of Rossini was equalled 
only by his enthusiasm for the really fine pages of 
Wagner or Schumann. He was a man of eclec- 
tic temperament, just mind, indefatigable imagina- 
tion, and an open soul, endowed with a rare 
facility of assimilation; no contemporary artist 
knew less of the petty prejudices of the school, 
and, had death not come to interrupt him in his 
work, no one would have been worthier to take a 
well-marked place in the sublime and glorious 
land illuminated by the fraternal equality of 

genius. A. Marmontel. 

» 

German r. Adalbert von Goldsclimidt, whose ora- 
torio, " The Seven Cardinal Sins," had drawn the at- 
tention of German connoisseurs to the young com- 
poser some time ago, has just published the text- 
book of a musical drama entitled " Helianthus," 
which is said fully to confirm the high opinion 
formed from the preceding work of the author's 
exceptional poetical qualifications. 

-A fresh contribution to the already most 

voluminous Wagner literature has been added by 
that able and indefatigable exponent of the poet- 
composer's music-dramas, Hans von Wolzogen, edi- 
tor also of the famous " Bayreuther Blatter." The 
new pamphle^ is entitled " Tristan und Isolde, ein 
Leitfaden durch Sage, Dichtung und Musik." 

A commemorative tablet has been placed in 

the building of the elementary school at Hainburg, 
in Austria, where, during the gears' 1737 and 1740, 
Joseph Haydn had been a pupil, receiving there also 
his first musical instruction. Numerous v6tal so- 
cieties from Vienna and the vicinity of Hainburg 
assisted in the interesting ceremony. 



168 



DWIGHTS JOTJRl^AL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1029. 



fiDtniSi^f ^ journal of S^mfic. 

TURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1880. 

THE ORCHESTRA QUESTION. 

Wb sympathized bo fully with the main thought 
and purpofle of the article in our last number by 
our friend and frequent contributor '^ W. F. A.", 
(who kindly undertook the task of writing us 
a ''leader" during our short vacation in the 
country), that we preferred to print it as it was, 
reserYing the few and perhaps not very essential 
qualifications that occurred to us. We agree with 
him of course (for " we ourselves have said it " 
many times) as to the absolute importance of 
having a complete established orchestra in Boston. 
But we have too much faith in the essential power 
of music, and in the genuine love and apprecia- 
tion for the great symphonies which has for forty 
years existed in this community, to share the 
gloomy apprehension that ''without a standard 
orchestra we shall die out of the musical world" 
We shall always manage to get our feasts of Beet- 
hoven, Mozart, and the rest, as for forty years 
we have done thus far, even should we have to 
rely upon the most makeshift orchestras. The 
main thing, after all, is the love of the best music 
— that is the master compositions, the truest 
inspirations of musical genius — and the pro- 
vision of sufficient opportunities of hearing them 
at least decently well performed. Somehow we 
have always managed to get at the heart of the 
matter, even through performances open to criti- 
cism on the score of technical precision and fine 
finish. For it must be remembered that there 
was a time in the musical history of Boston, 
twenty or thirty years before we ever heard any- 
thing that could in any sense be called a model 
orchestra, when season after season more of the 
classical works were heard here, and more keenly 
enjoyed, more deeply felt, and talked about with 
more enthusiasm, than hardly any music which is 
heard here now. Because then the appetite was 
fresh and healthful ; it had not been spoiled by 
incongruous medleys of things highly spiced and 
indigestible; the musical stomach was not over^ 
loaded, and dyspeptic symptoms had not supers 
vened. Sure of good meat (good programmes) 
we were less fastidious about the style in which 
it was served. We gave ourselves up in simple 
good faith to what we had a right to believe to be 
intrinsically good, and that faith was rewarded 
by the revelation of a new world of wonder and 
of beauty. We listened in an accepting and not 
in a critical spirit ; we cared more for the matter 
than the manner. Cannot an open and suscepti- 
ble young mind find out Shakespeare for him- 
self in the most soiled and badly-printed cheap 
edition, without waiting for the fine type and 
paper, and the sumptuous binding of our modem 
books? Did we not feel and love the Fifth Sym- 
phony quite as much as any body feels and loves it 
now, in those old days of the Odeon (Federal 
Street theatre) when we first 'made acquaintance 
with it through an orchestra which perhaps would 
hardly be tolerated to-day? 

We say this only in qualification of the gloomy 
hint of "dying out." Of course we desire as 
much as any one that Boston should have its own 
local orchestra, permanent, in constant practice, 
always in readiness for all worthy musical tasks, 
under the control of some respectable body or 
bodies of enlightened and disinterested friends of 
music, and kept most religiously out of the hands of 
speculators, advertising agencies and " bureaux." 

We want it, and we have great faith that it 
can be had. But our young friend must consider 
that such a thing, as a local institution, does not 
exist, and never has existed yet in any dlj of 
America. Mr. Thomas's admirable orchestra is 



in no sense a local institution any more than are 
the travelling opera troupes of the Maplesons and 
ULnanns ; moreover it is not permanent, it is con- 
tinually changing, and its whole principle of 
unity and continuity resides in the individuality 
of Mr. Thomas. Boston, therefore, is not worse 
off than other cities, except in so far as it is less 
populous and has not the crowd of musical immi- 
grants to draw from that New York has. 

With our collaborateur we are fully of the 
opinion (we have often expressed it here) that it 
is not at all unreasonable to expect public-spirited 
rich men of Boston, sooner or later, to do here 
for an orchestra what they have so readily and 
generously done for the Art Museum, for Harvard 
College, and for all the higher agencies of cul- 
ture and enlightenment. It seems as if in the 
very nature of things some such special provir 
dence must speedily appear. And we agree with 
him in feeling that the Harvard Musical Associa- 
tion, having for so many years taken the initiar 
tive, and having in the tone and character of its 
membership so good a guaranty of disinterested- 
ness and of a high ideal in its endeavors to pro- 
mote 'the art of music among us, might very fitly, 
and without too much modesty, make a direct 
appeal to wealthy friends of music, or of culture 
generally, to aid it in building up that permanent, 
efficient 'orchestra, which is now felt to be so 
essential to the musical character and progress of 
our city. 

At the same time we cannot admit that the 
Harvard Musical Association, in its Symphony 
Concerts, "began at the wrong end." It began 
at the only end that could be taken hold of. 
There was no real orchestra existing ; but there 
was a strong desire to hear the S3rmphonies, and 
there were musicians enough in town to make up 
a fair orchestra for their interpretation. Was it 
not well to make the most of the small means we 
had, knowing that what deep genuine love of 
such music there was in Boston had sprung from 
the even poorer opportunities of an earlier day, 
and believing that by keeping the sacred flame 
alive, even in a small way, the desire would in- 
crease and extend itself through larger audiences, 
and the means for its gratification would in time 
come also? Nor do we quite see what is meant 
when the Sjrmphony Concerts are spoken of as 
"hovering in mid i^," as "resting on nothing 
solid." Is not a banding together of lovers and 
workers for good music something solid, or might 
it not make itself so? Are not good programmes 
something solid? Indeed we think them of prior 
consequence, if there must be priority, to very 
" advanced " conditions of performance. And 
we still believe that " we want concerts of good 
mutic** more than we want an orchestra per 
te. The end is surely greater than the means, the 
use than the machine. 

Yet we could see how all our friend's remarks 
were capable of a construction not essentially in 
conflict with our own ideas, which we have here 
felt called on to express mainly from the fear that 
his ideas, as he expresses them, are open possibly 
to wrong constructions in the minds of others. 

The whole orchestral question is now .open ; 
other solutions will of course be presented ; and 
we trust the theme will be discussed until some 
tangible, concrete, "-solid " plan shall be agreed 
upon as fit to be submitted in an earnest canvass 
for support. 

Amatbub Obchbstbas. One suggestion prompt- 
ed by the great want expressM above, though 
tending only in a partial and subsidiary way to 
meet it, is that of an amateur orchestra which 
might co-operate with our amateur vocal clubs in 
the production of cantatas and other choral works 
composed for an orchestral accompaniment. The 
idea seems to correspond in certain features to the 
plan, of Mr. Stanford (to which we referred a few 



weeks since) of local orchestras connected with 
church choirs in England. Mr. S. L. Thomdike, 
in his annual report as president of the Cecilia 
(which we hope soon to give in full) says : 
^ Allow me here to offer the suggestion that an 
amateur orchestra would be a valuable and useful 
feature in the musical life of any city large and 
cultivated enough to furnish it The suggestion is 
certainly not new. The experiment has often been 
tried, with varying success, but with sufficient suc- 
cess to warrant its repetition. There is no reason 
in the nature of things why success might not be as 
complete with an orchestral as with a vocal club. 
Admit all that can be said by way of doubt or 
disparagement ; that fair playing implies a greater 
amount of musical capacity and training than fair 
sinffing; that the variety of skill required in an 
orchestra is tenfold that required in a chorus ; that 
the time needed for private practice and for joint 
rehearsal by the orcnestral player is double that 
needed by the member of a singing society. All 
these are matters of degree and detail. We are 
growing more musical year by year. Amateurs 
now vie with professionals. The time is coming, 
perhaps is close at hand, when it will be as easy to 
find five good amateur violins or 'cell! as to find 
twenty g(x>d amateur tenor or bass singers. When 
that time arrives, a good amateur orchestra is pos- 
sible. And when a good amateur orchestra shall 
exist in any city, the vocal clubs of that city will 
have a fresh encouragement and support. They 
will not need paid assistance, but will join hands 
with those who approach the sacred art with the 
same end as themselves, not as a livelihood, but as 
one of the delights and graces of a cultured life. 
Therefore I take this opportunity of saying that the 
Cecilia, the Apollo, and the Boylston, ought to pro- 
mote the formation of any association who will lend 
aid with instruments to what they are trying to do 
with voices. 



MR. CONSTANTIN STERNBERG, THE 
RUSSIAN PIANO VIRTUOSO. 

[The line of wonderful pianists who come knocking 
at our doors from Europe, one after another, every 
year, seems to be endless. After aU epithets of praise 
have been exhausted, over and over, new cmes have to 
be invented. We hope the glowing first impression^ 
of the enthusiastic friend, who writes us the following 
letter, will be measurably, if not absolutely confirmed 
when we all have a chance to hear.] 

Mt Dear Mr. Dwioht: 

It is not often that one is permitted to enjoy so 
rare a musical treat as I did this week. Having 
been somewhat exclusively privileged to hear, in 
private, the Russian piano virtuoso, Mr. Constantin 
Sternberg, last Thursday evening, the day follow- 
ing his arrival in this city from Germany, I hasten 
to communicate to you a few particulars of the 
highly artistic treat which was accorded me. 

In the firAt place, I must conscientiously state 
that I had read highly laudatory criticisms of Mr. 
Sternberg's playing, published in several German 
and other European musical papers, but I was 
rather egotistically inclined to wait and judge for 
myself as to the pianist's artistic merit. But I 
have heard for myself, and am convinced that 
Mr. Sternberg is a great artist in the fullest sense 
of the word. Not <mly that, he is a true.man, full 
of noble humanitarian principles, genial, and with- 
out a particle of affectation or pride. This I proved 
by an extended conversation with him. His soul 
and mind are richly stocked with a love of every- 
thing good and admirable in painting, poetry, 
sculpture, literature, as well as his predominant 
art of music. His knowledge of the multifarious 
art-works of the various nations of the world is 
surprisingly full. To my mind he is the ideal artist 
in music He is not only a virtuoso, he is a deep- 
thinking and deep-feeling musician. Music in 
America cannot but largely benefit by his advent 
among us. 

His touch on the piano, and his style of playing, 
are at once massive and sweet, grand and poetical. 
Were I to stop and compare his playing to that of 
Liszt or Rubinstein, I should immediately feel that 
it is Sternberg who is playing, and that with either 
of the three names comparisons would be odious, 
since each possesses his own strong individuality. 
Mr. Sternberg's virtuodty is superb, yet, it is all 
under the powerful control of his rich artistic 
gifts. His touch in soft passages and runs is pearij 



SsPYEiiAEtt 25, 1880.] 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



159 



and delicate, full of poetical suggestions, and his 
force in loud, grand playing is highly impressive, 
and absolutely artistic. It is in this latter attribute 
that he differs favorably from many of the virtuosos 
of the day who lose their artistic instinct when 
they soar to the height — a mechanical and in- 
tellectual height, you well know — of their pro- 
digious virtuosity. In all the multifarious phases 
of his playing there stands prominently out the 
mother-wit, the manly feeling, the noble sentiment, 
of the great artist. 

His repertory is all<«mbracing ; it includes, among 
all the old, a rich vein of new piano works by 
modem masters, of which he is the unique exponent. 
It is his musical mission to America to interpret, as 
he above all others can interpret, the rich piano 
literature of those more modem composers the 
artistic merit of whose works is destined to make 
them ultimately become classic. In the selection of 
these works, he has been guided by his own deep 
artistic Instinct In addition to this he is a noble 
exponent and admirer of the grand old classics in 
music. He is an original genius of the piano, who 
will ably place before us things wliich are not only 
absolutely new, but highly meritorious. 

I picked up a copy of Bach's " Well-tempered 
Clavichord " which was lying near the piano ; " Ah ! " 
said Mr. Sternberg to me, in^an affectionate tone, 
looking at the Bach, "that is my daily bread.'' 
Whereupon he sat down at the piano and played 
several of the, fugues in clear, noble style, giving a 
palpable individuality to each melody, and yet mak- 
ing'each part sing with the other in artistic unity 
in such a unique manner that it made me feel that I 
was not listening to a mere virtuoso, but to a great 
artist. He played several of his own compositions, 
published in Germany. One, a quaint "Gavotte," 
which he called a "little piece," but which is an 
artistic gem, pure and original. His repertory 
includes several of Grieg's, Saint-Saens's, and Schar- 
wenka's works; a concerto of the latter master 
which is full of strength- and beauty, and when 
under Mr. Sternberg's hands, in conjunction with 
orchestra, it will have an effect wUch might be 
given forth by a combination of two orchestras. 

Of Russian music Stemberg is indeed a rare in- 
terpreter. He fosters a loving admiration for the 
folk-songs of his nation. He played one or two 
highly difficult transcriptions of the songs of the 
people, which are master-pieces of musical com- 
position. " The songs of the people," he remarked, 
" come from the heart, not the head, and they are 
never-dying."* Sternberg's masterly interpretation 
of them will certainly live in the hearts of true 
musical people the Vorld over. He will make his 
dAut in America at the Academy of Music, in this 
city, on the 7th of October, In association with Mr. 
Carlberg's orchestra. Mr. Carlberg's experience 
in the interpretation of Russian music will doubtless 
make his orchestra a valuable supplement to Mr. 
Sternberg's playing. Altogether there seems to be 
no doubt of the success of Manager C. C. Colby's 
enterprise in securing so truly great an artist as 
Mr. Stemberg for one hundred concerts in America. 
Personally, Mr. Sternberg is about the medium 
height, well-built, has a massive Beethovenish head, 
strongly-marked features, evidencing well-developed 
character. He is twenty-six years of age, and is 
possessed of a knowledge of men and things far in 
advance of his years. He spoke of his acquaint- 
ance in Germany with two of your Boston musicians, 
Mr. Ernst Perabo and Mr. Carlyle Petersilea, and 
presumed upon their welfare in your city. I may 
state that Just before he sailed for this country, Mr. 
Stemberg was offered the directorship of the great 
Russian Conservatory of Music. 

Always with best wishes, sincerely yours, 

GaoBOK T. BcLUMO. 
New York, September 18, 1880. 



were given in the beautiful new theatre of the Casino, 
on Thursday, Tuesday and Thursday, Sept 2, 7, and 
9, at noon, to audiences fair in numbers, but very crit- 
ical and appreciative. 

Ifr. Jordan will be remembered in connection with 
the concerts of the Boylston Club of yonr city, in 
which he has often appeared. Last season he took the 
part of Faust in the master-piece of Berlios, as given 
by the Oratorio Society of New York under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Leopold Damrosch. In this work he ap- 
peared six times, winning high commendation for his 
rendering of the music of the part. 

These recitals were first given near the close of last 
season in Providence. At each one the interest 
deepened and the attendance increased. The songs 
given were the three sets known as " The Pretty Maid 
of the Mill," "The Winter Journey," and the " Swan 
Songs." These Mr. Jordan has arranged in a sort of 
story, giving one set at each recital. At the third 
recital, as the "Swan Songs" are fewer in number 
tluui the other two setii, he gave in addition miscella- 
neous songs from Schubert, Schumann, Rubinstein, 
Jensen, Lisct, Franz, etc., with a view of illustrat- 
ing the development of German song. This was a 
happy and very appropriate idea, as the "Swan 
SoDgH *' were written by Schubert only a short time 
before his death, whence their title, and really formed 
" the beginning of a new era in German song." This 
new era found its full development in Schumann and 
Robert Franz, and has been still further illustrated in 
the compositions of those authors whose names are 
mentioned above. 

Mr. Jordan's renderings, considering the great vari- 
ety and difficulty of the songs, some of which are not 
quite in the best range for his voice, were superb. He 
had studied them with great care, and had entered 
very completely into their spirit and meaning, so that 
he was able to convey their many-sided moods to his 
audience with remarkable success. The audience 
showed their appreciation of his rendering by frequent 
and hearty applauscu 

Mr. Wulf Fries gave us some very fine 'cello play- 
ing, delightful to listen to, and satisfying in every 
way. His selections were especially appropriate. All 
were very choice morceaux and beautifully rendered. 

Mr. Wilson furnished a dLscriminatlng and sympa- 
thetic accompaniment which received its full share of 
appreciation. 

The recitals were in every way a splendid success, 
and Mr. Jordan has every reason to congratulate him- 
self on his effort Surely it cannot fail of awakening 
in many who were present a higher appreciation and a 
deeper love for those wonderful songs and, through 
them, for all music of this noble character. 

As Mr. Jordan contemplates giving these recitals hi 
Boston and New York during the comhig season, I 
will not attempt at this time any elaborate and detailed 
criticism of them. We are sure that the mere prospect 
of such an opportunity to become acquainted with these 
gems of song will of itself awaken a lively interest 
in the subject, among all musical people. A. Q. L. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Nkwpobt, B. L, Skpt. 13.— Lovers of music in 
Newport have within a few days enjoyed a rare treat 
in three Schubert Song Recitals, given by Ifr. Jules 
Jordan, of Providence, R L, with the assistance of 
Mr. Wolf Fries, 'cello, of Boston, and Ifr. James H. 
Wilson, of New York, pianist and accompanist The 
recitals were the musical event of the season. They 



Chicago, Sept. 16. — ^Your correspondent has been 
silent some time, for musical matters were at a 
point of rest, and " every body " was out of town, 
including the writer. But again there is new life in 
our musical circles, and there is a general awaken- 
ing on all sides. Plans for the near future are being 
developed by our musical societies, and our season 
bids fair to be a brilliant one. There has been a 
gpreat improvement in the taste of our musical public 
in the past few years, and managers have found out 
by experience, th^t in order to obtain paying houses 
they must furnish entertainments worthy of sup- 
port. The weak point In last season was our want 
of symphony concerts ; for during the entire winter 
only one orchestral work of any importance was 
played. We have a goodly number of musicians, 
with whom the formation of a fair orchestra would 
be possible ; but unfortunately, no plan of organ- 
ization has yet been made by which a result can be 
obtained. Your correspondent has endeavored, by 
means of his humble influence, and with his pen, to 
bring about some plan of organization, that our city 
might be blessed with an orchestra worthy of the 
name ; but up to the present hour the endeavor has 
been fruitless. We are to have, so I am informed, 
a visit from an orchestra under the leadership of 
Mr. Theodore Thomas, some time during the winter. 
It will be delightful, after such a long time of wait- 
ing, to hear a symphony well given; and there is 
no doubt but that Mr. Thomas will be received with 
enthusiasm when he comet. Yet the question of a 



home orchestra remains unsettled, and our need 
cannot be supplied by any foreign band that visits 
us simply to make money. Real development in 
art is only possible when it rests upon sure and 
lasting foundations. A city should endeavor to 
support whatever adds to its reputation as a culti- 
vated place ; and it is only when an art atmosphere 
has been created, that real refinement in taste is- 
universally possible. Thus I look for our best 
helps towards musical development to come fronn 
within the circle of our city. Home talent is always 
our own, and is ever active in usefulness. 

Our vocal societies are hard at work, and we are 
promised a number of fine things. The Beethoven 
Society will honor the birthday of the composer, 
whose name they bear, by giving a concert, in 
which some representative compositions will be 
performed. Our Apollo club has also a fine plan 
before it The culmination of the season is to be 
a large Festival, which will take place some time 
in the spring. Among the productions of the sum- 
mer, was the publication of a book by Mr. W. S. B. 
Mathews, entitled "How to Understand Music." 
The writer has given us a book that will be useful 
to a large number of thinking teachers, and also 
instructive to those who are interested in music as 
an art Our teachers should give more reflection to 
their art, and view it from its grand stand-point, 
that of its meaning. Intellectual teachers are an 
honor to the art; and the day is past when the 
superficial in any profession can command either 
respect or support. Thus one views every indica- 
tion of thoughtful observation and reflective study, 
on the part of any earnest teacher, as so much 
accomplished for the art. In this connection it 
pleases me to mention that Mr. A. W. Dohn of our 
city has placed in English dress the interesting 
work on ''The Art of Singing" by Prof. Ferd. 
Sieber. 

The study of the voice is one that lies at the 
foundation of the musical art, and as such, it 
becomes a matter of much moment, and every new 
thought on the subject is of importance. 

Among the new arrivals of the summer cornea 
Mr. Boecovitz, the pianist, who intends to locate 
here. I have not heard him play as yet, but I 
understand he will give a public recital next week. 
As the season advances I shall take pleasure in 
sending my notes to the Journal and endeavor faith- 
fully to transmit word-echoes of our music to the 
East, — for in art our interests are common. 

Vj' H. B. 

MUSIC ABROAD. 

^SBOSir, NoRWAT. The Norwegians have cele- 
brated Ole Bull's death and funeral with great 
solemnity. Some of the newspapers, including 
"Bergensposten," went into mourning, and most of 
them brought out elaborate eulogies and anecdotes. 
B. Bjomsou left Gansdal, and Edward Grieg, the 
composer, arrived from Hardanger to attend the 
funeral, which took place at Bergen. The funeral 
was arranged on an elaborate scale, officers of all 
kinds appearing m full uniform, civilians in black, 
with white neckties. On the 28d of August, the day 
preceding the funeral, a special perf onnance took 
place in the Bergen theatre, one of the actors pro- 
nouncing a poem beginning : ** Crown his grave, the 
haven of rest" Then came Nordquist's funeral 
march and the play of *' Michel Perrin," all before 
a full house. On the 24th, the day of the funeral, 
the steamer " Kong Sverre " took a distinguished 
company of ladies and gentlemen to Ole Bull's 
villa, where breakfast was served. The company 
then entered the concert-room where the coffin 
stood, E. Orieg played on the organ, a singing 
society sang an air, and several addresses were made. 
The coffin was then taken on board. In the city, a 
procession was formed, led by the Norwegian flag, 
a band of music and singers. Sixteen young ladies, 
with the trophies of Ole Bull, preceded the funeral 
wagon which was drawn by four horses. The 
latter was followed by Consul John Orieg, who was 
marshal of the day, and Edward Grieg, who bore 
the golden wreath given to Ole Bull in San Fran- 
cisco. All the corporations of the city took part in 
the procession, the band played Chopin's funeral 
march, all 'the charch-bells were rang, and nearly 



160 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1029. 



ten thousand persons are supposed to have witnessed 
the grand pageant. The drug store of the Swan, 
Bull's birthplace, was specially decorated, and in 
front of it the procession stopped, the singers 
rendering a selection. At the cemetery the Rev- 
erend Mr. Walnum made a solemn address in front 
of the grave, and was followed bj Bjornsoh, E. 
Grieg and Bendixen. Between the addresses there 
was singing or instrumental music, and finally the 
grave was filled while the choral " Who knows how 
near I am my end " was sung. Ole Bull's orders, 
diamonds and presents have been given to the 
Bergen museum. One account of the wide-spread 
mourning at his burial says: "At the grave the 
poet Bjamstjem Bjornson spoke, and in the whole 
country there was hardly a village in which the day 
was not solemnized in some way. For Ole Bull was 
something more than a virtuoso ; he was a character 
in the history of Norway, a power in the national 
life of the country. . . . Patriotism was his great 
pafsion. All the honors he earned in the world he 
sent conscientiously home. He forgave people 
when they said that he could not play the violin ; 
but he never forgave them when they doubted that 
Norway had the stuff within herself to become a 
great country. His patriotism was fanatical, and his 
fanaticism often gave rise to very queer freaks. 
But his countrymen, who reaped the benefits of all 
he did and all he said, understood him, and the 
country in mourning at his burial is a simple and 
natural expression of gratitude." 

Lbipzio. Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, one of the old- 
est and most highly esteemed professors at the Leipzig 
Conservatorium, died on the 16th ult., at the age of 
seventy-two. He had been the intimate friend and 
fellow-student, under F. Wieck, of Robeil Schumann, 
and a contributor to the music journal founded by the 
latter. Soon after the establishment of the Leipzig 
Conservatorium in 1843, under the direction of Men- 
delssohn, Wenzel obtained the professorship of piano- 
forte-playing at the new institution, which post he 
filled with great ability to within a few months of his 
death. 

A complete edition, in five volumes, of the lit- 
erary writings of Franz Liszt is just now being pub- 
lished by the firm of Breitkopf and Hartel. 

A medallion portrait of Robert Schumann, 

which had recently been secretly removed from the 
memorial erected to the composer at Leipzig, has been 
found in the possession of a young student of the. Uni- 
versity, whose admiration for the master has doubtless 
prompted him to commit this crazy act of vandalism. 

DuEssELDOBF. Under the title of ''Festive per- 
formances of works by Diisseldorf Music-directors, 
from Mendelssohn to the present time," a musical fes- 
tival was held at the Rhenish town just named, under 
the direction of Julius Tausch and Ferdinand Hiller. 
The performances were given on the 8th and 9th ult., 
being intended as a contribution to the Exhibition of 
Art and Industry recently held at Diisseldorf. From 
an artistic point of view the festival is said to have 
proved highly satisfactory, whereas, financially, the 
result has been a deficit of some 6,000 marks. Among 
the solo performances, Herr Leopold Auer*s violin-play- 
ing created much enthusiasm. The programme of the 
two days included : 

Symphony, D-minor (Schumann) ; Oratorio, "St. 
Paul" (Mendelssohn); Overture, "Dionys'* (Burg- 
miiller); "Dein Leben schied" from Byron's Hebrew 
Melodies, for male chorus and orchestra (Julius 
Tausch); Violin Ck)ncerto (Mendelssohn); "Wall- 
fahrtslied," for mixed chorus and orchestra (F. Hil- 
ler); Friiblingsnacht," for four solo voices and orches- 
tra (F. HiUer) ; Symphony, C-major, MS. (F. Hiller); 
'^Festouverture" (Julius Rietz); Ave Maria, for alto 
voice with organ (Julias Tausch); " Abendlied,*' for 
vioUn (Schumann); Scenes from "Faust," Part IH. 
(Schumann). 

^The Royal Opera of Berlin resumed its perform- 
ances on the 24th ult., with Beethoven's "Fidelio." 
The Lnperial opera of Vienna reopened its doors on 
the 15th ult., with the same classical master-piece. 
Schubert's little-known opera "Alfonso and Estrella" 
will be the first novelty to be introduced by the latter 
establishment during the season just inaugurated. 

GiiOUCESTBR, England. The Festival began on 
Tuesday, Sept. 7, with a morning service and a ser- 
mon by the Dean of Worcester. These " Three Choir 
Festivals " are supposed to date from 1724, although 
the annual meetings really began some years earlier. 
At first the united choirs very sensibly gave their con- 



certs for the benefit of the sick and infirm members 
among their own body, but in 1724 the clergy took the 
matter in hand, and the subscriptions 'now go to 
widows and orphans of the beneficed clergy within 
the three dioceses. Widows get £20 and orphans £15 
a year. This, be it said, does not arise from the 
"profits " of the Festival, which, under many years of 
somewhat inefiicient management, form an inappre- 
ciable sum. Indeed, until the absurdity be recognized 
of permitting the cathedral organist to air his ability 
in triennial conducting, and until far more adequate 
performances are given, the receipts bid fair to do little 
more than cover the bare expenses. This year the 
programme has been better selected than ' heretofore, 
and three novelties (Mr. Parry's "Prometheus," Mr. 
Henry Holmes's "Christmas," and Mr. Lloyd's Service) 
will be brought forward. The Festival opened on 
Tuesday morning with Elijah, and in the evening a 
miscellaneous programme, including Mozart's E-fiat 
symphony and Mr. Parry's novelty, was given in the 
Shire Hall. On Wednesday morning, September 8, 
Mozart's Requiem^ Schubert's unfinished symphony 
in B-minor, and Spohr's Last Judgment ^ were given, 
and in the evening St. Pavl was performed. On Sep- 
tember 9, the service was to be that of Mr. Lloyd in 
E-flat, with Ouseley's anthem, "Great is the Lord," 
and the programme of the performance was to include 
Leonardo Leo's " Dixit Dominus" in C, Palestrina's 
" Stabat Mater," Henry Holmes's " Christmas Day," 
and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in D ; the evening 
concert including Schumann's symphony in B-flat and 
Stemdale Bennett's Waldnymphe overture. On Sep- 
tember 10, the morning service will include the " ser- 
vice" TaUis in D, Doric, and anthem. Gibbon's " Ho- 
sanna to the Son of David"; the morning performance 
will bo of the Messiah, and the Festival will close in 
the evening with the air for strings from a suite in 
D of Bach by way of prelude, Tallis's music to the 
Responses, Evening Service in F, (newly composed by 
Mr. C. H. Lloyd, the cathedral organist), Mendels- 
sohn's "Let all men praise the Lord," from the 
Lohgesang, 9X1.6. the "Hallelujah'* from Beethoven's 
Mount of Olives. A new anthem by Dr. Stainer is ex- 
pected. —Fi'firaro. 

LOCAL ITEMS. 

The event of the present week was the Worcester 
Festival, which has pa.ssed off successfully, beginning 
on Monday afternoon and ending last evening with 
Judas Maccabssus. A summary of its eij^t concerts 
we shall make room for in our next. 



Boston. The earliest concerts of importance for the 
coming season are the three announced by Mr. Peck, 
at the Music Hall, for Monday, Oct 4, Friday, Oct. 8, 
and Saturday (matinee), Oct. 9. In each of these will 
appear Miss Annie Cary, Herr Wilhelmj, the great 
violinist (for the first time here in two 3'ears), and the 
phenomenal piano virtuoso, Rafael Joseffy. Wilhelmj 
will play: an Andante and Intermezzo (first time here) 
by Vogrich; Ernst's Ofe^/o Fantaisie ; Bach's Chaconne 
(without ficcompaniment); the Andante and Finale of 
the Mendelssohn Concerto ; a Fantaisie of his own and 
a Polonaise by F. lAub. Joseify's selections include: 
the Andante Spianato and Polonaise by Chopin; the 
Sonata Appassionata of Beethoven; and many witch- 
ing little tilings, such as a Prelude by Bach; Liszt's 
Campanella, Tarantella, etc.; Rubinstein's Etude on 
"false notes;" aria from Pergolese; Spinning Song, 
Wedding March, etc., by Mendelssohn ; a nocturne of 
Chopin; and a polka and waltzes of his own. Miss 
Cary's pieces are not yet selected. Once more the 
world of music will be felt about us. 

The rehearsaLs^ of the Hnndel^nd. Haydn So- 
ciety begin tomorrow evening at Bumstead Hall. The 
soloists engaged for the Messiah, at the opening of the 
new Tremont Temple, Oct. 11, are Miss Lillian Bailey, 
Miss Emily Winant, Mr. W. J. Winch, and Mr. M. W. 
Whitney. Elijah will be given in the same hall on 
the 13th. 

New York. Bo'ito's M^tofele will be the leading 
attraction of the coming opera season. Strakosch 
will present it with Marie Roze as Margherita; Byron, 
the English tenor, as Faust, and George Conly as 
Mefistofele. Mr. Mapleson's cast will include Gerster 
as Margherita, with Campanini and Nanetti, the origi- 
nal representatives of Faust and Mefistofele. 

It is stated that Mr. Theodore Thomas has finally 

consented to permanently accept the directorship of 
the choral and orchestral department of the New York 
College of Music. Herr Rafael Joseffy has accepted 
the place of first professor of the piano. The board 
of management has decided to institute a system simi- 
lar to that of the Paris Conservatory, by which six free 
Bcholarships will be maintained, open to competitioii 



by any young ladies of talent who may choose to apply 
for examination. 

Chioago. The musical statistics of last season 
form a long llst^ which records quite a number of im- 
portant events. Perhaps this activity is greatly due to 
the influence of the Hershey School, which numbers 
many excellent musicians among its professors, and 
includes in its course of instruction recitals by eminent 
soloists. We have abeady referred to several of these 
recitals given by Mrs. Wm. H. Sherwood and also to 
those of Mr. H. Clarence Eddy, who is one of the finest 
organists in the country, and, we believe, one of the 
principal teachers of the Hershey School. His recent 
programmes have included parts of Widor's second 
organ symphony, Bach's St, Ann Fugue, Thiele's Con- 
certscUz in C-flat minor. 

Mr. Harrison Wild, the organist of Union Church, 
gave an organ recital last week, playing Merkel's 
sonata hi G-mhior, and Thiele's Chromatic FaniaHe 
and Fugue. 

Among other recitals we mention an afternoon of 
songs given by Prof edsor James Gill. His programme 
included songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, 
Robhistein and Purcell; Bach's aria My heart ever 
faithful and Arcadelt's Ave Maria. 

A review of the musical events in Chicago since 
June 1, 1879, gives the following list of one hundred 
and sixty-nine concerts, which may be classified as 
follows : Riv^King troupe, four; Williams College 
Glee Club, one; Yale College Glee Club, one; Germania 
Miinnerchor, one; Exposition Building oonoerts, three; 
Sherwood recitals, three; Mendelssohn Quintette Clnb, 
three; Remenyi troupe, three; Beethoven Society, 
three, besides reunions; Liebling recitals, three, besides 
several pupils' recitals; Carlotta Patti troupe, four; 
Apollo Club, four; Joseffy recitals, four; Thursby 
troupe, including the Ole Bull concerts, six; Blind 
Tom [!] concerts, eight; Uesegang chamber concerts, 
eight; Musical College concerts, eight; Eddy organ recit- 
als, eleven; Lewis chamber concerts, eleven; Hershey 
School concerts, including chamber concerts, pupils' 
mating, and popular concerts, twenty-nine; mkoella- 
neous, indnding churoh concerts, charity concerts, tes- 
timonial concerts, etc., forty-six. The most important 
works which have been performed at these concerts 
have been Hiller's Easier Morning, Hoffman's Cinder- 
ella, Briich's Lay of the Bell, the Creation, the Mes- 
siah, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Rubinstehi's Paradise 
Lost, Bruch's Frithjof and Gade's Erl King. Three 
new cantatas by amateur composers have also been 
performed: J. Maurice Hubbard's Fisherman's Orave, 
Philo Otis's One Hundred and Twenty-First Psalm, 
and J. A. West's Domroesehen. 

There have been twenty-three seasons of opera as 
follows: Aim^e troupe, Haverley's, ■ August 2(^24; 
Mahn's Fatinitza troupe, Hooley's, August 25-Sep- 
tember 6; Haverly's Church troupe, September 16-20; 
Strakosch troupe, McVicker's, October 20-November 
Ij Haverly's Juvenile troupe, November 10-15; Maret- 
zek troupe, McVicker's, November 18-29; Haverly's 
Juvenile troupe, second season, December 8-13; Emma 
Abbott troupe, December 15-20; Haverly's Church 
Choir troupe, second season, January 5-10; Mapleson 
troupe, Haverly's, January 12-24; Grran French opera 
troupe, Haverly's, February 2-28; D'Oyley Carte opera 
company, Haverly's, March 1-8; Gates troupe, Hooley's, 
March 8-13; same, Olympic, April 5-10; Amateur 
troupe, Haverly's, April 19-24; Peerless [!] Pino^ore 
company, Music Hall, May 31-June 21; Bijou opera 
company, McVicker's, June 14-19; D'Oyley Carte opera 
company, second season, Haverly's, June 14-19; Nathal 
English opera company, Hooley's, June 14-19; Mahn's 
opera company, McVicker's, June 14-July 5; Daly's 
New York company, Haverly's. These troupes have 
given two hundred and twenty-five performances of 
opera, which may be classified as follows : Fatinitza, 
twenty-five; Girofle-Oirojla, nine; Ze Petit Due, five; 
Les Brigands, two; La Jolie Parfumeuse, four; La 
Marjolaine, two; La FUle de Mme. Angot, three; Die 
Schoene QalatJiea (new), one; Der Liebe»-Trank,one; 
Pinqfore, sixty-nine; Trial by Jury, twelve; Trova- 
tore, four; Faust, four; Mignon,akL; Aida, five; i^icsa, 
four; Traviata, one; Bo?iemian Oirl, three; Martha, 
two; Norma, one; Rigoletto, two; Sleepy Hollow, 
(new), nine; PatU and Virginia, two; Chimes of 
Normandy, four; Borneo and Juliet, two; Sonnam- 
bula, two; Linda, one; Daughter of the Regiment, 
one; Dinorah, one; Grand Duchess, four; La Peri- 
chole, one; La Belle H^lkne, two ; Mme. Favart, one; 
Le Pr€ awx. Clercs (new), one; La Camargo, one; 
Pirates of Penzance (new), sixteen; Fanchette, adapt- 
ation of Royai Middy (new), seven; Royal Caniineers, 
(new), eight; Spectre Knight (new), eight; Charity 
begins at home (new), eight; Boccaccio (new), sixteen; 
and Royal Middy (new), sixteen. — Ifiis. Review, 
Aug. 12. 



October 9, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



161 



BOSTON, OCTOBER p, i88o. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boeton as Becond-clase matter. 

All the articles not credited to other publiccUions toere ex- 
prtstly unitten/or this JoumcU, 



Published fortnightly by HououTOif, Mifflin & Ck)., 
Boston^ Mass. Pricey to cents a nvmher ; $2.jo per year. 

For sale in Boston by Carl Pbuefeb, jo West Street^ A. 
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Mifflin ft Co., ai Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BONEB ft Co., not Chestnut Street ; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, 31a State Street. 



FRANZ LISZT. 



• ^ 



. . Franz Liszt was born in the year of 
the comet, 1811, October 22, in the village of 
Raiding, near Oedenburg in Hungary. His 
father, Adam Liszt, the descendant of a 
noble family, which, however, had renounced 
its title of nobility in consequence of reduced 
circumstances, held there the position of ac- 
countant of Prince Esterhazy. Being a 
zealous friend of music, playing several in- 
struments himself, he recognized the early 
manifestations of his child's ^dowment and, 
at his urgent entreaties, began instruction 
Three years later little Franz had already 
with him in his sixth year, on the pianoforte, 
played in the concerts at Oedenburg and 
Presburg, winning the admiration of his 
hearers to such a degree, that several Hun- 
garian magnates offered at once to bear the 
expenses of his education through a stipend 
of a thousand gulden for six years. 

Father and son at once resorted to Vienna 
after the former had resigned his place, and 
the work of education was energetically 
pushed on under the direction of Czerny and 
Salieri in piapo playing and in composition. 
On the Idth of April, 1823, the music-loving 
imperial city heard Franz Liszt for the first 
time. The extremely favorable result of this 
first concert, which won for the genial boy 
the high reward of the embrace of Beethoven, 
who did him the honor to be present, afforded 
him, in connection with a second concert, the 
means of completing his artist outfit in Paris. 
On his way there he appeared in Stuttgart 
and in Munich and was greeted as a '^ second 
Mozart." The coveted reception into the 
Paris Conservatoire was refused him, as a 
foreigner, by Cherubini, in spite of a bril- 
liantly passed examination ; but in Paer and 
Reicha he found active furtherers and guides 
of his youthful strivings. He was soon the 
f dted hero of ' the day, the favorite of the 
musical aristocracy, and the Parisian journals 
were enthusiastic in their praises of the phe- 
nomenal talent which '* knew no longer any 
rival." As a composer, too, in which capacity 
he had already excited the attention of Salieri 
in Vienna, he now came forward publicly, and 
in the year 1825 brought out at the Acadt^mie 
Roy ale a one-act opera : " Don Sancho, or 
the Castle of Love," which was so well re- 
ceived that Nourrit, who represented the 
leading rdle, took up the young composer in 
his arms and bore him before the shouting 
public 

Journeys into^ the provinces, into England 
and Switzerland, brought him new triumphs. 

[We trMulate from the article: "Franz Liszt, a Mosloal 
Character Portrait," by La Maba, in the GarUgnlOHbe. 



Then suddenly his faithful, provident father 
died, and the youth of sixteen saw himself 
thrown upon his own resources. Speedily 
he summoned to himself, to Paris, his mother, 
to whom he cleaved with all the devotion of 
his heart until her end, and laid at her feet 
100,000 francs, all that he had saved up 
thus far, as a welcome greeting; this made 
the evening of her life secure from care. 

Religious scruples and interna] conflicts, 
questions of. political principles and party, 
philosophical and general studies, which latter 
won for him the much admired universality 
of his intellectual culture, occupied him dur- 
ing the next years. Not only an artistic tal- 
ent and development, but in combination with 
them a comprehensive culture of the mind 
and character are, according to his view, the 
conditions and supporters of the true artist 
life. He would have all virtuosity regarded 
" only as the means, and not the end." If vir- 
tuosity before him had run into not much more 
than mere finger facility, he appeared, ac- 
cording to the testimony of Dehn, the cele- 
brated harmonist, as ^' the first who gave an 
inner meaning to the technique so remarkably 
developed through himself, the first who 
used it to a higher end." The high superi- 
ority of his art was evident at once, when, on 
the occasion of Thalberg's appearance in 
Paris, he entered into a competition with him 
and came off victorious. ^' Thalberg is the 
first, but Liszt the only," was the decision of 
the company, to which the critics were not 
slow to assent. And he has remained the 
Only to this day. 

It was his principle as a director, that " the 
task of a capellmeister consists hi making 
himself so far as possible superfluous and 
vanishing out of sight with his function so 
far as he can." So, too, in his activity 
as a teacher he left to each one*s indi- 
viduality the greatest freedom in develop- 
ment. He would have nothing to do with 
any pattern; complete individuality and in- 
dependence were secured to every pupil to 
whom he unfolded the inestimable treasures 
of his experience in the technique of his art. 
If the individual, soulful magic of his playing 
cannot be transferred to any other, still his 
school, long since diffused over all parts of the 
world, cannot be lost. From it have pro- 
ceeded the most famous names of the younger 
pianists, at their head Rubinstein, Hans Von 
Billow, Von Bronsart, Tausig, Sophie Menter, 
Anna Mehlig, Ingeborg von Bronsart, Laura 
Rappoldi, to whom may be added a wider 
circle of capellmeisters and musicians, such as 
Joachim, Laub, Singer, Cossmann, Cornelius, 
and Lassen. 

Before his competition with Thalberg, Liszt 
had lived for a long time in retirement at 
Geneva, induced by his friendly relation with 
the Countess d*Agoult (kn'own by the nam de 
plume of Daniel Stern) — the mother of 
Richard Wagner's wife. Then he spent two 
full years (1837-39) studying and giving con- 
certs in Italy. Brilliant successes in Vienna, 
too, established his artistic fame in Germany 
and formed the beginning of the virtuoso 
travels, which now led him from the North 
to the South, from the East to the West of 



Europe, through all countries and all music" 
loving cities. Ffeted with enthusiasm every" 
where, he received in Hungary and Germany 
especially, the greatest homage. Princes dec- 
orated him with titles and orders ; the Aus- 
trian Emperor restored his nobility, and 
afterwards made him a member of the Im- 
perial Council, with an honorary salary, and 
president of the Musical Academy of Pesth ; 
cities raised him to the dignity of honorary 
citizenship ; Pesth conferred on him the sword 
of honor, and the University of Konigsberg 
the Doctorate. A tumult of enthusiasm fol- 
lowed his steps wherever he went. Then, 
suddenly — the world saw it with amazement 
— he stopped short in his victorious progress 
and, standing at the zenith of his fame, 
closed his career, as virtuoso, to exchange it 
for the more thorny path of the composer. . 

Weary of triumph, longing for a home, a 
more concentrated sphere of labor, he allowed 
himself to be imprisoned in the little town of 
Weimar, where, yielding to the call of the 
Grand Duke to become capellmeister, he fixed 
his permanent abode in November, 1847. He 
settled down upon the "Altenburg" in com- 
pany with the Princess Caroline Sayn-Witt- 
genstein, a lady of high intellectual import- 
ance, who had followed him from Russia, and 
with her he soon gathered about him a circle 
of choice spirits. Here he caused art to 
bloom afresh upon the old classic ground, and 
developed an activity which became of far- 
reaching significance for the whole musical 
life of the present time. As his appearance 
in the virtuoso character had been epoch-mak- 
ing, so was it also when he came forward as 
director, as teacher and as composer.' There 
as here, in all directions of his activity, it was 
a bold, consciously powerful spirit of progress 
which spoke from his artistic achievements 
and opened new paths to Art. Together 
with a fostering care for classical works, he 
was, above all, interested in the furtherance of 
the rising musical generation. He was of in- 
calculable service to Wagner, for whose 
operas, while no one thought of. the exiled 
master and hb art, he founded a home upon 
the Weimar stage ; in this way, by his in 
domitable energy, he broke a pathway for 
them. No new musical manifestation of any 
sort of significance remained disregarded by 
him, and the matinees held every Sunday in 
his house exerted their attraction far and 
wide. 

(Gondosioii in next number.) 



RICHARD WAGNER. 
(Concluded from page 154.) 

Progress — even though it " progress back- 
wards " — is an essential condition of art ; 
and we cannot suppose that any exception 
will be made to the general law in the present 
instance. This being the case, it may not 
perhaps, be altogether unprofitable to con- 
sider, as closely as circumstances will permit, 
the probable character of the future which 
\ifis before us, more especially with regard to 
the influence which Wagner*s works and 
teachings are likely to exercise upon it. 

We are not left wholly without such data 

[From the Mticle "Opkba," by W. S. Booxstbo; in 
Part ZI. of Orore's Diotlonary of Musio.] 



162 



DWlQUrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1030. 



as may enable us to form an opinion on cer- 
tain points connected with this very important 
subject; and, first, we may s£ate our belief 
that it is simply impossible for such works as 
Derfliegmde BoUandery or IHe Meistersinger 
von Numherg^ to be forgotten, twenty years 
hence. It seems much more probable that 
they, and Tannhduser and Lohengrin and 
perhaps also Tristan und Isolde, will be better 
understood, and more frequently performed, 
than they are at present But what about 
the Tetralogy ? Does there seem a reason- 
able hope that that, too, may live? The 
probable longevity of a work of art may be 
pretty accurately measured by the nobility of 
its conception. Die Zaxxherflote is as young 
to-day, as it was on the evening when it first 
saw the light : Der Dorfbarhier is not. Now 
it is an universally received axiom, that, of 
two works of art, both equally true to Nature, 
that in which the greatest effect is produced 
by the least expenditure of means will prove 
to be the noblest. The greatest operas we 
have are placed upon the stage with wonder- 
fully little expense. For the worthy repre- 
sentation of Fidelio, we need only some half- 
dozen principal singers, a chorus, an ordinary 
orchestra, and a couple of scenes such as the 
smallest provincial theatre could provide at a 
few hours* notice. For Der FreiechutZy we 
only need, in addition to this, a few special 
"properties" and a pound or two of "red 
fire." But, in order that Der Ring dee 
I^ibelungenjaaght be fitly represented, it was 
found necessary to build a new theatre; to 
construct an orclysstra, upon principles hither- 
to untried, and to fill it with a matchless 
company of instrumentalists representing the 
most brilliant talent in Europe; to enrich the 
mi$e en scene with waves, clouds, mists, flames, 
vapors, a dragon — made in London, and sent 
to Bayreuth in charge of a special messenger 
— and other accessories which put the stabled 
horses and led elephants of " Berenice," and 
the singing-birds of "Rinaldo," to shame; 
and, regardless of expense, to press into the 
service of. the new school all the aids that 
modern science could contribute or modem 
ingenuity invent. Surely this is a great sign 
of weakness. There must be something want- 
ing in a drama which needs these gorgeous 
accompaniments to make it attractive ; and it 
is difficult to believe that such a display will 
ever again be attempted, except under the 
immediate superintendence of the author of 
the piece. But, supposing the " tetralogy " 
should be banished from the stage, from 
sheer inability to fulfill the necessary condi- 
tions of its production, will the principles 
upon which it is composed be banished with 
it ? Is it not possible that Wagner's teaching 
may live, even though some of the grandest 
of his own individual conceptions should be 
forgotten ? Undoubtedly it will live, in so far 
as it is founded upon purely natural princi- 
ples. We have already spoken of his intense 
reverence for dramatic truth. He cannot 
have taught us the necessity for this in vafb. 
It is absolutely certain that, in this particular, 
he will leave a marketl impression for good 
upon the coming generation. Whether or 
not he has carried his theories too far for 



successful practice is another question. His 
disciples say that he has not, and are so firmly 
convinced of the truth of their position that 
they will not even hear an argument to the 
contrary. Nevertheless, there are many, who, 
despite their unfeigned admiration for his un- 
doubted talent, believe that the symmetrical 
forms he has so sternly banished might have 
been, and still may be, turned to good account, 
without any real hindrance to dramatic action ; 
and many more there are who doubt whether 
the old Florentine ideal, re-inforced by all 
that modern improvement can do for it, 
can ever be made to take the place of that 
which Mozart so richly glorified, and from 
which even Beethoven and Weber only dif- 
fered in individual treatment. The decision 
of these questions must be left for the future. 
At present, " Non piu andrai " and " Mada- 
mina " still hold their ground, and may possibly 
win the day, after all. 

In close and not very encouraging connec- 
tion with this subject, there still remains an- 
other question, which we would willingly 
have passed over in silence, had it been 
possible ; but, having entered upon our inquiry, 
we must pursue it to the end. We may be 
sure that Wagner's most enthusiastic sup- 
porters will attempt to carry out his views 
very much further than he has carried them 
himself. Will they also think it desirable to 
imitate his style? It is to be hoped not. It 
would take a long day to tire us of Wagner 
— but we cannot take him at second-hand. 
" Wagnerism," nor gods nor men can toler- 
ate. Yet there are signs of imitation already. 
Not only in the lower ranks — there, it 
is a matter of no consequence at all, one 
way or the other — but among men who 
have already made their mark and need no 
stepping-stones to public favor. Nor is it 
only at the opera — the place in which we 
should naturally have sought for its earli- 
est manifestation — but even in instrumental 
music ; one whose name we all revere, and 
from whom we confidently expect great 
things, has been betrayed into this imitation, 
in a marked degree, in the finale of one of 
his most important orchestral works. It is 
more than possible, that in this case, the 
plagiarism of manner — it does not, of course, 
extend to the notes — was the result of an 
unconscious mental process, not unnaturally 
produced by too keen an interest in the con- 
troversies . of the day. But be the cause 
what it may, the fact remains ; and it warns 
us of serious danger. Danger that the free 
course of art may be paralyzed by a soulless 
mannerism, worthy only of the meanest 
copyist. Danger, on the other hand, of a 
reaction, which will be all the more violent 
and unreasonable in proportion to the amount 
of provocation needed to excite it. Should 
the cry of the revolutionary party be for 
melody, it will not be for melody of that 
heavenly form which true genius alone can 
produce, but for the vulgar twangs with 
which we have long been threatened, and 
of which we have already endured far more 
than enough. Between these two perils, 
stagnation and reaction, which beset our path 

on one side, and a quag- 



like 



ditch 



mire on the other," we shall, in all prob- 
ability, come to some considerable amount of 
grief. Yet we must not lose heart on that 
accoimt. Art is not now passing through her 
first dangerous crisis ; and our history has 
been written in vain if we have not shown 
that her worst crises have always been suc- 
ceeded by her brightest triumphs. There may 
be such a triumph in store for her, even 
now. Before the new period dawns, a leader 
may arise, strong enough to remove all diffi- 
culties from her path ; a teacher, who, profit- 
ing by the experience of the last half century, 
may be able to point out some road, as yet un- 
tried, which all may follow in safety. Let 
those who are young enough to look forward 
to the twentieth century watch cheerfully for 
his appearance; and, meanwhile, let them 
prepare for the difficult work of the future, 
by earnest and unremitting study of the past. 



"ESTHETICS OF MUSICAL ART."» 

(From the " Fall Mall Giuette,*^ 
The ** esthetics of masical art " is not at first 
sight a very promisiug topic ; it is certainly the 
most difficult in the whole range of philosophic 
art criticism, for the reason that music by its very 
essence defies explanation by words. Dr. Hand 
has done little to enliven the subject, less to solve 
its mystery. His treatise is a curious mixture of 
physical and metaphysical speculattonsj which 
proves what every one accepts, and leaves un- 
touched what stands in need of proof. He even 
thinks it necessary to raise the question " whether 
the object of music consists in its being expressed 
or Sling, or whether it exists simply to delight 
when listened to ? " It would be as well to ask 
whether a mutton-chop becomes a mutton-chop 
only on being eaten and being found tender. It 
is equally superfluous to prove that music is exclu- 
sively an art of time and becomes perceptible 
through means of measured portions of time 
called rhythm. Aristoxenus was fully aware of 
that fact when he defined rhythm as the division 
of time into shorter and longer partv recurring 
at equal intervals and applied to certain move- 
ments performed in that time (rd pv^fu^fiivcv) 
that is, in music, to melody. Even with Dr. 
Hand's elaborate proof that music is meant to 
move the soul, not merely to tickle the ears, we 
would willingly dispense, although perhaps there 
was more need for it in his time than there is at 
present When his book appeared (in 1837) the 
philosophy of music was in its infancy, not to say 
non-existent. Amongst the Greek sages, Plato 
was the only one capable of regarding music in 
connection with the idea of the absolutely beauti- 
ful, and of separating it from its mathematical 
basis. To that basis it remained fettered in the 
books of philosophers for centuries to come, and 
even Leibnitz saw in music no more than an 
"exercitium arithmeticsB occultum nescientis se 
numerare animL" Hegel, in this as in other 
respects, displays that happy faculty of knowing 
nothing about everything to which he owed his 
reputation for omniscience. Historians caUed 
him the greatest physiologist, artists thh finest 
critic of poetry, poets the most learned historian 
the world had ever seen. Only in his own special 
branch each thought him somewhat deficient. 
No wonder that Hegel, when he deigns to speak 
of the divine art, blunders sadly and goes so far 
as to assert that instrumental music is meaning- 
less and incomprehensible. At a time when such 
a writer was accepted as the representative phi- 

^"JEBthetics of Musical Art; or, Tbe Beautifal In 
Mmio.'* By Dr. Ferdinand Hand. Translated from tbe 
German by waiter £. Lawson. (London : WUUam Beevea. 
ISSO.) 



OOTOBBB 9, 1880.] 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



163 



losopher of the philosophic country par excellence^ 
even Dr. Hand'i treatise may not have heen with- 
out a certain value. But it haffles conjecture to 
discover the motive of Mr. W. £. Lawson in 
translating such a work forty-three years after 
its first publication, unless it be the not uncom- 
mon prejudice that a very dull book must be a 
very learned book, especially if it happens to be 
written in German. 

If Mr. Lawson had taken the trouble of inquire 
ing into the subject, he might easily have found 
a worthier object of his reproductive zeal, and 
would not have committed himself to the state- 
ment " that since the publication of Dr. Hand's 
treatise but few works on the esthetics of music 
have been given to the world." There is, on the 
contrary, a large choice of such works, ranging 
from a popular treatise to a profound philosophic 
disquisition. We may mention, for example, Dr. 
Hanslick's extremely well-known book, Vom 
Musikalisch Schihien, which has gone through 
many editions in the original, but has, as far as 
we are aware, never been translated into English. 
Dr. Hanslick, by many people considered the 
leading German critic of music, is essentially a 
** litterateur," and the grave manners of the phi- 
losopher are no more natural to him than Uiey 
are to Mephistopheles in his interview with the 
student in Groethe's Faust, At the same time, he 
is thoroughly familiar with his subject. He has 
read about music, and perhaps even thought 
about it ; and his book, moreover, is written in 
agreeable German, which M. Charles Beauquier 
has paraphrased in still more agreeable French. 
If Mr. Lawson had given us a readable transla- 
tion of Hanslick he would have done useful and 
agreeal>le work. Or again, if his ambition had 
been of a higher order, he might have tackled 
the musical chapters in Schopenhauer. Schopen- 
hauer is the only German metaphysician who has 
said anything worth listening to on the subject of 
music, and in whose system it plays an important 
part — more important, indeed, thifti all the other 
arts. It is true that in order fully to grasp his 
meaning one must be acquainted and to some 
extent in sympathy with his philosophy in gen- 
eral. But even those who refuse to contemplate 
music in its relation to the " Platonic ideas," in 
Schopenhauer's sense, cannot help being struck 
with the new light thrown by that philosopher on 
the art which, according to him, is, as it were, by 
one degree nearer to the sources of all life than 
poetry or painting or sculpture. For while all 
these have to borrow their ideas from the ex- 
ternal objects of the world, music expresses the 
secret emotions of the soul by its own unaided 
efforts. It communes with the Spirit of the 
World, and the echoes of this converse are mel- 
ody and harmony, saying nothing to the reason- 
ing faculty and everything to the heart. 

[Dr. Hanslick ** has read about music, and per- 
hap§ even thought about it" Here we espy the 
cloven hoof of the Wagnerite, who quotes Hans- 
lick as the burnt Vanini quoted the Saints. — 
Db. Blidgb.] 

THE CECILIA. 

FOURTH AXNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, 

JUNE, 1880. 

I have the honor, in accordance with your by- 
laws, to present the annual report of the progress 
and condition of the Cecilia for the fourth year of 
its independent existence, and the sixth year since 
its original foundation as a branch of the Harvard 
Musical Association, and to congratulate you upon 
another season of continued success. 

The year has been so notable in musical work 
and enterprise in Boston that we can but be en- 
couraged that our little club has held its own in 
the great flood of harmony, and has fully retained 
its interest with both active and associate menk- 



bers. The list of singers has been fuller than 
ever before. Indeed, the pressure for admission 
has been such that the number of active members 
has constantly exceeded the prescribed limit of 
one hundred and fifty. The balance of vocal 
parts has also been improved, and the regularity 
and punctuality of attendance have been better 
than in any previous year. 

Our public performances have been given under 
conditions less favorable in one respect than here- 
tofore. The destruction of Tremont Temple by 
fire obliged us to resort to the Music Hall. It 
cannot be denied that this room is too large to 
present the Club, and the music which it desires 
to sing, to the best advantage. We may admit 
this without being accused of detracting from tlie 
pride which all musical Bostonians feel in this 
admirable hall, and the regret which they would 
experience if it should be swept away by the in- 
road of trade. When its preservation was en- 
dangered, I considered it my duty to appear as 
your president in its behalf ; but I was neverthe- 
less conscious that its loss would be felt by you 
not as a society but as individuals, and I am sure 
that you will agree with me when I express the 
longing that I have had during the past season to 
return to a smaller room. To give a cantata of 
Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Gade, or Bruch, 
with our present vocal force and a full orchestra, 
in a place no larger than that in which we sang 
four years ago, would certainly be an exquisite 
pleasure. But here comes the dreadful question 
of expense. We require the support of a larger 
number of associates than can be accommodated 
in Horticultural Hall. A reasonable compromise 
as to size of audience-hall is all that we can hope. 

The greater expense of singing in the Music 
Hall, and our determination, which has every 
year become firmer, to employ an orchestra as 
often as possible, rendered it necessary at the 
commencement of the past season to raise our 
assessments. Our fusociates generously acceded 
to this change, and have provided all the money 
we have really needed. Cordially recognizing 
their kindness, aware that " gratitude is always a 
lively sense of favors to come," and convinced 
that we could spend even much more than they 
have already given us, and that it could all be 
spent for our mutual benefit and for the good 
cause, we beg to assure them that we shall be ever 
ready to meet them half way, and shall no sooner 
be tired of asking than they of giving. 

The question of employment of an orchestra, 
on which theme I have spoken in all my previous 
reports, is, I trust, finally settled for this and all 
other clubs which undertake to give complete can- 
tatas. It is everywhere, and by all competent to 
judge, admitted that a work written for orchestral 
accompaniment comes before its audience with, 
tongue-tied and stammering utterance, if pre- 
sented with the feeble support of a piano. The 
jewel has not merely lost its setting, it has also 
lost its color and brilliancy. We, shall there- 
fore employ an orchestra as often as the means 
furnished by our associates allow. 

There is one other advantage, on no account to 
be overlooked, in having an orchestra frequently 
at pur service. That is the opportunity of mak- 
ing our performance more interesting and satis- 
factory by introducing a certain amount of pure 
instrumental music to relieve the otherwise con- 
tinuous flow of vocal sound. The monotony of an 
evening of male part-singing has been frequently 
remarked. The ear craves the variety of voice 
and pitch which mixed part-singing affords. In 
like manner, uninterrupted vocal music, though 
for mixed voices, after a while palls upon the 
senses. We hope, if not next year, certainly in 
the future; to be encouraged to introduce into our 
programmes some numbers of pure instrumental 
mntic* 



[Here we omit paragraph quoted in our last nimiber, 
containing the suggestion of an Amateur Orohestra.] 

I have only to review briefly the performances 
of our past season, and to announce our plans for 
the coming year. 

We announced at the beginning of the season, 
instead of three programmes, each repeated, which 
had been our plan in previous years, four differ- 
ent programmes without repetition. We were 
obliged to depart from this plan, in consequence 
of the peremptory demand of our associates for 
the repetition of Bruch's *^ Odysseus." We gave, 
December 22, the '* Odysseus," with orchestra; 
February 27, a miscellaneous programme, with 
piano; April 12, Schumann's "Manfred" and 
Bruch's <*Fair Ellen," with orchestra; May 24, 
a repetition of the " Odysseus," with orchestra. 

The "Odysseus" of Max Bruch, a cantata 
occupying an entire evening, is a capital speci- 
men of modem romantic composition. The old 
Homeric story is cast into a form as dramatic as 
an opera. Choruses, duets, and songs are skilfully 
interspersed, and the instrumentation employs all 
the resources of the orchestra. The work is tune- 
ful throughout, and contains many distinct melo- 
dies which linger in the memory. It is by no 
means an easy thing to sing. The success of the 
Club in coping with its difliculties at the first con- 
cert, on December 22, may best be judged by the 
general demand for another performance. We 
have probably never produced a work which ex- 
cited such interest at the first hearing. The 
female chorus was excellent throughout, and of 
the ladies and gentlemen of the Club who sang 
the solos nothing can be said but praise. The 
success of the evening was also largely due to Mr. 
Charles R. Adams, who filled the title rdle. A 
baritone part makes a hard requisition upon a 
tenor voice. No higher commendation can be 
given to Mr. Adams's rendering than to say that 
we almost forgot that he was a tehor. 

The second concert, on February 27, com- 
menced with a Bach cantata, " Bide with us." It 
was sung and heard with attention and interest 
by all, with delight by a few. I hope that the 
time is coming when the delight in the works of 
this wonderful genius shall be coextensive with 
the interest and attention. May the Cecilia per^ 
severe in its efforts to bring about this result. 
This concert contained much, of Mendelssohn, — 
the Forty-Third Psalm, scenes from the " Athaliej" 
an aria exquisitely sung by Dr. Langmaid, and a 
part-song. There were also a new part-song of 
Franz, a glee of Stewart, a prize madrigal of 
Leslie, and an accompanied female part-song of 
Gade. Everything except the glee went well. 

On April 12, Schumann's music to Byron's 
*<Manfre(d" was given entire, and given admi- 
rably. Mr. Howard M. Ticknor did us good ser- 
vice in reading the necessary parts of the drama. 
The evening ended with Bruch's cantata, "Fair 
Ellen," given some years ago, with piano, by the 
Cecilia, but inspiring fresh interest now by the 
addition of the orchestra. 

On May 24, the " Odysseus " was repeated, and 
was found to realize all the favorable impressions 
of the first hearing. It ought to become a stock- 
piece with vocal clubs. 

The season has been most encouraging, and 
our time seems to have been well spent. I trust 
that we have offered our associates nothing un- 
worthy of the aim, the standing, or the reputation 
of the Club. If they have received as much 
gratification and improvement from the hearing 
as we liave from the practice and performance of 
our music, I am more than content. 

We hope to have good things to offer next year. 
Shall we again venture upon a Bach cantata? I 
trust so» sincerely.' We 'also have upon our list 
Schumann's "New Year's Song," one of the 
shorter Psalms of Mendelssohn, his "Loreleit" 



164 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1030. 



and one of his motets for female voices, part- 
songs by Rheinbergcr, Grieg, and Hofmann, glees 
by sundry English composers, one of Wilbye's 
madrigals, Beethoven's ** Ruins of Athens ** music, 
Liszt's *' Bells of Strasburg," and, as our largest 
pieces, which will certainly be attacked, whatever 
of the rest is allowed to go over for another year, 
the ** Romeo and Juliet " of Berlioz, and the 
'* Faust " of Schumann. 

In conclusion, I have only to say that I look 
forward to the coming season in full confidence 
that it will be most interesting and profitable. 
£ach year, thus far, seems to me to have been 
with us one of musical progress. I believe that 
the next will be no exception. 

S. LoTHBOP Thorndike, 

President of the Cecilia. 
♦ 

MUSICAL CHATS. 

BY QEORGE T. BULLIKO. 

NEW BERIEfl. 
I. 

It is a pity that so few artists in music are also 
real men and women. All truly great and honored 
artists have proved themselves to be noble human 
beings, as well as gifted exponents of their art. 
But there is a large class of musicians, composed 
of men and women who are more or less artisti- 
cally gifted, yet who possess very small souls, 
when they are looked upon iii the light of mem- 
bers of the great hyman family. It is a praise- 
worthy thing to see a man living the life of an 
artist devoted to his art; indefsd, without such 
depth and sincerity of purpose, he can accom- 
plish little. But, when he goes so far as to forget 
that he is under sacred obligations as father, son, 
husband, or brother, he is actually injuring, in- 
stead of elevating the noble art of which he would 
be a representative. It is a monstrosity which 
you cannot fail to have observed, the man who is 
successful as an artist, but a failure as an indi- 
vidual with the feelings and affections of a man. 
One consolation remains : he can never ultimately 
become a truly great and remembered artist. 
All the great men and women in music whom we 
honor to-day, possessed that individual nobility of 
character which largely helps to constitute the 
really great musician. The devotion of Beetho- 
ven to an ingrate nephew ; the affection of Chopin 
for his family and country ; the sweet nature and 
home-loving attributes of Mendelssohn ; the devo- 
tion of Schumann to his wife, are but a few of 
the numerous instances of the fitting combination 
of great artist and noble man, which universal 
history holds forth to us. I have frequently ob- 
served that the great artist who is not a true man 
or woman usually excels as a virtuoso, and not as 
a real expressionist in music; though it is not 
impossible to meet with a sweet-voiced opera 
sinsrer who would not hesitate to beat his wife, if 
he wanted to ; but such a man is always morally 
and physically a coward, as the sequel continually 
shows, and he really lives more for the applause 
of the multitude than for his art. Is he a happy 
man? 

Upon the weak and frivolous portion of the 
multitude of listeners to music, be they men or 
women, the physical presence of the artist has 
considerable effect. The magical impression of 
a handsome face or figure makes the silly mem- 
bers of an audience go wild over — what? why, 
a handsome face and figure ; that's all. So, on 
this Ecore, you need not be alarmed for the cause 
of music, my friend, since those poor deluded 
mortals who are thus affected by physical beauty 
have but little control in the elevatioi^of that 
spiritual beauty which is infinitely the most potent 
of all. It is well enough that a mind and soul of 
spiritual loveliness should be enclosed in a physi- 
cally beautiful form and face, as a subtle sugget- 



tion of the commingling of forms of beauty, infi- 
nite and finite ; but it is absolutely immaterial, so 
far as the highest and only form of beauty is con- 
cerned. Music itself has a physical effect, which 
is subjective, and not intrinsic. Its greatest and 
strongest attribute is that its spiritual effect can 
be felt, but not described. It is the indefiniteness, 
the airy intangibility, the holy and awful myste- 
riousness of music which give it that all- potent 
charm which it possesses above any of the arts. 
There is no such thing as mere sensual music. 
It is the individual mind and physical organiza- 
tion which adds the sensuality to music. The 
pure soul and elevated mind finds purity and ele- 
vation in all music. The earnest artist is capable 
of painting the most voluptuous forms of physi- 
cal loveliness, without the while even a sensual 
thought. He is held pure by his art, though he is 
human. Music, being an excitant of the imagi- 
nation, will affect men's minds in conformity with 
their own natural bent. I have found that the 
man who will tell you that music is pre-eminently 
physical in its effects, speaks from his individual 
experience. He may be compared to the intoxi- 
cated man who looked round about and saw every- 
body drunk and reeling but himself. 



You have noticed that, during the paf^t few 
years, there has been a morbid leaning towards 
the intense in music. The increase in number of 
virtuosos, who are not necessarily musicians, and 
the crashing, unnatural effects with which com- 
posers have invested their instrumentation, are 
unwholesome signs of this malady. It cannot 
last, because it is not built on a sound foundation. 
Science is permitted to enter just so far and no 
farther into the domain of music. Music is 
stronger than science, just as sure as feeling is 
more powerful than intellect. It were abiiurd to 
assert that music must not progress liand in hand 
with science, for both must advance in conformity 
with men's ever-changing ways of feeling and 
thinking. The law of continuity cannot be rea- 
sonably ignored. Still, the greatest would-be re- 
former cannot but admit that music has funda- 
mental laws of beauty which originated with man 
himself, if not with nature, as the visionists will 
have it, and < these laws are not to be broken with 
impunity. There are fashions in music, as there 
are in articles of apparel. If it be fashionable 
for a while for orchestral composers to use the 
brass and instruments of percussion so as to 
smother the beautiful effect of the strings and 
wood, why, let them do it. Music will be tempo- 
rarily affected thereby, but, in the very nature of 
things, it will ultimately return to its normal state. 
There is a happy medium, which the composer 
himself may see some day, if he should live long 
enough to let his musical mind pass through its 
transition state. 

E. F. WENZEL. 

The last Musikalisches Wochenblatt brought us 
the sad news of the death of Ernst Ferd. Wen- 
zel, the well-known pianoforte teacher at the 
Leipzig Conservatorium. In him the institution 
lost one of its oldest and ablest teachers, one 
whose interest in all the pupils and in all that 
concerned the Conservatory, never flagged. 

He was, an eccentric man, full of wit and 
humor, a keen observer, a sharp critic, a careful 
and thorough teacher. To those of his pupils 
who were earnest and diligent in their studies he 
was gentle, kind and encouraging; but woe to 
those in whom he detected carelessness, indiffer- 
ence, or obstinacy I Whether they were talented 
or not, he showed them no mercy; his keen sar- 
casms and biting irony he did not spare, and his 
patience was soon exhausted, if they persisted in 
their errors. When his anger was once aroused, 



it knew no bounds. I have seen him, in a fit of 
fury at the glaring faults of some pupil, snatch 
the music from the rack and fling it into the far- 
thest corner of the room. At another time after 
repeated endeavors to get a pupil to play some 
notes in a certain way, he would, in perfect des- 
pair, roughly knock the pupil's hand off the key- 
board, in order, as a last resort, to show how the 
thing was to be done. This he never did, until 
persuaded that the idea could not be got into the 
pupil's head — which he considered a preferable 
way of imparting instruction to the more mechan- 
ical one of allowing the pupil merely to imitate 
what the teacher does. He wbhed the pupil to 
think for himself. In pursuance of this plan he 
would work away at the dullest, most stupid 
pupil, at first with a patience wonderful to be- 
hold. He would explain in the clearest manner 
and gentlest tones what was to be done, then tell 
the pupil to do it. Of course it would be wrongly 
executed. Then he would repeat the directions, 
raising his voice slightly, and emphasizing it with 
an occasional blow of his fist on the piano. 
Again a failure to comprehend. Raising hia 
voice still higher, and pounding the piano still 
louder, he would repeat his words, and this would 
go on until the wretched pupil had mastered the 
lesson, or until, with a muttered ** Donner-wetter 1 " 
he would sweep the offender's hands from the 
key-board, and show what he meant — clumsily 
enough too, for he was no pianist When at last 
the pupil was able to play the passage correctly, 
Wenzel would look at him " half in anger, half 
in atnazetnent" and say : "So! Why didn't you 
do that at first?" 

I have seen young ladies, accustomed to a gent- 
ler mode of instruction, shed tears at his scorn- 
ful remarks, or furious actions, rendered all the 
more so by the wonderful faculty he possessed of 
making the most ferocious grimaces. At all 
times his face was a study, for it was a most 
expressive one. Each changing emotion was 
mirrored thefein, in the quick succession, and 
with the utter unconsciousness of childhood; 
scorn, curiosity, anger, fun, — there was no need 
of heai'ing him spe ak, to know his thoughts. On 
the street he was conspicuous by his singular 
appearance ; he would rush along, with a preoc- 
cupied air, his white hair flying picturesquely, hii 
overcoat unbuttoned and flapping in the wind, 
and the ends of a gay-colored neckerchief grace- 
fully floating beliind him. Every one in Leipzig 
knew him by sight, and people smiled to thein- 
selves as he passed. 

Wenzel was born in 1808, in the little village 
of Waldorf, and was in his seventy-third year 
when he died. He was a clever writer and con- 
tributed to different musical journals. 

Personally, he was short and squarely built; 
his head, like those of so many musicians, was a 
little like Beethoven's, particularly the broad, 
square, massive forehead. His eye* were always 
handsome, though the shaggy white eyebrows 
over them, and a perpetual scowl made them 
rather forbidding at first sight. But at a second 
glance one could see that the eyes were kind, in 
spite of scowl and shaggy brows, and under the 
rough exterior there was as kind a heart as ever 
beat. A legend was current, among the pupils 
of the conservatory, whose origin no one knew, 
to the effect that Wenzel had been disappointed 
in love, early in life. The object of his affections 
became the wife of one of his friends and is still 
living, being, in fact, no other thaq Madame Clara 
Schumann. For the truth of this statement I do. 
not vouch, merely telling it here as it was told 
tp me. 

Among Wenzel's pupils are two, well-known in 
America, Ernst Perabo, and S. B. Mills. Since 
he is gone, there remains but one friend and con- 
temporary of Mendelssohn, Schnmann and. 



OcTOBEtt 9, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



166 



Hauptmann, at the conservatory, and that one is 
its venerable director, Conrad Schleinitz. 

A " CONSERVATORISTIN." 

THE LONDON "MONDAY POPULAR 

CONCERTS." 
IV. 

Our survey now brings us to those we must 
call the composers of to-day, since we shall have 
to deal with the works of living musicians, with 
two exceptions only. 

The first name on our list is that of Woldemar 
Bargiel, the step-brother and disciple of Schu- 
mann, who was introduced to these concerts, No- 
vember 8, 1875, by a performance of his Trio 
in D-minor, Op. 6. Sir Julius Benedict, who has 
been associated with the institution from the 
commencement, we find represented as a compo- 
ser once only, November 25, 1867, when a Ber- 
ceuse and Monferina for violoncello and piano- 
forte were given (bearing the joint names of 
" Benedict " and " Piatti "). Here we omit no- 
tice of the benefit-concert, in March last, when 
several works from the veteran composer were 
brought forward. Johannes Brahms was first 
introduced, February 25, 1867, and seems gain- 
ing ground ; as eight works of his have been ad- 
ded to the repertoire during the last four seasons. 
The total number of his compositions given, is 
seventeen, including the "Ungarische T'anze," 
arranged for pianoforte and violin by Joachim. 
The performances reach the number of fifty- 
seven. Selections from the " Tanze " have been 
given nine times — generally at the closing con- 
certs of the seasons. Next in order comes the 
Sextet in B-flat, which has been heard eight 
times; the " Liebeslieder Waltzer " (first set); 
following with seven performances. Hans Yon 
Brousart appears once, November 18, 1878, when 
his Trio in Gr-minor was given. Max Bruch is 
represented by his Romance in A, Op. 42 (orig- 
inally for violin and orchestra), introduced No- 
vember 11, 1876, and repeated the following year. 
Anton Dvorak had his chamber-music introduced 
in this country, February 23, of the present year 
— an occurrence fresh in the memory of our 
readers. The Sextet in A, Op. 48, then given 
was repeated the following month. Somewhat 
tardy was the recognition of Niels W. Gade, 
whose Octet in F, for strings, was produced so 
late as February 2, 1878, remaining the only 
work heard so far. Friedrich Gernsheim has 
had two works produced, the Quartet in E-flat, 
Op. 6, and the Trio in F, Op. 28 — both for 
pianoforte and strings, the performances nun:* 
bering four. We now come to a name, that of Her. 
mann Goetz, probably unknown in this country 
until the year of his death, 1876. Notice of his 
now familiar opera " The Taming of the Shrew," 
had appeared early that year, but of ^is other 
compositions next to nothing was known. His 
Trio in G-Minor was introduced at these con- 
certs, February 8, 1879, followed by the Quintet, 
in March, and the Quartet in E, Op. 6, in Feb- 
ruary last. Karl Goldmark was represented by 
his Suite in E, Op. 11, for pianoforte and violin, 
April 6, 1878, the work being repeated January 
18, 1879. Eduard Grieg was introduced Febru- 
ary 6, 1875, with his Sonata, Op. 8, for pianoforte 
and violin. There is a better, Op. 13, to which 
attention may be directed. Stephen Heller, intro- 
duced in 1864, at the Ernst '' Benefit," has had 
(besides the Pens^es fugitives, written jointly with 
the composer just named), but three pianoforte 
pieces given — two in 1864-^ and some of the 
*'Lieder ohne Worte" in 1868; after a lapse of 
eleven years, the Pens^es fugitives were again 
heard in 1879, making four performances in all. 
Only one opportunity was afforded Adolph Hen- 
selt, who was represented by some of the Etudes, 
Op. 2, April 15, 1878. Dr. Ferdinand HiUer 



performed, with Signer Piatti, his Sonata in E- 
flat, Op. 22, for pianoforte and violoncello, 
February 17, 1872 — the first time his name ap- 
peared in the programmes as a composer. We 
reproduce a paragraph from a former series of 
this journal, commenting on that occasion : — 
*' Greenhorns should be apprised — for they seem 
to be unaware of the fact — that Dr. Hiller is no 
ordinary man, to be put on a par with artists who 
do not pretend to possess creative genius. He is 
}Xi%AUmeiiterol Germany, and a great composer." 
This notwithstanding, we have only to add an 
Adagio for the violin, given April 8, 1878, to ex- 
haust the record of his works. Joachim, as a 
composer, if we except the arrangement of the 
" Ungarische TUnze," is limited to a Romance 
from the ** Hungarian Concerto," performed 
March 4, 1878. Friedrich Kiel was introduced, 
December 5, 1874, by his Quartet inA-minor, 
Op. 43, for pianoforte and strings; two other 
works were given last season. The Prelude and 
Toccata, pianoforte, of Vincenz Lachner, per- 
formed December 15, 1877, is the only mention 
of this musically celebrated family. Lotto, the 
violinist, was represented by a Morceau de Con- 
cert, Op. 2, December 7, 1863. Piatti has had 
five pieces for violoncello in the programmes, but 
only during the last four seasons — a rare exam- 
ple of reticence, considering the artist's long con- 
nection with the concerts. Joachim Raff is rep- 
resented by seven works and nine performances, 
the Cavatina in D claiming three. The first 
work heard was the Trio in G, Op. 112, Febru- 
ary 7, 1874 ; the last, the Tarantella for two 
pianos, December 8, 1879. The name of Carl 
Reinecke appears for the first time, April 15, 
1878, when the Impromptu for two pianos, on a 
theme from Schumann's "Manfred," was per- 
formed. A similar work, " La Belle Gris^lides," 
was given last December, and that is all we hear 
of this prolific writer. To Joseph Rheinberger 
are accorded two works, and eight performances ; 
the Quartet in &fiat, Op. 38, for pianoforte and 
strings, having been given seven times. Anton 
Rubinstein comes in for six works, and eighteen 
performances, the favorite appearing to be the 
Sonata in D, Op. 18, for pianoforte and violon- 
cello, which has been given six times. Camille 
Saint-Saens claims three pieces — a Sonata, a 
Trio, and a Quartet, the Trio being performed 
twice. Madame Schumann, as our readers know, 
is a composer, as well as a great player ; and it 
is pleasing to find recognition of both capacities : 
the Scherzo in D-minor, and Romance in £-flat 
minor. Op. 11, were both presented last year. 
Guiseppe Verdi, of operatic fame, finds here a 
place, January 21, 1878, when his string Quartet 
in £-minor was produced, and repeated the fol- 
lowing month. Henri Vieuxtemps, the Violin rir^L- 
080y has his name to seven works, the performan- 
ces being nine; the last so long ago as June, 
1866. Henri Wieniawski, another virtuoso, 
whose loss the world of art has so recently 
(April 2), had to mourn, was represented by a 
*• Legend "for the violin, February 11, 1878 — 
the only occasion when his name appears as a 
composer. Our record of composers of to-day 
closes with the mention of another lady, Miss 
Agnes Zimmermann, whom we could almost claim 
as a compatriot, whose Suite, Op. 19, for piano- 
forte, violin, and violoncello, found a place in the 
programme of March 8, last. 

We shall find that the composers of to-day out- 
number those of any period we have considered — 
a matter for surprise, perhaps, but also for con- 
gratulation ; for no art can be said to be in a 
healthy vital condition if it is unproductive. Mr. 
Chappell has displayed both liberality and enter- 
prise in thus adding to his catalogue works from 
some hitherto little-known continental composers. 
The pieces referred to in this article only number 



eighty; but the selection has been taken from 
the works of twenty-nine composers. This, it 
must be admitted, is a very fair recognition of 
living talent for any single institution to ex- 
hibit. — Lond. Mus, Standard. 

■ ■ » 

WMgi^Vfi S^ournai of flr^mstic. 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1880. 

GROVE'S DICTIONARY OF MUSIC AND 
MUSICIANS. PART XL 

This eleventh of the twelve €|uarterly parts 
originally promised is exceedingly rich in valu- 
able and instructive matter. Beginning in the 
middle of Mr. W. S. Rockstro's important con- 
tribution on the Opera, it ends in the midst of 
what promises to be a very satisfactory*article on 
Palestrina, such as we may expect in a work which 
has contained Mr. Grove's own admirable and 
almost exhaustive essays upon Beethoven and 
Mendelssohn, and which has invested the familiar 
histories of Handel, Haydn and Mozart, as well 
as the critical analysis of their styles and peculi- 
arities, and the recognition of their several con- 
tributions to the progress of the art of music, with 
wonderfully, fresh interest. Besides the Opera we 
have from the same writer a very clear and com- 
plete history of the origin and progress of Ora- 
torio, — 30 close pages — tracing its course for 
convenience through fifteen distinct periods, after 
a similar division of the Opera into twenty 
periods (Handel's operas forming the ninth, 
Gluck's the eleventh, Mozart, etc., the thirteenth, 
Weber, Spohr, and other masters of the Ro- 
mantic School, the fifteenth, English opera (Pur- 
cell, etc.,) the seventeenth, and Wagner, whom he 
treats generously and fairly (see extracts in thia 
and the last number of our journal), the twenti- 
eth. These two articles are full of musical illus- 
trations. 

Then come Orchestra and Orchestration, — 
both again by the prolific, learned, and clear- 
headed Mr. Rockstro. To the article on the Or^ 
chestra is appended a very useful comparative 
table showing the numerical proportion of the 
various instruments in two of the oldest orches- 
tras of note: that of Dresden under Hasse in 
1754, and that at the Handel commemoration in 
Westminster Abbey (1 784), and of twelve of the 
most celebrated orchestras of the present day, 
not omitting our own Boston Handel and Haydn 
Festival of 1880, and including the London Phil- 
harmonic and Crystal Palace orchestras, those of 
the French .Conservatoire, of the Leipzig Ge- 
wandhaus, of Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, New York 
Philharmonic, the Birmingham and Rhine festi- 
vals, and the Wagner festival at Bayreuth. 

Mr. Hopkins, the accomplished organist of 
the Temple church in London, contributes an 
elaborate and fully illustrated description and 
history of the Organ ; and " H. J. L." a history 
of the Overture, with examples in notation of 
successive schools and periods. 

Besides these weightier treatises (think of all 
this in a single quarterly number!) there are 
shorter but good articles on Paganini, on Paer, 
Pacini, Paisiello, and our own John K. Paine. 
But once in a while, we are sorry to see, this 
minute dictionary descends into the trivial. For 
instance, under the head '* Orpheus," a well- 
known collection of little Grerman part^ongs, it 
gives the complete list of contents, — 230 or more 
songs : why not as well print Novello's or Oliver 
Ditson's catalogue? 

Plainly Grove's Dictionary will have to exceed 
the limits originally contemplated by possibly an- 
other year's quarterly installments. And why 
not? Who does not wish to see it aa com- 
plete as practicable? We only wonder how 



166 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No- 1080. 



any person really interested, and who desires to 
be intelligently interested, in music, can afford to 
be without this work. The cost ($4,00 per 
annum) is trifling measured by its value. Better 
spend from twelve to sixteen dollars upon so full 
and satisfactory a book of reference, than fritter 
the same amount awi^ on cheap tenth-rate ephem- 
eral manuals and pamphlets, as so many do. 
I^t every mu9ician and music-lover therefore, 
whom our words can influence, send to Macmil- 
lan k Co., London or Xew York, and subscribe 
for what cannot of course be & perfect dictionary 
of music, but what is by far the best (at least 
for English and American readers) that has yet 
appeared in any language. 

CONCERTS. 
The great multifarious music-making army is 
advancing upon us, and some slight skirmishes have 
already occupied some portions of the field. Dar- 
ing the past week we have had, (not to speak of 
"Lecture" courses) two, to be followed this after- 
noon by a third, of those miscellaneous combinar 
tion concerts which the superintendent of the Music 
Hall is so ingenious in contriving, and commonly 
makes so attractive by a startling array of artists' 
names; also the semi-private d^ut of a young 
Danish pianist of merit; we read also of another 
of a young English pianist, — both of these at 
Chickering's warerooms. 

Manager Peck's constellation this time con- 

skts of Miss Annib Cart, the contralto, Herr 
WiLHSLMJ, the violinist, and Herr JoflBVVT, the 
pianist, — all of rare lustre, — besides the Temple 
(male quartet) Club, and Mr. W. C. Tower (one of 
that club), the tenor singer. We can only speak 
now of the first concert, which occurred last Monday 
evening and was honored by a large audience, — one 
of the encoring audiences, alas ! which encored nearly 
every piece. It seems that we cannot commonly 
rely on the good sense or self-respect of artists or 
conductors, still less on the self-interest of artists* 
managers mnd agents, for the abatement of this 
nuisance. How would it do to organize a league 
among the really musical persons who commonly 
attend concerts, and have it mutually understood 
among them that, whenever th& offence appears 
likely to be carried too far, they should all, at a con- 
certed signal, quietly get up and leave the hall ? 
We claim no reward for the suggestion. That is 
the way the aggrieved minorities are apt to do in 
Democratic caucuses. — The programme was as 
follows: 
Quartet. "The I>rum March,*' Krogh. 

Temple Quartet. 
OermmiSongi— 

a. " Uebesbotschaft,** 

h. ** loh will meine Seele taooben,** 

c. " Der Wand'rer," Feaca. 

Mr. W. C. Tower. 
Violin Solo, " Andante e Intermesso,'* . . Max Vogrlch. 

Flnt time. 
Herr Angntt WllhelmJ. 

** Vedrai Carino,'* Don Oioranni, Moiart. 

Miflfl Annie Louise Cvy. 
Piano Solo, " Andante Splanato and Polonaise,*' Chopin. 

Herr Raphael Joeeffy. 
Quartet, " Salre Begina,*' Schubert. 

Temple Quartet. 
Violin Solo, " (Hello Fantasie,'* . . . .H.W. Ernst. 
Herr Auguat WilhelmJ. 

" Ob, cessate di piagarmi,'* PeraginL 

Miflfl Annie Louise Ciiry. 
Piano SokM — 

a. '* Cantiqne d'amonr,** F. Liszt 

b. Spinnerlied, " Flying Dutchman,** . . 

c. " Etude on false notes,** .... Babinstein. 

Herr Raphael Joeeffy. 
Part-Song, " Turkish Cup Bearer,** . . . Mendelssohn. 

The great violinist, simple, noble and impressire 
in appearance, like an intellectual young giant, 
played in the same broad, noble style, and with the 
same earnest feeling, that enchanted every listener 
two years ago. His tone seems even fuller, larger, 
richer than before. We failed, however, to become 
much interested in the composition by Vogrich. 
Ernst's Otello Fantasia, including Desdemona's 
'* Willow " aria, was more satisfying in its way ; but 
the Bach Aria — the well-known one on such occa- 
sions—was the best of all, and sang itself to all 
haarts. 



Herr Joseffy's rendering of the smooth and even 
Andante and the fiery Polonaise of Chopin was in 
lus best style, though his pianissimo was sometimes 
carried to a point which requires very apprehensive 
ears to make it audible at all. Recalled, he played 
his own delicate and charming setting of the song : 
" Tre giomi son che Nina," by Fergolese. In the Lisztr 
Wagner Spinning Song his facility of rapid finger- 
ing, and his exquisite grace and fluency of execution 
in all such florid arabesques, betrayed him into some 
hurrying of tempo which we did not notice in his 
other interpretations. The Rubinstein Etude (ab- 
surdly entitled on "false notes," since tliey are 
merely strongly accented appoggiaturas) was played 
with great force and brilliancy. 

Miss Gary was in excellent voice and spirits and 
sang delightfully. Only we had the feeling that 
" Vedrai carino " was taken a trifle too fast. We 
never saw before the name Pcrugini as that of a 
composer; the song, however, (''Cease to wound 
me") was of a tender, plaintive and beseeching 
character, beautiful in itself and beautifully sung. 
Miss Gary, of course, had to pay her full share of 
the encore tax. Mr. Tower sang with chaste feel- 
ing and expression, using his sweet voice with much 
taste. The Temple quartet sing almost too well; 
it gets to be almost finical and sentimental. 

Chickering's long upper room was nearly 

filled last Saturday evening by an eager and appre- 
ciative crowd of listeners, for tlie first time, to 
some piano recitals of Mr. Otto Bbmdix, of Copen- 
hagen, a fellow-student in Germany of Mr. Sher- 
wood and Mr. John Orth of this city. The pro- 
gramme was well chosen : 

Beethoven, Op. 57. Sonate, in F-minor. 

Allegro assai— Andante — Allegro non troppo. 

Chopin, Polisli Song, arranged by Liszt. 

Chopin, . Op. 6G, Fantasle impronipttt, In C sharp minor. 

Moszkowski, Op. 17, Walts. 

Chopin f Op. G2, Ballade, in F-mlnor. 

Lisst, Ave Maria. 

Liszt, La Campanella. 

Mr. Bendix has a clear and vital touch, and showed 
superior execution alike in passages of force and 
delicacy. Of the Sonata Appassionata we sliould 
say that he gave a very fair rendering, could we 
only banish from our mind the impression left by 
Joseffy's magnificent reading of it last spring, not 
to speak of Rubinstein, Btilow, Mehlig and others. 
The Chopin ballade was to our mind the most suc- 
cessful performance of those we heard ; he played 
it with delicacy and fine musical feeling. The last 
two pieces we were obliged to lose.; and it is but 
fair to state that we listened to disadvantage from 
the rear part of that long, narrow room, so that we 
need a better opportunity to form a clear estimate 
of this young artist's talent. His manner certainly 
was modest and prepossessing. 



BEETHOVEN'S VIOLIN. 

Trieste, September 6, 1880. 
Mt Dsar Dwioht : — 

I find a paragraph going the rounds of the news- 
papers, stating that an English purchaser lias 
recently obtained one of Beethoven's violins from 
the widow of the Viennese musician, Carl Holz. 

I suppose all your readers know, that Prince 
Lichnowsky presented a full quartet of strings to 
the (then) young composer — first and second violins, 
viola and violoncello. One of the violins was pur- 
chased at the sale of Beethoven's effects by Carl 
Holz, and it is this which is now said to be in 
England. / question its authenticity. 

In the autumn of 1862, a newspaper notice of the 
four instruments, as then being in the Royal Library 
at Berlin, attracted my attention, and drew from me, 
in the Deutsche Musikzeitung, a "request for an 
explanation,'' of which this is tlie substance : 

"Alois Fuchs describes, in the Wiener Mitsik- 
zeitung, No. 146, of the year 1846, the four instru- 
ments, and says of the first violin : ' A violin made 
by Jos. Gnamerius of Cremona, in the year 1718, is 
now in possession of Herr Carl Holz, director of 
the Concerts Spirituels'in Vienna.' 

" Afterwards, says Fuchs : * mder the necks of 
all these instruments the seal of Beethoven is 
I impressed, and on the so-called "Boden " of each, a 
large "B" scratched by Beethoven's own hand. 



Within the last few years I have seen this instru- 
ment (if genuine) several times ; the last time the 
23d of September, 1862, with the large 'B,' and 
some remains of a seal. It is in possession of the 
Widow Holz ." 

The result of this call for an explanation was 
this : Mr. Espagne, then librarian of the musical 
department of the Berlin library, forwarded several 
documents to Mr. Bagge, editor of \>ie Deutsche 
Musikzeitung for my inspection. The result of the 
inspection is contained in a letter to Mr. Bagge, 
printed in his Zeitung Nov 8, 1862, of which the 
following is a sufficient translation : 

" Mt Dear Sir,— 

" You now ask me for an explanation, which I 
gladly give. In April and May, 1860, 1 had a corres- 
pondence with a gentleman in London, who 4^ired 
to purchase this instrument, provided it was really 
one of very fine quality. Not being a judge of 
instruments, I took the opinions of several competent 
judges here in Vienna. Not one of them expressed 
any doubt as to the authenticity of the instrument, 
nor did any one speak in any strong terms of its 
excellence. Not long before, a pupil of Vieuxtempa 
told me, that his master had tried it, and found it to 
be * a very fair instrument, but not of first quality.' 
I so reported to the gentleman in London, who 
thereupon declined the purchase. I therefore had 
no further occasion to inquire into the authenticity 
of the violin, but, like the other gentlemen, rested 
satisfied with the testimony of the widow and her 
son, with the great 'B,' and with what I took for 
marks of Beethoven's seal. 

" When I saw, some months since, the first notice 
of the gift to the Berlin library of the four instru- 
ments, I was among the first to congratulate widow 
Holz on the sale of the violin, and was not a little 
astonished to Icam that this was not the case. See- 
ing the notice repeated, I thought it my duty to the 
widow Holz, to the Berlm library, and to myself, to 
seek some solution of the enigma. 

" The documents, which you have placed before 
me for inspection, are decisive. The truth is evident, 
that Holz sold the Beethoven violin in 1862, and 
left in possession of his widow an tmtVa^ion of it ! 
Your obedient servant, a. w. t." 

It is tills imitation of the original, which has 
recently been purchased by the London gentleman. 

A. w. T. 



THE SCHINDLER-BEETHOVEN PAPERS. 

Triests, September 6, IMO. 

Mt Dear Dwight: — 

When Schindler, m 1846, sold the Beethoven 
papers, in his possession, to the Prussian Govern- 
ment for the Royal Library at Berlin, (2,000 thalers 
down, and an annuity of 400), he retained a certain 
portion of them, which were of a more private nature, 
and which to a great extent were personal to him, 
or closely connected with statements made by him 
in his biography of the composer. 

On occasion of my visits to him in Frankfort am 
Main, or the neighboring village Bockenheim, he 
showed me some few of the autographs thus re- 
tained, but, laying his hand upon the portfolios, he 
said earnestly : " As long as I live, no human eye 
will see these papers!" 

Time passed on. Schindler died, and all these 
papers and relics went into the possession of his 
sister, a certain Widow Egloff. She lived in Mann- 
heim, and L. Nohl, of the neighboring Heidelberg, 
catalogued them for her ,-~ making some very droll 
mistakes, by the way — and had the use of them in 
finishing his Beethoven book. What became of 
them afterwards I had no means of ascertaining, 
and feared that they were lost to me. 

It is perhaps fortunate for my work, that for a 
long period I was unable, in addition to my official 
duties, to perform any serious and continued literary 
labor; for last year, while mourning over my 
enforced delay in resuming the Beethoven studies, 
what should I receive, but a note from Mr. Emanuel 
Nowotny, of Altrohlan, near Carlsbad, — a gentle- 
man utterly unknown to me, as I (personally) to 
him— -asking me some question relating to Beet- 



OCTOBEK 9, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



167 



horen, and concluding by informing me, that he 
had become the purchaser of the collection com- 
plete, and that he gladly placed it at my disposal 
not only for any studies I might desire to make, but 
for copying to any extent ! 

Upon noting in the catalogue certain papers to be 
copied for me, he crowned hisigoodness by sending 
me one of the portfolios, and since that time, has 
entrusted to me the rest ! I feel it a duty, as well as 
pleasure, thus publicly to express my gratitude. 
All the more, because he has now transferred them 
to the Royal Library at Berlin, where they properly 
belong as a portion of the Schindler-Beethoven 
papers. a^w. t. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

CniGAOO, Oct. 18. — Musical matters are begin- 
ning to take a positive shape, and we are having a 
few concerts, even if it is early in the season. The 
Mme. Emma Abbott Company have been giving us 
something that they call " English opera," and for 
the past two weeks we have been thus honored. 
To call such performances opera, is to rob the 
name of its true signification. Musically, the 
efforts have been depressing, when taken as a 
whole, although with some of the members, par- 
ticularly Mrs. Seguin, a bright exception may be 
made. Signer Brignoli has been struggling with 
the mysteries of the English language, and has sung 
as well as could be expected considering his worn 
voice, and the difficulties that were in his way. 
Yet it was broken-English opera in more senses than 
one. Miss Abbott is a lady of energy and life, and 
has battled for a position as a singer most heroically. 
Yet she is in no sense an artist, and never will be ; 
although her energy may win her a certain reputa- 
tion and notoriety. A large number of our Ameri- 
can people are still in the early stages of a musical 
understanding, and they are attracted by the idea 
of an opera in English ; and, therefore, the success 
of this company has been good, notwithstanding its 
character. Musically, the opera is bad ; financially, 
its success has been remarkable. 

Mr. Boscovitz made his first appearance here as 
a pianist last week. He played the "Italian Con- 
certo " of Bach ; a Nocturne, Mazurka, the Berceuse, 
a Valse, and the Ballade, Op. 47, of Chopin ; a son- 
ata by Nichelmaun, the twelfth Rhapsodle by Liszt, 
and some smaller pieces, including three composi- 
tions of his own. A frank opinion bids me say that 
I was disappointed in the playing of this gentleman. 
He takes too many liberties in tempo, and in inter- 
pretation, to be called a correct player. With the 
Chopin music, his taste or caprice led him into man- 
nerisms that bordered upon the sensational, and 
while he manifested sentiment, it was of such an 
exaggerated order that its point and meaumg seemed 
lost. ' Yet he is called a pupil of that master. What 
seemed most marked in his playing were two charac- 
teristics, one of striking the notes with great force, 
and the other with delicacy. In the quiet passages he 
was at his best, but there was no gradual develop- 
ment of tone from the soft to the loud. It was im- 
even playing. Every player has a personal right 
to his own ideas, and they are entitled to respect ; 
and while we may not agree with them, we at least 
honor the independence of thought. Mr. Boscovitz 
played a " Hunting Jig" by Dr. Bull, written about 
1590, with a grace that was pleasing, and also did 
the last movement of the Bach Concerto with much 
quickness and finish of movement. Yet, in my 
humble opinion, he cannot approach the rank of the 
great players in any particular. Other recitals 
may show him in new lights, and he may win ap- 
preciation ; and it is only fair to the gentleman to 
wait until he has given us larger and better pro- 
grammes before we classify his merits even in our 
private judgment. 

I understand that Mr. Thomas is to visit us in 
November, and give some orchestral concerts in 
connection with Herr Joseffy, the pianist. He will 
be welcome, and the concerts enjoyable beyond a 
doubt. 

Everything that aids the progress of music by 
furnishing standards of either performances or crit- 
icism, is worthy of our honest respect, and hearty 
support 0. H. B. 



LOCAL ITEMS. 

Thb first two programmes of the Harvard Sym- 
phony concerts are essentially arranged, as follows: 

First concert, Nov. 18. Programme: Overture to 
"The Water Carrier," Cfierubini ; Aria (Miss Lillian 
Bailey); Seventh Symphony, lieethoven; Songs; 
Overture to "Julias C!es;ir" (first time here), tSchxt' 
mann. 

Second Concert, Dec. 2. Symphony in C — No. 3, 
Wulhier edition — (tirst time hero), Haydn; Piano 
Concerto in A, (first time), Liszt (Mr. Max Vinner); 
Short Symphony, No. 2, in A-niinor (first time here), 
Saint'Sagns; Piano Solos; Overture to *'E»;mout," 
Beethoi'en. 

The list of orchestral works to be given in the 
subsequent six concerts has been somewhat modi- 
fied, and now stands thus : 

Symphonies. Beethoven, No. 8; Schumann, "Co- 
logne " (£-flat); Berlioz, Symphonic. Fantastique, sec- 
ond time; J. K. Paine, " Spring," second time; Raff, in 
G-minor, Jirst time ; Symphony by F. L. Bitter, first 
time. 

Overtures. Gluck, "Alceste"; Mozart, "Titus"; 
Beethoven, "Leonore," No. 3; Spohr, "Faust"; Men- 
delssohn, "Melusiua"; Schumann, "Manfred"; Ben- 
nett, "Wood Nymph"; and for the Jirst time^ Ber- 
lioz, " Camaval Komain " ; Goldmark, " Penthesilea " ; 
Bazzhil, " King Lear." 

Miscellaneous. Bach, Pastorale from Christmas 
Oratorio ; Beethoven, Adagio and Andante from 
"Prometheus"; Mendelssohn, Scherzo from the Ref- 
ormation Symphony ; Schnmami, Overture, Scherzo 
and Finale ; Berlioz, Marche Nocturne, from "L'En- 
fance du Christ," second time: Waguer, "Siegfried 
Idyll"; Bennett, Prelude and Funeral March, from 
'* AjaXf^ first time; Dvorak, Sclavic Dances, first 
time^ ; Norbert BurgmiiUer, Andante (with Oboe Solo) 
from Symphony in D, second time ; Liszt, "Orpheus '* 
(Short Symphonic Poem), first time ; Goetz, Inter- 
mezzo from Symphony in F ; Fuchs, Serenade, first 
time. 

Other works may be found desirable and practicable 
OS the concert season approaches. Solo artists, vocal 
and instrumental, will be announced in due time. 

Subscriptions for the season of Eight Concerts, at 
Eight Dollars, are invited. The lists will be open 
until Nov. 8, when three days will be allowed for 
the Subscribers only, whether members of the Asso- 
ciation or not, to receive their tickets and select 
their seats at the office of the Music Hall. 

On Thursday, Nov. 11, the public sale of season 
tickets will begin ; and on Monday, Nov. 15, that of 
single admissions. 

Those wishing to subscribe are requested to ad- 
dress the Chairman, or any member of the com- 
mittee ; or place their names on one of the sub- 
scription papers to be found at the Music Hall, at 
Chickcring's, or at Ditson's, l^riifer's, or Schmidt's 
music store, at Sever 's bookstore in Cambridge, etc., 
be/ore Nov. 8. 

Concert Committee: J. S. Dwight, (12 Pemberton 
Square), C. C. Perkins, J. C. D. Parker, B. J. Lang, 
S. B. Schlesinger, Chas. P. Curtis, S. L. Thomdike, 
Augustus Flagg, Wm. F. Apthorp, Arthur Foote, 
Geo. W. Sumner. 

The final matinee of the three Cary-WiUiemj- 

Joseffy (Concerts, under the managemeut of Mr. Peck, 
will take pbce at the Music Hall this afternoon. Mr. 
Wilhelmj will play a FantaiFie of his own, and a Polo- 
naise by Lanb. Mr. Joseffy is down for an Allegro 
and Passacnille by Handel, the Tarantella by Liszt, a 
"Polka noble" and Waltzes of his own, Nocturne in 
F-niiiior, Chopin, Aria by Pergolese, Spinnerlied, Wed- 
ding March, etc., MendelsFohu. Miss Gary will sing 
" Divinite's du Styx " from Gluck's Alceste, and " Voi 
che sapete," from Mozart's Figaro. Mr. Tower, the 
same group of German songs which he sang on Mon- 
day evening. And the Temple Cinh will sing Mendels- 
sohn's "Cheerful Wanderer," Schubert's iyalve Reyina, 
and the '* Three Huntsmen " by Kreutzer. 

Tlie absorbing topic of next week will be the new 

Tremont Temple, which will open October 11, with a 
performance of tlie Messiah, in which Mis.s Lillian 
Bailey, Miss Emily Winant, Mr. William J. Which, 
and Mr. Myrou W. Whitney will appear. On the 12th 
a grand concert yf\\\ be given by the Philharmonic 
orchestra, Bernard Listemann, conductor, and on the 
13th, FAijah will be given with Miss Fannie Kellogg, 
Miss Winant, Mr. Charlen R. Adams and Mr. J. F. 
Winch as soloists. The new organ built by Messrs. 
Hook & Hastings for the Temple, will be used on both 



occasions. Mr. Carl Zerrahn will conduct and Mr. B. 
J. Lang will be the organist. 

The following choice programme was [lerformed 

at Wesleyan Hall on Monday afternoon, before the 
pupils of the New England ConBer^'atory: 

1. l^noforte Trio, Op. 70, No. 2, Beethoven ; Intro- 
duction and Allegro non troppo; Allegretto ; Allegretto 
non troppo ; Allegro ; (J. C. D. Parker, C. N. Allen 
and W. Fries.) 

2. Violoncello Solo; (Mr. Wulf Fries.) 

8. Sonata, piano and violin, Op. 21, Gade ; Allegro 
di molto ; Larghetto ; Allegro vivace ; (Messrs. Par- 
ker and Allen). 

Pm>AL C.vBiNET OnuAys. Messrs. Mason & 

Hamlin have received the following testimonial from 
S. Park man Tuckerman, Mns. Doc. Cantab. Eng- 
land, Hon. Member of the " Academy of St. Cecilia," 
Rome, and, for eighteen years, organist and director 
of the choir of St. Paul's Church, Boston. 
Messrs. Mason & Hamlin: 

Gen<^emen,-The Pedal Cabinet Organ arrived yester- 
day and is now placed in the position designed for it in 
my music-room. It seems superfluous for me to say one 
word in praise of this tnily wonderful instrument, for 
certainly it speaks its own praise better than any one 
can speak for it. I do not wonder that all the distin- 
guished organists and musicians of the day are unani- 
mous as to the superiority of your instniments ; nor 
does it seem possible that a better substitute for the 
more costly and intricate pipe-organ can ever be made. 

During a long residence in Europe, I had nnnsnsl 
facilities for examining every kind of instrument be- 
longing to the harmonium or reed-organ family ; and 
I am now convinced that the Mason & Hamlin Organ 
Co. have already distanced all rivals, on both conti- 
nenti«, in the manufacture of cabinet organs ; and in 
my opinion, their instruments, of every size and style, 
are as near perfection, in all essential particulars, as it 
seems possible for human skill and ingenuity to make 
them. , 

This letter was not written for publication, but 
you are at liberty to use it for that purpose if you 
please. (Signed) S. Parkman TtrcKSBMAN. 

Sept 20, 1880. 

Miss Helen Lamson, of Boston, who has been 

studying music in Stuttgart for years three pAi>t 
with Pruckner, Lebert, Faisst and Alweus, returns to 
this city the latter part of this month. Miss Lamson 
lias been an indefatigable worker, accomplishing far 
more than is done by the average musical student who 
goes abroad. Not only has her playing been carried to 
a high degree of perfection, but she has become a pro- 
ficient in such matters as counterpoint, fugue, read- 
ing orchestral scores, etc. Hie testimonials from her 
teachers as well as the newspaper criticisms are very 
flattering. She will most likely be heard in Boston 
during the coming season. 



New York. Manager Mapleson's plans and en- 
gagements have been summarized as follows : 

Soprani — Mme. Etelka Gerster, Mile. Alwina Vsl- 
leria, Mme. Marie Louise Swift, Mile. Bianca Mente- 
siJii, Mile. Isidore Martinez, Mile. Valeiga and Mile. 
Lorenzini-Gianoli. 

Contralti — Mile. Anna de Belocca, Mile. Ricci and 
Miss Annie Louise 'Car>'. 

Tenori— -Sig. Revelli, Sig. Runcio, Sig. Lazzarini, 
Sig. Crazzi and Sig. Campanini. 

Baritoni — Sig. Del Puente, Sig. Bellati and Sig. 
GalaasL 

Bassi — Sig. Monti, Sig. Ordinas, Sig. Baldassare 
Corsini, and Sig. Franco Novara. 

The orchestra, which has given such satisfaction in 
the past, has been further improved by sevenil impor- 
tant changes. The chonis has been placed under the 
charge of Sig. Zarini, chorus master of La Scala, Milan. 
As director and conductor Sig. Arditi has been spe- 
cially engaged. Selections will be made from tlie sub- 
joined extensive r^rtoire ; "Robert," "Traviata," 
" Barbiere," " Huguenots," " Nozze," " LucU," 
"Don Giovanni," "Don Pasqnale," "Rigoletto," 
"Figliadel Reggimento," "Talismano,** "Martha," 
"Favorita," "Sonnambula," "Faust," " Trovatore,'* 
" Flauto Magico," " Freischutz," " Dinorah," " Lohen- 
grin," ** Carmen," "Forza del Destine," "Ruy Bhis," 
" Linda diChamonni," "Aida," "Mignon." The sea- 
son will commence on Monday evening, Oct 18, on. 
which occasion will be performed Donizetti's opera, 
" Lucia di Lammennoor." The subscription will con- 
sist of 30 nights and the terms will be as follows : 
Parquet seats and balcony (first three rows), $00 ; bal- 
cony (other rows), S60 ; boxes, 9260, $300, $^, (600, 
according to location. 



168 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1030. 



WoBCBSTBB, Mass. The twenty-third annunl fes- 
tival of the Worcester Coontj Musical Convention was 
held in Mechanics' Hall, daring the past weelc. We 
may say at the start that the affair was abundantly 
successfaL,in every particular, and, this much admitted, 
there is little left to say beyond the bare record. The 
choral force was 437 strong, and its work was generally 
good, at times remarkably so, especially if one con- 
sidered that it was made up of detachments from 
Worcester and neighboring towns, and that opportu- 
nities for rehearsal, eftsemb/e, were not possible until 
the week preceding the festival, while that with the 
orchestra did not come off until the very day of each 
concert in which an orchestra assisted. The orchestra, 
all from Boston, numbered thirty-tdz, and its work also 
was creditable, due allowance being made for the few 
possible rehearsals. The concerts were eight in num- 
ber, — each afternoon, from Monday to Friday, in- 
clusive, each evening beginning Wednesday, the festi- 
val closing Friday evening with Handel's Judas Mac- 
cabvus. We have not the space to devote to a repeti- 
tion of the programmes in full, but we can point out 
their prominent features sufficiently to indicate their 
generally dignified character and great variety. The 
choral works were as follows: JubiUttej Garrett; Ave 
Verxnn, Mozart; Farewell to the Forest, Psalm XLIII, 
Hear my Prayer, Mendelssohn; Lord, our Gov- 
ernor, Marcello; Send out Thy Light, Nazareth, Gou- 
nod; Oypsy Life, Schumann; The Trumpet* s Loud 
Clangor, from Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day, Judas 
Maccabatus, Handel; Requiem Mass, Verdi. The most 
ambitious orchestral work presented was the fifth 
symphony of Beethoven. In all the list there were no 
novelties, that is, none which would be bo called in a 
Boston concert-room. Then there were performances 
of part songs by the Swedish vocal quartette, female 
voices, and the Schubert company, male voices; of 
piano solos by Teresa Carreno ; of harp solos by Madame 
Bohrer; of violin solos by Mr. Adamowski and Mr. 
Eichberg; of 'cello solos by Mr. Fries. Mr. Zerrahn 
presided over all, and the labors of accompanist at 
organ and piano were shared hy Mr. B. D. Allen, Mr. 
E. B. Story and Mr. Q. W. Sumner. The soloists were 
nearly all so well known to Boston concert-goers, that 
anything more than the list, with the assurance that 
each made a creditable appearance, is hardly needed. 
These soloists were Mrs. Osgood, Miss Lillian Bailey, 
Miss Fannie Barnes, Miss Annie Gary, Miss Ita Welsh, 
Mr. Adams, Mr. Babcock, Mr. Hay, Mr. Tower and 
Mr. Whitney. Mrs. J. C. Hull and Mrs. Edward P. 
Hoff were strangers to most of the audience. Each 
lady made, we were given to understand, a good im' 
presslon. Mr. Toedt's fine tenor voice and tasteful de- 
livery proved highly agreeable. Miss Bailey's time in 
Europe had been, apparently, profitably employed. 
Her style is, of course, more matured, but none of its 
directness and artistic simplicity have been sacrificed in 
the ripening process. Mrs. Osgood, too, was as charm- 
ing as of old, her clear, sweet and true voice, and her 
distinct enunciation being especially captivating. The 
solos in the two most important choral works were 
assigned as follows: In the Requiem-Mass of Verdi — 
Mrs. Osgood, Miss Webh, Mr. Adams, Mr. Hay; in 
Judas ifucca&cBKS — Mrs. Osgood, Mrs. Hull, Miss 
Gary, Mr. Tower, Mr. Hay, Mr. Whitney. — Courisr- 
Sept. 26. 

MUSIC ABROAD. 

LoNDOH. The following extracts from the Musi- 
eal Standard (Sept. 20), will give some idea of the 
great variety of music which has been performed 
in the Covent Garden Promenade Concerts during 
the past month : 

On Friday, Sept. 10, there was an "English 
Choral night," when Mr. Frederick Clay's cantata 
" Lalla Rookh " was performed for the first time in 
London, having been written for Mr. Ruhr's Brigh- 
ton Festival.' The vocalists were Miss Anne Mar- 
riot, Miss Ellen Lamb, Mr. Frank Boyle, Mr. A. 
Oswald, and Mr. W. Leroare's excellen t choir. The 
orchestra performed Balfe's overture, "Bohemian 
Girl." and F. H. Co wen's "Festival" overture. 
Mr. Charles Halle played on the pianoforte (a) Noc- 
turne in F'-sharp, and (b) Polonaise in A-fiat (Cho 
pin). 

The concert on Saturday night, Sept. 11, which 
brought one of the usual Saturday crowds to the 
theatre, was a fair specimen of the " miscellane- 
ous " programmes which appeal so irresistibly to 
the tastes of the many. An overture by Auber, 
three of the ballet pieces from " Masaniello," one 
of the liveliest Finales from one of Haydn's live- 
liest symphonies (in G — known as "Letter V") 



and a new selection from " Carmen," by M. Audi- 
bert, constituted the orchestral pieces in the open- 
ing part, which included also a masterly perform- 
ance by Mr. Halld of the Andante and Finale from 
Mendelssohn's first pianoforte concerto, and the 
Ballade and Polonaise of Vieuxtemps, extremely 
well played by Mr. Sutton, a promising young vio- 
linist, pupil of M. Sainton. The singen were Miss 
Mary Davies, Madame Antionette Sterling, Messrs. 
Vernon Rlgby and Harold Russell. 

On Monday, the 13th, being a "Mendelssohn 
night," the programme was devoted chiefly to the 
works of Mendelssohn, the scheme including the 
Symphony in C-minor, which is really the thir- 
teenth of Mendelssohn's symphonies, but usually 
known as " No. 1 ; " the incidental music to the 
"Midsummer Night's Dream;*' and the Rondo 
Brillante in E^flat (for pianoforte and orchestra), 
played by Mr. Charles Hall^. Mr. Hall^ also 
played Schubert's valsc, "Caprice," in A-minor, 
arranged by Liszt. A selection from Verdi's " Ballo 
in Maschera" was also given by the orchestra. 

On Tuesday, the 14th, Mr. Charles Hall^ played 
on the pianoforte, Mozart's Andante and Finale from 
Concerto in B-flat ; also Impromptu in A-flat (Schu- 
bert); and Tarantelle in A-flat (Heller). The 
orchestra performed a work by SaintSaens, and 
Cowen's march, "Maid of Orleans," and a few 
other pieces. 

Wednesday, Sept. 15, was a "Classical night," 
when the programme included Gade's overture, 
" Im Hochland ; " Gluck's " Airs de Ballet ;" Hay- 
dn's Symphony in B-flat; and a selection from 
Verdi's Aida. The concert opened with the over- 
ture composed by Gade, and belonging to the same 
period as bis first symphony (in C-minorj, which 
attracted the favorable notice of Mendelssohn 
towards the Danish composer, who has since pro- 
duced many works that have made him one of the 
few celebrated composers of whom his country can 
boast. This overture contains much effective orches- 
tral writing ; but is scarcely suggestive of the ino- 
pressions implied by the title. In strong contrast 
to this clever but somewhat vague work, is the 
bright, clear, and genial svmphony of Haydn, 
which is a fine specimen of the older master, being 
one of the set composed by him ex pressly for Salo- 
man's London Concerts, towards the close of the 
last century. The other orchestral music of the 
classical part of the programme consisted of airs 
de ballet from Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide. These 
and the other pieces referred to, were effectively 
played by the fine band so ably conducted by Mr. 
F. H. Cowen. A specialtv in the selection was Mr. 
Charles Hallo's fine performances of Schumann's 
pianoforte Concerto in A-minor, which was re- 
ceived with appreciative attention. The classical 
vocal music comprised Handel's "Let the bright 
seraphim," well sung by Miss Anna Williams (with 
trumpet obbligato by Mr. Ellis), Schubert's "Erl 
King," finely declaimed by Mr. Santley, and the 
contralto solo, " Fac me vere," from Haydn's 
" Stabat Mater," expressively rendered by Miss 
Orridge. 

The " Humorous night," on Thursday, Sept. 16, 
proved a great success.' The first portion of the 
programme began with " Kamarinskaja," an orches- 
tral fantasia by Glinka, on national Russian airs — 
a " Wedding song " and a Dancing song. This was 
followed by Mozart's divertimento entitled " Ein 
Musikalischer Spass " (a Musical Joke) composed 
in the year 1787. The piece was thrown off with 
that facile rapidity and love of frolic which were 
chara<^ (eristic of the composer: the intention hav- 
ing been to caricature both the feeble style of much 
of the music of the period and the inefficiency of 
many of the executants. It is written (for stringed 
instruments and two horns) in symphonic form, 
comprising an Allegro, Adagio, Minuet (with trio), 
and Einale. The wrong notes, false entries, and 
omissions which are indicated for the several instru- 
ments are most amusingly contrived, especially 
comic being the imbecile indication of a fugue in 
the finale ; another special feature being the bur- 
lesque cadenza for the first violin (in the adagio), 
ending in a most absurd wandering out of the kev. 
This was played by Mr. A. Burnett with an admir- 
able rendering of its intended incorrectness, and was 
greatly applauded. Another speciality was Bern- 
hard Romberg's "Toy Symphony," composed for 
stringed band and chiHrcn'E aiminutive instruments, 
the latter comprising imitation cockoo, quail, night- 
ingale, and woodpecker — triangles, rattles, bells, 
drums, and penny trumpets. There is not much 
musical merit in the piece. 

Other orchestral pieces were Weber's character- 
istic Chinese overture, Turandot, a "Humorous 
Meditation" (Scherz), in which the styles of Bach, 



Mozart and subsequent composen, down to, and 
including, Wagner, are parodied with intermixed 
passages. Weber's charming pianoforte solo, the 
"Invitation to the Waltz," was admirably played 
by Mr. Charles HalM, who elicited continuous 
applause which only subsided on his returning to 
the instrument and giving with equal excellence, 
Chopin's WalU in AAx (from Op. 34). 



Lbbds, Ekoulztd.— Of the Festival, which is to 
take pUice Oct. 13-16, Figaro says: 

Although there were some years ago several mus- 
ical meetings at Leeds, the first festival proper was 
given in 1858, when Sterndale Bennett (the con- 
ductor) produced his " ICay Queen." The triennial 
festivals began in 1874, and in that year and in 
1877 Sir Michael Costa conducted. This year, in 
consideration that Mr. Arthur Sullivan would write 
a grand oratorio on the subject of " David and Jonar 
than," the conductorsUp was offered to and accepted 
by the composer of "Pinafore." Mr. Sullivan sub- 
sequently found that Holy Writ was not suited to 
bis capabilities, and in place of the Biblteal text, 
the great composer of "The Sorcerer" has selected 
finer language from the pen of the bite Dean Milman, 
adapted and doctored by Mr. William Schwenk Gilbert. 
" The liartyr of Antioch " as it now stands consists of 
seventeen numbers, five of which are choruses pure 
and simple. Starting with the chorus of fir» wor- 
shippers, "Lord of the golden day," we next have a 
baritone solo, " Break off the hymn " ; a tenor solo, 
"Come, Margarita, come"; a baritone solo, "Great 
Olybius"; and a chorus, "Go on thy flower-strewn 
road.*' The unaccompanied chorus, "Brother, thou 
art gone before us," has a march-like rhythm, and it 
is not difficult to fonee in it " The Martyr of Antioch 
March." A bass solo, "Brother, thou slumberest," is 
followed by a hymn, " For Thou didst die for me," to 
be sung by Mme. AlbanL A duet, " My own, my lov'd, 
my beauteous child," is set for soprano and baritone. 
It leads to the chorus of maidens, "Come away with 
willing feet"; a recitative and aria, "See what Oly- 
bius's love prepares for thee," for tenor; a duet, "Oh, 
hear me, Olybius," for soprono and tenor; and a 
chorus, " Now glory to the God," of heathen maidens 
and Christians. A song for contralto solo, and chorus, 
"To Psean," is followed by a concerted piece, " Great 
is Olybius and his faiercy great," for tiie quartet of 
soloists, and by a quartet, "Have mercy, unrelenting 
heaven"; the work ends with a soprano sol. nd 
chorus, "What means yon blaze of light." Alto- 
gether, the work will, it is hoped, prove abundantly 
that Mr. A. Sullivan is worthy the knighthood which, 
it is stated, awaits him, and that the poet, Mr. W. 8. 
GUbert, will be found worthy of at least similar honor. 
The solos will be entrusted to Mmes. Albani and Patey, 
Messrs. Lloyd, Henry Cross, and Frederic King. 



St. Pxtxbsburo. — This capital already pos- 
sesses a German, an Italian, and a French theatre, 
besides native establishments of the kind. The 
list is to be increased by the addition of an exclu- 
sively Jewish theatre, where the repertory, consist- 
ing of plays, in prose and verse, relating to historical 
Jewish subjects, including comic operas, will be 
exclusively from Jewish pens. The company will 
also be Jewish. The theatre is also to open in 
November with The Fanatic, a comic opera by the 
manager, A. Goldfaden, a Jewish actor favorably 
known to Moscow. 



CoPEVHAGBN. The success of Mile Vanzandt has 
been confirmed beyond all expectation. She has really 
made a great "hit"— which is not always easy at 
Copenhagen. The theatre has been nightly crowded 
and tickets sold at double, sometimes treble, prices. 
At the most recent performance of Miynon, the Royal 
Family of Denmark, as well as the King and Queen of 
the Hellenes^ were present, and sent their congratula- 
tions to Mile Vanzandt The director of the theatre, 
M. Hallesen, has engaged the gifted young singer to 
appear three times more— twice as Mignon and once 
as Zerlina, which makes nine performances in all (at 
1,000 francs for each performance). 



Batreuth. — Some time ago Hans von Billow 
announced his intention of 'giving a series of con- 
certs to raise 40,000 marks in aid of the Bayreuth 
Fund. Last year he forwarded 28,000 marks. In 
consequence of his neuralgic attack,, however, he 
is unable to give more concerts at fresettb; but, in 
order that the fund may not suflki, he has. made up 
the deficiency — 12,000 mark«-vQi|.1^ of ^i« Qwa 
I pocket. 



October 28, 1880.] 



DWI0HT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



169 



BOSTON, OCTOBER 2j, i88o. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boeton ae leeond-claae matter. 

All the artieUi not credited to other publicatione vtere ex- 
pres$ly written/or thi$ Journal* 

Published fortnightly by HouGHTOir, Mxmjx A Co^ 
Boaton^ Mcui. Prictt to cents a number; $2.so per year. 

For tale in Boston by Carl Prubfer, jo West Street, A. 
Williams A Co., aSj Washington Street, A. K. LoRiira, 
J69 Washington Street, and by the Publishers; in New York 
by A. BRXNTAiro, Jr., jg Union Square, and Houohtok, 
MiFFLiK it Co., 9/ Aster Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boxer ft Co., iioa Chtstnut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
CAQo Music Compax y, j/a State Street. 

A FINNISH RUNE. 



Rendered into English by Faitnt Ratmohd Rittzr. 

Name not my name with the names of the singers. 
Magical dreamers, great rune-weavers ! 
Not from within can I weave wild music, 
'Tis from without that I weave sweet music. 
Blossoms and brooks and birds and branches, 
I can but sing what your voices sing me. 
Borne on the winds and the rushing waters I 
Could I, afar, through the wide world wander, 
Far from the cares and the chains that crush me. 
Then would I lull the wild sea to slumber. 
Sing the wild sea to a lake of silver, 
Lull the wild voice of the storm to silence. 
Sing the gray sea-foam to milk and honey, 
Were mine the magical power of the singers. 
Musical rhymers, great rune-weavers ! 
Were mine the wondrous spell of the singers. 
Golden hay-ricks should stand in the meadow, 
Pease on the shelves, in the press, fine linen ; 
Fragrant fruit-trees should flower in the orcliard, 
Red-ripe apples should stud the green branches. 
Rainbow dew-bloom on every ripe apple, 
Cuckoos sipping the rainbow-bright dew-bloom. 
Pearls in showers from their silver beaks falling, 
Strings of pearl for my prettj wife's girdle. 

Were mine the godlike power of the singers, 
I would invoke, with songs of enchantment. 
Love, health, beauty, justice, truth, plenty, 
Joy to each heart, and peace to each hamlet. 
Were mine the wonderful spell of the singers. 
Magical, musical, strong rune-weavers ! 



ti 



ff 



FRANZ LISZT.i 
(Concluded from page 161.) 

Already, during his travelling and virtuoso 
life, Liszt had produced a respectable series 
of works, which, written for the piano, were 
intended to^ serve the immediate purpose of 
his virtuosity; but simultaneously with the 
new, and, compared with all before his time, 
unheard of technical perfection which they 
founded, these works for the most part gave 
expression to a poetic element Such were 
his studies and transcriptions (particularly of 
Schubert's songs,) his Paraphrases, Fantaisies, 
and Polonaises, his " Hungarian Rhapsodies, 
the ^'Consolations," ''Annies de P^lerinage, 
*' Harmonies Po^tiques et Religieuses," the 
piano arrangements and transcriptions of the 
Beethoveu Symphonies, and of the Sympho- 
nte Fantcutijue of Berlioz, as well as of works 
of Wagner, Rossini, Weber, Schubert, Bach, 
and others, in which he has achieved some- 
thing inimitable. 

And now, during his residence in Weimar, 
larger and more comprehensive musical deeds 
were ripening. Liszt now came forward as 
the master of great orchestral forms, and 
astonished the musical world with his twelve 
" Symphonic Poems." Wholly new appear- 
ances of their kind, they were both in idea 
and form his most unique creations. He takes 

^ We translate from the article : " Frans list, a Musical 
Character Fortoat/' by La. Majia, in the Charttnlaube. . 



some poetic theme, some fiction, some poetic 
character or incident for a ground thought, 
and, winning from it its musical sides, repro- 
duces it in musical expression. The outward 
form grows out of the subject matter; it is 
as multifarious as the theme itself, and is 
more related to the overture than to the 
symphony. The sonata form, on which the 
latter rests, showed itself not elastic enough 
for the reception of a new poetic content rep- 
resenting a continuous progress of ideas, and 
so Liszt seized upon the free form of varia- 
tions, as Beethoven had used it in the vocal 
movement of hb Ninth Symphony — the point 
of departure for Liszt's collective instrumental 
writing. Out of one or two contrasted themes 
— or Leitmotiven, if you will — he develops a 
whole succession of the most various moods, 
which through rhythmic and harmonic changes 
appear in ever new forms, corresponding to 
the three-fold law of alternation, contrast, cli- 
max. 

This law, on which rests the principle of 
the sonata structure, is valid also here, in 
spite of the thematic unity and the one-move- 
ment form which leads to a freer construction 
of periods ; indeed, the outlines of the four 
traditional movements are more or less discern- 
ible, although condensed. In his two grandest 
and most comprehensive instrumental poems, 
"Dante" and "Faust," which he entitled 
symphonies, Liszt preserved the independent 
division into movements, but within that di- 
vision he manages matters in his own way. 
In both, which reproduce in tones the most 
profound poetic works that we possess — the 
Divina Commedia and Groethe's Fautt — he 
has, again following the example of the Ninth 
Symphony, introduced choruses in the con- 
cluding movement. To the single movements 
he has given explanatory titles (for instance, 
Faust, Gretchen, Mephistopheles), as also to 
his symphonic poems, to make it easier to un- 
derstand them and enjoy them ; and he has 
prefixed programmes to explain the progress 
of ideas which he has essentially followed in 
their creation. In these he gives us either 
independent little poems, such as the verses 
of Victor Hugo and of Lamartine, for the 
"Mountain Symphony," for "Mazeppa" and 
the " Preludes," or an allusion to well-known 
larger poems, as in "Tasso" and "Prome- 
theus," or he introduces us in " Orpheus " to 
a familiar mythical person, and in the "Hel- 
denklage " lets us anticipate the great histor- 
ical event there celebrated. The "Festival 
Sounds" and "Hungaria," as also "Hamlet," 
"The Battle of the Huns" (after Kaulbach), 
and "The Ideals" (after Schiller), lie has left 
without programme, since he believed the 
title a sufficient indication of the ideas which 
guided him. 

It is just this poetico-musical double nature 
of Liszt's orchestral creations, combined with 
their novelty of form (simply a result of 
their ideal contents) that has made them 
hard to understand, and, through their un- 
commonly exacting claims upon the public, 
has operated against their wide diffusion. In 
spite of their instrumental splendor, of the 
harmonic and contrapuntal art which they 
reveal, an opposition has fastened itself upon 



them, such as his piano compositions, serving 
the purpose of his virtuosity, had not expe- 
rienced. But this opposition could not pre- 
vent the poetic tendency of Liszt from gain- 
ing ascendency in all kinds of music, or from 
a steady progress in their popular recogni- 
tion. Indeed, have not the most taking of 
his symphonic poems, like ' the " Preludes," 
" Tasso," "Orpheus," etc., and others of his 
instrumental works, like his piano concertos, 
which are based upon the same principle of 
thematic unity, already found their way into 
all concert halls? And are not his songs, 
also, and his church compositions heard with 
growing favor ? 

In the song, Liszt represents the carrying 
out of the poetic principle to its extremest 
consequences. The musician subordinates 
himself completely to the poet; a free de- 
clamatory element prevails, resembling Wag- 
ner's song-speech (" Sprechgesang"). I need 
only mention here the beautiful "Ich liebe 
Dich " (from RUckert); while, on the contrary, 
the most popular of all Liszt's songs, "£b 
muss ein Wunderbares sein," approaches the 
older song form the most nearly. 

The poetic-character principle which Lisst 
has followed in the song and in his produc- 
tions generally, the thematic unity principle 
which pervades his instrumental works, as- 
serts its full right also in his compositions 
for the church. . The Leitmotiven (leading 
motives), out of which Wagner weaves the 
web of his musical drama, Liszt now makes 
available for the first . time in the mass and 
oratorio. He turns to their advantage all the 
modem conquests of instrumentation and of 
the free play of form. Here also, .true to 
the necessities of his nature, he creates what 
is new and great. As everywhere else, so 
also here, where his problem has been nothing 
less than the regeneration of the Catholic 
church music, he has given with full hands. 
Out of the fullness of his gifts we can only 
allude here to the mass for the Gran festival ; 
to the Hungarian Mass for the coronation of 
the Austrian Imperial pair at Pesth ; to the 
Missa Charalis, the Mass and the Requiem 
for male voices, the Psalms and Hymns, and 
the oratorios "Saint Elizabeth " and " Chris- 
tus." This last named work, a creation full 
of incomparable originality and spiritual depth, 
is Liszt's most powerful achievement in the 
sphere of ecclesiastical art. 

But the greater number of his religious 
compositions germinated not in Weimar, but 
in Roman soil. When, in December, 1859, 
the opera " The Barber of Bagdad," by Cor- 
nelius, a pupil of the master, fell through, the 
victim of a coterie opposed to Lbzt, the lat- 
ter retired from the direction forever. More- 
over, since Dingelstedt became intendant of 
the Weimar theatre, the chief weight in the 
management of that stage was put upon the 
drama, while at the same time the foundation 
of the school of painting claimed too large a 
share out of the court budget to allow what 
would be required for the support of an opera 
and orchestra worthy of a Lbzt. Suffice it to 
say, in 1861 he left Weimar and betook him- 
self to Rome. There he received, on April 
22, 1865, from Cardinal Hohenlohe, in ' the 



170 



DWlQHra JOVRNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol- XL. — No. 1081. 



Vatican Chapel, the oonsecration which gave 
him the rank of an Abbate, to which has 
lately been added the dignity of a Canon. 

But the favorite of Pio Nono remained 
Btill tme to his artistic calling. Since 1869 
he has returned once a year for several 
months to Weimar, taking up his abode there 
in the '^ Hofg&rtnerei." Since then he has 
lived alternately in Rome, Weimar, and 
Pesth, where he formally entered upon his 
office as president of the Academy of Music 
in February, 1876. 

We must count it among the finest merits 
of Liszt^ that he has paved the way to pub- 
licity for innumerable aspirants, as he always 
shows an open heart and open hands to all 
artistic strivings. He is the first and most 
active furtherer of the Bayreuth enterprise, 
and the chief founder of the "Allgemeinen 
Deutschen Musikervereins." And for how 
many humanitary objects has he not exerted 
his artistic means ! If during his- earlier vir- 
tuoso career he made hb genius serve the 
advantage of others far more than his own, — 
saving out of the millions that he earned only 
a modest sum for himself, while he alone con- 
tributed many thousands for the completion 
of Cologne Cathedral, for the Beethoven 
monument at Bonn, and for the victims of 
the Hamburg conflagration — so since the 
dose of his career as a pianist his public 
artistic activity has been exclusively conse- 
crated to the benefit of others, to artistic 
undertakings, or to charitable objects. Since 
the end of 1847, not a penny has come into 
his own pocket either through piano-playing 
and conducting, or through teaching. All 
this, which has yielded such rich capital and 
interest to others, has cost only sacrifice of 
time and money to himself. 

So also in his literary labors, in his cele- 
brated works on "Lohengrin," "Tannhauser," 
« F. Chopin,'* " Robert Franz," and in his 
miscellaneous essays, he has exhibited, apart 
from the splendor of the exposition, and the 
wealth of intellectual ideas and points of view, 
this fine trait of his nature : this of lending 
the weight of his authority to things beauti- 
ful and great which were not understood, and 
thereby helpmg toward their better under- 
standing. Therefore, from whatever side we 
contemplate this fruitful artist life, it shows 
us tiie exalting image not only of a great, 
but also one of the noblest of men. 



MUSIC AT THE ENGLISH UNIVER- 
SITIES. 

[Fftmi JPdnealion.] 

It is much to be regretted that at Oxford 
and Cambridge, although their respective 
Faculties of Music are of tolerably ancient 
date, there is no university school of music 
at which undergraduates desiring to take 
musical degrees can put themselves through 
a regular and defined course of training. It 
is true that at either university a few good 
inusicians can be found of whose private tui- 
tion men are able to avail themselves, but 
practically nothing is done by the university 
authorities in the way of providing a recog- 
nized curriculum for such as are desirous of 
preparing for the musical profession. Beyond 



prescribing the work to be done for the pre- 
liminary and degree examinations, the uni- 
versities have had littie to say hitherto as to 
the mode in which the student is to acquire 
experience, as well as technical efficiency. 
Residents at Oxford or Cambridge have no 
frequent opportunity of hearing standard 
orchestral works performed by first-class 
bands. In both the university towns there 
are very creditable amateur orchestras, but 
of these can hardly be expected the perfec- 
tion of skin to be met with at the operas, or 
at the Crystal Palace, and other important 
London concerts. When, therefore, any new- 
ly-made Doctor of Music b called upon to 
perform his degree^xercise at Oxford (the 
performance of the exercise is no longer re- 
quired at Cambridge) he is compelled, at hb 
own very serious expense, to engage the 
greater part of hb orchestra in London, and 
convey them to the university. The time of 
professional orchestral players being very val- 
uable, the candidate is constrained to hurry 
over the rehearsals, and hence it b that as a 
rule the exercise b imperfectiy performed, 
and becomes at once an infliction upon the 
audience and a source of phagrin to Uie com- 
poser. We cannot see, therefore, what pur- 
pose of art these degree performances may 
be said to serve, unless it be to call attention 
to the lamentable lack of musical resources 
at the university. 

Even in respect of church music, the 
ancient nursing-mothers of the arts can boast 
but littie. The chapels of Trmity and King's 
at Cambridge, and of Magdalen and New at 
Oxford, still maintain their old reputation, 
but of tiie main body of college choirs the 
less said the better. Very littie interest ap- 
pears to be taken in the college services, or, 
indeed, in any musical matter, by the heads 
and Fellows of colleges in general, and as 
these together form the actual governing body 
of either university, we can hardly hope that 
the initiative steps towards reform will be 
taken by the universities themselves. Exter- 
nal pressure must be brought to bear upon 
them ; they must be made to feel that the art 
of music has claims upon them which they 
are bound to treat with respect, and that they 
have little moral right to hold examinations 
in a subject to the study of which they give 
no practical encouragement. Each university 
possesses its professor of music ; but neither 
professor is resident, and the- duties of each 
are limited to about half-a-dozen lectures per 
annum, and attendance at a half-yearly exam- 
ination. It may reasonably be said tiiat the 
universities could hardly compel the residence 
of musicians of such eminence as Sir Fred- 
erick Ouseley and Dr. Mcfarren ; but in such 
a case they should be prepared to pay for 
their indulgence in a luxury by appointing 
well-qualified deputies to look after the well- 
being of the art within university precincts 
throughout the year. The lectures should be 
as frequent and numerous as those in other 
departments of science; while the practice 
studies should be cultivated under the eye of 
competent authorities armed with the direct 
sanction of the university. With the latter 
object, each university ought to subsidize a 



small but complete and efficient orchestra, for 
the illustration of lectures and the perform- 
ance of classical works. It b as absurd to 
expect music to be cultivated in any high 
degree, minus these practical resources, as it 
would be to expect astronomy to be studied 
without an observatory, or chembtry without 
a laboratory. Not until we hear of such 
steps being taken can we hope that music will 
take its proper and ancient place among the 
Faculties, or its representatives hold a duly 
recognized rank in the *' aristocracy of learn- 
ing." While Sir Robert Stewart at Dublin, 
and Sir Herbert Oakeley, at Edinburgh, are 
fostering, by their presence and example, the 
art and its interests at those universities, 
Englbh musicians have a right to ask for 
more downright earnestness and activity In 
the same direction at Oxford and Cambridge. 

LA MUSIQUE AUX PAYS-BAS.^ 
Among the numerous works connected with 
music which have of late years been issued 
from the press, a prominent place must be 
assigned to M. Edinond Vander Straeten's 
book entitied Mu9%e in the Low (hunirteif 
and at present in course of publication. Al- 
ready most favorably known as a learned 
musicologbt, M. Vander Straeten has by thb 
latest production from hb pen more than main- 
tained hb deservedly high reputation. The fifth 
volume now offered the public b even more 
interesting than the four volumes which pre- 
ceded it, and bears abundant testimony to the 
patient research and conscientious zeal of its 
clever author. To use a vulgar but expres- 
sive saying, it b as full of matter as an egg b 
full of meat. 

Mankind never, perhaps, stands perfectly 
still, but at no period, probably, has its pro- 
gress been so marked and so rapid as during 
the last few yeai%. Thb is exemplified not 
only by the electric light, monster steam- 
ships, sewing machines, and telephones, but 
by the improvement manifested in the way of 
treating intellectual subjects, such as that now 
occupying M. Vander Straeten's attention. 
In a note addressed to the Royal Academy of 
Belgium, on the 6th February, 1851, that b 
to say very nearly thirty years ago, M. F^tb, 
senior, said : " There can be no doubt that a 
good and solid hbtory of Belgian music b to- 
day a possibility." By the way, it may be 
remarked that, as a rule, doubt, especiaUy in 
relation to hb own powers, was an element 
unknown to F^tis, senior, who, like the Prime 
Minbter of whom Sydney Smith spoke, 
would, we are inclined to believe, had the 
chance been offered him, have willingly ac- 
cepted the command of the mail-steamer and 
dingy, which about constitute the Belgian 
fleet. Commenting on the opinion enounced 
by M. Fdtb, M. Vi^der Straeten inquires 
what, at that period, had research done for 
religious music, folk's-songs, the musical in- 
strument trade, the nuniruet in the churches, 
vocal competitions, the menestrandies or cor- 
porations of minstrels, operas, or the private 
and professional life of prominent native com- 
posers and virtuosos? What archives had 

A La Mntique aux Pa^t-BoM, Par M. Edmond Vandar 
8tra«tmi,Ae. BruxaUea chea Van Trigt, Bna Saint-Jaaii, 
•» ahaa SehoM f rteas. 



OOTOBKB 23, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



171 



then been explored, with regard to these Bub- 
jects, at Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Ypres, 
Toumai, Li^ge, and numerous other popu- 
lous and mdustrial centres, where there is an 
almost endless abundance of documents be- 
longing to collegiate institutions, abbeys, com- 
munes, and guilds? Fdtis believed, as M. 
Vander Straeten observes, that with the help 
of a few interesting facts, picked up here ana 
there, and a collection, mostly exotic, of 
books, amassed with a patience certainly de- 
serving the highest praise, he would be 
able to build up a musical history as impor- 
tant, complex, and difficult as that of the 
Netherlands. " What an enormous error ! " 
says our author. " He was only at the com- 
mencement of the task to be executed and he 
thought he had reached the end. He had 
merely turned over the surface of the ground, 
and he already beheld an exhaustless mine ! '* 
From the above remarks, which, though 
severe, are merited, the reader may easily 
picture to himself the spirit animating M. 
Vander Straeten. We must add that the 
latter's ability and zeal worthily second his 
perseverance and enthusiasm. His examina^ 
tion of the dusty records of past ages, his 
ransacking of ancient archives, and his eager 
perusal of monkish chronicles, have yielded 
him a rich store of materials, a portion of 
which he has fashioned in the fifth volume of 
La Muftque aux Pa^fs^Bcu into &ve chapters, 
headed respectively : 1, Van Helmont (Adrien- 
Joseph), or Popular Songs ; 2, Monte (Phil- 
ippe de), or the Imperial Flemish Chapel at 
Vienna; 3, De Croes (Henri-Jacques), or 
the Royal Chapel at Brussels under Prince 
Charles of Lorraine ; 4, Moncqu4 (Antoine), 
or Musical Bibliography ; and 5, De Sany 
(Theodore), or the Glory of the Chimes. 
Such are the matters set forth, explained and 
illustrated in the ftve chapters. As the lim- 
ited space at our disposal forbids our entering 
into details, we niust content ourselves with 
praising generally M. Vander Straeten's latest 
contribution to musical literature, by cordially 
recommending it, and by saying with old 
Montaigne: ''C'est icy un livre de bonne 
foy, lectenr." — London Musical World. 



MUSICAL CHATS. 

BT OEOBOE^. BULLIKO. 

MEW 8ERIEA. 
II. 

I think there is nothing in the world which 
bespeaks a narrower mind, than the blind and 
absolute worship of old masters in music, and the 
utter ignoring of the new. Bowing down to old 
fossils while we wilfully forget the living and 
breathing life round about us, is equal to burying 
our head in the sand, ostrich-like, so that nobody 
may steal a march on us. Let us treat both new 
and old with equal respect. We must not, how- 
ever, place Wagner aheaa of Mozart, for instance, 
purely by reason of the newness of his musical 
ideas. He has'only created a new era in music 
for his successors to alter and prune down, just 
as he is pruning down, or, should I say, embellish- 
ing the music of the masters who lived before 
him. He is a greater scientist in music than he 
is musidaa. He is intensely original as well as 
originally intense by nature. The beautiful com- 
positions of his earlier years, which he now dis- 
owns, were the outcome d his original nature. 



His later works exhibit the intensity of the scien- 
tific side of his nature. Yet, no fair-minded man 
will deny that Wagner will do great good for 
music. It will be a battle of the same ever-con- 
testing forces — the physical and the spiritual. It 
is impossible to deny that Wagner aims at highly 
physical effects, and has dogged will-power and 
strong intellect to force those effects on men's 
minds. But, the physical must wither and die, 
while the spiritual lives on forever. Just as sure 
as his ideas and effects are invested with this in- 
dispensable spirituality, they will live. If they 
are merely physical, they are doomed to die. His 
music-dramas appeal to the eye and to the ear. 
His blare and crash of brass in the orchestra 
must certainly be looked upon as an effect calcu- 
lated to startle the ear, rather than appeal to the 
more delicate musical feelings of the listener. His 
great aim seems to be to envelop everything in an 
exciting mystery, even from the mythical subjects 
of his music-dramas, down to placing the orchestra 
out of sight, and doing likewise with melody itself. 
That simplicity which is the birth-mark of true 
and pure art, does not seem to belong to Wagner's 
music. But let us listen attentively to the com- 
positions of the startling innovator, we may learn 
sometiog from them. 

The law of association of ideas acts a promi- 
nent part in music. Most of us have experienced 
that two or three notes from a strain of music 
will be sufficient to start within us a long train of 
remembrance, sad or sweet, as the case may be. 
This accounts, in a measure, for the personal likes 
and dislikes for certain compositions which in- 
dividuals so frequently exhibit. A man may dis- 
like a certain work simply because it has certain 
associations connected with it which are unpleas- 
ant for him to recall. In this connection, the per- 
fumes of fiowers have an analogous effect on 
human beings. There are strong individual associa- 
tions connected with them. They, too, like music, 
vividly excite the memory and imagination, and 
the measure of their effect is usually governed by 
the extent of the poetic susceptibility of the in- 
dividual concerned. On most fine poetic organ- 
izations, the perfume and sight of beautiful flowers 
has an effect akin to that wrought by sweet music, 
or the contemplation of grand works in painting 
and sculpture. Such effect has its physical attri- 
butes, which are by no me^ns necessarily sensual. 
The deep lover of nature must possess strong 
poetic sensibilities, and, therefore, usually has a 
sincere appreciation of art. The man who loves 
the perfume and sight of flowers is pretty sure to 
be a music-lover. The artistic organization which 
does not appreciate beauty in all the multifarious 
phases of nature and art, is more or less incom- 
plete. Of course, in a man, the burden of his 
appreciation will be held by that branch of nature 
or art toward which he has a special leaning. If 
his soul and mind be eminently musical, the con- 
templation of nature or works of painting and 
sculpture will suggest to him musical feelings, and 
even ideas. If he be a painter, his listening to 
grand music, or his contemplation of the inspiring 
scenes of nature, will stimulate him to new ex- 
ertions in his special field of art. Hence comes 
the positive advantage to an artist of living in a 
distinctly artistic atmosphere. Here he will be 
surrounded by everything that will tend to develop 
his genius. He must possess an eminently broad 
soul which will grasp every thought and subtle 
suggestion, and yet focus them all to the ag- 
grandizement of the special branch of art for 
which he lives and labors. Therefore, an artist 
should not live too exclusively shut up in his own 
art, but ought to exist more or less for all art and 
all nature. The bee gathers sweet succulence from 
many flowers, and yet devotes it all to the luscious 
honey. The musician who knows little or nothing 
outside of music, sadly belies his title. The limits 



for his adequate musical education, extend far be- 
yond the line of music proper. He may become 
a wanderer in many lands, and yet return to the 
home of his heart with greater joy and under- 
standing than ever. 



THE DEATH OF OFFENBACH. 

Jacques Offenbach, the best known of the 
three representative composers of opera bouffe, 
is dead. Herv^ and Lecocq remain. There is a 
popular notion tliat Offenbach was the creator of 
this flippant school of music, but this is an error. 
Herv^ was the real founder, and brought out his 
earlier works, which were in one act, in little 
cafd concertrhalls. They were full of drollery, 
bizarre scenes, and rollicking music, and the 
libretti were suggestive and humorous. They 
soon became the rage, and all Paris heard them 
with acclaim. His success brought Offenbach 
into tlio field, and later Lecocq. Herv^ did not 
write his larger works, like " L'CEil Crev^," « Chil- 
peric," and '< Le Petit Faust," until Offenbach had 
thoroughly seized upon and developed his ideas, 
and the school of opera bouffe was permanently 
established. In reality, Offenbach's "Orph<$e 
aux Enfers," the first of his works, was the death- 
blow to Herv^'s popularity, and afterwards Le- 
cocq, with his " Les Cent Vierges," " La Fille de 
Mme. Angot," « Girofle-Girofla," " Le Petit Due," 
'* La Camargo," and other works, helped to dim 
the lustre of Herv^'s success, though he was a 
better musician than either of the other two. 
Herv^'s fame was local to Paris. Offenbach 
spread the reputation of opera bouffe all over the 
world, and thus it is that his name is the most 
closely identified with it. 

Offenbach was born at Cologne, Juno 21, 1819, 
and was a Jew. Had he been a Grerman it is 
doubtful whether he would ever have located 
himself in Paris and made for himself a reputa- 
tion in a school of opera which has not a German 
characteristic in it Germany has no writers in 
this school. Von Supp^ is often called the Gex^ 
man Offenbach, though there are no points of 
similarity between the two. SuppiS's operas more 
nearly resemble the opera comique. There is 
nothing of the bouffe flavor about them. For 
two years, Offenbach studied in the Paris Con- 
servatory, and in 1847 was appointed leader of 
the band, as Barbereau's successor, in the Th^ 
Atre Fran9ais. His first works were mere trifles, 
set to the fables of La Fontaine, and showed that 
he had an aptitude for pleasant, jingling melodies. 
The only legitimate reputation which he made 
was as a violoncello soloist, and his love for that 
instrument may be seen by the effective manner 
in which he uses it in his scores. In 1855, he 
became director of the Bouffes Parisiennes, where 
his earliest works, " Les Deux Aveugles," *< Bata- 
clan," and " Trombal-Cazar," were produced, but 
these were mere trifles. Not long after he as- 
sumed the directorship he made the acquaintance 
of Meilhac and Halevy, then rising dramatists, 
and they conceived the idea of going into ancient 
mythology and reducing the gods and goddesses 
to the condition of the modern farce. They 
commenced with the legend of Orpheus search- 
ing through Hell for Eurydice, in which the en- 
tire group of the Olympian deities is modernized, 
both dramatically and musically, in the most 
ridiculous manner. The piece was an instant 
success, and ** La Belle H^l^ne " followed, which 
was a laughable travesty of life in the royal 
household of the King of Sparta, in which these 
ancient heroes appear in a manner anything but 
stately or dignified. ''Orpheus," which is his 
best work, ran 800 nights. '< La Belle H^l^ne "' 
was brought out in 1864, and first made Mme. 
Schneider famous. *' Barbe Bleue " was the third 
opera of his writing. It was produced in 1866, 



172 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1031. 



but it was lacking in brilliancy as compared with 
its predecessors and has never been a great 
success. 

His rivals already began to charge that he had 
written out, but in the next year he astounded 
them all and made his name known the world 
over with " La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein." 
It was a travesty on the Spanish Court, and it 
is said to have actually assisted in driving Isabella 
from the throne. Be this as it may, its coquettish 
Duchess, bombastic General, intriguing courtiers, 
and ridiculous army commended themselves in- 
stantly to popular favor. Its music was unlike 
his other works. Its melodies were very taking, 
its instrumentation very brilliant, and its spirit 
of burlesque keen, sharp, rollicking, and excruci- 
atingly droll. There is not a song in all his writ- 
ing that can compare with the " Dites lui " for 
real beauty, unless it be the '* Serenade " in 
^ Genevieve de Brabant," and there is not a situ- 
ation in any of his operas that can compare with 
the conspiracy of Gen, Boum^ Baron Grog, and 
Prince Paul in the Duchess's apartments, in droll- 
ery, and in the happy reflection of the sentiment 
of the text in the music. Schneider made a 
triumph in the title rdle. All Paris rushed to see 
it. It was played in twenty-three French theatres 
at one time. It traveled over Europe like wild- 
fire. It crossed the water a year afterwards and 
soon went the length and breadth of our own 
country. It was whistled and sung on the streets. 
It was played on every piano and hand-organ. 
The bands caught it up.' Innumerable potpourris 
appeared. It infected opera^oers, and the de- 
cline of the legitimate opera began with its advent 
here. It was kept alive with fresh actresses, who 
excelled each other in vulgarity and positive in- 
decency. It heralded the coming of the spectacle 
and the leg drama. So fascinated were people 
with its lively numbers that they forgave even the 
bestiality of a Tostde. 

" La Grande Duchesse " brought Offenbach to 
the sumndt of his fame. He has written numerous 
operas since, among them " Genevieve de Bra- 
bant," " La Perichole," " La Princesse de Treb- 
izonde," "Les Brigands," "Le Roi Garotte," " La 
Vie Parisienne," " Les Braconniers," " Madame 
Favart," and numerous others, but in all of them 
he repeats himself. The vein in which he worked 
has yielded little since "La Grande Duchesse." 
There is every indication that opera bouffe has 
had its day, and none stronger than the tendency 
of the opera bouffe troupes to take up the works 
of the opera comique and even legitimate operas 
for performance. It was the fashion of a period, 
— a fashion which for a time did great harm to 
legitimate music, corrupted the popular taste, and 
at least did not benefit public morals. Its day 
has passed, however, and now that its repre- 
sentative writer is no more it will pass from the 
stage still more rapidly. The most that can be 
conceded to Offenbach is facility in lively mel- 
odies, agreeable dance rhythms, and a harmony 
that has some superficial brilliancy. His first 
four or five works were strong in these effects. 
The others have kept the stage by means of 
coarseness and suggestiveness in the dramatic sit- 
uations and lavish displays of personal charms on 
the stage. But these in their turn have ceased to 
attract, and without them opera bouffe is tedious 
and dry. Much as we may admire Offenbach's 
humor, his industry, and his thorough and keen 
appreciation of burlesque, he has written nothing 
that will live, nothing that has made the world 
better, nothing that has refined or elevated music. 
His name as well as his music will soon be for- 
gotten. — Chicago TrUfune, 

A FRENCH VIEW OF WAGNER. 
The distinguished French litterateur, M. Henri 
Blase de Bury, includes, in a recently published 



volume, a paper on Richard Wagner and the so- 
called Music of the Future. M. Blaze de Bury 
is a man of very decided opinions, which do not 
form themselves upon the popular model. As to 
music, at all events, he is far from being, in 
thought and in feeling, a typical Frenchman, 
since he never hesitates to attack the most dis- 
tinguished French composers with a vivacity and 
point that, to an onlooker, are quite refreshing 
and edifying. When such a man speaks about 
Wagner, his remarks, whatever their actual value, 
cannot fail to be of interest, and on the strength 
of this assurance we ask attention to the sub- 
stance of his paper on the Bayreuth master. 

The writer begins by repeating a conversation 
he once had with Meyerbeer on the subject of 
Richard Wagner. The theme was far from pleas- 
ant to Meyerbeer, who could not hear Wagner's 
name pronounced without a disagreeable sensa- 
tion which he, ordinarily discreet in such matters, 
took no pains to conceal. M. Blaze de Bury's 
words are, that "the name of the author of 
^ Tannhauser ' and * Lohengrin ' had upon Meyer- 
beer the effect of a dissonance " — a result hardly 
to be wondered at, perhaps, even by those who 
look for its cause no further than the pages of 
" Oper und Drama." On one occasion Meyer- 
beer rallied M. Blaze de Bury for being reticent 
about Wagner, and then ensued the following 
dialogue : — 

B. " The music of the future, you know my 
opinion — it is* Don Giovanni,' * Fidelio,' * Guil- 
laume Tell,' ' Der Freischiitz,' ' Les Huguenots.' 
There is not an idea in the pretended theories of 
Wagner that has not been worked out in advance 
by Beethoven, Weber, Rossiiii, and yourself. 
But, on the other hand, there are many things in 
^Fidelio,' * Der Freischiitz,' * Guillaume Tell,' and 
* Le Proph^te,' which Wagner and his school 
have left out of their system, because they could 
not use them in their scores. However " — 

M. " Ah ! there is a * however ' ? " 

B. " Yes, maestro, for me at least, who have 
seen so many knowing ones deceive themselves, 
and so many oracles of to-day confounded by the 
verdict of to-morrow." 

M. " But the public I do you dispute that we 
have there a very important criterion ? " 

B. " Important, yes, but not infallible ; witness 
'B Barbiere' hissed at Rome, and the immortal 
' Freischiitz ' rejected at the Od^on." 

M. " Then, according to you, a day is conung 
when Wagner's 'Tannhauser' will rank with 
those chefs-d'osuvres f " 

B. " Please heaven such consequences will not 
follow. It is not sufficient to weary, provoke, 
and deafen the present in order to have a right 
of appeal from it to the future. . . . The author 
of 'Tannhauser' is revolutionary only in his 
theories, for his music presents nothing that Beet- 
hoven and Weber have not said, and said better. 
As is that music tonlay, so it will be in ten years, 
in thirty years. It has no secrets to show, and 
that is why I reproach it. You read as in an 
open book its merits and its defects — merits, 
alas I negative ; defects without character — good 
sometimes, tiresome often, unintelligible never. 



f» 



After this prologue, which is perhaps open to 
the complaint that Meyerbeer did so little of the 
talking, M. Blaze de Bury addresses himself to 
his argument. 

Our author begins with a laugh at Wagnerian 
pretensions. To claim for Wagner the highest 
personification of art, present and future, is, he 
says, " one of the pleasantries which should be 
left to men gifted with skulls hard enough to 
make a breach in the sacred temples of the old 
masters" — men such as he who recently was so 
good as to say that "Mozart's operas are still 
of some value, and worth preserving." Refer-! 



ence is then made to Wagner's embodiment of 
the genius of poetry and music in one person. 
Here M. Blaze de Bury hits out. " At one time," 
he tells us, " Wagner thought himself a simple 
poet, and wrote dramas in verse which no one 
would play. Finding that poetry treated him 
hardly, he turned to music. 'You prevent me 
from making a small fortune ; be it so, Monseig- 
neur, I will make a big one,' as the future Cardi- 
nal de Bernis said to the Minister who refused 
him a place. Had the young dramatist's piece 
succeeded the least in the world, Richard Wag- 
ner would have been content to remain a poet 
like others, without a thought of reforming an art, 
even the elements of which he had not, at that in- 
genuous epoch of life, troubled himself to master. 
O supreme power of Vocation I how many things 
explain themselves thus ? I have cited the exam- 
ple of Cardinal de Bernis. Richard Wagner 
appears to me rather to resemble those misunder- 
stood priests who found a religion through hatred 
of that which has not made them bishops. 
Sprung from a race of comedians, he scribbled 
tragedies, mixing up in a heap 'Hamlet' and 
'King Lear.' One fine day, hearing Goethe's 
' Egmont ' at Leipzig, with Beethoven's music, 
he thought that if soine such music had been 
written for his piece, perhaps it would have been 
put on the stage somewhere. A disappointed 
poet ; a musician by circumstances ; a comedian 
by race — there you have all the man and all the 

artist." 
Our author next deals with the "continuous 

melody," which expresses not only a situation 
but a word. This he accuses of making into a 
whole things intended to exist apart, each m its 
particular sphere, and to develop themselves 
according to -their proper natures and end. M. 
Blaze de Bury strongly insists upon this distinc- 
tion. " Music is one art, and poetry is another ; 
which does not imply that, though perfectly sepa^ 
rate, they ought not to approach each other. All 
good music has its poetry, as all good poetry has 
its harmony, its rhythm, its music ; but each art 
keeps to itself its technical means, reserving them 
for employment in due time and place. . . . Did 
Schiller and Goethe, in creating their theatre, 
fancy themselves cutting out work for the musi- 
cians of the future. On the other hand, did 
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, writing sonatas 
and quartets, in which poetry abounds, imagine 
themselves to be composing anything but music ? " 
Protesting that music is sufficient unto Itself, our 
author goes on to say : " A sonata of Beethoven's 
has no words ; but that does not prevent it from 
having poetry. What clearness there is in this 
intimate dialogue of the master with his instru- 
ment! Follow the musical phrase and, better 
than the best verse, it enables you to understand 
the profound drama of humanity unrolling itsell 
before you.* No feature of the master's soul 
escapes you, you hear its most secret vibrations 
of joy and sorrow, its tenderness, its meditations, 
its frenzy, and when it laughs or weeps the 
expression remains always simple, always true ; 
a moral altitude maintains itself. . . . But in the 
works of the poets, especially in their dramas, 
there is material with which music does not agree. 
Music assimilates to itself characters, passions, 
and situations; but long tirades disconcert it; 
the recitatives of Telramond, like those of Th^r- 
am^ne, terrify it. A few drops of essence suffice 
to" perfume a vase; four words of love, jealousy, 
or anger, are enough for the development of a 
grand morceau.** As to the supremacy of musio 
and the composer, as compared with poetry and 
the poet, we read : " The moment music comes 
into play it commands, and the words obey. For 
proof, observe that, however bad the verse may 
be, it cannot affect the music ; while the finest 
stanzas are unable to do anything on behalf of 



October 28, 1880.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



173 



music that is worthless. Such power has the 
musician that he can save the poem, if it be 
ridiculousi and destroy it, if it be sublime. Let 
the composer be Beethoven, and out of a herquin- 
ade springs 'Fidelio'; let him be Weber, and 
from the most incoherent, the most silly book 
of fables ^Euryanthe' disengages itself." Con- 
tinuing the argument, our author denies the pos- 
sibility of any such instantaneousness between 
word and note as Wagner's theory assumes. *' In 
spoken language the words arrange themselves 
successively, and I perceive them only after the 
phrase is formed and my memory has collected 
them. Music, on the contrary, seizes me from 
the first note, and takes me along without leaving 
either tlie time or the power to return upon my 
steps. How can we hope to establish a complete 
union between forces so diverse ? " 

Taking as a text the remark of Ambros, that 
" if Wagner's principles become generally recog- 
nized and adopted as the laws of art, we may at 
once cry * Finis musiccR I ' " M. Blaze de Bury 
discusses, in a very interesting manner, the ques- 
tion whether music has not reached the limit of 
its development Here space does not allow us 
to follow him, but we may quote one passage 
which shows pretty clearly his view that the 
present is a time of decadence. After referring 
to the '* joyous and cordial parody of the ancient 
regime" he says : " This is not the parody by 
which the actual theatre is^ poisoned. Modern 
burlesque humor kills the idea, and with the idea 
the man who has been inspired by it. They 
speak of reviving Gluck upon the stage, and we 
shall see what becomes of * Iphigenia,' * Orpheus,' 
< Eurydice ' developing their grand pantomime, 
and their serene majesty, before an assembly sat- 
urated with cynical jokes, and still warm with 
the refrains of / La Belle H^16ne.' < The music 
of the future 1 here it is,' said Rossini, one day 
pointing to a score' of that repertory, comparable 
to certain plants, rank, entangled, that cover the 
surface of a lake, and keep from its waters, once 
transparent and profound, the light that comes 
from on high. Enthusiasm, respect for beautiful 
and holy things, we have renounced, but in re- 
turn we scoff, sneer, and gambol to a marvel, and 
if we do not lift our hands towards heaven, we 
lift our legs in turning wheels." If the music of 
the burlesque theatre be one form of the music 
of the degenerate future, our author asserts 
that there is another — the musip of Bayreuth, 
and " the more foolish of the two mav not be that 
generally supposed." '* Look on the side of the 
Fichtelgebirg, to the little town where lived the 
honest, modest, excellent Jean Paul ; there dwells, 
enshrined in his presumption, a man who believes 
himself the Deity, and to whom his faithful priests 
never cease to sing mass. He thrones himself in 
his Walhalla among giants, Norns^ and Walky- 
ries, and when he has finished talking to Odin, 
he proposes to himself a task — strange, unlikely, 
even for a god — to correct Beethoven and amend 
Gluck.- . . .> Alphonse X., King of Castile and 
Leon, was fond of saying, ^ If God had done me 
the honor to consult me, many things in creation 
would be better than they are.' So reasons this 
personage. * In Beethoven's place, I should have 
done thus,' and without more ceremony he gives 
to the clarinets the part of the oboes, cuts, writes 
over, adds to, and generally treats the text as 
though it were the work of a pupil. ... To cor- 
rect Beethoven and amend Gluck is less the effort 
of a great mind misled than of a Prudhomme." 

The author professes to discover in Wagner 
much adroitness in turning the flank of difficul- 
ties, and much skill in, by a move of the hand, 
making riches out of poverty. *' No one knows 
better than he the defects in his cuirass, and 
henc^ his habit of getting inside the mailed coat 
of legendary heroes, assured, in advance, of 



public favor," More than this, he diverts public 
criticism from his music to his theory, and ap- 
peals from the present to the future, which has 
no voice wherewith to condemn. "To address 
the future is always a convenient thing, and it 
costs little to proclaim truths which cannot be 
contradicted by experience. True art knows 
nothing of such pretensions as these." — London 
Musical Times, 

A GERMAN EISTEDDFOD. 

A month ago the narrow streets of the old city 
of Cologne were crowded with five or six thousand 
men — Belgians, Dutchmen, Switzers, and Germans, 
members of singing societies, who had come to 
take part in the Festival by which the Kolner 
Liederkranz — the oldest singing-club in the town 
— celebrated its jubilee. The chances of travel 
found me at hand, and at ten o'clock on Monday 
morning I joined the crowd which was pouring into 
the Giirzenich, a fine old hall of tlie fifteenth cen- 
tury, broad and lofty, with noble roof of carved 
wood — our own Westminster Hall in miniature. 
At least three thousand people were packing them- 
selves within this hall, filling not only every seat, 
but every inch of standing room. The heat was 
stifling, yet the interest was keen. 

This was not the beginning of the Festival. On 
Saturday evening there had been a reception of 
visitors, and an instrumental concert. On Sunday 
morning the societies, arriving by train and steamer, 
had been marshalled in one long procession, which 
had paced the principal streets. Before the start, 
the Liederkranz had sung Krcutzer's well-known 
part-song " It is the Sabbath Day." The proces- 
sion over, the afternoon had been devoted to the 
preliminary competitions held simultaneously in 
five concert-halls, before juries made up from the 
twenty-two judges who were engaged for the occa- 
sion. Altogether there had been on Sunday eight 
competitions, in which no less than 118 Societies 
had taken part, and it was the eight victors who 
were now on this Monday morning to compete for 
a prize given by Her Majesty the Empress of Ger- 
many. 

The orchestra, which was not large, was nearly 
filled with listeners ; only a small vacant space in 
the centre marked the spot where the competing 
choir was to stand. In front of the orchestra, some 
yards back, was 'the judges' table, where I recog- 
nized the large and manly figure of the veteran 
Franz Abt, beside whom Ferdinand Hiller, short 
and round, was almost eclipsed. But who are these 
in gray jackets, a white cock's feather in their high 
felt hats, who file up on to the orchestra amid 
deafening applause? This is a Tyrolese choir 
from Innsbruck, and they sing with much delicacy 
and gentleness, the conductor guiding them with 
his hand merely. They are followed by the Cecilia 
Society of Godesburg, a Rhine-land village, which 
shows drill, but also a hardness of tone which more 
X»r less characterizes all the German choirs we hear. 
The next burst of cheers heralds an Amsterdam 
choir, in which we notice the fine basses — human 
bombardons — which seem to flourish only on the 
Continent. After another German choir comes the 
St. Nicholas Society of Li^ge, in Belgium, singing 
with a fire and force that was terrific, and a touch 
and attack that spoke of hours of patient and 
searching drill. A German choir from Nippes sang 
next, and then the Dresden Liedertaf el, refined and 
smooth, showing culture more than force. The 
last was a second choir from Lie'ge, the Ccrcle 
Chorale de Fragnec. Then came a few moments 
of eager expectancy. The vast audience stood 
waiting the verdict of the judges. It was soon 
given, and with a shout of "Dresden" the crowd 
made for the doors. 

At five o'clock in the evening the hall filled again. 
Choirs which had won a first prize in previous Fes- 
tivals, formed, in this Festival, a class by them- 
selves, called the Highest International Honor-Class. 
These choirs were larger, and sang more difficult 
music than those we had heard in the morning. 
The choirs at the'carliercompetition had each sung 
a piece of their own selection; the five choirs 
which now entered the lists sang two pieces each. 



one of them an " Hosanna " by Ferdinand Killer, 
which occupied a quarter of an hour, and was 
crowded with difficulties. The minimum strength 
of choirs in this class was seventy, and the best of 
them showed largeness of effect, voluminous tone, 
with the precision, the ease, and the neatness of 
fine machinery. At half -past eight the verdict was 
g^ven. The Verviers Choir (Belgian) took the 
first prize, the Chenee Choir (also Belgian) the sec- 
ond, and the Rotterdam Choir the third. Thus the 
Germans were left wholly out in the cold. The 
members of the Continental Singing Societies, as is 
well known, are but imperfect readers. Each part 
is rehearsed separately, and learnt by heart from 
the piano ; the parts are then combined. One does 
not like to say anything which may seem to dis- 
parage the power of reading at sight, but this habit 
of memorizing produces the most finished and per- 
fect results. English choirs, with one or two 
exceptions, do not know the meaning of " precision " 
as it is predicated of these foreign choirs. They 
have the altogethemess and the perfectly united 
movement which we find in a first-rate orchestra, 
the members of which have played together for 
years. Neither in attacking nor in leaving the 
tones, whether they be loud or soft, can individual 
voices be distinguished ; all is blended and homo- 
geneous. Short staccato chords are delivered like 
the volley firing of a crack regiment ; it is " all at 
once and nothing first." The only fault which 
need be noticed is the tendency to force the voices 
at the expense of smoothness and pure tone. This 
is perhaps natural to men whose lungs are gener- 
ally stronger than their throats. 

The large audience greeted each choir as it as- 
cended the platform with great cordiality, and 
applause, more or less vociferous according to the 
character of the singing, marked the conclusion of 
each piece. The first sign of every choir was a 
heavy banner richly embroidered with gold, and 
hung in most cases with many medals, which rat- 
tled against each other as the standard bearer 
advanced. This was followed by a small banner 
on which the name of the choir and the number of 
singers it contained stood out in clear white letters. 

It is curious that in all the competitions the mini- 
mum, not the maximum, number of singers in each 
choir was fixed by rule. The result was that the 
choirs varied considerably in size. The mode of 
classifying the choirs was interesting. There were 
four classes for the German choirs, each of which 
had its prizes. The first class was for choirs from 
villages of less than 3,000 inhabitants, consisting of 
at least 20 singers. In the second class these num- 
bers were raised to 10,000 and 26 respectively ; in 
the third class to 26,000 and 36 ; in the fourth class 
the town must contain upwards of 26,000 inhabi- 
tants, and the choir at least 60 singers. The Bel- 
gium choirs were divided into two classes on the 
same plan, 20,000 inhabitants being the dividing 
line. The Dutch choirs, being few, were not di- 
vided. At the first blush this method of classifica- 
tion seems arbitrary, but one sees the justice of it 
on reflection, for large towns will naturally have a 
larger pick of singers, and ought, therefore, to pro- 
duce larger and better choirs than the small towns. 
Pretty medals were cast in honor of the Festival 
and worn by most of the singers. 

The conductors arrayed their men in very com- 
pact form, evidently counting much on this to pro- 
mote solidity of style. With the exception of the 
Switzers, whose characteristic dress I have already 
noticed, the singers wore broadcloth. They clus- 
tered close around their conductor, and flxed their 
eyes on him while singing. 

The etiquette of the Festival was interesting. 
No societies or individual singers belonging to 
Cologne were allowed to take part in the fray. 
They were in the position of hosts, and the com- 
peting societies were their guests. For each com- 
petition one of the city societies was told off as a 
"greeting choir" (Begriissende Verein), and the 
proceedings invariably began with a chorus sung 
by the greeting choir. In every way this was a 
happy arrangement. It displayed the modesty of 
the Cologne societies, while it allowed the public to 
see how they could sing. The organization of the 
Festival was complete. Five committees managed 



174 



BWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1081. 



MTeraUy the.miiBic, the literature, the art, the 
lodgings, and the procettion. The programme was 
a most carefuUj edited pamphlet of 144 pages, 
sold at the yerj low price of sixpence. It begins 
with a poem which gives vent to the feelings proper 
to the occasion. Then follow listo of officials, con- 
ditions, prises, with the names of the honorary, 
active, and inactive members of the Cologne Lieder- 
kranz. We then have a history of the Society 
fsem its foundation in 1865, to the present time, 
written in a somewhat mock-heroic tone, which 
must be excused at such a moment. The programme 
of the four days follows, and then the words of no 
less than 187 pieces which the different societies 
had chosen to sing. These were numbered, and the 
number being called out as each began; the words 
were easily found. The last section of the book is 
occupied with lists of the members of all the com- 
peting societies. 

On Tuesday morning the winning choirs assem- 
bled for the distribution of prizes by the mayor. 
There was some instrumental music, and the Lieder- 
kranz sang Mendelssohn's " Festgesang." But on 
Monday afternoon and evening the great majority 
of the choirs left the town. . As the day wore on 
they crowded the railway station, and snatches of 
their songs mingled with the shrieking of the en- 
gines and the liissing of the boilers. The men who 
belonged to successful choirs wore in their hats a 
card with the word " Preis " written hurriedly upon 
it, and looked rather jaunty, while those who carried 
no label looked matter-of-fact. But all were in a 
good humor.' 

It is instructive to study a Festival of this sort, 
which fits so naturally into Continental habits, and 
yet would be utterly foreign to English ways. The 
first remark an Englishman makes, especially if he 
is married or hopes to be, is that these five or six 
thousand men represented probably an equal num- 
ber of wives, present or future, left at home. To 
say nothing of musical advantage, the way in 
which English men and women take their pleasures 
together is surely better than the separation which 
prevails abroad. In England we hear men's-voice 
singing as a rare and delightful change from the 
prevalent mixed-voice singing. On the Continent 
the proportions are reversed. Now, men's-voice 
singing much sooner becomes monotonous than 
mixed-voice singing. The Germans themselves feel 
this. A German musical critic whose acquaintance 
I made during my subsequent stay at Bonn, spoke 
very disparagingly of the singing clubs, in which, 
he said, art was subordinated to beer. He regarded 
mixed-voice choirs as much better in every way. 
The reform, however, does not lie with the musi- 
cians to accomplish. The men's singing clubs are 
the expression of a social condition, and this must 
be changed if mixed choirs are to become common. 
— ToNte Sol'Fa Reporter, Oct, 1. 



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1880. 



TREMONT TEMPLE CONCERTS. 

Groan Exhibition. As a sort of prelude to 
the dedicatory oratorios and concerts in the new 
ball, there was a private exhibition, nimierously 
attended, on Friday evening, Oct. 8, of the splen- 
did organ built by Messrs. E. and 6. 6. Hook 
and HasUngs to replace the one destroyed in the 
burning of the Temple. A description of the 
organ will be found below. The selections on 
thU occasion were well suited to exhibit the qual- 
ities of the noble instrument, which contains 52 
speaking registers and a total of 8,442 pipes. 

The first part of the programme was purely 
classical and performed by Mr. B. J. Lang. That 
grand, full-flowfaig five-part Fantasia in G-major 
of Bach, with its sparkling prelude, which Mr. 
Lang used to play some years ago on the great 
organ of the Music Hidl, was followed by an 
exquisitely sweet and tender movement from 
Bach's Pastorale in F. The former showed the 



full organ, with its massive and well balanced 
harmonies^ to good advantage. The latter was 
played upon a stop so soft and delicate, that, 
what with some noise around, we found it difficult 
to hear some parts of it. Then came one of 
Schumann's fugues on the letters of Bach's name ; 
but not the improvisations or a theme from Bach set 
down in the programme. 

Mr. S. B. Whitney, organist of the church of 
the Advent, in a Bsych fugue in C, a Fantaisie in 
three movements by Berthold Tours, transcrip- 
tions of the Vorspiel to Lohengrin and other 
things from Wagner, and a transcription of his 
own Vesper Hymn, put the organ through its 
paces as an orchestral and solo instrument. A 
great variety of voices of bright and individual 
character and color were exhibited, — more of 
the brilliant than of the subdued and tender, as 
it seemed 40 us, like the shine of fresh paint, — 
but great distinctness, and prompt outspeaking- 
ness. The ** Stentorphone " and "Tuba Mira- 
bilis " (8 ft. pipes), which he casually let loose, 
were tones of startling solidity and loudness, such 
as might wake the dead. But if excess of brill- 
iancy is too much the prevailing character of the 
organ, probably there is much which time and 
use will mellow and subdue and sweeten. 



Handel's " Messiah " was given on the for- 
mal opening night (Monday, Oct. 11,) by the 
Handel and Haydn Society, Mr. Zerrahn con- 
ducting, and Mr. Lang at the organ, as usual. 
The chorus of the Society, about one hundred 
short of its usual number on account of the limita- 
tion of the stage, was well displayed upon the 
curving tiers of seats in front of the elegant and 
cheerful architecture of the organ, and the orches- 
tra occupied the space in the middle, the whole 
being brought so far out into the auditorium, that 
everything was clearly heard. It was as a whole 
a very spirited and excellent performance. The 
choruses came out with uncommon unity and 
promptness of attack, sharpness of outline, and 
a ringing, rich ensemble. The shading, too, was 
good, and the accompaniment for the most part 
felicitous. Miss Lillian Bailey, who sang here 
for the first time since her studies in Paris, and 
her successful career in England, took the soprano 
solos; and, considering her youth, and the yet 
juvenile though much improved quality of her 
voice in firmness, evenness and fullness, acquitted 
herself most creditably. In the scene " There 
were shepherds " one missed of course the grand 
power and nobility of the great sopranos we 
have heard in that, like Jenny Lind, Nilsson and 
others ; but the young lady's tones are pure and 
clear as a bird, her intonation faultless, and all the 
exacting arias were well studied and agreeably 
sustained with good style and expression. Miss 
Emily Winant's rich contralto voice seemed richer 
and more satisfying than ever before; she sang 
with unaffected, simple truth of feeling. Mr. 
Wm. J. Winch, somehow, was not at his best in the 
tenor airs and recitatives. Mr. M. W. Whitney 
gave the bass solos in his grandest voice, and 
with rare spirit and effect The chorus singing 
frequently roused the audience to enthusiasm. 
But the audience was only moderate in numbers. 
The greater part of it occupied the cheaper seats 
in the vast upper end balcony, — the best place 
undoubtedly for hearing ; but the heat and want 
of ventilation there were complained of as in- 
tolerable. This, we presume, can be remedied. 



Ths Piiilhakmonio Obchbstba, of forty instru- 
ments, B. lastemann conductor, gave the second of 
these concerts on the following (Tuesday) evening. 
At the hour announced for the beginning, half -past 
seven, scarcely any audience had presented itself. 
At about ten minutes before eight, people began 
to pour in, about half filling the floor; the great 



end gallery we could not observe from the back of 
the floor, where we sat waiting until after eight for 
the musicians to appear upon the stage, a search- 
ing, cold, pneumoniae draught the meanwhile sweep- 
ing through the open doors behind us (how much 
more safe and comfortable the side entrances of the 
Music Hall!), so that one of the prime conditions of 
yielding one's self up heartily and freely to the 
influence of music, however excellent, was want- 
ing. This was one of those little drawbacks inci- 
dent to the first trials of a new hall, which we 
trust time will correct — Mr. Listcmann's orchestra 
appeared to be thoroughly trained, and gave a sat- 
isfactory rendering of what we dared to stay and 
hear of the following programme : 

Overture, " Leonore/' (No. 8) Beethoven 

iDtrodaetion to "Lohengrin** Wagner 

Violonoello solo, ** Fantasle Melodlqoe ** . C. Schabert 

Mr. Alexander HeindL 
Serenade and allegro (with orehettra) . . Mendelnoha 

Mr. Otto BendU. 

Remember now thy Creator Bhndes 

Buggies St. Church male quartet. 

Two Slavonie dances Dvorak 

Metodie, "SMterjenteasLJtndag** OleBoll 

(Arranged for string orchestra by Svendsen.) 
Mlntatore march Tiohalkowiki 

Saxophone solo (air Tyrollenne TariO • . > . Leo Chic 

Mr. Eostaeh Straater. 

Polonaise in E Liast 

Piane solos, Prelude Chopin 

Bhi^wodie Lisst 

Mr. Otto Bendix. 

When evening's twilifl^t Hatton 

Boggles St. Chareh male quartet. 
Concert waits, "Hie YUlage Swallows** . . . Strauss 

Mr. Heindrs 'cello solo was artistically played ; 
and Mr. Bendix gave a clean and graceful render- 
ing of the Serenade and AUegro giojoeo of Mendels- 
sohn. The selections of the church male quartet 
were rather monotonous and commonplace, but 
were sung with sweetly blended voices, in a style 
refined almost to sentimentality, after certain more 
experienced modeb. 

Msndslssohn's "Eujah," again by the Han- 
del and Haydn Society, drew a considerably larger, 
but no means a full audience on Wednesday evening. 
Again we had a spirited and careful rendering of 
this popular oratorio as a whole. There was a 
change of solo vocalists. Miss Fanny Kellogg, to 
whom were entrusted the principal soprano arias, 
seems to have gained in volume and in carrying 
power of voice, and sang with intelligence and fer- 
vor, and with much declamatory force. Miss Win- 
ant, the only soloist in the preceding cast, sang " Oh 
rest in the Lord" in a manner most impressive. 
We have heard nothing more beautiful in its way 
for a long time ; and all her part was equally satis- 
factory, she bearing off the chief honors of the 
evening. Mr. Charles R. Adams gave the first 
tenor recitative and aria : ** If with all your hearts," 
with that artistic perfection of style, enunciation, 
and expression, which is always his so long as his 
voice is free from hoarseness. Through this air it 
served him well, but became somewhat clouded 
afterwards, although "Then shall the righteous 
shine"* was superbly sung. Mr John F. Winch 
appears to have studied lately to some purpose, for 
he was in great voice, and sang with more freedom 
and energy than he was wont to manifest. The 
assistants in the quartets and angel trio were Miss 
Lucie Homer, Mrs. C. C. Noyes, Mr. G. W. Want, 
and Mr. D. M. Babcock. All rendered good service. 

It was on the whole an unfavorable week for a 
series of grand concerts, particularly in an un- 
accustomed hall. Bifany of the most musical fami- 
lies were still out of town; there was too much 
politics in the air and in anxious patriotic minds ; 
beautiful evenings and a reluctance to give up the 
summer's fascinating freedom, etc., etc., all together 
proved too strong for the charmer, music, to over- 
come. 

MR. OLIVER KING'S CONCERTS. 

This young man of twenty-four, pianist to the 
Princess Louise of Canada, is devothig his holidays, 
during the absence of the Princess in Europe, to mak- 
ing himself a little known both as pianist and as orchea- 
tral composer hi the States. He wu bom in London, 
and studied first with fittnby, afterwaxdf lor four 



OOTOBXS 23, 1880.] 



LWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



176 



yean at Leipzig, where Ms piano concerto, dedicated 
to Reineclce, was produced at the annual Ilavpt-pril- 
fung at the Conseryatory. 

His first coDcort here, on Mondaj' evening, Oct 11, 
was unfortunate in want of management. The even- 
ing was badly chosen, being that of the Meaiiah at 
the Temple. Tlie place was badly chosen; the great 
Music Hall, not a quarter filled, and mostly with un- 
musical deadheads, recruits at the last moment evi- 
dently, — people who went out in the middle of a piece, 
slamming the doors behind them, — must have had a 
chilling influence upon the young artbt. Yet he car- 
ried through his very classical programme, with the 
assistance of Miss Fanny Kellogg in some songs, with 
the amiable patience of a saint, and managed to prove 
himself an acomplished interpreter of such works as 
Liszt's transcription of Bach's G-rainor Fantaisie and 
Fugue, a Prelude and Toccata by Lachuer, Mendels- 
sohn's |Velude and Fugue in £-minor, the.'*Carna- 
val" scenes of Schumann, the Ballade in A-fiat of 
Chopin, the " Wilde Jagd/' by Liszt, besides a tender 
and graceful " Legend," by himself. Mr. King has a 
clear and brilliant touch, a fluent execution, and plays 
like an intelligent musician, perfectly at home and at 
ease in his work. The chief fault was uniformity, the 
same unflagging, unimpassioned, even energy through- 
out, not wanting in freedom, grace or accuracy, but in 
fire. He played all from memory. 

His second concert (Friday evening) was remarkable 
as offering three of his own compositions in large form, 
with orchestra: a piano concerto in three movements, a 
symphony in five movements (never performed before), 
and a concert overture. This was a courageous under- 
taking for so young a man. Of course there was the dis- 
advantage of a brief rehearsal; but Bir. Listemann and 
his orchestra gave it their best care, and it was evident 
that the young composer had the sympathy of the musi- 
cians. It M-as at least shown that he had made earnest 
studies. He knows how to compose, how to shape a 
thing in regard to form, how to develop themes; and he 
understands the use of the orchestra. In spite of crudi- 
ties, of youthful extravagancies, of leanings here and 
there toward Liszt and Wagner, we found the works 
interesting; the overture particularly, which is perfectly 
clear and symmetrical, composed of three distinct sub- 
jects, in marked contrast to each other, and all three 
worked out together to the end. 

In all these compositions he shows no lack of ideas 
and resources, but he is not always so successful in 
the products as he is in tliis overture and in the finale 
of the Symphony, which is clear, original, and beauti- 
ful The first Allegro is in strict sonata form, to be 
sure, and has interesting themes, yet somehow, as it 
went on you could fancy yourself in the middle of 
some Lisztian Symphonische Dichtnng. The short 
Andante was pleasi^ and idyllic. The Allegro Scher- 
zalkdo (in &-A measure) was of the wildest, most auda- 
cious in its sudden contrasts— no lack here of fire! 
I'he Adagio was more than we could fathom; very 
long, obscure, monotonous it seemed, abounding in 
close, chromatic, creeping harmonies, and altogether 
mpdem. The CJoncerto was to us the least satisfactory 
of the three works. Is has brilliant passages, which 
he pUyed brilliantly, but, taken as a whole, we felt a 
lack of clear and positive intention. It is, however, 
absurd to pass any Judgment on such works after a 
single hearing; they have merit enough, at all events, 
to entitle them to a nearer acquaintance and examina- 
tion. Certain faults of instrumentation were more 
than once apparent. For instance, the tiresome, per- 
sistent Wagnerian s^tieo^ of the violins upon very 
high tones; sudden irruptions of trombones, etc., van- 
ishing as suddenly ; and, worst of all, the pervading 
restlessness, the want of repose, which is so character- 
istic of the new school of music. But Mr. King has 
talent, perhaps something more; and he is so earnest 
a musician, so well read and trained, and so apprecia- 
tive of Bach and Beethoven, that we confidently ex- 
pect something better from him. He is modest, open 
and ingenuous, as well as earnest; and he has already 
won respect and sympathy here among those whose 
H>preciation is worth having. 

The concert was relieved by some artistic and effect- 
ive harp performances by Mme. Chattorton-Bohrer. 
Her rendering of a Gavotte by Gluck was particularly 
edifying after a restless modem symphony. 



THE NEW TREMONT TEMPLE AND 

ITS ORGAN. 

The reconstructed Temple has been opened and 
used as a hall for music during the whole of the 
past week. There was a private exhibition of the 
new organ, one of the very fhaest in the city, on 
Friday evening of the week before, and many pet^ 



sons were invited to go over the whole building on 
the following (Saturday) evening and inspect its 
many beauties and conveniences. On Monday 
(Oct. 11) and Wednesday evenings the oratorios of 
the Meuiah and Elijah were performed ; on Tues- 
day there was an orchestral concert by Mr. Liste- 
mann's Philharmonic orchestra; on Friday evening, 
a popular concert; and on Saturday a children's 
matinee. Of the first three we speak elsewhere. 
We deem it unwise to form an opinion of the 
acoustic qualities of a great hall, as compared say 
with the Music Hall, before we have had time 
enough to begin to feel perfectly at home in it. 
There are always numerous little drawbacks and 
confusing circumstances in the first trial of a brand 
new hall, — a certain sense of rawness, however 
brilliant its aspect, and however distinctly every 
sound asserts itself within its walls. This commonly 
wears off in time, as all that speaks to eye and ear 
gets gradually toned down and harmonized. In the 
matter of sound, in fact, we have often imagined 
that it must be with music halls as it is with vio- 
lins, that it requires time and use to bring all the 
vibrations into sympathetic accord. We must say, 
however, for the present, that we found tlie hall ex- 
tremely beautiful, and that the sounds of instru- 
ments and voices came out clear and brilliant. We 
missed the amplitude and simple grandeur which 
we feel on entering the Boston Music Hall, and we 
miss, of course, the thousand musical associations, 
the inspiring memories of musical experiences such 
as we can hardly hope to ever have surpassed, 
which hang about those noble walls. The new 
hall, in spite of its elegance, still seems a little 
cramped and stiff to us in comparison with it. And 
we fear that the problem of making it seat an 
equal number of persons with the Music Hall has 
been only solved by too close packing, while the 
enormous depth of the end upper gallery, and the 
great width of the side galleries contracts the main 
hall so that the s«nse of spaciousness is wanting. 
Yet we have little doubt, that, next to the Music Hall, 
if is one of the very finest halls for music in this coun- 
try. — But let experience report of it from time to 
time. Meanwhile we borrow a description from 
the Daily Advertiser : 

There was little in the appearance of the reconstructed 
Tremont Temple, as it was opened for the first time 
laiBt evening for a private exhibition of the new organ, 
to remind one of the old Temple that has been only a 
memory for more than a year; not alwavs a fragrant 
memory, either, as one thinas of it dingy, sombre, 
illy-ventilated, and so difiicult of entrance and egress. 
Very few persons went up the steep, narrow stairs 
which led to the eallery witnont a moment of suflfoca- 
tion as the thougnt flasned across them what would be 
their probable fate in case of a fire. Such ugly thoughts 
were stifled as soon as possible, although tliey haid a 
very uncomfortable way of obtruding themselves at 
intervals during an evening. It was fortunate that 
when the fire did come it was at a time when no one 
was in the trap. With the new building everything is 
most radically changed, and there is no place in the 
city which can be cleared more readily in case of fire 
or panic. The halls and corridors are wide, with doors 
opening into them at short spaces, and there are tliree 
stairways leadine from the second gallery to the fioor. 
The entire buildmg can be emptied in a few minutes, 
even of a crowded audience. This fact alone will tend 
to make it one of the most popubir concert halls in the 
city, and its exquisite architectural beauty and artistic 
decoration will also aid in this direction. A double 
fiight of easy marble steps leads from the street to the 
floor of the Temple. A handsome vestibule occupies 
the space between the stairways, and the ticket ofiioes, 
of which there are two, are situated directly under the 
stairways. Out of the corridor at the head of the stairs 
the main haU opens. Nothine remains to remind of 
the old hall but the square outune, which is much the 
same, the coloring and arrangement are so different. 
The platform, which is lower than the old one, occu- 
pies nearly half the floor, but there is a semi-circle of 
seats in front and on either side of the organ, so that 
no space is lost by the depth of the platform. The 
organ occupies the entire end of the building, and is 
one of the handsomest organs ever seen in Boston. It 
is in the cathedral shape, is painted a delicate cream 
color, with exquisite decorations in dull gold ; the pipes 
are of block tin, as brisht as burnished silver, and in 
perfect accordance with tlie other coloring. While 
there is some beautiful carving, the general effect is 
of elesnint simplicity. There are two balconies, each 
easy of access, and with numerous doors swinging out- 
ward. The front of the balconies is white, and is in a 
very pretty design. The chairs are of ash, covered 
with green leather. The coloring is particularly har- 
monious and restful. The walls are tinted a pale 
chocolate ground, and with this color buff and blue are 
used with the most charming effects. The ceiling 
shows panels of blue crossed off with heavy carved 



beams in dark wood. Four large chandeliers with 
crystal Jets and drops, and fourteen smaller ones in 
the same design, add lightness and brilliancy, whUe 
the side lights in the first balcony have also the crystal 
drops. A very little gilt is used, just enough to give 
life to the cooler tints, but not enough to become ob- 
trusive. The corridors are tinted pale blue, all the 
wood-work being painted a soft, pile brown to harmo- 
nize. It is entirely unlike any other public building in 
the city, and certainly goes far ahead in the beauty 
of architecture and harmony of decoration. Mr. Carl 
Fehmer, the successful architect, has every reason to 
be proud of his achievement. 

The Meionaon is as much altered for the better as 
the Temple itself; while the approach remains the 
same, vet the room itself has the appearance of being 
more ^* above ground," and it has been raised rad 
well arranged lor ventilation, and is now the very 
prettiest small hall in the city, and the best adapted 
for chamber and classical concerts, recitals, etc A 
£^lery surrounds three sides of the hall, whidi seats 
over two hundred persons. The decorations are chiefly 
in pale neutral tints, with here and there a touch of 
color; the chairs are of ash, with maroon leather cov- 
ering, and the gas jets surround the eight ornamented 
columns which support the hall above. The work of 
rebuilding has been thoroughly done, and although 
the exterior remains unchanged, that is all that is left 
of the old Tremont Temple. 

THE KXW OBOAN. 

The new organ built by Messrs. E. & G. G. Hook k 
Hastings was privately exhibited last night before a 
large audience, in whicn the musical profusion of Bos- 
ton was largely represented. The organ is Uie fourth 
which the firm have built for the Temple, the two 
large ones which preceded it in 1846 and 1863 having 
been burned in 1852 and 1879 respectively. In the 
matter of size it is exceeded by several in this city. 
But so far as artistic completeness is concerned, regard 
being had for the avowed purpose of the buUders— 
the production of ad organ for concert use — and in 
thoroughness of construction, it is outranked bv none. 
From uie schedule which we print below it will V>e seen 
that brilliancy is the main feature of the instrument. 
In this respect it bears a strong resemblance to the 
most famous French organs, and it will be found 
especially adapted for the performance of transcrip- 
tions of orchestral compositions. The full Ust of regils- 
ters is as follows: — 

OBOAir. 

a| ft. Twelfth. metaL 

2 " Fifteenth, metal. 

4 " Rks. mixture, metal. 

4 ** Bks. acuta, metaL 

16 " Trumpet, metal. 

8 " Trumpet, metal. 

4 " OlariOD, metal. 



OBKAT 

16 ft. Open diapsson, metal. 

g 4« <( •« U 

8 " Viola degamba, metal. 

8 " Doppelflote, wood. 

8 " Qemshom, metaL 

01 « Quint, metal. 

4 " Octave, metaL 

4 " Flute harmoniqne, 
metal. 



16 ft. 


8 




8 




8 




8 




4 




4 




4 




2 





SWXLL 

Bourdon, wood. 
Open diapason, metal. 
Salicional, metal. 
8td. diapason, wood. 
Quintadena, metal. 
Flauto traverao, wood. 
Violina, metal. 
Octave, metaL 
FlautlDO, metal. 



ORG Air. 

4ft. Rks.dolce eornet, 

metal. 
16 " Contra fsgoUo, metal. 
8 " Cornopean, metal. 
8 " Oboe (with bsssoon), 

metal. 
8 " Vox Humana. metaL 
4 *< Clarion, metal. 



CHOIR OROAV. 

16 ft. Lieblioh Gedackt, 8 ft. Melodia. wood. 

wood.t 4 " Flute d'Amoor, wood 

8 " English <men dli^ia- and metal. 

son, metal. 4 " Fugara, metal, 

8 " Qeigen principal, 2 ** Plcoolo, metal. 

metal. 8 " Clarinet, metal. 

8 " Dulolana, metal. 8 " Vox angelica, metal. 
8 " Std. diapason, wood. 

SOU) OROAir. 

8 ft. Stentorphone, metal. 8 ft. Tuba Mirabllis, metal. 

PKDAI. ORQAir. 

16 ft. Open diapason, wood. 8 ft. Octave, wood. 

16 " Dolciana, metal. 16 '* Trombone, wood. 

16 " Violone, wood. 8 '* Tnmipet, metal. 

lOf" Qnlntfloie. wood. 82 " Bourdon, wood. 
8 " Violoncello, metal. 

There are fourteen couplers and other mechanical 
registers, and ten pedal movements and oombinaUons, 
including a *' grand crescendo" by means of which 
the whole organ may be brought on from the softest 
stop, and diminished at the wiU of the player. All tiie 
newest discoveries and inventions in tne art of organ- 
buUding, including a water-engine for keeping the 
organ supplied with wind, have Men made use ol The 
scale of tne pedal organ is from C-1 to £-o, thirty notes, 
and pf each of the manuals from C-o to C-4, sixty-one 
notes. Summing up its resources we find that there 
are 52 registers (brides the mechanical movements), 
which embrace 3442 pipes. Only those organists who 
have been permitted to play on the Instrument can 
speak **by the card" of its action, but from one of 
toem, at least, and a hiffh authority, we have the most 
enthusiastic praise for Its quick response. As for ita 
sound, we can safely say that it gave ereat satisfaction 
to those who take most delight in brilliancy. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

MiLWAUKBB, Wis., Oct. 10. — I have neglected this 
correspondence a long time, and hereby apologise, 
offering as an excuse nothing better than summer 
lazinees, and a dearth of important mnsical events. I 



176 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1081. 



ought to qualify this latter statement, however, for I 
might have giten yon an account of Bir. W. S. B. 
Mathews's summer Normal at Evanston, where I had 
the honor of being a teacher. The full corps of teach- 
ers was as fellows: 

W. 8. B. Mathewi, Principal, — Lecturer on the Art of 
Teaching, and Musical History; Teacher of the Piano- 
forte and Musical Interpretation. 

Wm. B. Qiamberlain, A. M., Yoice-Bullding, Singing, Elo- 
cution, Chorus Directing, and Song Recitals. 

John C. Fillmore A. M., the Pianoforte, Harmony, and 
Counterpoint. 

Calvin B. Cady, the Organ, Pianoforte, Harmony, and the 
Art of Teaching. 

Miss Lydia S. Harris, Pianoforte Recitals, and Teaching. 

Mrs. Julia £. Hanford, Voice-Building and Singing. 

Miss Mary H. How (Contralto), Song Recitals and Solo 
Singing. 

Wm. H. Sherwood (Virtuoso Pianist) in five Recitals — 
Aug. 12-17th. 

The pupils of the school were not numerous, but 
their intelligence and their eagerness to learn made the 
work of teaching delightful. Then, whoever works 
with Mr. Mathews finds himself stimulated to his 
highest activity, and the best in him drawn out, so 
that the result of the whole was a musical and intel- 
lectual atmosphere such as I have not often found in 
this country. Mr. Sherwood (finally assisted by Mrs. 
Sherwood) gave us five noble programmes in a thor- 
oughly admirable way, and the song recitals of Miss 
How and Mr. Chamberlain were also very valuable. 

As for music here: W'e have a new violinist in Mr. 
Gustav Bach, son of our local orchestra conductor, 
Mr. Christopher Bach. This young man has just re- 
turned from three years study in Leipzig, and has 
given a concert in which he played the difiicnlt Lipin- 
ski concerto, and two smaller pieces of his own com- 
position, and made a most favorable impression both 
as executant^ Interpretative artist and composer. He 
was creditably assisted by his father's orchestra, and 
by local soloists. 

The Heine Qliartet announces a series of six recitals 
of chamber-music. 

The Arion Club announces no concerts, but may give 
one or two by and by. They are now working pri- 
vately, and I hear that Mr. Tomlins is training them 
vigorously. 

The Musical Society has issued the following pro- 
gramme of its'thirtieth season: 

First Concert, Friday, Oct. 22. 

Symphony by Joachim Raff, " Im Walde *' (In the 
Forest), first time. 
JScenes from the " Golden Legend.*' 
Prime Composition by Dudley Buck, for Soil, Chorus 
and Orchestra. 
First Soiree, Tuesdav, Dec. 7. 
Second Concert, Friday, Jan. 28, 1881. 

" Odysseas, for Soli, Chorus and Orchestra, by Max 
Bruch. 
Second Soiriie, Tuesday, March 16. 
Third Concert, Friday, April 22. 

" Elijah," Oratorio by A^endelssohn, for Soli; Chorus 
and Orchestra. 

The mixed chorus is composed of 120 members; the 
Grand Orchestra will number 60 performers. 

Members have free admission to the general re- 
hearsals. J. c. F. 



Crioago, Oct. 15. — Since my last note to tlie Jour- 
ncUy there has been some controversy going on in the 
Chicago Tribune f in regard to the merits of Mr. Bos- 
covitz as an interpreter of Chopin's music. There 
was considerable doubt expressed, by one writer, that 
Mr. Boscovitz was in reality a pupil of that master. 
This brought a reply from another writer, that Mr. 
Boscovitz took lessons of Chopin during the last year 
of the composer's life; Mr. Boscovitz being at that 
time eleven years of age. To a person outside of the 
musical circle these little controversies would seem 
very trifling. But they arise from the Lict that musi- 
cians have allowed themselves to be badly managed, or 
that they follow false advice. To have a pianist adver- 
tise himself as a pupil of Liszt and Chopin, and to 
depend upon that statement to advance his claims to 
public attention, is a mistaken notion. We have 4iad 
too many examples of people hiding in the shadow of 
another's greatness, and expecting to gain a reputa- 
tion thereby. It matters very little to a public who 
the instructors of a musician may have been. The 
question they are interested in, is, what is the man 
himself; what are his talents and accomplishments? 
And by these alon%wiIl he rise or fall in the public's 
estimation. We have had a number of pianists who 
claim Liszt for a teacher, and I have never discovered 
that this fact made any difference in the estimation 
that the musical people made of them. A true artist 
will seek nothing but personal recognition, and this 
will come from the manifestation of his own powers. 
It is possible that eren a pupil of Liazt might play 



badly, and that a pianist who had been under the di- 
rection of Chopin might be mistaken in his interpreta- 
tion of the great master's musical thoughts. It is far 
better, in these days, to stand or fall by one's own 
ability, than to gain notoriety by living in the shadow 
of another's fame. I have often thought, that in the 
art-world many musicians bring upon themselves the 
censure of the thinking people, simply by indulging in 
controversies of which there is not the slightest need. 
When a pianist appears in public we have nothing to 
do with his teachers, but we draw our estimation of 
him from his own performance. If he be a Rubin- 
stein our admiration is unbounded, and if he is even a 
pianist of fair skill, we give him a measure of our 
praise, but he must be content to stand by himself, for 
thus alone will the world judge him. 

The Liesegang-Heimeudahl String Quartet opened 
their season with a concert on Tuesday evening of this 
week. They phiyed Mozart's quartet in E-flat, and 
the quintet of Schubert in C-major. Mr. Charles Knorr 
sang an air from the Joseph of Mehul. The playing 
of this club is very enjoyable, being marked by sym- 
pathy and correctness of balance. Quartet playing is 
ver}' enjoyable when each musician Lb deeply in sym- 
pathy with the work to be performed, and plays with 
finish and a proi)er sense of feeling. Each player must 
be one part of a whole, and aim at a completeness of 
performance, which forbids anything like self being 
made a prominent element. Each instrument is made 
subordinate to the other, until they all agree in one 
purpose, — that of a perfect whole. Thus is it possible 
for the work to be rightly performed. In every musi- 
cal composition of any real merit, there is an art- 
principle which connects every part into one perfect 
whole. It is in realizing this central idea, and making 
it understood by the listeners, that the power of the 
real musician is made manifest. To magnify one mel- 
ody, or to intensify one part of the work, at the ex- 
pense of the other portions, may indeed call the atten- 
tion of an audience to one beauty, but it disfigures the 
art-form, which is intended to give tlie content and 
meaning of the composition when taken as a whole. A 
composition may hUve beautiful moments, but it must 
form also a beautiful whole, to be considered a com- 
plete work. Our little organization is beginning to 
realize the need of proper interpretations, and each 
member is sinking the idea of self, and is thus per- 
fecting the quartet. They deserve praise for their true 
effort in behalf of correct quartet playing. 

A pleasant concert was given last evening in Fair- 
banks Hall, which presented a varied programme, al- 
though mainly devoted to pianoforte music. Mrs. B. F. 
Haddoch, Misses Morton, Dutton, Mrs. Smith, Messrs. 
Clark, Boscovitz, Shafer and Baird, taking part The 
programme contained some good music, and taken as a 
whole proved attractive. Mr. Emil Llebllng will shortly 
give the first of a series of pianoforte concerts. He 
will produce some of the modem works for the piano- 
forte and string instruments. The Apollo Club are re- 
hearsing Rubinstein's "Tower of Babel," which wUl 
be performed at their first concert. It is a mighty 
work, and will require great endurance and skill on 
the part of the choruses, when a full performance is 
given. — But my letter lengthens. c. h. b. 



LOCAL ITEMS. 

Boston. Mr. John A. Preston gave the first of three 
Recitals on the new Tremont Temple organ, last 
Wednesday noon. His selections were interesting: 1. 
The great G^minor Fantaisie and Fugue of Bach, which, 
though otherwise well played, he took at a fast tempo 
better suited to the piano, making the lower voices in the 
harmony not quite distinct. 2. Mendelssohn's Sonata 
in F-rainor, beautifully rendered with fine combina- 
tions and contrasts of stops. 3. A very characteristic 
Rliapsodie in A-minor, by Saint-Saens, new here, iias- 
toral, romantic, quaint. 4. Chorus from Handel's 
Judas Maccabteus. — In the second recital, to-day 
noon, he will be assisted by Mr. George Chad wick, in 
a Fantasia for four hands, by Adolph Hesse. Last re- 
cital Wednesday next. 

The Handel and Haydn Society's programme 

for the coming season, as far as made up, is as follows: 
Sunday, Dec. 26, *'The Messiah," with Mr. W. C. 
Tower and Mr. Oeorge Henschel, as soloists; Jan. 30. 
Mozart's " Requiem Mass " and Beetlioven's " Mount 
of Olives;" Good Friday, (April 15), Bach's "Passion 
Music," with Mr. W. J. Winch, Mr. J. F. Winch, and 
Mr. Henschel; Easter Sunday (April 18), an oratorio 
not yet decided upon. All of these concerts Will take 
pLace in Miuiic Hall. 

The first concert of the Philliarmonic Orchestra 

will be given Nov. 6, Mr. Franz Rummel appearing 
as piano soloist. There will be five conceits. See cli^ 
culan at Music Hall, etc 



The full programme of the first Harvard Sym- 
phony concert (Nov. 18), is as follows: Overture to 
"The Water-carrier," Cherubini; Aria (first time) 
from HandeVs opera " Alessandro," Miss Lilliak 
Bailet; Seventh Symphony, Beethoven; three old 
Scotch and Irish songs, arranged by Beethoven^ with 
piano, violin and 'cello accompaniment. Miss Bails y; 
Overture to "Julius Caesar" (first time), Schumann. 

Second concert (Dec. 2) : short Symphony in C, (first 
time here), Haydn; Piano Concerto, No. 2, in A, Liszt, 
Mr. Max FnrsKR, of New York; short Symphony in 
A-minor, No. 2, first time) Saint-Sains; piano solos; 
overture to Egmont. The third concert (Dec. 16), will 
contain (second time) Prof. J. K. Paige's " Spring " 
Symphony ; Violin Concerto, Max Bruc?i, played by Mr. 
T. Adamowsky; two Bhort overtures to "Alceste," 
Gltick (first time), and to TitOy Mozart; and probably 
a vocal Aria. 

Subscription lists for the eight concerts will remain 
open at the Music Hall and principal music stores until 
Nov. 8. 

Bladame Capplani has returned from her visit 

to the West, where she was cordially received, and 
where the demands upon her professional services 
occupied nearly all her time. She will divide her resi- 
dence this winter between Boston and New York, hav- 
ing taken rooms in the latter city, at 351 Fifth Avenue, 
where she will receive her pupils on Monday, Tuesday 
and Wednesday each week; meeting her pupils here 
on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. — Oaz. 

Signer V. Cirillo, by the advice of his physicians, 

will spend the coming winter in Italy, where he will 
visit and thoroughly inspect the great schools of sing- 
ing, and inform himself upon every new feature intro- 
duced into their courses of instruction within the last 
eight years. 

Sig. Yanini, also, has been forced to return to Italy 
for health. 

CAMBRmoB. —The Harvard students having decided 
to rival the success of the Oxford students in produc- 
ing a Greek play, looked about for some one who would 
undertake the leading part and finally found an excel- 
lent man in Mr. Riddle, who has undertaken to learn 
seven hundred lines of Sophocles's "CEdlpns Tyran- 
nus" before next ICay. The remaining characters 
will be taken by students. Though the work has bat 
just started, it has received more than the necessary 
impetus by the intense interest already felt by pro- 
fessors and students. Professors White and Goodwin 
are to drill the actors in pronunciation; Professor 
Charles Eliot Norton will plan the costumes, with refer- 
ence, of course, to strict historical accuracy : the one 
scene is to be designed and sui)erintended by a promi- 
nent architect, and George Osgood will lead the chorus. 
Sanders Theatre is admirably adapted to a Greek 
play, and, if the plans are brought as near historical 
and dramatic perfection as they already promise, the 
production of "CEdipusTyrannus" will be an epoch 
in the history of classics at Harvard— JV^. Y. Tribune. 

Mendelssohn composed no music to the (Ediput 
TyrannuSf and Prof. Paine has been invited to try hia 
hand at it. 

CixciMNATL The directors of the College of Mnsic, 
anxious to utilize their immense hall in every worthy 
way, now come forward with the announcement of a 
grand Opera Musical Festival, to be given by the Col- 
lege, with Col. J. H. Mapleson, during six days in 
February next, and "on a scale of magnificence unpar- 
alleled in this country or in Europe." The mnsical 
directors will be Sig. Arditi, Otto Singer, Biax Haretr 
zek, and cbucertmeister S. E. Jacobsohn. Orchestra of 
100 musicians; mass chorus from Cincinnati, of 300 
voices ; great organ ; " largest and most complete stage 
in the world;'' and a long army of distinguished solo 
singers, including Mme. Grerster, Mile. Yalleria, Mile. 
Belocca, Miss Annie Gary, Sigs. Ravelli (first appear- 
ance), Campaniui and other tenors; Sig. Del Pnente, 
Gralassi, Monti, etc., etc. The repertoire includes Lo- 
henyriny Moses in Egypt, (Rossini), FideliOy Boito's 
Mefistofele, and the Mauic FluU. It is called "The 
People's Opera," and the prices are put within the 
reach of the masses. We trust the best hopes will be 
realized, and that the interests of good music will be 
promoted by this novel festival. 



Frankfort-on-ths-Mainb. The new Stadttbeater 
was opened on the 18th October, in presence of the 
Emperor Wilhelm, with a Festspiel, written expressly 
for the occasion. The opera was Don Juan. The 
dramatic season will be inaugurated by a performance 
of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell, got up on a scale of appro- 
priate magnificence. The 18th of October was selected 
for the opening, because it Is the anniversary of the 
battle of Leipzig and the birthday of the Ciown Fxinoe. 



November 6, 1880.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



177 



BOSTON, NOVEMBER 6, i88o. 

Entered at the Post Oi&oe at Boston as second-claai matter. 



All the artieUi not credited to other publicaHont Ufere ex- 
pressly written for thU JoumcU. 



Fublished fortnightly by HovOBTOir, Mifflik St Co., 
Baton, Mass, Price, lo cents a number; $2.30 per year. 

For sale in Boston by Gabl Prukfer, jo West Street, A. 
Williams ft Co., tSs Washington Street, A. K. Lorixo, 
jtQ Washington Street, and by the Publishers; in New York 
by A. Brent Axo, Jr., s9 Union Square, and Houohton, 
Mifflin ft Co., n Aster Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boner ft Co., iioi Chtstnut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, J12 State Street. 

SCHUMANN ON STRINGED QUARTETS 

(1888).! 

FIRST QUARTET MORNING. 
Qaartets by J. Verhalst, L. Spohr, and L. Fuohs. 

** We have had the Schuppanzigh, we have 
the David quartet, why should we not also 
have " — thought I to myself, and then con- 
jured up a four-leaved clover. Then, address- 
ing these, said I, *^ It is not long since Haydn, 
Mozart, and another lived and wrote quar- 
tets ; have such fathers left unworthy descend- 
ants hehind, who have learned nothing from 
them? May we not investigate, and some- 
where perhaps discover a new genius in the 
bud, and needing only the touch of encourage- 
ment to bloom ? In a few words, respected 
friends, the instruments are ready, and there 
are many novelties, some of which we may 
play in our first matinee.'' And, like experi- 
enced musicians, without much ado they were 
soon seated at their desks. I shall gladly 
give a report of such works as occupied our 
morning, if not in critical lapidary style, at 
least in the easy manner suitable, yet firmly 
holding to first impressions,' such as they 
made on me and on the players ; for I rate 
the impulsively outspoken execration of musi- 
cians higher than whole systems of aesthetics. 

Nothing ought to be said of the quartet by 
Verhulst, as it was yet warm from the work- 
shop, still in manuscript, and its composer's 
first quartet. But as th,e future will certainly 
offer us many delightful things by this young 
artist, as his name is certain to reach final 
publicity, he may be introduced as a musician 
of fame, whose Dutch nationality makes him 
doubly interesting. We have lately seen 
young talent of all sorts of nationalities aris- 
ing among us : Glinka of Russia, Chopin of Po- 
land, Bennett of England, Berlioz of France, 
Liszt of Hungary, Hansens of Belgium; in 
Italy every spring brings forth some, whom 
the winter destroys ; finally, we have one from 
Holland, a country that has already given us 
many good painters. 

The quartet of our Hollander betrays noth- 
ing of the phlegm with which his countrymen 
are reproached, but, on the contrary, a lively 
musical disposition, that has certainly found 
some trouble in restraining itself within the 
bounds of so diflicult a musical form. It was 
promising to find that precisely that move- 
ment in which the existence of genuine music 
best expresses itself — I mean the adagio — 
was the most successful of the quartet. On 
such a path the young artbt will attain 
strength and facility; an instinct of order 

> From Mutic and Mueicians, Esea/ys and Criticieme, 
tar Robert Schumann. Translated, edited, annotated by 
Fanny Raymond Rittrr. Seoond Series. (New York, 
Edward Sehubenh ft Go. London, Wm. Beeves. 1880.) 



and correctness secures him from great errors, 
and it need only be his care to attain more 
fulness, elevation, and refinement of thought, 
though this is certainly more the affair of 
intellect than of will. 

Our quartettists then played a new one 
(Opus 97) by Spohr, in, which the well-known 
master greeted us from the very first measure. 
We soon perceived that a brilliant display of 
the first violin was more the object here than 
an artistic interweaving of the four parts. 
Nothing can be said against this manner of 
quartet writing, which makes great demands on 
a composer, when it is done openly and natu- 
rally. Forms, changes, modulations, melodic 
entrances, all were in the well-known Spohr 
manner, and it seemed as if the quartettists 
were discoursing in the work of a very well- 
known subject. A' scherzo — not exactly this 
master's strong point — is wanting, but the 
whole possesses a contemplative didactic char- 
acter. In the rondo we are attracted by a 
very pretty theme, which, however, needs a 
second more marked one as a pendant. The 
following remark was suggested to me by a com- 
plaint of one of the quartet players. Young 
artists, who always desire something novel, 
and, if possible, eccentric, esteem too lightly 
the easily-conceived and perfected works of 
finished masters, and are greatly mistaken in 
supposing that they could accomplish the same 
thing equally well. The difference between 
master and scholar can never be overcome. 
The hastily thrown off pianoforte sonatas of 
Beethoven, and still more those of Mozart, 
are equal proofs in their heavenly ease of these 
masters' pre-eminence, as are their deeper 
manifestations ; finished mastery plays loosely 
about the lines drawn from the beginning of 
the work, while younger, more uncultivated 
talent, whenever it leaves the foot-hold of 
custom, strains ever tighter at the yoke until 
misfortune is the result. To apply this re- 
mark to Spohr's quartet: If we forget the 
composer's name and his famous achieve- 
ments, we still find a masterly form, in- 
vention, and mode of writing as far removed 
as heaven itself from that of the scribbler or 
student. The advantage of the superiority 
won by means of study and industry is, that 
it remains ductile even to advanced age, while 
superficial talent loses facility through neglect 

A quartet (Opus 10) by L. Fuchs, published 
about a year ago, was highly interesting to 
us all. The composer lives in Petersburg, 
where he cultivates our noble art in small 
circles, generally esteemed as a teacher of 
composition, of which he proves himself now 
to be practically a master. The quartet is 
not too involved to be comprehended, at a 
first hearing, in its heights and depths, when 
one holds the score in one's hand, as we did ; 
and even without this latter assistance, its 
originality in form and contents is striking. 
One thinks oftenest of Onslow as the com- 
poser's model; and yet he gives proof of 
having studied the remote art of Bach, as 
well as the more recent manner of Beethoven. 
This is, in contradistinction to that by Spohr, 
which we have just described,^ a true quartet, 
in which each part has something to say ; and 
often really fine, often oddly and uiiclearly 



interwoven conversation between four men, 
during which the spipning out of the threads 
is as attractive as in model works of the most 
recent period. We do not often find the 
concentration and reserve of Beethovenian 
thought — in this the quartet is a little behind- 
hand ; but it is generally interesting through- 
.out for its rare earnestness and polished force 
of style, if we except a few insipid measures. 
Its form seems to us a good one, and is especi- 
ally piquant in the jig and the last movement. 
The jig does not properly belong to this 
quartet ; I am certain of it, for the manuscript 
contains quite a different scherzo, one more 
suitable to the other movements, but less inter- 
esting than this ; yet from its alteration it 
happens unfortunately that the jig is in B-flat 
major, while the following (last) movement is 
in C-minor; a succession of keys which I 
cannot endorse in a form that draws much 
beauty from the quality of severity. In the 
andante, the new Russian popular song (by 
Lwoff) is introduced and varied, after the 
manner of a well-known Haydn quartet. 
Such foreign ideas rarely fall in with one's 
own flow of thought, and I, in this case, 
should have preferred to offer a work all my 
own, rather than one in which strict criticism 
cannot even recognize the attraction of patriot- 
ism. However, we trust this esteemed artist 
may really possess, as we hear he does, a store 
of quartets, wholly his own, ready for publi- 
cation and for the gratification of the friends 
of genuine quartet music. 

SECOND QUARTET MORNING. 
Quartets by C. Drckkr, C. O. RRisaiasR, and L. Chxru- 

BINI. 

If I compare together the faces of many 
trembling musicians ascending the Grewand- 
haus staircase, on the way to perform -some 
solo or other, with those of our quartettists, 
then the latter appear to me far more enviable. 
They form their own public, and need not 
feel any anxiety whatever; nor does the 
appearance of a listening child at the window, 
or the interruption of some nightingale out- 
side, cause them any disturbance. And so 
they prepared, with the usual enthusiasm, to 
plunge into a newly-arrived quartet from 
Berlin (Opus 14),of Herr C. Decker, and found 
it just the thing for such an enthusiastic 
mood ; that is to say, of a very cooling nature. 
What can be said of a work that certainly 
displays preference for noble models, and 
striving towards an ideal, but that yet pro- 
duces so little effect, that we envy the talent 
of Strauss, who shakes melodies out of his 
sleeves and gold into his pockets ? Shall we 
blame? Shall we mortify a composer who 
has done all that is possible to him? Shall 
we praise, where we feel that we have not 
experienced any real pleasure ? Shall we dis- 
suade the author from further composition ? 
That would be of no advantage to him. 
Shall we advise him to write more ? He b 
not rich enough to do so, and would drive the 
business in a mechanical manner. So we 
prefer to bear witness to the artistic zeal of 
those who compose without the inspiration of 
genius, and at the same time advise them to 
write on industriously, but with the prayer 
that they will not, therefore, publish every- 



178 



DWIGBT'8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1082. 



thing. Even the errors of great talent, from 
which we can learn and reap advantage, be- 
long to the world; but mere studies, first 
attempts, should be kept within one's own 
four walls. I term the quartet of this com- 
poser, studies in quartet style. He succeeds 
in many ways; he perceives correctly the 
style and character of music in four parts; 
but the whole is dry, bony, wanting in swing, 
in life. The good and well-designed begin- 
ning of the quartet awakens hope, but there 
it stops ; the second theme appears poor, and 
.sticks fast. The working out in the middle 
movement, with the inversion of the theme, 
is not devoid of merit, though we perc^ve 
that it has been done laboriously; but the 
return to the original key is easily and hap- 
pily done, and the close of the first move- 
ment is praiseworthy. But.we have to search 
for all . that is good in it. The adagio has 
the same dryness ; . on the other hand, we 
meet with more vital elements in the scherzo, 
some very pretty groupings and reflections, 
amid which the trio stands out very well, 
especially on its repetition. The finale has 
the same faults and good qualities which we 
have remarked in the first movements, with 
the apparently increased life which a quicker 
tempo brings with it, and some good points, 
but nothing that touches more deeply or gives 
more pleasure. Good will and intelligence 
have the pre-eminence here ; the heart is left 
empty. But we cannot deny him the con- 
sideration which ^yerj young composer de- 
serves when he makes an attempt in one of 
the most difficult styles ; so wendvise him to 
write on courageously, but first, if possible, 
to spend a year in fair Italy or elsewhere, in 
order to nourish his imagination with gay 
pictures, and to bring forth fruit and flowers 
at some future time in place of the leaves 
and branches of to-day. 

And then we came to something new in 
musical literature, a quartet by chapel-master 
Reis8iger,the first he has published (Opus 111). 
It pleases one beforehand to find a composer, 
whom we had supposed perfect in certain 
forms, trying his hand at something different 
and more difficult. No man works with 
greater freshness than when he commences at 
a new style. On the other hand, every new 
attempt in a yet unfamiliar form presents its 
difficulties even when undertaken by a master- 
hand. Thus we see Cherubini shipwrecked 
on the symphony, while even Beethoven — 
as we learn from Dr. Wegeler's recent infor- 
mation — must have often made the attempt 
at his first quartets, since a trio was the 
result of one, and another became a quintet. 
So many points in this first quartet by Reis- 
siger, such as the. frequent quaver accompani- 
ment in the second violin and viola, certain 
orchestral syncopations, etc, betray the prac- 
tised vocal and pianoforte composer ; but his 
good qualities are also lavishly displayed; 
we find rounded form, lively rhythms, eupho- 
nious melodies, though certainly interspersed 
with familiar things that remind us of Spohr 
(the commencement), Onslow (the trio of the 
scherzo), Beethoven (the passage in £-major 
in the first half of the first movement), Mo- 
zart (the C-sharp minor passage in the adagio), 



and many others. I cannot allow great orig- 
inal value to the quartet, or predict for it a 
very long life ; it is a quartet for good amar 
teurs, who will have enough to do in it, 
though the artist will be able to read a page 
through at a glance ; a quartet to be listened 
to openly by clear candle-light among fair 
women, though Beethovenians may close their 
doors to luxuriate over his every single meas- 
ure. To speak of separate movements, I 
give the preference to the scherzo, especially 
bars fi\^ to eight in the trio ; and next to this 
the first. movement, if it only possessed a less 
commonplace form and a less insipid close. 
The adagio seems to me too flat for its breadth. 
The rondo is ordinary throughout; just so 
might Auber compose a quartet 

We closed with the first of the already 
long-published quartets by Cherubini (No. 1 
in £-flat major), regarding which a difference 
of opinion has arisen even among good musi- 
cians. The question is not as to whether 
these works proceed from a master of art 
— about this there can be no doubt — but 
whether they are to be recognized as models 
of the genuine quartet style. We have grown 
accustomed to three famous Grerman masters 
as models in this branch, while, with just 
recognition, Onslow, and then Mendelssohn, 
have been admitted to the circle of followers 
in the path of the three first. And now 
comes Cherubini, an artist who has grown 
gray in his own views, and in the highest 
aristocracy of art, the best harmonist yet 
among his contemporaries in spite of his age ; 
the learned, refined, interesting Italian, whom 
I have often compared to Dante, on account 
of his firm exclusiveness and strength of 
character. I must confess, however, that 
even I experienced an unpleasant impression 
on hearing this quartet for the first time, 
especially after the first two movements. It 
was not what I expected ; many things seemed 
to me operatic, overladen, while others ap- 
peared small, empty, and opinionated. It 
may have Ibeen the result of that youthful 
impatience in me which did not at once dis- 
cern the significance of the graybeard's often 
wonderful discourse, for in many ways I 
otherwise traced the nuwter commander to his 
finger tips. But then came the scherzo, with 
its enthusiastic Spanish theme, the uncommon 
trio, and lastly the finale, that sparkles like a 
diamond whichever way it is turned, and there 
could be no doubt as to who had written the 
quartet, and whether it was worthy of its 
master. . Many will feel like me; we must 
first become acquainted with the peculiar 
spirit of this, his quartet style; this is not 
the well-known mother tongue with which we 
are so familiar; a polite foreigner speaks to 
us ; but the more we learn to understand him, 
the more highly we must respect him. These 
remarks, which give but a slight idea of the 
originality of this work, must suffice to call 
the attention of German quartet circles to it. 
For performance it needs much — it needs 
artbts. In an attack of editor's arrogance I 
wished for Baillot (whom Cherubini seems 
to have had in hb mind) as first violin, Lipin- 
ski as second, Mendelssohn at the viola (his 
principal instrument, with the exception of 



the organ and pianoforte), and Max Bohrer 
or Fritz Eummer at the violoncello. But I 
heartily thanked my own quartettbts, who, at 
parting, promised to return soon, and to make 
me, as well as themselves, acquainted with 
the other quartets by Cherubini — regarding 
which new readers may expect new communi- 
cations. 

(To be coiitinaed.) 



ERNST FERDINAND WENZEL. 

Pfrom the Leipzig Signale. TraniUtion from the Boston 

KTeniug Tramcript.] 

Among the many thousands who during the 
last forty years or more have visited Leipzig or 
watched ^e course of musical events, there are 
surely not many who will not at one time or an- 
other have come across the name of Wenzel ; and 
no doubt all regretted to hear of the death of one, 
whose chief characteristics were his amiability, 
truth, fidelity, extraordinary perceptive powers, 
and vast experience. Hundreds of pupils of both 
sexes have passed under his guiding hand and at- 
tained proficiency by his untiring efforts through- 
out the last decennaries. Over one and all he 
exercised the same healthy and beneficent in- 
fluence, furthering and developing their talents, 
cultivating their several tastes, widening their 
mental horizons, and almost invariably inspiring 
them with a love and reverence which in individ- 
ual instances amounted to positive adoration. In 
truth, he deserved no less ! 

With Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, one of the last 
veterans of Leipzig's greatest mubical epoch, in 
which Mendelssohn and Schumann hel4 sway, 
has passed away. He was the oldest member of 
the Conservatorium faculty, with which he had 
been uninterruptedly connected ever since the 
foundation of the school in 1843, and performed 
his duties with a degree of conscientiousness and 
devotion seldom to be met with. To the last mo- 
ment he remained true to his art, his calling, and 
his beloved Leipzig, and with tliese he became so 
closely identified, that to have torn him out of an 
atmosphere so congenial to his mental and physi- 
cal existence, would have meant almost certain 
death. 

Wenzel was a living record of Leipzig's doings 
in matters musical ; and his extraordinary mem- 
ory, together with his exceptional powers of con- 
versation, never left him in the lurch when called 
upon for information about persons, works or 
facts of the classical past in which he spent his 
youth. 

As rarely as it happens, however, he kept 
steady pace with advancing times. He had the 
same lively interest for all noteworthy productions 
of the present, not alone in music, but in all the 
various branches of art and literature. His at- 
tainments and general culture were of a degree 
seldom to be met with in musicians, and over 
everything that he knew, or that excited his in- 
terest, he exercised an acute and sound judgment. 

It is to be lamented that his natural aversion 
to writing, which manifests itself even in the 
scarcity and brevity of his letters, should eyer 
have debarred him from literary activity. What 
little he did write was pre-eminent in point of 
style, elegance, acuteness, wit and matter, and 
considering how much good might have resulted 
from his vast knowledge and experience in the 
domains of criUcal and art-philosophical discus- 
sion, it is an endless pity that he could never at 
least put himself to the task of writing his me- 
moirs. There we might have had a treasure of 
personal impressions, clever judgments and an 
endless mass of little-known facts such as only a 
man with his keen observing powers and eventful 
past could have given us. 

Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel was born on the 2dd 



NOVSMBKR 6, 1880.] 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MmiC. 



179 



of January, 1808, at Waldorf, near Loban. Of 
his early years little is known. He was never 
heard to speak of his youth any more than he was 
known to talk of himself in general, a thing his 
extreme modesty (one of his few shortcomings) 
forbade. We may be certain, however, that he 
was poor ;*,s a boy. Later he attended the Leipzig 
University, where he studied philology. He was 
destined to become a scliool-master, but his musi- 
cal gifts soon manifested themselves and changed 
the course of his life. Enlisting as a pupil of 
Frederick Wieck, ho renounced his philological 
studies and devoted himself entirely to his music. 
This was about the year 1830, at the time when 
Wieck 's house was the social and artistic centre 
of Leipzig's musical life, when the precocious 
Clara Wieck excited the enthusiasm of the younger 
generation of musicians with her piano playing, 
when Robert Schumann emerged, and the '* David- 
ites " were called to life. 

With Schumann he soon became intimately ac- 
quainted, and remained his friend up to the time 
of the master's death. There must have been a 
number of valuable letters from Schumann in his 
possession, which it is to be hoped have not been 
lost. With the others of the Davidites, also, 
Wenzel was closely connected and actively en- 
gaged, and participated in the founding of the 
Neue Zeitst^rifl/iir Mwtikf to which in the first 
years of its existence he is known to have con- 
tributed a number of articles, the mode of signa- 
ture of which it has been impossible to ascertain, 
however. Whether Wenzel ever made any at- 
tempts at composition it is impossible to say. In 
any case his essays, it would seem, never came 
to any great issue. For his was not a productive 
nature, but rather receptive and reproductive. 
Under Wieck he became a very good piano play- 
er, his technique in .particular being fine and 
clear like that of most of Wieck*s pupils. But 
he soon preferred the more modest sphere of a 
teacher to that of a concert pianist, and hence- 
forth devoted himself exclusively to the instruc- 
tion of others. For a public player he had not 
the requisite amount of self-confidence, another 
thing his modesty stood in the way of attaining. 
Moreover, it is not improbable that his inter- 
course with Wieck and Schumann, and after- 
wards with Mendelssohn and Gade, somewhat 
demoralized him, in so far as their, examples soon 
taught him to see how useless any competition 
with such masters might prove. It is, therefore, 
not diificult to understand, taking into account 
his natural reticence, that he preferred to move 
in a lesser sphere than his exceptional capacities 
otherwise might have enabled him to exist in. 
Everything that he knew and felt, however, was 
imparted to his pupils, and proved an inestima- 
ble benefit to them. 

I have never known of a pianoforte teacher 
who worked assiduously and exercised so stim- 
ulating an influence over his pupils. The spirit 
of a composition and its ade(|uato rendering 
were to him most essential ; the purely me- 
chanical he cared less about. For this reason 
we find fewer " virtuosi " amongst his pupils, but 
instead the more thorough musicians. His ex- 
tensive literary knowledge he never ceased to 
convey to his pupils, nor tired of devising means 
of flliaping their judgments, or extending their 
mental horizons. Prejudice and one-sidedness 
were utterly alien to his nature. With every 
artist he never failed to discover what was char- 
acteristic of the man or his work, and was ever 
ready to acknowledge whatever noteworthy qual- 
ities a man possessed. For such reasons mainly 
it was that Schumann induced Mendelssohn, at 
the time the Conservatorium was founded, in 
1848, to appoint Wenzel, together with Plaidy 
(who was more of a technician than an aesthetically 
cultivated musician), as a teacher of the piano- 



forte. From this time henceforth Wenzel devoted 
his time and energies exclusively to that- model of 
music schools, the Leipzig Conservatorium, which 
soon attained a celebrity that has continued to the 
present day. His unswerving efforts in behalf 
of the school, its ends and its aims, were as re- 
markable as his sense of duty and perseverance, 
and it can hardly be said of him that he ever 
missed a lesson or appointment of any kind. He 
entertained a high opinion of the Conservatory 
as a school, although in matters of administra- 
tion he often found it advisable to submit to tl\e 
views of the directors, when his own convinced 
him (juite to the contrary. For he was of a more 
progressive and liberal turn of mind than is com- 
patible at times with the purposes of a school. 
Within' the limits of the Conservatorium he 
worked incessantly, yet he always managed to 
find time for private tuition, to which he devoted 
himself with no less energ}*. 

Wenzel was never known to be ill. Simplicity 
was the rule in his mode of life, and of an even- 
ing, after a day's hard and continuous labor and 
activity, he was ever the most amiable and incit- 
ing companion, a friend much sought after from 
many quarters where he was wont to teach, 
and well known to all artists visiting Leipzig. 
He never left his favorite haunt except in times 
of vacation. Then he would resort to the moun- 
tains, to Switzerland, the Tyrol, etc. ; never to 
large cities, but always to nature itself, which he 
was passionately fond of and knew thoroughly. 

Last week he became suddenly ill, which with 
him meant the beginning of the end. The weight 
of years asserted itself, which his otherwise 
healthy and robust nature could no longer with- 
stand. By order of his physicians he was sent 
to the baths at Kosen — to return no more alive. 
After a few months trial of the baths he already 
imagined himself sufficiently recovered to express 
hopes of soon returning to his home and resum- 
ing his lessons at the Conservatorium for the 
winter term. But his cherished hopes were 
suddenly .frustrated on the 16 th of August, when 
a stroke of paralysis cut off his life on the very 
day the summer vacation of the Conservatorium 
began, thus sparing him the misery of prolonged 
sufferings. 

The news of his death was a blow to die whole 
of Leipzig. It became more evident than ever 
how numerous were his friends and admirers. 
Enemies it may hardly be said he ever had! 
No one could possibly have lived a more unosten- 
tatious or unselfish life. Never putting himself 
in the way of any one, he never pushed himself 
into the foreground. All demonstrations of allegi- 
ance he steadily rejected. Honors and distinc* 
tions he never sought, and therefore had few 
conferred upon him, living as he did in a tii^ie of 
competition and puffery such as ours, in which a 
nature like his is but sehlom rightly understood. 
But his name will continue to live in the musical 
history of Leipzig ; he will always be remembered 
in the hearts of his pupils and friends, and in the 
annals of the Leipzig Conservatorium he is as- 
sured a place of honor for all time to come. 

His remains were brought from Kosen to Leip- 
zig and here interred with appropriate solemnity. 
A long and brilliant array of artists, music lovers 
and pupils of both sexes followed him to his last 
resting-place. At his grave, the deacon, Dr. 
Feschek, a countryman of Wenzel's, spoke with 
much feeling and fervency, choosing as his text, 
'* This disciple shall not die," from the gospel of 
St. John — a saying significant at once for the 
reverence implied for the departed one, and the 
consolation contained in it for those left to mourn 
his loss (his only brother was present among thel 
mourners). The ceremony opened and closed 
with vocal selections sung by a choir composed of 
pupils from the Conservatorium. Amongst the 



many floral tributes which accompanied the body 
to the grave was a' laurel wreath which a former 
pupil from Munich had sent. It was well be- 
stowed, and probably was the first ever con- 
ferred upon him. Crowns had been more accord- 
ing to his deserts, so long as he lived ; but these 
he would never have accepted. Sacred be his 

memory ! 

♦ 

PROFESSOR MACFARREN ON MUSIC. 

Professor Macfarren, the principal of the 
Royal Academy of Music, on Saturday addressed 
the students at the Academy in Tenterden Street, 
Hanover Square, on the inauguration of the new 
academic year. There was a numerous atten- 
dance, among those present being Professors 
Walter Macfarren, Brinley Richards, W. Shakes- 
peare, H. C. Banister, A. H. Jackson, F. R. Cox, 
£. Fiori, S. Holland, E. R. Eyers, E. Faning, 
W. H. Holmes, F. B. Jewson, A. O'Leary, H. 
Thomas, and Mr. John Gill, the secretary. Pro- 
fessor Macfarren said they had one common bond 
which bound them all in mutual interest, their 
de otion to music, which united them in such a 
manner as to make their connection and relation- 
ship for the life long. He dwelt on the responsi- 
bilities of the professors, and the manner in which 
they discharged them, observing that the pupils 
had not come there for a bald technical educa- 
tion. There was a higher function in the duties 
of the professors — the function of moral influence, 
which they exercised in a marked degree upon 
the pupils confided to their care. Referring to 
the sub-professors, he said the appointment was 
the highest honor that could be paid to a student, 
the committee selecting for it t^ose among the 
pupils who were most advanced and were best 
deserving, and thus giving to tliem the peculiar 
advantage of being taught to teach. The pro- 
fessors, howeyer, were responsible for the progress 
of the pupils who were placed under the sub-pro- 
fessors. He then asked those who were pupils 
to consider what their duties were in the Academy. 
They came not to study music as an amusement. 
It would degrade the wonderful subject which 
engrossed their life's attention to regard it for a 
moment as a pastime and recreation. If they 
entered into the pursuit of that study it must be 
the prime, he could almost say the sole, object of 
their attention, and other subjects which engage 
their thoughts should all bear upon that one 
chief consideration. To be a musician was, in 
itself, a great and glorious privilege. He re- 
garded it as a very high privilege to be entrusted 
by the committee of management with the office 
which he held, as it made him the medium of 
communication between all of them and the com- 
mittee, and gave him the hope of being the means 
of .cementing the friendsliip which he believed 
existed among all of them. Addressing them as 
musicians, he asked them to think for a moment 
what was the important calling of an artist. He 
reminded them of Schiller's beautiful apologue 
of the division of the earth, and of the complaint 
of the artist to Zeus that there was no portion of 
the world left for him. " Yes," said the King of 
the Gk)ds, ''you are not unregarded. I will say 
for you, the heart of man. Be that your study 
and your empire." All the arts were connected, 
and the reflection upon one another enhanced tlie 
beauty of each. In sculpture they saw the imita- 
tion of natural forms, and from that they took 
their word that art was the imitative power of 
reproducing nature. In painting they had form 
with color added ; in acting they had form, and 
color, and gesture ; in literature those three qual- 
ities were lost ; but in uttered speech they had 
the thoughts of the persons who were the subject 
of the work of art. It most be borne in mind, 
however, that Groldsmith said, and Talleyrand 
quoted, that speech was given to man, not only 



180 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1032. 



to express his thoughts, but to conceal them, 
while music had a higher function than the ex- 
pression or concealment of thoughts. Music 
uttered what was bevond tlie reach of words, and 
whereas speech might describe our feeling, music 
went beyond the description and produced the 
feeling itself. Architecture had been claimed as 
the fittest analogy to music, in that neither re- 
produced natural objects; but architecture was 
based on natural principles of geometry, perspec* 
tive, and proportions, and it had the power of 
conjuring in the thoughts of the beholder images 
of the mind apart from images of the building — 
feelings of reverence, or lightness, or respect, 
or gaiety. Music coujd awaken all those ideas, 
the highest sublimity, the lightest mirth, and it 
could present every shade of feeling between 
them. With the knowledge that they were study- 
ing that most intense, most delicate subject, they 
could not for a moment feel that there was any- 
thing trifling in the pursuit they were undertak- 
ing. After urging them to make the best use of 
the talents they possessed, he drew attentiot 
to the class for acoustics and the 0{)eratic class^ 
and observed that recent times had very much 
strengthened the general desire among musicians 
at large to obtain particular distinctions for their 
artistic qualifications. They now proceeded to 
Universities for degrees in very far larger num- 
bers than until recent years, and the Universities 
had made the standard of excellence to which 
the degrees testified very far higher than for- 
merly. In one University in particular, a knowl- 
edge of acoustics was imperative in every candi- 
date who obtained graduation. In the Academy 
every opportunity for musical study in every 
department wtis open to them. The class for 
acoustics was under the care of the present ex- 
aminer of the subject in Cambridge University. 
There seemed in the operatic department to be 
more appearance of amusement ; but if it was to be 
sought as an amusement only, the study of oper- 
atic music could only be degraded to triviality. 
Still, there was not the severe tax on the atten- 
tion in that particular branch of study that there 
was in the scientific subject to which he had just 
alluded — the subject which touched upon the 
grandest phenomena of nature, and which showed 
the source of music itself. The operatic class 
was open to singers who need not necessarily 
have a view to theatrical performances, and the 
experience of the past few years had proved that 
to practice with action gave a freedom to the 
performances of singers who aimed at nothing 
further than the concert-room or the drawinor- 
room, and took from them certain restraints 
which impeded good qualities until such freedom 
could be acquired. Dealing with a " tender sub- 
ject " to them all — the result of the annual ex- 
amination — he said it brought gratification to 
all of them, but with the gratification there were 
several disappointments. The obtaining of med- 
als should be regarded as a secondary considera- 
tion in their studies, for they must bear in mind 
the many circumstances which might interfere 
with success at an examination. An examiner 
could take no account of what was yesterday or 
would be to-morrow, but could only inspect what 
passed under notice at the very moment of the 
trial, and the idea was fallacious that work was 
to be slackened, or painstaking abandoned be- 
cause no prize was gained. In support of this 
contention he referred to Alcestvs and the tragedy 
by Euripides, which was offered in competition 
at the Olympic Games, and failed of a prize. 
Mr. Browning's beautiful poem of " Belaustion's 
Adventure" had given a transcription of the 
play, which was involved in the story of the fail- 
ure of the Athenian's war upon Sicily, and the 
hardships to which the Sicilians subjected the 
Athenian captives. The captives, howev^, re- 



cited verses of Euripides from the play of Alcestis, 
and so charmed the Sicilians that for every one 
who could recite passages from the play indem- 
nity from service was accorded, and they were 
released from their bondage. He concluded, 
amid warm applause, with which his remarks 
had been frequently greeted, by (quoting the two 
last lines of the poem he had referred to — 

** It all came from this play which gained no prize ; 
Why crown whom Zeus has crowned in soul before? " 

—London Time$. 



RAFF'S "SUMMER" SYMPHONY. 

The special novelty at the first Crystal Palace 
concert was the new Symphony in E-minor of 
Joachim Raff — the ninth of his symphonic works, 
and the 208th published composition of this too 
prolific writer. ' It is one of a series of four, 
illustrative of the seasons, the first of which, en- 
titled " The Voice of Spring," was produced at the 
Crystal Palace on the 15th of November last, while 
the "Autumn" is to be produced at Leipzig or 
Vienna this Winter ; the " Winter " symphony being 
still only sketched in Raff's portfolio. In his sym- 
phony in E-minor, entitled " Summer Time," Raff 
again comes forward as a composer of programme 
music, and with a "programme" well-nigh im- 
possible of performance. The first movement or 
"part" is entitled " A Hot Day," and this will, it is 
presumed, be considered the reductio ad absurdum of 
programme music. How on earth can a man depict 
in music " a hot day " ? It is true that Mr. George 
Grove, whose imagination is only equalled by his 
musical enthusiasm, fancies that in the opening of 
the movement beginning piano with the first violins 
(divided) and second violins only, which gradually 
by the addition of instruments increases to a forte, 
he sees the " burst of the sun." It is equally true 
that the sun, whether at fusing, at noon, or at sunset, 
has never yet in the history of astronomy been 
known to "burst," and that the phrase must be 
accepted as a flight of fancy or as a mere flower 
of speech. Minds more imaginative (if that were 
possible) than Mr. Grove's might perhaps per- 
ceive in the semiquaver figure which follows, an 
illustration in music of the flies which on " a hot 
day " worry the bald head of an angry man. But 
beyond this speculation ceases. The second subject 
is duly announced, and the movement proceeds to 
the " working-out," where we have once more the 
" burst of the sun," the " fly on the angry man's 
bald head motive," and so on. At the coda we 
have again the "burst of the sun" motive, this 
time extended, without any particular effort of 
heaven's artillery, followed by the other themes, 
" settling down at length into a touching allusion to 
the original subject." This is our old friend the 
" burst," again, in which Mr. Grove, with a curious 
reversion of feeling, "imagines the sun to sink, 
and the twilight, in which the movement com- 
menced, to again fall over the landscape." Mr. 
Grove is, however^ conscious that he is dead out of 
his reckoning, and he admits, "After this, a few 
noisy bars seem somewhat out of keeping." Per- 
haps the composer means to illustrate the old 
rhyme — 

" The sun which * burst ' once in a way, 
May rise to ' burst* another day.** 

The scherzo in IF (after E-minor!) is tolerably plain 
sailing. We have the meet of the fairies, the call 
to the hunt, the appearance of Oberon (violoncello) 
and Titania (viola), a duet; the hunt and the re- 
turn of all parties, the movement or " part" being 
fanciful in design and admirably scored. The 
slow movement, entitled " Eclogue," is a true " pas- 
toral poem," and the two middle movements must 
be considered the best in the work. On the finale, 
entitled " Harvest Home," it would be nonsense to 
waste words. It does not afford the remotest idea 
of a harvest home, and the workmanship is common- 
place and often coarse. The symphony altogether 
will certainly not be considered the best work of 
its most unequal composer; though its performance 
by the Crystal Palace orchestra under Mr. Manns 
left nothing to be de^Ted.^Lcndon Figaro, Oct. 16. 



F. J. CAMPBELL. 



THE BLIND EDUCATOR OF THE BLIND. -HIS 
ASCENT OF MONT BLANC. 



"The blind leading the blind" are proverbial 
words, often cited to illustrate an example of ex- 
treme folly, but there is a blind leader of the blind 
whose life demonstrates his ability for leadership 
among any class of men, be they sightless or see- 
ing. His name is F. J. Campbell, the blind gentle- 
man who recently achieved the remarkable feat of 
ascending Mont Blanc. Mr. Campbell is a native 
American, and is well-known in Boston and its 
neighborhood, especially in Newton, where he lived 
for many years. He was bom in Tennessee, and 
lost his sight when he was about three years old. 
He received his education in an institution for the 
blind in that state, came to Boston when a young 
man, and was soon placed at the head of the 
department of music in the Perkins Institution for 
the Blind at South Boston. Having a remarkably 
fine talent for music, he soon raised that depart- 
ment from a condition of comparative insignificance 
to a state of high efficiency. He also performed 
the same service for the tuning department He 
had a spirit of dauntless energy, was self-confiding 
and self-asserting. He was bound to make his 
mark, and the controlling idea of his life has always 
been that a man by reason of blindness does not 
become an object of charity, or only fitted to earn 
his livelihood by some simple means, such as the 
making of brooms or the weaving of door-mats, but 
that nearly all spheres of activity in which seeing 
men are engaged are also open to him. To prove 
this has been his aim in everything that be has done, 
and he has striven to make his life a running illus- 
tration of the feasibility 'of his views. His great 
intellectual infiuence was not slow in making itself 
felt beyond his own department at South Boston, 
and, during his long stay at the Perkins institution, 
he was, next to Dr. Howe, the leading spirit in its 
nuinagement. 

HIS AMBKICAlf LIFB. 

Many interesting things, showing the wonderful 
energy of the man, are told by his friends and 
neighbors. During the civil war, although a native 
of the South, he was intensely patriotic. So enthu- 
siasticwas he for the Union cause that he cherished 
an irrepressible desire to enter actively into the 
service, and he exhausted all his powers of persua. 
sion in endeavoring to induce the authorities to 
allow him to serve his country in a capacity which 
he felt confident he was able to fill with credit to 
himself and profit to the Union arms. One of his 
favorite projects was to secure for blind students 
the advantages of Harvard University, and he re- 
garded it as highly unjust that blind youths who 
had the desire and the capacity for the highest 
education should be denied the privilege of obtain- 
ing it. He, therefore, drew up several memorials 
to the university authorities seeking that end, but 
owing, it is said, to the lack of sympathy with his pur- 
pose on the part of others, who would most natur- 
ally have been expected to use their influence 
toward the furtherance of a higher educational 
movement for the blind, he never succeeded in get- 
ting any attention called to his petitions. 

Mr. Campbell was able to find his way all over 
Boston with wonderful facility, and it would be 
diflicult to distinguish between his power in this 
respect and that of a seeing man. One evening, 
when in town attending a concert, he missed his 
last train home ; it left somewhere in the neighbor- 
hood of 10 o'clock, the suburban public in those 
days not being so well accommodated in the matter 
of late trains as at present. But, knowing that a 
horse-car went to Watertown, he took that and 
made the best of the way to his home in Newton- 
ville on foot, through streets he had never traversed 
before, asking his way of no one. 

Old citizens of Newton remember the great school 
festival he* organized one Fourth of July before the 
war. School musical festivals were not the com- 
mon thing in those days that they are now, and, 
music not being so generally taught, it was no easy 
task to get them up. Mr. Campbell conceived the 
idea of giving a grand opexi-air concert by the 
pupils of the public schools in a natural sylvan amphi- 



NOTEKBEB 6, 1880.] 



DWIQETS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



181 



theatre on the shores of the pond near Got. Claflin's 
estate ; a most beautiful natural spot. He sue 
ceeded in enlisting the co-operation of the school 
committee, drilled the scholars, brought over his band 
from the Perkins Institution, and, with the assist- 
ance of the Newton band, gave a concert which 
was highly creditable artistically, and a great popu- 
lar success, over 5,000 people being present, and 
highly delighted with the affair, which was the 
great event of the day's celebration. 

HIS TRIP ABROAD. 

Several years ago Mr. Campbell was given leave 
of absence from his duties at the Perkins Institu- 
tion, and went abroad on a vacation trip, taking 
with him his invalid wife. His special object was 
to spend considerable time in the study of music in 
Germany under the best masters. This object 
accomplished, on his way homeward he stopped in 
London. While there he chanced to attend a meet- 
ing of some blind persons, and he was so struck 
with their pitiably helpless condition that he deter- 
mined to remain and endeavor to introduce into 
England the same enlightened treatment of the 
class universally pursued in his native country; for 
in this respect, at that time, the English educational 
methods were strikingly deficient. Nearly all the 
blind persons in the country were either paupers or 
semi-paupers, and those who earned their own living 
had only the ancient, conventional resources of 
mat-weaving, chair-mending, and the like. Mr. 
Campbell's wonderful energy here came into play. 
The circumstances imder which he began his work 
might have been discouraging to a man in full pos- 
session of his physical faculties. Everybody who 
knows English society will testify to its suspicious- 
ness of strangers, and the necessity for good creden- 
tials, if a stranger should desire to make any head- 
way in any project he has in hand. Yet here was 
Mr. Campbell, an utter stranger, with no recom- 
mendations to persons of position and influence, 
almost penniless — for his slender purse was nearly 
drained — with a very sick wife, and sightless. 
But he overcame every obstacle, and earned the 
gratitude of the English nation as a great public 
benefactor. Because he was blind, it might be sug- 
gested ; through that he excited sympathy, and so 
succeeded. But Mr. Campbell scorned to be looked 
upon as an object of pity. He never regarded him- 
self as such, and would never tolerate the idea on 
the part of anybody. He always insisted on his 
cause being looked upon strictly on its merits. On 
the day when he received his first slight encourage- 
ment he had reached the end of his monetary re- 
sources. But he succeeded in obtaining the funds 
to make a modest beginning, and he started an 
institution for the blind based upon his educational 
methods. This was in 1871. It rapidly grew in 
public favor. He was fortunate in attracting the 
attention of exalted personages, and it soon devel- 
oped into the Royal Normal College and Academy 
of Music for the Blind, under the patronage of 
Queen Victoria, the Prince and the Princess of 
Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh figuring as vice- 
patrons, and with the Marquis of Westminster as 
president. The Princess Louise and the Marquis 
of Lome also took deep interest in the institution. 
Almost wholly through Mr. Campbell's personal 
exertions the institution has received money amount- 
ing to something like $250,000. The institution has 
now beautiful buildings at upper Norwood, London, 
very near the Crystal Palace, near which it was 
purposely located on account of its musical advan- 
tages. One enters an arched gate-way, and looks 
down a terraced hill with green lawns diversified 
by flowers and trees in picturesque groups, with 
great clumps of rhododendron and hedges of haw- 
thorn and laurel. At the top is a light gray build- 
ing, where the girls sleep and all the school takes 
its meals. " You may not think," says a writer in 
the Spectator, " it means much to these blind people 
that pretty tiles peep through luxuriant ivies on its 
corner tower, that the sun streams into it widely 
through generous windows, and that a fair prospect 
stretches far westward. But those who live with 
the l>lind learn that the presence of beauty does 
influence them as much as those who see. Experi- 
ence proves that for them also does it stimulate the 
imagination, refine the taste and give cheerful pleas- 



ure. And do not the blind, in their narrower path, 
need this more than others ? " 

"Going down from 'the mount,' you pass, near 
it on the left, the cosey little home of Mr. Camp- 
bell. A few terraces below, still more to the left, 
is a four-storied new building, with its arches and 
gables. Here are the school-rooms and the boys' 
quarters. At the extreme left, before reaching this, 
is a large open-air gymnasium. It is fun to see the 
boys swarm up those ropes, hang headlong from the 
swings, and turn somersaults on the soft floor of 
tan, and hear their merry shouts. Are those active, 
happy creatures really blind? To any stranger's 
eye these many staircases and paths and banks and 
bridges seem to lead at random into the basement 
or second story of any of the three main buildings 
on the terraced hill-side; yet these sightless girls 
and boys dash along unerringly at full speed. 
Sometimes you hold your breath to see them, but 
nothing happens. Any of them will show you 
round the pretty garden, if you ehoose, and tell 
you which they like best of the bright flowers 
bordering its strips of velvet lawn; and, perhaps, 
they will ask you to sit down under the spreading 
arbutus tree, which his grace, a certain duke, says is 
the finest that he knows. Their faces will brighten 
as you exclaim : ' What a beautiful view ! ' for they 
feel as if they saw it also, having so often heard it 
described ; and their trained ears hear meanwhile 
what yours do not, as the breeze sweeps through 
the variously sounding branches of the many sorts 
of trees grouped here and there. Some of these 
trail on the ground, in marked contrast with the 
tall, straight pines, the quaintly stiff Japanese ever- 
greens, the sturdy tulip and catalpa, and others of 
more familiar mien. Below the garden is the 
meadow, so called, a smooth plot of turf, with not 
so much as a shrub to prevent a blind child's run- 
ning to his heart's content. It is bounded by a shaded 
g^vel walk, and every boy and girl* here knows 
that ten times round the meadow twice a day is no 
small exercise. At the four comers are laid boards 
to tell the foot when to turn, for the blind man- 
ager here knows better than a * sighted ' person how 
to help these pupils to learn accuracy and confidence 
iif their movements. It is the evident purpose of 
every arrangement of the school to teach real inde- 
pendence, both in feeling and in act, to reduce to 
the minimum the inequality between the blind and 
the seeing." 

The institution has a beautiful new music hall, 
where some of the finest music in England may be 
heard. While the new building was going up, it is 
related of Mr. Campbell that at night he used to 
make his way all over the structure, up ladders and 
along narrow scaffoldings, to make sure that every- 
thing was progressing satisfactorily. One day, while 
watching the laborers at work, he found that there 
were no windows, nor any provision for ventilation, 
in one room. He soon learned that the architect 
had disregarded the question of light and air, con- 
sidering that the blind had no use for either. He 
was determined to have the amplest supply of 
both, knowing that they were essential to the health 
of all human beings, whether seeing or blind. He 
therefore would not rest until he had succeeded in 
getting the architect dismissed, and a .more intelli- 
gent one put in his place. An instance of Mr. 
Campbell's thorough American independence of 
character is shown in the fact that the grand duke 
of Hesse, on observing the remarkable advantages 
of the institution, wished to place his blind son, 
Prince Alexander, under Mr. Campbell's charge as 
a pupil. He desired, however, that he should have 
a princely establishment, with something like a 
score of servants about him. This condition Mr. 
Campbell at once refused to consent to, and adhered 
to it inexorably, even though he risked offending 
his royal patrons by so doing. He said he would be 
happy to receive the prince under his charge, but 
that he would have to come on the same conditions 
as the other pupils, and be placed on an equality 
with them in all respects. The prince came on these 
conditions, and became one of the best friends of 
Mr. Campbell, besides developing a high musical 
talent. It was with Prince Alexander that Mr. 
Campbell went into Switzerland last summer. His 
ascent of Mont Blanc was made to illustrate his 



views that a blind man, by reason of ^is infirmity, 
need not be excluded from undertaking the most 
difiBcult tasks that other men have accomplished. 
He felt confident of his success when he set out, 
having practised for a month in glacier work, and 
in climbing lesser mountains. Mr. Campbell's letter 
to the Times, modestly describing his adventure, 
was followed by a letter from the secretary of the 
Alpine Club, commending his pluck, but criticising 
one of the details of the descent, blaming the guide 
for permitting it to be made in such a manner, Mr. 
Campbell having descended beside the guide, in- 
stead of following him, as demanded by the rules of 
safety. The next day the ' Times devoted an edi- 
torial of over a column to the affair, speaking of 
Mr. Campbell in the most complimentary terms. 
From it is quoted the following: "The praise of 
the reformers of the education of the blind is that 
they insist upon relegating what is only a draw- 
back, and not a prohibition, to common human 
fellowship, to its proper category. As a demonstra- 
tion to that tendency and truth, Mr. Campbell's 
ascent of Mont Blanc deserves commemoration, 
not because a mountain ascent merits any blowing 
of trumpets, whether the adventurer have as strong 
sight as an eagle or as little as the fish of the Adels- 
berg caverns." 

Mr. Campbell is described as a slightly built man, 
with a thin, energetic-looking face, his sightless eyes 
concealed by dark glasses. His wife died not long 
after the beginning of their mission in England. 
He married again, his second wife being a Boston 
lady, formerly a teacher at the Perkins Institute. 
She is a treasured helpmeet in his great work, and, 
like his first wife, is blessed with vision. — Sunday 
Herald, Oct. 24. 



MR; OXIVER KING. 

Of this young artist, as a pianist, and as com- 
poser of orchestral works, the Evening Gazette, of 
Oct 23, wrote as follows : 

We will first give our attention to Mr. King's 
playing. He has a brilliant and a fiuent technique, 
a refined taste, and a clear and precise touch, but 
his method is somewhat too deliberate and unim- 
passioned to afford entire satisfaction. His style is 
by no means versatile, and is lacking in the finer 
and warmer shades of expression. He is always 
correct, always calm, always deeply in earnest, and 
there is a pleasing absence of all attempt at meretri- 
cious display in his playing, but its effect is coldly 
monotonous through want of contrast in effect. 
Even in the most fiery climaxes, Mr. King is never 
stirred from his imperturbability, and his admira- 
ble finger work, equally perfect in both hands, fails 
to make any deeper impression than that of masterly 
mechanism. This want of fire and passion in a 
young artist is rather unusual, for, as a rule, such 
are of tener in need of curbing than of spurring. 

We were greatly surprised by' the rare merit of 
Mr. King's compositions, especially when his youth 
is taken into consideration. Of course, it cannot 
be expected that justice can be done to a symphony, 
a concerto and a concert overture at a single hear- 
ing, especially when all three are heard on one 
occasion. It is impossible to do more than to give 
the general impression made upon us by the works, 
and that was highly favorable. Mr. King under- 
stands the orchestra thoroughly, and handles it 
like a master. He appears also to be thoroughly 
familiar with the most recondite intricacies of har- 
mony and of counterpoint. He is fluent in idea and 
fertile in resources, and though his playing may be 
wanting in fire and variety of effect, when he takes 
the pen in hand, there is certainly no fault to find 
with him on these points. His style is preeminently 
polyphonic, and it is just here that fault is, to be 
found with his scores, in the excess to which he 
carries his work in this respect. The principal 
themes are so overladen by elabomte treatment that 
it is often diflicult to distinj^ruigh them from the sub- 
jects that move with and cross them in every part of 
the orchestra. In the s^'mphony and the concerto this 
exuberance of florid counterpoint and this over-luuxri- 
ant blending of counter themes, though rich and 
sensuous in effect, was embarrassing rather than edi- 
fying to the listener. The overture has less ornate 
treatment, and is clear, interesting, vigorous, and 



182 



DWIOnrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1032- 



wholly pleMing. The fnalto we hare pointed out, 
howerer, are in the right direction, since it is better to 
be too rich in fertility of resource than too poor. In 
the first instance, it is easy to crop the saperfluoiu 
laxarianoe; bat in the second instance it is by no means 
so easy to sapply what is lacking. Mr. King is a 
follower of the new school of melody and of orchestral 
development; and his works have the restlessness, 
the constant groping after novelty of effect, the plac- 
ing of higher valne upon the treatment of an idea 
than apon the idea itself, and the sabjogating of in- 
spiration to thematic jogglery that characterize the 
higher music, of the day. His melodies are of the 
"endless** description that Wagner has made so 
familiar; his harmonies run to the extreme of chro- 
matic eccentricity; the general effect is feverish, and 
the ear at last is wearied by the unceasing sensuous 
flow, and yearns for a leeting-pUce, but in vain. We 
hope that Mr. King is young enough to outgrow strict 
fealty to the school he at present follows, for these 
works show him to possess decided genius and that 
productive industry which is its invariable companion. 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1880. 

SCHUMANN'S ESSAYS AND CRITI- 
CISMS. 

The second series of Mme. Ritter's admirable 
translation of Robert Schumann's collected writ- 
ings^ (Gesammelte Sckriften) about music and 
musicians is now before us. It forms a beautiful 
volume, uniform with the first series, which ap- 
peared in 1877. This completes the collection. 
The entire contents wi the four small German 
volumes, published at Leipzig in 1854, were trans- 
lated by Mme. Ritter at the instance of the com- 
poser's widow, Mme. Clara Schumann, who, writ- 
ing to her (in 1871) on the want of a more 
satisfactory and more intimate biography pf Schu- 
mann than any we yet have, and expressing tke 
opinion that the time for such a work had not yet 
arrived, concludes with the suggestion: "but 
perhaps you, who display so much appreciation 
of my husband's character and works, might find 
it a not ungrateful task to translate his writings, 
which give so much insight into his heart, at 
least to the reader who is himself qualified to 
understand." This task was undertaken con 
amove, and was performed so well that even one 
familiar with the German language may enjoy 
the writings best in their English dress. For, 
while preserving, to a remarkable degree, the 
spirit and the individual flavor of the original, 
the translation is an improvement upon Schu- 
mann's often involved and obscure style, in being 
clearer and more readable. Moreover, the trans- 
lator's annotations, and especially her excellent 
preface to the first volume, embodying an appre- 
ciative sketch of his career, with an explanation 
of the circumstances under which these flying 
leaves were written, add much to the value of 
the book. The account of the " Davidite Society " 
(Davidsbund), — that pleasant fiction which Schu- 
mann introduces into his criticisms in the earlier 
numbers of his Neue ZeiUchrift /tir Jlftwii^ divid- 
ing himself as it were into several characters, as 
Florestan, Eusebius, Meister Raro, besides bring- 
ing in the contributions of his ypung, enthusiastic 
friends, so as to discuss composers and their works 
from many points of view, is also interesting and 
essential to an understanding of many of the 



essays. 

Mme. Ritter and her publishers did not risk 
the publication of the entire work, so full of food 
for thought, at a single venture. The first series 
(1877) was a selection of the more striking and 
important papers, forming about one half of the 
whole. In this we may read Schumann's first 



« Miuic and Miuiekau. 



EtMOMi and OriHeUmt by Bos- 
Translated, Bdited 



KET ScHUMiiKX. Traosiateo, JGOitea and Amiotated by 
FA5.XT Ratmovd Bittbb. Seoood Series. (Kew York, 
Edward Sohuberth * Co. London, Wm. Beeves. lAO). 



recognition of Chopin (an " Opus 2 ") ; his articles 
on " A Monument to Beethoven " ; on the '< Four 
Overtures to Fidelio " ; on the discovery of Scho* 
bert's great C-major Symphony, that of "the 
heavenly length"; his elaborate analysis of the 
Sympkonie Fantastique of Berlioz ; his apprecia- 
tions of Gade, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Robert Franz, 
Sterndale Bennett, Ferdinand Hiller, and of 
many other greater and lesser lights. Also, his 
" Aphorisms," which are full of meat, and his 
" Rules and Maxims for Young Musicians," which 
we believe we had the honor of first translating 
in this Journal, twenty or thirty years ago, and 
which have been so often translated since. The 
genial, hopeful, brave, progressive spirit shown 
in all these writings ; the clear, sure insight of 
the critic, always sympathetic, (juick to see and 
to appreciate, and backed by profound knowledge 
and by personal experience in the things whereof 
he wrote; the imaginative, poetic quality dis- 
played in his writings as well as in his music, and 
his happy faculty of illustration, besides lively 
wit and humor, and sometimes keen satire, but 
far oftener a most kindly, hopeful, and encourag- 
ing tone toward young aspirants, — the wealth of 
matter, and the charm of manner of the whole 
collection, make it an invaluable aesthetic guide- 
book to the student of music. It inspires a true 
and lofty aim, a sense of the true dignity and 
sacredness of Art, and bids us all be earnest. 

Such solid, and, for the general musical public, 
unaccustomed, sometimes puzzling, reading was 
naturally slow in making its way into general 
favor ; but that first series has been on the whole 
so well received, that the time came at last for 
issuing the second. This volume, too, is full of 
meat, of pithy hints and suggestions, of most val- 
uable and instructive criticism. Unlike the first 
part, it is occupied entirely with (brief, for the 
most part) critical reviews of compositions which 
appeared during Schumann's editorship of the 
Neue ZeUschrifi, These, though often dealing 
with works and with composers who have since 
died out of memory, are always significant and 
well worth the reading. And the translator, 
wisely as we think, has arranged them in con- 
venient onler, both for reference and for compre- 
hensive and intelligent over-sight of all belonging 
to each class or form of composition. Thus, first 
we find interesting analyses of a Danish and of 
several German operas, which have long since 
disappeared upon the stream of time, but which 
nevertheless are curious to read about. Then 
come oratorios : Hiller's " Destruction of Jerusa- 
lem," and " The Saviour," by Edward Sobolewsky, 
who emigrated to America in 1859, conducted the 
Philharmonic Society of St. Louis, and died at 
his farm near that city in 1872. New symphonies 
for orchestra come next, including symphonies by 
Preyer, Reissiger, F. Lachner, and C. G. Miiller. 
Comparing one of these with the easier, happier, 
and more perfect work of Mozart and Beethoven, 
he exclaims : " Would some young composer but 
give us an easy, merry symphony, in a major key, 
without trombones and doubled horn parts ! Of 
course that is very difficult ; only he who knows 
how to command masses can sport with them," — 
and more which we would gladly quote. Then a 
motley procession of new overture s passes in re- 
view, including an " Ecclesiastical Overture " by 
Julius Stern, Rietz's *< Hero and Leander," Ben- 
nett's " Naiads," which he was among the first to 
praise, and several others. Piano concertos fol- 
low : Thalberg, Ries, Moscheles, Mendelssohn, and 
more. Then an attractive company of Song and 
Lied composers. Then a goodly representation 
of the writers of chamber-music : sonatas, trios, 
quartets, septuors, etc. This department, Schu- 
mann being himself a pianist and composer in 
nearly all these forms, is naturally crowded. His 
grouping together of string quartets, widi his 



pleasant chatty description of the first trial of 
them in the intimate artistic circle, is extremely 
interesting and admits the reader into the most 
select and sweet communion of artists. Of these 
chapters we have borrowed a first in.Htalmcnt for 
the earlier pages of our present number. 

But there is no corner of the contemporary 
musical field which Schumann has surveyed more 
thoroughly and critically than that of pianoforte 
studies. All of any real significance, whether 
by way of example or of warning, which met his 
notice during these years (and their name is le- 
gion) he has taken pains to sift and wci<;h and 
analyze, separating the wheat from the chaff, and 
constantly referring to the nobler examples of 
Cramer, Moscheles, and Chopin. The mas^ of 
these little occasional reviews constitutes a most 
instructive essay, teaching by example, on the 
whole vast department of Etudes ; and at the end 
he classifies them according to their several aims, 
both technical and as regards expression. 

Rondos, Fantasias, Caprices, Variations, and all 
the modern miscellaneous forms of pianoforte 
music, reviewed with utmost patience and impar- 
tiality, occupy the remainder of the thick, ricli 
volume. It is impossible for us to enter into 
anything like a full and exhaustive estimate of 
these two invaluable volumes ; that would recjuire 
a lengthy article in some solid quarterly review. 
We must content ourselves, for the present, with 
heartily commending the work anfl the translar 
tion to all seekers for the truth in music, and with 
such specimens as we can from time to time find 
room for in these columns. 



CONCERTS. 
Since the week of the Tremont Temple opening 
there has been a period (about three weeks) of 
very little public music in this city. Mr. Prkstoh's 
third and last Organ Recital, at the Temple, on 
Wednesday noon, Oct. 27, has been about the only 
concert of any real note ; and that, we were glad 
to see, was better attended than the previous ones. 
The programme was excellent : — 

Toccata In F-major Bach 

€k>nc6rto In B-flat . Handel 

Andante Maestoso — Allegro — Adagio — Allegro, ma non 

Presto. 

Canon In B-flat , Merkel 

Canon In Q-maJor Whitney 

Nuptial March ) 

Elevation } Guilmant 

Fogue ) 

Mr. Preston's rendering of Bach's Toccata was 
altogether worthy of the strong, lively, noble work, 
taken at just the right tempo, which was evenly 
sustained, and the whole form and meaning were 
brought clearly out. The Handel Concerto was 
highly interesting. The genial work, with all its 
variety of themes and contrasts of color, was made 
most appreciable. The Canon by Merkel was 
given so pianissimo that we heard it only as we 
might the vague murmur of the breeze through 
distant pines ; but that by Whitney was more clear 
and positive. Guilmant's Nuptial March was quite 
original and captivating, and clearly worked up; 
and its return in the midst of the fine strong fugue 
gave unity to the three pieces as a whole. The 
gifted young pianist has certainly made his mark 
also as an organist by these three concerts. 

There was a concert, which we were unable 

to attend, at Union Hall, on Thursday evening. 
Oct. 28, given by Mrs. Fawkie M. Hawks, a so- 
prano vocalist, with the assistance of good artists. 
It was her first appearance here, and report speaks 
well both of her voice and training. This was the 
programme : 

Hunting Song Anon 

Eapecially arranged for Schobert Quartet. 

Gaohouca Caprice Baff 

Edward A. Gary. 

Ernani Involaml Verdi 

Fannie M. Hawes. 

Sonata, for violin, in A Handel 

G. N. Allen. 

In Absence Buck 

Schubert Quartet. 

Ballad, 

Fannie M. Hawes. 
Ballade Reinecke 

Edward A. Gary. 



November 6, 1880.] 



DWIGSrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



183 



a. fCayatina Raif 

h, \ Qayotte Popper 

c. ] Cradle Song Aiard 

«/. (Ungartacbe UauBor 

C. N. Allen. 
Margaret at the Spinning- Wheel . . . / . . Soha^^rt 

Fauule M. Hawee. 

Eztravatrauxa Anon 

lijpeclally arranged for Schubert Qoartet. 

Last evening (too late for notice now) the 

first of Mr. Listismann's Pliilhannonic Orchestra 
Concerts was given in the Music Hall, with a pro- 
gramnie bristling with new-school novelties: a 
" Iloiueo and Julia " Fantaisic by Svendsen ; Grieg's 
piano concerto in A-minor, played by Mr. Franz 
Kuinmel ; Raff's " Im Walde " Symphony ; two 
Slavonic Dances by Dvorak; Liszt's Hungarian 
Fantaisie for piano and orchestra; while of the 
older cunipoBors there was a Musette from a con- 
certo of Handel, adapted for oboes, bassoons, and 
string orchestra by Gevaert, and the FreUchiiiz over- 
ture for a conclusion. 

The second concert (Nov. 19) offers the "Camaval 
Koinain " overture by Berlioz ; the first part (Infer- 
no) of Liszt's "Dante" Symphony (new here); 
"The Youth of Hercules "by Saint^Saens; a mel- 
ody uf Ole Bull's arranged for string orchestra ; a 
miniature inarch by Tschalkowski ; and a Valse 
Caprice by Rubinstein. Miss Gertrude Franklin is 
to sing a concert aria by Mozart, and songs by Spohr, 
Schumann and Widor. 

This evening Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood gives a 

concert at the Meioiuion (Tremont Temple), mainly 
for tlie introduction here of Mons. Alfred Desire, a 
young violinist from Paris, Canadian by birth and 
recently violinist to the Princess Louise. We had 
the pleasure of hearing M. Des<^ve play the Kreut- 
zer sonata with Mr. Sherwood, at the latter's room, 
a few days since, and have since heard him play in 
private the Mendelssohn concerto. He has admi- 
rable execution and plays wUh rare taste, intelli- 
gence and feeling. Mr. Charles R. Adams will 
assist to-night as vocalist. 

Next week, on Friday evening, Mr. B. J. 

Lang will give a second and improved performance 
of the Lkimnation of Faust by Berlioz, with the cele- 
brated baritone Herr Henschel in the part of Mephis- 
topJreles, Miss Lillian Bailey as Margaret, Mr. Wm. 
J. Winch as Faust, and Mr. Clarence Hay as Brand- 
er. There will be a male chorus of 200 voices, a 
female chorus of 100, and an orchestra of 60 instru- 
ments. 

We learn that it is Herr Hcnschel's intention 

to give a series of song recitals here this season, 

Subscribers to the Harvard Symphony Con- 
certs can receive their season tickets and select 
their seats at the Music Hall on Monday, Tuesday 
and Wednesday next. The public sale commences 
on Thursday, Nov. 11. The first concert will uke 
place on Thursday afternoon Nov. 18. The pro- 
grammes of the first three concerts were given in 
our last. 

The full programme of the Euterpe for the cur- 
rent season Iuih been made up, and assigned, as follows: 
December 1, at the Meionaon, Listemanu Quartet — 
QuartetH. Op. 27, G-mhior, Grieg; No. 1, E-flat major, 
Cherubini. January a, Beethoven Quintet Club — 
Quartets, No. 2, C-major, G. W. Chadwick; potithu- 
moui», l>-mhior, Schubert. February 2, same players 
— (iuartet, Op. 44, No. 2, E-minor, Mendelssohn; Sex- 
tet, Op, 3G, G-minor, Brahms. March 23, New York 
Philharmonic Club— Quartets, No. 6, C-major, Mozart; 
Op. 59, No. 2, E-mlnor, Beethoven. April 20, same 
playen*— Op. 132, A-minor, Beethoven ; Op. 41, No. 2, 
F-major, Schuiujinn.— Courier. 

The Cecilia has the following works in prepara- 
tion for the four concerts to be given during the cur- 
rent seanon: God's Tifne is Best, cantata. Bach; New 
Year's Song and Faust^ Schumann; a sliort psalm and 
a motet for female voices, Mendelssohn; the music for 
The Ruins of Athens, Beethoven; The Bells of Sttas- 
bury, Liszt; At the Cloister Oate, Grieg-; Romeo and 
Juliet, symphonic cantata, Berlioz ; part-song by 
Rheiuberger, Grieg and Hoffmann; a madrigal by Wil- 
bye; and glees by sundry English composers, includ- 
ing Little Jack Horner, by Callcott. At the first con- 
cert, to be given about the 15th December, probably In 
Tremont Temple, without an orchestra, the programme 
will Include the Bach cantata and a choice collection 
of part-songs and glees for mixed and female voices. 
Schumann's Favst will be presented at the last concert 
of the season. 

The Boylston Club, at their first concert, Novem- 
ber 17, will present several new works, including a 



quintet for strings and pianoforte by Hermann Goetz, 
a Kyrie Eleison by Robert Franz, a short motet by 
Bach, new part-songs by Rheiuberger, Loewe, Rubin- 
stein, Vlerling, Eitner KUcken and others. The part- 
songs embrace all descriptions, for male, female, and 
mixed choruaes. For the second concert there will be 
a Potemoafer — five-part chorus by Verdi, the Hoff- 
man waltzes, called Romance of Love, Seasons of the 
Year, for female chorus and solos, by Gade a short 
cantata, new and exceedingly choice part-songs for the 
male chorus, and other part-songs of all kinds for all 
the portions of the Boylston Club. The club have under 
consideration for their concert, the Faust of Schumann 
or the Requiem by Brahms, for orchestni, chorus and 
solo. The club was never so large and enthusiastic as 
at present. The associate list is full and a waiting list 
as well. Mr. Osgood has brought a fresh stock of 
songs from abroad, and the club and their friends look 
forward with much pleasure to the coming season. 

The Handel and Haydn Society will give its four 

concerts in Music Hall. Saint Pant has been selected 
for Easter Sunday. The following vocalists have been 
engaged for The Messiah, December 26: Mrs. H. F. 
Knowles, Miss Anna Drasdil, Mr. W. C. Tower, Mr. 

George Henschel. 

♦ 

MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Chica(30, Oct. 30. Since my last note to the Jour- 
nal, I have made a short visit to Council Bluffs and 
Omaha, and perhaps some mention of the musical ac- 
tivity 1 found there may prove interesting. Culture 
and progress move westward, until the earth is encir- 
cled with the brightness of human intelligence. Thus 
even art is progressive in the far-away places of the 
great West. 1 must confess that I wtis both astonished 
and delighted to note the many signs of development 
in a taste for music that were being made manifest in 
both those places. The trip from Chicago is a pleasant 
one, and the journey far from wearisome. The Chi- 
cago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad niu such ele- 
gant sleeping-coaches, and are supplied with dining- 
cars which offer bills of fare most tempting, that trav- 
elling seems rather a luxury than a task. Indeed, I 
never was upon a railway that seemed so pleasant and 
comfortable. 

Council Bluffs Is a little city that must be seen to 'be 
appreciated. The high bluffs that nearly surround the 
business portion of the city are both picturesque and 
romantic. They are very high, and varied in forma- 
tion, like mountain ranges, and stretch along the Mis- 
souri River as far as the eye can see. The effect of the 
light and shade at sunrise, or at the early evening 
hour on these hills is very beautiful, and the view from 
the top of the highest of them extremely diversified 
and lovely. The little city has many of the comforts 
and some of the luxuries of the East, and presents a 
scene of constant activity. Musically, I find there is 
much taste, and no small amount of talent I saw 
the little house in which Miss Fannie Kellogg, now of 
Boston, used to live, and I felt proud of the talent and 
energy that could force its way to a public recognition, 
even when starting from a simple home in the far West. 
It was an example of what may be made of a gift, 
when its possessor has power of will to overcome diffi- 
culty in its many forms. The light of talent will find 
its true place in which to shine, whenever it has pur- 
pose and true ambition for its actuating forces. I was 
pleased to learn that through the influence and energy 
of Mrs. F. F. Ford, and other hoping musical people, 
there has been a good deal accomplished for classi- 
cal music in this city. Mrs. Ford has a school for music, 
and has often engaged artists to come there and give 
song and pianoforte recitals, that her pupils might learn 
to enjoy good music, and to have that appreciation that 
comes from understanding art in its nigher forms. 
Miss Nellie Stevens, a very delightful pianist, spent a 
short time in this city, and did much to cultivate among 
the young people a love for the good comjKMitions of 
the worthy masters. Miss Stevens nas won a lasting ad- 
mhratlon for her fine playing. Mr. W. S. B. Mathews, 
of this city, has also visited Council Bluffs and given 
lectures upon musical subjects. 

In Omaha I found a number of cultivated amateurs 
and teacbers who were earnest in working for what 
is good in art. There are music stores that seem to 
do a good business, and also musical societies that 
bring out choral works; and thus there is a foundation 
for a constant and healthy progress in these little cities 
of the West. I can but regard every sign that shows 
the advancement of culture and^a love of the beauti- 
ful, either in art, music, or nature, as something wortiiy 
of encouragement and praise, and I transmit my few 
words of description to the Journal, that these worthy 
people, who are working for art, mav know that their 
efforts will always find recognition fn the East. Art 
knows no country nor place, but makes ber home 
wherever the creative power of man can mould nature 
into forms of the beautiful. Reflective thought opens 
the way, and the ideal takes a positive shape, when 
man directs with reason and taste. 



In our own city there has been very little of moment 
in a musical way. A large organ has been placed in 
our new Music HalL It was formally opened by a 
concert in which Mr. H. Chirence Eklay and Mr. Mo- 
Carrell were the organists. Being out of town I did 
not hear the concert, and must reserve my account of 
the organ until i^nother time. 

Musical matters are to be somewhat quiet until after 
the election, when our concerts will begin with a rush. 
I trust that we shall be compensated for our long vaca- 
tion, and that our 8ea.son will be rich in good music. 

C H. B. 



Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 27, The local concert sea- 
son is now fairly begun. Tlie Heine Quartet have 
begun their series of chamber-music recitals, their first 
programme being as follows: 

1. String Quartet, Op. 44, No. 1, . . . . Mendelssohn 

2. Souata for Piano and VioUn, Op. 13. . . Bubinstelu 

Misses Mary and Uszie Heine. 

3. Trio for Violin, Viola and Violonoello, Op. 9, No. 1 

Beethoven. 

4. Prize Qoartet for Piano, Violin, Viola and Violoncello, 
Op. IS, (First time in America) A. Bungert 

These young players have Improved since Ust sea- 
son, and the series promises to be a valuable contribu- 
tion to our musical life and culture. 

The Musical Society has given its first concert,— 
Raff's Symphony, **In the Forest," and Dudley Buck's 
" Golden Legend." Both were very successfully pei^ 
formed. The orchestra was enlarged to sixty pel- 
formers, partly by bringing players from Chicago, and 
if there was something to be desired in the wav of 
finish, that was no more than was to be expected from 
an orchestra unaccustomed to its leader and to one an- 
other. On the whole the symphony was given not un- 
worthily, difficult as it is. in the Oolden Legend, both 
chorus and orchestra went well. We had Miss Annie 
B. Norton of Cincinnati in the part of Elsie, to our 

freat satisfaction. Mr. Max L. Lane, a new comer 
ere, trained in lielpzig and Munich, sang the tenor 
part of Prince Henry. He has a pure, sweet voice, 
and a fine method, but Ucks the power for anything 
but light lyric work. The contralto and bass parts 
were taken by Miss Bella Fink and Mr. Edward Nfo- 
decken, two local amateurs, whose work was entirely 
creditable. Altogether, the concert was a marked suc- 
cess, <and shows that there is vigorous life in the old 

society. J. C. F. 

♦ 

MUSIC ABROAD. 

Leeds Festival. The correspondent of the 
London Musical World, in a letter dated Oct. 11, 
(two days before the festival began) gives the fol- 
lowing outline of the week's pi'ogramme : 

During* the four days' proceedings no fewer than 
seven compositions by native authors will be per- 
formed, the majority of them works of high pre- 
tensions. Taking the seven in order, we have, firsts 
a cantata by Mr. John Francis Bamett, founded 
upon Longfellow's poem, "The Building of the 
Ship," the actual words of which constitute its 
text. This is set down for performance on Wednes- 
day evening, under the composer's own direction, 
and will be followed at the same concert by Mr. 
Henrv Leslie's part-song, "The Lullaby of Life." 
Mr. Walter Mlacfarren's overture. Hero and Leander, 
a work not unknown to London anuiteurs, holds a 
conspicuous place in Thursday morning's pro- 
gramme, having as its companion Sir Stemaale 
Bennett's favorite pastoral. The May Queen, The 
most captious will decline to dispute the propriety 
of choosing Bennett's cantata, the claims of which 
rest rather upon intrinsic and unchallengeable merit 
than upon tne fact that our late remtted master 
was a Y orkshireman, and composed The May Queen 
for the Leeds Festival of ISM. It would perhaps 
be resented in some quarters if I were to claim as 
an English oratorio Samson, written by the natu- 
ralized Englishman, George Frederick Handel, and 
setdoiyn for performances on Thursday evening. 
Passing tliis by, I find in the selection for Friday 
morning a new musical sacred drama. The Martyr 
of Antioch, the music composed by Mr. Arthur Sul- 
livan, who has, also, with the help of Mr. W. S. 
Gilbert, adapted the words from Dean Milman's 
poem of the same name. It is so long since Mr. 
Sullivan produced a work of this character, that 
considerable interest is naturally felt in the present 
effort, the fate of which, however, I am not dis- 
posed to assume. Enough that The Martyr of Anti- 
och contains a good deal of bright, picturesque, and 
effective music, and such music as ought to meet 
with instant favor on Friday. The other English 
pieces are a new overture, entitled Mors Janua Vita, 
by Mr. Thomas Windham, and a par^song, " Ther 
Better Land," in which the Leeds chorus-master 
(Mr. Broughton) displays his skill a^ a writer for 
the voices he so well knows how to train. Turning 
from these native productions to the representation 
of universal art, I find Mendelssohn's Elijah^ Mo- 
zart's Symphony in G-minor, Weber's overture to 
Oberon, Mendelssohn's psalm, " When Israel out of 
Egypt came," Beethoven's Choral Symphony and 
Mass in C, Schubert's "Song of Miriam," Cberu- 



DWIOET'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1032. 






acrim. Bach'* cinlktk, 
mphon/, Ltonort^ Spohr's 
)l two paru of Haydc'i 



The loloiits m Elijah, with vhich Ihc feBliral 
opened on Wedneaday morning, Oct. 13, were Mmea. 
Albani, OiKOod, Patey and Trebelli, Mr. Maa« and 
Mr. P. King. — Of Mr. Barnett'a new oanUla, giren 
in Ihe evening, the aame nriter lays : 

Mr. Bamelt has preserved the churacterUtlca which 
dii^tlnguiah itH pFcdecessorv. ThLt WM to be eicpected, 
since, even if the ooinposer bnd a tendency towards 
varied style, he ivoald. in all probiiblllty, be rBStraineii 
hy the reflection that it is anler to go upon lines already 
approved by the srbilers of Buccens. The Aneitnt 
.tfarinjr pleased grenlly, dud Paradite and the Peri 
was received with appinnw. Wby, then, »hould Mr. 
Barnett estay a " new departure," deatined moat likely 
to end In Ihe trouble n nuin oltcD brlngit upon himaelf 
when he opposes his own inMiucts. and does violence 

[or'nnyauch coune. Ai he feels and spenks In bis 
first cnntatn, so he feels and speaks in the third, while 
in both he ig eqaally honest and equally able. We 
recognize at once the familiar leatitres. The hand 
may be the hjind of Coleridge, or Moore, or Longfel- 
low, but the voice is the voice of John Francis Barnett, 
and a gratified public welcome Its pleasing accents. 
What it the utierauees of the voice do not startle or 
pnzile? The vast majority of us do not want to be 
startled or pnizled. filings with this tendency are 
met plentifully in the ouitter-of-fact world, and oidi- 
maj folk have no desire (o ran up against them when 
sednced by music Into a world vhlch is Ideal. Be- 
sides, hoa pleuianl it it in this time of iiniveraal dii- 
torlion to mret ailh a coniputer nut at/iamed of hit 
oten hoattt/acel Composers tbereare,illBtnie,wlio, 
by long and npt eontemplatlon of a great master, have 
been gradually " changed into the ume image," and 
Hr. Barnett may have looked to sonio such efCect upon 
the beantitul face of Mendetswhn. But in the»e cases 
there is no pretence. The expression ot the idol 
becomes the expression of the worshipper b; force of 
a natural and irresistible law. In no anch category 
can we place the musical jugglers who go about wear- 
ing the masks of better men than themselves, and 
who are ready to tlirow down one counterfeit present- 
ment, and take up another, whenever it seems likely 
that the change will attract the public to their show. 

It is acarcelv needful to go through The Bvildiny 
0/ the .Ship number by number nor would Che 
result of such endeavor reward its toll. Enoagli 
OHch ujion 






be talceu tor granted 
lives little risk ' 
Baruett' 



little risk when the work 

's. since he is always s.ite. ( 
loderate and, therefore, eadui 
aggerated device of represenL 






itroducllon, 

:nls, illusCiating, Hist, sua rise 
the naplralluns ol the Youth 



Hr. Barnett shou 



Kt the princl]inl subject o 
rds I^bur. 'Iliat the piec 



i upon the discem- 
le done better than 
I Introduction with 



leship. Fot 
It which it is 



ing this are two oi 
Siciilt to speak, ior 
LVthing ohjectional 



while free fi 

void of c; 

be biftiiied lor this, the fault lyiug with w 



with true feeling the song o( the happy lover, 
how skilful grows the band.'' The soug it an e 
inglv gracetal composllion, and will no doubt, b 
alavurlte. From this point the interest of tlie 
' unabated. A long choi 



bustle of the 



iilpyard, tl 



byw 



Jued vigor 



the ftliivter s cottage in tJie peaceful evening time, as 
the loverv sit in the porch, and the old man tells them 
tales of the sea, loses nothing by na-iocintiou with Mr. 
Bamett's symp:ithetlc and unaffected music. The 
duet lor soprano and tenor, in which the home picture 
appears, ranks among the best Chrngs in the work, 
beiue none the loss entitled to its place on account of 
au <ibbUsintu tat Coino Inglcse, which b an independ- 
ent Bonrce of melodic charm. Another vigorous and 
extended Shipvard chorus, inlroduciuit the Ship Theme, 
further eiemplifles Mr. Bamett's method of producing 
effect by simple means; alter whk;h comes a largely 



developed mna tor soprano. " To-day the vessel shall 
be launched." Upon this, Mr. Barnett appears to have 
lavished all his care, with considerable success. It is 
not his fault that the nature ot the subject preventa 
blm from appealing to our deepest emotions, and we 
may fairly wonder that so much has been done with a 
baiii and dry material. The description of the wed- 
ding on the deck ol the as yet unlaunched ship brings 
In a more serious element, and the composer seizes 
upon It to Introduce a quasi-religious chorus, "The 
prayer Is said '' with organ accompaniment, followed 
by a solo lor the Pastor, having a tuneful theme, pres- 
ently combined with the choms and afterwards made 
prominent in the finale. The actual Uiunch of the 
ship is happily illustrated, and achieves so conspicuous 
a musical success that it cannot fail to call up hopes of 
Mr. Barnett one dav devoting his uvlents to a strictly 
dramatic anbject. Iliose who know the finale of The 
Ancient Mariner will have no difficulty lu believing 
that the finale of the new cantata is an elaborate and 
studied climax. The composer tells as that it IIIuh- 
tmtes "Ihe scene ot a multitude witnessing a vessel 
leaving the shore.'' This eiplaina the opening orches- 
tral passages imitative of the sailor's crv, after which 
the burden ot the pastor's song is taken in full cboral 
liArmony, and worked oat with ever Increasing effect 
to the end. 
I have no doubt as to the popularity at Hr. Bamett's 



Berlin. At the Royal Opera-house Herr Niemann 
selected S'pontioi's Ferdinand Cirtez for his fitst ap- 
pearance this season. The theatre was crowded and 
Heir Niemann's reception enthusiastic. Gluck'a Iphi- 
ffenie In Taurit, after :i long absence from the boarda. 
was perfoimed on the Empress's birthday. Mme. 
Malllnger. though soffertng from Indisposition, gave a 
line rendering ot tbe principal female character, 
especially in the tecond and the third art — Knr- -on 
Suppe's Donna Juanita has been pr ' i : : lie 
Fricdiich-Wilhelmstiidtisches Theatre, t to 

achieve the success which attended his ;s, 

Boccaccio and Fatinitta. — A new co lie 

Winter Garden as It la called, ot the ■ ; .;1. 

has been opened. For size and magni£ Is 

no other concert-room here that can be th 

it. — Herr Bitter, Minister of Finance, be 

wetl.kuown work on Johann Sebaatiai. a 

great musical amateur, was married leii-i.ili i.i .v e, 
Clara Nereni, daughter ot the late Professor Nereuz. 
The formal betrothal took place only five days before 
the marriage. As tbe Interval fixed by hiw had not 
elapsed after the betrothal, tlie Emperor granted a 
special dispensation. The bridegroom is siitv-seven; 
the bride, thirty-seven. —On the in last. Herr Bilse, 
the nof-UatikdiredoT, celebrated his fiftieth pioles- 

OnsRAiDiEsa^tr. Following the sjntem hitherto 
adopted in Munich, King Ludwig ordered that the last 
performance of the />aa(ion Play should take place 
with himself as sole auditor, 

PuTB. The Hungarian Chamber has voted the 
suppression ot the Government grant to tbe German 
Theatre. The Emperor of Aiistiia being dissatisHed 

at this, ha.f otdeied ■' "-■-■ — '- ■- "■ -■■- — i 

and that German a 
of tbe Uhambei shal 



le subject again to M cousidered, 
\»tr reduced to want by the vote 



Ninth Symphony wit'l 
an intervafot fifteen 



lENNA. There is now to be a " Weber Cvcliii 
Imperial Opera, including Prtcioia, in which 
ihe chnracters are to be sustained by 
the BurgtheaCer company. Euryantht w 



I hers of 



er company. , . 

md of the present month. BaionDIn^ 
stedt has resigned his post as manager, —The concerts 
of the OeieUKhafticoncerte commence on the 14tb 
November, The 12th April is fixed for the Extraordi- 
nary Concert. Mme. Norman.Neinda piavs at tbe 
fint; Herr Aner, from St. Pelersbnrah, at ihe third; 
and Mr. Charles Hall^ at the fourth; The Creation 
being reserved for the second. Frani Liait will again 
be invited to take part in the " EKtraordlnarv Con- 
cert," on April 12, 18M1. — Herr Johann Strauss baa 
achieved a decided success with his new buffo opera, 
Da> ffpitientueh der KOnigin, at the Theater an der 
Wien. Book and music pleased much, and the critics, 
headed by Dr. Ed. Hanslick, all speak favorably of 






&-»:;, 



. , . great denl ot which is in "dance form," is 
ight, pleasing, and melodious. On the fint night five 
■'— "—e encored, -HeirBachticb, tenor, and Hen 
violoncello, both masters at the Conserva- 
tory, nave seceded from Helimesberger's Quartet, and 
been replaced by Herren Lob and Sulier, memben of 
the orchestra at the Imperial Opera-house, The Quar- 
tet Evenings ot Henen Radnicky. Slebert, Stecher, 
and KieLKhmaim, will be continued this winter, and 
will take place at the Hosendorf Booma. — Blr. George 



By his new engagement as CapeUmeiiter at 

the Imperial Opera-house, Hans Richter is granted 
two months additional leave of absence in order 
that he may conduct his concerts in London, The 
months selected are May and June, the Itslian sea- 
son here. Herr Jahn, CapellmtiUer at Wieibaden, 
succeeds Baron Dingelttedt u artistic manager. 
A new ballet, Dtr Stock I'm ^iim, has proved a hit. 
It has a great advantage in being founded on ■ 
legend connected with a famous wooden block — 
at Ihe corner of Ihe Kimthnerstrasse ^in which 
BOW, as for ages, every wandering BiirscA* who 
paoaea through the Auatrian capital drives a naiL 
The custom is somehow or other connected with 
the adventures ot a smith's apprentice, who, after 
making a compact with the Pnnce of Darkness, on 
Ihe usual condition, of course, for Ihe Prince's aid 
in producing a master-piece, eventually ignores the 
bargain, gives his demoniacal acquaintsDce a aoond 
thrashing, and leads home his hride, the reward of 
the master-piece aforesaid, in trtamph. Composer, 
scene-painter, coatumer, and carpenter have done 
wonders in aiding the hallet master, and the public 
are in ecsUcies. A true " Wiener Kind " tovei a 
good ballet 

Loudon. The removal of the Sacred Harmonic 
Society from Exeter Hall to St, James's Hall haa in- 
volved a rearrangement of their orchestra; bnl 

though reduced in numbers, Ihe committee believe 
that this wilt be more than compensated by the 
new condition* under which the society will now 
be earned on. The prospectus for the forty-ninth 

ing on December 3. with a programme of three 
works which have not been performed tor some 
years, viz, : Beethoven's Mass in C. and Hendels- 
sohi^a Lauda Sion and Chnttut. The Christmas 

Eerformance of The MtuiaA will take place on 
leccmber IT. Among the works lo be performed 
during the season will be found Handel's coronation 
anthem, " The King shall rejoice." and oratorio, 
Sanuon; Mendelssohn's Athalie, Hyvm of Praite, 
and Elijah ; Cherubini'a Reij\iiem ; Benedict's St. 
Cecilia ; CosU'i Naaman; and Rosaini'a Sttdiei Ma- 
ter and Motet in Eygpt. The band will still com- 
prise the most eminent performcri in Ihe musical 
profession. The artists already announced ar« 
Mmes. Sherrington, Anna Williams, Osgood, Mar- 
riott, C. Penna, Enequial, and Jones (sopranos) ; 
Mmes. Patey, Enriquez, Hancock, and Orridge 
(contrallosl ; Messrs Vernon Rigby, Edward Ltivd, 
Maas. Wells, and Cummings (tenors) ; Meaara it- 
ley, Bridson, King, Hilton, and C. Henry (bak^ea). 
Mr. Willing continues hia poat as organist, and Sir 
Uiciiael Costa, whose great abilities have for the 
past thirty-three years been exerted on behalf 
of the society, will still fulfil the important duties 
of conductor. 

Herr Brahms has Just completed a new, hia third, 
orchestral symphony, which, considering that about 
half a dozen serial orchestral concerts are lo be 
given in London during the winter and spring, 
it is hoped we shall soon hear in London. He has 
also, during hia holidays, written an overture (Mie 
account says two overtures} and a pianoforte trio, 
which Mr. Arthur Chappejl will doubtless secure. 

Rome. One ol the moat ImperllDent teats of the 
Inuwlble composer, Wwner, is reported from Some. 
On the occasion of the Palestrina festival, the commlt- 

send in some suitable compositions. Gounod, TenU, 
Ambroise Thomas and othen cheerfnllv promised to do 
homage lo the " Prince ol Music; " biit Wagner cotUd 
not doa graceful action; he sent acopyol the greatest 
ot Palestrlna'a works, the world-famed "Mlsaa Papw 
MarcBlll,".to the festival committee. In this eopvlie 
hod erased all the original annotations relating to llmi 



suit flui 



if the festival committee will 

appreciated when It la remembered that 
as been sung in Rome foi three hundred 



Pakib. The chief novelties aonouoced by H. Col- 
onneat the Paris ChStelet concerU are a "Sulta Al- 
airieune," hv M. S.tint*iens a violin concerto by 
Lalo, a piano concerto bv M, Godard, and VL Davet> 
noy's cantata, "laTempete." The concerts bwin Oct 
24. M, Fasdeloup announces a series of hlstortcnl con- 
certs of works by French composers, from Lolly to the 
present time, and works new to Paris by the Rosaian 
composeiB. Glinka, Datgomljsky, Rubinstein, Serofl, 
Tschaikowskv,andRimskr-Korsakoff,aad by the Italian 
writers, Verdi, Boito, and Poncbielll M. Pawleloap 
also proposes another attempt to popnlariie the works 
of the German school In Paris, and to produce com- 
positions by Wagner, Brahms, Raff, and Goldmaik. 

Led-zio, The Oewandthaus concerts began on the 
Tth, with a performance of Bach's Suite la D for string 

quartet and wind, and Qoldmnrk's Violin C ^ 

played t? Lanlertach, of Dteadui. 



NOYEMBEB 20, 1880.] 



Dwianrs journal of music. 



186 



BOSTON, NOVEMBER 20, 1880, 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boston as second-class matter. 



All the articleM not credited to other jmblicatione teere ex- 
prettly written for thit Journal. 

Publiihed fortnightly by Houohtox, Mifflin & Co., 
Boston, Mate, Price, lo cents a number / %3,so per year. 

For Bale in Boston by Carl Pruefer, jo West Street, A. 
Williams & Co., aSj Washington Street, A. K. Loriko, 
Sbg Washington Street, and by the Publishers; in New York 
by A. BREXTA270, Jr., jp Union Square, and Houghton, 
Mifflin ft Co., a/ Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BoNSR & Co., /102 Chestnut Street; in Chicago by the Chi- 
cago Mu8ic<k>MPAN VJ/^ StcUe Street. 



SCHUMANN ON STRINGED QUARTETS 

(1888).! 

THIRD QUARTET MORNING. 
(Continued from page 178.) 

W. H. Vkit. Second Quartet for two Violins, Viola, 
and Violoncello, £ Major. — Opus 6. 

J. F. E. SoBOLEWBKi. Trio for Piano-forte, Violin and 
Violoncello, A-flat major, manuscript. 

Leopold Fuchs. Quintet for two Violins, two Violas, 
and Violoncello, £-flat major. — Opus 11. 

Oar third meeting was quite remarkably 
brilliant, from the addition of a pianist and a 
viola-player, whom we found necessary for 
the execution of a piano-forte trio and a quin- 
tet ; and this change was not proposed by 
me without other reasons. The beautiful can 
only be enjoyed in moderation, and I could 
more easily spend a night in listening to 
Strauss and Lanner dance music than to 
Beethoven symphonies, the tones of which 
pierce the soul until its wouuds ache. And 
we need freshness in listening to quartets 
only, if not an especial fondness for that 
species of composition also. Composers al- 
ways go away after the first, reviewers after 
the second ; it is only the patient amateur 
who can support a third. One of these brave 
connoisseurs told me that he had been once 
entirely without music for three months, and 
that in his great hunger for it he played 
quartets on his first visit to the city during 
three consecutive days. " To be sure," he 
added, partly in excuse, ** I play a little my- 
self, and therefore took the second violin." 
So we introduced a little variety among our 
quartets; and who knows whether we may 
not admit one instrument after another 
among us, in contrary fashion to Haydn's 
well-known symphony, until our four-leaved 
clover is transformed into a complete orches- 
tra ? For the present, however, we are quite 
satisfied, especially as we now have to make 
our reader acquainted with several delightful 
novelties. 

Some Grerman towns are famed for their 
indifference towards persons of talent resid- 
ing within their walls ; others content them- 
selves with praising their resident talent when 
there is question of rivalry with other towns ; 
a third class can never cease boasting of its 
talented sons and daughters. Prague belongs 
to this last class. Whatever report we may 
happen to take up that proceeds from Prague 
we find its home artists treated with a deli- 
cate respect, an almost maternal cordiality; 
and among such criticisms we are sure to 
meet with the name mentioned first at the 
head of this article. And as even the field, 
merely, which the young composer has chosen 

^ From Music and Musicians. Essaws and Criticisms, 
by RoBKRT Schumann. Translated, eaited, annotated by 
Faxnt Raymond Rittbr. Seeond Series. (New York, 
JBdirard Sohuberdi ik Co. Loodon, Wm. BMves. 1S80.) 



to display his talent on, proves that his aim is 
no common one, I listened to his work — as 
one should listen to every work — with a 
favorable preconceived opinion. The score, 
neatly written in a refined, musician-like 
hand, enabled me to unravel the web still 
more easily. 

A tone of cheerfulness and contentment 
breathes through this whole quartet; deep 
and sorrowful experience seems unknown to 
the young composer ; he stands at the en- 
trance of life with music as his fair compan- 
ion ; the work sparkles with a soft glitter. 
Its form presents no remarkable boldness or 
novelty ; it is correct, and carried through 
with a hand already experienced, it would 
appear. The harmonic conduct of the whole, 
as well as of separate parts, is worthy of es- 
pecial praise ; a clearer, purer, corrector fifth 
opus has seldom been written. And from the 
manner in which the composer treats the 
string instruments, it is plain that he under- 
stands and has often played them. I might 
characterize the work to readers who have 
not facilities for easily obtaining it, as stand- 
ing next to the Onslow quartet in manner ; 
certain echoes of Spohr have become com- 
mon property in this form ; but a few Auber- 
ian passages appear out of place in it. After 
the scherzo, the first movement is most to 
be commended, in which I only object to the 
retrogression in the middle as too straggling, 
too little interesting ; besides, in the preced- 
ing working up, the complete minor key (E 
minor) is touched on, a harmonic succession 
that we find almost wholly avoided in model 
works. Yet these are but trifling faults, 
scarcely worth mentioning in comparison with 
the counterbalancing excellence of the move- 
ment. The adagio was on the point of seem- 
ing monotonous to me, when, just at the right 
moment, the composer reintroduced the prin- 
cipal melody, giving to it an altered, exciting 
character. This determined the movement. 
The first part of the scherzo is excellent, 
worked out artistically and industriously ; the 
trio is more effeminate. The last movement 
satisfies me the least. I know that some of 
the best masters close in a similar merry 
rondo style. But when a work is seriously 
and energetically taken hold of, it should be 
ended in the same manner, and not with a 
rondo, especially with one the theme of 
which reminds too strongly of a familiar Auber 
melody. In the middle he tries to interest 
us with some short fugued passages (in which 
firm theorists might draw his attention, to the 
false entrance of the comes); but I never had 
a high opinion of this kind of work, which 
does not venture beyond the first entrance on 
the fifth, and which can excite learned won- 
der in none save amateurs. Notwithstanding 
this the movement is pretty, and certain to 
please, if well played in public. May this 
composer strive ever onwards and higher, 
and on novel paths ! He has already ac- 
quired much, and is sure to sustain himself 
with honor on broader fields of battle. 

The next thing we played was the above- 
mentioned trio by J. F. £. Sobolewski ; and 
now the reader mast depend wholly on our 
opinion, as the work is still in manuscript; 



and there is a great deal to be said aboat it 
This composer's masic is a witness to the 
fact that he lives by the seashore in the 
North. The trio is different from all others, 
original in form and spirit, full of deep mel- 
ody. It may be often heard, well played; 
and yet it does not produce a decided effect ; 
like the whole, it seems to have arisen at a 
time of crisis, during a struggle between old 
and new ways of musical thought. It does 
not appear, either, that the pianoforte is this 
composer's instrument; he writes for it 
^^thanklessly" enough, my pianist thinks. 
It would be presumptuous to decide as to 
what degree ^of talent thb composer poss es se s 
from a single trio, especially as this has been 
written a long time, since when he bais 
brought out larger works, cantatas, an ora- 
torio, ." Lazarus," etc. * But we doubly re- 
spect him as critic, in which capacity he is 
best known to us, since we learn that he is 
also a poet in hb art. 

We next turned with pleasure to the quin- 
tet by L. Fuchs, whose compositions we made 
acquaintance with on our first quartet morn- 
ing, and at once reported in onr paper. I 
cannot, unfortunately, go much into detail, 
as I have not the score at hand, and some 
time has passed since the morning of per- 
formance, while only the general impression, 
the cheerful mood in which it set us, remains 
behind. It is scarcely conceivable how the 
addition of another viola at once alters this 
effect of the string instruments, or how very 
different is the character of the quintet from 
that of the quartet. The middle tints have 
more force and life; the single. parts work 
better together than masses ; if, in the quar-. 
tet, we listen to four separate players, wis 
now imagine we have an assemblage of them 
before us. Here a clever harmonist, such as 
we know this composer to be, can let himself 
go as he fancies, winding the parts in and 
out, and showing what he is capable of. All 
the movements are excellent, the scherzo 
especially so, and next, the first movement. 
Certain details in it surprise us as though we 
caught on the lips of a soberly-clad citizen a 
verse from Goethe or Schiller ; and it was 
plain that my enthusiastic quintet players 
were pleased and much interested in a work 
that ought to be generally known. 

When I have in mind the highest descrip- 
tion of music, such as Bach and Beethoven 
have bestowed on us in some of their crea- 
tions, — when I speak of those rare moods 
of mind, such as the artist should inspire in 
us, — I demand that each of his workjs shall 
lead me a step forward in the spiritual domin- 
ion of art, and I demand poetic depth and 
novelty everywhere, in detail as well as in 
the whole ; but I have long to seek for this, 
and none of the above-mentioned, little of 
recently-published music, satisfies such a de- 
mand. In our next quartet meetings, we 
tried some of the music of a young man who 
seemed to draw it from a living depth * of 
genius at times ; yet there are certain limits 
to this opinion, of which, as well as of the 
subject that suggested it, I shall now speak 
further. 

s Since the aboTe was written, be has made a 
dnunatto oompoier QEkihumann's note U ISBSy* 



186 



DWIQHT'S JOVRNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— .No. 1083. 



lOXTBTH AlfD FIFTH QUABTBT UORKmGS. 

I will now relate so much as belongs to the 
public of these two secret musical gatherings. 
I call them secret, because in them only the 
manuscripts of an until now wholly unknown 
(as composer) young musician, Hermann 
Hirschbach, were played. As an author, he 
must cerUinly have awakened the attention 
of our readers by .the boldness and penetra- 
tion of the views he has made public in a few 
articles in our paper. After so much promise, 
it was natural for me, on taking the measure 
of his intellect, to expect extraordinary things 
from him as a composer. I cannot even think 
of his works without deep sympathy; fain 
would I bury myself in remembrance for 
Hours together, and talk with my reader of 
him. It may be, besides, that all that is two- 
fold in the character of his compositions, 

so like my own in this little-understood quality, 
— has made me susceptible, has quickly re- 
vealed his music to me. Of this much, how- 
ever, I am cerUin, that his endeavor has 
been the most remarkable of all I have 
chanced on among young talent for a long 
tmie. The form of his music can scarcely be 
defined in words j it is itself speech, yet it 
speaks to us but as the flowers, or as eyes 
that relate secret histories to each other, as 
transmigrated spirito may converse ; the speech 
of the soul, the truest musical life. We 
played and listened to three great quartets 
and a qumtet, all written on passages from 
Goethe's « Faust," more as a decoration than 
as a description, though the music is clear 
enough in itself ; it was a longing aspiration, 
a call for salvation, a continuous rushing on- 
wards,— and amid this, happy forms, golden 
meadows, rosy evening clouds ; I hope I do 
not exaggerate when I say that the com- 
poser sometimes seemed himself to be the 
gloomy magician Faust, as he brought before 
us, in floating outlines of fancy, the varied 
scenes of his life. Besides these, I have seen 
an overture to "Hamlet" by him, a grand 
symphony in several movements, a second, 
half finished, the movements of which should 
proceed one after the other in a breath ; both 
equally fantastic, full of vital strength, differ- 
ing in form from all preceding ones except 
those of Berlioz, with some orchestral pas- 
sages such as we are only accustomed to hear 
from Beethoven, when he hurries like a 
destroyer to the battle-field against the entire 
world. And now comes my "best" It is 
with us here as it often is when we first look 
on the pictures of genial young painters, 
which, from their grandeur of composition 
(even outwardly), richness and truth of color, 
etc., so completely take us captive, that we 
only wonder^ and overlook falsehoods in de- 
tail, errors of drawing, etc. When I listened 
to these things for the second time, certain 
passages already began to annoy me; pas- 
sages' that sm— I will not say against the 
first rules of the schools — but against the 
ear and the natural laws of harmonic pro- 
.gression. I do not count fifths among these 
only, but also some conclusions in the bass, 
and some modulatiops such as we meet with 
in inexperienced writers. These faults were 
as disagreeable to my musicians as to me. 



There is a sort of instinctive mastery of 
cadences, and so on, that seems to be the 
gift of nature, upon which that ordinary musi- 
cal understanding, common to nearly all pro- 
fessional musicians, is grounded. If a young 
composer offends against this, it matters not 
how intellectual he may be, he is certain to 
find such men draw back from him, and 
scarcely even regard him as one of them. 
Whence comes this lack of a refined sense of 
hearing, of a correct management of har- 
mony, amid so many other great gifts ? Did 
the composer discover his talent too late.^ 
Did he abandon study too soon ? Is it that, 
in his richness of idea, his command of a 
generally m^tj deep principal melody, full of 
meaning, in the upper part, he is unable to 
invent equally well for the lower ones? or 
are his organs of hearmg really ineflScient? 
This is a great question, as also is that, as to 
whether or not there is any help for the 
fault. The world will probably never see 
these works ; and, to speak honestly, I would 
only counsel their publication on condition of 
many previous alterations, and even great 
omissions. This is, however, advice which 
we leave to the composer to accept or reject. 
This article is simply intended to call atten- 
tion to a talent, beside which I could not 
plac^on the same level a single one among 
my recent discoveries; and music which, a 
result of the deepest psychical powers, has 
often touched me to the soul. 

(To be oontlnued.) 



MR. SULLIVAN'S "MARTYR OF ANTI- 

OCH." 

(From the London Daily TeUgn^h,) 
Mr. Arthur Sullivan, looking about for the sub- 
ject of a composition to be produced at the Leeds 
Festival, came upon the late Dean Mihnan's 
dramatic poem, The Martyr of ArUioch, and 
selected it. He must have seen something there 
able to make amends for the staleness of the 
story. Perhaps because Biblical incidents have 
been used up, English composers some time ago 
began to choose their themes from the records of 
the early church, naturally selecting those which 
set forth the constancy of the Martyrs. Thus we 
have an oratorio, St. Polycarp, by the Oxford 
professor of music, Sir Gore Ousely; a cantata, 
St. Ceciliay by Sir Julius Benedict; a second 
work of the same description, Placida, by Mr. 
William Carter; and yet another, St. Dorothea, 
by Mme. Sainton-Dolby. Varied in treatment 
and character as are these works, there are yet 
points of resemblance, due to the fact that they all 
deal with the same general theme — the persecu- 
tion, constancy, and death of those who counted 
aU things, even love and life, but dross for the 
sake of the Master to whom they had given their 
allegiance. Mr. Sullivan knew perfectly well, 
therefore, that his choice of Dean Milman's story 
involved a sacrifice of freshness, but his resolve 
may have been strengthened by a determination 
to treat it from an original point of vipw, and 
thus, while avoiding comparisons, secure the ele- 
ment of novelty wanting in the subject It is the 
fashion now for composers to follow, more or less, 
lonffo ifUervaUo, in the wake of Wagner, and con- 
struct their own libretti. Sometimes they are 
successful, more often they fail; but Mr. Sullivan 
is hardly a distinct addition to either category. 
I shall not trouble the reader with details of the 
measure and the manner m which the book of The 
Martyr of Antioch departs from the original poem. 



That is a point of small consequence, and may be 
passed over for the important fact that an examina- 
tion of the libretto shows Mr. Sullivan to have 
been guided more by his instincts as a muKician 
than by his taste as a dramatist. We learn from 
the preface that besides writing some rhyme verse 
for the piece, Mr. W. S. Gilbert gave his friend 
and coUaborateur the benefit of certain Fuggcstions. 
It would seem, however, that Mr. Gilbert, out of 
profound sympathy with Mr. Sullivan, refrained 
from hints which in their result might have re- 
stricted the composer's opportunity for appealing 
to popular tastes. The exact significance of this 
remark will appear as I take the *< sacred musical 
drama" — Mr. Sullivan rejects the term "can- 
tata " — and examine it scene by scene. 

The action opens at Antioch towards the dose 
of the tliird century, when Syria was governed 
for Rome by the Prefect Olybius. We are first 
shown the Temple of Apollo during the celebra- 
tion of rites in honor of the Sun God. Youths 
and maidens chants hb praises with grateful refer- 
ence to his various attributes, as Lord of Day, as 
Master of the Lyre, whose music makes even love- 
sick damsels heedless of their lovers' approach, 
and so on. When the hymn ceases, the prefect 
(tenor) notices the absence of the priestess Mar- 
garita (soprano) from her place at the altar. 
Margarita is betrothed to Olybius, who calls for 
her in impassioned strains. To his appeal there 
is no answer, but tlie high priest Callias (bass) 
seizes the opportunity to reproach the prefect 
with indulgence shown to the Christian sect. 
Olybius confesses the guilt of undue leniency, but 
swears that henceforth no mercy shall be granted, 
whereupon the crowd salute him as the " Christian 
scourge," and the scene closes. This part of the 
drama will bear examination, although it may be 
charged with want of symmetry, owing to the 
great length of the opening hymn — which fills 
no less than seventy out of ninety pages. But 
the "argument" of the scene is compact, and 
comes to an end significant as well as definite, 
since we are bound to remember the absence of 
Margarita, and to see a dark shadow projected 
upon her path as Olybius, the maiden's lover, and 
Callias, her father, make the compact of extermi- 
nation. Nor should the fact be overlooked that 
expectation is called forth by keeping back the 
priestess till a moment when, owing to the omens 
of her fate, all interest centres in her person. 
The music of the scene is faithfully representa- 
tive of the general character Mr. Sullivan has 
given to his work. I have already pointed out 
that seven-ninths of the pages devoted to it are 
taken up by the Pagan chorus, whence it follows 
that the real action is treated in a somewhat 
sketchy manner. As here, so throughout the 
drama; and, as throughout the drama so here 
few music-lovers will feel inclined to visit the 
composer with censure. Our judgment may warn 
us of too much lyricism, and that the dramatic 
element is being hurriedly passed by, but our 
feelings are likely to over-ride our judgment, since 
Mr. Sullivan is most charming when represented 
by the incense, flowers, and songs of Apollo's 
maidens. With these are all his sympathies, and 
he invests them with so much musical beauty of 
form and color that they command our sympa- 
thies likewise, and make Uie poor Christians and 
their lugubrious strains appear as uninteresting 
as they are sombre. The scene is preluded by 
an arrangement for orchestra of the theme sung 
by Margarita at the stake, which need not be re- 
ferred to here more than is necessary to eulocrixe 
the scoring. Thus early the composer indicates 
the quarter whither we must look for one of the 
chief attractions of his work. In setting the 
long hymn to Apollo, efiicient precautions are 
taken against monotony. The hymn is divided 
into six sectibns, presenting a good deal of variety 



NOTKHBER 20, 1880.] 



DWIQHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



187 



in style and character, some being given to female 
and others to male voices only, while, again, 
others employ the full chorus. There is also a 
contralto solo, " The love-sick damsel laid," which 
may fairly be included among Mr. Sullivan's 
most beautiful conceptions. A languid and, in 
some respects, original melody is supported upon 
the close harmonies of low strings, while two 
clarinets reiterate in thirds and sixths a " figure." 
composed of three notes only. The harmonic 
progressions, as the songs, are as far removed 
from commonplace as its general character, and 
wherever The Martyr of Antioch goes, connois- 
seurs will discover " The love-sick maiden " one 
of its principal beauties. Mr. Sullivan has un- 
doubtedly been influenced by Mendelssohn in the 
Pagan chorus, not, perhaps, as to form, and cer- 
tainly not as regards details, but the sentiment 
and general character of the music have a family 
relationship with the sentiment and character of 
the Getman master's illustrations to Sophocles. 
The local color, as determined by Mendelssohn, 
is well sustained ; and the orchestration, especially 
for violins, is unusually brilliant and picturesque, 
while the various parts of the extended hymn are 
cunningly welded into a whole by an occasional 
use of a phrase with which the first opens. Pass- 
ing from this to tlie dialogue of Olybius and Cal- 
lias, not much is found calling for note, and 
musical interest centres chiefly in the prefect's 
invocation of his bride-elect, "Come Margarita, 
come." The song — which, like "The love-sick 
maiden," was vociferously encored at Friday's 
performance — is a perfect gem in its pretty, yet, 
withal, artistic way. Melody and expression are 
alike charming, but the connoisseur will admire 
its structure as much as either. Each verse 
ends in a different key — F, £-flat, D-flat — the 
return to the original key (B-flat) being in every 
case made by an exquisite transition through D- 
minor, on the words, " Come Margarita, come." 
No such contribution to English lyric music has 
been made for years past. 

The second scene opens in a Christian burial- 
place what time a funeral service is performed by 
the Bishop of Antioch, Fabius (bass). After the 
assembled people have sung a hymn, the bishop 
begins an address, but is interrupted by an alarm 
of advancing foes, and dismisses his flock to their 
homes. One, however, remains behind, and that 
one is Margarita. Taking the lyre she had used 
before the altar of Apollo, the priestess sings a 
hymn in praise of Christ, at the close of which 
her father, Callias, enters, bidding her attend the 
waiting rite. At this Margarita declares her 
change of faith, and the action of the scene ends. 
Some objections are obvious. In the first place, 
too much time is taken up by the funeral anthem 
— an extraneous business altogether ; and, next, 
the interview between Callias and his daughter 
has no adequate conclusion, while in character it 
is tame and unnatural. A father and child, con- 
scious that the life of one was at stake, would, in 
the first moments of grief and terror, hardly 
enter upon a discussion about their respective 
gods. We demand to know, moreover, what comes 
of Margarita's declaration, but receive no answer, 
the scene suddenly closing in. As regards the 
music, I must say of the Christian anthem as 
of the Pagan that, whatever its dramatic im- 
propriety, no one will complain. It is a very 
beautiful, tender, and impressive setting of the 
well-known hymn, " Brother, thou art gone before 
us," and will be heard on many an occasion as 
mournful in real life as that which calls it forth 
in the drama. Margarita's song to the Saviour, 
with its introductory recitative, presents another 
capital number. The recitative is full of expres- 
sion, and *the song of a chaatened joy, mingled 
with deep reverence, and pity for the sufferings 
entailed by human guilt I cannot so highly ap- 



prove the music to the dialogue of Margarita and 
Callias, and it only serves to show how far Mr. 
Sullivan has overlooked the seriousness of the 
situation when we find as principal theme a 
melody light enough for the entree of some heroine 
of comedy. Mr. Sullivan has made a mistake 
here, and, as an expositor of human feeling, is a 
disappointment But the music itself gives no 
cause for offence. Those who are as superficial 
at itself have a right, indeed, to be pleased with it 

At the opening of the third scene we are intro- 
duced to the house of the prefect, near which our 
composer's favorites, the maidens, are inviting 
one another to quit tlie busy streets and breathe 
the balmy evening air in the groves of Daphne. 
When their song ends, Olybius addresses Marga- 
rita — who has somehow or other made her way 
to the palace — and paints a dazzling picture of 
her future pomp. In return, the ex-priestess re- 
minds Olybius of his thirst for glory, and offers 
him that which shall be eternal in the Heavens. 
The prefect answers in a mood playful and tender, 
but when he hears her entreat him to become a 
Christian, curses rush to his lips — curses which 
would be invoked upon the head of Christ himself 
but that Margarita arrests the words. At this 
the maiden bids her betrothed farewell, and, when 
asked whither she was going, replies, " To my 
prison, sir," by which we are left to infer that she 
voluntarily immures herself. When I state that 
the whole of the scene between the lovers occupies 
but five pages of the pianoforte score, it will be 
obvious that Mr. Sullivan has again treated his 
drama with scant respect. The maidens' chorus, 
on the other hand, fills twenty-one pages. Again, 
however, the consolation comes to us that we 
would not shorten it by a bar, preferring, for the 
sake of so much beauty, that the story should be 
treated as a peg to hang it on. The chorus, 
"Come away with willing feet," is one of the 
most charming the work contains. Written in 
two parts for female voices and in two sections 
(B-flat and (r-minor), it adds to lovely and char- 
acteristic melody the interest of an accompani- 
ment made fascinating by a delicate use of the 
wind instruments against a moto continuo for 
muted violins, throughout which a gruppetto of 
six notes is almost incessantly repeated. More 
thoroughly enjoyable and at the same time char- 
acteristic music could not have been written. 
The song of the prefect to Margarita, " See what 
Olybius's love prepares for thee," is inferior in 
charm to his first air, though not without decided 
merit The music to the lovers' dialogue de- 
scends by comparison to insignificance. 

We now enter upon the fourth and last scene. 
Mr. Sullivan's maidens hasten to the Temple of 
Apollo, past the prison of the Christians, singing 
as they go. The Christians hear them, and chant 
the praises of the true God. Meanwhile, prefect, 
priests, and people have gathered for the test of 
Margarita and Julia (contralto). A representa- 
tive of the heathen creed demands the presence 
of the accused. As she is brought forth, a hymn 
to Apollo is sung, and when the martyr stands 
face to face with her persecutors, Julia, Olybius, 
and Callias set before her the choice — Olybius's 
throne or a blasphemer's fate. She unhesitar 
tingly. accepts death, whereupon the multitude 
call fiercely for instant execution. In reply, the 
martyr, like her prototype at Jerusalem, vindi- 
cates her faith and appeals to the final judgment. 
Once more the people shout, " Blasphemy ! " but 
Margarita, undaunted, sings the glory and might 
of Him who protects her, and is so beautiful in 
her fervor that the prefect exclaims, when her 
loosed locks flow in the frantic grace of inspiration 
from the burst fillet down her snowy neck, " Never 
yet looked she so lovely." A last appeal is now 
made by Julia, Olybius, And Callias, and a last 
formal tender offered of sacrifice to Apollo or 



death. As the martyr remains constant, fire is 
applied to the pyre on which she stands, and 
Margarita then bursts into a rapturous song. 
She sees visions of Ilei^ven, the starry pavement 
of the city " not made with hands," the angel^ 
Cherubim and Seraphim, appear to her ecstatic 
gaze, till at last she beholds the Son of Man him- 
self, and exclaiming, " Lord, I conie," expires, as 
a brief chorus of glory to the Almighty is sung 
by the on-looking Christians. The dramatic con- 
struction of this scene is not open to objection in 
any serious degree. It tells the story with con- 
ciseness and point, and, if it represents the father 
and lover of the martyr as singularly calm in 
their concern for the victim, it puts the martyr 
herself in a strong and. suflicient light The 
music once more illustrates Mr. Sullivan's pre- 
ference to the heathen, the opening chorus of 
maidens being as charming as most of its pred- 
ecessors. But the palm of merit unquestionably 
belongs to the hymn " lo Paean," sung as Mfurga- 
rita is brought forth. It is chiefly remarkable 
first for a broadly phrased solo with characteristic 
chorus, and next for an accompaniment consisting 
of a one-bar phrase continuaily repeated, after 
the model set by Mr. Sullivan's revel chorus in 
the " Prodigal Son." The number is one of 
striking cleverness, and right well deserves the 
encore it obtained at the performance on Friday- 
Margarita's address to her judges contidns some 
fine music, principally orchestral, but the choruses 
of the incensed people, if not too brief, are 
decidedly too conventional for the interest they 
might otherwise have excited. A quartet for 
Margarita, Julia, Olybius, and Callias, ,<'Have 
mercy, unrelenting Heaven," though pleasing, 
lacks the intense feeling natural to the situation. 
On the other hand, the martyr's final song is one 
of great beauty and power. Not only may the 
melody be described as rapturous, but the move- 
ments, color, and rhythm of the orchestra seem to 
suggest the full, throbbing, ecstatic life about to be 
merged into the life eternal, and gather force as 
the song proceeds and the end draws near. The 
change to short and agitated phrases at the vision 
of the Saviour is well managed, and the gradual 
piling of force and strenuous expression till the 
triumphant chorus bursts in belongs emphatically 
to the good things of art 

Taking The Martyr of Antioch as a whol^ I do 
not question its chance of the popularity for which 
Mr. Sullivan has striven. It is a work that no 
one, be he musician or not, can hear without 
interest and admiration. At th6 same time criti- 
cism will always point to the fact that the drama 
is treated substantially as a pretext for charming 
choruses and airs. But while the finger of criti- 
cism is thus engaged, the voice of criticism will, 
for the sake of those choruses and airs, say as 
little as possible. 

HANSLICK ON JACQUES OFFENBACH.* 
When Offenbach came in February last year 
to Vienna, for the purpose of directing the final 
rehearsal and first performance of his Madame 
Favartf he resembled a crumbling ruin, which may 
noiselessly collapse in the night His friends re- 
marked with dismay the hippocratic expression 
in the weary face of him who was once so lively, 
and on taking leave had a presentiment that it 
was forever. This last jpurney of his, ill as he 
was, to his tenderly beloved Vienna, was one of 
the numerous proofs of the marvellous strength 
of will and love of work which triumphed over 
all bodily ills. Nothing, save such strength of 
will and love of work, could have effected the 
miracle of prolonging for another year the life of 
a man whose constitution was so shattered* 
Musical talent of a perfectly nnnsnal order and 
a brilliant specialty bATe pMed away with Offea- 



> From the VImuu Neue JTreit AnstM. 



<w «■ 



188 



DWIQHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1083 



b«ch. The popularity of his works cannot possi- 
bly be greater than it was during his lifetime, but 
Crerman critics may, perhaps, be induced by his 
death to form a more impartial estimate, and 
judge them from a musical and not merely from a 
one-sided moral point of view, as they have 
hitherto done. Much as he wrote, Offenbach 
was always original ; we recog^nize his music as 
*' Offenbachish " after only two or three bars, 
and this fact alone raises him high above his 
many French and German imitators, whose buffo 
operas would shrivel up miserably were we to 
confiscate all that is Offenbachish in them. He 
created a new style in which he reigned absolutely 
alone, and, though that style certainly held a sub- 
ordinate rank in the hierarchy of the drama, it 
afforded millions of human beings for a quarter 
of a century the almost lost pleasure derivable 
from a copious stream of fresh, easy-flowing, joy- 
ous music. To musical tragedy and the higher 
musical comedy, Offenbach added a third and 
well-justified category : the musical farce. That 
there is now a serious overflow in a style which, 
.before his appearance, had dried up, is something 
that cannot be laid to hi» charge. Of his many 
successors, not a single one comes up to him in 
combining melodic talent and accomplished techni- 
cal skill ; the most that can be said is that Johann 
Strauss approaches him nearly in the former, and 
Lecocq in the latter respect 

At present that death — that undesired but still 
finally indispensable aid to criticism — has closed 
Offenbach's career, we are enabled to take a survey 
of his enormous activity. This may be divided 
into three periods, corresponding pretty nearly 
with the three last decades — the 50's, 60's, and 
70's. The first period includes his short one-act 
pieces with songs interspersed, and exhibits his 
talent in its most amiable and unpretending aspect 
In the second, we see him advancing to larger 
forms, while his fancy grows more luxuriant and 
his technical skill more certain, his effects at the 
same time becoming more elaborated; it is the 
period which with Orphee, La Belle Hileney Gene- 
tnkvCf Barbe-Bleue, etc., enters on the dangerous 
domain of extravagant travesty and parody, and 
reaches almost to the end of the sixties. Thence- 
forth, Offenbach left the field of travesty and 
again turned rather to comedy properly so called ; 
at ihe commencement of the third period, he 
wrote some charming pieces, half farce and half 
comedy — such as La Prineesse de Trehizonde, La 
Vie Parisienney and Vert- Vert — but he grew weary 
in the concluding years, and, though still wonder- 
fully fertile, gave us as a rule only a weak reflex of 
his former compositions. 

What rendered Offenbach's name all at once 
celebrated and popular was, as we know, the 
short one-act pieces interspersed with songs with 
which, during the International Exhibition of 1 855, 
he inaugurated the little theatre in the Champs 
Elys^s. These pieces had, however, been pre- 
ceded by a number of attempts of which the 
world knew nothing, and probably lost nothinor 
by its ignorance. When a young man, Offen- 
bach had, from 1845 to 1855, been Indefatigable 
in writing operas and buffo operas, with which he 
iMid in vain knocked at the doors of Parisian 
theatrical managers. So he set up a miniature 
theatre of his own, and, in his one-act pieces inter- 
spersed with songs, hit upon the right form for 
ys fresh and graceful talent With three or 
four artists, who could just manage to sing, and a 
tiny orchestra, but without chorus or dancers, 
and without the slightest outlay in mounting them. 
Off enbac^ gave in the quickest succession those 
boe-aet buffo operas which, merely by the charm 
cf : their joyous, graceful, and at the same time, 
-ehmcteristic melodies, . attracted , the public in 
teif&M§i and •permanently held them' spell-bound. 
BoMiril, who beftt^ than $Aj one else kjiew how 



to appreciate that rarity, prolific melodic talent, 
designated Offenbach, jokingly but significantly, 
as the " Mozart of the Champs Elys^es." Vienna 
knows most of these sliort one-act pieces: Le 
Mariage aux LantemeSf Monsieur et Madame 
Denis, Les deux Aoeugles, La Chanson de Fortunio, 
etc., from, their having been performed at the 
Treumann-Theater and the Carl-Theater. The 
general and joyous welcome accorded to the un- 
pretending little works was well deserved and 
easily to be explained. The short one-act piece, 
with songs for four characters and without chorus, 
may be considered an invention of Offenbach's, 
or, at least, a modern revival of a style of 
writing which, cultivated in the last century 
by Monsigny, Phllidor, and Gretry, had fallen 
into oblivion. This style gradually re-appeared 
just as the opdra-comique approximated more 
and more to the style and magnificent mis-enscene 
of the grand opera. More and more rarely 
were one-act pieces given at the former theatre 
as levers de rideau to half-empty benches. By so- 
called '* comic" operas with the grand preten- 
sions of VEtoUe du Nord or Dinorah^ this form 
of art was so entirely impelled in the direction 
of the grand opera,* that the old cheerful aspect 
of the op^ra-comique was no longer recogniz- 
able, and comic pieces interspersed with songs 
were threatened with extinction. With his buffo 
operettas (which hold pretty much the same posi- 
tion relatively to comic opera that comic opera 
holds to grand) Offenbach filled up a very sensi- 
ble gap, and, after a long drought, once more sup- 
plied mankind, eager for laughter and thirsting 
for melody, with a stream of musical cheerfulness. 
With all its originality, Offenbach's style is more 
nearly related to that of Auber and Adam than 
to any other. The French is the prevailing but 
not the sole element in him. Certain youthful 
impressions not to be obliterated, especially from 
the oi)eras of Mozart and C. M. Weber (the only 
composers of whom he spoke with enthusiasm), a 
ray of German romanticism, and the comic carna- 
valistic extravagance of his native town, Cologne, 
were combined in him with the frolicsome grace 
of his adopted country, France. Finally, there 
was a third national clement without which Offen- 
bach can no more be thoroughly explained than 
H. Heine : the wit and acuteness of the Jew. Of 
all Offenbach's works, the group of one-act pieces 
interspersed with songs, with their irresistible 
humor and perfect form, please us to-day more 
than any others. How many potentates of la 
haute critique would fain persuade themselves and 
others that such trifles are easily written. Yes, 
so they are for any one possessing the grace of 
God. By why is it that this gift i^ so rare ? 

It was natural that Offenbach's talent should 
soon endeavor to extend the narrow limits of his 
first short productions. He wrote the music of 
pieces in more acts, and decked out dramatically 
as well as scenically with greater richness. Such 
works were Orphee, La Belle Helene, Barbe-Bleue, 
Genevieve de Brabant, and others. In these works 
of his second period we. find not only his ambition 
but likewise his art have undeniably grown. In 
musical wealth and wit the better scores of the 
second period are undoubtedly superior to his 
previous ones, but they sacrifice the early sim- 
plicity and natural charm that they may do jus- 
tice to plots of which some are frivolously gro- 
tesque and some pompously rampant. Though 
very far from being the advocate of such librettos 
as Orphee and La Belle H^lkne, we will mention 
in Offenbach's favor two mitigating circumstances 
for the consideration of those who condemn him 
unconditionally. In the first place, the notion of 
parodying tbe stories of Greek heroes and gods 
in comic musical pieces is not by any means new ; 
it flourished in the last and in the present century 
on the German stage, especially in Vienna, the 



home of Blumauer's Traverstirte ^neide. Only 
the text and music were then immeasurably more 
trivial and senseless than in Offenbach's operas. 
In the latter, the librettists with all their extrav- 
agance are witty. The idea of the good-natured 
music-master, Orpheus, being compelled by " pub- 
lic opinion " to fetch back from the world below 
his deceased wife, who during her lifetime worried 
and deceived him, is decidedly clever. The do- 
mestic life of the gods in Orphee, the parody of 
the oracle-business and the Olympic games in La 
Belle Helene, are unquestionably very witty no- 
tions. The same applies to the fundamental idea 
of La Grande Duchesse de Gdrolstein, which ex- 
hibits with much humor the autocracy of petty 
states, as exemplified in the rapid promotion of 
the private Fritz to the rank of general, and his 
equally quick degradation to the ranks again. 
Secondly, when there is a question of serious 
criticism, Offenbach's music should be held re- 
sponsible neither for the excesses of the librettists 
nor those of the actors. While, to begin with, 
his works lose much of their wit and sharpness in 
the Grerman versions, they suffer very much from 
the way they are usually performed in Germany. 
Admirable representations of his best pieces were 
given at the Carl-Theater (when, besides Tewele, 
Knaack and Motras, Carl Treumann, Grobecker, 
MUller, Fontelive, and, subsequently, Gallmeyer 
and Meyerhoff were members of the company). 
The same is true of the Theater an der Wien, 
with Mme. Geistinger — who was discovered and 
induced to adopt this style of piece by Offenbach 
himself — and the triad, Blasel, Rott, and Swo- 
boda. But the coarse, senseless, and unattractive 
performances of Offenbach's operas in the smaller 
court and town theatres of Germany, are some- 
thing astounding, and critics who derive all their 
knowledge from such exhibitions generally, of 
course, judge Offenbach angrily and unjustly. 

It is at the end of the 60's, say, after La 
Grand Duchesse de Gerolstein, that we would fix 
the termination of Offenbach's second period, 
which was more especially that of parody and 
travesty. The commencement of the third period 
is marked by several charming three and four-act 
pieces, more nearly resembling comedies, and ex- 
hibiting the composer's talent in all its freshness, 
while ^ey are at the same time more refined and 
moderate in tone, and with only rare relapses into 
the grotesque extravagancies of the second period. 
These pieces were La Princesse de Trebizonde, La 
Vie Parisienne, and Vert-Vert, (performed at the 
Carl-Theater under the title of Kakadu), Induced 
to make an attempt in a higher style, Offenbach 
wrote at this period two more important works 
for the op^ra-comique, Le Roi Barkouf, and 
Robinson Crusoe, both of which proved non-suc- 
cessful. Two similar attempts in Vienna con- 
vinced his friends that his light and ready talent, 
devoid of contrapuntal and polyphonic resources, 
ji^nd incapable of pathetic expression, did not suf- 
fice for serious subjects dramatically developed. 
We allude to the romantic opera Die Rhein-Nixen 
(the graceful ballet music of which Herbeck. saved 
by introducing it into the third act of Nicolai's 
Lustige Weiber von Windsor) produced, in 1864, 
with but little success at the Karntnerthor-Thea- 
ter, and the opera of Fantasio, which kept posses- 
sion of the boards of the Theater an der Wien 
only a short time. In both cases, Offenbach got 
hold of a bad libretto, and, what was still worse, 
one not in keeping with his own individuality. 
He took all possible pains to be serious and pas- 
sionate, to stretch himself out beyond his natural 
length, but the most he could accomplish were a 
few isolated happy moments. Art is better served, 
however, by those who acknowledge t^ by those 
who deny their own peculiar nature. Offenbach 
acted wisely, therefore, in again devoting himself 
entirely to the lighter style of bnffo opera. In 



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DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



189 



the last six or eight years, there was ao undeni- 
able diminution of his power of invention, and 
he had recourse to frequent reminiscences and 
loans (though only, by the way,. from his own 
capital). Every one, even the weakest, of his 
subsequent operas was always adorned by one or 
more pieces in which his former talent shone full 
and bright ; but detached beauties were not enough 
for lasting success. The operas of his last period 
known in Vienna are Lea Brigands, Les BrtLConr 
niers, Boule de Neige, Le Corsaire Noir, La Creole, 
La Jolie Par/umeu$€f La Boulanghre a des Echh, 
Madame rArchiduc, and, to conclude, La FiUe du 
Tambowr Major, The last according to his own 
reckoning, is his hundredth opera. Thus, with 
the two unacted works Les Contes d* Hoffmann^ 
and Lurette, which he was completing on his 
death-bed, his dramatic efforts amounted to 162. 
To astounding facility of production Offen- 
bach united the most exemplary industry. He 
was able (like Mozart and Rossini) to compose 
amid all conceivable kinds of interruption at all 
times, and in any place. I have often beheld 
him quietly working, with friends and acquaint- 
ances chattering close to him, and, whenever he 
came to Vieniia he brought with him a goodly 
number of sketches, which he had jotted down 
with a pencil in tlie carriage. But more astonish- 
ing than aught else was his self-command and 
patience, when, ill and racked with pain, he would 
go on indefatigably working, and confer every 
day, on a bed of sickness, with his librettists 
about the next scenes. Hu exertions by no means 
concluded with the completion of a score. He 
was continually changing and improving during 
the rehearsals; he never hesitated an instant 
cutting out a pleasing number if he found that it 
impeded the action, and he was quite as ready in 
composing a new one at the last moment. He 
knew the stage as well as any one living, and 
never rested till he had given each of his pieces 
the most effective dramatic form and the greatest 
possible finish. In this respect, he was one of 
the most conscientious of artists. His melodies, 
too, lightly as they flowed to him, he liltered often 
and long, if their rhythm did not strike him as 
sufficiently catching and original. In inventing 
various forms of rhythm he was marvellous ; in 
this respect (the weakest point of our present 
operatic composers) his German colleagues might 
all take a lesson from him. We saw him remodel 
ten or twelve times the theme, ** Oh, que j'aime 
le militaire,*' in La Grande Ditchesse till the rhythm 
pleased him. Melodically inexhaustible, he requir- 
ed only the very simplest accompaniment of two or 
three chords whereon to write an endless series of 
the prettiest and at the same time most character- 
istic songs. This is something exceptionally rare in 
these days of over^loaded and far-fetched accom- 
paniments. Far weaker than his talent for melody 
and rhythm was his knowledge of harmony, while 
his contrapuntal acquirements, stood almost at 
zero. In its eminently comic power his music is 
well nigh unrivalled ; he possessed this rare quality 
in a far higher degree than Lortzing, Nicoiai, or 
Flotow. His delicate feeling for characteristic 
instrumentation, which however, never became 
intrusive, admirably backed up his talent for the 
musically comic element. And as the last, but not 
the least, merit of his operas, the separate musical 
numbers always grow naturally out of the situa- 
tion and delight us nearly invariably by their 
well-balanced and nicely rounded form. What- 
ever objections may be raised against him, 
Offenbadi was a musician of genial gifts and 
extraordinary knowledge of the stage. He was, 
moreover, a good, kindly-intentioned man, par- 
tieolarly susceptible of friendship, who could be 
' as weak, but alto aa naif, unsuspecting, and good- 
• Bjftared as a child. Eduabd HAKflUCK. 

— x^OfiwOii ^Ettstcw 'Wcfid* 



A CONCERT BY THE BLIND IN 

LONDON. 

In the large majority of cases a few lines of 
record suffice for the notice of pupils' concerts ; 
but that which was given last Saturday afternoon 
at the Crystal Palace, by the pupils of the Royal 
Normal College and Academy of Music for tlie 
Blind, was, for more than one reason, of such 
exceptional interest as to deserve a more detailed 
criticism in these columns. . . . 

In the first place, the programme, selected, we 
presume, by Mr. F. J. Campbell, the principal of 
the school, was noteworthy for the very high char- 
acter of the music performed; but, besides this, 
the rendering was distinguished not only by remark- 
able mechanical accuracy, but by an amount of 
taste and feeling which is rare indeed with per- 
formers still in the state of pupilage. The concert 
opened with Bach's well-known Organ Fugue in 
G-minor, well played by Mr. Arthur Stericker, a 
few slips which W*ere noticeable being apparently 
due to nervousness. Dr. Macfarren's Overture to 
Chevy Chace followed, being played by the 
Crystal Palace band under the direction of Mr. 
Manns. The performance of Leslie's trio, "O 
Memory," by Miss Dick, Miss Carson, and Mr. A. 
Wilmot, was, in our opinion, one of the gems of 
the concert. The exquisife taste and feeling with 
which this melodious little piece was given can 
scarcely be overpraised. Other remarkable per- 
formances among the solo numbers were Mr. J. 
West's singing of "It is enough," from Elijah, 
and Miss Reece's rendering of " Che faro," from 
Gluck's Or/eo. Both performers have good and 
excellently trained voices, and both sing with an 
amount of genuine feeling which recalled Beet- 
hoven's dictum, *' That which comes from the heart 
goes to the heart" The two soprano singers, Miss 
Dick and Miss Campbell, also deserve praise, while 
the choir of the institution, consisting of some 
thirty voices, sang two part-songs by Smart and 
Bennett, and the Reapers' chorus from Liszt's Pro- 
metheus most admirably. In the unaccompanied 
part-songs the gradations of light and shade and 
the unity of style and phrasing of the whole choir 
were particularly striking. Two pianists appeared, 
Mr. W. F. Schwier and Master Alfred Rollins. 
The former took the pianoforte obbligato part in 
Gade's Symphony in D-minor (No. 5), a very inter- 
esting and beautiful work, which had not been 
heard at the Crystal Palace since 1800.' The com- 
bination of the piano with the orchestra, is, of 
course, a familiar one when the former is employed 
in a concerto as a solo instrument. In Gade's sym- 
phony, however, we find an instance, so far as we 
know unique, of the use of the piano simply as an 
orchestral instrument — just as the harp is fre- 
quently used. It is only occasionally that it comes 
into prominence, but united with other instruments 
several novel effects of coloring arc produced in 
the quieter parts of the music. In a fortissimo it 
would of course, be overpowered by the orchestra. 
Bilr. Schwier performed his part of the symphony 
in a most artistic manner, though it is probable 
that he would have been heard to even more ad- 
vantage in a solo. It is not unlikely that the selec- 
tion of the symphony may have been designed to 
prove what some people have doubted — the possi- 
bility of a blind pianist playing with the orchestra 
with absolute precision, though of course unable to 
be guided by the conductor's beat. If this were 
the object, it was undoubtedly fully attained. 
Master Hollins, a lad of only fourteen years of 
age, gave a truly admirable performance of a pre- 
lude and fugue by Bach, and a showy piece (Tour 
a Cheval) of Raff's ; the playing of the latter was 
especially remarkable on account of the frequent 
skips for the hands, which would not be easy even 
for a pianist who could see the keys, but which 
were, nevertheless, taken with faultless accuracy. 

We have dealt more largely than is our custom 
in superlatives in speaking of this concert, because 
it is the simple truth that we have seldom, if ever, 
listened to a performance given by pupils of such 
a high average of merit from an artistic point of 
▼lew. The excellent teaching of the various pro- 
fastors at the Normal School has, of course, much 
to do with this; but there can be no doubt what- 



ever, in the mind of any one qualified to form an 
opinion, that quite as much, if not more, is due to 
the artistic infiuences brought to bear on the pupils, 
and especially to the musical performances at the 
Crystal Palace, at which they are constant visitors. 
For this reason we join most heartily with Dr. 
Armitage in deprecating the proposed removal of 
the school to Windsor. Such a course appears to 
have absolutely nothing to recommend it, while it 
would take away from the pupils the almost unri- 
valled advantages for their artistic development 
which they at present enjoy. — Athenaeum, July 17. 



BOITO'S " MEFISTOFELE." 

The following description of the Italian opera 
founded upon Goethe's "Faust," and which has 
formed this week the notable novelty of Messrs. 
Strakosch and Mess's season of opera in English at 
the Globe Theatre, appeared in last Monday's 
Advertiser. 

The following description of the work has been 
prepared from the piano score, — never thoroughly 
satisfactory as a means of giving a complete idea 
of a composition, and now that the orchestra has 
been assigned the most important duties in lyric 
dramas, only of use to furnish suggestions of an 
author's method of treatment. " Prologue in Heav- 
en" — thus stands the title, following that of 
Goethe. Concealed in clouds are the Celestial 
Phalanx, a mystic chorus, cherubim and penitents. 
Mefistofele stands alone. Seven trumpets, one for 
each tone of the scale, resound, here and there, 
and a simple motif of but two notes asserts itself, 
alternating with a broader theme, the Salve Rcgina 
assigned apparently to harps. The celestial ^ipoices 
sing the praises of the Most High, — a double 
chorus in five parts for each choir, — and heavenly 
echoes repeat the last syllable of each stanza — 
" Ave" This movement is, at first, a simple chant, 
without cadence; gradually it becomes more and 
more complicated, with constant changes in key; 
but, on the whole, it is dignified and impressive. 
At its close, the trumpets are again heard in their 
simple motif of two notes. Then follows an orches- 
tral scherzo, wild and uneasy, introducing Mefistofele 
who greets Jehovah in mocking speech, — as in 
Goethe's drama, -7 the music of which, admirably 
fitted to the words, is the continuation of the sub- 
ject of the scherzo. The shrill tones of the wood 
wind sharpen the effect of this passage. Jehovah 
speaks through a mystic chorus of bass voices: 
" Dost thou know Faust i " This idea is not unlike 
that of Mendelssohn in '' St. Paul," where the Al- 
mighty calls, in a chorus of female voices, '* Saul, 
Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Goethe's dia- 
logue between the powers of good and evil is 
reproduced in recitative, interrupted by the short 
motif for the trumpets and phrases of the scherzo 
(Jehovah's rei>lies being uttered by the bass chorus), 
and at one point accompanied by a solemn Sanctus, 
sung by the celestial phalanx. The cherubim (boys' 
voices) sing at a most rapid rate " On the winds, 
o'er the world, through azure depths we fly," the 
voices of penitents greet the Queen of Heaven in 
grave measures; the two movements are combined 
with wonderful skill and ereat effect, and there is 
even added a third for the celestial phalanx, a 
prayer for the dead ; heavenly echoes repeat " Ave" 
and the three choirs unite m a repetition of the 
opening chorus. The voices cease as the two-note 
motif again sounds in the full orchestra, and the 
prologue, for which Bo'ito has chosen as a motto 
Jehovah's query, " Dost ^thou know Faust ? " is 
over. 

Part I, is divided into three acts. Act I, scene I, 
is entitled " Easter Sunday," and corresponds with 
scene II, of Goethe's drama. We are at Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main, before the city gates. All sorts 
of people pass and repass. There is a brief orches- 
tral movement, ushered in by bells, -of a martial 
character, with an odd rhythmic Cbnstruction, the 
measures being in 8-4 and 2-4 time, alternately. 
The people, students, and boys, sing a bright chorus, 
the £aster bells sounding now and then. Faust 
enters, with Wagner. Faust, an old man, utters his 
longings for the springtime of life. A gray friar 
dogs Faust's footsteps. A bit of the scherzo in the 
prologue betrays his identity. The music of the 
entire scene is animated and expressive. There is 
a waltz for dancers and chorus, phrases of which 
interrupt the dialogue of Wagner and Faust, and 
are even heard as the scene changes to Faust's 
study. It is night. Faust enters, followed by'the 
friar, who conceals himself in an alcove. F^uat 
sings, in a meditative mood, and to a melodipus 
theme: 

" Behind me, field and meedow ^leepingy 
I.toave In dec^, prophetie nlghV' elJ2* 

(Taylor's Qeetbe ; Mene Il£ 



190 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.-^No. 1083- 



Meflstof ele is forced to reyeal himself by Faust's 
soliloquj on the Scriptures, but suddenly changes 
his disguise to that of a cayalier. A duet follows, 
the compact between Mefistofele and Faust is con- 
cluded, and the curtain falls as flend and mortal 
are whisked away on the magic mantle of the for- 
mer. The music of this scene, which is entitled 
*' The'Compact/' is rery strong. The tcherzo-motif 
IS heard through the duet, in which is included a 
eantabile for Faust of great beauty. In the latter 
occurs the phrase which Bo'fto has adopted as the 
motto for the act : — 

" When then I hall the moment flying, 
' Ah I still delay — thou art to fair ! * '* 

[Taylor*8 Qoethe ; Scene IV. 

[That is to say : " You serve me now ; but if I 
ever find the experience so satisfying that I would 
fain arrest the fleeting moment, then we exchange 
parts and I become your slave forever."] 

Some of the phrases assigned to Meflstofele are 
notable for their scornfully sarcastic character. 
The second act bears this motto : — 

" Who shall dare to say the word ' Credo in Deo? ' " 

[Scene XVI, Goethe. 

The first scene is in Marta's garden. Faust, a bloom- 
ing youth calling himself Henry. Margherita, 
Meflstofele and Marta are the only characters. 
All the music is extremely sensuous, and its passion- 
ate character increases as Faust's love-making grows 
more and more ardent. There is an elegant sim- 
nlicity in the tranquil opening of the scene and in 
Margherita's aria. In fact the music assigned to 
each character is distinctly expressive. There is an 
andante for Faust as melodious as heart could desire. 
There is an ingeniously constructed quartet, with 
syncopated phrases for Margherita, against legato 
motives for Faust and Marta and a staccaio move- 
ment for Meflstofele. Margherita flys from Faust, 
who pursues her, and the same game is played by 
Marta and Meflstofele. A knowledge of Goethe's 
drama is essential to an understanding of this scene, 
as fio'ito has not prepared any equivalent for Goethe's 
scenes describing the preceding meetings of the 
lovers. Scene II. is "The Walpurgis Night," scene 
XXI of Goethe. We are on the Brockeu, in a wilder- 
ness of rocks. Meflstofele and Faust come. There 
is a short duet between the pair, in which there is 
a most uncomfortable sounding series of sequences 
in fifths, and the Witches' Sabbath begins. The 
will-o'-the-wisp lends his fitful and treacherous aid. 
A chorus of witches {allegro veloce) has some original 
ideas, though one is occasionally reminded of the 
Incantation scene in Der FreischUU. Here is a 
chord repeated through several measures : G (funda- 
mental), D, A, E, corresponding to the open strings 
of the violin. The effect of this dissonance must 
be inexpressibly horrible, if it does not become 
ridiculous. Mefistofele reveals himself, and the 
witches do him reverence. Some of them dance to 
wild, fantastic strains. Meflstofele sings a sarcas- 
tic " balUd of the world." A vision of Margherita, 
pale and wan, appears to Faust, accompanied by the 
strains of the garden duet. The infernal uproar is 
renewed, the music grows more fast and furious 
and becomes positively exciting, there is a sequence 
of strange chords, the scene is over and the act is 
ended. 

Act HI. MargheriU's death. Scene XXV of 
Goethe. The motto is Meflstofele's utterance " She 
is judged!" Margherita, the murderer of mother 
and babe, all for love of Faust who has deserted 
her, awaits in a dungeon the penalty of her crime. 
She utters a wild prayer for mercy, but earthly 
feelings still cling to her as there are again heard 
phrases of the garden duet. It is an aria of a 
decidedly florid sort which is assigned to the un- 
fortunate victim of love, more after the styles of 
Verdi than of Wagner. Faust vainly strives to 
induce Margherita to fly. Again Boito shows his 
skill in the combination of themes and harmonies 
which shall express the sense of the text and the 
dramatic situation— Margherita's terror, relieved by 
momentary gleams of hope ; Faust's desperate plead- 
ings ; Meflstofele's sarcastic advice. Margherita asks 
for strength from the Supreme, and the Ave Signor of 
the Celestial Phalanx in the prologue resounds in the 
orchestra through her prayer. " She is judged I " 
thunders Meflstofele, "Oh, anguish," cries Faust; 
•* Henry, thou mak'st me shudder," are the dying 
•ccentoof Margherita; " She is saved ! " chant the 
heavenly choirs ; " Come with me," calls Meflstofele 
to Faust, and the curtain falls. 

Fart II includes one act and an epilogue. The 
^numbered IV. is entiUed The Night of The CUuttic 
Sabbath, Part II, act II, scene HI, of Goethe's Mefls- 
tof^e annihilating time and space, bean Fanat to 
aacieot Greece. TThe river Penens, surrounded by 
vmph% and tributory streams, greeto us; the moon 
sbedi hm* silvery rays on Elena (Helen) and Fantalis, 
wHo are 01 a beet of mother-of-pearl aAd silver, with 



sirens about them. Extremely sensuous is all of the 
music of this scene. There is a duet for Elena and 
Pantalis, with very simple but captivating themes. 
Faust's pa^ionate cries to the Grecian queen are 
heard. Meflstofele enters and acts as interpreter. The 
sirens endeavor to scatter Elena's sad reflections as 
she recalls the horrors of the Trojan war, by a stately 
dance. There is a song for Faust as he pavs court to 
tho fair cause of all the woes of Troy, leading into a 
concerted movement, in which the chorus takes part, 
which is worked up with great skill and effect Elena 
utters the motto of the act (to Faust), *' Canst thou to 
me that lovely speech impart?" To which Faust re- 
plies: '"Tis easy; it must issue from the heart." 
There are two pa.«sionate concerted movements for 
Faust, Elena and chorus, the second of which has a 
modt inspiring theme, and this ends the scene. 

There still remains an epiloeue with the motto, " Ah ! 
still delay— thou art so fair. Faust has seen and en- 
joyed all that Meflstofele has promised him, " in both 
the little world and the great,^' and we now meet him 
again, an old man, in his Htudy, oppressed by recol- 
lections of hours forever fled. A theme of the scenes 
of the preceding act is repeated in the orchestra. 
Faust's meditations are on eternity. Meflstofele en- 
deavors to divert Faust's thoughts, and even spreads 
his mantle by whose magic aid they can defy time and 
space. The air accompanyiug this action is the same 
as in the close of Act I, the scene of the compact. 
Different visions greet Faust's eyes. Heavenly beings 
appear in confused groups. Meflstofele accepts the 
challenge to a contest oetween Heaven and the Powers 
of Darkness. We hear the celestial trumpets — the 
motif of two notes- and a part of the Ave Sif/nor, 
and the celestial vision fades away. The sirens appear 
as Mefistofeles sinsp* the theme of the love duet in Act 
IV, but the heavenly choirs resume their song. Faast 
cries in an ecstacy, "Ah! still delay — thou art so 
fair," the sirens vanish, and Faust falls on his knees 
and dies, while on him drops from heaven a shower of 
roses. Mefistofele, discomfited and enraged at the 
loss of his victim, and writhing under the light and 
flames, sinks from view. The choirs of angels and 
cherubim continue their hymns of praise, the trumpet- 
motif of the prologue is sounded — the end is reached. 



^\aitfyr0 3^ournaI of m^^iu 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1880. 



CONCERTS. 
Philharmonic Orchestra. The first of 
the five concerts by Mr. Listemann's thoroughly 
drilled and excellent orchestra of forty instru- 
ments took place at the Music Hall on Friday 
evening, Xov. 5. It was an auspicious opening, 
the audience being large and evidently well 
pleased. This was the programme : 

" Romeo and Julia " — Fantalsie for orchestra. 

J. S. Svendsen 
Concerto for pianoforte in A-minor, Op. 16. . . E. Orleg 
" Im Walde '• (In the Forest) — Symphony in F, 

Op. 153 J. Kaff 

Musette from Concerto No. 6 Handel 

Adapted for oboes, bassoons and string orchestra 
by F. A. Gevaert. 

Two Slavonic dances Anton Dvorak 

No. 3. pooo allegro ; No. 4, tempo di mennetto. 
Fantaisie on Hungarian airs for pianoforte and 

orchestra E. Liszt 

Overture to " Der FrelschUtz " C. M. v. Weber 

The modern element was altogether paramount 
in this selection. There was plenty of brilliant, 
elaborate, richly-colored instrumentation, a general 
restlessness of mood, and much of the wild, dreamy 
northern character. The Romeo and Juliet Fan- 
taisie by Svendsen, given for the first time here, 
seemed somewhat vague and wandering in form, 
and what passion there was in it Northern rather 
than Italian, while it contained much that was 
beautiful and tender. The romantic Concerto by 
Grieg, full of interesting ideas throughout, with 
rich, deep, lovely adagio, and bold, impetuous and 
brilliant in the two allegro moderato movements 
— the finale being strongly accented — was played 
by Mr. Franz Rummel in a most masterly manner. 
His touch is clear and bright, his execution never 
at fault, and the whole interpretation was most 
satisfactory in strength, in breadth, in delicate 
finesse, conveying the ideal poetry and color of the 
work. Mr. Rummel plays even better than he 
did in a Symphony Concert here two years ago. 

Raff's Forest Symphony is perhaps his richest 
and most imaginative work in that form. The 
daylight impreaaioQs and fe^gs of the first part 



(allegro) are vividly and happily suggested. The 
second part, '^ In the Twilight," presents a happy 
contrast between ita two scenea, the one called 
" Reverie," the other a bright fantastic " Dance 
of the Dryads." The third part represents a 
night in the woods ; it is of course in a low tone 
of color, and the low murmur of the streams, the 
creeping of the breezes through the leaves, and all 
the vague interweaving of the various sounds in 
the woods by night, is very poetically and musi- 
cally rendered. Then come the echoing horns, 
and the wild hunt, approaching and receding, 
with Frau Holle (Hulda) and Wotan. This is 
weird and exciting, but worked out to a tedious 
length. The break of day forms an appropriate 
conclusion. The very ekborate and difficult 
symphony was faultlessly interpreted. 

Gevaert's adaptation of the brief Musette from 
the Handel Concerto, was soothing and refreshing 
after so much of the wild, uneasy and exacting 
kind. The Slavonic Dances by Dvorak were 
original and quaint enough in rhythm and in fancy ; 
and Mr. Rummel's performance of that everlast- 
ing Hungarian Fantaisie by Liszt was so full of 
fire and brilliancy, and in every way so super- 
latively clever, that it lent a new freshness to tke 
hackneyed thing. Then came one of those idiotic, 
irrepressible calls for an encore; the artist bowed 
his thanks, and was evidently reluctant to play 
any more, being (as we have since learned) in fear 
of losing the train for New York. Yet the 
childish public insisted, and he had to return to 
the piano. What he played we did not stay to 
hear; for the concert had been very long, and 
what we would fain have heard by way of comfort 
after so much heavy *< newness," the good old 
FreyschiUz 6verture, we were obliged to lose. Is 
there no remedy for this great concert nuisance, 
no protection against the Encore Fiend? Really 
it seems to us that the responsibility should rest 
with the conductor, where there is one. He may 
be presumed to have reached the age of discre- 
tion, and to know when such a demand is un- 
reasonable ; and knowing it to be so, he should 
take the matter into his own hands, rap his orches- 
tra to order, and go doggedly on with the next 
piece in the programme, let the crowd thunder 
as it will. At the Birmingham Festival no encore 
is granted without an approving signal from some 
Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, or whatever 
noble lord may chance to be the honorary presi- 
dent of the occasion. Here, having no such per- 
son nor such custom, the musical conductor would 
seem to be the one to exercise the encore censor- 
ship. Or how would it do (we think we have 
mafle the suggestion before) to have a sort of 
secret league among the really musical concert-go- 
ers, whereby upon a certain signal agreed upon, 
they should all rise and leave the hall whenever 
such an imposition is insisted on! That might 
shame the offenders into silence, when nothing 
else would. That might nonplus the Fiend. 

Mr. Wm. H. Sherwood gave a very interesting 
concert at the new Meiouaon (under Tremont 
Temple), on Saturday evening, Nov. 6. The spe- 
cial object of the concert was to introduce the 
young Canadian-French violinist, Mons. Alfred 
Des^ve, who, after studying with Vieuxtemps in 
Paris, held for a time the place of violinist to the 
Princess Louise. He is a very young man, of pre- 
possessing and refined appearance, having the 
artistic temperament, full of enthusiasm, and evinc- 
ing more than ordinary talent and high culture. The 
concert opened with the " Kreutzer "sonata of Beet- 
hoven played by him and Mr. Sherwood. Pure 
intonation, free, broad, finished execution, great 
abandon and intensity of feeling, were the charac- 
teristics of his playing. His tene, however, cannot 
be called large. His interpretation is free from 
any nonsense, or extravagaooe of -ornament; but 
somehow the treatment of the whole Sonata hj 
the two artists seemed OTorwrooght in point of 



NOTBMBES 20, 1880.] 



DWIQHTS JOVBNAL OF MUSIC. 



191 



feeling, as well as in display of virtuositj. There 
coald be no doubt, however, of their thorough 
mastery of the composition and of their instru- 
ments. 

Mr. Charles R. Adams sang two songs by Schu- 
mann : ** Du bist wie eine Blume " and " Ich grolle 
nicht" (in English, to which we could hardly recon- 
cile ourselves) in the most artistic style, and with 
the truest taste and feeling. Mr. Sherwood then 
played a Valse Caprice and Barcarolle by Rubin- 
stein, and the A-flat Polonaise of Chopin as very 
few can play them. At this point another engage- 
ment called us off. The remaining pieces were the 
Andante and Presto of Mendelssohn's violin con- 
certo (which we have heard M. Des<^ve play ex- 
quisitely in private), a couple of songs by Raff 
(" Abendbild " and « Immer bei Dir "), and Liszt's 
Symphonic Poem "Mazeppa," arranged for two 
pianos, played by Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood. 

The new Meionaon is an attractive hall, a good 
deal larger than the old one, and seemed to be very 
good for chamber-music. 



Old Bay Statk Colrbb. Here is certainly a 
remarkable programme for a popular audience, 
— a " lecture " audience — cramming the Music Hall 
in every nook and comer, and listened to attentively 
all through, with frequent outbursts of enthusiasm, 
as was the case on Thursday evening, Nov. 11. 

Quartet in £-flat, Op. 44, (AUegro. Vivace). . Mendelssohn 

Mendelssohn Club. 
Maieppa, Symphonic Poem for two pianos, (After 

Victor Hugo) Liszt 

Mr. and Mn. Sherwood. 

Aria, " Und ob die Wolke," (Der FreischttU). . . Weber 

(With 'Cello Obligato by Mr. Qiese). 

Miss Bailey. 

Fantaisie for riolin on Gipey Airs Sarasate 

Mr. Schuitzler. 
(First appearance in Boston). 
Aria, " Revenge, Tlmotheus Cries", (Alexander's 

Feast) Handel 

Mr. Henschel. 

Quartet, entitled " The MUler's Pretty Daughter.*' Itaff 

a. The Declaration. 6. The Mill. 

Mendelssohn Club. 

Duet, " Caro bella," (Julius Csesar) Handel 

Miss Bailey and Mr. Henechel. 

Piano Solo, Grand Polonaise in £ JJsst 

Mr. Sherwood. 
$ongs, a. The Arrow, 6. SingHeigho. . . G. Henachel 

Miss Bailey. 

Solo for violonoeUo on " Le deeir.** Servals 

Mr. Giese. 

Ballad, The Two Grenadiers Schumann 

Mr. Henschel. 
Finale from the Quartet in A-minor, Op. 41. B. Schumann 

A quartet of strings, in our vast and crowded 
Music Hall, could ha|dly be audible to all ears, nor 
satisfactorily so to any. Yet the two quartet selec- 
tions appeared to be listened to with close attention 
and respect by all. The old Quintet Club is for the 
most part now the new one. Thomas Ryan alone 
remains of the old members. Mr. Frederick Giese, 
the very young but excellent violoncellist, has been 
in the club, and in this country, but a year. The 
new violinists, Isidore Schnitzler and Ernst Thiele, 
besides Mr. William Schade, who plays flute and 
viola, help to make up a quartet and a quintet 
never yet surpassed among us, and Boston classical 
music4overs can but feel the club's infrequent and 
short stays at home here to be somewhat tantalizing. 

The great point was the first public appearance 
here of the famous German-English baritone singer 
and composer, George Henschel, who is affianced 
to Miss Lillian Bailey. His rendering of the Han- 
del aria proved him to be all that has been said of 
him. With a fine, manly, genial, intellectual pres- 
ence (for he is a thoughtful lookingnnan), he throws 
himself into the spirit of the author and the work ; 
and his thoroughly trained, rich, musical voice 
(which, however, vibrates not so freely in the lower 
tones Its One could wish), his perfect phrasing, 
breaidth and dignity of style, consummate ease and 
evenness of execution (as shown particularly in the 
way he. dealt with the long passages of rapid 
Handelian roulades), his command of light and 
Shade, and the pervading truth of sentiment and 
favitletaness of taste, were proof enough of the 
complete artist, one.oif the finest mould. We only 
reigretted that in that particular pieoe Mr. Henschel 
(since there was no brches^) did not play his own 



pianoforte accompaniment ; for in private we have 
heard him do it both in this aria, and in " Why do 
the heathen rage," playing with a breadth and 
power and an intensity of accent as if it were an 
orchestra, and at the same time singing with full free- 
dom and effect. In fact, Mr. Henschel is a complete 
musician as well as a singer; in whatever he does 
there is the air — not in the least assumed — of 
one who knows perfectly well what he is about; 
you feel that the moment he sits down at the piano, 
whether to accompany another or himself. Being 
warmly recalled, Herr Henschel sang, to his own 
accompaniment, an old Italian air. His second solo 
was ** The two grenadiers " of Schumann, to which 
he of course, did justice. He also sang with Miss 
Bailey a fine duet. " Caro bella," from one of Han- 
del's Italian operas, Giulio Cesaie. 

Miss Bailey sang the serious aria from iMr Frty- 
ickutz very tenderly and sweetly; voice and style 
were admirable. The Henschel songs, too, charm- 
ingly original, became her well. Tlie piano per- 
formances of Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood were most 
brilliant and effective, winning great applause. 
Mr. Schnitzler by his solo-playing proved himself 
to be one of the best violinists who lias come among 
us, and Mr. Giese more than confirmed the fine 
impression which he made last winter. The con- 
cert was long, it evidently pleased, yet somehow 
the Encore Fiend was practically kept out ! Tell 
us how. Oh clever managers ! 

Boston Cohservatory of Music. An interest- 
ing matinee, under the direction of Julius Eichberg, 
took place at Wesleyan Hall, on Friday, Nov. 12. 
The principal feature of the programme was the 
opening number, the glorious old B-fiat Trio (Op. 07) 
of Beethoven, of which a high satisfactory per- 
formance was given by Messrs. Hermann P. Chelius, 
piano, Albert Van Raalte, violin, and Wulf Fries, 
'cello. To the two younger members the effort 
was extremely creditable ; of the 'cellist, of course, 
that goes without saying. We were unable to hear 
the rest of the concert, consisting of : 

Song, " The Lost Chord.'* Sullivan. 

Mr. Carl Pflueger. 

a. Fugue in E-minor Bach. 

b. Kocturne in F sharp major Chopin. 

c. Military Polonaiae Chopin. 

d. Tr&umerei Schumann. 

e. Valse in A-flat. Chopin. 

Mr. Chelius. 

Song, " Yeoman's Wedding." Foniatowsky. 

Rhapsodle, No. 6. Liszt. 

Of ' Berlioz's Damnation of Faust, of which Mr. 
Lang gave a second performance on Friday even- 
ing, Nov. 12, we can only say, at present, that it 
was a great improvement on the first presentation 
here last spring, both as regards choruses, male and 
female, orchestra, and solo singers, and that the 
interest and fascination of the strange, weird, m 
parts extremely beautiful music grow upon one as 
he becomes more familiar with it. Miss Lillian 
Bailey sahg the part of Margaret with unaffected 
sweetness and simplicity, and with great tender- 
ness, her voice being lovely in itself, and her style 
and execution fine. Herr Henschel's Mephistoph- 
,eles was a potent contribution to the life and 
power and point of the whole performance. His 
rendering had great dramatic force, besides being 
in every way thoroughly artistic; a fine vein of 
true Mephistophelian irony pervaded the whole. 
Mr. W. J. Winch and Mr. Hay, sang in a praise- 
worthy manner also. The chorus of 200 male and 
100 female voices had the charm of careful, critical 
selection, beautiful ensemble of tone quality, as 
well as of precise, well-shaded, and finely effective 
execution. 

More we cannot say now, but may be more pre- 
pared to enter into details, and receive an abiding 
impression of the work after the third performance, 
which Mr. Lang has been prevailed upon to give 
on the 90th bf this month. 

e 

MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Nxw ToRK, Nov. 15. Our musical season may well 
be regarded as *' inaugurated," for the Symphony 
Society gave its first concert on Saturday evening, 
Nov. 6, with an interesting programme, as will be seen : 



Overture, '* Egmont," Beethoven 

Scene from " Alexander's Feast," .... Handel 

Herr Henschel. 

1st Symphony, C-mlner Brahms 

Aria from *'£uryanthe," Weber 

Herr Henschel. 
Symphonic poem "Maseppa," Lisst 

It would seem as if no finer orchestral work could 
be done than that achieved by the musicians under 
Dr. Damrosch's competent leadership. Critics have at 
times seemed disposed to cavil at a certain so-called 
unsoundness which In former years perhaps marred 
the effectiveness of Dr. D.'s conducting; bat in these 
days his equipoise and self-control are simply wonder- 
ful, and the intense vitality of his nature rarely dis- 
plays itself in any more decisive way than by an ooca- 
sional quick motion of the wrist. Such a conductor 
inevitably inspires an orchestra, for the musicians 
know that their director is thoroughly In sympathy 
with his work. 

Of the Brahms symphony there seems to be little to 
say, except that no interpretation will ever make it an 
agreeable work. No one can or will raise the least 
question as to the seriousness of its intent or the mas- 
terly skill displayed in its construction and orchestra- 
tion; but it lacks $omethingf while it Is not perfectly 
easy to say what that something is. It is too ornate, 
and too diffuse, and wholly fails to reach even the faint- 
est touch of that divine simplicity which emanates 
from genius as does the perfume from the flowers. 

Herr Henschel came, saw, and conquered us all: his 
style is so superb, his phrasing so broad and free, and 
his musical intelligence so unmistakable, that he fairly 
carried everything before him, and rode to the very 
apex of public favor upon a tidal wave of enthusiasm 
that almost seemed hysterical in its intensity. For 
myself, I do not especially admire the quality of hit 
voice; but tastes will differ, and it suffices to say that 
he is a great artist, and a musician of the broadest cul- 
ture. 

llie house was very full, and the present season of 
the Society's work has commenced most auspiciously. 
The second concert will occur Dec. 4. 

The New York Philharmonic Club " inaugurated '' — 
on Tuesday evening, Nov. 9, — the third season of 
their charming concerts of chamber-music. I give the 
programme: 

String Quartet, D-mlnor, Schubert 

Tliree pieces either arranged or adapted for the Club. 
Piano Quartet, £-flat, Beineeke 

Who has not heard and thoroughly enjoyed that 
delicious Schubert Quartet with the lovely andante in 
G-minor (theme and variations) ? At this late day I 
have no intention of striving to strain the English 
language in the attempt to express my admiration of 
this andante. It was given with great delicacy and sen- 
timent, as one might well expect from the competent 
artists who form the club. 

The ''three pieces" serve to Illustrate a new de- 
parture on the part of the club. It is the intention of 
these gentlemen to introduce at each time some com- 
positions which have either been adapted or written 
for the club. On Tuesday evening one of the pieces 
thus "arranged" was Schumann's "Warum." The 
attempt was not successful, and it is to be hoped the 
"arrangers" will in future draw a line somewhere. 
The other selections were more happy, and their fine 
performance excited and received a hearty encore, to 
which the club responded with the march from the 
'* Ruins of Athens"; this was very attractive to the 
audience, and so another recall was insisted upon, and 
to this the response was Schumann's "Evening Song," 
which was very well played, and certainly quite ef- 
fective in this new shape. 

Mr. S. B. Mills took the piano in the Reinecke Qnai^ 
tet, and to his credit be it said that he pUyed well, for 
he seems to have learned that in a quartet all of the 
instruments ought to have a chance to be heard; la 
consequence of his new departure, the breesy, crisp 
quartet went with a dash and brilliancy that was very 
exhilarating. 

On Saturday evening, Nov. 13, the first concert of 
the Philharmonic Society took place, with a programme 
which included the "Eroica" and Hensel's piano con- 
certo played by Joseffy. 

The orchestral work was In the main well done, and 
the Beethoven Symphony was exceedingly well phiyed. 
Mr. Thomas's ideas of tempo are not invariably ac- 
cording to rule or precedent, which may be regarded 
at times as a misfortune, and at other times as a bleas- 
iug. He gave the ' ' Funeral March " in excellent time ; 
it was dignified, but not '*draggy"; the whole move- 
ment is too long, every way, and ought to be clipped 
if any one could be audacious enough to do it. 

Joseffy, having recovered from his recent indlspoai- 
tion, played the Hensel concerto in a noble way; he 



192 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1038. 



has certainly Improyed in breadth and scope since last 
season; be has worked hard during the entire summer, 
and with splendid results. He received an enthusiastic 
recall, and conld have had a second if he had so choeen. 

F. 

» 

LOCAL ITEMS. 

Mr. Wm. F. Apthorp's course of six lectures on 
the History of Music, from the days of St Ambrose 
down to Wagner, will commence at the Lowell 
Institute next Monday evening. The topics of the 
several lectures are given in the advertisement in 
the daily papers. We fear we only tantalize too 
many of our readers, for we Tearn that about all the 
tickets were at once taken up. But the lectures 
might be repeated elsewhere. 

— Mr. Lang announces a third and last perform- 
ance of Tiu Damnation of Fauti, on the same grand 
scale as last Friday, for Tuesday evening, Nov. .30. 
There will be the same fine orchestra of over 00 
instruments, and the same admirable chorus of 200 
male and 100 female voices. The solos will bo sung 
by the same artists as before with the exception of 
the part of Faust (tenor), for which Mr. Julius 
Jordan has been engaged in the place of Mr. Winch, 
Miss Lilian Bailey will be Gretchen, Uerr Henschel, 
Mephistopheles, and Mr. C. £. Hay, Brander. 

Some of the most musical ladies of Boston, 

Cambridge, Brookline, etc., have been for some time 
organizing, in a quiet way, a complimentary concert 
to that most estimable, modest gentleman and 
artist, who has been so many years identified with 
all good musical things in our city and elsewhere, 
Mr. WuLF Fries. It is to be at Horticultural Hall, 
on Saturday evening, Dec. 4, and many of the best 
artists will assist The tickets have been mostly 
disposed of in pr^ate without reservation of seats. 
Indeed the whole movement was kept a secret to 
Mr. Fries himself, until within a few days. We 
shall be happy to be the medium through which a 
few more tickets may be obtained, provided they 
be bespoken early. 

Miss Josephine C. Bates, a charming pianist, 

of New York, announces a concert for next Satur- 
day evening, at Mechanics' Hall. Messrs. Geo. L. 
Osgood and Gustav Dannreuther will assist. We- 
hope that the right sort of people, and plenty of 
them, will be there to hear. 

— - Frof . J. K. Paine, at Harvard, is said to be 
getting on very successfully in the composition of 
music for the chorus in the proposed performance 
of the ^dipuM TyrannuB of Sophocles. The mem- 
bers of the chorus, who have already rehearsed the 
numbers so far finished, speak of them with admira- 
tion, as being music altogether fit and noble. 

This, from the papers of Thursday, speaks 

for itself. We only wish it understood that it is 
none of cur doings, and sprang from no direct or 
indirect suggestion, or least hint on our part We 
copy it mainly in order that our friends and readers 
in other places may know what has been brewing 
in the birth-place of this Journal of Music, 

Thb Dwioht TESTiMOiaAi*. The following corres- 
pondence has just been exchanged. 

Boston, Nov. 15, 1880. 
" Mr. John 8. Dtoight : — 

Dear Sir, — A number of your friends who remem- 
ber your lone and faithful services in -behalf of the 
cause of music, and who are deeply grateful that it has 
been permitted to you to acoomplish so much in elevat- 
ing the standard of public performances and in refin- 
ing the public taste, have determined to offer you a 
testimonial concert, to be given on a fitting scale, early 
in the coming month, at the Boston Music Hall. They 
respectfully ask your acceptance of the compliment, 
with their united good-will and affection, and with 
best wishes for your continued health and usefulness. 

(Signed) 

B. £. APTHOnP. CABL PRUKFKlt. 

W. F. Apthobp. Qeokox L. Osgood. 

L. B. Bakmbs. H. W. PicKXBuro. 

F. P. Bacon. John P. Putnam. 

W. P. Blakx. J. C. D. Paakkr. 

J. Bbadlxx. Ernst Pbbabo. 

A. P. Bbownx. Chaslbs C. Perkins. 

O. U. Chickbbino. John K. Paine. 

£. H. Clement. Lk Babon Russell. 

C. P. CUBTIS. ABTHUB ReED. 
OUVEB DlTSON. HEMBT M. BoOBBS. 

£. S. Dodge. S. B. Schlesinoeb. 

L. C. £l80N. W. H. Shebwood. 

JUUUS BICHBXBG. JAMES STUBOIS. 

AUGUSTUS FLAGO. a. J. C. SOWDON. 

John Fiskx. S. L. Thobndike. 

AETHUB W. FOOTE. F. H. UNDEBWOOD. 

L. L. Uoldxn. R. C. Watebston. 

H. L. HioazHSON. Ubnbt B. Wilms mi. 



F. H. JxNKS. B. B. Woourr. 
Samuel Jennison. Henby Wabb. 

G. P. Kino. L. Wbissbein. 

H. W. Longfellow. Robebt G. Winthbop. 

B. J. Lang. Ebving Winslow. 

S. W. Langmaid. Gael Zebbahn. 

H. K. OUVEB. 

John P. Putnam, Ckairmtm. 
A. Pabkkb Bbowne, Treaturer, 
F. H. Undebwood, Secrttar^. 

Boston, Nov. 16, i860. 
" To the Hon. J. P. Pvtnam, Chairman, etc.: 

'* Gentleinen,— Tour kind and oonrteoui; offer touches 
me deeply, and demands fitter answer than 1 know 
how to malce. Such a recognition — entirely spontane- 
ous, unexpected, and undreamed of, on my own part— 
of my poor persistent Isbors to convince others of the 
beauty and the holiness of the art which I have always 
loved, and always shall love, comes upon me as an ex- 
quisite surprise. After many periods of misgiving, 
many fears that the old tree had proved fruitless after 
nil, this comes to revive hope and motive, and give me 
as it were, the sense of a uew life — at all events to en- 
courage me to attempt yet further and (let us hope) 
better work. I am sure 1 undentand you, gentlemen. 
What vou would honor iu me is simply the high pur- 
pose, toe honesty and the consistent perseverance of 
my course: to this, and to nothing more, can I lay 
claim. Wjieu my work began, music was esteemed at 
its true worth by very few among us ; I simply preached 
the faith that was in me. Now we are almost a musi- 
cal people; those who come forward now leani musks 
as it should be learned, learn to speak of it with knowl- 
edge (the knowledge that comes of practice), and j^ill 
readilv outstrip me. What more could I desire? To a 
committee so largely representative of the best ele- 
ments of the musical profession, of the best and wisest 
friends of music, as well as of the honored names of 
dear old Boston, and for the proffered concert, which, 
in puch hands, is sure to be a noble one, I can never be 
too grateful. But let me come to the point at once 
and simply say, tliat I most thankfully accent the com- 
pliment you offer. I am respectfully and cordially 
yours. John S. Dwigrt." 

The date of the concert has been fixed for Thurs- 
day afternoon, Dec. 9, at the Boston Music Hall. 
Many of our best solo singers and pianists, besides 
Mr. Zerrahn, and the orchestra, have kindly offered 
their services. 

Stoneham, Mass. Miss Lizzie Strange, assisted 

by Miss Fannie Kellogg and Messrs. John Orth and 

Wulf Fries, gave a concert in the Town Hall here 

Nov. 16, with the following programme : 

Pisno Duo, a. Marehe Heroique, 

b. Marehe MUltafre Schubert 

Mlas Strsnce and Mr. Orth. 
Pisao and Yioloucello, — Tiois Moreeaux, Op. 11, 

Bttbinsteln 
Mr. Fries and Mr. Orth. 

Song, Air Yaritf Bode 

Miss Kellosg. 
Piano Solo, Les Adieux. Fantaisie ...... Weber 

Miss Strange. 

Piano and Violonoeno. Airs Baskyrs Piatti 

Song, a. Lehn deine Wang Jensen 

b. Slumber Song Wagner 

Piano Solos, a. Arte transcribed by Joseffy. . Pexgolese 
6. Norwegian Cradle Song .... Kjemlf 
Miss Strange. 

Violoncello, a. Nocturne, Op. 66 Ijaohner 

6. Qavotte, Op. 23 Popper 

Piano Solo, Allegro l>i Bravura Weoer 

Miss Strange. 

What are they to do? Randegger 

Miss Kellogg. 
PiaaoSolo,— Hungarian Rhapeo2», No. 16 . . . Llsst 

Mr. Orth. 

New Took. The ** second thought " about Dudley 
Buck's comic opera reads as follows in the Sun: ** It 
is a little curious that while the opera has several very 
ludicrous situations, it is not on the whole a very funny 
and scarcely an amusing work. It awakens interest, 
but not laughter. Mr. Croffut seems to have had an 
excellent perception of humorous situation, but has 
not been able to carry this humor into his dialogue, 
which is often commonplace, sometimes coarse (not 
meaning indelicate, but rough), seldom dever, and 
never witty or humorous. Nor has Kr. Bock created 
any humorous music such as Sullivan so often pro- 
duced to match Gilbert's words. That probably is not 
the bent of his talent He is a man unquestionably of 
thorough knowledge of counterpoint, an excellent har- 
monist, and of serious and at times of poetic fancy; 
but lightness and brightness and sparkle are not the 
directions in which he excels, so far as this work is an 
indication. Then, too, Mr. Buck's music lacks charac- 
ter and variety. It is built too much on trite and hack- 
neyed forms, and he has missed his opportunities for 
picturesque local coloring. Having a chorus of sol- 
diers, he has failed to produce any military mnsic 
Having Indians, he has no suggestion of the barbaric, 
except in the opening chorus, and much might have 
been done that was novel in this direction. Having 
Mormons, he gives no inkling in his music of their 
canting ways. For these reasons the music is often 
monotonous, in spite of the variety given to it by 
orchestral color. But the opef» has many points of 



merit which called for the most deckled expiesskm of 
graHflcation from the audiences at varfcHia parts of the 
performance. These merits, being solid, and not meie- 
trictous ones, will be the mora appreciated as the work 
is more frequently heard, and there is every reason to 
believe that it will find great favor in the extended 
tour throughout the country to which it is destined." 

The new tenor who shares with Campaninl the 

leading r51es in Mapleson's Italian opera, made a very 
good success hi *' Lucia." Says the Ttme$, " Judged 
by our standaida, he cannot be called a great singer. 
He has much in his favor, however. His voice is 
expressive and musical He knows how to use it j udl- 
cionsly, and he has the requisite power to make it 
effective. Moreover, he has been well schooled, and 
has the smooth Italian style which the operatic stage 
demands. In the ' (%e me frena,' neither he nor Mme. 
Gerster was as effective as was to be expected, but in 
the finale of the opera, Signor Bavelli deserved even 
more applause than was bestowed upon him, though 
he was more than once recalled. He delivered the 
two arias of this well-known scene with the taste of a 
musician. He was listened to by the crowded audi- 
ence attentively and critically, and his future appear- 
ances will be watched with interest" 

CiNcnorATX. The Musical Festival Associatkm, The- 
odore Thomas, director, has issued the following cir- 
cular: *'The fifth festival of the Cincinnati Mnsteal 
Festival Associatton will be held in Cincinnati, in May, 
1882, and in pursuance of the policy adopted by it in 
connection with its last festival, the assodation offers 
a prize of $1,(X)0 for the most meritorious composition 
for chorus and orchestra, to be performed on that 
occasion. Competition shiill be open to all dtlsens of 
the United States, irrespective of place of birth. The 
following distinguished authorities have kindly con- 
sented to act as judges, in conjunction with Theodore 
Thomas, namely — Herr Kapellmeister, Carl Reinecke, 
Leipclg, and Monsieur Camille Saint-Sa&is, Paris. 
Works offered for competition must not occupy more 
than one hour in performance. A full score and piano 
score, accompanied by a sealed letter, must be placed 
in the hands of the committee on or before Sept 1, 
1881, and should be addressed to ' Committee on Prise 
Cojpiposition, Musical Festival Association, CincinnatL 
Ohio.' The scores submitted of the succesafnl com- 
position shall belong to the association." 

Wills Collbob, Auaosa, N. Y. Here l: a 
couple of programmes of concerts given at this 
institution, of which Mr. Max Piutti is the musical 
director, on the 26th and 26th of October. The 
performers on both occasions were : Miss Elizabeth 
Cronyn, soprano, (who sang so pleasantly here in 
Boston in the Symphony Concerts), Mr. Gustav 
Dannreuther, violin, and Miss Nellie M. Taylor, 
Mr. Wm. Piutti, and Mr. Max Piutti, pianists. The 
first concert was in the name of a college society, 
" The Castalia." These were the selections : 

1. Prelude, ) From Suite for Tlolin and Piano. 
Qavotte j FransBles. 

Messrs. Dannreuther and Max PiuttL 

2. Aria, " Ah, non son io che parlo," (from Esio). 

Handel 
Miss Cronyn. 

3. a. Bomance, Op. 28, No. 3 Schnmaoa 

b. Nocturne, Op. 81, No. 1 . Chopin 

Mr. WiUiam PiuttL 

4. Introduction and Variations on a Bnsaian llieme. 

David 
Mr. Dannreuthw. 

0. Songi: «u Sterne mit den goldnen Fnessehen, 

b. Ach wenn Ich doeh eln Inunehen ' 

e, Um Mittemacht 

Miss Cronyn. 

6. Ballade, Op. 20 

Miss Taylor. 

7. Greeting to the Woods Belneeke 

(With violin obligato.) 
Miss Cronyn. 

8. Sonata for Piano and Vtolin, Op. 8 Groig. 

Tlie second programme (for the thirtj-aeventh 
concert of Wells College) has at the top the motto 
placed by Mendelssohn over the stage of the 
Gewandhaus : JRes sevsra ut vtrum gaudiMM, and is 
as follows : 

1. Sonata for Piano and Violin, (3-Minor, Op. 80, No. 2 

Messrs. William Piutti and Dasmeuther. 

2. Bomanee, Tb» Bose • • • • • Spohr 

MasOonyn. 
8. a. Moment Musical, Op. 7, No. 2 • . • • Mosskowaki 

h, Beroeuse, Op. 87 Chooin 

Mr. Max PiuttL 

4. Sonata in A^major 

Mr. Dannreuther. 

6. a. Stille Llebe^[ecret Love) Sflhi 

6. Der Traum (The Dream) . . .^ . . 

c. O Snesse Mutter 10. Dearest Mo^et) 

MISS Cronyn. 

6. a. Largo 

b, Bondofiongrois 

lAx, AnuireBther and Miss Tajkr. 



Dbosmbbb 4, 1880.] 



LWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



193 



BOSTON, DECEMBER 4, 1880. 

Ifi&tortd at th« Pott Oftee ftl Boston ai Moond-^laM matter. 

AU th4 arHclet not credited to other jnMiocUicne were ex- 
preesljf written for tMe Journal. 



Publiiked fortnightly fty Houohtov, Mifflik Si Co., 
Boeton, Ma$t. Price, lo centi a number,' $a,so per year. 

For tale in Botton by aal PBUxncB, jo Wect Street, A. 
Williams A Ck)., aSj Wtuhington Street, A. K. Lorivo, 
J69 Wcuhington Street, and by the Publiehert; in New York 
by A. BBxiTTAiro, Jb., jg Union Square, and Houghtox, 
MlVFLur A Ck>., 91 Attar Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
BoirxB A Co., fiog Chtttnut Street; in Chicago by ths Chi- 
cago Music Gompaitt, jn State Street, 

I = 

LONDON. 

Black in the midnight lies the city vast. 
Its dim horizon from mj window high 
I see, shut in beneath a misty sky 
Bed with the light a million lamp-flres cast 
Up from the humming streets. And now at last 
With lessening roar the weary wheels go by ; 
At last sleep drowns the din and revelry. 
Now wakes the solemn yisionary Past, 
Peopled with spirits of the mighty dead, 
Whose names are London's glory and her shame, 
Seers, poets, heroes, martyrs — deathless lives 
Long blazoned in the chronicles of fame. 
The inglorious Present veils its dwarfish head ; 
England's ideal life alone survives I 

C. P. Cbanch, in The American, 
London, July 6, 1880. 



SCHUMANN ON STRINGED QUARTETS 

(1888).! 



SIXTH QUABTBT MOBKING. 
(Continued from page 178.) 

Leok db St. LuBnr. First Grand Quintet for two Vio- 
lins, two Violas, and Violoncello, £-flat major.— Opus 88. 

li. Chsbubhti. Quartet for two Violins, Viola, and 
Violoncello, No. 2 in C-maJor. 

Judging from his masic, I imagine the first- 
named composer to be an emigrant, one who 
has left his own country either voluntarily or 
of necessity, has chosen a new fatherland, 
and adopted its speech and customs. His 
quintet is a mixture of French and German 
blood, not without resemblance to Meyerbeer's 
music ; Meyerbeer, we know, borrows from ev- 
ery European nation for his works of art, and 
it is impossible to say what he may yet bring 
back with him when he undertakes a journey 
(similar to Spontini's composition-tour through 
England), among the Bushmen, for hb own 
inspiration to new creations, and to inspire 
others with these. However, I praise my 
mother tongue, when spoken with purity, for 
its resonance, power, and capability of ex- 
pression; but I cannot blame an emigrant 
like St. Lubin, because he is not yet perfectly 
master of it ; I, on the contrary, respect his 
endeavors. This quintet does not leave a 
completely elevating impression behind it; 
we are drawn hither and thither, without 
gaining a firm foothold. The most striking 
point is its lack of original invention ; what- 
ever in it is most deeply touching seems to 
me borrowed, or else suggests a model ; and 
where the composer gives us hb own ideas, 
he does so in a vague and general way. Thus 
the beginning b, at bottom, that of Mozart's 
Gr-minor symphony ; the first theme of the 
last movement b a Rossinian idea from 
''Tell " ; the second has a Beethoven thought 
from the A-major symphony at its founda- 
tion. I cannot point to the source of the 

> Prom Mneae and Mueieiant, Sseayi and Critieieme, 
hjrBoBKBTScHUMASir. Translated. ecUted, annotated 1)7 
FAJunr Satmovd Bittxb. Second Series. (New York, 
Bdwaid Sebnberth ft Oo. London, Wm. Beeves. ISM.) 



scherzo; but it b not remarkable. In the 
adagio, I -first had a clear idea how far the 
composer can go; here, where the lord of 
provbion and treasure first generally reveab 
hb inward life, things looked sadly dull. On 
the other hand, the quintet betrays an easy 
and rapid pen, much feeling of form and ac- 
quaintance with harmony. Still, after listen- 
ing to it, I longed to cry out, *< Music, music, 
give me music 1 " 

We turned to the next piece in a very 
chilly mood ; but we were scarcely encircled 
by Cherubini's handiwork ere we forgot the 
preceding. Thb second quartet seems to me 
to have been written long before the first one 
in the same collection, and perhaps even be- 
fore the symphony, which, if I am not mis- 
taken, pleased so little on its first performance 
in Vienna, that Cherubini refused to publbh 
it, and afterwards transformed it into a quar- 
tet And thus a double failure has arben ; 
for if the music, as a symphony, sounded too 
much like a quartet, the quartet b too sym- 
phonic. I am opposed to all such remould- 
ing ; it seems to me an offence against the 
divine first inspiration. I recognize in its 
simplicity (which quality dbtingubhes Cher- 
ubini's older compositions from his later ones), 
its earlier origin. To be sure, if the nuister 
himself should enter and say, "You err, 
friend; these quartets were written at the 
same period, and originally nothing but quar- 
tets," I should be defeated. Therefore my 
remarks must only be accepted as supposition^ 
and suggestions to further thought in others. 
On the whole, thb work b raised sufficiently 
above the level of contemporary publications, 
above all that Paris has lately sent us ; and 
it would be impossible for anything of the 
kind to be produced by any writer who had 
not earnestly studied, thought, and written 
for a long series of consecutive years. Some 
dry passages worked out by the understand- 
ing alone are to be found here, as in most of 
Cherubini's works, but also much that b in- 
teresting, — contrapuntal refinement, an imi- 
tation; something that gives matter for 
thought. The scherzo and the last move- 
ment contain the greatest amount of swing 
and masterly life. The adagio has a highly 
original A-minor character, something Pro- 
vencal and romance-like; its charms reveal 
themselves more and more on frequent hear- 
ing. The close is of that kind in which one 
prepares to Ibten again, while yet knowing 
that the end b near. In the first movement, 
we meet with reminiscences of Beethoven's 
B-fiat major symphony, an imitation between 
violin and viola, like the one in that sym- 
phony between fagotto and clarinet ; and at 
the principal retrogression in the middle, we 
have the same figure as that at the same 
place in the same Beethoven symphony. But 
these movements differ so greatly in character 
that the resemblances will strike few persons. 

Towards the close of thb morning of music, 
we set to work at a manuscript quartet that 
had been sent to us. The at first serious 
faces gradually acquired an ironical expres- 
sion, until all began to titter uncontrollably, 
while all the players' bows appeared to dance 
up and down. A Groliath among the PhUis- 



tines stared at us from thb quartet We 
have really no advice to offer its composeri 
who certainly has scored hb work according 
to hb powers ; but we heartily thank him for 
the good-humor of which he was the cause in 
our assembly. 

PRIZE QUABTET, — BY JT7LIUS SGHAPLEB. 

Here b truly Grerman ill-luck I royal mis- 
fortune! One invents a prize quartet, one 
writes it down, one prints the score, — and, 
lo ! even on the title-page there b an error of 
the press in the very name of the composer I 
This stands Schabler in the place of Schap- 
ler. However, it does not injure the work 
itself. We must first praise the judge who 
found out that thb was more than a merely 
good, and, according to form and grammati- 
cal law, a correct composition, and then the 
judged, who has given us more than a merely 
good work. The mere choice of a quartet 
form by those who offered the prize was a 
good one. First, because the form being in 
itself noble, leads us to attribute consider- 
able cultivation beforehand to the combatantSi 
and secondly, because that form seemed to 
have come to a full stop. Who does not 
know Haydn's, Mozart's, Beethoven's quar- 
tets, and who dare throw a stone at them ? 
Though it b an indisputable proof of the 
indestructible vitality of those creations, that, 
after the lapse of half a century, they still 
delight all hearts, it b no good sign for the 
recent artbtic generation, that in so long a 
period of time nothing to be compared to 
these has been since created. Onslow alone 
found an echo, and after him Mendelssohn, 
whose arbtocratico-poetic nature was especi* 
ally fitted to thb musical form; whUe in 
Beethoven's later quartets, beyond and out- 
side all these, treasures may be found which 
the world scarcely yet knows, and amid which 
we may mine for years to come. 

We Grermans are, therefore, not poor in 
quartets ; but very few among us have known 
how to augment the exbting capital. We 
must, therefore, prabe the Mannheim Musi« 
cal Society for bestirring themselves on the 
subject, and rejoice, since the idea has brought 
forth fruit Judgments regarding Schapler's 
quartet vary much; but they agree in con- 
sidering it as something out of the common, 
something that is not to be understood at the 
first glance. 

Those who are acquainted with Beetho- 
ven's later, works will express themselves 
differently. Thb romantic humor has pro- 
duced its effect on the young artbt, and as he 
b himself a remarkable player and connois- 
seur of the instruments for which he wrote, he 
was safe on one side, at least, from utter 
failure or extravagance. No one can deny 
that the quartet dbplays, above all things, 
aspiration towards fine form. Thb b seen, 
pure and firm, in the first movement, and, in 
the second, in the humorbtic and in no way 
dbtorted relations. But the outlines of the 
adagio are paler. The last movement, how- 
ever, corresponds, up to the somewhat hasty 
retrogression, to the first one, in sharp cut 
and regularity. Thus the form of thb quar- 
tet b less uncommon than its intellectaal 



194 



DWIGHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1084. 



meaning. Here, we feel at once, we are ad- 
dressed by a very different man from the ordi- 
nary nm of men. The judgment of a Philis- 
tine confuses all things; he calls everything 
that he does not understand romantic, and 
only sees encouraging symptoms of a return- 
ing pig-tail epoch in what is clear to his 
understanding. Therefore we rejoice in . the 
prize quartet judgment, that it was able to 
recognize a new and a novelty-promising 
arUst, and that, in spite of the somewhat 
tempestuous character of the composition, it 
was not measured by school-master rule. 

Unfortunately I have not heard it per- 
formed. But it spoke sympathetically to me, 
and I found no dark passage in it I could 
not give the preference to any one number ; 
each seemed inwardly related to the other. 
Its character may be described in a few words : 
A somewhat pensively elegiac mood rises 
through tranquil gravity, and then humorous- 
ness, to a bold, energetic desire for action. 
Music already possesses a composition contain- 
ing a similar progression of feeling, and that in 
no less a work than Beethoven's A-minor quar- 
tet. A mind of no ordinary cast expresses this 
again here in its own way, and it is well worth 
while to become familiar with this manner. 
We hail the work as a thoughtful, original 
one, and we direct the attention of Grerman 
quartet societies to it. But its composer must 
not stand still ; he must give us still further 
proof of that mood of active power in which 
we now find him. *' To win the prize in the 
contest, one must not stand still and reflect," 
he has given out as his own motto ; and there 
are yet other and loftier congests. Good for- 
tune has already been friendly to him for 
once ; let him understand and make use of 
fiis success. Florestan. 



STRING QUARTETS. 

H. HisscHBAGH. ** PictuTM from Lifo." in a oyde of 
Ooartete for Two Violini, Viola, and Violonoello. Fint 
Quartet.— Opus 1. 

J. J. H. YBBHULST. Two Qoartets for Viola, &c.— 
OpnfS. 

Two of the above quartets were spoken of 
as manuscripts, by us, some time ago. We 
hailed them both, each in a different manner, 
as the first great result of talented aspiration, 
and signalized the former as original and po- 
etic, while the lively and picturesque charac- 
teristics of the young Hollander awakened 
no less sympathy within us. 

Since that time both of these young artists 
have industriously continued their labors; 
one is well known, his name has speedily at- 
tained publicity, as he is director of a concert 
society. The position of the other is some- 
what more difficult ; what cares the world for 
the poet's study, unless it is to be found in 
the exposed facade of a palace ? And, there- 
fore, only this one of his compositions has 
heretofore appeared, his first, a cycle of quar- 
tets which he entitles '* Pictures from L^fe," 
and prefaces with mottoes from Goethe's 
" Faust" 

It is probable that many of our readers 
will feel anxious to examine the first work of 
the young man who has often spoken to them 
in our paper, and who must be at least partly 
known to them through many boldly an- 
nounced opinions. The highest things will 



be expected from him ; he will be measured 
according to the standard by which he judged 
others. And those who start with this deter- 
mination will find much to object to in him. 
But if we are able to judge separately the 
critical and the creative artist within him, we 
shall not be able to deny him the sympathy 
that every character that endeavors to hew 
out its own path merits to the utmost. He 
cares not to flatter or fascinate; his very 
mottoes frankly speak out his meaning : " No 
dog would care to live longer so," and, *^ I 
greet thee, thou single phial, whom I take 
down reverentially, honoring human art and 
intellect in thee." Yet let no one draw back 
from bis music as from something inimical to 
humanity or existence, and let no one dive too 
deeply into it, in the endeavor to dbcover 
whether or not it reflects Faust's discourse, 
word for word. If we are not mistaken, the 
mottoes were added when the composition 
was finished. The composer probably found 
in them something generally allied to his 
already expressed mood of mind ; and indeed, 
they only really suit the character of the first 
movement; the others, though sufficiently 
serious, exhibit less wildly melancholy phys- 
iognomies, and hold fast to the recognized 
characteristics of such movements. 

The composer certainly spoke from his 
heart ; a lively impulse of inventiveness may 
be unmistakably discerned in every number 
of his quartets. Compared to the superficial 
aims of other young composers, his, at least, 
possess a character that demands respect, if 
there is not even something sublime in them. 
We see everywhere that he is determined to 
be called a poet, and that he, therefore, tries 
to withdraw from mere stereotyped form ; 
Beethoven's last quartets appear to him as 
the beginning of a new poetic era, and he 
desires to continue this ; Haydn and Mozart 
lie too far behind him. He has much in com- 
mon with Berlioz ; bold desire to create, a 
preference for grand forms, a poetical disposi- 
tion, an inclination to despise what is anti- 
quated, and, like Berlioz, he also received the 
early education of a physician, and only 
wholly devoted himself to music at the age 
of twenty. This last circumstance is worth 
remark. He who begins to study his occupa- 
tion early becomes sooner master of it, and 
youth alone is favorable to the development 
of certain mechanical powers. But our young 
artist does not seem to have enjoyed the ad- 
vantage of an early and correct guidance. 
To be sure, he has devoted other powers to 
the service of the Muses, and a many-sided 
cultivation such as is not always found among 
his caste. He is well versed in the history 
and poetry of many lands, and he takes a 
lively interest in the struggle of to-day. ,It 
is, therefore, not surprising that a youth so 
advanced in the knowledge of other things, 
does not exactly begin at the A B C of mu- 
sic, when he wishes to discourse and poetize 
freely. Many things succeed in the first fresh 
start; here and there, however, the faulty 
schooling of the musician betrays itself, and 
disturbs us with a feeling such as that caused 
by errors of orthography in a letter that is, 
notwithstanding, written intelligently. Tet 



we must confess that we have experienced 
the same feeling sometimes in the case of 
Berlioz. We do not care to cite every sepa-> 
rate passage in the quartets in which any 
musician will perceive the still unfinished 
artist. The thoroughly German character of 
the whole work stands far above its execu- 
tion. There is thought and truth in these 
pictures from life, and perhaps those yet to 
come, which are to complete the cycle, will 
display that mastery yet lacking. In the 
meanwhile, we assure him that we love the 
aspirations of youth, and BeethoVen, who 
struggled even with his last breath, is to us 
a noble example of human grandeur ; but in 
the fruit-gardens of Mozart and Haydn, stand 
heavily-laden trees that we cannot easily 
overlook, unless we deny ourselves, to our 
own injury, as elevated an enjoyment as may 
be vainly sought elsewhere in the world, and 
to which, after useless searchings and wan- 
derings, many return, — but, alas! too late, 
with frozen hearts that can enjoy no longer, 
and with trembling hands that have lost the 
power of construction. 

The other young artist named above has 
looked far deeper into those fruit^rdens ; 
we see that he is happy in his vocation of mu- 
sician ; above all, he demands music, fine 
tones ; he broods over no Faustian by-fancies. . 
Already, in a description of one of his over- 
tures, we gave an idea of the style of his 
talent and of his promising disposition ; we 
scarcely know what further to add to what 
we said then. As a quartettbt he displays 
uncommon talents; he comprehends the real 
character of this form, he endeavors to sus- 
tain every part independently, and these wind 
and cross each other in an interesting man- 
ner ; but a sort of symphonic fury overcomes 
him here and there, as if he were trying to 
force the modest four beyond their natural 
limits into orchestral effects. The quartet 
No. 2 was composed first, and is written in 
A-flat major, a key hitherto almost unused in 
the quartet; and it has its difficulties. In 
form and succession of movements, it endeav- 
ors to follow the older masters as models. 
Cheerfulness and enjoyment of life predomi- 
nate in its character, which is only clouded 
here and there by exhibitions of a more 
thoughtful earnestness. 

Its melodic treatment displays no decidedly 
original stamp ; a few lively outbreaks remind 
us of Mendelssohn. The pure construction 
of the periods, and their often artistic involu- 
tions, are throughout praiseworthy. The 
entire work, if well studied and performed, 
can only produce a favorable impression. 
The second quartet, in D-minor, creates a 
still more agreeable one. Both seem to have 
been written at the same period, or in imme* 
diate succession, and the works contain some 
resemblances ; but the composer moves more 
easily and cleverly in the second — to which 
result the easier key no doubt contributed. 
The first movement rushes hastily by; it 
breaks off too suddenly, too much as if the 
composer had at once lost pleasure in his 
work. In the adagio he rises to a more joy- 
ful elevation of mind. The third and fourth 
measures certainly remind us of a theme of 



DxoufBBR 4, 1880.] 



DWIGHT8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



196 



Mozart's in << Don Juan ; '* but as fresh a 
yein of inventiveness runs through the whole 
piece, notwithstanding, as is only possible in 
youth ; and certain little harmonic surprises 
render it quite peculiarly attractive. The 
scherzo moves gaily, spite of the minor key, 
and the bolder its performance, the greater 
will be its effect. The last movement begins, 
almost note for note, like the last of the 
" Eroica" symphony. Did this escape the 
composer's observation ? If not, why did 
he allow it to remain ? But soon an orig- 
inal idea dances out, 'cello and viola be- 
gin to beckon, and the merry sport goes 
bravely on. The knot grows more and more 
intricate, and threatens to become entangled. 
The whole finally resolves itself well enough, 
closing in clear major, somewhat bombasti- 
cally, but not so much so as to make us angry 
with the composer. We must highly recom- 
mend the endeavors of this young artist to 
the world's ftfvorable opinion. The truly 
vital part of a work cannot be pointed out 
in words ; therefore, those who would know 
it, must themselves play and listen. Let the 
composer show himself soon again on a 
ground where it is not easy to find footing ; 
above all outward success, he must value that 
inward gain, which every exercise of power 
in difficulties bears within itself, and the 
consequence of which is certain to prove ben- 
eficial to the artist in every other labor. 



The development of the ballet and of the opera 
having been concurrent, and dance-pieces having 
formed important constituents of the opera itself, 
it was natural that the dramatic prelude should 
include similar features, and no incongruity was 
thereby involved, either in the overture or the 
serious opera which it heralded, since the dance- 
music of the period was generally of a stately, 
even solemn kind. In style, the dramatic over- 
ture of the class now referred to, like the stage- 
music which it preceded, and indeed all the secular 
compositions of the time, had little, if any, dis- 
tinguishing characteristic to mark the difference 
between the secular and sacred styles. Music 
had been fostered and raised into the importance 
of an art by the Church, to whose service it had 
long been almost exclusively applied, and it re- 
tained a strong and pervading tinge of serious 
formaUsm during nearly a century of its earliest 
application to secular purposes, even to those of 
dramatic expression. 



ABOUT 0VERTURES.1 

Overture (Fr. Ouverture, Ital. Overtura), i. «., 
Opening. This term was originally applied to the 
instrumental prelude to an opera, its first impor- 
tant development being due to Lulli, as exempli- 
fied in his series of French operas and ballets, 
dating from 1672 to 1686. The earlier Italian 
operas were generally preceded by a brief and 
meagre introduction for instruments, usually called 
Sinfonia, sometimes Toccata, the former term 
having afterwards become identified with the 
grandest of all forms of orchestral music; the 
latter having been always more properly (as it 
soon became solely) applied to pieces for keyed in- 
struments. Monteverde's opera, " Orf eo " (1 608), 
commences with a short prelude ^of nine bars, 
termed *<Toccato," to be played three times 
through ; being, in fact, little more than a mere 
preliminary .flourish of instruments. Such small 
beginnings became afterwards somewhat ampli- 
fied, both by Italian and French composers ; but 
only very slight indications of the Overture, as a 
composition properly so-called, are apparent 
before the time of Lulli, who justly ranks as an 
inventor in this respect He fixed the form of 
the dramatic prelude, the overtures to his operas 
having not only served as models to composers for 
nearly a century, but having also been themselves 
extensively used in Italy and Germany as preludes 
to operas by other masters. Kot only did our 
own Purcell follow this influence; Handel also 
adopted the form and closely adhered to the 
model furnished by Lulli, and by his transcendent 
genius gave the utmost development and musical 
interest attainable in an imitation of what was so 
entirely conventional. The form of the Overture 
of LuUi's time consisted of a slow Introduction, 
generally repeated, and followed by an Allegro in 
the fugued style, and occasionally included a 
movement in one of the many dance-forms of the 
period, sometimes two pieces of this description. 

t nrom the arttde Ovbetubb, in Orore*! DietUmar^ qf 



As regards the overture, then, Handel perfected 
the form first developed by Lulli, but cannot be 
considere4 as an inventor and grand originator, 
such as he appears in his sublime sacred choral 
writing. 

Hitherto, as we have sud, the dramatic over- 
ture had no special relevance to the character and 
sentiment of the work which it preceded. The 
first step in this direction was taken by Gluck, 
who was for some time contemporaneous with 
Handel. It was he who first perceived, or at 
least realized, the importance of rendering the 
overture to a dramatic work analogous in style to 
the character of the music which is to follow. In 
the dedication of his Alceste, he refers to this 
among his other reforms in stage composition. 
The French score of Alceste includes, besides the 
invariable string quartet, flutes, oboes, a clari- 
net, and three trombones. Even Gluck, however, 
did not always identify the overture with the 
opera to which it belonged, so thoroughly as was 
afterwards done by including a theme or themes 
in anticipation of the music which followed. Still, 
he certainly rendered the orchestral prolude what, 
as a writer has well said, a literary preface should 
be — ''something analogous to the work itself, so 
that #e may feel its want as a desire not else- 
where to be gratified." His overtures to Alceste 
and Iphigdnxe en Tauride run continuously into 
the first scene of the opera, and the latter is per- 
haps the most romarkable instance up to that time 
of special identification with the stage music which 
it heralds, inasmuch as it is a distinct foreshadow- 
ing of the opening storm scene of the opera into 
which the prelude is merged. Perhaps the finest 
specimen of the dramatic overture of the period, 
viewed as a distinct orchestral composition, is that 
of Gluck to his opera, Iphig4nie en AtUide. 

The influence of Gluck on Mozart is clearly to 
be traced in Mozart's first important opera, Ido- 
meneo (1781), the overture to which, both in 
beauty and power, is far in advance of any pre- 
vious work of the kind; but, beyond a general 
nobility of style, it has no special dramatic char- 
acter that inevitably associates it with the opera 
itself, though it is incorporated therewith by its 
continuance into the opening scene. In his next 
work, Die EntfWirung aus dem Serail (1782), 
Mozart has identified the prelude with the opera 
by the short incidental Andante movement, antici- 
patory (in the minor key) of Belmont's aria, Hier 
$oU ich dich denn sehen. In the overture to his 
Nozze di Figaro (1786), he originally contem- 
plated a similar interruption of the Allegro by a 
short, slow movement — an intention afterwards 
happily abandoned. This overturo is a veritable 
creation, that can only be sufficiently appreciated 
by a comparison of its brilliant outburst of genial 
and graceful vivacity with the vapid preludes to 



the comic operas of the day. In the overture to 
his Don Giovanni (1787), we have a distinct iden- 
tification 'with the opera by the use, in the intro- 
ductory Andante, of some of the wondrous music 
introducing the entry of the statue in the last 
scene. The solemn initial chords for trombones, 
and the fugal Allegro of the overture to Die 
Zavherfldte may be supposed to be suggestive of 
the religious element of the libretto, and this may 
be considered as the composer's masterpiece of 
its kind. Since Mozart's time, the overturo has 
adopted the same general principles of form 
which govern the first movement of a Symphony 
or Sonata, without the repetition of the first sec- 
tion. 

Reverting to the French school, we find a char- 
acteristic overture of Maul's, to his opera, La 
Chasse du Jeune Henri (1797), the prolude to 
which alone has survived. In this, however, as 
in Fronch music generally of that date (and even 
earlier), the influence of Haydn is distinctly ap- 
paront His symphonies and quartets had met 
with immediate acceptance in Paris — one of the 
former, indeed, entitled La Chasse^ having been 
composed seventeen years before Maul's opera. 
Cherabini, although Italian by birth, belongs to 
France ; for all his great works wero produced 
at Paris, and most of his life was passed thero. 
This composer must be specially mentioned as 
having been one of the first to depart from the 
pattern of the overture as fixed by Mozart 
Cherubini, indeed, marks the transition point 
between the regular symmetry of the style of 
Mozart, and the coming disturbance of form 
effected by Beethoven. In the dramatic effect 
gained by the gradual and probnged crescendo^ 
both he and M^hul seem to have anticipated one 
of Rossini's favorite resources. This is specially 
observable in the overturo to his opera, Anacreon 
(1808). Another featuro is the abandonment of 
the Mozartian rule of giving the second subject 
(or episode) first in the dominant, and afterwards 
in the original key, as in the symphonies, quartets 
and sonatas of the period. 

The next step in the development of the over- 
turo was taken by Beethoven, who began by fol- 
lowing the model left by Mozart, and carrying it 
to its highest development, as in the overturo to 
the ballet of Prometheus (1800). In his other 
dramatic overtures, including those to Yon Col- 
lin's Coridan (1807), and to Groethe's Egmoni 
(1810), the great composer fully asserts his inde- 
pendence of form and precedent But he had 
done so still earlier, in the overturo known as 
'' No* 8," of the four which he wrote for his opera 
Fidelio* In this wonderful prolude (composed in 
18Q6), Beethoven has apparontly reached the 
highest possible point of dramatic expression, by 
foreshadowing the sublime heroism of Leonora's 
devoted affection for her husband, and indicating, 
as he does, the various phases of her grief at his 
disappearance, her search for him, his rescue by 
her from a dungeon and assassination, and their 
ultimate rounion and happiness. Hero the stereo- 
typed form of overturo entiroly disappears ; the 
commencing scale passage, in descending octaves, 
suggesting the utterance of a wail of despairing 
grief, leads to the exquisite phrases of the Adagio 
of Florestan's scene in the dungeon, followed by 
the passionate Allegro which indicates the heroic 
purpose of Leonora.' This movement, including 
the spirit-stirring trumpet-call that proclaims the 
rescue of the imprisoned husband, and the whole 
winding up with a grandly exultant burst of joy, 
— these leading features, and the grand develop- 
ment of the whole, constitute a dramatic prelude 
that is still unapproached. In No. 1 of these- 
Fidelio overtures (composed 1807) he has gone 
still further in the use of themes from the opera 
itself, and has employed a phrase which occurs in 
Florestan's Allegro, to the words An angel Leo 



196 



DWIOHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1084. 



nora^ in the coda of the overture, with very fine 
effect. 

While in the magnificent work just described, 
we must concede to Beethoven undivided pre- 
eminence in majesty and elevation of style, the 
palm, as to romanticism and that powerful ele- 
ment of dramatic effect, ^* local color," must be 
awarded to Weber. No subjects could well be 
more distinct than those of the Spanish drama 
Preciosa (1820) ; the wild forest legend of North 
Grermany, Der Freischiitz (1821); the chivalric 
subject of the book of Euryanthe (1823); and 
the bright Orientalism of Oheron (1826). The 
overtures to these are too familiar to need specific 
reference; nor is it necessary to point out how 
vividly each is impressed with the character and 
tone of the opera to which it belongs. In each 
of them Weber has anticipated themes from the 
following stage music, while he has adhered to 
the Mo^rt model in the regular recurrence of 
the principal subject and the episode. His admi- 
rable use of the orchestra is specially evidenced 
in the Freischiitz overture, in which the tremo- 
lando passages for strings, the use of the chcdu- 
meau of the clarinet, and the employment of the 
drums, never fail to raise thrilling impressions of 
the supernatural. The incorporation of portions 
of the opera in the overture is so skilfully effected 
by Weber that there is no impression of patchi- 
ness, or want of spontaneous creation, as in the 
case of some other composers — Auber, for in- 
stance, and Rossini (excepting the latter's Telt)^ 
whose, overtures are too often like potpourris of 
the leading themes of the operas, loosely strung 
together, intrinsically charming and brilliantly 
scored, but seldom, if ever, especially dramatic. 
Most «iusical readers will remember Schubert's 
clever travestie of the last-named composer, in 
the Overture in the Italian Style, written off-hand 
by the former in 1817, during the rage for Ros- 
sini's music in Vienna. 

Berlioz left two overtures to his opera of Ben- 
venuto Cellini, one bearing the name of the drama, 
the other called the Camaval Remain, and usually 
played as an entracte. The themes of both are 
derived more or less from the opera itself. Both 
are extraordinarily forcible and effective, abound- 
ing with the gorgeous instrumentation and bizarre 
treatment which a^ associated with the name of 
Berlioz. 

Since Weber, there has been no such fine ex- 
ample of the operatic overture, suggestive of, and 
identified with the subsequent dramatic action, as 
that to Wagner's TannhHuser, in which, as in 
Weber's overtures, movements from the opera 
itself are amalgamated into a consistent whole, 
set off with every artifice of contrast and with 
the most splendid orchestration. A noticeable 
novelty in the construction of the operatic over- 
ture is to be found in Meyerbeer's incorporation 
of the choral Ave Maria into his overture to 
Dinorah {Le Pardon de Ploermel). 

In some of the modern operas, Italian and 
French (even of the grand and heroic class) the 
work is heralded merely by a trite and meagre 
introduction, of little more value or significance 
than the feeble Sinfonia of the earliest musical 
drama. Considering the extended development 
of modem operas, the absence of an overture of 
proportionate importance or (if a mere introduc- 
tory prelude) one of such beauty and significance 
as that to Wagner's Lohengrin, is a serious defect, 
and may generally be construed into an evidence 
of the composer's indolence, or of his want of 
power as an instrumental writer. Recurring to 
the comparison of a preface to an operatic over- 
ture, it may be said of the latter, as an author 
has well said of the former, that " it should invite 
by its beauty, as an elegant ^rch announces the 
splendor of the interior." 
The development of the oratorio overture (as 



already implied) followed that of the operatic 
overture. Among prominent specimens of the 
former are those to the first and second parts of 
Spohr's Last Judgment (the latter of which is en- 
titled Symphony) ; and the still finer overtures to 
Mendelssohn's St, Paul and Elijah, this last pre- 
senting the specialty of being placed after the 
lecitative passage with which the work really 
opens. Mr. Macfarren's overtures to his ora- 
torios of John the Baptist, The Resurrection, and 
Joseph, are all carefully designed to prepare the 
hearer for the work which follows, by employing 
themes from the oratorio itself, by introducing 
special features, as the Shofar-horn in John the 
Baptist, or by general character and local color,- 
as in Joseph, The introduction to Haydn's Crea- 
tion, a piece of *' programme music," illustrative of 
Chaos, is a prelude not answering to the condi- 
tions of an overture properly so-called, as does 
that of the same composer's Seasons, which, how- 
ever, is rather a cantata than an oratorio. 
[Concliuion In next number.] 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

(Edipus Tthanvvb. Harvard University has 
decided, it seems, in emulation of Oxford, to enact 
an ancient Greek tragedy, and has chosen Sopho- 
cles's (Edipus Tyrannus for the occasion, which will 
be some time during the present academic year. 
Those having charge of the work — they are said 
to be signally competent — expect to excel in com- 
pleteness of detail the production of JEschylus's 
Agamemnon at Oxford last spring. They have 
already finished the score for the first chorus, and 
the parts have been assigned. The choruses will 
all be sung, and the dance to accompany them may 
also be attempted. A play by Sophocles may be 
the best choice of Greek tragedy that could be 
made, for his writings are almost universally re- 
garded as the perfection of the Attic drama. He 
has been called the high priest of humanity. He 
made tragic poetry an actual reflex of the mind 
and heart, and showed the moral significance of 
human action. His works are declared to be a 
happy medium between the indefinite and sombre 
supematuralism of .£achylus and the too familiar 
scenes and frequent bombast of Euripides. Antigone 
or Electro might be better adapted, or less un- 
adapted, to modem representation than (Edipus 
Tyrannus, which is, however, ranked by many critics 
as the finest of his seven extant tragedies. As a 
classic performance, the rendering of the play will 
be curious and interesting to scholars; but as a 
drama, in any modem sense, it will be well-nigh 
grotesque. It would be amusing if the author 
could be present at the Harvard representation. 
He is reputed to have been one of the most ami- 
able and contented of mortals. But he would, we 
query, be greatly irritated to find that he could not, 
as we venture to say he could not, understand a 
single word of his own immortal composition. The 
late Professor C. C. Felton, considered the best 
Greek scholar in this country, with few equals any- 
where, paid a visit the latter part of his life to 
Athens, and was unable, as he said himself, to make 
any body comprehend the simplest Greek phrase. 
Although Romaic is quite different from the old 
Greek, it is founded on that, and it might be sup- 
posed there would be enough in common between 
the two to make the latter somewhat intelligible to 
the ears of contemporaneous Grecians. But there 
is not, apparently. There is no rational doubt, if 
Demosthenes were now extant, that he would not 
understand a syllable of Greek,as taught anywhere 
at present, any more readily than he would under- 
stand Choctaw or Tammany English. — New York 
Times. 



1867. Dr. Hanslick's remarks . are as follows : 
" Richard Wagner's work on the score of Iphigenia 
in Aulis 'contributed not a littie to the genuine suc- 
cess of the opera. The revision shows the hand of 
a master, both in the change made and in what was 
allowed to remain unaltered. We perceive a con- 
servative appreciation of what was characteristic 
in the past, and a lucid perception of modem re- 
quirements. We know that many voices, and among 
them voices of sufficient prominence to arrest our 
attention, are continually protesting against the 
modemizing of important works. Their protest 
would be juitt if it concerned an historical concert 
or a performance before antiquarians. But it is a 
different matter when the real purpose is to intro- 
duce Gluck's music with happy effect upon a modem 
public. In this case an intelligent and modest re- 
vision is not only permissible, but even necessary. 
Of course, critics cut a better figure when they cry 
out against the slightest alteration, and lament the 
sacrifice of a note as an irretrievable loss. But the 
practical musician who leads a Gluck opera to 
victory, with the sacrifice of a few extemal proper- 
ties, does more for Gluck than the purists who 
watch its failure from their classic heights. Wag- 
ner had to work in a good many directions. In the 
first place we owe him a new translation of the 
French libretto, and, as regards the recitatives, the 
restoration of proper form and meaning which had 
disappeared in the usual miserable translation. 
Then he strengthened the instramentation where 
it was too sparse and monotonous for modem heai^ 
ing. Iphigenia in Aulis needed this strengthening in 
particular, for in it Gluck avoided the trombones 
which we have heard so effectively in Orpheus and 
AlcestisJ" 



Wellbslbt Collbos. a contributor to the 
Advertiser, writes: 

So much has been written and said of Wellesley 
College, its praises have been so often repeated, 
that nothing new can be added; still the impression 
made by such an institution is always deep and 
fresh. More than three hundred girls, more than 
thirty professors and teachers, all busy as bees ; it 
is a little world in itself, and so advantageously 
placed, where, in a sense, there is only Nature and 
Wellesley College; and yet so near an active 
centre of intellectual life and growth as to be able 
to profit by all the advantages thus afforded. There 
are already many works of art, both in the halls of 
the college and in the art gallery; nearly 20,000 
books in the library ; a fine building nearly ready 
for occupation, to be entirely devoted to music, and 
built with special reference to its use, such as 
deafened walls and floors and double doors to the 
thirty-eight rooms for lessons and practice, and a 
hall for concerts and choral instruction. Courses 
of five years' study in music and art have been 
added to the other courses laid out at the opening 
of the institution, and the scientific courses are 
equally comprehensive as well as the advantages 
for laboratory work. The new " Stone hall " will 
be ready for use in September, 1881, and will 
provide for a new class of students, that is, those 
who are already teachers and desire advanced 
studies. Much has been accomplished at Wellesley 
in the few years of its existence, and, since pro- 
gress seems to be its capiUl principal, and it has 
many friends ready to aid its realizations, one 
can safely say that as yet " the half has not been 
told." C. E. C. 



Gluck and Waokbb. In the chapter devoted 
to Gluck in his Modems Oper, Eduard Hanslick 
speaks of Richard Wagner's additions to the score 
of Iphigenia in Aulis, The criticism is very favor- 
able, and the good opinion expressed gains emphasis 
from the fact that Hanslick is one of Wagner's 
most bitter opponents. The article was written 
anent a performance of Iphigenia in Vienna during 



lit Eabnest. During a performance of Fidelio at 
the Town Theatre of Mayence, Herr Mann, the lead- 
ing baritone of the company, was about, in the charac- 
ter of the wicked Don Pizarro, to undergo the penalty 
of his evil deeds, the stage business requiring that he 
should be led away to confinement by two guards at a 
sign from the minister of State. The brace of supers 
told ofif for this duty were private soldien, belonging 
to an artillery regiment in garrison at Mayence— two 
sturdy Brandenburgers, drilled and disciplined to a 
nicety. As they took up the position assigned to them 
on either side of Pizarro, previous to marching him off 
the stage, the chorist entrusted with the part of officer 
commanding the escort, whispered to them, "Remem- 
ber, the man is a State prisoner: guard him carefully." 
Obedient to orders, they led Pizarro away to his dre«- 
ing-room, where he rapidly exchanged his theatrical 



Dbcehbxb 4, 1880.] 



DWIGSrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



197 



costame for priv^ate clothes, and, opening his door, was 
aboat to go home to sapper as usual, when, to his 
amazement, he found his passage barred by a couple 
of crossed halberds. Indignantly inquiring of the in- 
flexible supers facing him with outstretched weapons 
what they meant by interfering with his movements, 
be received the stolid reply that they had strict orders 
to guard him closely as a State prisoner, and that 
he must not attempt to leave his room. Some time 
elapsed before the accidental arrival on the spot of the 
stage manager, whose authority they were induced 
with difficulty to recognize, finally resulted in Mr. 
Mann's emancipation from restraint. 



Wagner's New Pamphlet. The title, Religion 
and Artt in a pure misnomer. There is in it little or 
nothing about art, and still less about religion; the 
brochure being devoted almost exclusively to the re- 
ligion of the stomach and the art of eating. Herr 
Wagner was, it seems, shocked during the Bayrenth 
performance by the hunger of the audience. Those 
who were present will not easily forget the fights for 
food, and Herr Wagner seems to be very much dis- 
gusted that his faithful followers cannot subsist en- 
tirely upon his music. A bold advertisement follows 
of the projected production of Parsifal in 1882, when 
Herr Wagner hopes his audience will renounce meat, 
and be content with "higher food," that is to say, 
vegetables. Pages of his pamphlet are filled with 
fierce invectives against those who eat " the corpses of 
murdered beasts/' with assertions that to flesh eating 
may be attributed the degeneration of humanity, and 
with commands to the faithful to henceforward subsist 
OB saner kraut and potatoes. All this sounds like 
satire, and it is hoped, almost beyond hope, that the 
whole thing is a hoax. If not, it is lamentable to see 
a great intellect in its decay, and the perpetration of a 
folly which will excite pity in the minds of both foes 
and friends. — Ijondon Figaro. 



&Dtoigi)t'ist S^ournal of fll^uistic. 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1880. 

CONCERTS. 

Harvard Musical Association. The six- 
teenth season of Symphony Concerts opened 
auspiciously on Thursday afternoon, Kov. 2. 
The Music Hall looked unusually populous and 
cheerful for a first concert ; programme and per- 
formance were excellent, and satisfaction could 
be read in almost every face. 

First came Cherubini's noble overture to The 
Water Carrier, with its grave and stately intro- 
duction and ponderous downward gravitation of 
the basses, followed by that spirited and brilliant 
allegro in which the violins are used so finely, 
and very finely were they played. It was a capi- 
tal interpretation. 

Then came a soprano recitative and aria (never 
heard here before) from Handel's Italian opera 
AlessandrOf sung by Miss Lillian BaUey. This 
opera was composed in 1726, and 'Mrew very 
much," says Colman. Two famous prime donne, 
Faustina and Cuzzoni, were employed in it, and 
Handel treated them with equal favor, giving 
them well contrasted solos suited to their voices, 
and once at least letting the two sirens warble a 
duet. Faustina, in the character of the captive 
Princess Roxana, who captured her conqueror's 
heart in turn, has always a bright and joyous 
rdle to sing. Crysander says : *^ When she re- 
ceives her liberty from Alexander, she answers 
him with a melody which flutters away on the 
air like a bird escaped from its cage. But a song- 
bird escaped from its cage commonly comes back 
soon ; it loves its prison and its master more than 
freedom. The melody swings itself aloft, flutter- 
ing this way and that way, and then sinks back 
to the low tone with which it started ; out of love 
to its master the song-bird makes its way back 
to its little golden cage.'* This, however, is not 
the aria which Miss Bailey sang for us, though 
what she did sing (Rec. "Ne' trofei d' Ales- 
fandro"; Aria: " Lusinghe piii care'') is of th^ 



same joyous, brilliant and enthusiastic character 
with all the melodies entrusted to Roxana ; while 
those sung by Cuzzoni in the part of the unfav- 
ored but magnanimous rival, Isaura, are in the 
mournful and pathetic tone more native to the 
singer's voice. Miss Bailey gave the recitative 
with fine accent and phrasing, and sang the 
florid, rapturous Handelian allegro in a most 
pure, clear, finished style, entirely unaffected and 
refined, with a voice of rare delicacy and sweet- 
ness, such as wins its way even without great 
strength and volume. The orchestral parts had 
been carefully arranged by Mr. Henschel from 
the score of Handel. 

The Seventh Symphony of Beethoven rose like 
''the monarch of mountains" in the middle of 
the programme — though its heights are any- 
thing but snowy; for it is full of warmth and 
happiness almost divine ; the very heavens seem 
to open in the Trio of the Scherzo. The render- 
ing was remarkably fine, and it was heard with 
such delight and satisfaction, such a sense of 
blissful rest in perfect harmony, that one cculd 
almost pray that it might keep on forever. The 
performance showed that the orchestra has been 
kept in nice and careful drill of late, alike credit- 
able to Mr. Zerrahn and Mr. Listemann. 

The Symphony was followed by three of those 
beautiful arrangements (one hundred or more) 
which Beethoven made, for Thomson, of old Scotch 
and Irish popular melodies, with accompaniments 
for piano, violin and 'cello. Beethoven's genius 
shines in these gem-like, characteristic settings, as 
clearly as in all his works; the short prelude, 
accompaniment, and closing instrumental meas- 
ures, sieze in every instance the spirit of the 
song, preserve and heighten its native flavor, and 
make it a little art-work, while it still remains a 
folk»-song. Mr. J. C. D. Parker played the piano 
part, and Mrs. Listemann and Fries the violin 
and 'cello, and all went nicely, supplying the 
right background to Miss Bailey's simple, charm- 
ing and expressive' singing. Two of the songs 
were Scotch ("The lovely lass of Inverness "and 
"Faithfu' Johnie.")' Between them came the 
Irish melody : " Sad and luckless was the Season," 
in which might easily be recognized an older, if 
not the original, form of " The last Rose of Sum- 
mer." In a smaller room, of course, these things 
would have been more appreciable. 

The one instrumental novelty of the programme, 
closing the concert, was Schumann's overture to 
Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar, Op. 128, composed 
in 1851. Though in a dramatic sense not satisfy- 
ing the expectations prompted by its title, and by 
no means so marked and marvellous a creation as 
his Manfred and Genoveva overtures, it is yet 
thoroughly Schumannesque. Tliree dramatic ele- 
ments are discernible in its subject matter. First 
a strong, imperative proclamation by brass instru- 
mentSy with wide intervals, suggestive enough of 
threatening universal empire; then, occupying 
most of the middle part, half-suppressed murmurs 
and misgivings, anxious fears and consultations, 
(violins and soft wood instruments) and then a 
strong victorious finale. But one listens in vain 
for any intimation of the fall of Caesar ; and the 
finale, if it means the momentary victory and 
hope of Freedom, is too slightly different in char- 
acter from the threatening theme of the begin- 
ning. A certain sense of incompleteness remains 
when the work is over. But it is interesting, and 
was well presented. 



Philharmonic Orchestra. Second concert, Fri- 
day evening, Nov. 19. — 

Overture, ** Le Camaval Bomain.*' Berlios 

" Bella ma flamma, addle.'* Moiart 

MLh Qertmde Franklin. 
Sympbonle to Dante's " Dlvina Commedia.*' . . . liisst 

Part I. Inferno. ' 
Fbit time In Boflni. 



« The Youth of Hercules." Symphonic 

Poem Saint'Saens 

German songs Spohr— Schumann — Widor 

Miss Gertrude Franklin. 

a. Melo<l^e, " Sttterjenten's Sdndag Ole Ball 

For String Orchestra by Svendsen. 

6. Miniatttre March Ttehaikowaki 

Vals^^aprice Ant. BnUnsteIn 

Adapted for Orchestra by Moller-Berghans. New. First 

time In Boston. 

Here is another sort of programme. Of the 
concert one may say in a word: the manner (per- 
formance) excellent, the matter extremely and mo- 
notonously modem. In all these brilliant and sur- 
prising pieces — not without contrasts either, and 
not without moments of oppressive sombreness and 
dullness — was there a single movement of which 
one could say, as we have said above of the Sev- 
enth Symphony, or as Faust says when he at last 
tastes pex^ect satisfaction and would fain arrest the 
fleeting moment : " Ah ! still delay, thou art so 
fair ! " Is there anything that transports the listen- 
er into a state of heavenly bliss which he wonld 
fain prolong forever 1 And is not that the test of 
real, inspired, perfect music? What is so fatigu- 
ing, so confusing, as an unbroken series of surprises 
dazzling brilliancies, Junheard of strange effects? 
When you have heard them through, nothing abides 
with you ; there is no unity of total impression, no 
rounding to a period of vital, soulful, sweet repose. 
Here have been all these waves of sound, a vast 
wilderness thereof, foaming and tossing about you, 
and still they foam and toss in the jaded brain ; bat 
what has it all given you that you rest upon, what 
that you can love and fondly call back like the 
impression of a lovely person ? These men, these 
modem Boanerges of the tone-art, all seem striving 
to do something more wonderful and strange than 
ever yet was done, not something intrinsically love- 
ly and ideal, which it looks hardly possible to do 
as well as has been done. The result is, that after 
you have heard a few programmes of this sort, 
they all sound alike, till there is more of the real 
sense of novelty and ideality in the smallest, slen- 
derest symphony or quartet of old Father Haydn. 
Nevertheless we will thank Mr. Listemann and 
Mr. Thomas, and many more, for making na so 
very familiar with this sort of thing, that we shall 
retum to the sincere old masters with an altogether 
fresh and unmisgiving feeling of their greatness. 

The Roman Carnival Overture of Berlioz — one 
of the two be wrote for his opera Benvenuto CeUeni 
— certainly contains remarkable things; some 
charming, some surprising, and shows his mastery 
of instrumentation perhaps as well as anything. 
It is one of the new works, which we shall be 
glad of an opportunity to hear again, when we 
trust we shall understand it better. 

Liszt's " Inferno " is infernal. What has n^usic 
to do with such a theme ? How, but by almoat 
ceasing to be music, can it paint such a picture and 
suggest such horrors. Granting chat there is aa 
appalling grandeur in the tones he has used for the 
inscription over the gate of Hell, and that he seized 
upon the episode of Francesca di Rimini for a few 
strains of tender |melody, still the general charac- 
ter of the work is harsh, extravagant and noisy. 
Whether even the pursuit of knowledge would 
reconcile us to hearing this again, is more than we 
dare promise. 

The Ole Bull melody was a gracef nl tribute to hia 
memory. The Miniature March by Tschaikowsky, 
for the soft wind instruments without bassoon, and 
strings also without basses, was a very pretty, dainty, 
musical-box affair, fanciful and clever, and chaim- 
ingly rendered. The orchestration of Rubinstein's 
Valse-Caprice, too, was highly effective. 

Miss Gertrade Franklin made a very good impres- 
sion by her singing of the Mozart Aria. Having 
heard her hitherto mostly in bright, fiorid music in 
the upper range, we were surprised at the volome 
and the pleasing individual color of her tones. Her 
style and execution, too, were creditable ; but she 
was niore nearly at her best in the three German 
songs, which she sang with much expression, and in 
a true and simple way. 

We are glad to see that the next Philharmonic pro- 
gramme (Friday of this week) is not all new school, 
bntinclodes Beethoreti'i Pastoral Symphony. 



198 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL.— No. 1084- 



FUm calculation of the length of mat- 
ter set up for this namber of the Joumalf robe as of 
farther room for oar review of concerts. A long list 
most lie oyer: two fine ones of the Apollo Club; 
Ifr. Lang's splendid repetition of the Damnation de 
Faust (this time in Tremont Temple); the first Eaterpe 
Ooneert; the second Harvard Symphony; third Phil- 
hmmumic, Jbc. 

In PBOirBOT. This evening the most loyal part of 
musical Boston will pay its tribate of respect and love 
to the man and artist, Wulf Vbieb, for nearly two 
generations associated with all good things in our mu- 
sical experience. The conceit is at Horticultural Hall. 
Mr. Fries will play a violonoello Conoerto by Svendsen. 
The Ghembinl Qaartet in E-flat, and the great Schu- 
mann Quintet for piano and strings, form other features 
of the programme. 

For the complimentary concert to Mr. John 8. 

Dwight, to take place in Music Hall on Thursday after- 
noon of next week, the following artists have gener- 
ously volimteered: Mrs. Henry M. Rogers, Miss Fanny 
KeUogg, Miss Lillian Bailey, Miss Fannie Louise 
Barnes, Miss Gertrude Franklin, Mrs. J. H. West, Miss 
Edith Abell, Mrs. J. W. Weston, Miss Lucie Homer, 
Mhs ItaWelsh, Mrs. Jennie M. Noyes, Miss May Bry- 
ant, Mr. Charles B. Adams, Mr. George L. Osgood, Mr. 
Charles R. Hayden, Mr. John F. Winch, Mr. T. Adam- 
owski, Mr. Charles H. Morse, Mrs. W. H. Sherwood, 
Mr. J. C. D. Parker, Mr. W. H. Sherwood, Mr. Ernst 
Peisbo, Mr. B. J. Lang, Bfr. Arthur Foote, Mr. J. A. 
Preston, and the orchestra of the Harvard symphony 
concerts, Mr. Bemhard Listeman, leader, Mr. Carl 
Zerrahn, conductor. The programme will be as follows: 

1. Fifth symphony in C-minor Beethoven 

5. Twenty-third nalm. (Female ehoruB). . . Schubert 

Gonduoted by Mr. George L . Osgood. 

8. Coneerto for three pianos and string orchestra. J.S.Bach 

Messrs. J. C. D. Parker, Arthur Foote, and J. 

A. Preston. 

4. Coneert^tueek, for piano and orchestra. . Schumann 

Mr. B. J. Lang. 

6. Quartet, from " Fidelio." Beethoven 

Mrs. Henry M. Rogers, MIh Edith Abell, Mr. 
Charlea K. Adams and Mr. John F. Winch. 
«. Overture.— Becalmed at Sea, and Happy Voyage.*' 

Meiutolsshon 

. The Third Harvard Symphony Concert will take 

phice Dec 16, with this programme: Overture to 
"Alceste " (first time), Oluck ; Ytolin Concerto, No. 1, 
in G-minor, Max Bruch (played by Mr. Timothie 
d'Adamowski); SymphonieFantastique (second time), 
Berlioz ; Leporello's Aria from " Don Giovanni *' ; 
"Madamina, il Catalogo," etc., Mozart (Mr. Clarence 
E. Hay); Overture to " La Clemensa di Tito," Mozart. 
Piof. paine's Spring Symphony, previously announced, 
is postponed to a later concert, owing to the non-arrival 
of the score and parts, which are being printed in 
Germany. 

In the fourth conceit, January 6, Mr. (Seorge Hen- 
schel will sing two Arias with orchestra, neither of 
which has been heard here before. One is from Han- 
del's Italian Opera, SirOe ; the other is Lysiart's Scena 
and Aria from Weber's Euryanthe: "Woberg ich 
mich." Perhaps, too, he will give some songs witli his 
own accompaniment. 

The Handel and Harden Society announces a 

aeries of four performances for its sixty-sixth season, 
as follows: Sunday, Dec. 21$, '* Messiah" ; Sunday, Jan. 
?0t Monrt*8 "Beqoiem," first time in twenty-three 
yean, and Beethoven's "Ifountof Olives," first time 
in twenty-seven years; Good Friday, Bach's '* Passion 
Music," according to St. BCatthew ; and Easter Sunday, 
Mendelssohn's "St. FauL" The soloisU engaged for 
the first performance are Mrs. H. M. Knowles, Miss 
Anna Drasdil, Afr. W. C. Tower, and Mr. George Hens- 
chel. Mr. Henschelwill also sing the part of Jesus in 
the ** Passion Music." For the other performances 
the following nolo engagements have been made: Miss 
Ita Welsch, Mrs Jennie M. Noyes, Mr. C. R. A.dams, 
Mr. W. J. Winch, Mr. J. F. Winch, and Mr. C. E. Hay. 
Tlie orchestra will consist of sixty performers, under 
the directon of Mr. C. Zerrahn, with Mr. Ijing at the 

organ. 

Mr. Henschel will give probably four song re- 
citals here in January, with Miss Lillian Bailey, Mr. 
Cluurles R. Hayden, and a pianist 

Mr. A. P. Peck has completed arrangements 

with Mr. Theodore Thomas for the projected series of 
concerts at Music Hall in January, and the sale of sea- 
son tickets will at once be opened. Mr. Thomas will 
bring his unrivalled orchestra from New York, atid 
there will be four concerts— three in the evening and 
one mating The concert, January a4th (Monday) will 
be of an old-time popahir character. The second con- 
cert (Wednesday evening) will include a part, if not 
the wliole, of a symphony, together with popular se- 
lections. At both these concerts Hen Rafael Joseffy, 
the diitingnished pianist, will assist as soloist. Ber- 



lios's great dramatic legend, ''La Damnation de Faust," 
will be brought out, under Mr. Thomas's direction, 
on Friday evening, Jan. 28th, and repeated Saturday 
afternoon, the 29th. A full orchestra, a large and well 
trained chorus, and eminent soloists will take part. 
In this latter connection Miss Fanny Kellogg, Mr. W. 
C. Tower, the tenor, and Mr. (Seorge Henschel have 
already engaged. 

EMMA OF NEVADA. 



[Our genial " Diarist '* of a former generation — Beetho- 
ven's biographer— having returned to his Consulate at 
Trieste, Uas heard there what would teem to be a young 



American Oerster, and writes to us thus glowingly about 
her.] 

It happened on this wise : 

He was a middle-aged gentleman of pleasing ad- 
dress, who entered ; evidently at first sight an Ameri- 
can, which his card confirmed — ''W. W. Wixon, 
Physician and Surgeon, Austin, Nevada." His com- 
panion, a sweet, intelligent girl of some nineteen 
years, liad upon her card "Emma Nevada." We 
adjourned to the other room, chatted a few minutes, 
and then it came out She was his daughter, and, 
under the assumed name of her State, was to sing 
next exening, October 2d, her second appearance in 
atiy theatre, in the part of '* Amina" in LaSonnambula; 
and they came to invite me to be present. 

I had never heard of Emma Nevada; had not 
even noticed the placards announcing the new oper- 
atic season at the Polytheama ; nor even seen any 
notice of her one anpearance in London. To tell the 
candid truth, I had no overwhelming desire to see 
and hear a young American girl attempt the florid 
music of Bellini's hackneyed old sentimental opera; 
but of course I could find no honest excuse ior not 
attending. — I went. 

"Evviva, evviva, Amina!" etc., etc., from the 
chorus ; the scene between Lisa and Alexis, etc. ; and 
now she comes from the mill, with her good old 
(stage) mother — just the sweetest, simplest, lovsr 
blest Swiss girl that you can imagine, not particu- 
larly hand some, but with a most expressive face, 
lighted up by such glorious eyes ! She greets her 
"dear companions" assembled to do honor to her 
wedding-day; recites her tenderness and love for 
the " dear, loving mother ; " and coming forward, 
begins the well-known Come per me aeveno. Not a 
strong voice ; but such purity of tone ; such perfect 
intonation ; such soul ; at the close such a staccato, 
such a shake, such a portamento — the most hack- 
neyed old theatre goers were instantly made captive. 

You know how I hate the wiggle-voiced women. 
Judge then the satisfaction of once more hearing a 
long-drawn tone without a waver from beginning to 
end; the most perfect crescendo and diminuendo, 
of a high note ; at the close a gliding down of the 
voice to the final shake, as exquisitely executed as 
by a skilful violinist on his instrument 

I have had the pleasure of seeing much of her 
during the month she has spent here, in which she 
has sung thirteen times, nine or ten times as 
** Amina," the rest as Lucia in the Bride of Lammer- 
moor. I have found her utterly free from all 
" stagyness," just as simple, unaffected, bright, in- 
telligent, well-educated and lovable as any one of 
the sweet girls who made my day at Wellesley 
College last Sununer so pleasant — nay, as Susan 
iierself — If you don't know Susan, I wish you did. 

Dr. Wixon, a native of the State of New York, 
an alumnus of Michigan University, settled in Cali- 
fornia, where his daughter was bom, and removed 
thence to Austin, Nevada, where his home now is. 

Emma was educated at Mills Seminary, Oakland, 
Cal. From her earliest childhood she gave promise 
of the artist, which she has become, singing and 
carolling all the day long like a bob-oMink or canary. 
She is all music. So after leaving school, nothing 
would do, but she mMMt come to Europe and study 
singing. Some three years since a Dr. Eberl (or, 
some such name) of Berlin, went to the United 
States to seek a certain number of young ladies to 
come over with him en pension, as they say here, he 
to supply them with all things necessary, masters 
included, at a certain sum per annum. He returned 
with about a dozen, Emma Nevada being one. The 
vessel cast anchor in the Elbe, and her passengers 
were transferred as usual from the large to a 
smaller boat to be landed. Eberl, who had been 
suffering, passed over with the rest, went into the 



cabin, sat down, and died! And here were those 
young American girls in Hamburg, with small funds, 
or none at command, unknown and friendless. How 
the rest fared I do not know ; but Miss Emma made 
her way to Berlin. There she was assured that, if 
singing was her object, she must push on to Vienna 
and become a pupil of Marchesi.^ So she wrote 
home for money, and away to Vienna. Luckily, a 
pupil had just finished her course, and Emma took 
her place, not only with Marchesi, but in the excel- 
lent family where the former pupil had lived. Two 
and a half years she remained there, learning to 
chat German like a native, and to sing like an angel, 
(I never heard an angel myself; but I take it for 
granted other people have, considering how often 
they use this comparison) . I no w learn from friends, 
that she long stood at the head of her fellow-pupils ; 
one of them told a lady of my acquaintance, whom 
she met at a watering-place, that by far the most 
excellent and promising vocalist of them all was a 
young American girl. And now she is before the 
public, and the question will soon be decided, if not 
already, whether that promise will be kept. 

Our local Italian papers praise with true Italian 
extravagance ; and but one voice has failed to gire 
her the credit, that, with very few exceptions, if 
any except him, all admit to be her due. Do you 
remember Patrick Henry's defence of Venable 
against John Hook ? Venable had taken two steers 
from Hook for the use of the American army at 
the Siege of Yorktown, in 1781. After the surrender 
of Comwallis and the return of the country to its 
normal condition, Hook sued Venable for trespass. 
" But, hark," said Henry, in his speech, " what notes 
of discord are those, which disturb the general joy 
and silence the acclamations of victory i They are 
the notes of John Hook, hoarsely brawling through 
our American camp : " Beef, beef, beef ! " So here 
amid the general satisfaction and delight, which our 
young American songstress awakened, we have the 
Smelfungus of the Triester Zeitang, "disturbing the 
general joy" by his "damning with faint praise." 

One comfort, in hearing this sweet girl execute 
the most daring flights, is the security you feel that 
there is no danger of failure. All is done so easily, 
with so little effort, that you simply admire and 
enjoy. Who fears that a canary bird will attempt 
too much 1 

Heller — he has been these twenty years music 
director in our Schiller Verein — is a superb vio- 
linist — was in his younger years a member of the 
orche^ra in the Court opera at Vienna, and has 
heard no end of the greatest operatic singers — well, 
Heller said to me, coming out of the theatre, the 
other night, that he never heard the "Ah non 
ginnge" (at the end of the Sonuambula), "given with 
such execution ; Jenny Llnd herself had not equalled 
it!" 

This Enmia*— "energetic," "industrious," in old 
German, says the dictionary — does the most daring 
things. Think of a young singer like her not hesi- 
tating to take this note 




and giving it as true and pure as the flrst flute can 
execute it, dropping finally as gracefully as the sky- 
lark an octave or so to a long and perfect trill, 
before striking into the final chord. 

Madames A, B, C, and all the rest of them down 
to X, Y, Z, so far as I have heard them for forty 
years past, always at the end of a series of roulades, 
where the grand shake or trill conies in, brace them- 
selves up, stand as rigid as a statue, draw a long 
breath, and, m short, make all those preparations, 
which say to the audience as plainly as the French- 
man's words : "Now, you sail see, vat you saU see " 
— and when the difficult part is accomplished, the 
mutual admiration society holds a session — the 
audience admires the trill; the triller admires the 
applause, and — the devil is to pay. 

That is not Eihma of Nevada's way. You remem- . 
ber the roulade duet between voice and fiute in the 
crasy scene at the end of Ltteia di Lammermoorf 

t See '* Marchesi," la GrootTi DietUmary t^Musie. 



DacKMBiB 4, 1880.] 



DWIQET8 JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



19d 



She was not satlBfied with it ; so she set to work, 
discarded all but the first four bars, and composed 
one for herself, of scales and staccatos, of runs and 
trills, and the Lord knows what all, which the 
flutist told me was even very difficult for him to 
plaj — but all as graceful as it is difficult, and end- 
ing with an immense shake. Now, what did this 
crazy girl do T The voice and flute had ended their 
competition (the voice the victor) and the full, firm 
shake, as effortless apparently as the simplest strain, 
was about half through, when she suddenly started 
and j«n off the stage, the shake continuing just as 
perfect all the way ; and as she disappeared behind 
the scenes, she left us a flnal note away up some- 
where in the clouds — I'm blessed if I know how 
high it was. 

She has a staccato polka (written for her), with 
orchestral accompaniment, that she sang one night 
between acts. It is graceful and pretty, though its 
object, of course, is to show her immense execution. 
She forgot to take breath in due time, and for once, 
the flnal sky high note failed her. The poor girl 
was sadly mortified ; but I " laughed consumedly," 
and told her I was delighted to find, that the bare 
possibility did exist of her not doing everything 
without some painstaking. 

On her last evening — Sonnambula — the 2d act 
was omitted, and she sang the grand air in lAnda, 
and the duet (of the billet-doux) of Rosina and 
Figaro in Rossina's Barhiere. We had heard her 
before only in the two operas named above ; and 
the exquisite neatness of her comic acting in this 
scene took us all by surprise. She was just as 
easy and natural now, in her splendid Spanish cos- 
tume, ''duetting" with Figaro, as she had been 
half an hour before, in her simple* village dress, and 
in an opera already performed so many times. All 
now desire to hear her in a comic part 

In these days of wiggle — of the everlasting trem- 
olo of voices ruined by Verdi and Wagner — what 
I, after all enjoy most In this sweet girl's singing, 
are her pure, sustained notes, as superior to those 
of the flute or violin, as the human voice made by 
God is to the sounds of instruments made by man's 
hands. When I hear one, I incontinently parody 
Dr. Watts, and mentally shout. 

There is a tone of pure delight 1 

Above, I called heir lovable. I was on the stage 
one evening through the performance and saw for 
myself, how her winning, kindly ways, her treat- 
ment of all as also human beings and not mere ser- 
vants of the prima donna, had won a feeling some- 
thing warmer than respect for her talents and 
acquirements, from those who were employed with 
her. She tells me that her stage mother in S<m- 
nambula — she is the wife of our excellent flrst flutist 
— when they are on the scene together unemployed, 
chats with her and caresses her as if all was real. 
(By the way, I wish you could hear her chatting 
Qerman with this one and Italian with that, just as 
with me English). At her last appearance, on 
Monday evening, (Nov. 1), in the closing scene, 
where this good woman and artist comes from 
the mill and entreats the villagers not to disturb 
by their loud singing, her poor Amina, who has at 
last sunk into slumber and a momentary oblivion 
of her sorrow, she gave her recitative in such 
touching tones, that all the audience felt them. 
Next day, when she called at the hotel to bid the 
Wixons farewell, she fairly broke down and cried. 

On Wednesday morning they departed for Bol- 
ogna, where £mma is to sing in the Puritani. 

To sum up : she is the greatest singer, of her years, 
1 overheard — AdeUna Patti I have not heard — 
not the greatest voice, though it will develop and 
strengthen; at present its tones are flute and oboe- 
like, though sweeter^ and of a penetrating quality : 
so that, as you distinguish the flne tone of a cre- 
mona violin above and through the crash of an 
orchestra, you can hear her flnal tone in alt, above 
all the tumult of chorus and orchestra in the con- 
certed pieces. 

Happily, her father is an experienced physician, 
and fully understands the necessity of futina lente 
— of the hasten slowly — and has therefore refused, 
since here, a call for her to the imperial opera in 
Vienna. Hence, I do not fear for her the fate of 
so many promising young singers of the iMt thirty 



years, who, for present applause, and for sake of 
gain, have taken engagements in the great opera- 
houses, have screamed away their voices in Verdi 
and Wagner, and sunk in a very few years irre- 
trievably into tlie populous limbs of wiggle-voiced 
women. 

Her repertoire already, if I understood her aright, 
comprises twenty-three Italian and four German 
parts in opera. 

Here the reader breaks in : 

"But, my dear old Diarist, you have been de- 
scribing a phenomenon, in superlatives." 

Diarist — "Well, yes; considering her youth — 

I just have." A. W. T. 

♦ 

MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

New York, Nov. 29. The Brooklyn Philharmonic 
Society began its season on Saturday evening, Nov. 
20, with the subjoined programme: 

Symphony No. 6, Beethoven 

Concerto for Piano, Op. 16, Uentel 

R. Joseffy. 

81egfriedldyl Wagner 

Recitative and Aria, Orpheus, Oluck 

Miu Aunie Louise Gary. 
Sym^ony, " Harold in Italy,*' Op. 16, . . . Berlioi 

Notwithstanding the disagreeable weather, the open- 
ing concert of the Society's 23d season drew to the 
Academy a very large audience; all the seats were 
taken, and many, indeed, were compelled to stand 
during the entire performance. 

The orchestral numbers were well given* and much 
enthusiasm was evoked by the two soloists, one of 
whom (MLbs Gary) is usually a favorite in our sister 
city, and the other was most warmly received and 
applauded 'for his admirable performance of the ex- 
ceedingly difficult concerto. And just here it is the 
duty of a conscientious critic to say that the wonderful 
Hungarian seems to be— so to speak— over-trained 
(to borrow a pugilistic phrase) ; in other words, he abso- 
lutely gives the impression of an overworked artist He 
has practiced too much, if such a thing be comprehensi- 
ble; his very anxiety and eagerness to do his best — to- 
gether with an entire summer of unrelenting and as- 
siduous finger-exercise- caused him to make a lew 
skips which are entirely foreign to his usual unerring 
accuracy. The best result of his labor is a broaden- 
ing of style which is undeniably excellent, and was, 
perhaps, needed. 

In response to a hearty and most demonstrative re- 
call he gave the Scherso from the Lltolf concerto, 
which he pUyed on the preceding Saturday evening, 
at the lateixmcert of the New York Society. 

At the second concert, which will take place Dec. 18, 
will be given among other selections, Schumann's 3d 
(Cologne) Symphony, and Liszt's symphonic poem, 
••Orpheus." 

Last season the concerts occurred on Tuesday even- 
ings, which was an encroachment upon a time-honored 
custom; this year the former system has been adopted, 
and wiU doubtless prove far more satisfactory to every 
one concerned. Each concert is preceded by two re- 
hearsals, one an orchestral one, and the other a full 
rehearsal. I am given to understand that the financial 
outlook is satisfactory to the directors, and I am glad 
to believe that such is the case. 

It is impossible to omit some mention of the ex- 
quisite floral display which is such a happy feature of 
these entertainments; on the evening in question the 
orchestra was hedged in by a profusion of magnificent 
calla lilies and other growing plants, so that the eye 
was delighted, while the ear was charmed. 

On Tuesday evening, Nov. 23, Mr. W. Miiller, the 
well-known violoncellist, gave a concert at Steinway 
Hall, which was well attended, although the artist 
mentioned bad but indifferent supports as vegards his 
associates upon the programme. Mr. M. displayed his 
full, rich tone and usual dexterity in two selections, 
and also played with a lady pianist Mendelssohn's 
well-known Variations Concertantes in D, Op. 17. 

On Saturday evening, Nov. 27, our Oratorio Society 
gave its flrst concert of the season, and afforded our 
musio-loving public a treat by its artistic rendering of 
the Elijah. Mr. Henschel confirmed the favorable im- 
pression already made by bim; Miss Drasdil created a 
genuine furore by her marvellous singing of her two 
arias: "Woe unto them," and "Rest in the Lord." 
Mr. Simpson sang carefully and well, albeit he never 
will learn to artlcniate his words, or to infuse any real 
warmth into his efforts. The orchestra did exceUent 
wOrk; and the chorus work was in the main most ad- 
mirable, thanks to the indefatigable drill of Dr. Dam- 
loech, whose conducting deserves genuine and un- 
stinted praise. Of the other soloists it will be chari- 



table to omit any mention; probably they would have 
done better if posi^lble. 

The Symphony Society's second concert will occur 
on Saturday, Dec. 4, and we are to have Berlios's 
"Damnation de Faust," with Mme. Valleria and 
Messm. Henschel, Harvey and Bourne, for soloists. 

During the first week of May, 1881, the "Music 
Festival Association " of New York will give a grand 
"Music Festival" in the seventh regiment's armory, 
under the direction of Dr. Damroscb. Seven perform- 
ances will be given, four in the evening and three in 
the afternoon. Among the works to be produced will 
be: 

Dettingen TeDeam, Handel 

Tower of Babel, Rubinstein 

Grand Requiem, Berlios 

Messiah, Handel 

Ninth Symphony, BeethovMi 

Mr. Henschel announces four vocal recitals begin* 
ning on Dec. 7, and will be assisted by Biiss Bailey 
(soprano), Mr. Hayden (tenor), an unnamed contralto, 
and a pianist from Boston. In addition to his vocal 
efforts, Mr. H. will play with the Boston pianist Mos- 
cheles' "Hommage k Handel,'' for two pianos. Mr. 
Henschel will sing from a most extensive repertoire, 
the authors being Haydn, Handel, Carissimi, Henschel, 
Schubert, Sdmmann, Brahms, Beethoven, Frauck, 
Pergolese, Loewe, Franz, and Rubinstein. 

Joseffy announces four orchestral concerts — with 
the aid of Mr. Thomas —to begin Dec. 13. These will 
take phice in Steinway Hall, and will consist of two 
evening performances and two matinees: he is also 
announced to appear at Metropolitan Hall on Tuesday 
evening next 

A word or two with regard to the above-mentioned 
hall. Through the untiring energy' and persistent ef- 
forts of Mr. Aronson — a young musician of this city 
— a very large sum of money was raised, and a very 
beautiful building was erected. It includes a rea- 
tlturant, a concert-hall, and a variety of other things, 
and is really a delightful place of resort During the 
summer a series of Popular Orchestral Concerts was 
given under Mr. Aronson's direction, and the season 
was a successful one. In the early autumn the direc- 
tors (for it is a stock company which manages the en- 
terprise) thought it wise to engage Mr. Thomas to con- 
duct some of its concerts. Under his management each 
Thursday evening is a "Classical Night," and Friday 
is a "Request Night,'* and on Sundays a <' Gala Night " 
is the attraction. But the audiences have not been 
very laige, and Mr. Thomas's old-time prestige has not 
sufficed to attract paying houses; hence, the pres- 
ent order of things will prol^bly be of short duration.. 

F. 

Chicago, Novbioibb 26.— Since my last note to the 
JoumcU, but few entertainments have been given. 
First in order came a performance of Chamber music, 
by the Liesegang-Heimendahl String Quartet. The 
following were the numbers performed : — 

Quartet, op. 11 Tschaikowsky. 

Serenade, for Quhitet S. G. Pratt. 

Trio, op. 20 G. Jadassohn. 

A glance at the little programme will show that our 
club lent itself to the interpretation of modem musical 
thought, Its expressed by three living composers. Our 
age may be termed that of reflection, for human rea- 
son is reaching out on every hand and seeking for the 
truth. Thus in science, religion, and philosophy, much 
investigation and consideration is being carried on, 
and human knowledge is enlarging its sphere. 

This desire for progress even enters the more quiet 
domain of art, and we see the result pictured in new 
attainments. In music, however, although the actu- 
ating motive seems to try to invent new forms, and to 
reach greater heights, there is less real progress than 
in some other directions of human attainment. One 
great reason for this is, doubtless, that we are not yet 
fully acquainted with the accomplishments of the past, 
and that we seek to attain the novel rather than that 
which is pure. In order for a greater musical devel- 
opment to take place, we must be able to realise the 
faults, as well as the merits, of what has been accom- 
plished. Our modem composers seem afraid of dupli- 
cating the ideas of the old masters, and thus we have 
very marked contrasts in the music of the present, 
from that which was called beautiful in the days now 
gone. Perhaps it might be wise for us to still sCbdy 
the works of the great composea of the past, for there 
may be something for even modem musical thought 
to gain thereby. These reflections came to me as I 
listened to the works that were performed in the 
Chamber Concert, to which I refer in the beginning of 
these remarks; for I found in them an influence that 
seemed at variance with itsell There was an aim 
that was indeflnite, and the ideas seemed confused, ai 



200 



DWIQHra JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1084 



a*ii*^i^k.aakt 



if, perchance, the mind was not sare of its own mean- 
ing. It seems to me that trae music mast be fally 
satisfying, and that it should ieaye the hearer in a 
state of contentment, when its last echo fades away in 
the distance. A beautiful picture, a lovely poem, or a 
grand thought will bring satisfaction to those who are 
in sympathy with them. And surely music should 
always afford satisfaction to those who love it, if it be 
in truth real music. All gentle sounds that pulsate in 
unison with each other may not be representative of a 
musical idea. All soft music may not be good music, 
nor loud music grand. An art principle must hold to- 
gether the contents of a musical composition, and make 
the whole a beautiful unity. This feeling for the beau- 
tif ul was a true instinct with the old masters, and they 
expressed it in their worlds. Modem endeavor has not 
reached that height that renders the old of little value. 
It is well to be progressive, but we must be sure that 
what we do is reaUy in advance of that which has 
been attained, before we can be fully satisfied with 
our accomplishments. 

The Beethoven Society gave its first reunion last 
week, with an attractive programme. This organiza- 
tion is to give Mendelssohn's Elijah early in December, 
with Herr Henschel in the title role. 

Mr. Boscowitz gave another piano-forte recital, with 
a programme largely made up of Chopin selections. 
He also performed the Grieg Concerto in A-minor, and 
the * ' Spinning Song ' ' of Wagner-Liszt This perform- 
ance did not impress me any differently, in regard to 
the artistic merits of the gentleman. His playing has 
some beautiful moments, but his performance, as a 
whole, lacks that unity of interpretation that alone will 
give full satisfaction. He plays with too little even- 
ness, and lacks in breadth and dignity of style, al- 
though his soft passages are given with much grace. 
His phrasing is often very novel, and his idea of light 
and shade differs from that of any pianist that I have 
heard. In art, fortunately, there is perfect liberty, 
and all moods and sentiments may find representa- 
tipn. 

Miss Litta sang at the Central Music Hall, last even- 
ing, appearing with her concert company in a popular 
programme. I did not hear the entertainment, and, 
therefore, can only make a passing mention of it. 

C H. B. 

» 

MUSIC ABROAD. 

Paris. Le Comte Ory, the revival of which I 
briefly noticed the other evening, was repeated on 
Wednesday night, and appeared to interest more 
deeply the regular habitues of the opera than the 
special audience assembled at the Premihre. It is 
beyond question that the texture of the music is 
somewhat light for the enormous salle of the new 
operahouse, and that the delicate grace of Rossini's 
facile strains would be better appreciated in the 
smaller locale of the Place Favart. It is no less cer- 
tain that the present generation of singers have not 
the secret of the Rossinian roulades, but the work 
is so full of spontaneous inspiration from beginning 
to end that, executed beyond reproach so far as 
orchestra and chorus are concerned, Le Comte Ory 
cannot fail to delight all genuine dilettanti. Mile. 
Daram sings the principal soprano part with in- 
sufficient voide, but with good style, while M. 
Dereims as the Comte Ory looks at least the lady- 
killer to perfection. But the most capable of the 
executants is M. Mclchissedec, who, as Raimbaud, 
the hero's attendant, sings and acts with equal spirit. 
His chief solo, by-the-by, is taken bodily from Ros- 
sini's pihce de circonstance, II Viaggio a Rheimt, the 
names of the wines found in the cellar in this Bac- 
chanalian air being substituted for the enemies slain 
in the original song, which was a description of the 
Battle of Trocadf^ro, in memory whereof was laid 
out the place utilized for the exhibition of 1877. 
Nothing is more remarkable than the skill with 
which Rossini has utilized, in Le Comte Ory, a comic 
opera, the pieces originally composed for an a propos 
cantata, written in celebration of Charles X. — 
{Paris Correspondence of the ** Daily Telegraph") 

The re-opening of the Popular Concerts is at 

present the most important musical event. The " clas- 
sical basis " was strictly adhered to, the opening num- 
ber of the first concert being Beethoven's Symphony 
in A. Two novelties were brought forward with suc- 
cess, viz., a *'Br^silienne" byB. Godard and a ^'Sara- 
bande"N rcisse Girard. For the second concert a 
still greater novelty is promised. The Kreutzer Sonata 
will be played by M. Ritter and all the first violins, 
eighteen in number. We abstain from conjecture I ! 



The programme of the third Chatelet Concert, 

Oct. 3, is as follows: 

Symphonie Pastorale, ......... Beethoven. 

Oavertore de Beatrice, . Bernard. 

IntrodactioD et allegro, POur piano, Godeird. 

Le Rouet d'Omphale, poeme symphoniqae, . Saint-Saens. 
Concerto in Ut mineur, pour aeuz pianos, . . . Bach. 
" Le Dernier Sommeil de la Vierge," .... Massenet. 
Ouvertore de " Zanetta.** Auber. 

At the concert given at the Trocad^ro for the benefit 
of the Orphanage for artists, 35,000 francs were real- 
ized, 4,500 more than the required sum, the artists all 
giving their services, for which they received the 
heartiest plaudits. 

Bkrlin. The Symphonie Kapelle— the only band 
of the kind which the capital possesses— distinguished 
itself a few days ago by a performance of Berlioz's 
"Symphonie Fantastique," which strangely enough 
had never before been performed in Berlin. That 
composer, says the Allgemeine Deutsche Musik Zeit- 
ung, has been brought nearer to the German public by 
the energetic efforts of the North German School, 
Liszt, Billow, and the Musikverein, and even in con- 
servative Berlin is now no longer a stranger. 



Cologne. The Concert Society will give this winter 
ten Subscription Concerts under Dr. Ferdinand Hiller. 
Among the works selected for perfomumce are St. 
Fault Mendelssohn; Die Kreuz/ahrer, Niels von Gade; 
"Funeral March," Handel; ''Gloria," Max Bruch; 
the Orosse Passion, J. S. Bach; an Orchestral Work, 
C. Saint-Saens; the '* Ninth Symphony," Beethoven; 
"Landliche Hochzeit, Goldmark; and ''Im Schwarz- 
wald," Corder. MM. Gade and Saint-Saens liave 
promised to conduct their own works. 



ViEMXA. Dinorah was performed, for the first time 
this season, at the Imperial Operahouse, on the 21st 
ult, with Mile. Bianchi as the heroine. Three days 
later, Alda was given at the express wish of the ex- 
Khedive, Ismael Pasha, who, as is well known, com- 
mission^ Verdi to compose it, and was anxious to see 
how it was put upon the stage and performed here. 
Signor Ciampi will shortly appear as the Marquis in 
Linda, and Dulcamara in L Elisir, singing on both 
occasions in Italian, which, out of courtesy to him, will 
be the language employed by Miles. Bianchi, Stahl, 
and Herr Walther. — As already announced in the 
Musical World, Mile. Bianchi has been created an Im- 
perial Austrian Chamber Singer, a rare distinction for 
a fair artist after an engagement of only six months. 
The other ladies bearing the title at present, are Mmes. 
Dastmaun, ArtotrPadilla, Gomperz-Bettelheim, Adelina 
Patti, Friedrich-Matema, Pauline Lucca, and Christine 
Nilsson. 



London. " Cherubino^' writes in Figaro (Nov. 6) : 
The two principal works of last Saturday's Crystnl 
Palace Concert were a pianoforte concerto in A-minor, 
by Herr J. H. Bonawitz, and the C-minor symphony 
of Beethoven. Not that there is the slightest analogy 
between the two works. As wide a space separates 
Bonawitz from Beethoven as divides Bach from Offen- 
bach. The concerto, which appears to be the thirty- 
sixth work perpetrated by the pianist, is of the feeblest 
sort, and its presence in a Crystal Palace programme 
will suggest the famous simile of the fly in amber. 
Mr. Thomas Wingbam's overture, " Mors Janua Vita," 
produeed only fifteen days before at the Leeds Festi- 
val, was admirably played by Mr. Manns' orchestra. 
The remaining novelty was a brief selection fh>m M. 
Massenet's new oratorio or "sacred legend," entitled 
*' La Vierge," a composition which yet awaits a hear- 
ing, even in the land of its origin. The first piece, 
*• The Last Sleep of the Virgin,'^ which is scored for 
muted strings, and a solo violoncello unmuted, is suf- 
ficiently somnolent to justify its title; while the sec- 
ond, "A Galilean. Dance," is almost throughout in a 
minor key, and is likely to create an impression that 
the fishermen of the Sea of Galilee were very doleful 
devotees of Terpsichore indeed. Mile. Pyk's selection 
of *' Casta Diva^* for a Crystal Palace concert was not 
happy, and could she have been in the "connoisseurs' 
gallery ** she would have noticed more than one wdll- 
known musician gravely twirling his fists in imitation 
of grinding a barrel organ. She succeeded far better 
in some Swedish son^, and she is indeed a vocalist 
worthy of better music. The great feature of the con- 
cert was, however, the performance of the C-minor 
symphony of Beethoven by the Crystal Palace orches- 
tra under Mr. Manns. 

The twenty-third season of the Monday Popular 

Concerts began at St James' Hall on Monday last. 
This year Mr. Arthur Chappell has put lorward no 
special prospectus, being content to smiply announce 
the dates of the twenty-one evening and twenty morn- 
ing concerts, well knowing that his supporters will be 
fully content with the good things he is likely to offer 
them. The institution of the Popular Concerts is prob- 
ably unique. Started in 1859, by Messrs. Chappell & 
Co., mainly in order to utilize the then not very popu- 
lar St. J&nes' Hall, of which they, Messrs. Ozamer, 



r. 



Beale, Chappell, and others, were shareholders, the 
chief attraction they were at first able to offer was 
cheap prices. Instead of the guinea reserved and half- 
guinea unreserved seats which then ruled, their prices 
were five shillings and a shilling. At first the pro- 
grammes were of a miscellaneous sort, including oal- 
lads and drawing-room pieces, conducted by Sir Julius 
Benedict. The success of these concerts was compara- 
tively trifling; and Mr. Arthur Chappell, at the sug- 
gestion of Mr. J. W. Davison, who was practically the 
founder of the Popular Concerts, resolved that the 
programmes should be exclusively chissical. Two 
Beethoven nights, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Weber, and 
Mozart nights were arranged, and, after a struggle for 
existence, the concerts at last became popular. Thfllr 
success completely revolutionized the old system of 
concert-giving ; the old-fashioned guinea and half- 
guinea concerts were knocked on the head, and benefit 
concerts — which, at that time, where not only numer- 
ous but of considerable importance — received a blow 
from which they have never recovered. In short, it is 
to the Monday Popular Concerts that we primarily owe 
the popularizing of high-class music in this country; 
and. thanks mainly and at first to their influence, claa- 
sical music ceased to be a mere luxury of the opulent, 
and was placed before the people. When once the 
demand' became obvious, the supply was soon forth- 
coming. The directors of nearlv all the serial concerts 
were compelled to reduce their prices; other enter- 

§ rises started up; and the establisnment of the Saturd- 
ay Concerts at the Crystal Palace gave f nrtiier im- 
petus to the cause of music in the metropolis. The 
Popular Concerts are now a highly valuable institution. 
Up to the present time npwanis of 700 concerts have 
been given, attended by probably a million and a half 
of amateurs. The subscription-list most amount to 
three or four thousand pounds a season, and this is 
altogether apart from the support afforded by the great 
shilling public. The great orchestra is crowded by 
earnest amateurs, who often, when there is any special 
attraction, wait an hour at the doors in order to obtain 
a good place. The spectacle can hardly be equalled in 
Europe of a couple of thousand mnsio-lovers assembled 
twice a week to listen to a programme uncompromis- 
ing in its severity, and which is formed of string quar- 
tets, classical trios and duets, and piano ana other 
sonatas, with nothing in the scheme lighter than a 
couple of classical songs. 

The programme of the first Popuhir Concert 

contained no part for the violin, a fact which is so un- 
usual that it may reasonably be noticed. The princi- 
1 feature was the serenade in E-flat for windrvritten 
y Mozart at Vienna in October, 1781, and therefore 
very nearly a century old. The parts for two oboes 
were. It is stated, subsequently added by Mozart to his 
first manuscript, which was' for two clarinets, two 
horns, and two bassoons only. The work is full of 
pure Mozartian melody, and the slow movement is 
especially beautiful. It was admirably played by 
Messrs. Dubrucq, Horton, Lazarus, Egerton, Mann. 
Standen, Wotton, and Haveron. . Mile. Janotha pla ved 
the andante with variations in &flat. Op. 82, oi Unii- 
delssohn, and afterwards, for an encore, the cappriccio 
in £-minor, Op. 16, of the same master. Songs for 
Madame Koch Bossenberger, a violoncello sonata by 
Locatelli for Signor Piatti, and Beethoven's trio in B- 
flat, Op. 41, for piano, clarinet, and violoncello, were 
also in the programme. 

Berlin. As predicted,^Supp^ ' s Juanita did not hold 
possession of the bills long, it has made way for Le- 
cocq's Petite MademoiselTe, re-naraed JHe Fetndin da$ 
Cardinals. It is said that the last new French fairy 
piece, L'Arhre de Noil, for which Lecocq has written 
some of the music, will shortly be performed at the Vic- 
toria Theatre. — Miss Emma Thursby made her first ap- 
pearance here at a concert in the Sing Akademie on 
the 23d ult., and achieved a signal triumph. She waa 
much admired and rapturousTv applauded in all her 
songs, but more especially in Afozart's '|Mia Speranza 
adorata," her rendering of which was pronounced by 
everv one exceptionalh; fine. She was supported by 
Mile*. Ottilie Lichterfield, Herren Gustav Hollander 
and Heinrich Griinfeld, all of whom afforded perfect 
satisfaction to a large and highly intelligent audience. 
— The first concert for the season of the Boyal Dom- 
chor, or Cathedral Choir, took place on the 25th ult., 
when the programme included the double-chorus: 
" Fratres, ego enim," Palestrina: " Peccavi" for alto^ 
tenor and bass, Caldara ; " Misericordias Doming 
Durante; "Dixit Maria ad Angelum," Hassler; and 
•* Furchte Dich nicht,'* J. S. Bach. The more modem 
compositions were a *' Benedictus," R Sucoo, and set^ 
ting of the Twenty-Second Psalm, E. F. Bichter. — 
The last annual report on the musical educational in- 
stitutions in connection with the Boyal Academy of 
Arts comprises the period from the 1st October, 1879, 
to the 1st October, 1880. There are, as most persons 
know, three such institutions: L 'The High School, 
Section for Musical Composition, was attended during 
the winter-half by 90, and during the summer-half by 
27 pupils: the masters are Herren Grell, Taubert, Kiel, 
andBargiel. IL The Section for Executive Musical Art, 
for which there are 23 regular, and 13 extra masters, 
showed 2^ pupils during the winter-half, and 218 dur- 
ing the summer-half. The number of amateurs tak- 
ing part in the choral practice and performances wai 
from 40 to 50. There were 5 public and 12 private 
performances. HI. The Institute for Sacred Music, 
in which department Professors Hanpt, Julius Schnei- 
der, Loechhom, and Herr Ressel, KammermvstkuSt 
are the instructors, had 24 pQjj^ of whom 6 left at 
E^ter; the uiermal numlier Is 20. 



December 18, 1880.] 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



201 



BOSTON, DECEMBER i8, i88o. 

Entered at the Poet Office at Boston as second-clau matter. 

All the articlei not credited to other publications were ex- 
pressly written for this Journal. 



Published fortnightly by Houghton, Miffliu & Co., 
Boston^ Mass. Price, lo cents a number; $2.jo per year. 

For sale in Boston by Carl Pruefer, 30 West Street, A. 
Williams & Co., aSs Washington Street, A. K. Lorino, 
Sbg Washington Street, and by the Publishers; in New York 
by A. Brent ANO, Jr., jg Union Square, and Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., 2/ Astor Place; in Philadelphia by W. H. 
Boner & Co., 1/02 Chestnut Street; in Chietxgo by the Chi- 
cago Music Company, j/a State Street, 

" AIDA " AND ITS AUTHOR.^ 

BY DR. EDWARD HANSLICK. 

Atda is a remarkable, genuinely artistic, 
and, compared with Verdi's previous operas, 
u very surprising production. A careful peru- 
sal of the score reveals many musical beauties, 
which pass unnoticed at the first time of 
hearing the opera. The first impression is 
indeed favorable, and, according to the indi- 
viduality of the hearer, more or less affecting ; 
yet there is a mixture of displeasing and 
oppressive sensations. While we are charmed 
by certain delightful melodies, we are also 
pressed down as with an invisible hand by 
the fatal and gloomy character of the mate- 
rial and music. Pervading the entire music 
there is something unspeakably melancholy 
something like the subdued disconsolateness 
of Lenau*s poetry. Then, too, the argument 
is unmercifully tragic. Aida, a prisoner, is 
in love with her captor. He returns her love, 
but is a victim to the fatal passion of the 
king's daughter, who finally succeeds in 
marrying him, knowing that his heart belongs 
to another. Everything, even from the begin- 
ning, sinks into ruin — ^ a ruin, against which 
no successful effort from either side can be 
made. The poet fails to provide cheering 
lights or a friendly change of colors. Slowly 
and oppressively the horrible end of being 
burled alive is n eared. The composer follows 
the subject with the truest devotion. He 
scorns any frivolous effect, and thus, by the 
powerful means of his music, greatly increases 
the bitter anguish of the poetry. True, 
Amneris is seen at fir^t with happy nuptial 
musings ; subsequently Aida and Rhadames 
for a moment contemplate flight and future 
happiness, but in neither instance is there a 
comforting expectation. So true is the music 
that, by listening to it, whatever consoling 
hopes may have arisen are at once dispelled. 
Even among these few green oases (he com- 
ing disaster murmurs like a hidden fountain. 
Completely filled with the fundamental char- 
acter of the tragedy, Verdi does here, instinct- 
ively and unknowingly, what Gluck has done 
intentionally in the Iphigenie: the conscious- 
stricken Crest talks of peace returning to his 
soul, but the turbulent accords whisper, *' He 
lies ! " Even the festival songs in Aida are 
permeated with tones of complaint. The tri- 
umphal march has indeed splendor, but no 
cheerfulness. Composer, as well as poet, has 
neglected too much the effects of contrast. 
Slow tempi and binary rhythms predominate 
in a striking degree. The first two acts have 
no triple measure, which first appears in the 
third act in two short andante passages, sung 

1 Translated for the Voioe, (AllMUiy, K. Y.) 



by Aida, and finally in the last act, in the 
duet between Amneris and Rhadames. 

The almost unbroken elegiac treatment and 
the Egyptian costumes are the two chief de- 
fects which mar the effect of Aida^ taken as 
a whole. The politics and religion, the oddi- 
ties of dress and civilization of the ancient 
Egyptians are altogether too strange for us. 
We do not feel at ease among a lot of brown 
and black painted men. It may be urged 
that this is merely external, yet, for all, the 
spectator's sympathies are chilled, let the 
cause.be the hideous idols, the colossal statues, 
or the various sacred beasts, which terrified 
even the Persians when they were conquered 
by the Egyptians. Think of nothing but 
dark-colored singers on the stage ! Then, be- 
sides, the ugly, vaulting negroes and the danc- 
ing women dressed and painted in the most 
repulsive manner ! An opera should present 
something of the lovely and agreeable, and 
no ethnological exactness can compensate for 
a total lack of beauty. It is also not pleas- 
ant to see continually so many priests and 
priestesses, and to witness nothing but Egyp- 
tian ceremonies. 

Aida was composed by wish of the viceroy 
of Egypt, and was first performed in Cairo, 
in 1872. The treatment of Egyptian affairs 
was one of the chief conditions imposed. The 
subject-matter of the opera was originally 
written in prose by a learned Egyptian. Verdi 
has^ display ed great skill in giving his music 
the national coloring. In this he has been 
moderate and characteristic. The dances and 
temple songs have the peculiar, whimpering 
melody of the Orientals, with its predominant 
fourths and scanty sixths, its meagre harmony 
and simple, quaint orchestration. Two orig- 
inal Egyptian melodies are employed in the 
first finale : in the song of the priestesses with 
harp accompaniment, and in the dance mel- 
ody in E-flat, performed with three flutes. A 
genuine master-hand is seen in the ingenious 
and charming handling of these two national 
motiven. 

We have, now-a-days, plenty of foreign local 
coloring, but Verdi excels in his sense of 
musical beauty by which he assigns these 
peculiarities to their proper, i, e,, to a sub- 
ordinate place. He does not present the 
Orient to us with photographic accuracy, but 
gives us an idealization through the grace and 
richness of our modern western European 
harmony. Verdi, who hitherto " has shown 
no liking for local musical colors, but .always 
remained Italian in his music, shows in Aida, 
for the first time, that he is also master of 
this foreign. field. Yet, after all, the Egyptian 
garb in Aida hinders the full display of his 
talent. If he would use the same energy*, 
the same creative faculty, and the same fidel- 
ity, now, in composing an opera from Roman 
material, and with variegated treatment, he 
would, without doubt, surpass Aida and all 
of his other former works. 

All of Aida^s outer, strange splendor is, 
however, of minor importance compared with 
the luxurious charm of its melodies, the dra- 
matic force of its rhythm and the warm cur- 
rent of feeling which flows through the entire 
music. Think, for example, of Aida's beau- 



tiful and fervent, "And, my love, must I for- 
get it?" of Amneris's splendid theme in D- 
flat, " No, you will live, joined to me in love " ; 
of the touching, revealing close of the final 
duet, "Farewell, O earth!" and of many 
other similar passages. 

It is remarkable and yet just that Aida, 
the latest production of a sexagenarian who 
has long since reached the height of his fame, 
should be praised chiefly on account of the 
progress the author has made. In truth, there 
are in Aida a dramatic faithfulness, an in- 
dustry in the technical elaboration, and, more 
than all, a nobleness and unity of style, which, 
coming from the composer of Emani, are in- 
deed surprising. The German critic,- who, as 
a rule, is almost hostile to Italian opera, is 
most happily set to rights by these superior 
features of Aida. Perha))s they force him 
to admit that a composer who now, in old age. 
reaps and deserves such praise certainly could 
not formerly have been entirely worthless, 
as some harsh critics have painted him for 
twenty-five years past. It may be said that 
in Aida Verdi has become another person 
completely, that his identity is lost ; but this 
is an error which can be made only by those 
who do not know his former operas. Al- 
though he did not have the desired degree of 
culture and development, yet Verdi possessed 
great dramatic talent from the start, like many 
other of his celebrated and uncelebrated coun- 
trymen. While Rossini, the genial buffoon, 
clings to the historical customs of the Italians, 
of composing charming melodies for their own 
sake, regardless of their adaptation to the 
subject (so that even hLs serious operas, with 
the exception of 2'ell, are only concertante 
comedy music), Verdi, who has none of Rossi- 
ni's grace and humor, has seldom composed a 
melody which lacked passionate, dramatic 
force. The criticism must be made on every 
one of Verdi's operas (and it has been done 
indefatigably) that a great deal of coarseness 
crops out near beautiful and affecting pas- 
sages ; yet justice requires that we direct our 
attention to the great dramatic talent and 
fertile creation which are manifested amontr 
these very crudities. 

In £>07i Carlos and in Aida, Verdi has dis- 
played the same artistic scrupulousness in 
returning to great simplicity and quiet ex- 
pression. -Discarding all outward considera- 
tions for the pretensions of the singers and 
for popular applause, he this time follows 
only his best and recently matured judgment. 
He has not thought of transient success alone, 
but of "immortality," as it is flatteringly 
called when a work has a relatively long life. 
In this latest production appear the passionate 
eloquence and dramatic pow^er which charac- 
terize his previous operas, — artistically inter- 
woven, refined, in a sort of aesthetic cathar- 
sis. Nevertheless, it is fully and genuinely 
Verdi. An imitation of Wagner, as many 
critics have asserted, is out of the (juestion. 
True, Verdi, like every other modern operatic; 
composer of intelligence, is indebted to Wag- 
ner for important innovations ; but in Aida 
there is not a single measure which the Italian 
owes to the German. If Aida be called 
Wagnerish, so must also Gounod's Borneo 



202 



DWlQHT'S JOTTRlTAL OF MXfSlC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1086. 



and Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet, because tbey 
depart from the old models, follow the words 
with more accuracy, give gi*eater prominence 
to the orchestra, and adopt certain instru- 
mental effects which have become customary 
since the production of Tannhauser. Verdi, 
like Gotinod and Thomas, has not refused, 
narrow-mindedly, to profit by the modern 
development of music. On the contrary, he 
has, without injury to his individuality (which 
indeed has been given long since a public 
stamp), made use of the best, or what for 
him were the most available features of those 
dramatic reforms which, foreshadowed or in- 
itiated by Weber and Meyerbeer, have been 
methodically carried on by Wagner. Besides, 
whenever Wagner's influence is manifested in 
an Italian or a Frenchman, it is only the in- 
fluence of his earlier style, particularly that 
of Tcmnhduier, which still passes for half 
orthodox. Of the distinct, later phase of 
Wagner's dramatic music, begun in Tristan, 
continued in the Meisternnger, and culminated 
in the Ring de» Nihelungen, — of this collo- 
quial, declamatory song about the endless 
melody of an insatiable orchestra, there is not 
the slightest trace either in Aidc^ or in any 
other Italian or French opera. 

The expressive melody of the singing voices 
predominates over everything in Aida; the 
song does not follow so much the literal words 
as it does the significance of the situation; 
wherever dramatic continuity requires it, the 
form is freely handled, and this, too, by pre- 
serving the harmony between the romanza 
and the duets, trios, and recitatives. Dra- 
matic law rules in the entire composition, like 
an invisible church, yet its visible head from 
beginning to end is musical beauty. In short, 
it affords pleasure to see how a man of Verdi's 
genial talents has produced such a beautiful 
opera, which has for its foundation the repul- 
sive and dissolute customs of the Egyptians. 

In the village of Busseto, duchy of Parma, 
Italy, Guiseppe Verdi was bom, Oct 9th, 1814. 
The local organist gave the boy his first musi- 
cal instruction, which could hardly have gone 
beyond the most necessarjr rudiments. Verdi, 
when nineteen years old, felt the defectiveness 
of his musical schooling and was eager for bet- 
ter opportunities, such as are, as a rule, obtain- 
able only in large cities. His family being 
poor, he wm enabled to carry out his plans 
only through the generosity of a neighbor, 
Barezzi, and, in 1883 he went to MDan, but 
was refused admittance to the conservatory. 
The reason for his refusal (which has been 
bitterly enough repented of), has never been 
satisfactorily explained. F^tis, in his " Musi- 
cal Lexicon," is of the opinion that the direc- 
tor of the conservatory, Francesco Basili, one 
of the last strictly schooled masters of the pre- 
ceding century, saw nothing in Verdi's outer 
appearance to indicate a successful artistic 
future. '^It is evident," adds F^tis, ''that 
never was the physiognomy of a composer 
less a revealer of talent." Aside from the 
fact that a person's talent is not rated by his 
face, it seems to me that Verdi's physiognomy, 
18 this respect, was most unjustly judged. It 
18 sad, immovable, yet anything but expres- 
sionless or uninteresting. When I had the 



honor of forming his acquaintance in Her 
Majesty's Theatre London, a few years ago, 
his earnest, quiet (if not too amiable) manner 
made a favorable impression. However it may 
be, Verdi was not admitted to the conserva- 
tory ; he was forced to be satbfied with the 
teachings of Lavigna, the leader of the theatre 
orchestra; but under this teacher's thoroughly 
practical guidance, and in spite of Maestro 
Basili, he soon realized enough from his music 
to buy a number of extensive and valuable 
estates in Busseto, where he now lives in the 
full employment of his good fortune. 

His beautiful villa at Busseto, is known 
among the people as La villa del profetsore 
Verdi. Every peasant for miles around can 
direct the stranger to the charming chateau 
and tell whether Verdi is at home or not. 
Here the composer rests from hb labors and 
triumphs. With a gun over his shoulder or 
a book in his hand he roams about, calling 
upon his numerous tenants and discussing 
with them the details of their work. Herr 
Escudier, Verdi's publisher and most enthusi- 
astic admirer, has written a description of his 
country life. According to him, Verdi has as 
much knowledge of farming as of harmony 
(happy fields!) The farmers worship him 
and manifest their attachment in all sorts of 
ways. In the evening, when he and his wife 
walk out, the peasants assemble and welcome 
them with choruses from his operas. He 
seems to be constantly surrounded by fervent 
adoration. Two original types are his father- 
in-law and his valet. Papa Antonio can never 
hear of him or his music without crying, and 
he preserves as a sacred relic the first musical 
scribblings of his son-in-law. Love of music 
changed Servant Luigi's vocation from that of 
hackman. Verdi is '' his god," and whoever 
delights in the productions of Rossini, Bellini, 
or Donizetti is to him *'a cretin." 

Verdi is at home in the literature of all 
nations, and is conversant with all the great 
political, social and scientific questions of the 
day. He was elected member of the Italian 
parliament simply as an "incomparable pat- 
riot," which seems all the more strange be- 
cause he has never spoken a word in the 
chamber. Yet his name is not without politi- 
cal significance; the opposition party used it 
as a harmless mask in the form of an anagram. 
When the cry Vivi T Italia J was stopped in 
Lombardy, Rome, Tuscany, and Naples, the 
people shouted Viva VerdiJ The name of 
Verdi was indicated as follows: 

Yittore Emmanuele Re d' Italia^ 

This mysterious inscription is still on the 
walls of many public buildings whose occu- 
pants have thought of nothing less than of 
Verdi and his operas. 



• • • 



OLE BULL. 

[Tnuislatod from Aftenpoctan]. 

. Ole Borneman Bull was bom in Bergen 
ihe 5th February, 1810, and was the son of 
Johan Storm Bull, an apothecary of Bergen, and 
his wife, Anna Dorthea Bull, born Geelmuyden. 
Just at that time Bergen held a prominent social 
position. It had many good old families en- 
gaged in trade, with an inheritance of culture 
and a lively interest in intellectual and refined 
pleasure, and the social life of those days stood 



far above what the tradesmen's families of our 
time regard as the acme of convivial enjoyment. 
Their exuberant mirtli might often break out in 
drinking songs, and ringing choruses, but it was 
in an amiable and harmless spirit, and always 
associated with a desire and an effort! to devote 
their friendly gatherings to higher ends ; private 
theatricals and musical entertainments belonged 
to the order of the day. 

These two tastes were represented in both the 
Bull and Geelmuyden families, and especially 
was " Uncle Jens " (Creelmuyden) an ardent quar- 
tet man, at whose house Mozart's, Haydn's, and 
others' quartets were constantly well played. 
The little Ole Bull had inherited the talent, but 
he began in a modest way. When he was three- 
or four years old he had to be satisfied with two* 
chips, representing fiddle and bow, but on these 
he scraped indcfatigably, as seated in a corner 
he hummed a tune. Uncle Jens thought the boy 
might have a little better violin, so be took out of 
his store a Nuremberg fiddle with << real strings," 
and on these the talented little fellow soon learned 
to coax the tunes he had heard others play. 

His schooling did not amount to much, but he 
made progress in playing, and at seven and eight 
years old he enjoyed the honor of being present 
at Uncle Jena's to hear *' the (juartet" 

It happened to be just his eighth birthday 
when he showed what he had been teaching him- 
self in secret The Quartet was assembled at 
Uncle Jens's, and the first violin, ** Kammermu- 
sikus " (Royal Musician) Poulsen had been drink- 
ing so much that he was not to be relied on. So 
Uncle Jens said in fun that Ole might play, and 
this he did, to the astonishment of all, so credi- 
tably, that the reward was a new violin from 
Uncle Jens. 

Ole Bull still continued his self-instruction until 
1822, when for the first time he had regular les- 
sons from a clever Swedish violinist, Lundholm, 
who at that time came to settle in Bergen. He 
then made remarkable progress, and learned to 
play very difficult pieces. 

At school he was an indifferent pupil, and when 
he came to Christiania in 1828, to pass his exam- 
ination at the University, he was rejected on 
Latin composition — fortunately, we must add. 

In the meantime, some musical occupation was 
found for him when Waldemar Trane, leader of 
the orchestra at the theatre, became so ill that it 
was necessary to put another in his place, and 
Ole Bull secured it. But now a stronger desire 
was aroused in him, the desire to become an 
artist, to come out in the world, to learn and hear 
and work with all his might. He must go to 
Spohr, who then stood first in the estimation of 
our musical circles. 

The 19th of May, 1829, he started with very 
little money in his pocket, but all his artist'* 
courage in his breast. He found Spohr, but it is 
easy to understand that two natures, so diamet- 
ricaljjf opposed, could find no attraction in each 
other. Spohr, a virtuoso and composer, strict, 
formal, classically severe in form, could not hai^ 
monize with the eccentric, bizarre, original Bull, 
and vice versft. After several fruitless attempts 
to accomplish something in Germany, he was 
obliged to return home again. 

He made his next appearance as leader of the 
orchestra in Christiania, but in 1880 he went to 
Trondtjem and' Bergen to give concerts, and in 
Bergen directed the *' Harmony." By these 
means he earned money enough to set out on the 
longed-for journey to Paris. 

Here his struggles began in earnest No recom- 
mendations were of any avail, no one would help 
him, and we all know what it means to be living 
on scanty traveling funds. As a final blow, he 
was robbed of the last money he had, his violin, 
and everything except his clothes. It was diffi- 



DBOBHBn 18, 1880.] 



DWIQHTS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



203 



cult for him to obtain credit for his lodging, and 
he was exposed to annoyances of all kinds. 

To this epoch in his life belongs the oft-told 
anecdote of how, just as he was casting longing 
eyoM on the waters of the Seine, he was enticed 
into a gaming-house, where he put up his last 
five francs and won, but, owing to his indistinct 
pronunciation of the language, instead of five, 
he carried off a hundred francs. 

His affairs were now at a standstill, when, by 
chance, he was heard by the Duke of Montebello 
in a drawing-room, where he was trying some 
manufacturer's violins. By the aid of the Duke's 
recommendation he was able to give a concert, 
and with the proceeds he started on a concerting 
tour which took him down into Italy. Here, at 
last, his star was to rise, and this episode de- 
serves to be related in the words of Weroreland's 
Biography. 

He had arrived in Bologna. Here the violinist, 
Beriot, and the singer, Malibran, were engaged 
for the season by the Philharmonic Society ; but 
just before one of the concerts, both suddenly 
became <* indisposed," on account of some un- 
certainty in regard to their salary. 

This threw the director of the Philharmonic 
Society, Marchese di Zampieri, into the greatest 
perplexity. Just then, towards evening one day, 
the well-known singer, Madame Colbran, (after- 
wards married to Rossini), in passing by Casa 
Soldati, a low inn for soldiers, vetturini and mvle- 
teers, heard through an open window some wonder- 
ful bars of music on an instrument which she did 
not seem to recognize. It was Bull. In his 
white-washed garret in this miserable inn, to 
which he had been driven two weeks earlier by 
the faithlessness of some one who had borrowed 
money of him, while the whole town was only 
talking of Beriot, Malibran and Colbran, he had 
written his first important composition, his *' Con- 
certo in A-major ; but, unacquainted with the rules 
of art necessary, for its transference to paper, he 
was sitting by the open window playing over the 
airs. The singer stood listening a long time. 

" It must be a violin; but a divine one. That 
makes up for Malibran and Beriot. Off to Zam- 
pieri. 

In the evening near ten o'clock, when Bull, 
hungry and ill, had been in bed for a couple of 
hours, a knocking was heard at the door. " Cos- 
petto di Bacco, what stairs ! " It was Zampieri 
himself, the most musical of all Italy's nobili, re- 
nowned from Mont Cenis to Cape Spartivento. 
Bull must get up and improvise. He was the man 
for it I Leave Malibran to her migraine and good- 
ness knows what. Not only was he dragged up, 
but off to the theatre at once with Zampieri, 
where he found a brilliant assembly, the Grand 
Duke of Tuscany himself, and Beriot, with his 
hand hypocritically bound up in a handkerchief. 
All were transported with BuU. He took his cour- 
age in his hands, and begged the ladies for subjects. 
The wife of Prince Carlo Poniatowsky gave him 
one from '' Norma," two other ladies, one from 
^ The Siege of Corinth," and one from *' Capuletti 
and MontecchL" At the closing strains, he was 
covered with flowers by the enraptured ladies; 
Zampieri, Beriot, and the whole company com- 
plimented him. It was a trouoaiUe, He was to 
have the assistance of the whole company at a 
concert of his own, if he would first give his 
assistance at one already announced ; the society 
would subscribe for sixty tickets. Emilio Loup, 
(a Swiss) who owned a large theatre, placed it at 
his disposal together with the orchestra, and one 
private individual alone tbok a hundred tickets. 
Ak ca ira! Now Fortune's wheel had turned. 
The Fates seemed to have reeled off their black 
threads and begun to spin new and shining ones. 
He played at the Society's concert, and gave one 
for himself at Loup's. After the latter he was 



complimented by a torch-light procession and ap- 
pointed honorary member of the first class by the 
Philharmonic Society. Ca ira ! This was only a 
beginning ; it was Bull's real beginning. 

From this time he went on with giant strides, 
giving concerts in numerous cities^ until in 1885 
he appeared at the opera in Paris. On this occa- 
sion a piquant feuilietoh of Jules Janin effected 
miracles, as once before at Rachel's d^bfit at the 
Th^&tre Fran^ais ; and all the concert-halls in the 
country were now open to him. After marrying 
in Paris, Alexandrine F^lidt^ Villeminot, to 
whom he had become engaged in his days of 
suffering, he started on his musical tours. First 
he visited England; afterwards, in 1837, Brussels, 
Hamburg, LUbeck, Schwerin, Konigsberg, Riga, 
St. Petersburg and Moscow, and everywhere 
achieved a brilliant success. From Moscow he 
was called home by the news of his father's death. 
Passing through Finland, in whose principal 
towns he made his appearance, and Stockholm, 
where he was heard five times, he returned to 
Christiania in July, 1838. He was received by 
Ms countrymen with the enthusiasm and distinc- 
tion to which he was entitled by the glory he had 
won for his native laud. He did not remain long 
at home, but started on a new artist's journey, 
gi^ng concerts in Denmark, in several cities of 
Grermany, in Bohemia, Vienna, Paris, England, 
and Russia. In 1841, he took up his residence 
with his family at Valestrand, a paternal country- 
seat near Bergen, remaining there until the follow- 
ing summer, when he moved to Christiania, whence 
in 1842-1843 he made short musical tours to 
Denmark, Sweden, and Grermany. From 1844 
to 1846, he played in America, where, owing to 
his eccentricities as an artist, to which he there 
gave full rein, he reaped gold and laurels in 
abundance. Thence he proceeded to Paris, where, 
after the revolution of February, 1848, he gave 
a concert for the benefit of the wounded, and the 
same year he returned through Belgium to Nor- 
way. Here he gave many concerts under storms 
of applause, and in 1849, took under his protec- 
tion Uie well-known Thorgeir Audunssdn (the 
miller-boy), whom he assisted so far that he was 
able to give concerts in several towns. 

At that time a new national life was unfolding 
through the presence among us of such artists as 
Tidemaiid, Gude and otliers, driven home by the 
disturbances abroad. The strong influence which 
our people in their daily lives and the colony of 
artists now settled among them exerted on each 
other, called forth an inspiration, which marks an 
era in the history of our art and literature, and it 
is no more to be wondered at that Ole BuH was 
affected by this revival, than that a man with 
his energy and world-wide reputation was com- 
pelled to find listeners to his ideas. 

He had now become a wealthy man, and he 
wished to devote part of his fortune to the estab- 
lishment of a Norwegian theatre. This plan he 
carried out in his native town of Bergen, where 
a national theatre was opened on the second of 
January, 1850, and called into existence such 
actors as Johannes Brun, Fru Brun, Fru Wolff 
and others. 

He spent large sums of money on this enter- 
prise, but fell into disputes with Bhe authorities 
on the employment of the funds, for of course he 
had not the capacity for occupying himself with 
the details of such an institution, and conse- 
'quently it soon found its way into other hands, 
but existed ! And it cannot be denied that Ole 
Bull, by his energetic, patriotic grasp, laid the 
corner-stone of the national edifice we are now 
raising; for in the theatre of Bergen lay the germ, 
and thence proceeded the impulse to what has been 
accomplished in other respects for national dra- 
matic art. Therefore Ole Bull's name will always 
be associated with the history of our theatre, and 



take its place among the most prominent names ; 
for although his theatre' was closed in the course 
of a few years, it lived in a new form in Chris- 
tiania, and is now reopened in Bergen, where, 
however, they cling so strongly to all Danish 
traditions — spite of much external Norwegian- 
ism — that the very question of a national theatre 
becomes doubtful just where dramatic talent and 
other necessary conditions are most readily found. 

After placing his theatre in other hands, Bull 
made a short professional journey to Denmark 
and Grermany, after which, in 1852, he started for 
America, where he hoped to found a distinctly 
Norwegian colony (^'Oleana"). He purchased 
in Pennsylvania a large lot of land, of a man who 
did not own it, and as the business turned out un- 
fortunately in other respects, he lost in it nearly 
all his fortune. In 1857 he returned to Norway. 

In 1860 he again started on professional jour- 
neys to Sweden and Russia. In 1863 he labored, 
but without success, for the establishment of a 
Norwegian Academy of Music in Christiania. A 
couple of years later, after the death of his wife, 
he again went to America, and from this time 
made his home there, returning to spend the sum- 
mers in his native land, where he owned a beau- 
tiful villa on Lysden, near Bergen. A few years 
ago he married an American lady, Sara Thorpe. 

As an artist, Ole Bull bore the stamp of his 
time, an era of virtuosi. Then all that was inge- 
nious, piquant and eccentric, combined with melt- 
ing harmony, was in high favor, and called forth 
a special execution. Taking this into considera- 
tion. Bull was the foremost of his time, and one 
could not but be carried away by his indisputable 
genius. But with the progress that has been 
made, other qualifications are now demanded. 
Paganini would certainly no longer awaken the 
same astonishment as when he was at the xenith 
of his fame. Execution has won still greater 
triumphs since those days, and such men as 
Joachim, Laub, Wilhelmj, Wieniawski and Sara- 
sate are also in that respect the exponents of a far 
higher school of art than the Paganini, to which 
Ole Bull belongs. As regards Bull, perhaps the 
foundation of his art rested a little too much on 
self-instruction. In other respects, too, the times 
have changed. We demand now a deep insight 
into the thoughts of the composer, rather than a 
brilliant exhibition of individual genius. 01^ 
Bull's repertoire was therefore quite different from 
that of die modern virtuoso. He played, for the 
most part, such pieces of his own and others as 
gave opportunity for a sort of instrumental fire- 
works, composed of enticing and bizarre conceits. 

This the critic must say in the interests of truth 
and justice ; but let us not forget that the artist 
too is '* enfant de son si^cle." If we keep this in 
mind, as well as the undreamed-of life to which 
his violin awakened Norwegian airs for us, and 
the brilliant genius with which it gave utterance 
to his virtues and his faults, our nation will always, 
have a right to reckon him among its great men, 
among those richly-endowed natures who have 
shed a lustre on their native land. 

His own compositions — apart from the few 
delicious airs we owe to his rich imagination — 
must for the most part be regarded as a sort of pot- 
pourris, freely treated. Bull was neither adapted 
by nature, nor theoretically educated to be a com- 
poser in the proper sense. His most important 
pieces are, "Norges Fjelde," ** Concerto in A- 
major," *^ Polacca Guerri&ra," and ** The Taran- 
tella." His study of the construction of the violin 
is well worth attention. Such men as Yuillaume 
listened to his opinions with profound interest, 
though they could not always find a place in the 
system of the practical instrument-maker ; but it 
will surprii>e us if his idea for a new pianoforte, 
whose principles undoubtedly rest on the primary 
laws of acoustics, does not sometime win acknowl- 



204 



dwight's journal of music. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1085. 



edgment, tliough it may be carried out in an- 
other and better form than proposed by him. 

Taken all in all, Ole Bull was a remarkably 
gifted man, an original and talented nature, wiUi 
sun-spots, it may be, but likewise rays of dazzling 
brightness. Like many of his countrymen, he 
was too apt to rush heedlessly on, relying on 
** Providence " and his own genius to keep him 
up, and perhaps with too little faith in the great 
power of training in art ; but this genius was really 
so rich, that it bore him up many a time when 
others would have been lost without the guidance 
of discipline. 

One thing is certain ; at the news of his death, 
only tlie picture of the brilliant abd patriotic 
artist, always so zealous for the honor and reputar 
tion of Xorway, stands before our minds, and a 
pympatlietic chord is struck, wherever Norwegians 
are found. With all critical reservations, we 
cannot deny that Ole Bull's name and personality 
had grown together with our national conscious- 
ness. 

Nor can we close these lines without expressing 
our joy that he died in his own land, and here his 
remains are laid. 



On the last day of his life, as he opened his 
eyes in the morning, he stretched out his hands 
to heaven, exclaiming. "Min Gud, jeg takker 
dig!" ("My God, I thank Thee!") A short 
time after, when tlie physician informed him that 
his end was near, he took an a£fectionate farewell 
of those around him. They describe him as calm 
and composed in mind, although not quite with- 
out hope of recovery. He smiled to them as he 
looked at the roses and the heather in blossom, 
which they constantly brought him. As he felt 
death approaching, he expressed a wish to hear 
Mozart's Requiem, and listened with folded hands, 
while his wife played it through several times. 
As the notes died away, the change came over 
Him which announces final dissolution. Ole Bull 
breathed his last on the 1 7th of August, at noon. 
On the 23d, he was buried in Bergen. 

At seveiw o'clock in the morning, Ole Bull's 
family friends and other guests, among whom were 
the Governor of the district, the Burgomaster, 
etc., proceeded to Lysd, on the steamer " Kong 
Sverre." In the concert-hall, the rector of Fane 
and others, addressed their last thanks and fare- 
well to the deceased, a simple and a£fecting 
ceremony. The casket, covered with flowers, 
among which lay a violin made of flowers and 
moss, by ladies of Bergen, was carried on board by 
peasants. The composer, Edward Grieg, bore 
the gold crown from San Francisco, and Dr. Dan- 
ielsen the orders of the deceased. At " Krarven " 
the " Kong Sverre " was met by fourteen steamers, 
which escorted it in two lines to Molo. A salute 
was given from the steamers and fortress. At 
Nordnses Point, a grand procession of five thou- 
sand persons awaited them. At two o'clock in 
the afternoon, the steamer stopped at Holbergs 
Bridge, and, under minute-shots from the fortifi- 
cations, the funeral cortdge passed by the Svane 
apothecary-shop, Ole Bull's birthplace, which was 
magnificently draped in mourning, down across 
the market-place, by the bridge, thntugh King 
Oscar's Street, to Uie cemetery, where Rector 
Walnum conducted the funeral ceremonies. These 
were followed by a speech from Bjdrnstjerne 
Bjdrnson, which we give below. Edward Grieg 
oflrered a laurel crown from Norwegian musicians, 
and Bendixen one from the National Theatre of 
Bergen. The weather was magnificent, and the 
procession of immense length. It was a solemn and 
affecting national fete, in which twenty thousand 
people joined. Flags draped with black were 
displayed over the whole bay and town. The 
people were all dressed in mourning, and steamers 
and boats by the hundred. The King sent a tele- 



gram expressive of his grief to tlie widow of Ole 

Bull. 

Ole Bull left to the Bergen Museum his orders, 

set in diamonds, a silver music-stand, which had 

once been presented to him by the students of 

Moscow, and a Hardanger fiddle, to which he had 

been much attached. 

[A translation of Bj6rnion*s speech at Ole Boll's 
funeral will follow In next number.] 



ABOUT OVERTURES.! 

[Concluded from pafe 196.] 

Reference has hitherto been made to the over- 
ture, only as the introduction to an opera, oratorio 
or drama. The form and name have been, how- 
ever, extensively applied during the present cen- 
tury to orchestral pieces intended merely for con- 
cert use, sometimes with no special purpose, in 
other instances bearing a specific title, indicating 
the composer's intention to illustrate some poeti- 
cal or legendary subject. Formerly a symphony, 
or one movement therefrom, was entitled " Grand 
Overture," or "Overture" in the concert pro- 
gramme, according to whether the whole work or 
only a portion thereof was used. Thus, in tlie an- 
nouncements of Salomon's Loudon concerts (1791 
-4), Haydn's Symphonies, composed expressly for 
them, are generally so described. Among special 
examples of the overture, properly so called, com- 
posed for independent performance, are Beetho- 
ven's Weihe des Hauses, written for the inaugura- 
tion of the Josephsstadt Theatre in 1822; Men- 
delssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream Overture 
(intended at fii'st for concert use only, and after- 
ward supplemented by the exquisite stage music), 
and the same composer's Hebrides^ Calm Sea ' and 
Prosperous Voyage, and Melusine. These overtures 
of Mendelssohn's are, indeed, unparalleled in their 
kind. It is scarcely necessary here to comment 
on the wondrous Shakespearean prelude produced 
in the composer's boyhood, as a concert overture, 
and in after years associated with the charming 
incidental music to the drama, passages of the 
overture occurring in the final chorus of fairies, 
and thus giving unity to the whole; nor will 
musical readers require to be reminded of the 
rare poetic and dramatic imagination, or the ex- 
quisite skiU by which the sombre romanticism of 
Scottish scenery, the contrasted suggestions of 
Goethe's poem, and the grace and passion of the 
Rhenish legend, are so happily illustrated in the 
other overtures referred to. 

Schumann's overtures of this class — Bride of 
Messina, Festival Ocerlure, Julius Ccesar, Her- 
mann and Dorothea — though all very interesting, 
are not very important; but in his Overture to 
Manfred he has left one work of the highest sig- 
nificance and power, which will always maintain 
its position in the first rank of orchestral music' 
As the prelude, not to an opera, but to the inci- 
dental music to Byron's tragedy, this composition 
does not exactly fall in with either of the classes 
we have given. It is, however, dramatic and 
romantic enough for any drama, and its second 
subject is a quotation from a passage which occurs 
in the piece itself. 

Berlioz's overture Les Francs Juges, embodying 
the idea of the Vehmgericht, or secret tribunals of 
the Middle Ages, must not be omitted from our 
list, as a work of great length, great variety of 
ideas, and imposing effect. 

The concert overtures of Sterndale Bennett 
belong to a similar high order of imaginative 
thought, as exemplified in the well-known over- 
tures entitled Parisina, The Naiads, and The 
Wood Nymph, and that string of musical pearls, 

iFrom the article Ovebtore in Orove'e IHeiionarif (tf 
Mtuic and Musicians, 
* BeccUmed at Sea is what is meant. — Ed. 
s But not a word about Oemweva ? — Ed. 



the Fantasia overture, illustrating passages from 
Paradise and the Peri. Benedict's overtures Der 
Prim von Homburg and Tempest, Sullivan's In 
Memoriam (in the climax of which the organ is 
introduced), and Di Ballo (in dance rhythms), 
J. F. Barnett's Overture Symphonique, Cusins'sZr^x 
Travailleurs de la Mer, Cowen's Festivcd. Overture, 
Gadsby's Andromeda, Pierson's Faust and Romeo 
and Juliet, and many more, arc all independent 
concert overtures. 

The term has also been applied to original 
pieces for keyed instruments. Thus we have 
Bach's overture in the French style; Handel's 
overture in the first set of his Harpsichord Suites, 
and Mozart's imitation thereof among his piano- 
forte works. Each of these is the opening pieci* 
of a series. Beethoven has prefixed the word 
" Overtura " to the quartet piece which originally 
formed the Finale to his B-flat quartet (op. 131), 
but is now numbered separately as op. 183 ; but 
whether the term is meant to apply to the whole 
piece, or only to the twenty-seven bars which in- 
troduce the fugue, we have nothing to guide us. 

H. •!. La. 



IMPRESSIONS IN NEW YORK. 



BOITO'S "MEFISTOFELE." — HERR HEKSCHEL. - 
SARA BERNHARDT. -HOLMAN HUNTS "SHAD- 
OW OF DEATH." 

The Islaitd, Dec. 10. 

Dear Mr. Dwigut : 

The first production of Boito's opera ** Mephisi- 
topheles " has been the most interesting event, so 
far, of the musical season in New York. It has 
proved attractive and successful, but not over- 
whelmingly so. A novelty was of course welcome 
amid the old and worn operatic repertoire, and 
the dramatic foundation — Groethe's '^ Faust " — of 
this novelty is a very popular one (in the high 
sense of popularity). But we may question 
whether Boito's manner of treating it has been 
such as to ensure lasting success for his work. It 
lacks the vital element of permanent success, 
originality. Originality, almost invariably a fail- 
ure at first, almost as certainly succeed.** at last. 
Boito's work was denounced, twelve years ago, at 
Milan, as ** an innovation," and its author so dis- 
couraged that he half abandoned composition 
afterwards, having written (so far as we are 
aware), since that time, only one opera; had the 
judgment of his Milan critics been more liberal 
and enlightened, had they been able to discover 
in *' Mephistppheles " talent endeavoring to free 
itself from the old-fashioned operatic traditions, 
but yet unconsciously entangled in the fetters of 
Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner, he might have felt 
encouraged to proceed on his career, and would 
have perhaps attained, ere now, to genuine origin- 
ality. 

In this work Boito has not aimed at dramatic 
unity or development ; taking it for granted that 
every one knows the story of Faust, he has merely 
grouped together some salient points of the poem, 
and illustrates them by music, action, and spectac- 
ular display. The first part or prologue, Me- 
phistopheles's wager with the Deity, is radier 
symphonic than dramatic, and has many fine 
points, though the orchestration is sometimes 
coarse. The music of the Easter Sunday scene 
is displeasing, noisy, trivial, with only a faint point 
of light in a rather pretty waltz. But even 
Auber has given the sense of the youth, fresh- 
ness, out-door hopeful gayety of Easter Sunday 
better in certain now hackneyed choruses of Fra 
Diavolo. The larghetto sung by Faust on re- 
turning to his laboratory is good in its large, 
expressive phrases; better still is the following 
aria in whicb Mephistopheles declares himself as 
a spiritual and intellectual NihiUtt. But the 



December 18, 1880.] 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



205 



heart of the opera is to be found in the garden 
scene, fine from beginning to end, and rising to an 
ecstatic close. Again, in the Brocken scene, 
we have •* highly intellectual music" (without 
lieart, suj>ernaturalncss, awe-inspiring power). It 
is chiefly grotescjue, though not without striking 
dramatic movements, as for instance, the sud- 
den rush and prostration, and then the hush of 
the multitude before Mephistopheles. This scene 
offers many opportunities for spectacular display, 
but they are essentially theatrical, and not novel 
— the appearance of Margaret's fetch is exactly 
like that of the ghost of the mother of Max, in 
the FreischUtz, and other effects are of the tra- 
ditional ballet type. There is true music, again, 
in the prison scene, expressive and dramatic, with 
a lovely duet, softly murmured by the lovers, " Lon- 
tano, lontano," and the act is worked up to a fine 
climax. A soft, harmonious, illusive atmosphere, 
similar to tliat through which Corot enables us 
to behold his pictorial groups and scenes, breathes 
from the music of the fourth act ; if not so lovely 
and serene as that of the Elysium illustrated by 
Gluck, it is still charming, and lovely are the flow- 
ing phrases sung by Helen and Pantalis. And 
yet, though this pleases our fancy, it touches us 
not ; we feel too well that it is all but a dream. 
The epilogue, too, is wearisome ; in spite of many 
line points in it, we " assist " coldly at the struggle 
between good and evil beside the death-bed of 
Faust. 

The opera is well presented on the whole. The 
central character is of course Mephistopheles, 
very well, if not ideally, represented by Novara ; 
in Faust, Campanini was all that could be desired, 
but the part does not offer the same opportuni- 
ties for dramatic passion as some of the charac- 
ters he has become identified with, such as Lohen- 
grin and Don Jos^. The female characters are 
secondary in this opera ; Margaret is a pretty, 
simple, pleasing, and ignorant peasant girl, a 
Margaret more true to the life, no doubt, than 
Gounod's ideal heroine ; and Valleria was charm- 
ing and altogether satisfactory in the part, which 
does not appear to call for the powers of a Nils- 
son, though Nilsson might invest it with a conse- 
(juencc it does not seem to possess. Miss Gary, 
too, was more than excellent as Martha and Pan- 
talis. On the whole, the opera seems to have 
awakened two sets of impressions after a few 
hearings of it ; one class of people says, '^ yes, 
it is very clever, yet rather wearisome, though 
showy; but it is cold, and, do you think it is 
music f" The second says, "Boito is not a 
prophet, but one of the most gifted followers of 
the modern school." 

The other, and finer Faust, that of Berlioz, is 
renewing its tremendous success of last season, 
under the scholarly and enthusiastic leadership 
of Dr. Damrosch. The part of Mephistopheles 
having been found, on the (rst performance, 
unsuited [I ?] to Mr. Henschel, has been resumed by 
Mr. Remmertz, who so finely sustained it last 
year, with a fire and a power exceeding that dis- 
played by him, perhaps, in anything else he has 
done. In his recitals, Mr. Henschel will doubt- 
less justify the great reputation that preceded 
him, though he has not fulfilled expectation in 
his Elijah or Mephistopheles, perhaps only be- 
cause expectation was too highly wrought. In 
Elijah, very finely performed by the Oratorio 
Society under Dr. Damrosch, Mr. Henschel 
proved himself a highly intelligent singer, a 
thorough musician ; but his vocal method is defi- 
cient, and he lacks both mellow charm and rough 
power, of voice. Both power and charm are 
heard in Miss Drasdil's fine and well-trained 
organ, hence her success in the contralto music 
of Elijah was greater than that of Henschel in 
the part of the prophet. And yet, when we 
listen to Henschel, we feel how dependable, intel- 



ligent, satisfactory he is, and that he does his 
conscientious best, which is very thorough work- 
manship. We wait for his Lied singing, to de- 
cide whether he possesses the power of touching, 
charming, transporting the listener. 

Who shall dare to say that no one cares for 
art in New York V Immense audiences crowd to 
Mephistopheles, Berlioz's Faust, Mendelssohn's 
Elijah ; yet audiences as immense crowd to see and 
hear Mile. Bernhardt, especially at her matindes, 
where ladies throng by hundreds and thousands, 
many to find no place at all, many satisfied to 
stand through the entire performance. She has 
proved at great success; a first a swift disap- 
pointment, at last, a slow surprise. A disap- 
pointment, because many people, unfamiliar with 
the progress of dramatic art in France during the 
past ten years, and uninterested in following up 
its manifestations, have not become acquainted, 
by report, -with Mile. Bernhardt's peculiar style 
of art, and have therefore expected something 
different — a grand, classic tragedienne, in the 
large, broad style ; and she has since proved to 
these very people a gradual surprise, as they 
slowly learned to admire and to appreciate — not 
the qualities they expected, but different ones, 
which do not startle, but grow upon us. Grandeur, 
repose, the overwhelming emotion that springs 
from the depths of a noble heart, the elevated, 
imaginative power born of the fervor of a noble 
brain, the pathos of unconscious innocence, the 
impulse of unselfish feeling — these find no ade- 
quate representation in the art of MUe. Bern- 
hardt; hers is not outdoor, it is indoor feeling, 
passion, thought. But in the expression of this 
she is supreme, especially when it is displayed in 
such a character as that of Blanche de Chelles — 
as Lord Astley says : " One of tliose women, in- 
teresting products of our excessive civilization, 
who are born ripe, so to say ; who, in consequence 
of erroneous education, are tired of life before 
they have lived, and for whom the forbidden 
fruit, even before they have tasted it, has no 
attraction, unless, indeed, it is made attractive by 
the addition of some extraordinary flavor." 

For Mile. Bernhardt, being, in herself, and in 
her art, unique, shows at her best in charac- 
ters of a somewhat abnormal type, such as 
Blanche in Le Sphinx, On seeing her at first in 
such a part, one that is to a certain degree repul- 
sive and unwomanly, because heartless, one in- 
stinct with feverish and morbid, not genuine, 
passion, we are apt to ascribe the limited effect 
of the character to the actress's limited powers, 
especially when tiie tragic end of Mme. de 
Ghelles strikes us, not with pity and pathos, but 
only with horror; but after we have witnessed 
other impersonations, we render justice to her 
varied conception of characters alike in their 
type, and to the refined art, the absence of ex- 
assceration that withholds Mile. Bernhardt from 
introducing other colors into each of her per- 
formances than those that properly belong to 
each. She has pathos, passion, tenderness, but 
of a nature peculiar not only to the singular 
types of modern French life, — Frou-Frou, Ca- 
mille, Mme. de Chelles, — which she best repre- 
sents, but also apparently peculiar to herself. 
Within such a range of characters she is perfect ; 
varied even in her mannerisms, natural in all 
that is abnormal, sparkling with vitality, truth 
itself in her deUneation of what is, nevertheless, 
untrue. She is a complete representative of a 
certain type of womanhood, typical of the ideas 
and actions of an entire class of society, to be 
found, under modified conditions, not only in aris- 
tocratic French society, but in every country of 
the civilized world. Such characters are not 
original and expansive, they are individual and 
concentrated. And concentration and individual- 
ity are the qualities that most impress us in Mile. 



Bernhardt's acting. She pleases, she charms, 
she entertains, she thrills us, and she fascinates ; 
but she cannot profoundly touch or attract, ab- 
sorb or overwhelm us. 

She is very pretty on the stage ; more so than 
we had been led to expect. Does the subtle 
Sarah, with fine coquetry, cause the accounts of 
her thinness and plainness to be spread abroad, 
in order the more pleasantly to surprise those 
who see her for the first time ? Miss Cushman is 
reported to have said that she was spared one of 
llie greatest obstacles to success, one of the great- 
est trials that ever befall an actress — beauty. 
M'Ue. Bernhardt, no doubt something of a cynic, 
doubtless understands that enthusiastic laudation 
of an actress's beauty lays her open to the danger 
of making at least half her own sex her enemies 
before they see her. In movement, gesture, atti- 
tude, she is all grace, — supple, natural ; and al- 
though her toilets are rich to an extreme, her refined 
and delicate taste, her artistic temperament may be 
traced even in their slightest details. I have not 
seen her yet in the romantic and classic dramas 
of her repertoire: Adrienne, Hernani, Ph^dre. 
Can she satisfactorily render the large, the gen- 
erous passions ? Hers is intensity ; not breadth, 
depth, height ; still less does she embody romance 
and ideal poesy, though she is ideal in her way. 

The same elements of prettiness, grace, fine- 
ness, limited harmony, may be traced in her pic- 
tures, as in her acting ; but these are rather the 
work of a highly accomplished amateur than of 
an artist forced to express her nature in this 
branch of art by irresistible vocation. Her 
sculpture displays more power. The bust of 
Emile de Girardin is ruthlessly life-like ; a head 
of a young girl, with a foulard tied over the 
brows, charming ; the " Ophelia " is largely 
modelled, full of poetry in conception; and she 
has displayed a grotesque and brave spirit of 
irony and finesse in the bronze inkstand, sur- 
mounted by her own bust, from the shoulders of 
which fantastic, demoniac wings start, while she 
has tipped her fingers with griffins' claws. In all 
M'Ue. Bernhardt's female heads a likeness to 
herself, more or less pronounced, may be traced ; 
indeed; one or two of these pictures resemble her 
more than her photographs, which do not render 
her justice. The likeness is doubtless involun- 
tary. Every painter insensibly reproduces the 
type of his own race, or that of people about him, 
even in his delineations of foreign types. 

From Sarah Bernhardt's ** Griffon " to Holman 
Hunt's *' Shadow of Death," is a long step np ; 
yet here we detect the same peculiarity. Every 
race looks out of its eyes in a manner that belongs 
to itself, and Hunt's Christ, in this picture, looks 
out of his eyes, not as an Oriental, but as an 
Englishman does ; and this in spite of the fact 
that Hunt sought a model for years in the East, 
before he found one to satisfy him. This picture 
has been very severely criticized here ; was that 
the reason why I was agreeably disappointed in 
it ? Yet I am not an admirer of Hunt. But I 
am sure that many, while blaming the excess of 
detail, wonderfully painted,.though inharmoniQus, 
have nevertheless been carried away by that, to 
such an extent that they have overlooked or 
become blind to the purpose and very soul of the 
picture, the touching pathos and ideality of the 
face, which renders the shadow of the cross a 
secondary effect, and ennobles such pictorial 
trickery in that as may be displeasing to a fas- 
tidious taste. Fanny Raymond Ritter. 



Lbipsic— The date of the fifth Gewandhaus 
Concert coincided with the anniversary of Mendel 
ssohn's death, and the programme was devoted 
entirely to works from his pen. They were Psalm 
98, Symphony in A-major,hymn for soprano, chorus, 
and orchestra, overture to La Belle M^ltuine, " Av« 



206 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1035. 



Biam," and f ragmenta from the unflnUhed opera of 
Lordey. At the sixth concert Herr Leschetizky, 
the pianist, performed Qaint-Saens's Concerto in C- 
minor; Ballad in A-flat major (Chopin); Gavotte 
and Variations (Rameau). The instrumental pieces 
were Cherubini's overture to Anacreon; symphony 
(No. 4, B-flat major) and the third Leonore overture 
(Beethoven). 

8[)toigi)f ist S^ournal of ^u^it. 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1880. 

AnothisIK Year ! The present number 
completes the Fortieth Volume and the twen- 
ty-ninth year of this most long-lived of the 
many musical journals of America. A Title- 
Page Hud Index for the past two volumes 
(to be hound in one) will be furnished in a 
few weeks. 

Vol. XLI will begin with the number for 
January 1, 1881 ; and now is the time for the 
renewal of the annual subscriptions, and for 
tlie coming in of new subscribers, of whom 
we hope there will be many. Our Journal 
needs them, — always needed them; for, in 
Hpite of all that has always been said in its 
praise, in spite of the splendid "testimonial" 
just tendered to its editor, so warmly and so 
widely, this journal never yet has been re- 
munerative. The recognition and reward 
came last week in another shape, one unmis- 
takably heartfelt, and most generous, most 
beautiful, most gi*atifying ; it was well worth 
waiting for ! But may we not regard it also 
as a token of renewed interest in the old 
D wight's Journal of Music, — the prom- 
ise of a wider rally of appreciative friends to 
its support, and its improvement, through the 
humdrum cheaper way of regular annual sub- 
scription, as well as advertising patronage? 
Double its subscription list, and you increase 
its advertising columns, and then there will 
be no need of " testimonials " except in the 
harmless way of compliment and flattering 
approval. 



THE TESTIMONIAL CONCERT. 

In timely aid of the above New Year's an- 
nouncement, comes this unexpected, to us almost 
overwhelming endorsement of our Journal and 
our well-meant, if not always wise or efficient, 
labors in behalf of music, on the part of a com- 
mittee of citizens which we have already charac- 
terized as " largely representative of the best ele- 
ments of the musical profession, of the best and 
wisest friends of music, as well as of the honored 
names of dear old Boston." And their appeal 
was instantly and heartily responded to on all 
sides. Greetings and warmest signs of recogni- 
tion, kindliest notes of sympathy (often from most 
unexpected quarters), prompt, enthusiastic oif ers 
of musical service in any concert that might be 
arranged, poured in upon the Editor, who all at 
once found himself the object of unusual attention^ 
-rand in danger of developing (but that he is too 
old for that) a most enormous egotism. Hand 
and heart Vere offered wherever he met an old 
acquaintance ; everybody seemed full of the bright 
idea that had struck somebody just " in the nick 
of time." We never knew we had so many 
friends ; and some, whom we had supposed, if not 



to be our enemies, yet to look askance upon our 
labors, suddenly threw off the disguise and shone 
among the foremost and the friendliest, who 
through the press, as well as by voice and pen in 
private, created an interest in others, and helped 
to organize the plan so beautifully realized on 
Thursday of last week. It gave us a better 
opinion of human nature, — not that we ever 
entertained a very poor one ; we never did, and 
never can, base our feeling of the worth and the 
significance of music, as a certain great musical 
^'reformer" does in his essay on Beethoven, 
upon the theories of a pessimistic metaphysician. 

For such a lestimonial, so sincere and hearty 
in the inception, so admirably prepared, with 
such consummate tact and delicacy, so beautiful, 
resplendent in the full flower, the concert, and so 
fraught with solid tokens of esteem and friend- 
ship, we can hardly trust ourself to 6nd fit words 
of thanks. We accept it both with pride and with 
humility, for it is a formidable thought to us that 
we seem now more than ever bound to go on tty^ 
ing (perhaps in vain) to i)erform any service that 
shall in any degree vindicate the faith which 
hosts of friends have in this touching way reposed 
in us. 

But leaving all we wished to say to be im- 
agined, as it readily will be in a musical and social 
atmosphere so sympathetic as this in which we 
just now have the happiness to live and move and 
have our being (although it seems like passive 
dreaming), let us come at once to the concert 
itself, which was in every way a signal, memo- 
rable success, and which we flatter ourself we 
could and did appreciate about as keenly as any 
other man or woman in that great and really dis- 
tinguished audience. Both programme and pei"- 
formance were of so exceptionally fine a charac- 
ter as to claim special mention among the many 
good things we have heard, or shall hear this 
winter. Never was a finer programme, either 
intrinsically or in its fitness for the occasion, pre- 
sented in Boston ; never a more conscientious con 
amore rendering; seldom one with finer means, 
and all by artists who had kindly, eagerly offered 
their cooperation freely, including the orchestra of 
the Harvard Symphony Concerts, with Mr. Carl 
Zerrahn, conductor, and Mr. Bernhard Liste- 
mann, violin leader, besides a small army of our 
best vocalists, pianists, violinists, — more than 
could possibly find place in a single concert, mak- 
ing the task of the programme committee a deli- 
cate one indeed. Here is the programme in full, 
for it is worth preserving : — 

Fifth Symphony, in C-minor, Op. 67, . . . Beethoven 
Allegro, Andfuite, Scherso and i<lnale (Triumphal 

March). 

Twenty-Third Psalm, " ITie Lord is My Shepherd/* 

Schubert 

Four-part chorus for female voices. 

Sung by a volunteer choir, including members of the 

" Boylston »' and " Cecilia " Clubs. 

Under the direction of Mr. George L. Osgood. 

Concerto in C, for three pianos, with ftrixig orchestra, 

J. S. Bach 

Allegro, Adagio, Fugue. 
Messrs. J. C. D. Parker, Arthur Foote and John A. 

Preston. 



Concert-Stueclf, in G, for piano and orchestra, Op. 92, 

Schumann 

Introduction, and Allegro Appassionato. 
Mr. B. J. Lang. 

Quartet (Canon), from " Fidelio," Beethoven 

Mrs. U. M. Rogers, Miss Edith Abell, Mr. Charles 
R. Adams and Mr. John F. Winch. 

Overture: "Meeresstille und gluckliche Fahrt,** 

Mendelssohn 

Illustrating Goethe's poem : 1. " Becalmed at Sea " ; 
2. "A Breeze and a Prosperous Voyage.*' 

What so fit for the occasion, what so worthy, 
as the glorious old Fifth Symphony? — as glori- 



ous now, and full of meaning in the musical his- 
tory of Boston, as it was in the year of its first 
performances in the old Academy concerts given 
in the Odeon (Federal Street theatre) in 1841. 
To the present writer it gave as it were the key- 
note — rather say the "normal pitch" — to his 
whole musical life. Of musical Art in Boston, it 
will ever stand the corner-stone, though The 
Megsiah and the old Oratorio Society laid the 
earlier foundations. To us, and to many in the 
Music Hall, it had a deep significance, for never 
was a higher standard set than that had set for 
all of us from tiie first day of our interest in 
great orchestral music. How we all waited for 
the four opening notes, the pregnant motive ! and 
how all the old miracle revived with a new charm 
and freshness as the work once more developed ! 
Never did that symphony ring out more inspir- 
ingly, more full of meaning. The great life- 
struggle typified in the Allegro; the heavenly 
encouragement and exhortation of the wonderful 
Andante ; the nerving of the heroic, restless soul 
for action, with the superhuman effort of the 
double basses, in the Scherzo; and finally the 
broad, sublime triumphal march, — grandest 
march ever written or conceived, — a march as of 
ranks t)f solar systems sweeping in vast majestic cir- 
cles round the inmost central Sun invisible ! — all 
was played vom Herzen aus, as if every member 
of the band felt it, meant it. You noted that 
cadenza for the oboe played so charmingly by 
Mr. de Ribas, in the middle of the first move- 
ment : did it not sound precisely as it did when 
he played it the first time in 1841, and as he has 
played it ever since? Yes, the fifth Symphony 
was indispensable and all-rewarding in that con- 
cert. 

Then — what more fit again ? — that chorus of 
sweet, fresh, flexible, pure angel voices, singing 
of trust in the Lord! AVhen have we heard a 
female chorus sung more exquisitely than that 
was by fifty ladies of the Cecilia and Boylston 
Clubs, reinforced by many of our best solo sing- 
ers ? Then, in tliat Concerto for three pianos, the 
cheering and invigorating influence, the strong 
handshake as it were, of old Sebastian Bach, the 
healthy, hearty, genial, pious, profound master of 
masters in the tone-art, who, every time we hear 
him. Seems to hold the whole history and world 
of music in the hollow of his hand ! Thanks for 
that selection, and for the zeal and the effect 
with which it was interpreted ! Thanks, too, for 
the exquisite, the delicately imaginative, poetic 
concert piece of Schumann, in which Mr. Lang 
seemed at his best. (And thanks for other con- 
tributions of the same fine order warmly offered, 
but not found practicable in the programme !) 

Then the wonderful Quartet (in canon) from 
FideliOf by «rhich the audience were so carried 
away that it had to be repeated. It may be 
easily imagined that the opening words: "Mir 
ist's so wunderbar ! " chimed fully witli the feel- 
ing of the wondering chief listener on that occa- 
sion ; he will not soon outlive the wonderment of 
the whole situation in which that testimonial 
placed him. 

Finally, for the parting Grod-speed, that over- 
ture of Mendelssohn which so graphically illus- 
trates the two contrasted scenes of Goethe's little 
poem (also set by Beethoven for voices) : 1. A 
dead calm in mid ocean, — no breath, no motion, 
— weary, helpless, almost hopeless ; 2, the spring- 
ing up of a breeze, the boatswain's whistle (flute), 
the swinging round of the great sails, and away 
the good ship bounds, until she comes in triumph 
into port with flying colors and salute of guns 
and trumpets. Surely the allusion there was 
understood, for the ordliestra played it splendidly 
and with enthusiasm. 

Now, was not that a concert to be remembered 
all one's life? Handel said that, while compos- 



Deceubkk 18, 1880.] 



DWIGHrS JOURNAL OF MUSIC 



207 



ins tlie Messiah^ he ^* knew not whether he was 
in the body or out of the body." We may not 
say so much; but we can say, that when the 
thought came over us : ^' Why t all this is for 
us ! ** we could hardly tell whether it were real 
or a dream. And now reserving special thanks 
to all and several, who have been so philanthropi- 
cally moved to cheer our path fast nearing to its 
end, we must conclude this long-winded acknowl- 
edgment, to save a little room for notice due to 
other concerts and to other matters. 



CONCERT REVIEW. 

A few brief notes upon the concerts of the past 
three weeks is all we can afford in oar contracted 
space. And first the concerts of the 

Apoltx) Club, Music Hall, Nov. 26 and 20. We 
never heard those seventy men sing better; and we 
were struck by the remarkable preservation of their 
voices, many of them being original members, 
veterans in the service. Rich, sweet, manly quality 
of tone, large, generous volume, admirably blend- 
ing of the voices in a grand organ-like ensemble, 
combined witli rare unity, precision, light and shade 
in producing a fine impression. The selections were 
comparatively short pieces. Gemsheim's " Salamis " 
for baritone solo (Dr. Bullard) andchonu, has some- 
thing of the solemnity and classic dignity of Men- 
delssohn's choruses to the Antig<me, etc. The har- 
mony is full and strong, and the work grows fervid 
and interesting as it goes on. Rheinberger's Rounde- 
lay : " Awake, ye lords and ladies gay 1" is a rich 
and dainty piece of coloring, full of life and charm. 

This was followed by a Serenade by Wider, for 
a peculiar combination of instruments : piano (Mr. 
Arthur Foote), violin (Mr. C. N. Allen), 'cello (Mr. 
Wulf Fries), flute (Mr. Rietzel), and organ-har- 
monium (Mr. S. B Whitney). It is a light, fresh, 
delicate and graceful work, not without poetic 
charm, and the effect was unique and pleasing: — 
a nice sort of music, we should think, for fairs and 
floral festivals. A Serenade by Tours, with bari- 
tone solo (finely sung by Mr. J. F. Winch); Horsley's 
"By Celia's arbor," beautifully rendered by Mr. 
Want, Mr. Allen A. Brown, Dr. Bullard, and Mr. 
Aiken ; and Sullivan's " The Beleaguered," a bril- 
liant, vigorous chorus in march rhythm, filled out the 
first part agreeably. 

Part second contained Dudley Buck's setting of 
Longfellow's *' Nun of Nidaros," for tenor solo (Mr. 
Want) and chorus, with accompaniment of piano 
and harmonium ; " The Young Lover," by Koschat, 
which was encored; Handel's Polyphemus Song: 
** O ruddier than the cherry," superbly sung by Mr. 
John Winch, with masterly accompaniment by the 
conductor of the Apollo, Mr. B. J. Lang; a couple 
of 'cello solos played by Mr. Fries (Nocturne, by 
Lachner, and Gavotte, by Popper) ; and, for a pop- 
ular finale, the " Champagne " part-song by Schroe- 
ter. — The usual repetition of this programme, with 
change of instrumental pieces, a few evenings 
later, we did not hear. 

The next Apollo concerts are announced far 
ahead, — the 4th and 9th of February. Max Bruch's 
*' Frithjof," for soprano and baritone solos, male 
chorus, and orchestra, will then be given entire for 
the first time in Boston. 

Nov, 30. Mr. Lang gave his third presenta- 
tion of the Damnation dt Favst, this time at the 
Tremont Temple ; and it must be admitted that all 
the details of the music, all its greatest and its least 
effects, came out with a remarkable distinctness, and 
with satisfactory intensity of sound. It was an 
even better rendering, under, in some sense, better 
acoustical conditions, than the two before. Tke 
work, with all its strangeness, has certainly grown 
popular. Even its most diabolical suggestions and 
infernal pictures such as *' the Ride to Hell," are 
far less bizarre, do far less violence to all sense of 
beauty and of harmony, than the atrocious finale to 
the same morbid, madcap composer's Symphonit 
FantoMtiquA. And it has romantic beauties of a very 
high order and originality. The choruses, both male 
iuid female, were most beautifully rendered; even 



the rollicking refrains of soldiers and of students, so 
difficult in their combination, were successfully 
given. Miss Lilian Bailey again sang the part of 
Margpierite with her wonted purity and truth and 
tenderness of' voice and feeling. Herr Henschel 
confirmed the first fine impression of his charac- 
eristic, intellectual, subtle and dramatic rendering 
of the role of Mephistopheles. If his voice, in the 
lower range, is not altogether pleasing, nor of great 
weight and power, that is made up for by the fine 
imaginative conception, and the certainty of power 
with which he enters into the spirit of the part, and 
by his admirably artistic style and execution. He 
was enthusiastically encored after the Serenade. 
The tenor part of Faust was this time entrusted to 
Mr. Julius Jordan, to whom we listened with great 
satisfaction throughout. He is a very intelligent 
and conscientious singer ; evidently understands him- 
self, his means and his task perfectly ; and, if his 
voice is not remarkable for beauty or for power, it 
is nevertheless a good voice, always kept well in 
hand, and equal to the work. He sustained himself 
with no flaw or flagging to the end, and he is plainly 
one of those r^^liable and useful tenors whom it. 
would be a gain for us to have here. Mr. Hay was 
again successful in the one thankless little song of 
Brander (the "Rat"). The orchestra was remark- 
ably complete and satisfactory, from violins, oboes 
and bassoons, to cymbals, gong, and all the kitchen 
utensils. The Racockzky March created a furore. 
Now, appropos of the Dajnhation, we are tempted 
to insert just here, for better or for worse, and open 
to approval or protest from any one, th'e following 
letter which we have received: 

Mk. Editok: The recent production and favorable 
reception in this city of a certain work of Hector Ber- 
lioz, in which that writer, by means of a hotel gong 
and other unmusical instruments, seems to attem])t to 
sever music from its traditional sphere of the emotions 
and couple it with that of the ner>'es, leads one to 
inquire in what direction modem musical taste is 
dnfting. Of coarse, we look to the programmes of 
our miscellaneous concerts fqr the true index of feel- 
ing on this subject. Of these programmes I have be- 
fore me that oi the Second Symphony Concert of the 
Harvard Musical Association ; .one as severe in its 
character as any we see. It consists of five numbers : 
the first by Havdn, the next three by Liszt, Saint-Snens, 
and Chopm; the last going back far enough to include 
the name of Weber. Turning to the iirogrammes of 
our piano recitals, we find them headea by something 
of Mendelssohn's (possibly a Beethoven sonata) and 
the rest all Rubinstein, Liszt, Gade, etc., etc. llie 
same plan holds true especially in our Chamber con- 
certs; Uie sentiment of all seeming to be to apologize, 
by means of something from an eij^hteenth ceniury 
composer, for a strine of things by composers, most of 
whom are living. Not that the new tnings are not, 
some of them, very good indeed; but in the rage for 
the latest novelty, some very indifferent things creep 
in. 

I asked, the other day, one of our most prominent 
pianists and musicians, why Haydn and Alozait are 
never plaved in public by our pianists; to which he 
replied, that they only wrote for a piiino with five 
octaves; as if anything written in that compass was 
not worthy to be played ; or, as if the octave at each 
extremitv'of the keyboard of our modern pianoforte 
contained the essential notes of a good composition 
for that instrument. Might we not as well discard 
Bach's organ music because his instrument mi«^ht not 
have had a vox-humana stop, or a crescendo pedal ? 

I am not one of those who would continually advo- 
cate *' the old masters/' to the ezclusionot our mod- 
ern composers, from whose pens we certainly have an 
immense amount of remarkiable, and a constiderable 
amount of eood music: still there are a great many 
old thinzB that would oe new to a Boston audience ; 
and until these are exhausted, wh}' act as if the new- 
est in point of years must be the youngest in all 
respects? 

with an apology for the hasty way in which these 
thoughts are expressed, but with no apolo/i^y (if you 
please) for the thoughts themselves, I remain, 

Very Truly, Geo. C. Coli.ix9. 

Medfobd, Mass., Nov. 30. 

EuTBBPE, Dec. 1. The first Cluimber Concert 

of the third season was given in the new Meionaon 
(Tremont Temple), before a large, appreciative and 
sociable looking audience ; for the seats were disposed 
in hollow sqnaje, the platform in the middle. It all 
looked genial and cosey; and the hall proved very 
good for sound, although there was some sense of 
roughness in strong violin passages, which may have 
been partly owing to the too frank and uui^itariug 
acoustics of walls still fresh and crude. The pro- 
gramme consisted of two string quartets : the fine one 
in E-flat, (No. 1) by Gherubini, which was played hist 
seasoD, with its larghetto and most interesting varia- 



tions ; and the one in E-minor (Op. 44, No. 2), by 
Mendelssohn, composed in 1837, which has all the 
Mendelssohnian elements, especially the fairy vein, and 
to the beauties of which the modem ean of the ma- 
jority appeared more keenly sensitive than to the work 
of Gherubini. The interpreters were the Listemanu 
Quartet, consisting of Bemhaid and Fritz Listemann, 
John Mullaly and Alexander Heindl, — all superior 
artists. — Next time (January 5) the Beethoven Clnb 
will take its turn, when an original quartet (No. 2) by 
Mr. Chadwick will get its first hearing here, to be 
followed by the PosthnmouB Quartet in D-minor, by 
Schubert. 

The Tribute to Wulf Fkibs, suggested and ar- 
ranged by a number of the most musical ladies of 
Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, etc., in whose families 
this favorite artist had been for yean esteemed and 
loved as teacher and companion in the parlor piaetlce 
of classical trio and sonata music, took the form of a 
beautiful Clhamber Concert at Horticnltnral Hall, on 
Saturday evening, Dec. 4. The audience was very 
large and sympathetic, the programme very rich and 
choice, and the interpretation excellent throughout, for 
all the artists took part with the heartiest good will. 
It was a genial, cheerful, beautiful and sweet occasion, 
— yet with one shadow cast upon it by the absence 
and the mortal illness of one of the Udiee who was 
first inspired with the idea of such a tribute, and 
whose whole heart was in the work, — a bright spirit, 
full of musical enthusiasm, and one of the finest ama* 
teur pianists in our city, whose death occurred, sad 
loss to music and to hosts of friends, upon the verj- 
day of that other "testimonial,"— a shadow felt, too, 
even there ! —We can only pUce the programme here 
on record ; the Quartet and Quintet were performed by 
the Beethoven Club, (Messrs. AJlen, Dannrentber, 
Heindl, and Wulf Fries):— 

Quartet, No. 1, in E-flat, Chembini 

Song— "The Message,*' Blumenthal 

Mr. W. J. Winch. 

Variations for two Pianos (Op. 36) on theBCinaet 

from the Beethoven Sonata, Op. 81, No. 8, St. SaSns 
Mr. Lang and Mr. Foote. 

Songs, with Violin Obligato, Op. 10, .... Oscar Weil 
( a, Aatumn, 

( 6. Spring. 

Mrs. Allen. 

Concerto for 'Cello, Op. 7. Svendsea 

Allegro — Andante — Finale, 
Mr. Wnlf Fries. 

Duet— "Oh Flower of the Verdant Lea,'* from . 

the CantaU of Bebeeea, Bamby* 

Mrs. Allen and Mr. Wineh. 

Quintet, for Piano and Strings, Op. 44, . . . Schnmann 

Here we must pause, leaving two Harvard Sym- 
phony concerts, two of the Philharmonic, one of the 
Cecilia, etc., for future notice. Fortunately, Christmas 
comes, and there will be a week or two of clear field 
not much competed for by concert^givers, so that we 
can turn our thoughts to things past, undisturbed by 
the rush of new things passing. 

One event, however, will be the annual per- 
formance of The Messiah, by the Handel and Haydn 
Society, on Sunday evening, Dec. 26. The solos will 
be svmg by Mrs. H. M. Knowles, soprano ; Miss Dras- 
dil, contralto ; Mr. W. C. Tower, tenor; and Mr. George 
Henschel, baritone. 



MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

Baltimore, Nov. 29. The conceit season at the 
Peabody Conser^-atory has opened with the* so-called 
students' concerts, tliat is, concerts of chamber music 
given every Saturday evening as part of the course of 
instruction for students of the conservatory. Thus far 
four of these concerts have taken place, and the pro- 
grammes liave included the following works: 

String-Quartet, D-maJor, No. 21, Mosart 

Serenade, D-niaJor, work 8, for violin, viola 

and'oello, Beethoven 

Piano Trio, G-minor, No. 2, work 66, . . Mendelssohn 
String-Quartet, E-roinor, work 47, No. 1, . . Kubinstein 
Piano-Quartet, £-flat, work 47, . . . . R. Schumann 

String-Quartet, A-minor, work 1, Svendsen 

Suite, A-minor, work 66, for violin and piano, 

J. P. E. Hartnuum 

Also, some songs by Schubert, Liszt and Wagner. 
The string-quartet is composed, as last year, of Messrs. 
Allen, Fincke, Scbaefer, and JungnickeL 

The number of symphony concert! hai not yet been 



208 



D WIGHT'S JOURNAL OF MUSIC. 



[Vol. XL. — No. 1035. 



definitely decided on ; bat the prospects Are rery brifpht 
for At leart five-conceits during the winter. Mr. Asger 
HAmerik, the director, is engAged on the finale of his 
first 83rmphonyi which, however, will prohably not be 
performed here until next season. «. 

In the way of vocaI instraction, there is quite a 
novelty to chronicle in the opening lAst month, by Prof. 
Fritz Fincke, of the Peabody Conservatory, of a pri- 
vate school for the training of young female voices, 
from the ages of 7 to 10 years, principally for the pnr^ 
pose of obtaining good material for future choruses. 
The general plan for instruction is proposed to be as 
follows: 

1. Careful directions as to the correct use of the voice, 
and especially the artistic treatment of the much abused 
head-voice; boIo and chorus singing. 

2. JSzercises for the ear, and in connection therewith 
lessons In intervals and chords, as also systematic practice 
in time-keeping. 

3. instruction In the history of music in order to en- 
courage thought on musical topics. Biographical sketches 
of the most Important authorities, and explanations of 
the different musical styles, by means of practical illus- 
trations. 

The idea is a novel one for Baltimore, and the bene- 
ficial influences which such an undertaking, if con- 
tinued in the proper spirit, tnust in time exert, are 
certainly sufficient to commend it to all friends of 
vocal culture in general, and of good chorus music in 
particular. Moreover, it is always a matter of satis- 
fkction to find an earnest laborer in the fields of art, 
with objects above and beyond the expectation of Im- 
mediate retoms for his efforts, sowing where others 
besides himself may reap. From the very outset, I 
am happy to say, the school has met with every en- 
couragement. 

Of the choral works practised in our city at present, 
the only ones deserving special attention are Jiidos 
MaccahuMS and Elijah, 



Chicago, Dec. 10. Our musical season may now 
be announ(M>d as fairly begun, for we have had two 
important concerts by the Apollo Club, a number of 
representations of English Opera by the Strakosch and 
Hess Company, and no end of small entertainments. 
On Monday evening the Apollo Club gave HandeFs 
AcU and Oalatea, and the Spring and Summer of 
Haydn's Seasons. The soloe were given by Miss Fan- 
nie Kelk>gg, Mr. M. W. Whitney, Mr. Fritch, and Dr. 
C. T. Barnes. I only heard Acts aful Oalatea, as I 
was called to the opera during the r^teainder of the 
evening. The work may only be said to have been 
fairly performed,' for there were many drawbacks. 
Tuesday the €)lnb gave another concert, bringing out 
Rubinstein's "Tower of Babel," for the first time in 
this country, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Fritch, and Mr. Mo- 
Wade taking the solo parts. The orchestra numbered 
forty men, the chorus one hundred and fifty, and there 
was the added Kid of the organ. Any musician, who 
has studied the full score, vf onld at once be forced to 
admit that, for a complete performance, the force we 
had engaged was inadequate. A double, and even 
treble chorus is required, while the orehestrnl demands 
are very great, and the solo numbers must be in very 
safe hands to enable the work to be fairly heard. It 
wiU be remembered that Mr. Thomas intended to pro- 
duce this work at the hist Festival at Cincinnati, but 
for some reason it was not given. I followed the work 
very earef ully, score In hand, and endeavored to see its 
full possibilities. When It is entrusted to a larger 
number of singers, and a more complete orebestra, I 
have no donbt that the work would impress one with a 
feeling of grandeur. The subject is hardly one to ex- 
cite great interest, for modern research has rather 
unsettled many of the old stories, that were once held 
au sacred. Yet the dramatic element is not wanting, 
and the ipflueuce of the mysterious is supposedly pres- 
ent ; and thus the composer has outlet for his musical 
fancy in at least two directions. The influence of 
modem composition, or the new R^hool, is of conrse 
seen throughout the work. Every form of develop- 
ment tends to the gigantic in expression, and the full 
resources of vocal and instrumental aid are called Into 
use. 

In r^^gard to the music, one must frankly admit that 
it is dch in coloring, even if novelty has an influence 
in it also. The solos for the tenor require a very pow- 
erful and high voice. Mr. Fritch was not able to sing 
them as written. In both his solos, where the high B- 
flat and the B-natural occur, he was obliged to alter his 
score. Yet it is better not to attempt and fail, even if 
the mnsic is made to suffer by the innovation. Signor 
Pampanini is doubtless the only tenor that conld ade- 
quately ling theM solot. The orchestral part of the 



work is rich in contrasts, and the instrumentation of 
the scene in which the destruction of the Tower is 
represented is very expressive. A storm is pictured, 
but not of the commonplace order of rain and wind, 
with thunder and lightning, but rather as if some 
dread mystic power was making the elements do Its 
will. There is a strangeness about it that is electrify- 
ing, AS well as novel. The double chorus, expressive 
of the wonder that God had done, in protecting Abra- 
ham from the flames of the furnace, is a very dramatic 
number, and it will always create interest when well 
sung. The part of Nimrod was entrusted to Mr. Whit- 
ney. There was hardly passion enough in his singing 
to make the role so dramatic as it should be made, 
although his noble voice was used with dignity, and 
his style of delivery was very good. The last number, 
or climax of the work, is a triple chorus, divided as 
follows: — a chorus of angels, a chonis of people, and 
a chorus of demons. There is a unity of idea, even 
if the elements of evil and of good are brought into 
action at the same time; for wUIe the people and the 
angels are praising the Lord, the demons are proclaim- 
ing the power of Satan, and the thought of praise is 
common to both parts of the chorus. To give this 
number with tliat intensity that rightfully belongs to 
it, at least six hundred voices would seem necessary. 
The Apollo Club only attempted two of the choruses, 
for that portion belonging to the "demons" was left 
out. While we may not ^call the performance a very 
fine one, we may at least be thankful to the Club for 
giving us the opportunity to become somewhat ac- 
quainted with the work, and I am sure they deserve 
the praise of every musician for the honesty of their 
endeavor. 

Monday evening, Mme. Marie Roze made her first 
appearance in English opera, as Carmen. She gave a 
vei^ lady-like representation of the r61e, but was hard- 
ly the brilliant and bewitching Carmen that the opera 
calls for. She made her rdle as interesting as she 
could, however, for doubtless she has very little sym- 
pathy with it. Her support was very commonplace, 
and not worthy of her. She has also appeared as 
A'ida during the week. Next week we shall have the 
Elifah, by the Beethoven Society, with Herr Henschel. 

C. H. B. 



Nkw Yokk, Dec. 13. On Thursday evening, Dec. 
2, the New York Philharmonic Club gave its second 
concert at Chickering's, before a very intelligent and 
appreciative atidience. The salient features of the 
programme were these: 

String Quartet, F, Op. 09, Beethoven. 

P. F. Quartet, B-flat, Saint-Sa«ns. 

(Mr. Blchard Hoffman.) 

The performance was a good one, particularly in the 
work of Saint-Saens, which was given with a precision 
and an apUmib most pleasurable. Owing to a new dis- 
poeition of the instruments upon the stage, the effect 
was greatly enhanced. Heretofore the piano has been 
placed at the extreme right, with the strings occupying 
the centre of the platform ; this is manifestly incon- 
venient, and even awkward for the pianist, who is 
really the leader, and has been compelled to throw his 
head over his shoulder in order to give the cue in 
making an '* attack " ; by the new plan every one can 
see every one else, and unity of action becomes not 
only possible, but almost certain. Mr. Hoffman is a 
most admirable artist — cela va sans dtre— and his 
excellence and finish were never more dearly demon- 
strated than upon this occasion; he never overdid any- 
thing, and never attempts to force the piano into a 
position which it was not intended to occupy. He 
plays like the artist and the gentleman that he is; and 
that is certainly saying a great deal in these degener- 
ate days of turbulence and boisterousness, which seem 
to be characteristic of modem pianism. 

There were some vocal selections with regard to 
which a charitable critic would not wish to say any- 
thing; a club of this kind is sometimes "taken in," 
and as the infliction will never be repeated, let us sup- 
pose that the blot never existed. Mr. Mills will play 
at the next soire^, and at the fifth; Mr. Hoffman will 
appear at the fourth and sixth. An earnest lover of 
good mnsic would be glad to see larger audiences. 

It has k>ng been the opinion of shrewd observers that 
Chamber Mnsic will not "pay'' in New York. Messrs. 
Arnold, Werner, and their associates, hold a contrary 
opinion; they are determined to make their concerts 
successful, both artistically and pecuniarily, and have 
resolved to *' fight it ont on this line if it takes " sev- 
eral winters. All success to them and their laudable 
efforts 1 

On Saturday evening, Dec. 4, the Symphony Society 
gave its seoond conceit with Beriioc's Damnation, 



The solos were taken by Mme. Valleria and Messrs. 
Henschel, Harvey and Bourne. At the rixk of being 
considered a fossil or an antediluvian, I must say that 
the text — as furnished by the printed edition in use — 
is a trifle too broad for a refined audience; it would 
seem as if some way might have been contrived to 
avoid certain obnoxious phrases and expressions which 
displeased many who attended the conceit 

Too much commendation could hardly be accorded 
to Dr. Damrosch, for his faithful aud effective drilling 
of the orchestra and chonis ; their work wa.«» well 
done. As for the soloists, Mme. Valleriu accjuitted 
herself well ; Mr. Henschel did less with his ptirtahau 
had been expected and hoped ; Mr. Bourne' e» \yan was 
too small to afford much chance for display, while Mr. 
Harvey was a trifle too stiff and cold — except in two 
or three instances — to impress the audience very 
favorably. 

The Damnation will be given at the Academy of 
Music to-morrow (Tuesday) evening, with Mr. Kem- 
merts as Mephistopheles. 

On Tuesday evening, Dec. 7, the season at the Mutru- 
politan Hall came to a close, with Joseffy as a sitecinl 
attraction. It is stated tliat the "Winter season " will 
open in January with Thomas's orchestra ; but it may 
be safely predicted that the project is a problematical 
one ; thus far the Hall has not been quite so succcj^Hful 
as conld be wished, and — as I stated In a former let- 
ter—Mr. Thomas did not give the "boom" to the 
enterprise that had been evidently desired. At all 
events, the Spring season will probably open with Mr. 
Arondsen as conductor, and he will undoubtedly fur- 
nish a class of music that will please the hirge number 
of people who do not care for chissical music, but who 
merely wish to be amused; 

On the same Tuesday evening, Mr. Henschel gave 
the first of his series of vocal recitals at Steinway Hall. 
Mr. Henschel was at his best, and prm-ed himself the 
reliable artist that we know him to be. Miss Bailey, 
who assisted him, has a very sweet, flexible voice of 
sympathetic quality, and while she can scarcely be 
termed a great singer, is yet possessed of a refined 
style and musical intelligence that are most satisfac- 
tory and pleasing. Mr. Henschel' s second recital will 
occur on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 1881. 

Mme. Constance Howard, a pianiste of ability, and 
persevering in her aim, has given two piano recitals re- 
cently, aud merits commendation, more, possibly, for 
her promise than for her present excellence ; she - is 
to passess the true artistic instinct, and her play in, ns 
many pleasant qualities. 

On Wednesday evening, Dec. 8, the Frankos — a 
musical family — gave a pleasant concert at Steinway 
Hall ; there were vocal solos, and solos for the piano, 
and for the violin ; many of these were rendered in- 
telligently and acceptably, and the young artists are to 
be congratulated upon their success. 

On Saturday evening, Dec. 11, the Philharmonic 
Society gave its second concert, with this programme: 

Overture, "Coriolanus," Beethoven 

Symphony, N. 8 (unfinished) Schubert 

Siegfried (Final Scene, Act 1) Wsgner 

"The Welding of the Sword." 

Siegfried, Mr. W.C. Tower. 

Mime, Mr. Max Truemann. 

A Faust Symphony, • • Lisst 

Tenor Solo and Concluding Chorus. 

(Lisderkrans, Beethoven, Maennerohor.) 

Your Boston readers are doubtless familiar with 
Schubert's lovely fragmentary symphony, which is a 
very great favorite with New York audiences ; it was 
well played — in the main — but exception must be 
taken to the scrupulous smothering of the cx>ntia- 
bassos, which resulted in the almost entire inaudi- 
bility of the low pizzicato notes, upon which the effect 
of the second movement so greatly depends. The wind 
instruments, also, were not entirely in accord with the 
strings : it isn't pleasant to say these things, but some- 
body must tell the truth. 

In the Siegfried selection, Mr. Thomas and the or- 
chestra were emphatically at their best. The perform- 
ance was admirable, and a very exhausting thing it 
must be for every one concerned. There is an im- 
pressive dignity, a grandeur about the grand sweep 
of the composition that holds one spell-bound until its 
conclusion; there is no ''padding," nor is there a 
single ineffective note ; every tiling haa a purpose, nud 
above all, Uiere was no anti-climax, l^is number 
was the success of the evening. 

Of Liszt's wild, incoherent symphony there is little 
to say. The prodigality of gienuiue orchestral effects 
is only equalled by the paucity of ideas and the trivial- 
ity of the "Faust theme." It was well phiyedrbut 
is a most ungrateful thing to hear, except as a matter 
of musical geometry. 




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