Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
222
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
March 5th, 1882.
America. Time—Toward the end of the seven- the organ, and the choir was facing the audience,
teenth century. Now let us give an account of while at the same time the back of each member
of the choir was turned to the back of this young
what follows.
"Richard, Count of Warwick and Governor of organist.
Boston, America, falls in love with Amelia, the wife While the introductory hymn was sung the
of Reinharl, his secretary and intimate friend." organ had an occasional pause while the choir
This is part first. It contains some remarkable sang.
statements. There is no such thing as a Count During this pause the clever young organist
known in English titles; Reinhart is not an En- actually directed with his two arms an occasional
measure or two, his back being at the same time
glish name.
But probably Governor Richard had a foreign turned to the back of each member of the choir, as
already stated.
secretary. That accounts for it.
The plot proceeds: "Amelia conceives a similar No member of the choir could see these evolu-
passion for him; but in order to preserve her tions, of course, and the father of the young man,
honor and virtue goes to consult Ulrica, a black a celebrated musician of this city, should tell his
astrologer, in order to know from her the means offspring that he cannot direct a choir in that
of subduing her passion. Ulrica tells her that she peculiar and original position.
knows a certain herb, growing in a certain place The closing number was directed by the youn£
near Boston, the juice of which causes people to man, while another gentleman displayed his ignor-
forget the object ot their love."
ance of organ manuals and pedals.
This herb, we are convinced, after a thorough The young man who is attempting to imitate
investigation of the subject, is nothing more nor the Beethoven head by indulging in a coiffure
of extraordinary rarity, directed the choir in the
less than the world-renowned Boston bean
One dose of these beans will, undoubtedly, closing number, and his gesticulations and mus-
"cause people to forget the object of their love." cular contortions were painful to spectators.
This Boston bean has been the subject of many These exhibitions of youthful verdancy react
a tale of woe and distress, but we must acknowl- upon the unhealthy object. The young man
edge that we never knew it to be used as the sub- might continue in his career unless some attention
ject of such a blood-thirsty and hair-splitting was called to him.
tragedy as the "Ballo in Maschera!"
VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL.
The fertile brain of the average Italian librettist !
never struck a more fruitful subject than the Bos- I ''HERE is a great difference between the qual-
ton bean, especially for deep-laid plots and tragi- _1_ ity of music that is played and that which is
sung in concert halls.
cal purposes.
A glance at the programmes shows us that in-
strumental soloists select the works of the masters,
RESENTING AN INSULT TO HIS WIFE.
HE musical nobility of Boston is this winter while vocal soloists choose music written by com-
worshipping George Henschel and his sym- posers of a lower grade.
phony orchestra, which gave its eighteenth Take, for instance, a concert given in Steinway
concert in Music Hall February 25. George F. Hall a few days ago.
Hall, a commission merchant, has owned three The vocal numbers were composed by Gomez,
seats on the floor, near the stage, which have been Tosti, and Gordigiani. The instrumental numbers
were composed by Beethoven, Rubinstein, Schu-
occupied by lady members of his family.
The two adjoining seats have been occupied by mann, Schubert, Chopin, and Ernst.
Charles Eustis Hubbard, a lawyer, and his wife. What a contrast!
Hubbard has always sat next to Mrs. Hall, and the Concerts can be mentioned where such com-
lady claims that his conduct has been insulting. posers as Pinsoti, Sullivan and Mattei represented
Charity led her to think for a number of evenings the vocal numbers, while Beethoven, Mozart,
that Hubbard's conduct was the result of nervous- Schumann, and Mendelssohn were rendered by the
ness, but last week she became convinced other- instrumentalists.
wise, and informed her husband, who is more mus- This is a serious matter for vocalists to notice,
cular than the man of law.
especially female vocalists.
Mr. Hall arranged with his wife that he would They either sing an aria from an opera, with all
wait in the lobby of Music Hall Saturday evening its recitatives and with piano accompaniment, or
while the concert was in progress, and that if the they select songs written by obscure composers or
such as we mention above.
insult was repeated she should join him.
Accordingly, in the middle of Saturday even- These are very good, as far as they go, but can-
ing's performance, Mrs. Hall left her seat and passed not compare as song writers with Schubert, Schu-
out of the hall. A moment later an usher in- mann, Robert Franz, Rubinstein, and Gounod.
formed Mr. Hubbard that a gentleman wished to These are the names of the song writers that we
see him in the lobby. With his hat under his would wish to see on the concert programmes.
arm, arrayed in full evening dress, the unsuspect- Ballad singers have a fine field among the Eng-
ing lawyer ambled to the nearest door.
lish ballad composers, but even this class of
No sooner had his eyeglasses passed the portal songs is neglected. They are much to be pre-
than a stalwart fist shattered them, and started ferred to the indifferent works of composers who
the blood from his nose, which bespattered his are only intent upon showing off the pyrotech-
shirt front, and carried away all of his teeth. nical abilities of a singer, at the loss of artistic
There is no telling what would have followed had production.
not all the ushers in the hall separated the angry
LISZT'S "CHOPIN."
husband and his victim. The police detail also
R. JOSEPH BENNETT, an essayist of ability,
took a hand and stilled the noise. Mr. Hubbard
is reviewing the lives of the composers.
persistently refused to make a complaint, and no
In his review of the life of Chopin, he refers to
arrest was made.
Mr. Hall used every effort to induce a com- Franz Liszt's work, known as the "Life of Chopin,"
plaint, saying that he should be supremely happy and states, among other things, that "we will
to appear in court and ventilate Hubbard's con- find reason to doubt the accuracy of Liszt's
duct. He begged the officers to arrest him any- sketch."
how, but as there was no complaint, they were In the course of his review, be actually proves
forced to refuse. Hubbard covering the wound many inaccuracies, both in the description of
on his face with his handkerchief, summoned his characteristics and in conclusions which Liszt
wife from her seat, and telling her that "it was reaches.
nothing," they got into their carriage and were Mr. Bennett makes the following assertion, which
driven to their home as quickly and quietly as contains a great deal of truth: "The biographer,
if so we may call him, regarded his subject
possible.
a false medium, which distorted its out-
All the parties move in the highest circles through
and live in the most aristocratic part of the Back line and changed its color."
The merits Liszt possesses as a pianist and
Bay.— N. Y. Sun.
composer are generally acceded to him with
pleasure, but as a literateur he seems to be a
30 FRESH.
failure.
E lectures of Dr. Felix Adler on Sunday Outside of his disciples and their clientele, the
X mornings, at Checkering Hall, are listened to art-world does not give him any defined position
by an assemblage of intellectual auditors.
as a literary character.
It is a pity that the music which is played and He undoubtedly is a man of splendid acquire-
sung at the opening and closing exercises of the ments, but as to his practical literary work, the
service is poor as to selection and still poorer as words of Mr. Bennett apply with force and con-
to production.
viction.
The young man who seems to have musical
THE BOSTON BEAN IN OPERA.
matters in charge is characterized by a super- Miss Sophia Priestly, assisted by Mrs. Belle
TTERDI'S "Un Ballo in Maschera" has a plot abundance of hair, and by extensive gyrations of Cole, soprano; Mme. Octavie Gomien, contralto;
y which excels, in fertility of invention, any- his arms, which he operates in directing the small Mr. L. D. Goldsberg, baritone, and Mr. Gilmore's
choir.
thing ever produced in that particular line.
band were to have given a concert at Chickering
The action is supposed to take place in Boston,
On Sunday, February 5, this young man played Hall on Friday evening last.
REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.
W
E have lately heard much about a promising
young composer who resides in Mann-
heim, Germany. His name is Robert Kahn, and
his teacher, Prof. Lachner, has the highest expec-
tations regarding his future as a composer.
We have before us from the press of the Mann-
heim publisher, Th. Sohler, one composition for
the piano, entitled "Variations," which, although
abounding in youthful ideas, gives evidence of
originality, in addition to the successful applica-
tion of old rules to new thoughts.
There is no doubt that youag Kahn is a consci-
entious student, and he is evidently enthusiastic
in his pursuit. The piano composition is written
in piano style; that is to say, it is adapted for
piano playing, and shows that the composer un-
derstands the technical requirements of the in-
strument. This feature is especially noticeable in
No. 4, moderato, and No. 5, allegretto.
If, however, additional and more weighty evi-
dences of talent are required, they can be found in
the "Neun Lieder." Book I contains four songs,
and we can especially refer to the one entitled
"Du" as an excellent example of the German
lied. It is consistent in construction.
Book II contains five songs. Three songs
recommend themselves as meritorious in this
book. They are "Es Zwitschert ein V6glein"(A bird
is chirping), "Dammerstunde" (Twilight hour),
and "Weisst du noch" (Knowest thou still).
We understand that some of these songs will be
sung at an early day at one of the Chamber Music
Concerts in this city, by Mrs. Schell-Gramm, a
vocalist who is gifted with the ability to do justice
to them. That they will be successful, there is no
doubt.
The familiar name of R. Von Minden appears as
publisher of a musical album for violin and piano,
by Gustav Bach.
The album contains eight pieces called "beauti-
ful," in place of a term which should convey a
more definite idea of their musical value. The
pieces are adapted to young violin students, and
notwithstanding some plagiarisms in melody and
occasional absence of originality, the pieces will
benefit young students.
Brentano sends us, among other compositions,
the Second polkette-impromptu by Constantin
Sternbe'rg, dedicated to that excellent pianist and
musician, Mme. Rachau.
As a matter of course, Mr. Sternberg did some
of his best work in this number, and as he is an
excellent composer, the Second polkette-impromptu
is a success. It abounds in graceful sequences
and rich melodies.
Brentano sometimes sends us very indifferent
compositions. He might have kept George B.
Selby's "My Ernestine," song and chorus, words
(words only) by Oliver Lucas. Then a "Fast
Mail Galop," by Otto C. Baake, written for the
piano, was sent for review. We fail to grasp any
analogy between fast, or any kind of mails, and
this commonplace two quarter time piece.
"The Male Voice Choir," by L. O. Emerson, is
at hand from the publishers, Oliver Ditson & Co.,
Boston. This is a collection of original and se-
lected Gospel songs in the usual sized volume.
It is for the male voices alone, as the title indi-
cates, and thus obviates the trouble which men
find in singing from soprano scores, a practice
which should undoubtedly cease. Men in mixed
choruses will often pick out the air of the quartette
when it belongs to the sopranos, and thus drown
the voices of the females.
With the use of this volume they can find a
guide how to distribute the various voices of a
quartette or double quartette, and do justice to
the hymn or song. The volume contains 112
pages, and many of the old hymns will be remem-
bered.
Wm. A. Pond & Co. have published songs by
the well-known composer, Prof. Isaac L. Rice.
Three of these—"Egyptian Serenade," "The Song
of Life," and "Spring Gave Me a Friend"—have
been received with great favor by singers.
Another song has become very popular, being
dedicated to Campanini. It is the "M'ami tu,"
known in English as "Dost thou love me, my
beloved?"
This song is dramatic, and requires pathos and
fervor in order to give it proper interpretation.
Prof. Rice has also composed the graceful
"Wild Flowers" waltzes which are published by
Mr. I. N. Pattison, Union Square. They have had
a large sale.
T
M