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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
why we should {reduce life to its lowest
terms.
What are the great realities—machinery,
horses, carpets, diamonds, mirrors, or are
they affections, friendships, generous im-
pulses, inspiring thoughts? Nature is the
repository of beauty, yet the poet, the mu-
sician, the artist, the lover of the beautiful,
must be there to penetrate its secret and
interpret it to his duller fellow mortals.
To those who are dull in their appreciation
of music, I say, hear good music as often
as you can. Some of its beauties will ap-
peal to your perception after a patient trial.
Many people appreciate music who have no
understanding of it theoretically. The
study of music develops the mental percep-
tion of rhythm and melody. Without
rhythm we can have no poetry. The tun-
ing of the ear and voice by the practice of
singing gives a finer perception of language
and a greater control of the voice in speech.
The force behind all expression, either in
speech or song, is the emotions. The study
of literature to the average man is not ab-
solutely essential for the earning of a liv-
ing. For the same reason that literature
is studied, music should be studied. Great
music is the product of great minds—the
ideas of great minds expressed in m.isic;
and for that reason many littler minds do
not appreciate it. The cause of music is
not on trial in the civilized world. The
great centers of the world have for genera-
tions been aware of its value and have re-
garded great composers as great public
benefactors. Music is most practical w l.tn
it is most ideal. Strange as the paradox
may seem, it is true; for when ideal it con-
tributes most to the benefit of the com-
munity, that is, to the advancement of cul-
ture and refinement among the people.
The church in all ages has appreciated
music as one of the greatest factors in re-
ligious progress and cherished and valued it
for its exalting and spiritualizing power.
A. S. Thompson,
o
Miss Lillian Blauvelt will sing the " For-
est Bird " music in "Siegfried" at Bay-
reuth this summer.
Haendel's "Messiah" will be performed
at Carnegie Hall on Monday evening,
May 3, by Frank Damrosch with his chorus
of the People's Choral Union, one thou-
sand voices strong, assisted by eminent
soloists, and an orchestra of fifty pieces
from the New York Symphony Society.
Sig. Emilio Pizzi, the composer of
"William Ratcliff " and " Gabriella," who
resided here for a year or more in 1892
and 1893, has been appointed director of
the Conservatory of Bergamo, Italy.
Miss Marie Louise Clary, the popular
contralto, appeared at a recital at St.
Johns, N. B., on April 13, and her success
was so pronounced that she was engaged
for a matinee on the day following. On April
15 Miss Clary sang in the "Messiah" with
the Handel and Hayden Society, Montreal.
E. C. Towne, the well-known tenor, is
booked for some of the most important
engagements for this season and next.
ADELE AUS DER OHE.
In the piano field this season the women
have evidently " taken the palm." Mme.
Carreno's tour has been a regular ovation
almost equaling Paderewski's reception
during his appearance here some time
since. Another artist whose magnificent
playing has compelled the most enthusias-
tic compliments from the critics is Miss
Aus der Ohe. She can not only be regarded
as one of our very great pianists but she
also takes high rank as a composer of some
very meritorious vocal and instrumental
numbers.
An expert whose opinion is impartial and
authoritative writes as follows of Miss Aus
der Ohe: She excels in a certain nobility
of style, a breadth of phrasing and a free-
dom of manipulation of the keyboard,
which, united with good judgment in re-
gard to all musical meanings, and a frank
sincerity, which is the outcome of her na-
ture, make a combination unsurpassed in
value and strength. She is one of the
ADELE AUS DER OHE.
world's few absolutely great artists, those
who never disappoint expectation, and
who accomplish with splendid results every
task which they undertake, being, there-
fore, always welcome and benign and in-
vigorating.
©
The now world-famous Beyreuth Festi-
val will be inaugurated on July 19 next
with "Parsifal." The program herewith
will follow: July 21, "Das Rheingold;"
July 22, "Die Walkiire; " July 23, "Sieg-
fried;" July 24, "Gotterdammerung; "
July 27, 28, 29, "Parsifal;" August 2,
"Das Rheingold" ; August 4, "Siegfried; "
August 5, "Gotterdammerung; " August 8,
9, 11, "Parsifal; " August 14, "Das Rhein-
gold; " August 15, "Die Walkiire; " August
16, "Siegfried; " August 17, "Gotterdam-
merung;" August 19, "Parsifal."
0
A new oratorio, dealing with the mysteri-
ous subject of the death of Moses, will be
produced at the Queen's Hall, London, on
June 9. It is the work of the precentor
of the Great Jewish Synagogue, the Rev.
Marcus Hast. The solo parts will be
assumed by Mme. Duma, Annie Marriott,
Iver McKay and Frangcon Davies. Church-
ill vSibley will be the conductor.
" FORMLESS MUSIC."
Speaking on the "Disestablishment of
Form in Music " in Sheffield, Eng., recently
Dr. Coward said that we seem to be revert-
ing to a period of formless music from
which we shall again have to emerge. Trac-
ing the source and current of this new
movement, he spoke of the development of
the First Movement, or Sonata Form, and
said from the eagerness for correctness of
form sprang those miles of classical works
which, having nothing but their form to
recommend them, became a weariness of
the flesh to the ordinary listener. Bee-
thoven was the first great composer who re-
sented the rigid conventions of form, and
who, by giving rein to his splendid imagina-
tion, so extended the scope of the Sonata
and Rondo forms as to make it difficult to
trace the original models. Some men de-
lighted in neatness of design,some in ardent
expression, some in ingenuity, and some in
display. All types found their exponents.
Schubert left many beautiful little move-
ments in very characteristic vein. Field
made an important mark with his noc-
turnes, and Mendelssohn came very promi-
nently before the world in a similar line
with, his "Lieder." Of a conspicuously
different type were the wild theories of a
certain group of enthusiasts, whose eager-
ness to solve artistic problems was in excess
of their hold upon the possibilities and
resources of art. They sought to develop
a new line of art by the use of clearly
marked musical figures, which were to be
presented in an endless variety of guises
in accordance with some supposed pro-
gram. It was this program which was
the chief source of disregard of form. It
so happened that the root theory of
working up figures and bits of tune into
program movements adapted itself well
to the requirements of display. By the
side of this school of virtuoso, and in touch
w T ith it, the spirit of Chopin had laid a spell
on musical people all the world over, and
had colored a singularly wide range of
musical activity in all countries. With
most of the player-composers who culti-
vated virtuoso effects the brilliant passages
were purely mechanical, and had little re-
lation to the musical matter in hand.
Chopin's largest works in original forms
were the Ballads, and they were as unlike
sonatas as any. The whole collection of
his works was an illustration of the wide
spread of possible variety which the new
departure in the direction of expression,
after the formal age, made inevitable.
Utterly different as was the nature of
Schumann, his work in general tended in .
the same direction, and, as it were, filled
up the other half of the circle which Chopin
left comparatively vacant. He saw from
the first that something different from
sonatas was wanted. Liszt was another
of the romantic school, whose general bias
was towards the breaking down of the
rigid lines of form. Dr. Coward went on
to point out how the disestablishment
movement has affected vocal music, and
said great as had been the influence of
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