Scan 13
Musical Courier 1892-03-09: Vol 24 Iss 629, 1892
223 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
1almost in the classical and romantic periods, advanced with the time and understood modern music thoroughly well, which he showed by making his pupils play all the concertos and pieces of the recent period. His death will be felt as a distinct loss, not only in Paris, but all over the musical world.
3Hoping this will find space in the columns of your paper, I remain, Respectfully yours, JOHANNES MIERSC.
4BOSTON, Mass., 60 Clarendon street.
6The First Philharmonic Concert.
7To the Editor of the Tribune:
8I AM the possessor of the printed reports of the New York Philharmonic Society for its first twenty-five years. I became an associate (professional) member in the year 1845. Associate members had the privilege of attending all the rehearsals and concerts, which in those days were strictly private. Allusion is made in your issue of February 21 to the first concert, which took place on December 7, 1842, at Apollo Hall, which stood nearly opposite Lispenard street, and the concerts were given there a number of years previous to the removal to the concert hall of Niblo's. I take the liberty of transcribing a copy of the program of the first concert:
10FIRST CONCERT. FIRST SEASON. DECEMBER 7, 1842.
12PART I.
13Grand symphony in C minor. Beethoven
14Conducted by U. C. Hill.
15Scene from the opera of "Oberon". Weber
16Mrs. Otto.
17Quintet in D minor. Hummel
18Piano, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass.
19Messrs. Scharfenberg, Hill, Derwort, Boucher and Rosier.
21PART II.
22Overture to "Oberon". Weber
23Conducted by Mr. Etienne.
24Duet from the opera of "Armida". Rossini
25Mrs. Otto and C. E. Horn.
26Scena from the opera of "Fidelio". Beethoven
27Mr. C. E. Horn.
28Aria bravura from the opera of "Belmont and Constantia". Mozart
29Mrs. Otto.
30New overture in D. Kalliwoda
31Conducted by Mr. Timm.
33The orchestra during the vocal music directed by H. C. Timm.
34This, in my judgment, is a good showing for fifty years ago. The society is a "survival of the fittest."
35S. LASAR.—"Tribune."
36BROOKLYN, February 21, 1892.
38Music, Welsh and Basque.—Having two American friends stopping with us here last summer—the Misses S.—we brought a nice Welsh girl from Dolgelly one evening to sing to them the national songs. She (Miss Madge Roberts, a sweet, pretty young lady and excellent singer) went over an immense repertory of Welsh music, and Miss G. S., who is a very scientific musician, made many remarks on the peculiarities of the Welsh scale, &c. Suddenly she exclaimed: "I cannot think what music it is that I know which those Welsh tunes so much resemble. Stay, it is Basque!" And she proceeded to hum three or four typical Basque songs. Miss Roberts and all of us instantly recognized the similarity of these with the Welsh, especially the oldest Welsh, songs which she had been singing.
40Miss S. was very much surprised when I told her that you and Prof. Boyd Dawkins believed in the original identity of the Basque and pre-Celtic Welsh, a theory of which she was quite ignorant, so that her testimony to the similarity of the national music was entirely spontaneous.
42I am not musical and my opinion is of no value, but there does appear to me to be in the old Welsh music, as in a great deal of the Welsh character, a distinctly non-Aryan, sprite-like character, irreducible to the order so dear to the Saxon soul. The music goes on for a few bars with even exaggerated emphasis on time, as in a soldier's march, then suddenly, as if tired of it, bounds off among the bushes, hop, skip and jump, and never comes back.—"The Academy."
44NEW YORK COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
45ALEXANDER LAMBERT, DIRECTOR.
46Mme. FURSCH-MADI, Principal of Vocal Department.
47ALL BRANCHES OF MUSIC TAUGHT.
48Faculty comprises the most eminent instructors.
49NOTICE.—The New York College of Music HAS REMOVED to its new and handsome building
50128 and 130 EAST 58th STREET.
51(Incorporated May 1, 1891.)
52NEW YORK VOCAL INSTITUTE.
53FRANK HERBERT TUBBS, Musical Director.
5497 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
55COMPLETE EDUCATION IN VOCAL MUSIC.
56Singers naturally prefer study where Voice Culture and Singing receive chief attention. All the teachers use the same method. Homes selected for pupils. Circulars sent on request.
57NEW YORK VOCAL INSTITUTE, 97 Fifth Avenue.
59Correspondence.
61Buffalo Music.
62FEBRUARY 29, 1892.
64MR. MISCHKA and his "Liedertafel" people gave us an enjoyable concert; male chorus, mixed chorus, women's chorus and the New York Philharmonic Club, with Papa Weiner and his players, also Miss Marian Weed—"Variety is the spice of life!" The men did their best singing in Abt's "Why murmur the waters," the women showed careful study in Leslie's "Rise again," with solo by Misses Jones, Eckert and Heusler, and the Philharmonic played as of yore.
66This is a sample program of one of our musical clubs, the Philomathaeum:
67Piano trio, "Awakening of Spring"………….Bach-Herbert
68Mrs. Louise Ramsden, Miss Katherine Riesberg, Mr. F. W. Riesberg.
69Solo, "Alpine Rose" (by request)………….Sieber
70Mr. W. E. Kisselburgh, Jr.
71Soli…."Waldesruh"………………………..H. Hofmann
72"Marguerite's Three Bouquets"………….C. Braga
73Miss Clara Philipphaar.
74Violin obligato, Mr. H. Marcus.
75Quartet, "The Flower's Close"…………………Abt
76Messrs. Williamson, Bailey, Kisselburgh and Bartlett.
77Solo, "Doris"……………………………….E. Nevin
78Mrs. Elizabeth Northrup.
79Violin obligato, Mr. Marcus.
80Piano solo, "Troubadours' Songs"………….Nic. Thouret
81Mr. Riesberg.
82Duet, "D'un Cœur Qui t'Aime"…………………Gounod
83Mrs. Northrup, Mrs. M. V. V. Smith.
84Rec. and Aria, "Sicilian Vespers"………….Verdi
85Mr. Kisselburgh.
86Violin solo, "Romance et Bolero"………….Dancia
87Mr. Marcus.
88Sextet, "Lucia di Lammermoor"…………….Donizetti
89Mrs. Northrup, Mrs. Smith, Messrs. Williamson, Pitcher, Kisselburgh and Bartlett.
90An elaborate collation was served later, followed by dancing. Mrs. M. V. V. Smith is a royal entertainer.
92The "Phoenix Club" (Hebrew) was the scene of a brilliant musicale Monday evening; Mrs. Selma Goldzieher and Mrs. Isamar S. Ellison, of New York, were the bright particular stars of the evening. Mrs. Goldzieher's recitations were delightfully varied and highly interesting. She has the true dramatic spark and also sings well. Mrs. Ellison's songs, "Zauberlied," "Schatzel Ade" (Meyer-Helmund), "O mio Fernando" (Donizetti), and her encores were sung with style, verve and expression, and the two ladies in their "comic" act brought down the house.
94Mr. Henry Marcus likewise covered himself with glory, in his playing of violin solos, Bolero (Dancia) and "Spinning Song" (Hollander). I have not seen so many pretty girls in pretty bonnets in many a day.
96The participants were the recipients of applause and flowers galore, and the evening ended in a banquet and terpsichorean festivities. It was an evening of unalloyed pleasure; our Jewish friends can give us pointers on doing such things.
98Misses Clarice Archer, Isabella Gibson, Esther Gleason, Annie Hague, Emma Plechaty, May Thornton, Mares Walker, Estelle Thebaud, Mrs. George Thornton and Mr. Walter Cursons were the players in a students' musicale given in my spacious music studio yesterday.
100Mrs. De Roode Rice held forth on Grieg and Rubinstein in her last lecture recital. She is a worker.
101F. W. RIESBERG.
103Louisville, Ky.
104DEVOTED TO WALTER DAMROSCH.
106"VENI, vidi, vici" is what Mr. Walter Damrosch did six years ago in Louisville, and this is what he has again accomplished. The fashion, the intellect, the professional and amateur musical elements of our city turned out en masse to welcome him, and this audience applauded all and everything the admirable orchestra gave us.
108Here is the first night's program, Thursday evening, February 11, 1892:
110PART I.
111"Les Préludes" (symphonic poem)…………………Liszt
112Allegretto from Symphony No. 7…………………Beethoven
113Andante and finale from violin concerto………….Mendelssohn
114Prelude to Act III, "Meistersinger"………………Wagner
115Scene from "Romeo and Juliet" (dramatic symphony)…..Berlioz
116Serenade, for string orchestra…………………Volkmann
117Violoncello obligato by Anton Hekking.
118Soli….(a) Nocturne…………………………..Chopin
119(b) Spanish dance…………………………..Sarasate
120Adolph Brodsky.
121Military March……………………………….Schubert
123There is an indescribable originality in the conducting of this young director; while other conductors command the orchestra with the baton, Walter Damrosch impels them with his very soul, or rather soulful comprehension of the composer's meaning. The splendor of the crescendo passages from the pianissimo opening of the Beethoven allegretto was marvelously well given, its paths of unrestrained grief seemed throbbing through an involucro of organ-like tone, almost human in expression.
125No one like the Damrosch père et fils has, to my thinking, ever given the Berlioz tonalities with the splendor of coloring they demand. To the art student a remembered Veronese of Venetian home life seemed unrolled in the scenes from "Romeo and Juliet."
127The conductor's thorough apprehension of the descriptive music put us en rapport with the Shakespearian drama, and from sympathetic listening to the strains of the lonely "Romeo" we had only to fling wide the folds of imagination to see before us the splendor of a Paul Veronese interior—porphyry columns, massive draperies of purple and gold; we heard the tread of dancing feet leading on to the banquet hall, where flash of light on jeweled wine cup and golden bowl revealed the revels of the lordly Capulets.
129Brodsky's marvelous interpretation of Mendelssohn was a revelation of violin possibilities. Such playing can only come from an artist above and beyond criticism.
131Hekking also was too far above anything we have heard since Louis Blumenberg visited us that we could only listen in grateful silence, and let the magnificent contralto tones of the violoncello lull our souls to ineffable peace.
133The exquisite pianissimo accompaniment of Mr. Damrosch for the nocturne and Spanish dance was a revelation to many of what an accompaniment should be; only a truly great artist can so effectively efface himself, only genius apprehends the necessity of giving up all for the music's sake. Caryatides of marble and brass are needed to uphold symphonies of orchestral power, but a nocturne asks nothing but shadowy moonlight, the ripple of silvery waters, with perfume of jasmine and rose to waft it onward. All this Walter Damrosch gave the night song of Chopin and the fairy-like revel of Sarasate.
135The program of the second night introduced to us Mrs. Clara Poole.
137PROGRAM.
138Friday Evening, February 12, 1892.
139"Lenore," symphony………………………………………Raff
140(After Burger's ballad "Lenore.")
141Concerto for violoncello, with orchestra…………………Goltermann
142Mr. Anton Hekking.
143"Norwegian Artists' Carnival"………………………..Svendsen
144Gipsy song, from "L'Amico Fritz"……………………..Mascagni
145Clara Poole.
146Variations on the Austrian National Hymn…………………Haydn
147Air……………………………………………..Bach
148Solos for 'cello, "Traumerei"………………………..Schumann
149"Papillon"………………………………………Popper
150Mr. Anton Hekking.
151Polonaise, from Suite No. 3…………………………..Tchaikowsky
152The song from "Amico Fritz" is hardly a concert selection. It certainly showed the control the singer had (although suffering from a cold) over technical difficulties, but one wants the restfulness of melodic cavatina, heroic aria or graceful ballad at symphonic concerts. Leave intricacies of counterpoint motiven to the strings.
154This, by the way, reminds me that words of praise should be given the instrumentation of the orchestra, especially noticeable for the strength and artistic excellence of the strings. A sense of instrumental balance gave assurance that the orchestral effects would be satisfying, and they were.
156In the "Norwegian Artists' Carnival" of Svendsen the contrapuntal work was most artistically managed, interest in its intricacies never once flagged, and when the exquisite joyous finale came one drew a long breath of content equal to nothing but the restful sigh to overwrought nerves one feels when the hoof beats of blue grass thoroughbreds dash under the wire on Derby Day. If you do not believe me come to Louisville for that race of races, the Kentucky Derby, next spring.
157OCTAVIA HENSEL.
158THE FONDA, February 15, 1892.
160Philadelphia Correspondence.
161PHILADELPHIA, February 27, 1892.
162The fortieth anniversary of that vigorous and worthy organization, the Young Maennerchor, was fittingly celebrated last week by a two days' festival, in which participated the Arion Society, of New York; the Orpheus of Buffalo; the Arion, of Brooklyn; the Baltimore Liederkranz, and the various local societies, together with Emil Fischer, Max Friedmann, Mrs. Ritter-Goetze, Constantin Sternberg, Mrs. Suelke and the New York Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Gustav Hinrichs. A miscellaneous program arranged for Monday evening's concert was distinguished by one of the best renditions of Schumann's lovely A minor concerto here in many years. By his work on this occasion Constantin Sternberg demonstrated his right to be numbered in the very first rank of pianists. Orchestral compositions by Arthur Claassen and Frank Van der Stucken, conducted by the composers, proved to be works of great merit, especially Mr. Van der Stucken's.
164The second evening of the festival was devoted to choral numbers by the various societies, and in which the New York Arion Society and the Philadelphia Quartet Club carried off the honors. The "Ride of the Valkyries" received a vigorous reading at the hands of Mr. Hinrichs, but in the orchestral part of "Wotan's Farewell" and the "Fire Charm," from "Die Walküre" (sung by Emil Fischer) the voice of the singer was persistently drowned by an undue prominence given the brasses in the ff. passages.
166The programs in full were as follows:
168MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22.
169Overture, "Egmont"………………………………………Beethoven
170Mass chorus, "Recognition of Land"…………………Grieg
171Basso solo, Emil Fischer.
172Piano concerto (A minor)…………………………..Schumann
173Mr. Constantin Sternberg.
174Cantata, "The Crusaders"…………………………..Gade
175Mrs. Ritter-Goetze, Messrs. Emil Fischer and Max Friedmann, mixed chorus of Young Maennerchor and Orchestra.
176Two orchestra compositions under the direction of their composers.
177Two parts from the opera "The Trumpeter of Saeckingen," "Marguerite" and "Young Werner"…………….Arthur Claassen
178"In Pursuit of Caliban" from "Tempest" music. F. van der Stucken
179"Pagina d'Amore."…………………………………….Rubinstein
180"The Glistening Dew"……………………………….Eugen d'Albert
181"The Finch Spoke to the Thrush"…………………Meyer-Helmund one of two readings
182"Language of the Flowers"………………………..Meyer-Helmund one of two readings
183"Language of the Flowers"………………………….Meyer-Helmund one of two readings
184"Cradle Song"………………………………………Mozart
185Mrs. Ritter-Goetze.
186Mass chorus, "Annie of Tharau"……………………….Silcher one of two readings
187Mass chorus, "Annie of Tharau"………………………..Silcher one of two readings
188Cavatina from "La Juive"…………………………….Halévy
189Mr. Emil Fischer.
190Festival March, with "Star Spangled Banner"………..Gustave Hinrichs
191Mass Chorus and Orchestra.
193SECOND CONCERT, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23.
194Overture, "Rienzi"………………………………………Wagner
195Mass chorus, "The Morning"…………………………..Rubinstein
196Concert Aria……………………………………….Mendelssohn
197Emma Suelke.
198Choruses by different societies—
199"Evening Rest"………………………………………Attenhoffer
200"Beware"…………………………………………Kirschner one of two readings
201"Beware"…………………………………………..Kirschner one of two readings
202"Spring"…………………………………………..Rheinberger one of two readings
203Spring……………………………………………..Rheinberger one of two readings
204"The Linden Tree"…………………………………….Maennerchor, Philadelphia.
205"Liederkranz, Baltimore." one of two readings
206"So Far"…………………………………………Engelsberg one of two readings
207"So Far"……………………………………………Engelsberg one of two readings
208Concordia Gesang Verein, Philadelphia.
209"Spring"…………………………………………..Carl Zoellner one of two readings
210"Halt"……………………………………………..Carl Zoellner one of two readings
211Arion, Brooklyn.
212"Morning in the Woods"……………………………..Rheinberger
213Quartet Club, Philadelphia.
214"Soft tones within the woodlands ring"………………Nessler one of two readings
215"Soft tones within the woodlands ring"……………….Nessler one of two readings
216Young Maennerchor, Philadelphia.
217"Wotan's Farewell" and "Fire Charm"………………Wagner one of two readings
218"Wotan's Farewell" and "Fire Charm"……………….Wagner one of two readings
219Emil Fischer.
220Mass chorus, "Farewell, for to-morrow we part"……..Silcher
222The New York Symphony Orchestra's concert at the Academy of Music was the best yet given here by that organization, but was rather poorly attended. It included a delightful performance of Raff's "Lenore" symphony, the allegretto from Beethoven's eighth symphony, Svendsen's "Artists' Carnival," the prelude to the third act of "The Meistersinger" and several 'cello solos artistically rendered by Anton Hekking. A. H.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.