Scan 9
Musical Courier 1896-03-04: Vol 32 Iss 835, 1896
68 lines. Read by computer on 20 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 10. See the scan on archive.org.
1Music in Switzerland.
2Montreux, February, 1896.
4Last winter I wrote you of some excellent chamber music it was my good fortune to enjoy each Monday. The quartet was remarkable in many ways; 'tis curious, as well as sad, this year to trace their various fates.
6The viola is in Paris, working, studying, learning; the second violin is in the German army, and for Fatherland loses much precious time in his art; the 'cello, young, brilliant, promising, "in the graveyard lies," dead in his twenty-second year, and from his quiet rest in the pretty, tree embowered cemetery on the Clarens hillside looks down pityingly on us poor mortals, left to strive, to struggle and to crave, but never to realize or attain our heart's desire.
8The first violin, Otto Seiler, still lives quietly here in Montreux, devoted to his art, and only occasionally allowing a few friends to enjoy his talent. Instead of a quartet we have this year piano and violin duets. Mlle. Kayser, the lady who plays with Herr Seiler, is a pianist of taste and feeling, herself an artist of no mean repute, yet modest enough to subordinate her talent to the unthankful yet difficult requirement of an accompanist. Though the number of invited guests is limited, the class of music presented at these Sunday afternoon musicales certainly merits a wide hearing. For instance, one of the impromptus—"upon demand"—programs included Beethoven Sonata No. 7; Mozart Sonata No. 8; Bruch's concerto, G minor; Spohr's scherzo, Wagner's Traume, Schumann's Märchen Bilder, Sarasate's Danse Espagnole-Malaguena, Schubert-Wilhelmj's Ave Maria, and the Sunday following we had the Kreutzer Sonata, played in a manner that few concert stages have heard surpassed.
10Herr Seiler practices untold hours and strives to bring to greater perfection that which already touches the perfect. A young man, a pupil of Wirth and Joachim, the owner of a deliciously superb Amati, with a technic and a repertory that many an artist now before the public could envy, Herr Seiler needs but the will to push his way to the front rank of the thronging violin virtuosi. He is a strict classicist, a worthy pupil of the great master, and so much like him in method and style that to hear him interpret Beethoven invariably recalls Joachim.
12It is a treat to hear him play Bruch's concerto, so full, so deep, so true sound those magnificent opening tones, and his sweet singing of the andante brings the tears to one's eyes. His playing of the Kreutzer Sonata is remarkable, all the various changing moods, love, longing, almost articulate despair, speaking from his violin and moving your heart in answer to his bow; the last passionate theme is taken at perhaps too rapid a tempo, almost prestissimo, but bearing one along in all its wild burst of deepest feeling, and above all the fire and all the storm rings the Amati, clear and true.
14Yes, his technic is thorough; his left-hand fingers almost as supple as Sauret's, the bow arm graceful, and his tone colossal. It remains to be seen whether he possesses that supreme quality, that indefinable "something"—not manner, not temperament; not art, yet perhaps a combination of all three, that wins an audience, and that alone insures success. The public must answer this question.
16Thursday, January 23, Emile Sauer at the Kursaal. If anything were needed to emphasize my belief that Switzerland is for the English, this concert would have done so. Sauer is known in London, consequently without any trouble the hall was filled, while no other artist, save Joachim, has so succeeded.
18Sauer gave on a miserable "grand" piano, that must have set each nerve on edge, Prélude et Fugue en Ré Majeur, Bach-d'Albert; Nachstück, op. 23, No. 4, Schumann; and a valse caprice by Liszt. He was enthusiastically applauded throughout, the silence during his playing being perfect, and the applause that hearty, spontaneous outburst that must be most gratifying to an artist. Recalled at the close of the program he responded with two original compositions, an extremely brilliant galop de concert and an étude called Waldes-Säuseln. He is everything that report said. He has wonderful technic, brilliancy and fire, but he lacks the supreme quality of sympathy—feeling. None of his interpretations touched the heart; the applause accorded him seemed due to astonishment, wonderment, admiration of his brilliant powers, but not to the deeper heart emotions. He was nervous to exhaustion, the movement of his body was continuous, and even the muscles of his face twitched unceasingly. He is quite young. This only proves the immense strain to which artists are subjected. The orchestra gave Symphony No. 8, Beethoven; La jeunesse d'Hercules, Saint-Saëns, and the overture to Euryanthe. one of two readings
19Sauer gave on a miserable "grand" piano, that must have set each nerve on edge, Prélude et Fugue en Ré Majeur, Bach-d'Albert; Nachstück, op. 23, No. 4, Schumann and a valse caprice by Liszt. He was enthusiastically applauded throughout, the silence during his playing being perfect, and the applause that hearty, spontaneous outburst that must be most gratifying to an artist. Recalled at the close of the program he responded with two original compositions, an extremely brilliant galop de concert and an étude called Waldes-Säuseln. He is everything that report said. He has wonderful technic, brilliancy and fire, but he lacks the supreme quality of sympathy—feeling. None of his interpretations touched the heart; the applause accorded him seemed due to astonishment, wonderment, admiration of his brilliant powers, but not to the deeper heart emotions. He was nervous to exhaustion, the movement of his body was continuous, and even the muscles of his face twitched unceasingly. He is quite young. This only proves the immense strain to which artists are subjected. The orchestra gave Symphony No. 8, Beethoven; La jeunesse d'Hercules, Saint-Saëns, and the overture to Euryanthe. one of two readings
21By the way, Sauer was heard to remark, "I heard that I was going to be badly accompanied here, but so badly I never imagined"—"Aber so gresslich, hätte ich nie gedacht!" That's hard on our orchestra. I give it, for many opinions make a world. New York had her Thomas, Boston her Nikisch, and Montreux may follow their example and criticise their Jüttner. Whatever his faults, he certainly aims high, and in so far is deserving of our approval. You see he is educating his public, and the dose is bitter. Witness Thursday's program, January 30: Symphonie Fantastique, Berlioz; overture to Fidelio, Beethoven; Symphonie Espagnole, Lalo, pour violon avec orchestre; Danse Macabre, poème symphonique, Saint-Saëns.
23Quite "a dainty dish to set before the king," this, yet the public, that most whimsical, changeable and exacting of masters, growled and said, "A pity he does not give us something he can play." An ungrateful public, too, for the Symphonie Fantastique had been seriously studied and often rehearsed, and the orchestra did itself justice, the weak violins were reinforced from the other side, and the ensemble was better. The task of the critic is ever an ungrateful one, particularly where the critic is so humble a one as myself, and the one criticised so great as Berlioz.
25Nevertheless, above all one must be true to one's self, and properly present one's individual opinions and impressions, even from the standpoint of a "totally ignorant listener."
27I would never advise one to follow the example of Tolstoi's hero, Levine, who when listening to a Tschaikowsky symphony would not read the descriptive program, leaving his imagination free to decide the meaning of the music for itself. The result would probably be as disastrous as with him, for too wide is the scope, too many and too various the meanings that may be applied to any tone or series of tones for us to hope to catch the composer's idea without some clue to his meaning. So, with the aid of the descriptive program I was enabled to follow Berlioz's music and his idea, but the music did not satisfy my imagination. The idea seemed greater than the music. In the deuxième partie, the Un Bal, there was the most "fetching" waltz music, the melody being perfectly delicious; in the scène aux champs, very pathetic was the idea, and sad the effect of one voice calling and the other ever silenced. The thunder was realistic, the most natural I have ever heard. Yet I was on the whole disappointed; the theme seemed to me capable of greater or different development, and especially in the last Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat I missed those wonderful brass effects by which Wagner gains force and power in his spectral presentations.
29Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole bears a resemblance to other Spanish music, the scherzando recalling Sarasate's Spanish dances and the intermezzo parts of Carmen. I suppose the melodies in all these pieces are the same, only differently elaborated, as in the various Hungarian dances and airs a similarity can even be traced. Herr C. Döll, our first violin, had a long and rather difficult solo of nearly thirty pages. He played with notes, and that is ever a drawback to perfect effect. He has good enough technic, an excellent spiccato (much required in Spanish dances), his accords are firm, unhesitating and clear; he conquers difficult passages easily enough, and yet, in spite of all his good qualities, the effect left upon the listener is one of failure. There is something in his deprecating air, in his timid handling of his bow, in his entire lack of force, power or feeling that paralyzes his hearer and leaves him as cold as the performer.
31The Danse Macabre, so fascinating in its weird staccato, with its skeleton dancers and its clacking bones, finished the program.
33Zig et Zig et Zig, la mort en cadence
34Frappant une tombe avec son talon,
35La mort à minuit joue un air de danse,
36Zig et Zig et Zig sur son violon.
37Le vent d'hiver souffle, et la nuit est sombre;
38Des gémissements sortent des tilleuls;
39Les squelettes blancs vont à travers l'ombre,
40Courant et sautant sous leurs grands linceuls.
41Zig et Zig et Zig, chacun se trémousse,
42On entend claquer les os des danseurs.
43* * * * * * *
44Mais psit! tout-à-coup on quitte la ronde,
45On se pousse, on fuit, le coq a chanté.
47N. S.
49New York Philharmonic Club's Success.
51The success in the West of this organization meets no variation. The following are among recent press notices received:
53The brilliant concert at the First Presbyterian Church last night, given by the New York Philharmonic Club under the auspices of the Terre Haute Musical-Literary Club, was not one that calls for any attempt at discriminating analysis or comparison of numbers. To those not familiar with the fact that this organization stands at the top of such societies, its engagement by the Terre Haute Musical-Literary Club should have been a guarantee of superlative merit, as the musical people of that club will stand as sponsors only for those who set the standards.
55The Philharmonic Club, which has had a life of eighteen years, is composed of finished artists, whose solo numbers are perfection and their concerted work almost matchless. The auditors of last night that knew music had an evening of unmixed but progressive delight, as the successive numbers exhibited their especial beauties and the different instrumentalists showed their individual excellence.
57The program, though of the most elevated and refined character, was music of the sweet and flowing rhythm to please the least cultivated. For instance, the first number was sufficiently elevated for any virtuoso, being Haydn's Symphonie XIII., but anyone could understand after hearing its allegro, largo and menuetto, why Haydn was called "the musical apostle of the beautiful and happy," while he recognized the superb work of the players. Then there was Von Gluck, who lived long enough ago and was enough of a reformer to be now a great classicist, but Mr. Weiner's flute solo from Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice was delicious to all for itself and the exquisite playing. The club's work in concert was perfection. The dreamy music of Traumerei, L'Espagnole, with its hunting refrain, by the modern writer, Cowen, and the fascinating Brahms Hungarian Dances, added to the Haydn number, were the club's contribution.
59Mr. Carl Krill, the violoncellist, stands at the head of 'cello players. He was long in the orchestra of the great composer Von Bülow, and now may be said to hold the place that was so worthily filled by Giese. He played the beautiful Chopin nocturne and that very remarkable Spinning Song, the most unique 'cello performance we have heard here.
61Mr. Eugene Weiner, leader of the Philharmonic Club, and flutist, is recognized in the East as the greatest of flute players, which he showed often in the concerted numbers and especially in Gluck's Happy Spirits in Elysium and Terschack's allegro.
63The audience naturally smiled at the airy gambols of the big double bass, but the performance was as admirable as rare. Mr. Henry Lehman, like his confrères, is the master in his field. He loves his unwieldy double bass, with its deep, rich sonorous tones, and studies it as the violinist studies his light, more delicate instrument; would rather listen to its gruff voice than to eat or sleep, and hence his solo performance was a most interesting exhibition of the bass viol's capabilities.
65Among these artists Mr. Louis Kapp, the violinist, shone with equal brilliancy. A child could see his superiority to the popular Remenyi (as one did) in his technic, finish and refined taste.
67The Philharmonic Club is accompanied by a delightful singer, Miss Inez Grenelli, whose fine soprano, of great compass, seemed to fit in so well with the rich tones of the instruments around her. She sang the Casta Diva, from Norma, to charm the audience to an encore, for which she sang the delicate child song, Where Did You Come From, Baby, Dear? She also sang Schumann's Der Hidalgo and Mascagni's beautiful He Loves Me, Loves Me Not, and as an encore Comin' Thro' the Rye. Altogether
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.