Scan 28
Musical Courier 1898-06-15: Vol 36 Iss 954, 1898
62 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 27. See the scan on archive.org.
1Berlin Branch Budget
3BERLIN OFFICE MUSICAL COURIER. one of two readings
4BERLIN OFFICE MUSICAL COURIER, one of two readings
5BERLIN, May 24, 1888.
7INSTEAD of sitting down to the task of writing my weekly budget, as I do on Saturdays, I left last Saturday for Leipsic to attend a concert given there by the Kansas City composer-conductor, Carl Busch. Of the very satisfactory result of this undertaking I have informed you by cable, and there remains for me now only the pleasant duty of going into detail about the program and the performance. The latter took place in the beautifully situated, spacious concert hall in the Bonorand garden establishment, and despite the fact that we are now approaching summer and the atmosphere, temperature and season are not the most inviting for attending a concert, a large and decidedly fashionable audience was present, among which, as was quite natural, the American element was strongly represented. In fact, it predominated, and this is saying a good deal, when it is considered that Leipsic is situated in the heart of Germany and not in "the land of the free and the home of the brave." One might almost have fancied oneself in God's own country, however, during portions of Carl Busch's program, with its "Way Down Upon the Suane River" arrangement for string orchestra and the American rhapsody, which were applauded with a will and with a gusto that had a national flavor and zest. Give me an American audience for enthusiasm every time, and if I am a composer of merit I know I shall have nothing to complain of in the way of recognition and genuine appreciation.
9Such a composer of merit, sterling and well earned merit, is Carl Busch, who, at the same time, as I found out on this occasion, is also a very fertile writer. No less than seven numbers, all orchestral works of his composition, made up the program. It was no beating around the Busch, but the Busch was all there, and it was he who beat. Nor did he beat a retreat, but he beat time with his baton, and he beat the record as far as success with his compositions was concerned. Artistically this success would have been even greater if Mr. Busch had had at his command a better orchestra than the band of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Saxonian Infantry Regiment. The strings were not so bad, but some of the woodwind were simply vile, and on the whole a military band is not often a good substitute for a symphony orchestra. "Faute de grives," however, "on mange des merles," as the French saying is, and rather than come to Leipsic and give no concert after all, Mr. Busch, who could not get the Winderstein Orchestra, engaged the afore-mentioned band. What he did with it was wonderful enough, and heightened my admiration for him as an organizer and conductor, even though the clarinet solo in the American rhapsody sounded rotten and the humorous bassoon utterings in the same work caused a general smile and even a ripple of laughter. I should like to hear the whole program played once more by a good, well trained orchestra, and I am sure the effectiveness of the very telling instrumentation would be greatly enhanced.
11As for the works themselves they show him to be a composer of no mean ability. He is a perfect master of form and he knows all the resources of the modern orchestra. He has also imagination and a fine sense of the harmonic color. His prologue to Tennyson's "The Passing of Arthur" is a fantaisie in which King Arthur's motive
13King Arthur.
14molto maestoso.
16and Sir Bediver's song
18Song of Sir Bediver.
20have been worked to a climax illustrating the last battle-stroke of King Arthur. Although free in treatment, the themes are introduced in logical order.
22The love scene from the Pastoral Suite is a charming movement in A major, in which the woodwind holds a sweet dialogue of the most fanciful kind. This symphonic Satz is quite French in style and treatment and, although not in the least bit reminiscent, suggests in color and contents some of Bizet's music of a similar order.
24The most important work on the program was the D minor symphony, which, in form, is orthodox and perfect, and which, in contents, holds some of Mr. Busch's best and most pregnant ideas. The working out sections reveal Mr. Busch as a thinking composer of no mean order and as a master of the technical side of the art.
26Here are the principal themes of all of the four movements, of which I prefer the adagietto in B flat as being the most beautiful in invention and the most exquisite in treatment and orchestral coloring. The allegretto, six-eight time, A flat, middle section of this movement, bears somewhat the character of an intermezzo (see example 7) and is the only thing in the symphony that strikes me as being out of the common order of things.
28INTRODUCTION.
29Cellos & Basses
311st theme.
32Clar.
342d theme.
35Oboe
37Adagietto.
38Oboe.
40Allegretto.
41Oboe.
42Clar.
44Scherzo.
45Clar. & Bassoon.
47TRIO.
48Oboe & Bassoon.
49Viol. I.
511st theme.
53FINALE.
542d theme. Viol. I.
55Celli.
57The "Inauguration March" in B flat, composed for the opening of the Stockholm Exhibition, is a very brilliantly orchestrated and quite effective but a trifle obstreperous pièce d'occasion. Even as such, however, it is interesting, and shows a respectable amount of workmanship. It also contains some new and striking harmonic progressions.
59After it came the "Old Folks At Home" and an elegy in D minor for strings. The favorite American folksong is nicely harmonized and sounds exquisite when played by the quartet. It was the most applauded piece upon the program, and the audience would fain have heard it repeated, but Mr. Busch remained obdurate and proceeded with the program.
61"Elaine, a Sketch After Tennyson," is one of many studies, Mr. Busch told me, he made for a symphonic
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.