Scan 5
Musical Courier 1902-08-20: Vol 45 Iss 1169, 1902
93 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1fore free for an engagement from next summer on and his services should not go begging—in New York!
3Frederick Gruetzmacher, the handsome first 'cellist of the Cologne Orchestra, has been engaged for Philadelphia for next season.
5Emil Sauer is busy upon the composition of his second piano concerto.
7I gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the "Annals of the Upmediate Club of Milwaukee, from 1890-1901," kindly sent to me by Miss Ricker. The frequent mention of THE MUSICAL COURIER, as well as the occasional occurrence of my humble name upon the programs performed by the club, afforded me lively satisfaction.
9The prose sketch of the libretto of "Die Meistersinger," which Wagner wrote at Marienbad in 1845, is published for the first time in the Bayreuth number of Die Musik. The libretto, as it now stands, dates from the year 1861. In the sketch the work is still designated as "a comic opera." Outside of Sachs, David and Magdalene, the names now familiar to us as the principal personages in "Die Meistersinger" are not yet given. Scenery and action are sketched with minuteness, some lines with end rhymes are also in existence already. The action, as a whole, is pretty nearly identical with the one of the "drama" as it now stands. He who suffers this drama, the wise, renouncing hero Sachs, with his tenderly hidden heart longing, is in the old form not quite the humorous and often pathetic poet as which we know him. He is quite ironical and even malicious, taking in part the office of Kothner. Thus it is he who has to read to the "lover" the laws of the tablature. Sachs is considered as not quite honest or well meaning with regard to the art of the Meistersgesang. The others distrust him; they meet him with doubt; he seems to the masters "bedenklich." The Nestor of the guild (later on named Pogner) has often described Sachs to his daughter as a "false man."
11The Prize Song of Walther, not the "Traumdentweise," which Sachs takes down by dictation, is contained in this sketch as a complete poem. Thus the thieving Merker gets possession of it in the "lover's" handwriting, which simplifies this amusing procedure, for Sachs explains to the confessing thief that it is a "bewitched Lied," to which the Merker now has only to find the right melody ("rechte Weise"). Next to this plan another one is mapped out by Wagner: Sachs is to offer this song to the Merker as one which he (the cobbler) had written when he was still young and which was not known to anyone! In the scene with the silk shoe of "the beloved one" a "terzat" and not the later quintet is planned. In the episode before the masters, in act first, "the lover" does not sing of spring and love as is the case in Walther's wooing song, but he offers a song in praise of the art of poetry. The Merker is seated "in Positur" during this latter proceeding and the mistakes are marked down with chalk by one of the apprentice boys. When "the lover" has failed in song he exclaims "in greatest despair": "Erbarmen, Meister!" ("Have pity, ye masters!")
13After the Merker's serenade, which Magdalene has to listen to, the jealous David is the one who has to pound the Merker first, and the stage prescription demands that it be done with the cobbler's three legged stool! The monologue of Sachs in the third act consists in the 1845 sketch in a harangue upon the decadence of poetry and not, as in 1861, after Wagner knew Schopenhauer, in a philosophical observation on the subject that everything is a delusion and a chimera "Wahn!" During this monologue David is busy finishing the silk shoes, while Magdalene flirts much more fervently but already quite as coquettishly with the young apprentice. The manuscript of the lover effects a less refined comedy than the one we now are wont to witness upon the festive meadow near Nuremberg on St. John's Day. The Merker insists that Sachs has fooled him with a poor song. After the lover then wins the prize with this same song, and after the subsequent ovation to Sachs by the people, there follows—a bridal procession.
15There are quite a number of other but less marked differences between this sketch and the final version of the libretto of "Die Meistersinger." What is pointed out above, however, will suffice to demonstrate the greater refinement in the merry episodes, the poetical deepening and more noble conception of some of the characters, especially that of the figure of Hans Sachs.
17The very interesting publication of this sketch was kindly granted by the present owner of the manuscript of 1845, Mrs. Wesendonck, and with the consent of the Wagner heirs.
19At Marienbad, the beautiful Bohemian watering place, on Thursday of last week a commemorative tablet was affixed to the house of The White Swan in the Kaiserstrasse, in which Chopin lived in the year 1836. Several hundred people attended the ceremony of the unveiling. The inscriptions upon the tablet are engraved in both the French and Polish languages. A Roman Catholic priest consecrated the tablet, whereupon Dr. Jonas, of Lemberg, delivered a commemorative oration. The final part of the festive action was an orchestral performance of the F sharp minor Polonaise of Chopin.
21Mrs. William E. Beardsley, of Brooklyn, with her talented thirteen year old daughter, Miss Constance, called at the Berlin office of THE MUSICAL COURIER today and played for me compositions by Bach, Chopin, Gabriilowitsch and Sinding. This young pianist, who does not pose as a prodigy and whose mother is bestowing upon her all she learned herself under the excellent tuition of no less a master than Joseffy, has a great future before her when she ripens into a full fledged artist, which time and talent will surely effect some day. O. F.
23Hildegard Hoffmann at The Wiers.
25MISS HILDEGARD HOFFMANN, the soprano, has left The Wiers, where she sang at the music festival of the New Hampshire Music Teachers' Association, and gone to Bethlehem, where she will give a recital. Later she will join her father, who is in Vermont. At The Wiers festival Miss Hoffmann was the soprano soloist in performances of "In a Persian Garden," Gounod's "Gallia," Verdi's Requiem and scenes from "Faust." The festival continued from August 4 to 8, inclusive. A brief report was published in THE MUSICAL COURIER last week.
27The following extract is from a report published in the Manchester, N. H., Union on the festival:
28The soloists, who had never sung together before, sang with great sympathy, and the weird solos, duets and quartets were given in a manner too serious at times for applause. One scarcely can realize the effect of such music upon the musician who understands the harmony and form of the production. And all the soloists were in fine voice, and were happy in their work.
29And now comes Miss Hoffmann, an exceedingly pretty young woman, with an adorable voice. Miss Hoffmann was exquisitely gowned in a pale green Princess gown of satin. She is a slender brunette, delicate in appearance and sings delightfully. Her voice is very pure. The ensemble effects in the quartets were all that could be desired by the most fastidious.
31Mr. Moore.—Homer Moore, the St. Louis music and vocal teacher, who has been East on a vacation and in reference to his opera "The Puritans," will reach St. Louis in September to resume his work.
33WATKIN MILLS ON TOUR.
34Interesting Interview.
36AFTER an absence of over four months Watkin Mills, the great basso, has returned to his Torquay home, Broadlands, Bronshill road, and as he has become a naturalized Torquinian, the inhabitants of the town and neighborhood will be proud to hear of his triumphs during a tour of the United States and Canada extending at least 15,000 miles. Mr. Mills sailed from Southampton by the steamship St. Louis on March 29, and his itinerary has been as follows:
38Halifax, Nova Scotia…………………………………………….April 8 and 10
39Wolfville, Nova Scotia…………………………………………April 11
40Moncton, Nova Scotia…………………………………………April 14
41Quebec………………………………………………………..April 16
42Sherbrooke…………………………………………………….April 17
43Montreal………………………………………………………April 18 and 19
44Louisville, Ky., U. S. A………………………………….April 23
45Dayton, Ohio, U. S. A………………………………….April 25
46Brantford, Ont……………………………………………..April 29
47St. Catherines, Ont………………………………………..April 30
48Toronto, Ont…………………………………………………May 1
49Lindsay, Ont…………………………………………………May 2
50Belleville, Ont……………………………………………….May 5
51Kingston, Ont……………………………………………….May 6
52Ottawa, Ont…………………………………………………May 7
53Perth, Ont……………………………………………………May 8
54London, Ont…………………………………………………May 9
55Hamilton, Ont……………………………………………….May 12
56Woodstock, Ont……………………………………………May 13
57Port Arthur, Ont…………………………………………..May 16
58Winnipeg, Man…………………………………………….May 19 and 21
59Portage la Prairie, Man…………………………………..May 22
60Brandon, Man……………………………………………..May 23 and 24
61Regina, N. W. T…………………………………………..May 26
62Calgary, Alberta…………………………………………..May 29
63Banff, B. C………………………………………………….May 29 and 30
64Vancouver, B. C…………………………………………June 2
65New Westminster, B. C…………………………………June 3
66Victoria, B. C……………………………………………..June 4
67Grand Forks, B. C………………………………………..June 9
68Rossland, B. C…………………………………………….June 11
69Nelson, B. C……………………………………………….June 12
70Calgary, Alberta (return visit)……………………………June 16
71Edmonton, Alberta………………………………………..June 18 and 19
72Brandon, Man. (return visit)…………………………..June 23
73Winnipeg, Man. (return visit)…………………………..June 24
74Carberry, Man…………………………………………….June 25
75Portage la Prairie, Man. (return visit)…………………June 26
76Neepawa, Man…………………………………………….June 27
77Rat Portage, Ont…………………………………………July 1
78Fort William, Ont………………………………………..July 3
79Sault Ste. Marie, Ont……………………………………July 7
80Owen Sound, Ont………………………………………..July 10
81Stratford, Ont……………………………………………..July 11
82Cobourg, Ont……………………………………………..July 14
84Mr. Mills then took the steamer down the Thousand Islands to Montreal, and sailed for Liverpool on the steamship Lake Manitoba on July 17 and arrived in Torquay on the 28th.
86A representative of the Torquay Times waited on Mr. Mills at his pretty residence in Bronshill road on Wednesday and learnt some interesting facts from him relative to his lengthy tour and his experiences on the other side of the herring pond.
88Asked how many concerts he had given, the great vocalist replied: "Fifty recitals, and I also sang at the great festival at Louisville, Kentucky, U. S. A. Assisting me at my recitals were E. Parlovitz, a very able pianist, and Owen A. Smelie, the well known Canadian entertainer."
89"And where did you face your largest audience?"
90"Apart from the Louisville festival, at Montreal, where the audience numbered nearly a thousand."
91"How does the musical education in the Dominion compare with that in England?"
92"Very favorably, and there are marked signs of a progressive spirit. I am glad to say they have a great liking for the good old English ballads. Oratorio, also, is popular in the big cities, such as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Winnipeg. The last named, by the way, is rapidly developing into a most important place, and is already arranging for a festival on a large scale. In the smaller
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