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Musical Courier 1906-12-19: Vol 53 Iss 1395, 1906
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1French melodies harmonized by Gevaert. There was an audience of fair size to hear this admirable organization's work, which was to be regretted, as such a program is seldom rendered in Boston, or even in America, of more interest to lovers of such work. The next public concert will be given in Trinity Church early in 1907.
3Coleridge-Taylor Appears in Boston.
4The "Hiawatha" trilogy has doubtless earned Coleridge-Taylor his fame. His appearance here last week in a program of his own compositions interested composers and admirers of the man, besides the fact that Atlanta University and the Calhoun Colored School were to be the beneficiaries.
6A much larger audience should have been in attendance in consideration of all of this.
8Coleridge-Taylor is not yet free from his racial sentiment, nor does he wish to be. That emotion that plays so important a part in the negro folk song of the past has not been lost sight of by the composer, and accounts for the chief beauty of his work. He was assisted by Henry T. Burleigh, the colored baritone of St. George's Church, New York; Willy Hest, violinist; Georges Grisez, clarinetist, and the Boston Symphony Quartet.
10The program included a clarinet quintet, in A major; romance, op. 59, and gypsy dance, op. 20, for violin; a piano trio and the songs: "Once Only," "She Rested by the Broken Brook," "Unmindful of the Roses" and "A Coon Song," most beautifully sung by Mr. Burleigh, who owns a voice of rich warmth, most intelligently used. The clarinet quintet impressed the listeners with its severe but melodious construction, full of color and beauty, with an exceptionally pleasing finale. The closing trio, really five negro melodies, was most effective. Mr. Hess entered fully into the imaginative side of the works played by him, lending his own artistry, and giving us memorable moments of words and fancies.
12Germaine Schnitzer's Recital.
13Germaine Schnitzer, who played recently in Boston, is very young, but overpowers one with her virtuosity. She has delighted Europe, and likewise delighted Boston. Her audience was awed over her prodigious powers as a pianist, a technician and a musician of the romantic school. She interested a large audience. She played Liszt's arrangement of Bach's prelude and fugue in A minor, Schumann's carnaval, Chopin's ballade in A flat and two studies, Fischoff's arrangement of the ballet music from Schubert's "Rosamonde," Saint-Saëns' Toccata and the Schubert-Tausig military march.
15Boston Singing Club.
16Jordan Hall held a good sized audience on the evening of December 12, the occasion being the opening of the sixth season of the Boston Singing Club, H. G. Tucker, conductor; Bessie Bell Collier, violinist; Mary D. Chandler pianist, and B. L. Whepley, organist. The program consisted of Saint-Saëns' "Ave Verum" and "To Bless Thy Name, O Lord," (for women's voices); Burdett's "The Wayside Rose," Cowen's "The Bee and the Dove," Mendelssohn's "Judge Me, O God," Handel's "Ladok, the Priest," and choruses by Macfarlane, Gerritt Smith and G. Coleman Young. Miss Collier played the "Faust" fantaisie (Wieniawski); a meditation from Massenet's opera, "Thais," and Sarasate's Spanish dance, No. 8. The chorus was drilled well, and some of the numbers were rendered with especial delicacy and smoothness.
18Miss Collier, very youthful but well taught, has yet to get experience into her work, yet she plays with much taste and feeling. The entire program showed care in its preparation.
20E. Russell Sanborn, Organist.
21E. Russell Sanborn, a pupil and admirer of Dr. Percy Goetschius, will include in his interesting programs of the coming season a concert fugue by Dr. Goetschius. The work is recently written, and was dedicated by the composer to E. Russell Sanborn.
23Boston's New Orchestra.
24Wallace Goodrich is now the venturesome musical pioneer, and has established a new orchestra in Boston. The plan, so far as can be prophesied, seems productive of interesting results and evidently points to broadening the musical life here. Boston's alleged musical proclivities, it would seem, should admit of one more orchestral concern easily, and while the Symphony Orchestra for twenty-six years has given twenty or more concerts annually in Boston, yet there are people in abundance who for one cause and another do not hear this organization twice a year, and others never. This, of course, refers to the music loving, so called, and playgoing people. The prices are doubtless a consideration to many; and then there are works performed by the Symphony which by many people, young and old, are not appreciative or understood. It has been a question for several seasons past if people attended the Friday afternoon Symphony for pure and loyal love for the works performed, or some dazzling effect produced by the soloist, or, further, for fulfilling a serious duty to the Muse with their presence. The question may never be answered. Orchestral concerts are both interesting and pleasure giving, or may become so, even in Boston, where the mass is inclined to attend from divers causes. Mr. Goodrich proposes to meet the demand that the Symphony Orchestra does not meet. The plan, briefly stated, is: To encourage the study of orchestral instruments and thereby to supply material for orchestral experience and routine; to also provide evening concerts of the highest class at moderate prices; to likewise provide for the performance in a relatively small auditorium of compositions which, to have their fullest effect, must be brought into comparatively small halls, and to produce new and seldom heard works that require the assistance of an orchestra. The circular states: "During the present season three concerts will be given in Jordan Hall by an orchestra of fifty-five professional musicians. For many years similar organizations in the larger European cities have exerted an important influence in musical education. Not only have they enabled orchestral players to acquire the routine so indispensable to their admission to the regular symphony orchestra maintained in the same cities, but they have been of inestimable assistance to the latter organizations in the cultivation of musical appreciation, particularly that of orchestral music." The price of seats for each concert is $1.50, $1 and 50 cents. Only the seats at $1.50 will be sold for the series of three concerts. They are to take place in Jordan Hall on the evenings of Thursday, January 10 and 31, and February 28.
26The Fletcher Music Method.
27Evelyn Fletcher Copp, originator of the Fletcher Music Method, writes from Toronto: "Everywhere I go I find the poor, strangled and distorted copies of this beautiful system of mine, and although I realize that those who are using these imitations have something better than they had in the olden times, I can but wish that they could know my system in its completeness, for they would soon see it was well worth the extra time to study, and a good deal cheaper in the long run, although more expensive in the beginning, perhaps." In an open letter written "To Teachers of the Fletcher Music Method," Mrs. Copp makes an exposé of those teachers in America imitating her system. It is one of the most concisely and kindly written statements we have seen. This eminent instructor of kindergarten music needs no introduction to America, as she is backed by some of the greatest musical minds of the Old World. Her system has only to be known to be appreciated. Mrs. Copp is at present on a lecture trip through Canada, including Toronto, London, Woodstock, Hamilton, Guelph, Chatham, Belleville, Montreal and other cities.
29Malcolm Lang, son of B. J. Lang, now teaching piano, was one of the interesting Harvard boys who, a few seasons ago, wrote very clever musical plays for the "Hasty Pudding" Club's production. The libretto of the opera, "Hi-ka-ya," was one of Mr. Lang's creations. He has written several songs, yet in manuscript, and seems developing in the same direction, musically, as his famous sister song writer, Margaret Ruthven Lang. Another sister, Rosamond, wrote a most interestingly sparkling operetta for the well known Vincent Club of this city.
31The very talented young violinist, Bessie Bell Collier, a pupil of Franz Kneisel, whose success was established at her debut in Steinert Hall a year ago, followed by many private engagements and a triumph at the Worcester Festival, will play on December 23 at the Sunday chamber concert in Chickering Hall. Miss Collier has beauty, youth, temperament and execution, and her success seems assured. An interesting clause in her circular states: "Miss Collier is twenty-one years old, and a lady of Cohasset, Mass. When she was but eleven months old, she crooned the old lullaby, 'Bye Low, Baby,' and she retained music in her memory when words had for her no meaning." Of her playing Louis C. Elson says: "Miss Collier has broad tone, pure intonation and general surety."
33Lillian Salmon, a Palmer pupil, will probably go to Europe for further study next season, as she has a voice of exceptional promise. She has already received some flattering offers for light opera, but prefers serious study for several years to come. She has been engaged as soloist with the Choral Club, of Lowell, Mass., in January. Norma Drexel is another pupil exciting considerable attention. She has done all of her studying with Miss Palmer.
35MORE BOSTON NEWS.
36Harriet L. Davis, called for her beautiful voice the "California Nightingale," is visiting Boston for the first time. She is a cousin of the baritone, Bertram Wetmore and sings in a leading church in Oakland, Cal.
38The People's Choral Union of Boston is to revive Handel's "Samson," an oratorio which is not very familiar to present day music lovers.
40Carl Baerman is on the list of artists playing in Miss Terry's series for the winter. Mr. Baerman will give a piano recital.
42Frederick Hastings, an old pupil of the Frank E. Morse School for Singers, is in Honolulu teaching voice in Oahu College. Mrs. Hastings writes that he has a flourishing department and is enjoying his work.
44Bertha Wesselhoefst Swift's song recital in Chickering Hall gave evident pleasure to a good sized audience. Miss Swift was assisted by Clarence Shirly, tenor; Stephen Townsend, baritone, and Bertha Cushing Child, contralto. After several groups of songs, most pleasingly sung by Miss Swift, Grace Wassell's Shakesperean song cycle was given. It did not meet with ecstatic approval, however, but was well given. Miss Swift announces a "morning" in children's songs. She will be assisted by a favorite Faelten school pupil, Helen Pumphrey.
46The musical program furnished at Grace Chamberlain's dramatic recital of "Candida" last week was most interestingly played by the Helen Reynolds Trio, with the personnel of Helen Reynolds, violin; Katherine Halliday, 'cello, and Margaret Gorham, piano.
48WYNA BLANCHE HUDSON.
50HARTMANN'S PHILADELPHIA TRIUMPH.
51Arthur Hartmann played the Tchaikowsky violin concerto at the Friday and Saturday concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra (Fritz Scheel, conductor) last week, and scored one of the greatest successes ever made by any violinist in the Quaker City. The members of the orchestra applauded Hartmann to the echo, and Scheel joined in enthusiastically. Hartmann's hit was complete, as is proved by the appended short extracts from the lengthy press eulogies which the Philadelphia papers bestowed on him:
53When Hartmann mounted the platform, we saw an expressive, spiritualized face, with sharply cut features, of the kind that has come to be recognized as the typical virtuoso physiognomy. There was not the restlessness of the oversensitized genius, but rather the confident, cool repose of the master, sure of his instrument, and strong in the knowledge that he was there to conquer, to triumph. He had chosen a work which is an orgy of trills, double notes, staccatos and pizzicatos, a pandemonium of seemingly unconquerable difficulties. Hartmann reels them all off with playful and absolutely stupendous ease, and his victory is complete all along the line. One hardly dares breathe, for the dark man on the stage seems to be a veritable demon, whose art almost makes his hearers afraid, as was the case also with Paganini. Hartmann took all the trying technical leaps with the most minute accuracy. * * * At the end there was a moment of awesome silence, and then a mighty hurricane of applause roared through the hall, compelling the artist to bow again and again, until, to show his gratitude, he added a Bach "Siciliano," played with a marvelous wealth of tone, with rare musicianship, and infinite tenderness, softness and grace. * * * —Philadelphia Gazette, December 15, 1906.
55Hartmann's playing of the Tchaikowsky D major concerto, a work of the utmost technical difficulty, in which every possibility of the solo instrument is exploited to the full, established at once his claim to high artistic rank. He was not only a master of technique, but as well a poet whose appreciation of the varying moods and phrases of the composer's invention was shown in the eloquent exposition which he gave the work. In contrast to the big effects of the first and last movements, his rendition of the sighing sweetness of the andante was marked with an admirable sincerity.—Philadelphia Public Ledger, December 15, 1906.
57Arthur Hartmann, a player of much power and originality, gave the Tchaikowsky concerto in D major, for violin and orchestra, and his wonderful handling of the bow, especially in the extremely difficult concluding "vivaceissimo," was thoroughly appreciated by the very large audience. He was compelled to give an encore.—Philadelphia Press, December 15, 1906.
59Arthur Hartmann, violinist, played on this occasion Tchaikowsky's romantic and colorful concerto, D major, which discloses the great Russian composer in one of his most characteristic moods. It is an excellent thing to hear at any time, and especially when, as on this occasion, soloist and orchestral forces are in marked and complete sympathy.
61Hartmann is an accomplished musician and earnest student, endowed with creative gifts and a rare faculty of musical interpretation. His playing is accurate, scholarly and finished, seeking the composer's intent rather than the display of extraordinary virtuosity. A Slav of the Slavs could scarcely have invested Tchaikowsky's beautiful music with a more distinctive native quality, nor portrayed more impressively the profound pathos and fiery passion of this noble composition.—Philadelphia North American, December 15, 1906.
63The Music Lovers' Calendar.
64Breitkopf & Härtel have issued their annual "Music Lovers' Calendar," and it is a most beautiful piece of work, printed in exceptionally artistic type and on a superior quality of paper. There is a serviceable list of dates of the births and deaths of well known musical persons, and there are excellent essays by Arthur Farwell, Walter R. Spalding, Louis Laloy, Frederic H. Griswold, Edgar Stillman Kelley, Leonard B. McWhood, Reid Stacey and others. The portraits in the book are those of Horatio Parker, Eleanor Everest Freer, Edgar Stillman Kelley, Harvey Worthington Loomis, Alexander von Fielitz and Gabriel Fauré.
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