Scan 6
Musical Courier 1906-12-19: Vol 53 Iss 1395, 1906
57 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 7. See the scan on archive.org.
1second violins and violas, a method occasionally employed by Beethoven (see "Pastoral symphony," second movement). But the reinforcement of the same by adding the 'cellos and divided second violins and violas as at C is gression in unison or in octaves, weaving in and out among the melodies carried by the strings (see Ex. 15). This passage gives a fair idea of Tschaikowsky's orchestral work, showing how he keeps all the voices moving, and wind takes the distant tone in the finale of the "Pathetic," measures five to fifteen.
3Considering the ever growing tendency toward complexity of the orchestral medium, it is remarkable that the works of Tschaikowsky evince such relatively simple demands upon the instrumental forces. In fact nearly all of them can be performed with the orchestra required by Beethoven for his fifth symphony. Occasionally a symphonic poem or ballet number calls for a harp, an English horn, a bass clarinet, extra trumpets or instrument of percussion, but none of his symphonies.
5Wagner's system of scoring the wind in groups of three (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets, etc.), in order to obtain a complete triad in each color, was never adopted by Tschaikowsky. The only approach to this method, at least in the accessible scores, is to be found in the "Nutcracker" suite. At letter a (latter portion of Example 11) we have three flutes, at letter b oboe color, at c clarinet color, at d, e and f we have respectively oboe, clarinet and bassoon color. But even here it is more suggested than absolute, for there are but two bassoons employed, the third voice being given to the bass clarinet. We read in a letter written by the composer while studying the "Lohengrin" score that, while greatly admiring it, "he found nothing to borrow." The bass trumpet, tenor tubas, double bass, trombone, etc., of the "Nibelungen" orchestra never appealed to the Russian symphonist, who dreaded overloading the wind at the expense of the strings, thus destroying that balance so invaluable in all orchestral productions. True it is, he had no fear of force, and his out-
7peculiar to the Russian symphonist. The procedure at D is similar, while that at E is akin to the grouping at A. It will be noted that these latter quotations are from the first and second movement of the same work.
9Many unusual and somewhat daring innovations in the treatment of the strings are to be found in the compositions of the master. He did not hesitate to take the first violins pizzicato up to C in altissimo, for, doubled in the lower octave, the dryness of the tone is not noticeable. Again he indulges as did Wagner in double and treble stops, that are to say the least a bit startling. His ingenuity in writing for small groups is also remarkable. For instance, in his first string quartet, op. 11, in order to add a fifth embellishing voice to his four part motive (from the secondary subject of the finale), he utilizes occasional open strings and makes the double stops in different instruments alternate and overlap (see Ex. 14).
11Equally careful is the composer in his treatment of the wind groups, now employed antiphonally with the answering choir of strings (see the finale of the fourth symphony and the first and third movements of the "Pathetic"). Then, again, the wind groups take individual voice pro-
13is never satisfied to "fill in" or "pad" with chords in the wind while the strings execute the figuration. Again he sometimes produces a great effect by giving one tone to the wind while the strings play the rest of the harmony. bursts of fff and ffff are stronger than anything one hears in Bayreuth, for there the orchestra is subdued by depth
15RAFAEL JOSEFFY.
16VAN DYCK
17THE GREAT WAGNERIAN TENOR
18In America February, March and April
19R. E. JOHNSTON, Manager
20ST. JAMES BUILDING BROADWAY AND 26th STREET, NEW YORK
22HAMLIN
23ADDRESS FOR TERMS AND DATES
24Berlin, Germany
25Concert-Direction
26HERMANN WOLFF, Flottwell St. 1
28GEORGE
29DANIEL
31BEDDOE
33ALEXANDER PETSCHNIKOFF
34RUSSIA'S GREATEST VIOLINIST
35Beginning November, 1906
37For Concerts and Lessons
38ADDRESS LETTER BOX 38,
39NORTH TARRYTOWN, N. Y.
41FRANCIS ROGERS
42BARITONE
43DIRECTION LOUDON CHARLTON 45 West 45th St., New York
44RESIDENCE
45FELIX HUGHES Baritone
46Concert, Oratorio, Recital
47Management: HENRY WOLFSON, Residence: 4803 Carnegie Ave, Cleveland, Ohio
49GRACE HAMILTON
50MORREY
51Concert Pianist
52PUPIL OF LESCHETIZKY
53INDIANA MANAGEMENT.
54MRS. CHARLES B. FOSTER, Frankfort, Ind.
55Personal Address
56188 West 10th Avenue, Columbus Ohio
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