Books › Musical Courier 1907-10-02: Vol 55 Iss 14, 1907 › scan 18
Scan 18
Musical Courier 1907-10-02: Vol 55 Iss 14, 1907
46 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 19. See the scan on archive.org.
1A JOACHIM TRIBUTE.
2Sir C. V. Stanford, in London Spectator.
4He satisfied without surfeiting, he warmed without scorching. He commanded precisely the right amount of emotion to touch the higher qualities of appreciation in his hearers, without ever by an excess of it over-stimulating their nerves or rousing hysterical passion. He appealed, therefore, to the healthy, and the few detractors he had (and they were not of this country) will be found among the worshipers of excitement and the apostles of humbug. It was this guiding principle which impressed itself so markedly upon two excellent musical judges of my young days, who had heard both him and Paganini. They unhesitatingly gave the palm to Joachim, not because he was a greater technical player, but because he thought of his music first and of his public afterward; while with Paganini the reverse was only too obvious. In one gift they found but little to choose between them, personal magnetism; though I gathered from them that they would have characterized the Italian's attraction as the more diabolically brilliant, and the Hungarian's as the more divinely intimate. They summed them up in the words, "Paganini for once, but Joachim for always." The late master of Trinity, Dr. Thompson, in criticising a young musical performer, put his opinion of Paganini in a neat epigrammatic form: "——'s playing always charms and occasionally—astonishes; and I may add that the less it astonishes, the more it charms." This cultivated gibe could never have been applied to Joachim, and, curiously enough, Thompson, whose contempt (whether simulated or genuine) for the pursuit of music was expressed in his judgment of it as "only a grade better than dancing," was completely captivated by the personality and intellectual force of Joachim when he became an annual visitor to Cambridge.
6Another quality which he possessed in a marked degree, exceeded, indeed, by no artist I have ever met, was veneration for the genius of other great men. This reverence, like his modesty, was innate. It was as evident in his attitude toward the masters of his own art as toward the great creators and inventors in other arts and sciences. Not that it was undiscriminating. He was big enough to grasp their points of weakness without unduly undervaluing their points of strength. But the reverence with which he approached anything savoring of criticism upon a great master was an earnest of its sincerity. To some moderns who think that he was personally prejudiced in favor of the Schumann school, and who know the history of his defection from Weimar, it may come as a surprise that when I asked him whom he considered to be the greatest pianist he ever heard, he promptly replied, "Liszt." I witnessed the first meeting between him and Liszt after their separation in the 50's, at the unveiling of the Bach statue at Eisenach. It was a trying moment both for him and for the large crowd of musicians, who, for the most part, knew all the events; but the perfect combination of dignity, deference and gentle grace with which he met his old colleague set everybody at their ease, most of all Liszt himself, that past master of elegant finesse and courtly tact. It was undoubtedly these qualities which lifted the standard of every performance with which he had to do, actively or passively, far above the ordinary level. His presence stimulated executants to do a little better than they thought they could, and listeners to understand a little more than they considered themselves capable of appreciating. It made one shiver at the least sign of inferior taste. It was these qualities which personally endeared him to a host of friends, undistinguished as well as famous; to Tennyson, Browning, Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliot, Landseer, Leighton, Millais, Watts, Darwin, Gladstone, Jowett, Grove, to mention only a few of the great departed in England alone. To what proportions would this list grow if it included Europe? In the Elysian Fields he will not have to look far for friends.
8MORE FAMOUS FIDELIOS. one of two readings
10The accompanying pictures are addenda to the collection of Fidelio portraits published in THE MUSICAL COURIER last week. Hiedler is at the Berlin Opera and Von Mildenburg at the Vienna Opera. one of two readings
12ANNA VON MILDENBURG. IDA HIEGLER. one of two readings
13(no line here) one of two readings
15SEASON 1907-1908
16OCTOBER to MAY
17First New York Recital, Carnegie Hall, Sunday, October 6
18FRANCIS MACMILLEN
19VIOLIN VIRTUOSO
20Return American Engagement
21NOW BOOKING.
22143 CONCERTS ALREADY BOOKED
23EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT:
24HAENSEL & JONES, 542 Fifth Avenue, New York
26(no line here) one of two readings
27MORE FAMOUS FIDELIOS. one of two readings
28The accompanying pictures are addenda to the collection of Fidelio portraits published in THE MUSICAL COURIER last week. Hiedler is at the Berlin Opera and Von Mildenburg at the Vienna Opera. one of two readings
30ANNA VON MILDENBURG. one of two readings
31IDA HIEGLER. one of two readings
33NEW PUBLICATIONS.
35(no line here) one of two readings
36It is seldom that among the younger composers' works such a strong and vigorous expression of musical sentiment can be found as in the "Six Vikingnes' Nature Studies" of Walter Morse Rummel, published in Leipsic, by F. E. C. Leuckart. Mr. Rummel is a very young man, the son of the late Franz Rummel, the grandson of Morse, the inventor of the Morse system of telegraphing. He has been studying in Berlin, and is at present temporarily in this country. This series consists of six numbers, all of which disclose a splendid technical command of composition, fine thematic material, richly colored and full of sentiment and rhythmic force. The set contains musical ideas fresh and vigorous, and originality is centered in them. They are really works of a serious nature that should be investigated by pianists. There are many technical difficulties to overcome, but these are not merely for the sake of technic, but belong to the construction of the compositions. If the Morse works were heard publicly they would receive a grateful reception. It is a real pleasure to be able to recommend the works of this young man, for they contain elements of the finest musical structure.
38The Oliver Ditson Company has published a little book called "The Commonplaces of Vocal Art," by Louis Arthur Russell, and after looking through the volume one will come to the conclusion that they are really not commonplaces, but very valuable and instructive essays which every singer can study with advantage. The article alone on the placement of the voice, explaining the focus, is worth the price of the book, which also covers such a proposition as tension without strain, and the development of the muscular power, and buoyancy of the body. All these are matters that should be read with a great deal of care because they go into the very center and life of the art of song. Mr. Russell must have been in excellent humor when he went into this philosophy of singing, and he must be congratulated on the publication. It is not a cold, platitudinous and academic book; it is an interesting work.
40Three songs have been received, published by Luckhardt & Belder, words and music by Grace G. Gardner, the soprano. The lyrics are called "It Is Springtime," "Summer Waltz Song," and "The Path Across the Mountain." Miss Gardner is an experienced and accomplished singer who understands the placement of the voice and its relation to songs; that is to say, the songs are written to be sung and not like a great many songs that are songs within themselves but incapable of reproduction. They show musicianly instinct and rhythmic effects, and one of the chief charms about them is the alliance of the text with the music itself, which is a fundamental rule in song composing, although not always carried out. They could be made effective in concerts and recitals if properly sung.
42Frederic Emerson Farrar, of Nashville, Tenn., composer of "A Corner in Elizabeth's Garden," has just issued some more of his melodious piano pieces through the Oliver Ditson Company. The new numbers are "Première Mazurka," "Antique Dance," "Gavotte Gabrielle," "Polonaise," "A Merry Frolic," "Birds on the Wing" and "Dancing on the Green." Like Farrar's previous publications, his latest will be found eminently suitable for amateur and teaching purposes, as they eschew all finger gymnastics and make a frank appeal to the ear without any sacrifice of their musical qualities.
44Morning Musicales in Newport.
45Augustus Hazard Swan, the singer, gave the first in the sixth series of morning musicales in Newport, R. I., at his studio September 26. He was assisted by the Mary Brooks String Quartet, of Providence, and William R. Boone, pianist. The list of songs included numbers by Coleridge-Taylor, Korbay, Ratoli and Nevin. Two more musicales will follow, October 10 and 24.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.