Books › Musical Courier 1909-05-05: Vol 58 Iss 18, 1909 › scan 27
Scan 27
Musical Courier 1909-05-05: Vol 58 Iss 18, 1909
29 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 28. See the scan on archive.org.
1(no line here) one of two readings
2THE MUSICAL COURIER one of two readings
4MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., April 24, 1909.
6Richard Czerwonky was at his best when he appeared here on April 18 with the Symphony Orchestra, playing the Bruch G minor concerto. A few months ago the editor of THE MUSICAL COURIER said: "When all is said and done, the three greatest concertos for violin are the Mendelssohn, the Paganini, and the Bruch." And after hearing this performance Sunday we are inclined to agree with him. Mr. Czerwonky is now on tour with the orchestra, having been engaged as concertmaster and special soloist for the six weeks' trip through the West. It has been reported locally that Mr. Czerwonky would be concertmaster with the orchestra next season, but the writer can say positively that as yet he has not been engaged—not even tentatively.
8Johanna Madden and Lily Hammon presented pupils in recital at the Unitarian Church April 21. The piano pupils were Kathryn Fjelde and Bergliot Hafstad, and the voice pupil, Corinne Thompson. The writer did not hear the entire program owing to two other concerts, but that part which he heard was certainly delightful. Miss Thompson is a gifted soprano of eighteen, and with years seems bound to develop into something far beyond that attained by the vast majority of students. The piano pupils gave a good account of themselves both in their solo numbers and in the duets for two pianos which they played. The writer was particularly impressed with Miss Fjelde's playing of the Chopin ballade, op. 23, in G minor. Eugene Skaaden played the accompaniments and Josephine Curtis played the obligato to the berceuse from "Jocelyn."
10If one does not care for the words, but only for the music, then one would get positive pleasure out of the Arpi Male Chorus. That was the writer's position at the concert of this chorus April 21 in the Swedish Temple. Nearly all the songs were in the Norse tongue and nearly all the 1,500 people in the audience understood that language, so they got the combination of fine singing and accurate pronunciation. This chorus comprises only seventeen men, but they sing with a sonority rarely found in a body of fifty male singers. It was, in fact, the finest thing the writer has had the pleasure of hearing in the male chorus line for several seasons. The shading was superb. There were no sudden changes from fortissimo to pianissimo, but there was plenty of both and both used with discretion. Hjalmar Nilsson is the director of this chorus, and he is to be congratulated on the finish which his singers have attained. The chorus was assisted by Eleonora Olson, soprano, and Oscar Anderson, tenor. And by the way, let it be known that Mr. Anderson has a beautiful tenor voice of the lyric kind and uses it with skill.
12Sunday afternoon April 11 a new orchestra made its debut. It was the Y. M. C. A. Orchestra under the direction of M. D. Folsom, and it gave a good account of itself in selections from Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Rossini and Verdi. There were sixteen young men in the orchestra, and they played without piano accompaniment, which made the work all the more enjoyable. The orchestra comprises four first violins, four seconds, viola, cello bass, clarinet, flute, two cornets and trombone. That is a pretty good orchestra, and every man in it can play. We look for some good music from this organization before long.
14OSCAR HATCH HAWLEY.
16LATER MINNEAPOLIS NEWS.
18MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., May 1, 1909.
20"Bethany," the new cantata by Dr. William Rhys-Herbert, had its first performance before a large and attentive audience in the Hennepin Avenue M. E. Church last Sunday afternoon. The church seats about 1,500 people, and long before the time set for the performance every seat was taken and people were being turned away from the doors. In the congregation were to be seen most of the well known musical people from both Minneapolis and St. Paul—for all wanted to be present at the first performance of this new musical work by one of the most widely known and popular musicians of the Northwest. The theme of the cantata is the death and resurrection of Lazarus, and the text was written by William ApMadoe, of Chicago. The scene is the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany, in which Jesus spent many hours of rest and contemplation. In the first part Jesus is in Bethany and the pilgrims and disciples some down from Jerusalem to see the Master. They are met by Mary, Martha and Lazarus with a song of greeting, and after they leave Jesus goes up into the mountain for silent prayer. In the second part word is brought to Jesus that Lazarus is sick unto death and Jesus is asked to hasten to Bethany. The Master goes to Bethany and is met by Martha, who informs Him that Lazarus is dead. Jesus assures her that he is not dead, but only sleepeth, and going to the cave where Lazarus is laid calls on him to come forth. Such is the story briefly told. The musical setting by Dr. Rhys-Herbert calls for six solo voices supported by chorus and organ or orchestra. The performance Sunday was given by a special chorus of forty of the best singers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, assisted by the regular quartet of the Hennepin Avenue M. E. Church. The characters are Mary, soprano; Martha, contralto; Lazarus, tenor; Jesus, baritone; a messenger, tenor, and a disciple, baritone. The solo parts were taken by Mrs. May William Gunter as Mary; Mrs. Frank S. Tisdale as Martha; O. T. Morris as Lazarus and the Messenger; U. S. Kerr as Jesus and the Disciple. The work opens with an instrumental introduction and processional chorus. In the distance are heard strains of death. Jesus says that the "Sickness is not unto death, but that the Son of God may be glorified thereby." Jesus prepares to go at once, and his friends and disciples burst in with "Master! Oh, Go Not; the Jews Will Betray Thee." Nevertheless, He says he must go and departs from the mountain (Bethabara) to return to Bethany. While He is on his way to the home of Lazarus there is an instrumental bit, an "intermezzo," which is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole work. The theme is that of the male chorus, "The Lord is My Shepherd," and it is worked up to a beautiful harmonic structure, which is impressive and somewhat dramatic owing to the reminiscent theme. The scene shifts to Bethany, where Mary and Martha are lamenting the death of their brother. They sing a duet, "If Jesus, Lord of Comfort," and bemoan the fact that he was not there to spare Lazarus. Sorrowing friends unite in a song, "Darkness and Sorrow." As they conclude Jesus appears, and Martha sings sadly, "Lord, If Thou Hadst Been Here My Brother Had Not Died," and Jesus answers, "I am the resurrection and the life." Then the chorus bursts out with "Thou Are the Son of God." Jesus says, "Where have ye laid him?" And Mary leading the way to the cave where her brother's body lies, sings, as did her sister, "Lord, If Thou Hadst Been Here." Reaching the tomb Jesus says, "In the deeps of human sorrow there is but one comfort," and while singing he weeps. The disciples sing, "Jesus Weeps, O Tender Hearted," and then all the chorus unites in a song "Life and Love, O God Eternal," in which Jesus sings an obligato. Jesus then says, "Take away the stone." Lazarus comes forth and chants a prayer, "Father, I thank Thee." All give thanks in a great chorus, the climax of the work, "O Life Divine, O Love All Glorious." Lazarus now sings "Thy Voice of Love," and all draw a little way apart, and Jesus sings "My Hour It Draweth Nigh." Then comes the closing song for chorus, quartet and soprano obligato, "The Everlasting Song." The two parts of the cantata are greatly contrasted. In the first part all is peace, the mind is at ease. In the second part there is swift moving drama and not a moment when the imagination is not filled with the possibilities of the situations presented. The music would hardly be called descriptive, yet it follows faithfully the emotional intent of the text. Some of the choruses rise to great heights of grandeur, and many of the solos are almost exquisite in their loveliness. The chorus "The Kingdom of God," which closes the first part, is truly splendid, and will probably be sung much apart from the work as a whole. There are also three of the solos which can be used separately—the tenor solo, "Thy Voice of Love," the soprano solo, "Thou Art the Light of the World," and the baritone solo, "My Hour, It Draweth Nigh." But one of the finest solos, though very short, is that given to Martha in which she says "Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died." This comes at one of the most dramatic points of the work, and the composer has given it such a character that it rends the heart. The grief seems very real, and few there are who can listen to this with dry eyes. Dr. Rhys-Herbert is a modern musician, but the music he has written to this cantata bears none of the ear marks of modernism, save that he does not bring the second part to a climax with the traditional fugue. While he is a stickler for the classic in music, yet he has made this concession to the modern trend of art, and, perhaps, it has been for the betterment of the work. In speaking with the writer about the music, Dr. Rhys-Herbert said it was not his intention to make a great music drama, but to make such a work as would be available by the many choirs and choruses throughout the country. And that is just exactly what he has made. It is not "The Children's Crusade," or "Job," of "Elijah," but it is "Bethany," a beautiful cantata that will be gratefully received by those choral societies anxious to give some new work that is good enough to pay for the time which will be required to learn it. And this cantata is good enough. It is singable, but it will by no means sing itself. It will require good work and plenty of it on the part of any society that takes it up, but will well repay all work spent on it. In reviewing the performance here Claude Madden says in the St. Paul Dispatch:
22The impression created upon the attentive listener was such as to compel his most generous praise for the general excellence of Dr. Herbert's score. Melodically, the work is of refreshing charm. Several of the themes of the numbers given to the chorus will soon establish themselves in the musical mind and heart as firmly as only works of the "first class" have heretofore succeeded in doing at the hands of composers already famous. A transparent simplicity of musical utterance pervades the entire score. No wallowing in the depths of questionable musical speculation is at any time apparent.
24The choruses, scarcely without exception, are of telling effectiveness, three in particular rising to a height of dramatically intense and graphically vivid power. The various portions of the work given to the soloists representing the principal characters of the drama are carefully and appropriately wrought. The vocal setting of the character of the Lord can safely be pronounced a distinct achievement in the domain of the modern sacred cantata and reflects decided credit upon Dr. Herbert's dramatic and sincere interpretations of the Biblical scenes as they unfolded themselves to his feeling and imagination.
26Harlow Gale has this to say in the Minneapolis Daily News:
28The music is decidedly more of the classical romantic order than
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.