Scan 5
Musical Courier 1927-04-28: Vol 94 Iss 17, 1927
90 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1HASTINGS, ENGLAND, OPENS FINE NEW HALL WITH FOUR-DAY FESTIVAL
3HASTINGS.—For many generations Hastings, which is on the Sussex coast, was deemed to be sacred to mid-Victorian respectability, invalids and bath chairs. Lately, however, the City Fathers, especially one Alderman Cox, who is a live wire, determined that Hastings should move with the times. They therefore decided to build a concert hall which should meet all modern requirements.
5The hall—known as the White Rock Pavilion—is now an accomplished fact. It seats 1300 and has ample standing room in the gallery. It has another hall of about the same dimensions underneath, with a soundproof floor between them. Two military miniature bands can play above and below simultaneously without interfering with each other. It may now call itself the best hall of the kind on the English coast; but in or about June next its supremacy will be challenged by the new hall which is being built at Bournemouth.
7On April 6 the Prince of Wales, besides performing other functions, declared the Pavilion open; but left the town in the course of the day, before the beginning of the Musical Festival, which started in the evening, and continued for four days. He no doubt acted wisely in his own interests, for classical music is one of the things which he does not like, neither do any of his august family, which is a pity, because, the British character being what it is, the Royal Family's patronage would have made a great difference.
9CAMERON, ALIAS HINDENBURG
11The director of music in Hastings is Basil Cameron, who is a musician of real ability. He has had a strange eventful history. Before the war he thought, as so many of us did, that a German name would be a great asset in musical life, and he assumed the surname of Hindenburg, which, as it turned out, was a most unfortunate choice. However, he has now lived it down. The orchestra under his command numbers normally between 30 and 35, and for this occasion was increased to symphony strength, with the help of some prominent London orchestral players, especially Mr. Leon Goossens, the oboist.
13The first concert proved that the acoustics of the new hall are excellent. Mr. Cameron conducted the Fidelio overture and Dvorak's Carnival Overture, and at other concerts Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol with great vigor and polish. The chief interest in the festival, however, centred in the visits of eminent composers who conducted works of their own—some of them new.
15The first novelty was a Festal Prelude entitled The White Rock, in honor of the name of the place, by Norman O'Neill, which is a good specimen of a dignified pièce d'occasion. The other composers who conducted new works of their own were Brent Smith, who had an overture called Barton Fair. This is an extremely genial jolly and straightforward piece of work of a kind which should always be acceptable at concerts of light music of the best kind. York Bowen's contribution was a Rhapsody for cello and orchestra, which was beautifully played by Miss Beatrice Harrison. It is a little inconclusive. Adam Carse's overture to the opera Frithjof is a dramatic and well knit composition and well scored.
17SIR EDWARD ELGAR CONDUCTS
19Edward German conducted his symphonic poem, Hamlet, which is a conscientious and ambitious effort to write in a style not wholly congenial to him. He showed much better in one of the dances from Nell Gwynne, which was excellently played. Sir Edward Elgar conducted his violin concerto, the solo part being played by Miss Margaret Fairless, an excellent interpreter of this particular work. Sir Edward also conducted his second suite from The Wand of Youth, the last movement of which, the Dance of the Wild Bears, was raptuously encored.
21Another interesting feature of the festival was the Romantic Overture by Arnold Bax for chamber orchestra, which is a characteristic piece of work, richly harmonized and beautifully scored, with wood wind interludes, which, with their somewhat grotesque vigor, form an excellent foil to the rest of the composition. The work has the defect that it does not somehow hang together as well as it might.
23The festival ended with a Beethoven concert conducted by Sir Henry Wood, who got excellent work from the orchestra, while Mr. Poushnoff played the E flat major concerto with his usual brilliance and elan. A. KALISCH.
25BERLIN'S CONDUCTOR CRISIS IS SETTLED
27Twenty-two Year Old Orchestra Leader for Opera—Schönberg's Music "Popular," Compared with Berg's
29BERLIN.—The Municipal Opera is in search of conductors. Bruno Walter needs colleagues and assistants of a more pronounced artistic individuality, than the collaborators he has had thus far at the desk.
31Thus a number of conductors of note have been invited to give guest performances. At intervals we heard Egon Pollak, from Hamburg, and Ignaz Weghalter, for many years conductor of the very same opera house, who has since then tried his luck in America. His fine conducting of Aida showed that the public at least, is fond of him. Nevertheless, he did not win the race. Neither did Friedrich Denzler, at present Kapellmeister of the Zurich Opera, who conducted a Meistersinger performance without previous rehearsal and evinced great power as a leader and fine qualities as a musician.
33The directors of the Municipal Opera were still more impressed by a very young man of twenty-two years, Georg Sebastian, until now assistant of Gustav Brecher at the Leipsic Opera. Young Sebastian has acquired in Leipsic the reputation of one of the most gifted conductors, and not only of the very youngest generation, to which he belongs. The verdict of Berlin after his Aida performance was equally favorable, in fact he manifested such extraordinary capacities that his victory is easily understood. The final result of this conductors' crisis is this: Fritz Zweig, Kapellmeister of the Municipal Opera, remains in his position, and Georg Sebastian is added to Bruno Walter's staff.
35MODERNIST CAMP-FIRE TALES THAT DIDN'T PROVE TRUE
37Hermann Scherchen, the robust and strong-armed champion of ultra-modern orchestral music, has given his second concert, devoted to the prophet of the new creed, Arnold Schönberg, and his two apostles, Alban Berg and Anton Webern. What ought to have been the sensation of the evening, the world première of Berg's Kammerkonzert turned out a rather disappointing affair. Fantastic tales had made the round at the camp fires of the atonal battalions regarding the unheard-of boldness of the constructive plan of this chamber concerto, consisting of a violin concerto and a piano concerto, both being played simultaneously as a finale.
39Whether these tales are fantastic exaggerations or are really corroborated by the facts could not be discerned at the actual performance, as the finale surpassed in confusion of sound the two preceding movements, so that the combination of the two movements was just as imperceptible to even an experienced and well trained ear, as the famous passacaglia with some twenty variations in Berg's opera Wozzeck. "Paper music" it is born of an intellect with a mathematical turn, and far from the strong emotional atmosphere, which in Wozzeck pleads for music, in spite of all extravagant orgies of clever intellectualism.
41The reception of this very long, extremely difficult and little enjoyable concerto was respectful, but not by any means enthusiastic, even by the fire, water and Schönberg-proof radical audience of the Scherchen concerts. The courageous soloists, Stefi Geyer (violin), and Walter Frey (piano), had a toilsome and ungrateful task to perform.
43Webern's five little orchestral pieces were also heard for the first time here. Pieces is a misnomer, as these "pieces" are finished in the time of seconds each, and consist of a few bars only. These few bars, however, are a concentration of strange sounds and wayward expression, a hot-house hyperculture of music of quite peculiar charm. Schönberg's chamber concerto, the last piece of the program, appeared simple and almost popular in comparison with the efforts of his pupil. It was played rather roughly by Scherchen, but nevertheless aroused a storm of applause.
45YOUNG TCHEREPPINE MAKES BERLIN DEBUT
47Alexander Tcherepnine's name was hardly known, before he was discovered at one of the last international festivals. The young Russian composer and pianist has now made his Berlin debut in conjunction with Paul Grüninger, the well known cellist. He gave us the first hearing, on this occasion, of his twelve preludes for cello and piano, op. 39. A number of these preludes were accompanied by the composer on several drums, instead of the piano. All of them are written in a "nine-tone" scale, rather hard to discover at the first hearing. The preludes abound in rhythmical and harmonic complexities and curious sound-effects, but also a good deal of dryness, and the final effect hardly seems to pay for the intellectual labor applied.
49The Guarneri Quartet has finished its cycle of eight concerts. Starting with a very modest body of visitors, the quartet has kept increasing its reputation and its popularity from time to time, and it has now gained a prominent position among the most accomplished European quartet organizations. It has had the constant pianistic assistance of Cornelia Rider-Possart, who acquitted herself of her varying tasks with good grace and musicianly skill. The last program contained Reger's fine quartet in E-flat, op. 109, magnificently played, and Schubert's favorite Fornellen Quintet, with Leberecht Goedeke, the valiant and popular double-bass soloist of the Philharmonic Orchestra.
51I. S. C. M. CLOSES ITS SEASON
53The International Society has also finished the cycle of its concerts with new compositions. The last program was performed by Lydia Hoffmann-Behrendt, pianist, Stefan Frenkel, the well known violinist, and Hans Mahlke, viola of the Havemeyer Quartet. I heard Albert Roussel's second violin sonata, a refined, though not very powerful composi-
55THE AUERSPERG PALACE, IN PRAGUE, a magnificent baroque building where Beethoven lived in 1789. On the left of the entrance is the Beethoven memorial tablet, also pictured here.
57RUDA FIRKUSNY,
58Fourteen-year-old piano virtuoso, whose improvisations have attracted so much attention in Prague.
60tion; Gorgy Kosa's six bagatelles for piano, strange little pieces of very modern scent; and Ernest Krenek's five piano pieces, op. 32, rather dry compositions of little artistic weight. The program contained, besides the pieces mentioned, a sonata for violin solo by Alexander Jemnitz, and a violin sonata by K. B. Jirak, from Prague.
62H. LEICHTENTRITT.
64CZECHO-GERMAN RIVALRY TO CELEBRATE BEETHOVEN one of two readings
65CZECO-GERMAN RIVALRY TO CELEBRATE BEETHOVEN one of two readings
67PRAGUE.—The Beethoven celebrations have come to a peaceful close in spite of several little contretemps which disturbed the even tenor of their way. Instead of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under Felix Weingartner giving the Missa Solemnis and all the nine symphonies as originally planned, only the Mass and the ninth symphony were performed. For the local music societies, knowing the popularity of this organization, prevailed upon the government to cancel the other eight concerts and thus "protect home industries!"
69The chorus of the German Singers Society took part in the ninth symphony, and the "Hiahoh," the most famous Czech chorus, sang in the Missa Solemnis. In these two instances since both performances were beautiful, everyone was satisfied.
71Not so, however, at the unveiling of a bust of Beethoven which has been erected on the house where he lived in 1798. The government forbade a German society to sing a chorus because no German words were to be heard on this occasion, as a result of which precaution the Germans remained away altogether.
73STAGE VERSION OF MOUNT OF OLIVES
75But these little troubles did not prevent the New German Theater from giving a performance of Fidelio with the new scenery and stage management of Alfred Roller from Vienna, nor the Czech National Theater from making the successful experiment of giving a scenic performance of the oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. Also the Czech Philharmonic gave all the nine symphonies during the past few weeks without any noticeable difficulties, and all the German and Czech chamber music societies devoted themselves to Beethoven. As a crowning effort, the Czech State Conservatory performed all the instrumental works, with the exception of those requiring full orchestra, within twenty days.
77NEW OPERA BY NOVAK
79Aside from the Beethoven activities the Czech National Theater brought out Viteslav Novak's lyric opera, Grandfather's Legacy (Grossvater's Vermächtnis), immediately following its world-première in Brno (Brünn). The success which its admirable music deserves will, unfortunately, be seriously retarded by its poor story.
81Verdi's La Forza del Destino, with Werfel's new German text; Bela Bartok's Marvellous Mandarin, and Dohnanyi's Veil of Pierrette are the three latest novelties to be given at the German Theater.
83During Vaclav Talich's absence there have been five guest conductors, Franz Schalk, Felix Weingartner, Bruno Walter, Alexander Zemlinsky and Bernardino Molinari, and it has been most interesting to note how differently the same orchestra plays for each leader.
85Nor have the choral societies busied themselves only with Beethoven. The Hiahoh has brought out Lorenzo Refici's Triptychon Franciscanum, which was performed with such effect at the St. Francis celebrations in Assisi last year. Refici is a capable contrapuntalist but he is so strongly influenced by Puccini and other Italian opero composers that one often has the feeling of listening to an opera finale rather than an oratorio.
87The Philharmonic Chorus has sung Dvorak's Hochzeitshemd, and the German Singing Society, under its new leader, Emil von Schmeidel, has been giving delightful performances of Mozart and Bach, besides a number of other fine choral concerts.
89Solo recitals have swelled to such numbers that, if I wished to give a detailed report, I could produce an imposing list of artists who have appeared here. But since that is not
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