The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-12-26
A Letter on Ole bull.
Ole Bull as a M4sician-Ni gard Solitude OF the
Prdfriss

| properly, could be compared TO soup after des-
sert To write, therefore, regular criticism on
Ole Bull, Is as far from my thoughts as the wish 10
| eat soup after my dessert, or 10 render myself
willingly ridiculous. But, after all that has been
said during the last twelve months, It may not be
| out OF place 10 offer some remarks the hero OF
| the late musical reign-his career, without a pa
| ralle-hs success, and the interest II has created
| throughout the country. The many opinions
professional and proiesslonal-alihough, indl-
| vidually, hardly deserving more than passing
| notice, and, IN many cases, not even that-are,
notwithstanding, entitled TO consideration on the
| whole, since there may be drawn out OF them some
inferences- partly favorable, partly uniavorabe-
illustrating the question Of public taste IN America,
| which OF late has acquired some importance, or,
as the French would say has left the domain OF
| the s'petits ,ournaur" for that of the "grands
| 1ourndur," and has been elevated to the dignity
OF !" premier Paris"
On no living artist, with the exception of Rossini,
there has been written so much pro and contra as
on Ole Bull Since his first appearance in the thorny
rosegarden OF artiscal lie, he has been alternate
| ~ extolled and vifed- elevated and depressed
now deml'god, now Robert Macaire. he has
| been firebrand-an apple Of dlscord and conten-
| ton flung with Paixhan sun-lke violence into
| the uproarious campo musical harmony and social
dsharmony. II is, indeed, fortunate that the quar-
rel concentrated itself IN Ole Bull, and that the
| rival faction Of the Capulets had no Tybat to OPP
pose the Romeo oithe Montagues. Blood and strife,
broken mnms, disabled crochets and manned
quavers might have been the consequence, nay,
war like that OF the Checklists and PicclDlss might
| have been renewed in the nineteenth century,
The exploded objections 10 the Paganlnian school
| were reiterated the Fageoet was pronounced a
humbug, the psS icato claptrap, and the spianato
a never mind what, for the sole purpose OF crying
| down Ole Bull, or as the German proverb says,
"they hut the bag, but meant the ASS" And i
cannot be denied that they partially succeeded
Ole Bulls concerts in Europe were attended with
/ different, and Indifferent success. In Prague,
Berlin, Hamburg, and England, he was well re-
| ceived in Vienna, France, and other places, he
comparatively failed. In Pesth, he met Vieux-
/ tactIOuS
there was no blood shed. He has been furiously
| assaied by musicians and musical critics, VINO
drew the public after them, and away from him.
| The same spectacle was presented IN America.
| Musicians are nearly all against him; partly GU;
| OF jealousy, partly from conviction But here
| they did not prove sufficient authority with the
public, who mantully stood by him; nay, the pro-
fessonal attackswere, perhaps, the principal rea-
son OF his astonishing success with the unproies-
slona! majority. ;,
Although the mot of leading critic, who called
him the holy ghost of that school, whose father
| was Paganin, and whose son 10 Slvory-(com-
moaly called monkey PaganinD-will not be
generally endorsed even the odor OF blasphemy II
| carries in itself could be perfumed away, no.
body will deny that Ole Bull is one Of the greatest
genuses which ever existed: The violence with
which he has been attacked is sufficient proof OF
his being out OF the common way artist
The bad is passed over with contempt, me-
diocrlty is not deemed entitled 10 consider
| alton; the good alone-absoute or relative
| OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES The discussion 1t calls
i
soon brought TO an end the temporary shadows
giving way to lasting light. If the superiority be
relative or partial, that IS if the light IS not IN
| tense enough to eclipse and drive away the sha
dows, each OF them gains varying ascendancy -
Discussion follows IN the wake OF that ascendancy
and is alternately triumphant to he varqnshe d.
vanquished TO be triumphant, till at last both parties
grow weary. u follows cut OF II, that Ole Bull Is
something like an irregular musical beauty-the
| more piqIant through this irregularity-a great
artist but entirely free OF faulIsaults, visible
10 the gaze OF the musician, but lngenioasly and
artislically hidden from the less sharp intuition OF
the public at large Nobody Is perfect IN this trail
world.
Ole Bull is, in my opinion, an original in every
respect HIS general appearance, the structure OF
his body, his ideas, musical and socia-hls Ian
guage, but particularly his saU0ir fdire, are emf
| nenty original and unique: Although an Imitator
| of Paganini, he is sometimes original in his tm-
| tatlon. Vieuxtemps, with the openheartedness
which is inseparable from true genius, said to me.
SiUory est plus sage, mais ole Bull DIES chooses d
III (oivory is more, correct, but Ole Bull has
things proper to him alone.) But the fact itself Of
being an imitator of Paganini, although not a
| savish one, has proved a streng weapon IN the
| hands OF his opponents, the orthodox musicians.
| With them, absolute, not relative originality, IS
| conditio sine qua non In one who wishes 10 be
classed amongst the magnaies OF the res I'm OF mu.
| Sic Rosslni, for instance, was the best abused
"I his be o1 bm GT
distinction, to which hls many original qualities
entitled him, they were soon reduced to silence
| with the Just opposition OF his musical delin.
quencies--a silence which remained undlsturbed
| till he atoned for them with the partition
| Of Guillaume Tell Donizetti. with all his ndis-
putable merits, his inexhaustIbe fund OF melody,
his facility of writing, his perfect knowledge of
the voice, the skill with which he steers through
| the rocks of one sided system Of vocaization,
is treated by the orthodox with contempt, which
can only cease when he will be on the highroad 10
| originality, which he now tries 10 approach by
means OF short cuts and crosses through the varied
| fields OF musical invention.
If some of the reproaches made to his particular
| style OF playing not entirely without grounds,
| he is on the other side without superior IN man!
| points of mechanical execution. A graceful bow
ing, a neat, although not powerful intonation,
| stupendous velocity In passages, an ex
| preston which rather sav0rs OF German FIN
pcity than Of French mannersm, an asionish-
ing facility in overcoming enormous Difficult
| ties, will always ensure him the admiration
Of everybody, and he will always continue to be
the idol Of the public at large, who do not much
II other players excel more in the iegato, he takes
sa reuanchs in the stdccato, which never has been
given with more dazzling brilliancy Oi this ne
perfectly aware; he avoids the one AID intro.
duces the other, whenever there IS an opportunity
or possibility of doing it; if this opportu
| nifty does not present itself, he goes IN
search Of it, and very seldom fails TO find
| it; he erasps il then with more or less VIC.
lence, according to the more or lees difficulty he
| had in finding il. Hence, not unfrequenty, arises
an abuse of It. Moderately used, the stdccato re-
| sembes the smile Of an innocent beauty I'M
moderately, it is the loud laughing of a coTene
This abuse Of the stoccato, coupled with litiIe
thinness Of tone, is his only principal defect. he
| hrts too much with bis instrument, but II IS very
| clever and amusing Irritation. One must be very
| sly, indeed, to find il out; and If one in twenty
happens to do it, he cries holla pridcs himself
his discovery, boasts OF having found out the vol
/ from under the sheep skin, sets TO making prose
ytes, who easily found after the first tickle u
over Now begins the demolishing but Ole Bull
laughs at it he has taken hold OF the public, and
consoles himself with having on his eide the quan
| tiiy if not the quality.
| Since the production OF his last compositions
"The Falls Of Niagara" and "Soude OF the
Pralries"-pubIic attention has been more drawn to
| his merits as a composer. Ole Bull decidedly has
beautiful and original ideas, bearing the stamp OF
genius but he is less happy in connecting them into
i Inns lIiile 90 dkcaaLstLcs a excellen