Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-04-24
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The O0uoerf NJ, RnuraNaw Hva0Ina

10 ne Eitors aT fle DAILY Press:
On Thursday evening, while the streets of
Cincinnati were discordant with war news
small audience assembled in the Gath olic
Inttituts Hall, and listened TO the precious
and immortal harmonies of Beethoven, No
cart, and Mendelssohn. -
: The programme was well selected, though
entirely made up of the compositions of
German masters with one exception), they
were masters of three distinct schools. First
came that delicious morsel by Beethoven
the musical Colossus, the terribly sublime
"Prometheus overture; words are made
quste TO describe the weird beauty of this
piece. Then q concerto BY De BeTiot. He
wss composer Of rhapsodfes; his compost
tions are formless, but full Of tender feeling.
As for the executsnt, he Is perfect master
of his instrument, one who would gain lau-
rels from the most fastidioua audiences.
Then MoEarss Symphony in G minor. The
Andante is q wonderful composition. No
cart the jOvial, composes patheticslly; Fall
staff writes love-poem. Listening TO this
piece, one hardly knows whether to weep or
TO smile. One little figure Is repeated over
and over again, In ever changing forms.
Now 1t seems the song Of troop of fairies,
Turing love-lorn knight from his mountain
castle; then like q soornful laugh; now It
sounds like lovers sigh; then a malicious
smile now a cataract of tears; then a wild
burst of merriment. Mozart was a cosmo.
poll aD. He described the passions of human-
ity SO far as they we're visible, he painted
| reality and the outer life of man. Beethoven
was hermit, and from his own great heart
| he brought the pictures of human passions,
which his wonderful ideality made palpable
In forms of endless beauty. Mozart, being
more easily understood, will always be the
fayorite of the masses. Beethoven, always
of the poet and philosopher.
The overture by Kalliwoda is, perhaps,
one of his best works; but even admitting
that, we are not paying him great compi-
| ment. Then the 'Concert-stueck," by Won
Weber. This Is undoubtedly one Of the
prettiest piano eoRcertos ever written. Here
the superior musicisnship of the performers
was shown. At one point the leader, the
seloist and the orchestra were at variance
yet efter slight furry they all resumed
their places, so that very few In the audience
could have known that any thing had hap
pened. Lastly came "March" in Mendel.
ssohn's "Athslca" How those heavy tone
masses, bearing on their surface the rich
melody, rolled along like pean Of victory
swelling the lungs of a million of laurel
crowned warriors. Mendelsshon is eveI
beautiful, aud this is his great fault Hi
beauty grows monotonous. His music ha!
not the vigor OF Beethoven's. Like tht
beautiful, perfume-laden scenes of the East
its beauty Supplies one. On every page o
his music his oriental origin may be traced
Professor Ritter has held a bouquet of mas
ter.howers to our olfactory organs, saying
"Come and drink these perfumes, all l asl
Is, that any outlay for binding together AMI
rearing these flowers be returned. And
the conditions suit you, and If the flower
delight you, you shall have the choices
flowers, the rarest exotics in the herbariuu
of music The audience was small, w
fear the outlay was not balanced by the in
come. What have the Cincinnati music
lovers donef Did they mean to say: "W
do not desire to hear your second, third
seventh and ninth symphonies, your Fidelic
Coriolan, Leonora and Egmont overtures
} your Mozart your Haydn, your Berlioa
your Wagner, your Chembini, your Ros
sini" Or did you mean to say First W
must uproot the discomfort in our Govern
ment again fraternize our separated broth
ere, heal the wounds Secession has inflicted
,, in one word, save our country; then, tbs
being done, we will come and listen to th
eloquence of musics golden tongue"
Let US hope so. Next to religion, music
the greatest of all revelations. 1t is abov
poetry, though 1t is poetry, but the quinteE
sence Of poetry. Music begins where poetr
throws away her pencil in despair. Owe
the gsmut of human passions, which def
the skill of the poet and the painter, mu
sic Ieigns supreme.
Would to God we had an 0rpheus to-day
70 tame our wild political beasts W.