New-York tribune., 1875-02-23
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
MUSIC.
CONCERT OF THE oRAroRIo SOCIETY.

coScFRT OF THE ORAroRIo SOCIETY.
yor their second concert of the season, the
NevYork Oratori0 society under the oirecuon OF Dr'
I~opod Damroscb produced last night at stenway
Hall three SELECTIONS from sohubert's splendid
Ma.. An 4 aat and a composition in cantata
vorr from the nm OF conductor. The text OF
.RYth and Naomi" Is taken entirely from the Bible.
II stves in BRIEF story OF Rdth interspersed with
few Appropriate of praise from the Psalms and
closing with . reference 10 the coming OF the Rcdeemer'
with which The history Of the MoabIsh woman has q
significant Connec ION DE- Damrosch styles bis work
scrpru-al iy" ant the designation happily chosen
10 siguIfy the Of the poem and the general
spirit Of the music well the modest dimensions OF
the composition rtten for alto tenor and
bass solo voices chorus fall orchestra and organ ana
contains sixteen numbers none of them long. Tue
orchestral Introduction the key OF dat major Is OF
Q gentle and trdnq al character. opening with SLOW
passage for The hurn The story proper begins with an
animated reotatlye for the tenor VINO throughout the
work takes the part Of the narrator This is succeeded
BY shor solo (YGomD, rec1tiro tempo, with neh
harmonic accompaniment coOtsining some nne con-
trapuntsl writing; and then occurs an impassioned
aria tor soprano (Run) Entreat me not to leave
thee the quick opening phrase OF which, twice repeated
Afterwards with nne efSct OF contrast Will De paruc-
ulary admired. A dicultchorus Thy mercy, LORD
"a In q di-nfed and vigorous vein. A Deautl-
1ul recitatve for the tenor so the two went closed
by single phrase for the bass tBoGsI. and next
follows q charming unaccompaDed chorus " The
Lord bless thee" Tle eighth number IL picturesque
aegretto consisting OF dramatic and prettiy colored
dialogue between BoI- Reaper (sOprano), and Ruh'
st the conclusion OF wsh Ruh and Three Redpers rep
resented Last night by the alto, tenor, and bass SOLO
voices), have quartet In the effective tempo In
the chorus Praise We lord" which closes the hrst
part OF the cantaia very striking and agreeable effect
pxoduced by sudden alterations OF 6S and q time
She beat Of eosEss remaining unchanged In part
second sfer Introductory recitatiVe Tor the sto
(6aomp and tenor, t1ero Is q somewhat pro
longed NOttsrno for the orchestra, In which grace
1ul and expressive phrase played nrst oy the
oboe then by voonoeos and vioas together In the
bass and reappearing after long interval Wnen the
bassoon and flute divide It between sthem, Will
attract particular attention. Tho Lord IS my shep-
herd- is an impressive chorus with accompanying
soprano solo (Ru sustained by the organ. reeita-
tive for tenor and leads TO a four-part male
shorus I'VE are witnesses this day. passing to
mixed quartet in which Dr. DamrOsch has made inge-
pious use Of curious old Hebrew melody This interest
ing repeated by the fun chorus The tenor has
little fragment Of narrative, and then the accompan
ment changes to an Adagio relgOsO, in the midst OF
which EaOpii breaks out IN prophetic ecstasy, Hail.
hall the Lnrd is with me-" ana the work closes with
.oIemn chorus, 20 come let worship" Dr
Damrosch has preserved tie idyllio character OF
ais SUBJECT and the orchestral parts abound with pas
tOra e1cs In many Of the chornses. which serve as
commentaries the action, he keeps strictly to the
standard oratolo forms but IN the dramatic portions
which f TO the solo voices the orchestra he shows
che freedom and Ooldness Of the modern SCHOOL Inc
audience received the new work with great and well
deserved favor; yet VIC sat- that II has been
fairly presented OF this kind depends upon de!
tcate nuapces OF expression which not to be OBJ
tanned from chance oIchesras and comparatively new
singers The playing last night was not especially del
icate or poetcal and was sometimes more seriously OF
fault The tenor Mr. Bschoff and the bass, Mr. Rem
nertz were very good MIS- Drasdil however, did not
make all mat she might made OF the alto part
and Miss Bedoe did scaut Justice the music OF Rr
Several OF the chOruses excellent but OF others the
most that N be said tho Society pulled through
them without any accideut
Their performance IN the Schubert selections which
opened the concert much better. The portions OF
the Mass chosen few and short the "Kyrie" the
"sanotus (wftbOut the Benedictue y and the "Agnus
Def" What exquisite fragments they were What de-
yot1op what majesty, What tenderness. and what
grandeur found in this precious composition! u"
tantaizng TO turn rich pages and think how
few of them we have been allowed to hear. The grand
harnonies Of the "Kyre Eleson." in which soiemnty
and pathos are 80 wonderfully combined were delivered
with Inc volume of and beauty OF expression and
the difficulties of the "sanctus" and "Agnus Del'
ware 40 well overcome that the audience probably did
not reaizs them. Now we the Oratorio Society
will complete their victory by giving us the whole Mass
Between tue Mass and the Cantata o solo by MISS
Drasdil was introduced-nOt the air from Hanueis
-semele" announced the Dills, but Beethovens In
ouesta tOmba," with string accompaniment. During
ona of the ptermissions handsome Offering OF flowers
WAS made 20 Dr. Damrosch by the members OF the
Society and it is announced that they will further es
t1fy their gratitude to him by singing Samson Tor his
ssneat some tune In the lnonth OF April.