New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-27
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA
Tie ORATORIO SOCIETY.

The Pathfinder with last nights cohoeiO " II
Oratorio Society would almost deserve fho P
nent visited upon an ancient critic VINO n"u nnd
out all the faults of great poe'' anu
,,rosopted them 70 Apollo. The god' says
the legend received them gracionsly anu ..
+bo critic bag Of wheat with the command th"o 10
s.0arate the good kernels from the chan. AHo
critic did the work with alacrity, anu "n'n
o.ue for his reward Apollo gave MN INC 'N"A
The Oratono Society last hRht ui NV
,,urchsse immunity from crl'icisin ~
foultless performance, but the measure u So
work done and pleasure Afforded 80 OWL
a. fo,,I,s committed as to put away all desire 10
snv,norate the latter. They were venial at the
worst and the outcome rather Oh phys
zeal inability than of want OF skill Vi
tndolence in study. The best testimony III
the world was brought to disprove any charges "
this nature by the spirited manner In when every
thing was attacked and the surprising dash anu 'ii
thusiasm with which the heavy choruses in the phi
,ipal work of the evening were carried through.
The programme was composed OF the oahc'us
md "Osapna'' from Berliozs Mass for the Deau, Us
psual combined in one musical piece, ana huDin-
v+ai,,s sacred opera THE Tower OF Babel Inns
work WAS given entire with the exception OF "iS-
Greet cut of dozen pages in one OF the .i"i USES
Signor Campanini sang the tenor solo IN the picco
from the mass and the part of Abram in the opera.
Mr. Rem1nertz. like the free-giving artist that he
il sang the remaining solos in the RublnSteh WORK.
uniting II himself the two characters OF ndS'"
Workman and Niiarod The fact that the opera lior
as such Rubinstein wishes 1t to be considered
and he has provided an elaborate apparatus
of scenery. mechanical and spectacular effects, in
cludinr a series of dissOving views to accompany
the music illustrative of the dispersion OF the tribes
was sung as on oratOrio made this dual lmpef-
sonation pardonable, but 1t ccn'd hot
helm causing a smile when thought
of in connection with the subect-matter OF 'he
opera and Signor Campanini's Italian text. IL GER
tainlv was All illustration of something like con-
fusion of tongues.
Both of these pieces were sung last May at inc ies
tiyal given in the seventh Regiment Armory. Ihey
were learned then byt Oratoro Society which was
the nucleus of the festival chorus. Several CIR
cumstances combined to make last nights perform
once mucb better than that of last May The
chorus was smaller but so was the hall, and there
was great gain, relatively, in volume of
tone. The extra study, too, made the
work more familiar; having less need OF
close attention to the words and notes. the sing
ers were better able to grasp the spirit and lnfuse IL
into their singing. All the way through the mas
Awe coruses this increase of confidence ana better
knowledge of the music noticeable, and there is
no question that the public is far better
qualified now to pronounce upon the merits OF kn-
bnstein's composition than 1t was after the mon
ster effort of last spring. That the music is OF
kind which gains greatly in interest by repeated
hearing we now know. and even the bass solos OF
Ni,arod and the Master Workman, which,
because of their unconventional cut, az
first made little appeal TO the appreciation Of the
masses begin to appear expressive pieces OF
writing that tell the spirit of the text with real Gle
Quence.
As,for the Berloz selection, while its simplicity
of structure required nothing more than a single
hearing to make it understood, the improve acoustic
conditions found IN Stelnway Hall rendered IL more
ENJOYABLE than it was before The charm of IN I'M
affected healthy body of tone well balanced as to
its parts and pure in intoDation, was present in
high degree in the singing Of the "Sanctus,' which
Is written for tenor solo and chorus OF Womens
voices The piece is q beautiful example OF Ber-
Iioz's skill in vocal writing. Its charm hes primar-
twin the lovely melody and the pure and close har-
monies of the choral refraiD and the Instrumental
accompaniment never Obtrudes itself. though IT Is
entirely unique among the writings OF
even this master of instrumentation. The halo
which is shed around the words and melody by the
high chords from the muted Strings, and the scarce
ly audible swish" of the cymbals, is al effect as
daring rs ii is beautiful, and, so far as we know.
without parallel in writings for the church.
The fucued "Osanna is proof Of Berliozs want
of ability as q contrapuntist. 1t needed not that
Cherubn should say of Berlioz that the fugue did
not ''love him. (BerlOz had said Je maine
pas la fugue y after this "Csanna" to prove
that he could not write one; it is commonplace end
unnteresting in every way Its only justification
for being is that it prevents the sweets
of the Sanctus" from cloying. Signor
Campanini sang the solo very beauti-
fully, but if its extremely high register
did not prevent IT, we should like to hear it given
without any of the signs OF effort or marks of emo
ton 1t is admirably. fitted for quiet, sus-
tanned, reposeful rendering; il should breathe an
the words of the trsagion themselves For the con-
ductor, the orchestra and MIR. ReTnInertz, whose
work was particularly onerous, w1rdsot commenda-
ton are due.