New-York tribune., 1882-04-22
NUSIC AND TIE DRAMA.
THE ORATORIO SOCIETY.

-, ,.s+ COMFORT of the Orat0riO Society,
,,h took place Stenway Hall last night was sigla
.~Shv ,be performance OF two unfamiliar works. The
g., was on Of Bach's church cantafas-an ingenious
ioo ~ music based upon old Lutheran chorale pe-
rtDir, .. Ach vie fluchtic" which, in the edition
srntch was used last night, was done into Eng
~ "a oVain and nceting" The style
=, those co,npositions, which written by the
German church musicians of the seventeenth and
.cbeent centuries for the various Sundays ana iest
val days Of the year. shown last winter AT one OF e
concerts Of tEo 7 ilharmonic society, when baoh
"En, fste Burg" in some respects the most imposing
n, the two hundred cantatas left by the great composer
was pe,lormed The one sung last night, like that sung
last winter has the Of the chorae separated by
rctaves and airs OF which the words are In the nature
NJ commentaries reflections the sentiments OF the
older hynn there the similarity ends 1t Is very III
feor in learning i'll beauty and in effectiveness ana mas
not tthe of tae power which gained for Luthers
hv1nu The title of The Marseiliase of the Reformation
The airs and rectatiyes sung last night by MISS
Hattie Louise sin1ns Mrs. Belle Cole and |. f. Mo
rawski whose work was uniformly GOOD, as was also
that OF the choir
The second portion of the evening devoted to the
production of a composition by Dr Da'nr0sch' 'ne
conductor of the society. We are at loss Tor name
for IT, since il neither cantaa oratoro nor
sacred opcra II is called Sulamith," and is made up
ri ten musical pieces Of which eight ore for solo voices
and chorus with instrumental nccompanimehls'
the text being derived from the Song OF
Solomon: the remaining numbers are prelude and an
orchestral inter-mezzo inscribed "Quasi Marcia Tor
rhch the composer also found motto In the biblical
noem We WISH for the sake Of the beauty OF most OF
,he text and its inviting fitness for musical
connostio that word Of hearty and unqualified praise
ld he uoken for the choice and arrangement oi the
verses and the music with which Dr'
Damrosch has clothed them, but no'hhG was
moro obvious during the performance, than that
1an1 1lDm
and its structural form completely ignored Inc VERSES
chorus were without connection, and the music Whs
dryod Of continuity except that which 1t derived from
tho fact that there occasional recurrence VI
thc samc meOdc ideas. The fact that the exquisite
Oriental nuptial song falls naturally into series OF
lovely iyls each one OF which, with s glowing Imagery
and ecsasc feeling. ought 10 have fired
q musician to create music equally
warm and luxuriant conceived dramatically as da-
logne or ly'icaly song and chorus, without sualhg
the language the least dstortng the poem seems 10
have been entirely ignored by Dr. Damrosch 1t would be
unfair say that this was through lack Tor
thetext when palmer aud all asufllcien reason lies
In the work itself 1t must have been
brought to the notice of everybody in Stein
way Hal last night that one OF the
largest numbers in the piece is the scene NO. o.
for soprano solo and orchestra, and that III 1t
the text paraphrase (and one OF ques-
tiOnable propriety in than respect
of the biblical verses instead Of the literal
version The explanation Of this find in tho crcum
stance that this composed several years
to German words. We remember to have seen it in
score in the hands of Frau Pappenheim In
June 1877, at the musical festival OF the
North American saengerbund in Louisville Ky. She
rurposed to sing it there, but the director
was not willing to attempt to drill 1t into
the orchestra in the little time left for
preparation. Afterward, We believe, 1t was
taken up here but the singer left the country huredy
and without waiting for the benefit concert at which it
was TO have received its first performance. Now it
eeems that DIR. Damrosch has constructed varied
work around this nucleus.
In Dr. Damroschs music there is little TO praise and
much to deprecate 1t shows facility in writing in the
modern vein, and command of effective instrumental
combinations but wants freshness, originality
and beauty in melody. chorus, Arise my Fair one
Is effectively written and last night created deal
OF enthusiasm and had TO be repeated,
bnt here, as elsewhere, the score is gnltess OF
The pastoral character well the Oriental color
which would to be the most essential thing, after
uxuriant melOdiOusness, in setting Of the Song of
Songs.
The - singers were Miss shnns and A. L. King and
they eservc credit for the eancsness OF their efforts TO
give the music the best possible Interpretation.