New-York tribune., 1882-02-19
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA
ppooK1yy PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.

80, room the music was heard
with many evidences of understanding anu "u-
miration and there were no unto"aru n''s"'P9 ~
aim the extraordinary brilllancy Of the aiar' Inc
programme was as follows; s.,,,o-,
Ara . r1TdC9 od S,i' NE .tio BY Hermann Brandtj
,,r,,-.,,o, Act Ill "Medea ".... Cheru0ini
Aretta In qu.sls tS1iDs Sa19s Louise cary
,sv-,nbopv to Iantes Divina Commedia "--..-LsEt
Zoos which went straight to the hearts OF all
,,o-. the two movements from the eighth Of
scbnbert's symphonies aud the anetta by
poatnovon. Familiarity with these lovely crea-
,ions has not essened bat increased. the admrat on
which they always inspire and it is seldom that one
can turn from hearing OF the Schubert fragments,
especially. without wondering If the reason that
The concluding movements were never writ en-
was not because tho composer, with all
his other gifts had the one of self-cuticism.
and preferred TO leave a torso rather than append
members which might be less beautiful 1t would
surely have tasked the genius of a combined Mozart
and Beethoven tO sustain any longer the eXtraordi
nary spiritual exaltation felt and gwen out in both
of these movements. They were played by the
band last night with unsurpasSable elegance of tone
and most embracing poetical feeling.
Miss Cary paid a compliment TO the patron Of the
society IN the choice of the great air with violin
oblgato from the Passion Music" and il IS to be
set down TO the credit of the audience that
they seemed to feel its nolle be Iuty and
recognize the artistic manner in which il given
By the singer and Sir. Brandt. 1t evoked hearty
applause, which was continued till Miss Cary had
twice made her Acknowledgements from the stage
More emphatic recalls 70 lowed her singing of
the Beethoven ariettA, and in response she sang in
English. Il have lost my Eurydce from Gluck's
"Orpheus'
Mr. ThOmas's admiration for LISTS music has led
him to strive with some persstency for years to
bring about a general appreciation of the two
symphonies which it is claimed are the crowning
works OF the ilustrous Abbe's creative activity.
Last year al a Philharmonic concert in this city,
he revived the symphony to Goethe's Faust and
now ter the symphony to the Divine Comedy
had been permitted to repose for several years he
again brings il forward. under circumstances which
were extremely favorable for It's comprehension.
These two works stand toward the better known
symphonic poems of List as the old-style sym
phony did toward the concert overture. Toward
the classic symphonies they bear an
anomalous relation, for they do not answer any
of the definitions which might be formu-
lated 10 describe the character and
attributes Of the old work. They negative nearly
ali of the long-cherIShei principles regarding FORM
harmony and treatment IN symphOny-writing AID
establish goal which is essentially new. II Is
difficult at this day to avoid
ing that the new and wider purpose
which he has gwen to instrumental music is one
that has been accepted greater or less degree by
nearly every new writer Of mote. And that the
fierce pole meal warfare which was wag.d
over the question Of the pcruiSs-
blity Of music with explanatory pro-
granmcs has been to all ntents and purposes
Settled in favor of the writers OF programme
music. In tins there is a recognition that the adj
vance in music Is toward greater accuracy III ex-
preston q, well toward a widening of the prov
ince within which its motives found.
IL both aspects the benefit con-
feucd by tie use of explanatory titl,s
or even extended programmes IS plain. OF course
abuse Of the verbal comm. ntaTy must be jealously
guarded against and the truth must never be over
looked tlat the final appeal in passing judgment on
the art work to the beauty and expressly ness of
the music and not to the ingenuity of
the programme. The primary yalue Of the hitter is
that il hxes starting-poinr Tor heareE fancy
its next that it quokeus the operation
Of both perceptions and fancy-the
media through which musical phenomena
src received A programme can make the perceptions
more susceptible 10 the beauty of the tOnal sequence
Is: it can inspire thoughts which viii stimulate
pleasure II can prevent a gross misconceptOn of
the character of a musical compost ION and the in
teutiOns of the composer. All these things are un
demably good from any point Of view. and they are
being accepted even by the purists. We do not
that sue an acceptance couprls a loss of iiealty
in music, and without going 50 far as to say that
al that Lisz has done III his sl mphony TO the D
vine COMEDY" seems sound and healthy art to our
mind, would yet pom to il a striking exam
pie of what genuine depth OF poetcal expression Is
7 tl. 20
ness in parts of the Inferno which is suggestive
of a tendency toward graphic deineati H.
and which has always seemed to Us
a mistake. If the blessedness of heaven so far
tIansceuds all possibility of delincauon that List
with command of devices which. by
a suIpassi-gly beautiful combination Of
classic church music and the perfection of
modern refinement in Instrumentation, dcyelopes a
TRANSPORTING apotheosi' and yet takes us only to |
The thr shod of Paradise also does the misery of
Ill endless he'll exceed the capacity of any |
known or imaginable musical apparatus. List
certainly recognized this, aud we are less inclined
than most persons to find attempt at denea'iOn
IN any part of the work. The ethical idea which
List read out O Dante is that the inhabitants of
the internal regions are plagued everlast-
ingy by a knowledge of the hOpelessness
Of their state. The most pregnant musical motive
Of th@ piece Is that which fits the words of
the dlrefu curse, "WhO enters here leaves
all pc behind" and the dramatic man
Der iii which the mOuotonc phrase is
given out at intervals, 1eTnatural tones, as a
comment on the episodes which were borrowed from
the poem. makes PLAN the composer, purpose
Liszt refused 10 write programme 10 the
work, but at it's second performance. in
sos thereabOuts, accepted the one writ /
en by Richard Poll and printed it a preface
10 the score. From this we know that one of these
psOde. is the meeting between lie poet and the
ll-starreG but guilty lovers, PG0td and francesca
Ia HiniH. Brief as is the episode, IT
: full Of significance 10 the composers
plan, and peculiarly grateful I, his hearers. mas
much as Al gives them from the horrors of the
" Shirlwnd and the ravlngs of the damned. The
overs speak " while The wind is stled for a
L. l.. l.. IL