New-York tribune., 1884-01-13
MUSIC.
,oov,vN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.

Tho fourth concert OF the brooklyn fhllnars"h'"
s.;o,v which took place last night IN the Academy
- Music introduced Herr Henry Schradieek' VioIan-
% numerous and appreciative audience The
s;s, of compositions which made up the programme
.-as familiar one, but the performance was re-
s,o,tabe in several respects. and the concert can
- down as the most brilliant of the season.
The programme was as follows:
s,mpbonv. No g unfinished ............ Schubert
Concerto for violin, No z + minor. ;.-...oPonr'
Over, urc "King Lear" op 4.-..... Berlloz.
symphony, No. 5, c minor hee'no'e"
Tn the two symphonies the band was strengthened
,v the doubling of ali the wood wind. After the
ssplts attained at the first concert TAT when the
exneriment was made with the "Eroica" SYM
nbonv) and again last night, there ought never 10
be Que tion as to the propriety and excellence OF
sneh procedure. The want of balance IN
Io,ce hand. as ordinarily composed, has been
commented on for a long time, and at the Schu-
mann Fest in Bonn about ten years ago the orches-
FRA was given double wood with great gain OF
meIlovness and richness in the body of tone.
That orchestra numbered one hundred and
twenty players-nOt many more than
were employed in the concert 'aSt
night. 1t would seem as if the thinness in the
word choir has grown up during the last sixty OF
seventy years, for it is on record that In per
formances of /" The Messiah" with Mozarts added
acoInpanments early in the century, the proportion
maintained in the orchestra was oboes, car
inets and 4 bassoOns 20 IS viollns, DIVIDED
evenly into frsts and seconds and this was the lh-
strumental complement TO chorus OF less than a
hundred voices In the time of Bach and Handel
the proportion of wood wind was much larger the
oboes then being used US ripeno Instruments in the
nronorton of one oboe to three vions True the man
ner of writing for the wood wind has undergone
great change since then, but ii is fact which Will
scarcely be successfully cOnestep after the demon
stratiOn Mr.. Thomas has given us that WIN
the strings numbering eighty men the
usual wood wind instruments must be doubled
if they are not to be swallowed up IN the
tuths by the combined strings and brass. Inc gam
in sorority and hOmOgeneiy of tone IN the concert
last night was most marked; and this fact, COM
bined with the fire and precision with which the
reading was imbued, made the performance OF the
c minor symphony one OF thrllhhg
interest. 1t ought to be stated, how
ever. that neither in this symphony
nor in Schubert's lovely torso, was the added
wood wind used all the time; they lent their voices
chiefly TO the tattis.
Herr Schradeck who was a stranger to all but
very few of his listeners, submitted his powers
TO a severe test and won tribute OF entluSlas-
tic applause He is at present a resident OF
Cincinnoti and the head of the violin department
of the College of Music of which Mr.. Thomas was
once musical director. For about eight years be-
fore he came to this country he was teacher
at the Lelpsic Conservatory, aud the principal OF
the yioins of the. Gewandhaus orchestra,
having been called 10 both places on the death OF
Ferdinand David. This master mad been ms teacher
for time alter he had carried away the frst Pilze
at Brussels in 1888 In the Belgian school he en-
joyed the instruction OF Leonard. lie was pro
dizzy as a child, beginning study ON the
violin with ais father, boy
of four years. and playing the violin
part of Beethoven sonata before he was six lie
ranks high among the violin players Of to-day, but
higher a teacher -,
Herr Schradieck's playing was that of splendid
lv schOoled viOn viTtuOs0 His left hand Is phe-
nOnena and if his bOw-aTm falls short III anything
it is not in power. With 1t he controls noble
tone even and rich in quality. and very powerful :;
His style is marked 10y and rcpOsetulness, and
a simple dIrecness that is admirable IN one with
such extraordinary equipment. HIS chief aud
almost only want seems to be warmth and SYM
pathy. lie vas enthusiastically appauded after
the Spohr Concerto. and responded To the
recall with perpetual motion" study ieyldently
an original cOmpOsitiOn) requiring strength OF
wrist that it was wearying even to think Of and a
lghtness III bowling that few ylOllnists possess 1t
is 60 oe hoped that he will be heard IN Aew-iork
before the season ends.