New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-08-03
A MUSICAL PILGRIMAGE.
TWO HOURS WITH DIR. CHRYSANDER.


-HAMBURG's MUSICAL PAST - BIS
MARcK AND DIR. sCHwENNGER'
yaoM STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRBrNEl
Hamburg, July is.
.s . rooro accident that set the pilgrim,
~. IN dreaming and then TO investigating In
a,c.1 ,ra,. in this old IIansa town. 1t is true
=. had nurnosed when he set ont Oh his pilgrim
20 carry awav.from here, if possible copy of
,to score of one of those early operas. whose pei
,o,nance AZ the old theatre in the Goosemarke'
,,,o centuries ago gave Hamburg an honorapc
n,ace in musical history; bnt the maUtr was
holly ont of his mind when he attended the
to,.noon service in the Church OF 81 Nichael
~ Sunday After the bencdictlon, CURIOSITY 70 see
,hs organ which had proved splendlolN eh'cie"V
&, .be CONGREGATIONAL hymns sent the Wahuerer
;n,o the orcan-loft. Once there the courteous at
..r,;on of the organist soon brou@h' IL W pass
49, .ha Modern commercial city drifted out of
mind and in its place arose t'e VI" "O", "
carvnor onero-the place where the youthful
Handel won his first spurs rs an oiNi"
,rbore h. MT Reinhard Keyser, one OF the most
-. ~ Of his time 10 shame. and where
-. bl.ssod bir brass button saved his hear' from
81 ;ris;tixe noint of MatthesOns sword. n
no.roit Of this same old Matthcson singer, actor,
sns;chordist composer. conductor ana father OF
III sucb as handle the critical pen IN HcrmahN,
ou,rs tho uvramid of colossal metal pipes DIS
,ored in the front of the organ-case. and a La'lh
,abst on the gallery-front celebrates ms virtues
for il was he who established the fund for the
buildng Of the organ. Neither the lhstr"nio"'
nor the Church of ST. Michael dates nacK L"
Mattheson's time however; they are only t''"e
over century old, the originals having oech
destroyed by lightning. The organ is SAID 10 nave
bcen built by pupil of Sibermann ana 'ho"sn
Il has too few foundation stops to he an ehliicS
satisfactory instrument for modern Uses IL Has "
rich sorority and nobility of tone 'hat
render il remarkably impressive In 'he chor"'S'
I,s mechanism, is oll-fashioned. the various
orrore henr coupled by pulling the entire Key
Haords forward. n task which requires the use
-, 18th hands and considerable force. so that rapid
,horcos Of effects in this particular are ont OF the
o,ostion. The pilgrim had occasion, moreover
q, ,oorr +be aurroprateness Of the old German
farm .Orrelschlaeger" orsan heater as ap-
Mod N an organist, for being invited oN heir
Iuriam 10 try his fingers on the keypoaru' ho
found that when the full organ was drawn INC
kevs were marvellously stubborn, and Eleiucu Only
a. r,ossrre which seemed the equivalent oil
pound or two .,or ,bo
,,os in nonnIar memory, though he deserves
ho,,or fa+a chiefly because he fought duel WIN
Handel and came within an ace Tor rarre'
6ntton, of enrchine the ground al the oio "''''
market with some of the noblest oiooo 'n"' Wv"
conrsed in musicians veins. lhoush's VI no.
hnrr.s masi5al relics and past arose al once JUG
eabed house not far away, In when Men"o'9'o"i
n,os horn seldom remembered since the reVoi"-
~ :. 1890 IN Cc,uany restored Schumann 70
the r,pdestal from which the native OF hamo"iS
r.aed him the old Opera. scene OF Mattheaoh
Uondevs and Kcygcrs exploits. which stood on
al. snot now marked by a booksellers shop III the
c,oecmarlct: the magnificent COLLECTION OF nan
aers conducting scores bought for the CIV oN III
Friedrich Chrysander IN England ana now sheN
housed in the Municipal Library; Dr. Chrysender
ii-Dsolf-ouQht he not TO be set down as one OIL
rho most interesting OF all the musical rehcs III
= o old town? Why not visit him, the hVin2 COIN
o,ndium of Hamhurg's musical history anu i'"N
aers" =. porro
pot+or telegraph 70 him before going TO berse-
DIRT suggested Organist Burjam; " he spenoS a
,'ro,t dc,l Of time nowadays with his menu
Prince Bismarck -.o.,1a
RIO d;sno1oh was sent: Would it be agreeapie
. NJ CLrvsonder TO receive visit flom t'e
p;,crim ON the morrow? Bergedo1 Is eh Ni''''
from Hamburg ana the historians h"ihc - ooH'
distance outside the village pu' III u"o ~
,le wires brought back hearty "ciKotn"en'
ond next morning the pilgrimage was eA'oh"'' ~
. sidc,vjie excursion 10 rhe out-ol-'he way "o0',
trorn which for twenty-five years nave p1o''eN
IT. afr volume o that splendid edition. oil Han
s.rs Con,plete Works which. Dy an innoC'"
6c,ion. are represented as having peeh pun ~
shy Friedrich ChrySander for tne "erin"" i'""
c,..s Tho relations between that society ana
n, Cbrvsander are similar TO those "ilioh
,a.u.oon ,be rneditative tar who told tale Oh
shipwrecx and the cook captain ma -"
s,.ain midsbipmite and gigs crew Of the Dig
Nano,. For a few wears the society cohsspo
n DIR Chrvsander and Professor OerVlhuS' VI
Uo;aolhoro who wrote a book on Handel ana
Sbake.,eare and commented on the Bard OF Avn"
Nth Notwithstanding profundity In Inc carry
davs NJ the enterprise Professor GerVlnns COLI
trihuted an invaluable factor-hls circuit WIN "
nrbTsber in Ieipsic-but when he dled III 1871
DR. Cbrvsandcr had TO make Good 'ie iholI'E CIV"
yanced on that credit, and the CoihPie'c i-"''tC"
now stands on few hundred library sheiVes "S HIS
monument alone. 1t is unique acme WV
bnt the man who achieved II is an original ="
country but Germany produces men OF HIS hi"'
in numbers He is now siXty-four years oiu al"
two.tbirds of these years have bceh ue'o'cu y"
Handel A biography, ninetN-hVe VoiunleS Va 'n0
composers works. two phOtolithograpmc lac-siin
Ies ~ antnorapbic scores, three supplementary
volumes Of works of other composers from WHICH
Handel conveyed ideas and mass OF essays 'eS-
tty 10 the whole-hearted devotion OF this Man
70 his LIES task And he is yet, so he says hVe
years from its completion. lie has IN mana
catalogue for reference Of all flanders pieces d.
well as works in which every repetition OF me-
lodic idea and the source Of all the subjects when
Handel following the custom of his time, borrowed
from others are TO be noted This catalogue, an
extension Of the supplementary volumes to the
Complete Edition of Iandel's sources ana posi-
bly, the publication OF some Of the OratOrlos WIN
the vocal adornments formerly cxtemporized by
the singers supplied in the musical text ne Is
nOw experimenting in this manner with Deborah
..<.LalI.. hri,.r Ii. LII o.. nInsc L.cl