New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-05
MUSICAL COMMENT.
,,e,c,1, ART sOCIETY-OPERA FIG
rs AGAIN-A YEARBOOK.
,.osure TO recur 10 the concert {


,.osure 10 recur 10 the concert OF the |
II Is society which was given last Saur- |
Mnsc"i ot the Music Hall. under the direction |
day e'''1 III Damrosch For an institution with |
OF w. rt a social and fashionable appanage. the
30 "."' ras ushcred IN with most becoming MOI
" and with many signs OF honest ueVouon 10
es'E " ord be foolish TO wish to deny that mucn |
a'" .sbion does in the name of art Is hollow IN
'n' Inc and vain. and that very often the sood "c-
si"0e Sd even for the few. IS in inverse ratio to
~ axnenditure OF time money ana external SNOW
-. was extremely little of this sort OF 'h"is !"
49,, concert night before last. Few weak l'''VS
'"' ~ MAN may be attributed to a wish to humor
,orton of the public incapable as yet or diS'n-
lined 10 rise to the serious purpose oil '"e o's""
-, ,,,, they were not many, and some Oh 'hem
.oncht with them their own punishment ~ "o"'"
sove needed only slight modifcauoh ol tIe so'o
features and a little more merit Ill the i-',sH'"
r, songs and madrigals. to have made the schehle
.n,,relv consistent with an ideal ann MISS Mar
suerite Halls singing OF the dramatic ar DN'n'es
a. c,vx" MAS a mistake. not only because IL Is
considerably beyond her abilities but aiso oe,""'e
- integral an element of 1t as the orchest'a ac-
commitment ought not 10 have been saci''''eu' II
- ha that in time a purpose Will be serve" ID!
,he employment of instrumental oaiiu pu' "'''''
the forces are on hand nothing IN wh''" '"es are
sse,,ial ought to be attempted at cohcert Oh .he
eocietv That there is a NoiumhhouS an"
hodv Of COMPOSITIONS on which drafts ca" o1 ''''"'
Ar Greene demonstrated in all his ScIe'lio"S' "'so
A. ,sr,eau and Miss Hall herself IN the second
nav, Of the programme. As a rule we near eiious"
- fanatic music in all its forms ana 1t can WIN
~, ,oss he excluded from the schemes oI '"c
Musical Art Society. and the opportunity mus
gained be employed to bring TO nouce sumo ~ Wv
works of which the public, II not "honS s'
no.n only a historical knowledge. Ar Greene
,o,s ~ old Italian and German songs were
-, with an intelligent artists judgment Ioi-
r,re thcm II is only to be regretted 'hd' MS IN
,oration was treacherous in the carry part vi '"e
evening and that the accompaniment ,,,
,laved with full appreciation OF their s'!ie' i'
-. ror,ark oupht TO be extended 10 the uIld"sV
MON, of the accomplishments 10 the uc'"''.' -
songs Mr.. Marteau's contributions "e,e !" -,
~, taste and right in line with the character Vi
what was best in the concert. 80 were ''e wv -
o,,isite part-songs by Brahms, which "eie e
tho original tongue. Flawless gems are 'n'E ',
,o,,s oven severe in style, but surcharseu VIZ"
Gender feeling. After the Palestrlia "'uO'
us amazing exhibition of the superha'uln' ,,,...
,oiralle through pure triads, these songs were
m eloquent proclamation OF the caP"''F ar,.
,,oral EXPRESSION which lies IN moueri "''
Hotblng that was done spoke so much III pa
NJ pamrosch and his singers as the 7,e,
,ho,. dd ,hcir best work in the music oil fa'eS-
trina and Brahms
Something was said in yesterdays reeo'' "a
rc.r, concerning the necessary quahhcd''o"' "a
oooo,,nariel music ecclesiastical and secD'"i'
~ Rach and his predecessors. That ME- lam 49,
has full appreciation Of the difcu''eS w. 1
sns his choir he showed in the pieI"'0'' -
,rnted in the programme sheet Oh inc -,
u knows that the task is far from acco"lp'''"
even after he has organized choir oil pro,
s,roars Gifted with good voices and tr"ihou -
81 nousic .Oniy by the most careiuI p'e"u'"e
o. what must necessarily be HETEROGENEOUS ma
teral can the best results be oo'dl.1"' Nv
and he expresses a hope 'ultima'e! 10 "a"
ida,I standard of choral singing by means y.
-, ol, ~, ,ba mart OF the choir and the
a,orous svnpathy and support OF the pIo.'C'
2, az "r7bailv true that il is more 4ifcAit to.l
cure ho'iy ~. nan from a body of amateur
chorlsters The latter are naturally NOR an, ,,rk
to discp renerei effect while 500 singer
inst as naturally constrained TO strive aV' ZOO
amaieHr voices backed by the same degree OF eH
perience in reading and the SAINT h rood music
90 pach's motet is to he sung) II would uniouDIet
a. a. n ~ course OF wisdom to give amateurs me
De u cou - Drofcssonal singers. Unfortunately
This Is not the case, and MI l)AilVo7ch NJ pr
ehy done the wisest thing in beginning with pro,
aa oE r9 with the intention of making model
nrganzttion out of them, after which similar anna
ten ch ne be Ca" or tSe best amateurs r
offensive work. one difficulty viii be 10 Keep up
ire interest OF the members: II Is impoSSIDe; at
iesst for a While to give the singers of sucn a
choir anything ike the 81, dr 10 p WCn on
come from the pleasurabe satisfaction OF t
ifmt 81 q a
was most admirable: and the results were better
cal slips there were few, and in the music, when
Depended most for It's e9st upon to n lu& nar
songs Of Brahms. the tmbre OF the cholr was de-
lightful That the tone was not aitoge'her no
nogeneous is true; such result was ohiy natural.
II will take time ana patient labor on me part
of the conductor and much unseihsn strNng, on
end. At times night before last, the sopranos
sounded tri1e shrill. the tenors emitted a lew
o,d tba haGc
volume but the loneliness of tone ard good balance
a little later demonstrated that these defects were
due more to insufficient training than to the indi
vidual voices. The semi-chorus in The Palestrina
motet especially in the lines:
"Juxta crucem tecum stare
Te libenter sociare
In pianciu desldero
Virgo virginum praeclara,
Mill jam non sis amara,
Fac me tecum panSere.
nroduced tone ravshngly lovely in quality,
revelation OF the celestial beauty which rests o!
this composition like benediction; In nh. ne liaci
10 call for but that is always the case WIN th'
no matter how great the amplitude of sound Their
always seems 10 be room for more sonorous proc
vocal works the voice OF Bach is the voice O
a great multitude, and the voice of many waters
@Aeinia. for the Lord God Omnpotent relgneth,
Yet ws wlin h bs tem nooS'" 'u 'S' 'e
II seems 10 be equally difficult TO get at the simple
poan opera House watcher one aims TO be s ,n
truthful, like The Tribunes critic OF me mana
gers financial statement or simply desrous o
getting fling at New-lork like Il recent Wrl::e
In '"The Boston Transcript" Unwittingy, IN
Trlbune's reviewer in making an estimate OF TN
seating and earning capacity of the opera nous
YESTERDAY overlooked 100 seats In the orchesstI1
circle and thus cssened the total capacity sin
Giving the management the credit for this sun
makes the possible receipts with every seat sou
and no deduction for free seats and rebates to SUD
scribers $500 3d. In another column OF yestcr
days Tribune. devoted 70 news from the clubs IN
Information is given that the homogeneous re
celuts from the Vaudeville club for the lOi seat
in the omnibus box were nothing. 50 much 10
inadvertent error which Is corrected at the earl
est possible moment and for which APOLOGIES ar
offered AS for the article in The Boston iran
scrint II will suffice characterize II 10 stat
thai the writer accounts for the fact that opera
nv Possni and Verdi. which "ODce the rage,