Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-14
0 R G A N S AND MUSIC
What Particularly Interests Two Washing
tOnlans in Europe.
A Visit to BecthOvcn's Birthplace
DIR. Bischon Plays on the Masters
PianO-Fine Organs Heard.
Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| Like many otElSf Americans, L have fire.
duently had the music Of the common folk
| Of Germany eulogized by those person.
| favored by fortune by having been born il
the odd country" and still more by bring
ing them to our better land and had about
| concluded that l would be surfeited with
music. classical and otherwise, but all good
my first treat of this kind came in the way
OF a band aboard an excursion boat. which
We passed when landing in Bremen and Il
was So homelike in its quality that for a
| moment 1 was quite homesick
Perhaps it is because the season has
closed. but. with one or two exceptions, we
have heard music of the usual summer re-
| sort standard
At Cologne We. of course, visited the great
cathedral, with It's treasury filed with
| shrines and relics of great age and value,
| but the organ is an old one. built In the
| beginning of the seventeenth century, and
| much in need of repair; we could not make
| close examination of it, because we were
not possessed of the great amount of local
| influence necessary for such a privilege. At
| Bonn on the Rhine, pretty. quiet, shady old
! Bonn. with its university and its many
| gardens on the river, a treat was in store
| for us; it consisted of a visit to the house of
| Beethoven. in which the great master was
| born and lived a number of years; it is an
| old-fashioned three-story stone building,
preserved for its history by a society," who
| keep a guide there to show visitors the
many relics of the old master which are
| kept in the front building
The infant Beethoven first saw the light
| in a small. second-story back ROOM with a
| low ceiling and gable roof. into which the
visitor is allowed only to look. A plaster
I N n hn az Nla -.
\ In the center Of the room, and about IL lie
| several wreaths Of evergreen placed there
by admirers; there is ole from Rubenstein,
one from Jochirn, the Uolinist;. one from
Nikita, and two from English ladies' whose
| rames we could. not ascertain.
I'm BeethOveE's Home.
We had the great pleasure of sitting in
the very chair and at the table where the
master used to write, and one of the men,
cries which 1 shall cherish is that OF Leah
ing on the old grand piano. which was made
for Beethoven, and. together with a number
OF other visitors, listening to DR.. Bischofr at
the keyboard. playing the Adagio from
Beethoven's pathetic Sonata. An all day
ride up the Rhine on one of the splendid
steamers now running brought US to Bin
gen, where We remained day to visit the
immense monument of Germania on the
Niederwald. erected by the GERMANS in
honor OF their final victory over the French
the Main, by far the handsomest city We
nave yet visited. OF course we spent an af-
ternoOn in the famous palm gardens in this
CITY. VINO has not, who has ever been here.
sat under the trees, drank German beer and
smoked good cigars these brought with him
must add and listened to the good or
chestra IN an open air concert? But STOP
perhaps there are some who don't drink
lot while in Germany
from frankfurt we found 1t very con-
Nenient to visit Homburg Wiesbadan and
hoenlgstein At the latter place We climbed
10 the ruins OF The old castle of Koenigstein
which dates back some eight hundred wears.
IL was destroyed by the French In 1916, and
now ranks as the second largest castle ruin
IN europe After descending from the castle
rum and enjoying a good native dinner
served In the garden of the Frankfurter
Hon, pleasant drive of two hours over a
splendid road brought us to Homburg.. a
charming resort. much frequented by
Americans and English. situated near the
foot of the Taurus mountains.
Another Good Orchestra.
Here We found cur second good orchestra
giving concerts in the CursaaI gardens. 1t
Is composed of thirty-flve musicians, and
the two programs which we listened to were
composed of good class Of music, and very
we'll rendered. indeed.
We were unfortunate in finding the opera
season closed at Frankfurt, but We're well
repaid by visit of inspection to the Grand
Opera House. 1t is one of the finest In
Europe, regarded by many as Second only
to the Paris Grand Opera House. 1t stands
in the center of the Opera Platz, at the
beginning of the broad promenade, and was
erected about ten years ago at a cost of ten
million marks. 1t Is built Of white stone,
has five galleries, and for grand opera per-
formarces the orchestra numbers eighty
men. .
From Frankfurt we came south through
mn cal nf SfrItt ~ r1r1a
found the same musical condition, viz.
season closed. We, however, visited some
of the noted plano factories, among them
the old house of Shiedmayer, and also spent
half day In the Palace Rosenstein, filed
with rare paintings and statuary, the prop
erty of King William III of Wurtemburg,
then through the Black Forest and on to
ShaffhauSen, within the Swiss border.
Here we witnessed the magnificent spec
tacle of the illumination of the Rhine falls
by electric search lights and fireworks. At
this point the river dashes over rocks, form
ing a cascade for seventy or eighty feet,
and finally dashes over the large rocks
In the middle of the stream, and in
all falls about 100 feet, causing mist to
rise high in the air, and VIXEN all this, to-
gether with the high bluff on the south side
and the chateau on its summit, is illumi-
mated. the result IS wonderful. We wit
messed 1t from the north side, where we
were seated in the carriage which brought
US from the town, distance of perhaps one
mile
A Great Organ. .s.. ...
At Shaffhausen we examined the great
organ In the Protestant cathedral of st.
Johns. II Is a new organ, and contains
some valuable features; it has flfty-seven
speaking stops, sixty in all, with twelve
pedal stops and SIX sixteen-foot stops in the
manuals; 1t has one eight-foot cornet stop
of three ranks mixture, and colossal thir-
ty-two-foot open diapason set Of pipes, to-
gether with large number of pedal move
ments and such an organ in a city of only
1900 inhabitants; it is magnificent in
strument, and Is well played by the organfst
of the cathedral, who spent considerable