The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-31
SCHUBHRT'S NIGHT
The Eve Of His Birthday Cele-
brated in Song-Musi-
cal Matters.

The Schubert concert last night was with
good reason a gala occasion, since its date
came on the eve of the ninety-seventh anni=
the tutelary genius of the club. For this
reason the programme covers departed from
their accustomed white and gold simplicity,
and bore an excellent photogravure repro
duction of the composer, spectacles and all,
with the name and dates of birth and death
january 81, 1~797-November 10, 1929 in
small silver letters. Upon the inside cover
page was a brief biographical note, mention
ing his .precocity in composition, and
enumerating his principal works; several
operas. uniformly unsuccessful; eight SYM
phonies, of which one of the most character
iStically beautiful, that in B minor, remains
unfinished; six masses, the first of which was
written at the age of seventeen; various over
lures, string quartettes, trios al o~ctette,
duos for pianoforte and violin, many piano
forte compositions, and, of the greatest i'm
p~ortance, over 600 remarkable songs, upon
which his reputation chiefly rests.
OF the five Schubert numbers presented
by far the finest was might in the Forest. +"
For the choice of this noble composition and
for the excellent manner in which it was
given, the thanks of musicians are due to
Mr.. Baier and to his chorus. The indispen-
sable effect of the horns in the accompani-
ment was obtained by the organ, which was
used with the piano. The best work of the
chorus was done IN the intermedial passage,
'tIt echoes the woods and the mountain tops
Ger and in the finale, Then sing we as we
wander given with a gratifying breadth of
Interpretation
The celebrated "Serenade" was sung as
arranged by Mr.. Baier for male voices, and
sung well, with due regard to the poetic
beauty of the composition. The English
translation of the German words was as
about as limp as poor translations can be.
The arrangement was well made, carefully
hafmonized throughout, but the necessity of
emitting the instrumental accompaniment
robbed the song of one OF its most character
istic charms. Its peculiar character not only
exactly meets the conditions of the song, but,
like most of Schubert's accomplishments, is
indispensable to its proper development.
The ~interludes especially were to be missed.
LII this same arrangement could be given
with the accompaniment of, say a string
septette, its fidelity would be greater and its
effect better. The opening number, s.Salve
Regina" IN "The Night" were the remain
ing Schubert .choruses, the latter especially
noticeable for it's careful shading.
and double quartette, the former that old
standby, that indestructible '9Sa]ly in Our
Alley" by Messrs. e. M. Cockaday, Thomas
Adams, John Gillles and Edgar s. Smith.
The quartette sing together easily, their
voices blending well. The latter was the
humorous "a F~ranklyn's Dogge Leped Over
a Style,n by. Messrs. Thomas Adams, Cocka-
day, Gillies, Castens, Smith, E.. Hicks, f.
r. Morse and Frank Youmans. They went
through the serio-comic spelling bee in the
middle of each verse with great success, and
since this class of compositions seems neces-
sary to a programme, and especially relished
by our audiences, it is well to lave them
well sung.
About the closing number, "a Wet Sheet
and Flowing Sea-" there was nothing to
call for especial mention,
TIL SOLoISTS.
Nh. Victor Herbert, leader of what
was once P. S.. Gilmore's Band, identified
with many musical enterprises, one of the
best American ~'cellists, a composer of undis-
puted ability and a man of broad culture in
his art, was the soloist of the evening, upon
the instrument of his choice. After all this,
it might be expected that his cello playing
would be in the the nature of IN event. 1t
was. Mr.. Herbert is no doubt a master of
his instrument. He gets a smooth, pure,
round, tone, without undue scraping, his
technique is remarkable, and his interpreta-
ton thoughtful and scholarly. This leaves
very little to wish for. During the evening
he played, including recalls, two of his COM
positions, a ''Berceuse' and a "Petit Valse,n
1'Simple Aven'' of Thome, which, it is safe to
say, more people know through the organ ar
rangement, a scherzo of Van Goens, in
which the humorous quality was delight
fully defined, a tarantelle of Patti, and the
Chopin nocturne in f flat, opus 8, No. Q.
Miss Rose Scho~ttenfels, the soprano, made
her entrance with Schubert's ''Erl-King,n
that most shining example of the Durchcom-
ponirte Lied, every stanza having its wi
music, different from the others, and suited
to the peculiar needs of the words. In this
remarkable composition written in the com
poser's eighteenth year,, the singer must
represent, twill be remembered, five dis
tinct speakers-the narrator, the boy, the
father, the Fri King and the Erl-King's
daughter, each of which has a particular
form of expression. 1t will be seen how
much dramatic force and how deep an in
sight into the meaning of the song this re-
quires. In this respect Miss Schottenfels was
entirely satisfactory, although she made the
mistake of singing in German, when so much
of the effect depends upon a clear under
standing of the words. Her vocalization is
excellent and her compass extended, as
shown in her recall number, a pleasant little
bird song. Her second number was Gomez's
mia Picciarella," u in English. Miss
S~chottenfels' best work, however, was in the
soprano obligato to Phelps Haunted
Stream an extremely difficult part, and
one well suited to her voice.