New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-26
MUSICAL COMMENT.
SOME NOTES ON THE DELPHlC HYMN
GOSSIP FROM OVERWHELMING AND siNdiN'
TEAcHERs-MME. LINEFF


Those whose interest in ancient music has peen
ouickened by the discovery OF the hymn to Apoi.o
at Delphos in May Of last year VIII DE p'easeu ~
learn that Novello Ever Co.. OF London ana Ne"
York have published the six Greek hymns VINO"
have come down 10 us from antiquity Al e"e1p
and handy form. with translation OF the 'eA's az.
notes by c. F Abby Williams. 1t is to be regretted
that the Reinach version OF the music oi ."e
HYMN last discovered IL not given In the pamphiet
but It can be had separately for tribe or as d
supplement to THE Musical Times OF June l. pun
lished by the firm The relics of Greek i',u''.
which the world possesses can be cataiosueu no
follows
written IN coMmenoration Of the Victory in
chariot race gained by Hero or h'ero ron syst pb
iIshed by Athanasus Kircher, who claimed to nave
discovered it in old manuscript OF P' n,nn,s
script is now ios but there be reason
to doubt that Kirchers statement was rs, n nnv
accepted the music a genuine relic OF the
ancient Greek art but also as r, af ee PSaa
This is IS the best known example of Greek music
1t having been reprinted in neary all the larger
hymn to CaIope. first published al9ng scs with
aS To a that f Of Se sGr PaosS
della Musica Antica Moderna" IN 1851 Gali tirs
pamphlet 9 Prm ne oTs OF Of the the
who at the house OF Count Verno 20 70
revive the ancient art. they invented the Italian
opera The hymn to Caiilope Is attributed o 20
Th its aBs 81 this y ysa discussed "s
history as no 2, attributed also to Dionysius'
Mr. William for S snsonsd nGt sE Of
hvmn to Nemesis, to which Galilei also
Ted aesa snSp Of II at tie the
proved though there is evidence that LIS az ,he
soc yrnG renrv D. wrote this Nemesis. The
manuscript from which Gaei copied the nyIns ~
ri tbo ' nnouitv OF at least the hymn to Nemesis In
the fact that three Of It's verses have been sv 1ogna
o oS cvrene. who aourshed in the nth century;
8. hymn supposed TO be OF o aa.e F.nhesus en-.
gravcd on small pillar Of marble set v W by
who bore the name OF sekiiosc ; nr snan dosf
thou live vex not thysef with vain cares The tn,
Life doth endure but ,s short wh''e' It's e''"s Will
g. The Hymn Apollo engraved on 81, p paTSIe
slabs in the Of the the nench al
cal school Athens Two Of the fragments Oh n .me
mar Of s he HMM 80 has been
supplied the restoration OF the teXr am lion for
fessor Theodore Reinach the musicai 'ra"Sia'o i''
the report Of the school,
There have also been found some fragments OF
tragic ode by EuripIdes. but they are nor eA-
tended enough 10 be OF any value An aruce vi
ancient Music in The Tribune Of last Friday dis-
cusseA some questions raised by the EFFORTS 70
transcribe the Delphic Hymn TO Apollo which nave
been made thus far. 1t Is the opinion OF the writer
that the hymn employs the enharmonic genus OF
the Greek whose fundamental scale-scheme Is
tetrachord consisting OF a semi-tone spit IN t"o'
a third (say one-quarter sharp; IA. Renach
refuses TO consider the hymn enharmonic on the
ground that Aristoxenus who wrote probably
century before the hymn was composed says that
the enharmonic genus. which employed quarter
tones. was already fallen into disuse In his day.
The statement in question comes from Putarch's
book on music. which is a compilation OF passages
from oder writer's chief OF whom was Aristoxenus.
For the sake OF the Information which Is TO FOL-
low the passage IS given here In translation 1t VIII
be seen to be an attack those who repudiate the
genus:
But those who live now have pushed into the
background the most beautiful or the genera, the
one 10 which the ancents devoted the greatest zeal
because Of Its veneraby so nst s ew sapa an
even OF apprehending the enharmonic intervals ana
they ;e have N' advanced the notion that the nhar
monte dess a. e. the division OF uhe tua me-
precable by the senses: and they exclude /, from
their melodies. They say thsA those men were TOOL
hsy whS SCI up hs S ana o on the
OF their contention they adduce their own inability
10 apprehend such interval. As II everything
which escapes their ears were nonresident ana I'M
practicable.
Now Of to-day are In the same boat with the
gentlemen whom Plu,arch Cor Aristoxenus) cudgels
in this paragraph. We can't understand how the
Greeks could sing the quarter tones, OF now they
could find beauty In them even II they were sung.
But anybody who has paid the slightest attention
TO the subject OF National music knows that this
Is absolutely no argument. 1t is on record that
some polite Chinese once laughed loudly at
Schubert song and were as much nonplussed at the
notion that the singer should think II beautiful as
'he was that they should take delight in their
music Our system Of music has been developed
out OF the Greek datonc system through the
ecclesiastical modes OF the Middle Ages and the
modern conceptions OF harmony. II we had not
quit hearing quarter-toneS we should doubtless
still be able 10 distinguish them tuneful inter-
walls. and II Is not at al improbable thing that
in the course OF time we shall rentroduce sys
TEN of smaller intervals than the sem-tone In
order TO enable the art TO continue In Its pro-
gressive All OF which makes recent COM
municatlon by Professor Gustav Enge to the
"Vossische Zeltung" in-Ciermany. particularly In
terestng. Professor Engel has cabinet organ
built IN strict accordance with mathematical pr!n
cipes in which octave is divided into thirty-six
tones: that U.s. each OF our sem-tones Is represented
by three tones Some OF these tones are trife
less some a trihe more than quarter-tone. and
Professor Engel says he cannot only distinguish
the interval. but with little practice can sing It.
Mr. James A. Douglas OF Elmra, who has been
In attendance on all the festival performances at
Bayr~uth this year. writes letter TO friend from
which the following extracts are taken. The Miss
Brema referred to In the first paragraph Is one OF
the singers said TO be under engagement to Walter
Damrosch for his German season next February
After the nth performance Of "Parsifal Rosa
Sucher surrendered the role OF Kundry TO Marie
Brema, who afforded grateful relief from Frau
SUCKERS unsuccessful efforts emphasize the
ductve side of her character In the garden scene.
Miss Brema has adequate personal charms. Her
voice heard to advantage and her impersona-
ton was well conceived and attractive. In the light
of her failure to perceive the dramatic requirements
OF Ortrud. her role In "Lohengrn." the success OF
her Kundry is the more noteworthy.
Considered as whole. "Iohengrin' is the strong
est performance OF the festival Nordcas Elsa
stands forth as the shining success OF the season.
The demand for "Lohengrin' tickets has been I'M
precedented. Nordica Is studying Elsa In
French for the Paris opera performances In Octo-
Der She has also been engaged for series Of con-
certs at the I.eipsic Gewandhaus. The chorus work
~. -