The herald., 1896-09-28
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! MUSICAL COLUMN :
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natus, soprano solo, Miss Winston; Ben
edictus, quartet, Miss Winston, Madame
Rubo, Messrs. Nuelle and Rubo; Veni
Creator ,Dressler, baritone solo, A. M.
Thornton; Agnus Del, alto solo, Miss
Lille Scanlon; the offertory piece, Salve
Regina, Madame Rubo.
The choir of the First Methodist
Episcopal church, Broadway yesterday
morning rendered Shelley's King of
Love and How Long Wilt Thou Forget
Me, o Lord? by Carl Pfueger, and
male quartet rendered by Messrs. Combs,
Granger, Cogswell and Cornell. In the
evening the choir rendered o Come
All Ye Faithful, by Novello; Like as
Father, by Hatton; I Am Alpha and
Omega, by Stainer; duet, I Sought the
Lord, from Costa's Eli, Miss Taylor and
Mr. Cornell; solo, Shadows of the Even
ing, Love, Miss Taylor; solo, Help Me
to Pray, by, Tosti, Mr.. Cornell; male
quartet, Wandering Jew.
The New York Sun is again In error in
stating that the managers of Ysaye, the
violinist, who was here in 1895, made
$4,000, says the Musical Courier. Mr..
Ysaye, the star, made $4,000 net, which
he took out of the country and invested
in. Europe. The managers made small
percentages, not over 10 per cent, on this
sum, net. They subsequently dissolved
partnership. No one of financial re-
sponsibility could afford to guarantee to
Ysaye or to any other violinist any such
sum as $4,000 net for season In the
United States. Whoever would be fool
ish enough to do so would become a los
er and probably bankrupt.
lean de Reszke, according to recent
European advices, has definitely made
up his mind to let the coming season
be his last upon the operate stage.
His intention, our informant continues,
is to marry the much talked-of COM
tesse and settle down to the content
ment of a domestic life upon his Polish
estates.
Never in the course of his career has
De Reszke had to suffer for the want
of money. His intended bride is popu-
larly believed to be an heiress in her
own right. and his last few seasons OF
work in this country have certainly net
ted him handsome profits, so that he
can without difficulty afford to give
up the stage.
Although during the past few years
he has ceased to be considered in the
European cities as one of the greatest
tenors of the day, he still enjoys an
excellent reputation abroad, and his
successes in this country have certain
ly been such as to lead him to believe
that he Is still at the apogee of his glory.
Assuredly he is doing we'll in disre
garding the example Of many of his
craft by retiring from behind the foot
lights while his star is still in the ascend
ant.
In his recent pamphlet On Conduct
ing Felix Weingartner of the Berlin
Royal opera expresses his dislike of the
modern "temporubato conductors" in
which class, however, he does not in
clude Hans Richter, Hermann Levi and
Felix Mottl, who simply carry out Wag-
nerS ideas regarding a poetic modifica-
| tion of place where the character of the
melody calls for it. What he means by
that term are the conductors who in
terpret the classics somewhat as a con-
servatory miss plays Chopin; and it ap-
pears that there are such in Germany
as elsewhere. 1t was Weber who taught
wagner the possible value of leading
motives, and Weber also anticipated
him partly in the matter of modifica-
tion of tempo when he wrote
Time should never be a tyrannical
Will-work; 1t is in music what the pulse
is in the human body. There is no slow
movement in which there may not oc-
cur the necessity of an accelerando:
there is no presto in which passages
may not be found requiring ritardan-
do, in order to escape sense of hurry
ing.
The London Musical Times for Sep
tember has an interesting article on
bach in England" from which it ap-
pears that there was once an English
Bach, not in the metaphorical sense. but
in the literal sense. His name was John
Christian Bach, and he was the eleventh
son of the great John Sebastian Bach
He lived in London from 1853 till his
death in 1882. He was we'll known fig
ure in musical and fashionable circles
and enjoyed all the prestige attendant
upon his appointment of Emusic master
to the queen He lived in great style
in London and kept his carriage; but he
died in poverty and debt, one of his
creditors being his own coachman, from
whom he had borrowed $500. He was
Bach in name only, having none of the
genius of his family. He used to say in
relation to his brother Emanuel: MY
brother lives in order to compose; and l
compose in order to live" Consequent
ly his music is now forgotten while
EmanuePs is still highly valued. The
London Bach did nothing to bring for
ward his fathers music, for which he
had splendid opportunities. Indeed, he
alluded to his father as "the old wig"
and evidently had as little conception of
the immortal value of his works as mu-
sicians in general had al that time.
The well known English composer and
critic, f. Corder, went to Bayreuth last
month, and he was not pleased with the
doings of Cosima Wagner, who prides
herself particularly on the way she
drills the singers to act. mot to mince
words the singing was vile and the act
ing rudimentary." says Mr.. Corder, and
he asks: rs there no stage manager in
Bayreuth who can force these sticks to
go through the numerous little bits of
stage business so necessary to fill up the
orchestral pauses?" With the orchestra
on the other hand, Mr.. Corder was i'm
mensely pleased. 'The sound of the
wood is so tender, the tone of the brass
SO nellowed and the quality of the
strings so rich that though we have far
better players in Covent Garden we
cannot come within measurable distance
of the total effect. There were pian-
issimos on the strings-and notably on
the six. horns for the Tarnhelm music
which only the greatest conductors can
obtain" 1.-THE sound of the Bayreuth
orchestra, and the acoustics of the Bay
.reuth opera house, are so vital to the
true effect that all other performances
seem total Misrepresentation of the
composers intention There are two
sentences in Mr.. Corders letter which
should be especially commended to the
attention of Mr.. Grau of New York and
London: "The really astonishing seen
iC triumphs aided the success more than
most musicians would believe. 'Rhein-
gold was lifted from the realms of pan
tomine to those of poetic drama"
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