The herald., 1897-06-27
Stray Chords

Stray Chords
During the past opera season at Brus-
Mme Marie Brema.
1t Is announced in the German papers
that several Of the letters written by
George Sand to Chopin will shortly be
sold. From more points of view than
one they promise to be interesting.
Otto Floersheim. in his Berlin letter
to the Courier, says: "Siegfried Wagner
writes to me from Bayreuth under date
of May q that the three Nibelungen cy-
cles were sold out during the last fort
night, and he adds the remark: "A clear
proof of the victory Of honest labor
Well. well!'
A good story is told about a recent
Mottl rehearsal in London. when the dis
tinguished Carlsruhe conductor. whose
politeness Is proverbial, astounded an
unfortunate performer by shouting at
him Ass" 1t appeared, however, that
Herr Mottl merely wanted him to play
A fiat-in German AS.
Joseph Hoffman lately returned to his
residence in Berlin, after an extended
concert tour in Russia, in the course OF
which he played on seventeen occasions
in ST. Petersburg alone, with brilliant
success.
Another story is told in the Gazette of
the Orchestral association. 1t seems
that at Philharmonic rehearsals Mr
Eugene d'Albert is accustomed to ad-
dress Sir Alexander Mackenzie in Ger
man. Mr.. Joseph Bennett explains that
the joke Of course lies in the fact that
both pianist and conductor are Scotch
men.
Reports state that both Eugene Ysaye
and Caesar Thomson have been engaged
for a tour of the United States next
season. NJ. Ysaye is to arrive in New
York in October and Mr.. Thomson is to
follow early in the new year. Each are
reported to be engaged for 100 concerts
at a net sum Of 10000. Besides theee
two great artists, r. E. Johnston claims
that he has contracts with Norddca,
Marchesi, Gerardy, Pugno, Josef Hof-
imam, Guilmant and Plancon for con-
certs in America, and some of the con-
tracts include California. 1t will be re-
membered that Johnston was Ysaye's
manager the laet time he played here.
The London Telegraph publishes long
list Of illustrious musicians who have
lived and died during the queens reign.
1t does not include single name of the
first and second and few of the third
rank. Strange that a nation which has
produced such great men in all other
arts should be musically SO lacking in
creative genius. The names of the liv-
ing composers-Parry, Sullivan, Prout,
Mackenzie, Stanford, Cowen, Cum
mings-have better sound than the list
of the dead, in which Goring Thomas is
the only one who has done work of last
ing value.
At the last Richter concert in London
the program included a novelty entitled
"Idyllic Symphony" by F. H. Cowen,
this being his sixth work in that form.
1t has poetic basis. The first move
ment intended to suggest 1.-The pleasur-
able sensation of awake ming inthe coun-
try on breezy summers morning;y the
second, stroll through the fields; the
third, peace and religious meditation;
and the fourth, village festivities in the
evening, which last until night closes in
'The fact that was good musician"
said the lady from Johnstown, was the
means of saving my life during the flood
in our town few years ago."
How was that?" asked the young
lady who sang.
when the water struck our house my
husband got on the folding bed and
floated down the stream until he was
rescued"
And what did you do?'
well, I accompanied him upon the
piano"
Experiments have lately been carried
on at the Paris Academic des Sciences
with view of ascertaining the inf1u-
ence exercised upon the human voice by
electricity. AS the result, DIR. Moutier
assisted by NJ Granier, the accom-
panist at the Conservatory has estab-
lished the fact that the influence is a
beneficial one, the voice gaining both in
amplitude and timbre, and being rem
dered less subject to fatigue.
No end of praise is given Rose Ettinger
as the coming singer, and the present
singer in fact, the result of her success
full Berlin appearance. The facts of the
case alone, without any statement of
opinion, are volumnous and sufficient to
mark the debut Of this very young lady
as musical event. 1t is seldom that the
press notices of the debut of a young
American student in Berlin form
brochures" Such is the fact in this
case, and to the "new lyric star" well
come and all hail!-N. Y. Courier's Paris
Notes.
Miss Leonora Jackson, the young
American violinist, played at the elev-
enth Anhaltish musical festival held at
Coethen, Germany, May Sth and 9th, un-
der the direction of August Klughardt,
and was engaged at once for two orches-
trail concerts at Dessau next winter.
The festival programme included the
giving of the Creation" with a chorus
of 400 voices, and the performance of
Klughardts new Fifth Symphony"
which is much praised by the critics.
f. V. Atwater in his letter from Lon
don says: "The famous Kneisel quar-
tet is with us again, and although con-
certs just now are so numerou, it is
safe to say that few merit attention
so we'll as those given by the four mu-
sicians from Boston. London is singu-
larly blessed in the matter of chamber
music, but such exquisite playing as
that heard last Saturday at ST. James
hall is rare. The ensemble is absolutely
perfect, the tone marvelously full and
.rich, and the delicacy Of treatment,ren-