The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-21

thoven, l find an account of the tragic
comical occurrence at the first performance
of the choral fantasy at Vienna, conducted
by Beethoven himself.
THE clarionet player, by overlooking
repetition, occasioned an Interruption. Bee
thoven started up furiously, turned himself
around and abused the members OF the or
chestra in the grossest terms and IN SO loud
q tone as 10 be heard by the whole audi
ence. AT length he cried: Begin again.
The theme was recommended, eacn per
former fell. in at the proper place, ana the
was over the performers, remembering 700
well the epithets which Beethoven had pup pup
licly applied to them, fell into the most
vehement rage, as Ii the affront had only
just been offered and vowed never TO play
Accordingly after this performance bee
thoven was obliged to stay IN an auJoliilhs
room.
In this period Beethoven conducted his
greater works himself on their nrst per
Torrance. AS q director he was nelner
good nor bad, but he did not nave, as we
have seen, the requisite tranquility ana sell
command. These annoyances were the
causes of frequent alterations with the or
chestra. Speaking of that first perform
ance-by the way, a most untortuna1e
event. shall mention that the ntroduc,
ton to the choral fantasy was eXtemporl1ea
and not written down until eight OF nine
months later The choral fantasy was not
only work new in ideas and etects; put
also in form. and is doubly reInarkaDiTT b ds
precursor of the Ninth symphony. ms
similarity is especially noticeable IN Inc
finale, where the chorus is employed. me
same as IN the Undle Oh the Min ~ ~
phony, he himself mentioning that the
style of the two is the same put more eA-
tended for the latter. The melody or the
chorus, by the way, is taken from an o iT
composition of 1897, entitled "Seufzer elnes
IUngeliebten. Now, is it too much 10
hope that at our next festival we may
listen to the sublime Ninth symphony
While listening yesterday evening 10 the
enchanting Euryanthe overture ana COM
pairing it anew with the music OIL ,, Whsi tba
there occurred to me the words. whlch tne
latter (Webers greatest admre) ,spohe
above his last resting placeIWoras SO
great so deeply felt and so truly charac-
ferizing the Importance of the great ro-
mantle master-that L cannot refrain
from quoting them here: Never mas d
German than thou. WhithersoeVer thy
genius led thee, into whatsoever measure
less realm of fancy, 1t remained neVertne-
less clinging by thousand tender ma
ments to the great German folk heart, with
which he laughed and cried like a credulous
child when it hears the fairy lore of its
native land-yes, it was this very childish
ness which gathered thy manly spirit IKE
a guardian angel, always preserving, II
pure and chaste, and in this chastity lay
thy characteristic glory. While you pre-
served this magic youth always undlmmeu
you had no need to invent or seek Tor
aught--you needed only to feel and you had
created works of truest originality. To
this magnificent Characterization nothing
can be added except perhaps Beethoven.s
exclamation as he once greeted WEBER:
There you are, old fellow, old devil of
fellow, greet thee God.
THE EURYANTHE OVERTURE.
In juxtaposition of the first choral fan
tasy performance 1 will briefly sketch the
opening production of "Euryanthe" as Sir
julius Benedict gives it to us. An i'm
mense crowd filled the Kaerthnerthor
Theater on the 25th day of October, 1928
Not place was vacant. The highest po-
litical authorities the flower of nobility and
beauty filled the boxes while in the pit
;1fr, - h
sent with the exception of Beethoven, who
sent most kindly message regretting his
inability to attend. A ludicrous incident
formed an unexpected introduction to the
overture
''Out of the surging ways of the pit,
swaying to and fro, arose on the top OF
the last bench the Inquire of by no means
preposSessing lady past the meridian OF
life, in a shabby dress, an old WORKOUT hat
and q shawl that had seen better days. Her
attempts to gain in a rational way the
front seat allotted to her having been frus-
trated, the gangways being impossible she
claiming loudly, Make room for me, say.
| am the poetess.' This accompanied by
mocking shouts of laughter. was taken up
by the whole pit anC echoed by the boxes.
Room for the pOeteSS, room for the
poetess.' And this did not cease till Frau
Helmina Won Chevy was squeezed into her
seat after having been literally passed over
the heads of the people. Another moment
and the uproarious merriment of the pub
composer such as he had not received even
at Berlin. AT last silence was restored.
The overture, composed only Jew days be-
fore the performance then began.
So utterly different from that of Der
Freischuetz," it is equally rich in new COM
binations of instrumental effects Chivalric,
expressive and passionate by turns,
planned according to Weber's adopted sys-
tenn, it includes several of the important
musical and dramatic points of the opera,
COMPRISING them into most interesting
and effective prologue. Thus the leading
phrase embodying Adolar's trust in God
and his Euryanthe" conjures up at once
the splendor of provincial court, with it's
knights, it's troubadours, its fair ladies.
The second motive which follows is taken
from AdolarS jubilant song. After the
termination of this first part an unexpected
and novel meditation leads to mysterious
movement which embodies the ghostly APP
partition of AdolarS ancestors. Webers
first idea of having the curtain raised for
a tableau vivant during the unearthy
music, thus explaining all that was obscure
in the plot, was unfortunately not carried
out.
In consequence the characters of Adolar's
rival, Lysiad, and Euryanthe's false friend
Byzantine are then portrayed, by their re-
spectiVe musical figures, describing the
struggle of truth and virtue against fraud
and treason. (To friend of comparative
study l would suggest a comparison of the
plot, music and the dramatis personae Of
"Euryanthe" and 'Lohengrin.') AT last
the clouds are dispersed and we return to
the beginning and to Adolars motive, now
jubilant triumphant song of victor, in
spring ana almost overwhelming DY 1LS
enthusiasm and fire, which completes this
highly poetical conception"
The first part of the programme closed
with Weber's magnificent "Euryanthe"
overture The composition makes no small
demands on the powers of almost every in
dividual member of the orchestra, and this
splendid rendition only proves the state
ment already made by many that Van der
Stucken's orchestra contains only fine ar
lists 1t would hardly be just to pass a
comprehensive opinion of the orchestra and
it's leader at the close of the first concert
That which l have learned, however, from
the reheasals and this first evening is
briefly that, on the whole, the orchestra
possesses marvellous possibilities of tone
shading in Lianissmo and fortissirno alike
and in tone SuStainment but is on the
contrary, notceably weak numerically in
it's first and second violins, a weakness
which not even the virtuosity of the present
players can cover. Summa summarum: BY
all means the best ensemble of chorus and
orchestra we have ever had, largely due to
the frequent rehearsals with the chorus
made possible this year and partly to the
same leader regularly. Chorus and orchesz
ira were if from the same mold. thanks
to the tireless labors of Frank Van der
Stucken and his assistant, Alexander Err
nestinoff.
RICHARD LIEBER.
TWO FRIDAY CONCERTS.