The record-union., 1899-10-29

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A London correspondent who attend
ed the recent music festival at Wor-
cester, England, declares that without
Elijah" and 1.-The Messiah" these fes-
tivals would cease to exist The other
performances barely pay expenses and
some of them are dead loss. But the
| two great oratorios of Mendelssohn and
Handel given under festival conditions
and with cast of principal vocalists
such as is heard in Worcester only cree
| in three years, are always sure OF a
big attendance; SO sure, indeed, that
the committee, sagaeiously desirous of
making hay while the sun shines,
charge double prices of admission, in
comparison, not only with novelties,
but with such an old favorite as Hay
dn's Creation" Evidently fashion
plays a more important role at these
festivals than musical taste and intel
ligence. The worst of it is that, as it
is taken for granted that the singers
and players know these works by heart,
very little rehearsing is done, so that
the performances are apt to be sloven-
ly (Which, however, does not seem to
| disturb the audiences); and, on the
other hand, the new works, which are
we'll rehearsed, are sung to empty
benches
A Vienna paper reports that at a re-
cent auction in Heidelberg a man
named Palme bought musical library.
and when he examined it he found
| among the manuscripts a hitherto un-
known march by Schubert for two
pianos, eight hands. 1t has, besides the
date-Vienna, 1S25-the autograph of
Schubert and the word 'Schwammerl,"
which used to be one of his nick-names
among his friends.
The Milan critic, Eugenio Pirani. has
been at Bayreuth and has expressed his
opinions freely in the "Pereseveranza.
He is particularly displeased with the
idea of having a giovanotto like Sieg-
fried Wagner conducting the orchestra.
He thinks persistence in this policy
will lead to the collapse of the festi-
walls, and he says that he talked with
several of the members of the orches-
ira, who declared that the appearance
OF Siegfried at the conductors stand
always leads to trouble, as he seldom
gives the necessary signs and conducts
IN somnolent way and metronomi-
cally. Some of the singers too. he
thinks, would not be called more than
passable, at a second class opera house
number Of new anecdotes about
Rubinstein are related by NJ Davidowa
or ST. petersburg. During his sojourn
IN Dresden RubinStein lived in one of
the largest hotels, the proprietor of
which had promised him there should
be no piano playing during the hours
when he composed. 1t came to pass
however, that an arfstocratic lady, who
wished to make an impression on Ru-
blnstein, occupied the room next to his
ana persisted in playing his compost
tions by the hour, till he became frantic
and complained to the landlord The
lady was informed Of the situation. and
seeing that her ruse had had the op-
posite effect of what she had expected.
she left the hotel in a rage. On an
other occasion Rubinstein had some
guests in his room, and at their re-
quest played something for them.
Presently there was knock at the door
and servant brought in the card of
the wife of we'll known General. who
begged that her neighbor would stop
playing, as it annoyed her. Rubinstein
took his card and sent it to the lady,
I,o
turbed her. On seeing his card the
lady was SO mortified at what she had
done that she forthwith packed her
trunk and left the hotel
\
AT a recent concert in London selec-
tions were given from the music which
Saint Saens wrote last year for Louis
Gallet's tragedy "Dejanire" In this
music the composer uses the Phrygian
and Hypophrygian modes to impart
local color to the music, the Greek
scales being used as "a sort of COM
promise between antiquity and modern
music" The work was written for open
air performance, and the tragedy and
music We're first heard last autumn in
wood near Bezieres, where the specta-
tors, who, it is said, numbered several
thousands. sat on the greensward, al
though there was a large temporary
stage erected and scenery of huge size
was prepared for it. The open-air band
at Bezieres was $50 strong, and in por-
tions of the incidental music it was
associated with a chorus of 200.
The Covent Garden Opera in London
has man, Edward Hall, who has COM
pleted a record" service of half CEN
tury as manager of the box office. The
occasion was celebrated by a. luncheon
and presentation of a purse of 81 900,
the contributions of Patti, Grau Alfred
de Rothschild, the Countess de Grey,
and others. Mr.. Hall remembers the
first appearances in London of Patti,
Lucca, Perepa Rosa, Tamberlik and
many other eminent artists and he
witnessed the first performances in
England of "Masaniello," lie Pro-
phete," LA Juive" Der Freischutz,"
most of Verdfs operas, ETC.
The most prolific of women composers
doubtless is Mile. Chaminade, to whom
an article is devoted in the September
Musician" of Philadelphia The writer
declares that the list of her works is
not far from a hundred, and he re-
marks:
Chaminade's songs contain exquisite
touches of melodic and rhythmic
beauty; not always original, perhaps,