New-York tribune., 1900-04-01
MUSICAL MATTERS.
THE WEEKLY CALENDAR AND OPERA
LIST-BACHS B MINOR MASS-A LEI
TER FROM WAGNER THE BAG
CHANALE IN ''TANNHAUSER'-
NEWS NOTES, ANNOUNCE
MENTS AND PRO
GRAMMES.

Harlem opera House. SIS p. m. CONCERT ss t. by
4p. m, musical by Lewis Coleman Hail. Hos15a South
church, ?. m musical service: stainer 1ne,r
service Of Passion music.
Monday-Metropolitan Opera House 2, ms
y m musical matinee by Arthur Edward
ns Lee ex Miss SAL S aS Rrbank m hmer
lean Theatre. operetta in English. 'Nanon' (aH
week.
concert nnder the direction of Ernst Won schuch;
DohpanTi sa di M p reci1at li bV IuIe Geyer and
Elsa Ruesser: Hotel Majestic p m lecture
9stea @ @ Music s of the Fngre st Peters Hail.
Soul OF a Song"
WeGnesday-AIet Opera House. P, m,
opera in Italian, I'll Fauto Magico." Men
cert Of the Oratorio Club Haydn's Creation"
d;iced prices: Mendelssohn Hail sei5, entertain
rnent by George Grossmith; Knabe Hall, s:l5
p. m. panoforte recital by Josef Weiss: New
Henri Msrteau and Others: Church f' of tRs Rs
Divine Paternity 40 p m: free % organ recital
concert of the Oratorio Society.
Friday Metropolitan Opera House, p. m. French
opera, Garner; Carnegie Hall, D. m public
rehearsal of the Philharmonic Society.
Metropolitan Opera House. p. m. Ital-
opers @ tOhensrin Carnegie Han Ii R Sis s'fran p n
Society; Mendelssohn Hail s:15 D. M enter enter
tsinment by George Grossmith; 7 the Tuxedo,
American Musicians and Composers; Academy
of Music. Brooklyn, p. m, symphony concert
for young people, under the direction of Frank
Damrosch.
Metropolitan Opera House this week-operas on all
the evenings save Tuesday, when Herr Won
Schucll's second concert will take place The
Thursday opera will be a special performance of
Die waIktre" at popular prices-reserved seats
from IS cents in the family circle to s. IN the or
chestra, general admission 50 in the family
circle and 81 TO all parts Of the house In this per
formance Miss Brema will be Brtinnhde Nine
Schumann-Heink Fricka and Waltraute Miss
Strong Sieglinde, Mr. Dippel Siegmund Herr Ber-
tram Wotan and Mr.. Pringle Hundng. "n Flauto
Magico" will have two representations on Wednes-
day evening and Saturday afternoon; Faust will
be given on Monday and Carmen" on Friday both
with Nine. Calve. and "Lohengrin' on Saturday
evening with Mines. Gadski and Schumann- -Heink
NJ Van Dyck and NJ de Reszke. 1t is the first
week Of the supplementary season
On next Thursday evening the oratorio Society
Will undertake Of the Ioftiest tasks that q
choral organization can set itself-a performance
of Bach's mass in minor. There is slight exag-
eration in the phrase, for a small portion of the
gigantic work Will be omitted out of consideration
for the comfort Of the auditors The mass was not
written for concert performance, but as a service
and at time when many hours spent in the
sanctuary were accounted the good of mems
souls, and women's, too. Now 1t figures only as
monumental work OF art. and If II is to be heard
at all IL must be in concert form Onlv once has
the mass been given in its entirety in America
and, indeed, the record Of complete performances
is small even in Germany. Last week the Bach
Choir Of the little Moravian town of Bethlehem
Penn, accomplished the feat. dispatch to this
journal has already reported. a number of enthu-
siasttc members of the Oratorio Society including
Mr. F. H Comstock, the treasurer went to hear
the performance, and are speaking with en-
thusiasm Of the work done by Mr.. Fred Wolfe and
his Trojan band OF eighty singers. 1.-The choir was
letter perfect" MFR
fessor Wolfe has done wonderfully we'll" But the
good Moravians Of Bethlehem did what New-York
people cannot do-they gave up afternoon and
evening to the work. Two earlier performances of
portions of the mass mind. At the Nav
Festival Of 1885 in Cincinnati the "Kyrie" and
Gloria which comprise eleven of the twenty
iour numbers into which the is divided had
notable performance under Theodore Thomas On
February q, 1887 the Handel and Haydn Society of
Boston gave twelve numbers taken from all of the
grand divisions Of the work. Mr. Damroscb will
give all but five.
Ever since the revival Of interest in Bachs music
under the lead OF Schumann and Mendelssohn
about seventy years ago. the minor mass has
held an almost unique place in the estimation of
musical authorities Of the greatest and most
profound-also as one of the difficult-choral
"oIks ever written 1t marks the summit of
Bachs achievement in this field. As one writer
has said OF it, If all the other music Of the master
should be lost this mass alone would reveal all
Inc characteristic qualities of hts art and give
true idea Of his matchless strength and the depth
OF his musical inspiration Though written by the
musician most typical Of the spirit Of Protestant
Germany, and ineligible for liturgical use in the
Roman Church on account of slight variations from
The canonical text, it interprets the devotional
spirit Of the mass with the deepest and most NOV
Ing expression, and In the most splendid musical
investiture il has received And although
Bachs learning has been expended upon it as upon
scarcely another OF his creations It neverthe-
less is work that strs every of music lovers
m narVR Ions
choruses and the depth and variety Of their emo
tiona power.
The history OF the minor mass is somewhat
curious The "Kyrie' and Gloria" were written
together for performance in the Leipsic Lutheran
Church. as then customary. The other num-
bers Were added afterward, and several of them
the 'Qm Tolls" the "Crucihxus," the 'Osanna"
the "Agnus Der and the "Gratias." were trans
ferred by Bach from earlier Church cantatas of
his composition. The 'Dona Nobis" repeats
the music Of the 'Gratas" They are all pieces
however, whose poetcal content tit them exactly
for with the text of the mass though they
have undergone only such slight modification as
the difference in the words has made necessary
The twenty-four musical numbers include fifteen
choruses. six arias and three duets. Most Of the
choruses are for five parts only the second
''kyrie" and those mentioned transferred from
other works are in four; the 'Sanctus'' is for six
and the "Osanna' for double chorus The "Gra-
tias agimus lib' and all after the "Sanctus' dn-
cluding the 'Osanna,' "Agnus Del" and 'Dona
Nobis') viii be omitted by the Oratorio Society
To heighten the effectiveness Of the performance
and obtain the characteristic effects aimed at
b. Bach in his orchestral accompaninents Mr.
Damrosch has made up his orchestra in accordance
with the tcnal balance usual in Bach's day. differ
ing from that Of modern times chiefly in the greater
prominence given to the woodwind and in the use