New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-12-19

r-,no,, looked through his sixty-odd songs ana
found occasion to mark forty-hve OF theii
moor" empty. childish" and mediocre.
Fifteen were fair" or mot bad; three oiilS
good" viz Adelaide" Die Ehre Gottes III
der Natur" and In questa Tomba Amateurs
will miss much If they accept this dictuih anu
ignore the cycle An die ferne Gelleote' zen
denke Dein" Itch liebe dich, 'FreuoVol uliu
Leidvoll" and above all "Kennst du das hdiiu'
Ubv this setting of Mignon's exquisite romance
is overlooked it would be hard TO explain we
know of none that can be placed beside it-cer-
,sinlv not sehubert's Not only is the music
beautiful in itself the defamation perfect
whereas LISTS is perverted, but Beethoven
adopted his manner straight from Goethes oe-
scription Of how the strange child sang it-Wlth
a broad. solemn opening, with mystery ana oe-
liberation IN the .'Kennst du es wohl? IRE
sistible longing in the ''Dahin!" and alternate
petition and urgency in the Lass uns ziehh'
All Of Mr. Finck's tribute % Schubert as the
king Of all song composers is beautlIul anu
fragrant. Mendelssohn's songs are but skin
Deep "aggravatingly trivial and insipid len
groIle NIGHT is the best Of Schumanns songs
and one of the most superb works in the song
form, but alas Jensens "Lehn define wang
is mot in any way inferior" to it. Schumann
never Stops 10 conquer anu tAAC PSPN4SNA-NS
his songs is a sign of merit, but the popularity
OF Brahmss songs is a different matter
Brahms is a dressmaker, a musical Worth; his
faculty for originating ideas is weak; his songs
will perish when the finish Of their dress no
longer attracts attention; bis melody is not new
or original but like new tints or slight Varla-
tions of flowers you have seen hundred times
before; his melodies, and usually his harmonies,
too, are like the musical small talk of Men
delssohn; his songs are provokingly trite
and commonplace-meaningles twaddle. Yet
Brahms is more popular than Franz, who wrote
ten times as many good songs as Schumann."
0Out Of hfty-five songs by Franz in Mr.. Fincks
musical Baedeker forty-eight are starred, nine
of them with two stars) Now, why this wicked
preference of Brahms over Franz? II is be-
cause singers want TO show off their voices"
and the people at large prefer small talk and
do not care if melody is original, so it be sing
able and loud enough and not too much buried
in the piano part" One must read Mr.. Fincks
account of his missionary labors in behalf of
Franz with two singers if he would form an
idea Of thu perversity OF the artistic nature.
Both sang the songs pointed out to them at their
next concerts. won great applause and promptly
shelved Franz and returned to batten on the
Brahms moor. Brahms unable to infuse the
mood of poetry into his music. He had one
mood, which suficed for love- nature, joy, sor-
row; and his feeling was skin deep. To particu-
larize: ''Vergebliches standchen" is common
place, the "Sapphische Ode" and ''Feldein-
samkeit' not much better and the admiration
for the ''Magelone' songs passes his comprehen-
sion. 'Liebestreu.' "Wie Dist du, meme Ko-
nigin?' and "Mnnelied" meet with favor in Mr.
Finck's eyes but Meme Lieoe list grin,' "Wie
genlied," "Wie Melodien zieht es," Der Mond
steht uber die Berge." Won ewiger Liebe" and
Whilst du dass ich geh'?'' do not even receive
mention
There is much emotion in Songs and Song
Writers" Mr.. Finck weeps when first he hears
Schubert's "Winterreise"; Hitler weeps List
weeps and a young lady faints, overcome by
the intense emotion embodied in Chopin's MY
Delights In all music. lyric or dramatic the
thrill OF kiss has never been expressed so &C.
statcally as in the twelve bars included in the
cresc. sempre piu accelerando." We shudder TO
think what may have happened to this Young
lady who could be moved by the mere mu-
steal delineation Of kiss when she made her
first physical experience Of one. But we must
to end. List Wagner, Chopin. Rubinstein.
! Jensen receive praise marked by discrimination.
but wild hyperbole alone gids the laurel crowns
! Of the two greatest living song writers (who
were also members OF the four greatest IF all,-
/ Edward Grieg and Edward A MacDow.I the
/ latter of whom is careful of his individuality
that he refrans from listening to the music n,
other composers. Mcdowell does not attend
many concerts or operate performances. for the
reason that he fears being Influenced unoon-
sciously by the music of other composers" This
brings up the picture Of Napoleon as delineated
by Charles Phillips: Grand gloomy and ne
| culiar, he sat upon the throne sceptred hermit
wrapped in the solitude of his own originality"