The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-12-15
Yesterdays Music.
Tho BOSTON symphony Orchestra Heard
In Matinee.

crop up in a musical composition and a
work Of fiction during the last year. Inc
readers of Matilde Serao's powerful and
unpleasant novel, 'The Land Of C~ockayne'
who went to Carnegie Hall yesterday AFTER
| noon must nave noticed a less pesslmlstic
handling Of the theme-or the oppression
in Edward Cigars overture, 'Cockaigne'
played for the first time here by the Boston
Symphony Orchestra. The great Italian
| noyelwright describes her cockayne-why
| these variants In spelling?-as being a
yeritable gehenna of gambling, a paradise
OF sordid lotteries. Mr.. Elgar wrote his
| brisk, gay little overture as q sort OF glori-
| fcation of dear old London town.
The present commentator OF the Boston
programme book, Mr.. Philip Hale, tells us
that the aesthetic content Of the piece
NAV be set down thus: Cheerful Aspect
of London--Oh! irony where Is thy sting!
Strong and Sincere Character OF Lon
doners"-pro-Boers excepted OF course
.The Lovers Romance" young London's
Interruption,' .The Military Band In
the Church." sIn the Streets As a sop
to the scientific it may be added hat the
formal cut Of the overture is OF sonata
fashion.
| but as music, 6IttT Wl tiIo Sihie"' l'"
ambule, the overture does not impress
one considerably. The effort to be chat.
terngly ~vivacious after the manner OF
Smetana-though hat master is not for a
moment suggested-the evident writing
up to a programme. and the sluggish
pages Of developnent-these and a real
lack of anything Of ~pregnance TO utter
NAV consign the composition to the Shelf
| Ito pnppinU however. is auSDlC1OtlS. III ~
not scored too thickly And II moves
easily until tho church doors yawn' Ttero
possibly like MIR Wemmick, the male OF
the pair exclaimed .Hullo' here's a church.
Let's 20 in" But there no marriage
follows, the place being sanctuary from
the cynicisms of the small boy and the blare
OF a brass band. These same urchins are
Wagnerites; their gait betrays them. AZ
together -Cockaigne' IL a very creditable
piece ofwriting, OF the sort that n score OF
American composers keep in the dark OF
their portfolios.
II Is British In its cucumber GOODNESS
and freedom from originality. How very
London-like it sounds! Mark the pres
ence of mind displayed by the from
the jaws of defeat he rescues his maiden,
What a stroke Of genius is hat friendly
church,! A French composer-Charpentier
for example-would have saved his hero and
heroine with the aid OF a cafe and two
dripped absinthes. In the Elgar score you
feel the barely turn the corner
of temptation, resisting the inclination to
have a concealed organist play The Lost
Chord" while the lovers hold hands. Cock
aigne," Is a pleasing fribble hardly worth
upon II. As a matter of history IL may
be related hat DR.. Parkhurst, who was
in the audience, left hurriedly after the
overture was ended. possibly as a personal
protest against the laxity OF municipal
manners unsteady set forth by MIR. Elgar:
NJ Joaaf Hnfmapn pla we'd The solo mart OF
Chopin's E minor ~pianoforte concerto
II was a sound, not too poetic performance
Strangely enough the young virtuoso chose
to take the opening Z minor theme very
slowly, thereby losing the chance Tor con,
trast when the lyric second subject IN
appears. Both Rlindworth and kullak
set the tempo metronomically the same;
1928 TO the quarter note. This is not a wide
deviation from Mikuli, who all said and done
is the final court Of appeal. Another reason
the law of contrast operates unfavoraoly
IL Hofmann's tempo Is accepted, II because
of the romance. If all the themes are
treated lyric-wise two-thirds OF the con-
certo pail upon the listener. Rafael Joseffy
went to the other extreme when he last gave
the work here In the Tausig version. Yet
. by ouickening the first theme and the pas
sage work he avoided the great demon OF
monotony that crouches at the pedals oil
every pianaforte. And Josef, the hitherto
impossible, played with much sentiment
in the allegro.
Ii was surprising and very welcome,
However. despite his exquisite dynamlcs,
despite the diving fall of those crystalline
chromatics, despite the purling runs OF
the coda, this romance was not romantic
Its tone color was plangent and the mawk-
ish note was absent. But the rondo was
crisp and charming. At the close the
pianist, with a wisdom beyond his yea n.
avoided the octaves-those shrieking dis
cords that shiver the House that Chopin
Built.
No one nav dare 10 play them after
J~osahy-and he nlays them pianissimo
and presissimo. The original edition was
used With the exception Of the initia l
tufh, Icing curtailod TO the hare enuncia-
tion OF the maj ch-.ike measures. Some
ANTIQUE Z. iquette prescribed for The com
posers Of Chopin's day that they must not
dare 20 bring on their solo without a POM
pous and formal orchestral INTRODUCTION
The ~ViOliuisi ar In the case OF the Ni'uX-
temps concerto he 1ticf nlghi or We
r%iauist, must wait and with det pairing eyes
see all the cram Of the melodice WHIPPED
on hy the land. la ourlusiun let II lie
said Tint no concerto Of the %rpnthntic epoch
IL 80 sadly In need ~ the 1auslg oich"--
tHtiou a. this one "a D. minor With It's mouO
chrouAtic Instrumentation The scoring
% tho ron"o merits ho l"~s an epaih"' thah
muddy
Nj Holman Was recalled 80 many times
thst finally be pointed 10 hi- Instrument
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