New-York tribune., 1901-05-26
MUSIC.
END OF THE BACH FESTIVAL IN BETH.
LEHEM.
[BY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBUNE.l

[BY TELEGRAPH THE rRIBUNs.l
bethlehem Penn. May 25-The festival town
presented wofully bedraggled appearance all
day to-day the cold rain falling disrnay from the
rising of the till the setting thereof but only
the social amenities seemed to be affected by the
weather Artistically. everything passed on as
happiIy as could be desired. and under the
hospitable roof of the old church the audience was
much more comfortable than during the sessions
of Thursday and Friday The disagreeable weather
doubtless influenced the attendance unfavoraby
but fine audiences were on hand at both the meet
ines nevertheless, and the managers tonight
contemplating the financial outcome OF their
unique and venturesome enterprise with satisfac-
ton The festival viii not leave an incubus OF
debts to mar the good nature of it's promoters
destroy the ambition with which all concerned
are now filed TO prepare another Bachian feast
next spring Under the conditions which prevail
in the larger cities of the country such an out
come could not have been thought of. The solo
singers at the Cincinnati festivals alone cost more
than the entire Bethlehem festival; so does the
conductor; so does the choir, and so does the Or
chestra Love and devotion are medium of ex-
change here which has purchasing power that Is
quite beyond calculation Money cannot buy the
spirit which exemplihed to-day IN the choir's
performance OF the Mass in minor
Kyrie and Gloria were performed in the after
noon and the remainder OF the work in the even
ing 1t was for the purpose of producing the mass
that the Bach Choir organized. in December,
1s9s and the success of the first festival year
ago prompted the more comprehensive scheme
which has been carried out so successfully this
week But the Bach cult in Bethlehem IS much
older than this statement indicates Mr. Wolfe
brourht a choir together in 1883, and performed
the Passion According to St. John. Four years
later he brought forward the greater Passion
According to St Matthew" Two years after that
he gave the Christmas Oratorto. The record is
so extraordinary that it deserves to be rehearsed
now The zeal for Bach which blossomed
| rtT4= Nh
Wolfe though the traditions of a century and
half underie the latter day achievement To Mr.
Wolfe in the first instance therefore. IS due the
success of the festival in the next it is due TO the
zeal of the choir which he has nourished and
stimulated till it has become akin to an artistic
rapture and finally a share is due TO the hand
some encouragement given to the enterprise by the
music loving people of Bethlehem
OF the three works performed this week the mass
was the most familiar to the choir; so familiar was
IT, indeed that there was some talk Of having the
choir sing il without book After last years
festival some study given to it looking to that
end Fortunately. it was not pursued long enough
interfere with the preparation Of the other two
works II would have been extraordinary
achievement unexampIed tour de force. but 1t
is extremely doubtful If 1t would have yielded a
compensation sufficient TO justly it, In some re-
spects il can easily be imagined that the effect
would have been injurious The feat would have
been unduly exploited. and the festival been robbed
or much or the modest dignity which has
mended it highly to the visitors from New-York
and elsewhere. The danger was not at all in
aginary; IL is open to question whether or NOT
TOO much stress has been laid upon the fact that
the three works given were performed by the choir
in their integrity for the first time IN America
The excellence of the performances has spiked
the guns OF criticism. but fact remains as an
artistic principle that good performance with cuts
is truer and more fragrant tribute to Bach and a
better testimonial 10 the culture Of the perforers
than an indifferent without cuts The greater
familiarity of the choir with music OF the mass
manifested itself in the tremendous energy and
verve thrown into the allegro fugues, especially the
Cum sancto spiritU.' and in an attention to
nuances OF expression. which had been par
ticularly noticeable in the preceding concerts At
moments when Mr. Wolfe desired produce a par
ticular effect the fact that the singers could
their eyes off the books and fix them him
great help. and there were several climaxes
which were fairly uplifting because OF this Equally
creditable was the confident way in which the
various voices threaded their way through the
contrapuntal mazes. OF the solo singers the women
were far superior in voice quality and style the
men. They were Miss Sara Anderson. soprano. who
sang with more and fluency than she did at the
Oratorio Societys hrst performance last year, and
the indispensable Miss Stein. whose trustworthi-
in all musical undertakings has for her
almost monopoly OF the contralto field In the
country so far as oratorio is concerned. The
Nicholas Douty. tenor. Of Philadelphia. and
Mr.. Arthur Beresford bass. of Boston. The
former was somewhat too light in voice and style,
the latter somewhat too pOnderous. H. E. 4