The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-03
Mr.. WETZLER And BRAHMS.
THE FORMER CONDUCTS THE
IATTERS Music,
And TO DO Him Justice He Does u Very
WELT Was the Fourth symphony
--RaOui PuEno Executes Sc'iumanns
Piano Concerto With Approval.

naOui Fukuo TsNtcuttB Sc'iuVlaHps
Piano Concerto with Approval.
The second of Herman Hans Wetzer's
series of symphony concerts took place
last night at Carnegie Hall There was a
large audience and the applause was ex
ceedingly friendly. inclination seemed To
outweigh judgment at times and little
critical discrimination was exhibited. Mr..
Wetzler had wisely accepted the lesson of
his first entertainment and shortened his
programme. so that the concert was Over
soon after 10 O'Clock. The compositions
performed we're the fourth symphony of
Brahms. Schumann's piano concerto, and
the overture TO Der Freischuiz." The
pianist was Raoul Pugno. Two Of the
numbers have not been heard recently
Brahms's fourth symphony was last played
by the Philharmonic Society under Emil
Paur on Nov. II. 1899. and Schumann' =
piano concerto has not been heard since
Ossp Gabrilowitsch PLAYED il with the
Boston symphony Orchestra on Dec. 49,
1900
Brahms's F. n inor symphony ought TO hc
heard much more frequently than ii is
but for some reason conductors appear 10
b" afraid of the public attitude toward il
All sorts Of nons,nse has been written about
II. We have been warned against the cold
aud sexlesS nature of the key Of minor. pal
lid. tenuous, moonlight green key dead 10
passion and closed to soul Yet since some
of that sort of comment has been solemnlv
offered. Dvorak has written hi. gorgeo,I-ly
colored, swiminingy melodou~ rap,ur-
ously sensuous From the New World"
symphony, and all the time there stood
Chopin's r. minor concerto, which can
hardly be called cada verous music
In all probability the feature of Thu
composition which most confuses the
public mind is the truly Brahmsian en-
ployment Of old ecrlesiastic modes alter
nately with what Mnritz Hartmann calls
the ma jor-minor" scale which is. after
all, nothing but an adaptation from Hun
garian music. II j. the astonishing serbs
of effects in cross relations, making har-
monies Of the weirdest kind. that ofIends
the ears of those vino hunger always for
their dia'onic sugar. Brahms actually
in the second movement uses a melody
in the Old Phrygian mode-t minor with
out the sharps against an acCompaui-
m"nt in the ~maJor-minOr" mode. which
| has the q sharp. The war between q
sharp and G natural il "A bitter one and
sensitive hearers of the Beet hoven period
are wont to turn often in their seats Will,
| IL IL going on
The variations of the last movement
| on paSsacaglia them" do not deepen
| the JOY of the elders The thcmo-a har-
monte one given out 10y the wind l. simple
enough and apparently forbod"s no trouble
he variations, too. begin TO roar a. mildly
! a. sucking doves, but. with the -ubtI.tv
! of the SERPENT, Brahms almost pArcrplihly
| made them more and NOR" polyphouIo
| and polychromatiC Till ,owari tho end
| the nearer who dwrllS in the past ahiudnu-
| hope of finding any song th-nc winch be-
| can grasp and resigns himself to hi-
! fate. But the elect Ill back erect and crow
gently becau-e through this glorious maze
| of variations they see p",plng thu, faces of
! old bach. n" founder Of modern counter
! point. and Beethoven. father of all SYM
! phonic variations. II was music such a.
! this that caused James IIuucker To write
! in -Mezzo-1ints IN Modern Music"
Those VINO do not car" for Brahms --
| lot them choose their own dict There arr.
| however, some Of us who prefer his lean
| to other composers fat The light hat
| beats about his throne il a tribe dry at
| times, but il l. a. least white. and The, time
! comes To all when the chroma'ic c"aSc- ia
make thrall. and line. not color seems the
| more beautiful
He must I've a Gallons soul indeed who
| can sit untouched by the beauty Of the
| second movement Of this symphony, while
| the joyous abandon of the scher2o ought
| to rouse the spirit of hermit The com
| position was eNcellcrtly performed last
| night. Mr.. Wetzler deserves praise again
| for his in'i-tarce upon the letter of the
| score. The notes were played a. written
aud every SUR, every staCCatO mark, every
| direction a. to dynamic graduation and
| change of speed received proper attpu-
| ton. But thcr" was something moro than
that. The music was We'll read, and thrrr
| was an emotional warmth not found in
| the same conductors recent reading Of
Becthovens fifth symphony.
| Mr.. PugnO's artist IT, opinion Of tho SChrl-
, mann concerto vas welcomed a. a new
gospel OF romantic music, and the aGdi"nc,
shook the raiters with the upheaVal Of
lis delight. The excitement was evoked
Chiefly by the antiQua'od trick of PLAYING
something faster than any one else No,iirr
Is 80 easy as 10 astonish people lv -initing
myriad Of notes in minute. hu' the tea,
hears the same relation 10 noble piano
playing that emitting n high { does 10 beau
tiful singing
Mr.. Pugno played the first movement
OF the concerto very we'll, though memory
without effort recalled more than one i'm 70
terprctation which had mora uf he genuine
romance Of Schumapu'S tone-poetry With
In" second movement logan tho descent
TO ANernus. Tie pianist treated tie music
Cooily. lie fltt"d gracefully along il SUI
face. with The airy elegance cf the Frcnch
school. II was pretty, lut not satisfying
II turned coquetry into prrsinage, banter
into chan. The last movement no took M
a tempo which amazed his he1rcrs, hu,
which crushed the diamonds Of the com
poser's Imagination into glitterirg dust
II was brilliant. but il was not Srhumnnn
Mr.. Pugno has dore better things. let u
hope that Ia will do rh"m again.
The Weber overture was performed we'll
by the orchestra, Mr Nct2lcr's reading
was in accord with the traditions. lie
hurried matters little toward the close.
but the efect was not bad and il made tic
concert that much shorter