The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-14
GOOD BACH FESTIVAL WORK.
RELIGIOUS SPIRIT SHOWN IN
BETHLEHEN'S CONCERT.

Second Rrandenburg Concerto. for the
Orohestra, and Two Cantatas Given
Excellent Work OF Orchestra and
l1,ortis-v visiting Musicians Pleased.
BBTHLRHEM, Pa, May 13.-The third
day OF the Bach festival was an easy one
for listeners and performers alike. Tho
single concert given this evening brought
a welcome relief from the strain Of hearin 6
the large works Of the master. The pro-
gramme was delightfully."- simple. consisting
OF the Second Brandenburg Concerto, the
only instrumental work on the six-days
list, and y two solo cantatas 1Schlage
doch' and oh will den Kreuzstab gerne
tragen."
The concert also introduced soloist not
heard before. Julian Walker, the basso who
sang tho second Of the cant atlas. The
audience was larger than those at the pre-
vious concerts, and the music was presented
in a style which brought back vivid recol-
lect ions OF the festival Of 1901.
There we're moments OF deep impressive
ness, and the session came to solemn climax
with the singing Of the only chorale Of the
evening. In recognition of the Passion
season, represented by the programmes Of
to-day and tomorrow, the chorus was
attired In black, and the mood Of the even
ing was generally appropriate.
The Second Brandenburg Concerto is one
OF the six ooncertos for several solo instru-
ments, composed by Bach for the Margrave
of Brandenburg In 1921. 1t Is in F major,
and the instruments employed are trumpet,
flute, oboe, violin, with the string band as
support. 1t has all the characteristics OF
those captivating works Of Bach.
New York music lovers will recall with
delight an unexpected and wonderfully
beautiful performance Of it by the virtuosi
Of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at
Carnegie Hall on Feb. 10 Of the present
year, when it was placed on the programme
suddenly because Of Mrs. Bloomfield
Zeisler's inability to appear as the soloist
The performance Of the concerto to-
night was very>creditable. The tone Of
the solo instruments was not ideal, and the
violin was wofully weak, in both quality
and style. But the three other soloists
discharged their duties commercially, and
the support was solid. II Mr.. Wolfe had
used the Kretschmar arrangement OF the
concerto instead Of Motifs he would have
obtained better results, but he would have
had to pay more attention to graduation.
However, let 1t stand recorded that the
performance was smooth and generally
accurate, and, on the whole, much better
than any one would have expected after
the previous work of the orchestra. Wolfe
hand and. being free from the RESPONSE
bility Of the chorus, to conduct with more
authority and certainty.
The other two numbers on this even
ing's programme were the solo cantatas
-Schlage doch," which MIR. Wolfe has trans
Hour" and "Ich will den Kreuzstab Gerne
Tragen," translated Il with my cross staf
gladly wander
According to Spitta, the court Of last
resort in all matters concerning Bach.
the first Of these two was not written for
not for such use. Spitta does not believe
that Bach would have taken a real bell into
a church to give musical effect.
Such proceeding would have been unob-
iectionable in cantata designed for the
home circle. The other work was composed
either in 1881 or 1882. Bach wrote other solo
cantatas, some OF which may not have been
designed for the church, but may have
been used there with perfect propriety.
Possibly Spitta's objection to the chimes
may seem a tribe strained, but his COM
ments may be questioned only with great
caution. He studied Bach profoundly,
and when he says that although the masters
secular cantatas were very similar in style
to his religious ones. there was nevertheless
two he says only what ever lover OF Bach
feels.
The performance Of a cantata in a church
this evening afforded an Opportunity to
make some estimate Of the erect OF the
bells, though not a wholly satisfactory one.
TO get them it would be necessary to have
the power to transport the imagination
back to the beginning OF the second quarter
of the Eighteenth Century and to saturate
it with the atmosphere Of the old church OF
Leipsic. This was all the more ,forcibly
borne in upon the mind tonight when that
devotional atmosphere, which has been
absent, seemed suddenly to surround the
congre CATION and to nplift the heart OF
every hearer toward the shrine OF Bach's
inspiration. .,
be difficult, if not impossible, to approach
ance Of the .Schlage doch" in these days
anywhere else than in Bethlehem,
Here are the severe and simple old church,
the congregational silence, the reveren-
In these circumst ances 1t La a pleasure to
say that the cant alta made profound i'm
preston. 1t is a work of ineffable beauty.
almost Schubertia in it's sweetness OF
melody, broad and sustained in style, and
ACCOMPANIED with all the skill OF it's COM
poser's fertile mind.
Perhaps Mr.. Wolfe insisted upon tempo
a tri1e too slow, for in one or two places
the tax upon the singers breath, in the long
phrases. seemed too great, but, on the whole,
Miss Hall sang the music with richness OF
tone and fine purity of style.
The English text, made for the occasion
bv Mr.. Wolfe, sounded we'll, and the cantata,
wholly unfamiliar to American hearers.
was well worth the journey to Bethlehem