The San Francisco call., 1904-03-27

after the legitimate nine days of Won
der. Neither for the Bauerite late at
all. but still the burning question.
Twas a gracious weakness. We had
come to fancy Mr.. Bauer a kind of
musical over-man-insensible to the
little human frailties of mood. i'm
pervious to fatigue of the body or of
the spirit Yet he is still a little lower
than the angels. one finds not alto
gether ungratefully. But why say so?
Because there were those who heard
Mr.. Bauer for the first time on that
last Wednesday afternOOn-thOse to
whom his lost notes. as in the Chopin
Funeral March trio. his wrong
notes, as in the Schumann Carnival;
his frequent muddying of tone by the
pedals on that day. might seem in
trinsic characteristics of the pianists
art, and not the unhOly accident OF
mood. On the night before. in the
Schumann Eantasie, Mr.. Bauer had
touched the apex of his achievement.
Such flow humanity indicated an ebb.
To expect the maintenance of such a
height were to demand the Alps with
out their valleys Truth to tell, one
concert followed the other too soon,
and the new audience of the second
has not yet heard, perhaps the great
est of living pianists as he is.
And yet. Remember that Funeral
March of Chopin, in which those lower
notes were dropped into Mr.. Bauer's
pocket or under the piano. Remember
the massive, majestic tread Of the
rhythm, certain as death itself. Re
member those bass trills, in which the
pianist cOntrived so marvelOusly 10
suggest the stern roll of drums. Re-
member the tone of the melody Of the
triO-and forget the lost notes. The
treatment of the opening bass meas
ures, by the way, a pesante non legatO,
was peculiarly interesting, and in my
experience, original with Mr.. Bauer.
The finale of the sonata again was
brilliantly handled. Not, as frequently,
did the movement come as an anti
climax. Chopin, in following the fun
eral march with this measure, set one
of the most difficult tasks of interpre-
tatiOn the pianist has to encounter.
By means of his colossal technique,
equally with his superb insight. Mr..
Bauer solved it, The aftermath of
death the movement inevitably sug-
gests, and what more like the sweep
and trouble of lost winds about dead
world than the Bauer reading? All
sense of the mechanism was lost The
thing seemed to be done with a brush
rather than with notes. There was a
race, a rush. a shrek, hum, murmur of
tone, and that was ALL 1t was reve-
latiOn.
The CarnavaI was wonderful in spots,
. but not at all what the finest Schu-
int - Of - low Oil
1t was the first number Of the pro-
gramme and in parts the least satisfy
ing-Mr. Bauer has only himself to
thank for the exacting nature of ones
demands, He became himself quite
with the Air de Ballet of Gluck- Saint
Saens, handful of fiImy lace and roses
tossed our way with surprising grace.
From many points of view the Bach
TOccata, given here for the first time.
was the most interesting number of all.
1t is a recent discOvery-but this valu-
able little note of Oscar Wells will
better give it's history. For myself
dare 1 say it?-a first hearing did not
bring me strongly under the charm Of
the movement. / should, indeed, have
hesitated to ascribe some portions Of
the work to Father Bach. though of all
the great composers he is perhaps the
most varied. And it must be remem-
bered that in Rach's case familiarity
breeds homage. But here is Mr.. Wells
opinion, of which you all know the
worth:
co TOccata-Fantasie and Fugue-
in ID, Bach) This double title is found
in the original manuscript among the
latest of the important works of the
master printed by the Bach Gesell-
schaft.' The piece seems to be little
known as yet, but will undoubtedly in
time take its place with the master
pieces, since it bears the stamp Of
Bach's finest work of his best period.
There are virtually two separate Toe
catas to be found in it, together with a
Fugue of an almost unrivaled charm
and grace; these three movements are
separated (bOund to each other, rather)
by phrases of such recitative IMPROVE
sation as only Bach could write; the
result is a superIy built, thoroughly
coherent composition in the largest
style"
Better instance of Mr. Bauer's sub
tlety Of art than his Bach treatment
could not be afforded. Actually the man
Suggests a SplneL IN the connecticut
His good-by was characteristic. The
last of him. seen by a few of US who
stood in front Of the hall that day, was
half a radiant face under an old
slouch hat that Mr. Bauer cannot be
persuaded to abandon, thrust through
the rain cover of an automobile.
The Rev. John II. HOughton of st.
Marks Episcopal Church of Denver
paid an unusual testimonial to Mrs.
Fiske and her play Mary of Magdala."
on the Sunday preceding Mrs. Fiske's
Denver engagement He announced TO
his congregation that he had obtained
a special dispensation from Bishop
Olmsted to enable his parishioners to
attend the performance. which other
wise they could not do on account of
Lent He spoke of Mrs. F'iske's
struggle against the theatrical trust
and her high dramatic aim in the pro-
ductiOn of Heyse's drama. He also
added that he would himself purchase
a box.