The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-02

which have held tho stage for hundred
yeaTs2 Have they? Or are they forced
by a sort Of dollhouse process, a pressure
OF festival performance and star castsf
This Il matter demanding thought
Mozart, however, lives not only in his
operas. There are the symphonies and
the quartets. Yes, there they are. But
after all, only three Of the symphonies are
played in these times. and ydn's quartets
are heard oftener than MozaTts.
What has that TO do with III Shall We
make more number a standard OF merritt
Is not the Jupiter symphony worth all
the symphonies Of Haydn2 Verify IL seems
that there Is room for much discussion In
this matter. Yet II we omit Mozart from
the society Of supreme masters Of musical
art, who IL 10 be admitted
Well for a cast let us strike next upon
Franz Peter Schubert. How will he bear
the INQUIRY Schubert Why. he was
song writer. That Is tndisputable, although
he has left two symphonies with which
the world would be 10th TO part. Never
theless, let us confess that Schubert was
song writer. The question then becomes
this, whether song writer is small genius
because the song IL a small form. Does
NOT Af6iCnGu lehA -" -
inspiration Of genius quite as high AZ the
Don Giovanni Of Mozart 10 not Dor
Erl-KonigT az great as the fifth symphony
Of Beethoven
Well, then, II not, how much below these
larger works are the songs7 Again regard
the immense number Of wonderful songs
composed by Schubert. Ia not their total
merit equal to that Of all Mozart's operas?
Certainly Schubert has claims. But then
90 has SchumAnn. Here IL a master who
was great in piano composition, In song and
in symphony. Ia he to be placed In the
rear rank2 And II be IL, then what Ia 10 be
done with Weber, What is to be thought
Of Der Freisch0tE' and 'Eryanthe1'
Truly, this is a puZLing topic, The
more one thinks about Il, the further he IL
from a satisfying conclusion. After you
have Tacked your brains trying 10 arrange
all these older masters In the order OF their
comparative merits, tbere arise before your
mental vision the shades of the mighty
Tschai wslCy and Brahms.
Surely these are supreme masters. But
are they7 How long will they stand In the
forefront Of musical splendor as they do
to-dAyI
We are 20 Close to these masters that per-
chance We are entirely out OF the range OF
a correct perspective. We must bear In
mind that the vibrations Of their living per-
sonalities have not yet ceased to run through
! the ether OF human experience.
They can hardly be called dead masters
yet. II was but yesterday that We saw
Brahms lomginG In tho avenues OF Vienna
with his long, struggling beard, his baggy
| trousers and his stub toed shoes 1t was but
yesterday that Tschaikowsky's Ieontne
| head doomed above the conductors desk
and that be waved the baton before our
eyes. We are not ready yet to place these
| men,
At this point suddenly We remember
that there was q master named Wagner.
Can there be any doubt about himi Be
cautious. The same objections may be
raised In bis cass that We have just raised
In the chsss Of Brahms and TsohAikowsly.
Wagner has been dead longer than they,
but hs has .beOn personally exploited much
more. Even now w are reading bis btters
| 10 MGthilds Wessndonck and learning how
Tristan und IAolds,' growing out Of one
| OF tho passions Of his strange life, became
Twin g thing,
And II We lsavS Wagner, II IL only TO turn
| 10 Chopin, who's piano music can at any
| rate claim . popularity - wids a. that Of
any other music In existenos. II was only .
week ago that New York beheld a great
audience sitting in rapt ecstasy while Mr..
Paderewsh played Chopin in q wonderful
mAnnaT.
What does all this teach usi
That it 10 no simple feat TO name the su-
preme masters in music, for the good reason
that tho exact status Of some composers
cannot yet be dstermined. II, however,
| We should agree to limit the selection to
tho period antedating the fame Of the en-
| tirely reoent men such a. Wagner, Brahms
and Tschaikowsky, would the selection be
easier7
II would at any rata seem TO be so. There
can be no doubt Whatever about one thing
and that is, that we can without hesitation
name the two supreme masters Of the ante
Wagnerian epoch, Bach and Beethoven,
those are the two great names. II one more
name IL TO be added II must be that Of
Mozart.
But when Il Il all done what has been 40
complishedi Shall We, then find less
beauty In SohumAnn's great fantasy in
C major or Schuberts 'Winterreissi'
Shall We lament the comparative weakness
Of Chopin's soherzos and impromptus. or
mourn because the fourth symphony Of
Brahms is not as great as the NTH Of Beet
! hoven7
There Il a vast treasure Of noble music
! for us 10 bear. and We should indeed Be
weaklings to permit ourselves TO ssleot for
our delight only that which Ia decided by
a committee Of experts to be tie best
The Wagner festival at the Prince Regent
Theatre in Munich will begin on Aug. 7
and end on Sept. Q. Die Meistersinger'
will be given on Aug. 7, IS and 81; Der
! Fliegende HollAnder' on Aug. Is and 30
and Tristan und Isolde on Aug 10 and
| d and Sept. 2. Der Ring des Nibelungen'
will be presented first on Aug Q, 10, II and
! IS; the second time on Aug. 2, ~, "a and IS,
apd the third time on Sept. s, 9, s and Q.
It may interest some TO know how GER
tain singers are announced. II IL the Gus
! tom over there TO publish the homo opera
/ house Of the visiting artists In the Official
circular we find that Mime. Ternina and
Nine. Gadsh are heralded az from New
| York, while Albert Reiss halls from Lon
! don.
This ought 20 interest the Herr Dinektor