The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-01
LOSS OF KNEISEL QUARTET
FEAR THAT ITS DISBANDONMENT
 IS AT HAND.

|
 ship of Philadelphia Orchestra it
 Might Mean the End of Chamber NIu-
 sic for Several Seasons-DlsolutiOn Of Famous Organization Would Be n
 Musical Calamity.
 The friends of Franz Kneisel in New York, and musicians in general, made
 no secret yesterday of their fear that there may never be a sixteenth season
 of the Kneisel quartette. In other words, the rumors from Philadelphia to the effect that MT. Kneisel Is being
 considered as the successor of Fritz
 scheel, leader of the Philadelphia or
 chestra who died recently, are being
 taken seriously in local musical cir cles.
 1 An acceptance of the place would,
 of course, put the quartette which
 bears MT. Kneisers name out of ex-
 istence and there are those who be- lieve that this would mean the end of
 chamber music for several seasons to ]
 and no one organization is absolutely indispensable to anything for which there is such an intelligent and high class demand as chamber music. These
 optimists, however, content themselves
 with declaring that the new man will come forward when the need for him
 is developed. They do not go so far as to suggest an actual successor to Mir. Kneisel
 l Gustave Schimre had this to say yes l terday; T know that Mir. Knelsel has
 been considering this matter; has been considering 1t favorably He has re-
 ceived no definite offer from Phlladel- phia. but his going there has been suggested to him by those in control of
 the Philadelphia orchestra. It is that suggestion that he is now considering" At the institute of musical art, where
 MT, Knesel is the teacher of violin, the secretary said yesterday afternoon: ! "There is such a rumor, but it is noth- \ ing more than rumor. Mir Kneisel is under contract with us which would enable us to hold him, so I know that 1
 U go to Philadelphia without our knowledge"
 That the matter has not been fully settled so far as the managers of the 1 Philadelphia organization is concerned was made evident yesterday by the report of secret session held Monday by tho executive committee.
 Wbny, Moodat,fe t,,aatt,,,1 ,,o a r,.o ., ed about a week ago. it was stated that the selection of leader would definitely be made by the executive committee. It was intimated that the choice of the committee had been de- cided upon and that his appointment was mere formality that would take only five minutes. The report then was 1 that a foreign musician of considerable fame and ability was to have the place l But the matter was not decided Mon- day. Some of the members of the ex- , ecutive committee, 1t was said, did not approve of tho selection made by the others. So they suggested another name. This did not meet with the ap- proval of the first group, Now there is another deadlock.
 The loss of the Kneise Quartette would be regarded as a musical calam- ity. There is no organization which could really take it's place, A few days ago it was announced that the concert master of the Boston Symphony or chcsna, Professor Willy Hess, was about lo return to Europe, and that in consequence the Boston Symphony quartette, which took the place of the Kneisels in that city, would cease to exist. Even if this organization had I continued 1t would not have been | substitute for the Kneisel Quartette, | for two reasons-the plays were not the | equals of the Knelses, and they had | played together only two or three years, | whereas the Kneisel Quartette was founded as long ago as 1886.
 Twenty years of steady rehearsng | makes a tremendous difference in a | kind of music which is as delicate, re- fined and subtle as chamber music, in | which there is no brass or wood-wind to cover up flaws. Moreover, MT, Knei- [ sel has proved himself an ideal ensem- | ble player and leader of chamber mu- sic. Not only is he flrst-class violin | ist, but he has the organizing and pilot ing capacity highly developed, He was born In Roumania, of German parent | age, in 1865, and after playing as lead | CT of the violins in some German or chestras was brought to America by | Mir. Gericke in 1885 to be ooncert-mas- ter of the Boston Symphony orchestra, He made his debut by playing the | Beethoven concerto. One of the duties l of a concert-caster is to take the con- ductors place In an emergency. Re- peatedly, when MT. Gericke was i'll, Mir. | Kneisel conducted his orchestra. Spe- cially memorable was his interpretation of Schuberts ninth symphony, in Car 1 negie hall, which many preferred great ly to MT Gericlse's.
 Should the Kneisel Quartette cease to exist the next best thing of It's kind in America would be the Olive Mead | Quartette. The four young women composing this have been in training l with the Kneisels for years and, like the Knelsels, they owe their success largely to assiduous and daily rehears- ing.