New-York tribune., 1908-12-03
TWO MODERN CHORAL WORKS.

Whether the large audience that faced the Ora
torto Society II Carnegie Hall last night came
chiefly TO hear an unfamiliar work by DebUssy or
the repetition Of q last years novelty which mad
then made q deep impression upon small assem-
blaee must probably remain indeterninate. De
baIssvg has become Of late name 70 conjure with.
while Uolf-Ferrar4's remarkable serrtng OF frag
r1en+s from Dantes Ia Vita Nuova' and from
other Italian Renaissa poems was hailed as the
achievement Of a highly promising newcomer when
the Oratorio Society introduced II 70 American
hearers z t1ael-euonth ago. Each Of last evenings
offerings therefore. may well have excited a snare
Of the attraction that brought musical folk 70 the
concert and IN any case II is pleasant 70 rN>ord
so large measure Of public attention for choral
music other than Handel's Messiah. whose hoid
rJpon the community appears be due IN part 10
factors whose aid no other composition for chorus
is able to invoke. Under the warming influence
Of the apprecta+ive rhrong last night Or Frank
TsrrosCn and the three hundred singers Of the So
c,e+v's chorus gave Of their best The volume OF
tone was sufficient for the effects, while its
,7,a1,+v though dsa appointing in the bass choir.
especially in the canzone. Beatrice hath de
na-+ed was both fresh and inspirting in the work
OF the women singers. particularly the sopranos
Il vas a task worth while that the OratoT1o
soc,A-v essaved in this programme. Debussy's
setting for womens voices Of the major portion
o@ RossettI's Blessed DanozeT' proved TO be
music of ethereal and exquisite beauty, imbued
with the xfstful and suppicating mood OF the
roeru and rejecting a considerable degree the
r,eric imagery Of the text Debussy based his
music on a French version Of The Blessed Dano-
eel" made by Gabriel sarrazin. but last night 1t
was sung in English, the score having been sllght-
" readiusted by DR. Damrosch, when necessary,
e A. The original Rossetti words. Whatever may
have been thus filtered out from the primal po-
+e1cv OF the work. the result as isc-osed AT
this concert was Of signal interest and ez-
Drassfveness As OF the earliest Of De-
bussv's large scores yet heard here Gt dates
hack 70 the Frenchulan's Rrix de Rome period,
The Blessed Damozel' helps 10 indicate the
course and distance the composer has travelled
since he allowed his originality free play The
..Tlanozel" score is more perceptbly linked 70
what has. since wagner's time, been common musi-
cal oroperty than are his later compositions There
Is little Of the mystifytng ronal wandering mere for
example. that appears in his Pelieas et Nell
ss,6e' and IN La Mer," but. at the same time
80 "a clearly sounded the idiom OF DebUssy's
rersonal style II is music that any music lover
car entov and IL was well received last night;
do,b,1ess it's welcome would have been even more
cor5izJ had the Demozels utterences been sung
with more tone and clearer dicton BY Miss Nevada
Van der veer Mrs. Edith Chapman Goold sang
the Narrators music a-ceptably. The delicate or
chestral web spun with threads frequently too
coarse for the pattern
- os good 70 hear Wolf -Ferrarf's Vita Nuova"
sgain for no more important music thar this has
come out of Italy for good many years itallan
in IFS sllrnptuous richness and variety, the undery
ing foundation may be ioentihed with the German
side ~ the composers lineage for IT suggests not
= ,,,t+s+ion hut = real and thorough assimilation
~ Johann Sebastian Bach Much that vas said d
,.sr ago of this admirable and powerful compost
go, might ne repeated touching the massive quail
w of its choral writing. the eloquence of us reel
+s+,va whether vocal or instrumental ana the
f,,rditv and appeal of its r1elodic ideas But thls
,s not now necessary; rather may II De noleo WIN
..,-r-1ss that though La Vita NuoNa was "Iltl7h
=, 1ao, norbfrg else representing Wolf-Ferrarl mas
-, oor,e to light here Perhaps one q ms ma
80 yeas NAV make its wa across the Atlanuc-
In performing La Vita NuoVa the ~ -
s-,+-- rroAfe,1 BY the assistance at me piano o.
e-.,-51sr whose sensitive touch counted
. GOOD deal CIoold sang the sop.5Ilu So so
nar+s and Mr. Claude Cunninehafl lliI E.jrg srceI-
- T,arTr rts phrasinE and intona non t--llls
Y.-- b,,r his tones lacking NE ara WIZ I'm