The San Francisco call., 1909-11-28
POPULAR TENOR TO
APPEAR IN CONCERT
George HamIin, Well Known
Throughout the East, to
Give RecitaIs Here
DR.. Ludwig WuIlner VIII Make
Final Appearance of Sea-
son This Afternoon
BY WALTER ANTHONY

George Hamlin has been famil-
II lar to readers OF musical peri
odicals and literature. His picture has
faced AS from many a weekly and
monthly magazine and we have
grown 10 know Hamlin by sight and
reputation. starting as a concert and
oratorio artist Hamlin has kept to his
vocation. even though possessed of OPP
cratic possibilities and a tenor voice
said 10 be remarkably flexible, sympa-
thetic and powerful. He has not gone
on the operate stage, though plenty
OF opportunity and encoura cement to
do 80 has been given him. He has
remained a concert artist and is fa-
miliar figure in New York, Boston,
Chica go-his home-and throughout
the eastern cities of musical impor-
tance.
Not long ago we heard Of his trip TO
Berlin. HE tucked a volume OF Rich
ard strauss songs under his arm, took
along some Of Hugo Wolf's great com
positions. packed up his Schubert and
Schumann albums and departed for Ber-
lin 1T was courag ageOus thing TO DO.
To fly to the home Of the "lieder' con-
certs. challenge comparison with the
greatest song singers in Germany.
reveling in music native TO their
tongue and homogeneous to their tenn
-perament was a brave thing 10 do, but
Hamlin came out Of the ordeal success
fully. He was. ] think, tire first Ameri-
can and certainly the first American
tenor. who made the fiinicky critics Of
Berlin like an American In Vaterland
.'ieder'
TO APPEAR IN RECITAL
This is preliminary to the statement
which Greenbaum issues telling us that
George Hamlin is to appear before a
san Francisco audience on the evening
of THURSDAY. December ,. He win give
three recitals. His accompanist is
Edwin Schneider a young American
musician OF great promise and present
success. Schneider. by the way, is the
composer Of several excellent songs,
the one best known to US being
Flower RAIN which Jomelh sang at
her recent concerts in this city.
Hamlin's programs viii be quite DIFF
ferent from those which Doctor Wull-
ner has been denghGng us with. They
viii include compositions by German,
Italian. French. English and American
composers. Some novelties may be eX-
pected when Hamlin sings q group of
seldom heard songs by Sir Arthur SUI
livan. whose serious and classical ere
ations are sadly neglected in favor Of
his beautiful light opera music and his
suave and singable ballads.
The following viii be the program
presented Thursday evening. Decem-
her ,:
Die Linde i'm Thai ''Lindenlaub'' Old German
20 sleep. The Trumpets Loud Clangor,
-------.--.. = liailus. ,i
-Sfille Thraenen. ms Freie'' '..... Sehumann
-'Es Blinkt der Ihau --..--.-..- hu9 u y
'l}oischaft' brsiiias 3
I'm kailue % VI AtH =
.iIeimliche Auforderung '....---.--... strauss
Al,.-rins- hrlfiu ..-......-.. Henschel
..Rf 46e N' Window. Gone. .'aisrriage
Morning from Teunyson's Songs Of
..--,, 80 - Water, Canpbeli- -Tinton
..Your Eres.' Flower Rain" Edwin Schneider
The Lamp Of Love "------------.------ saiter
II takes an artist like Dr. Ludwig
Wullner to prove the arbitrary laws
of art and the empiricism Of criticism.
He established again the fact long
since proved by Gluck Wagner,
Strauss and all the individualists in
music that the law follows the deed, that
theory follows performance, that, in
short. scales were made from songs
and not songs made from scales. This
Is a fact so often referred to that we
forget it like yesterdays breakfast.
But it is an everlasting fact just the
same The original souls in music
created and then theorists struggled
with their works to reduce them TO
systematic and catalog gued schedule.
ont Of the creation came the laws that
explained it. Others. the merely tai
ented and gifted. study those laws and
then manufacture, by back handed
process. more or less important and
interesting works But the oil of the
student lamp is clearly discernible in
such inventions. not the glow of crea-
tive genius.
with regard TO Wullner. He is so
much a law unto himself that he shocks
and surprises He is so different His
art is like his countenance. striking.
not pretty Many Of his hearers didn't
know what 10 make Of him. As a
great singer il was reasonable 10 ex-
pect beautiful voice, or. at least. cor
rectness Of tone production. There are
many local singers who in point of
either Of these manifest virtues could
give him lessons. His voice is not
particularly beautiful, or big or great.
Aud his vocal art is scanned with traces
of bad method. But
He sings with a directness Of ap-
peal that thrills, enchains and COM
pels He would be even greater, OF
course IL his perfectiOns encompassed
every element of the vocal art; yet
as ii is. he carries to your heart the
MESA ge Of his poem and the beauties
imagine something like Wagner IS said
10 have sung With Indifferent voice.
but with an abandon, a sympathy and
q fervid understanding that is more
effective than a merely beautiful voice
could be. He sings like composer,
he also sings like a poet but he does
not sing ike a grand opera artist.
No one would willingly deny the in
terpreter Of great songs the right to
reinforce his utterance with facial
play. gesture and pose. Wullner has
developed his histrionic skill TO a high
degree. greater than any other singer
we have heard, greater even than Bisp-
ham II is. then. his direct delivery
OF The thought Of the poem plus a
composers understanding Of the music
that makes Wullner pre-eminent as he
IS We should not forget in this the
admirable work Of Coenraad Y. Isos.
WulIner's unusual accompanies. The
only fault we could find with him was
a disposition toward -enacement.
The wonderful accompaniments OF
Schubert Wolf and Strauss were
PLAYED too quietly and were rendered
too subserVient to the vocal MESA ge
which Wullner delivered.
This afternoon al the Novelty thea
Ter viii be the final appearance for
this season Of Wullner and Bos. The
two preceding concerts have been the