New-York tribune., 1910-09-25

dnOTOrte. IN a geQeEdI WY e4L sotaiSldtal
composers may be described as romanticists
with a leaning toward conservatism IN the mat
ter of form. Danish folk melodies were intro
duced into Danish opera ("The EfhiU1 BY
Kuhlau. a German. in 1928 but little attention
was paid to their idiOm until after A P. Berg
green 0S01-1SSO). who was one Of Gadss
teachers. made his admirable collection Of 6k
songs. The real founder Of the national SCzH-
dinavfan school in the nineteenth century the
creator of Danish romanticism,' according 70
Dr. Walter Niemann C'Die Musk SCandinz-
vians." Leipsic. Breitkopf und Hartel, 1885,
was ]. P E. Hartmann composer Of operas
dramat tic overtures and ballet, The Valkyra'
besides a sonata, nOvelettes studies and ca
prices for the pianofOrte. His successor in the
leadership was Gade. who was also his son-n-
law, the friend of Schumann and Mendelssohn,
associate conductor with the latter in Leipsic
and after his death long director Of the Ce-
WandhauS concerts He wrote cOpioUsiy sym
phonies Overtures (the "Sachklange aus 0s-
SIAN is still a potent Bardic voice. md can
tatas but he is most specifically national in
his pianOfOrte pieces, among which are "NOrss
Tone Pictures and Folk Dances He deti-
Gated a sonata in f minor to List. OF recent
years Ludwig Schytte 0S4S- } has compOse1
some pieces with a pretty glitter Halfd2n
Kjerulf who opens the Norwegian list, Vas
a gentle and tender Iyrist in his I-anoioris
pieces as Well as his songs. Edmund Neupai
QS42-1SSS) to whom Grieg dedicated his piano
forte concerto. was an efficient propasandist for
the music of his country. especially in America,
where he spent n considerable portion Of hk
life. Little Importance attaches 10 the piano
forte music of Svendsen, and Nordraak though
he composed Norway's national hymn. acquires
n cic- he iufIrrvre WhIel
he exerted upon Grieg at a critical time in bis
life. 1t was protest against Gade which put
Grieg at the head of the SCANDINAVIAN school
and gave it the individuality and potency which
it now enjoys In his early years Grieg had
taken Gade for his model, but shortly after
eTnbarking on his artistic career he feil under
the influence Of NOrdFaak. a young MUSICIAN
Of great talent and a Norwegian patriot OF un-
compromising aggressiveness- To N0rdraak the
natiOnalisrn of Gade seemed paliid and mel
fective. 1t was too full of Nende.ssohnan
suavity. 1t is still possible for us % enjoy ine
gentle and poetic melancholy of Gade's B-H@l
symphony, which erstwhiIe awakened so mrcn
enthusiasm in Schumann; yet it must be con
fessed that it sounds archaic even BY the SIDE
OF the Scotch symphony But put aside moceTn
ideals and there is a beauty in the gloom OF the
fjOrds and the shadows of the forests WhleA
pervade it and heighten the effect Of the sunny
delights which fell into its ScherzO from the
breezy mountain pastures; Yet We can well IN
derstand how when Grieg, a Norwegian to the
backbone Though Of Scotch extraction en- Ms
fathers side) acquired the needed degree Oh
self-reIiance, he resolved to be more tTU1hiuI
and less sophisticated than Gade had been Anu
there crept out of his music some CT iS
gentleness and melIihuous grace, and there
avN q
sort of uncOuthness which are native TO he
North and its people Csrieg's short moou
pieces far and away the best Of his composi-
tions. are in the key set by the North. By
turns they depict the sadness and the b0isterous
humOr natural 10 a people oppressed by the
climatic rigOTs of the Scandinavian peninsula
"Grieg is greatest in small things" says w
Niemenn, whose admiration is evidenced not
only by the dedication to him Of his book on
Scandinavian music but also in the assertion
that the Concerto in A minor is the most beau
tiful work of it's kind since Schumann. Ills
ten books of Lyric Pieces" the same critic adiS
are the musical Testament of the Norway Oh
the nineteenth century. the musical reflex Of the
land of the vikings. with it's silent light night
giIded by the midnight sun. its tempest-tOssed
coasts. it's snOw-COvered highlands lonely val
Ieys lakes. rivers and numerous cascades.
The composer has suffered from the too sx-
travagant praise of his friends who have TOO
persistently ignored the greater pOeticaI tender
ness of some of his Morse COmpatrfOts and the