New-York tribune., 1911-12-12
MUSIC,
THE MACD0WELL CHORUS
A Performance of LISTS 'Le-
gend of St. Elizabeth. A."

t-,t.s work. half opera half oratoro, en-
,itled The Legend of st. Elizabeth For
weeks it has been announced that the per-
formarcc was TO be the first in New YORK;
tnt that is a small matter, its chief interest,"
Wing In its illustrauon of the fact lohs
observed often commented on, that '"e
generation of to-day Is prone TO think thd'
rothing happened before it came upon the
nold Of activity and that nothing formerly
done could by any possibility have oceh
half as well done as il is done now. Espe-
ally is this true of new ORGANIZATIONS ana
,cung conductors SO far from last hlsh'
performance being the first performance Oh
Lists work in New York. 1t was at least
tb. third I'm the Borough OF Manhattan ana
tho 9Th or sixth I'm what is now the CITY
o. Nev York. The Deutscher Licderkranz
reformed il I'm 1870 and repeated 1t two OF
,bree wears later: the Philharmonic society
az Rrooklyn gave il on February ~ ISH''
and repcatcd il. as "a memorial to the COM
poscr on december Il and IS lsSo-the year
or Ijszt's death. Perhaps the matter Is III
consequential. but it is amusing because
+, en- chimes In with the disposition oi our
,,,eicn friends to ignore all that has hap
r,7od I'm America and make light of the
slightest value as bearing on the present
state Of musical culture in the United
states The presence Of few singers
Chiefly Csruso at the Metropolitan Opera
Toyse. has had the effect of open
i1g tho cyes Of our foreign friends 10
tho fact that New York supports
notable operate institution; but that
tho institution Is matter of cultural
~ -
ure is the proper expression). which has
reen going on for more than century, VIII
never. il would seem. penetrate the for
eirn skull Oh yes, The land OF dollars
,sn command the services Of great sing
crs: but what do the barbarans in New
York know about music? That Is the
foreign attitude on the subject. and as
vet there does not seem any means at
hand 10 change IT, Even tho visits OF
foreign artists do no good, for having
made their American harvest they howl
with the foreign pack az soon as
they recross the water. II has been 1oI-
gotten here. no doubt. but 1t ought not 10
nc that when a Vienna singing society.
devoted TO summer perambuiancy' Nsueo
le q few years ago its conductor wrote
articles for 2 Viennese journal deliberately
calculated 10 create the impression that so
larbarous were the conditions in American
cities that the noble red men 0or whom he
felt a great sympathy roved through the
streets Of those cities and starved to
death because the law forbade innkeepers
providing them With food and drink. We
refrain from repeating what he said about
our music The writer 1--WE can't recall his
name on tho instant, but 1t doesn't natter
f- likely ~ leave about as deep an impress
mon the music Of the Austrian capital
,,non hc has gone 10 his happy drinking
Grounds Al ne did here; but he had the op-
iortunty of letting the Niennese know that
the public concerts # symphonic music
-iren by our Philharmonic Society are as
old as the Philharmonic concerts OF the
AUSTRIAN capital He did not choose TO do
,o. and that was his matter: but it III be-
comes any local organization Of to-day 30
adopt the same tactics touching the music
ar the past
Eut n is q long time since st. Elizabeth"
vas heard here. and il is likely 10 be a |
long time before it will he heard again. |
Tre death of List gave the first occa-
,,ou in Brooklyn; the hundredth anniver-
sart Of his birth gave the one under pres
cut consideration
II has been said that the oratorio or re-
HGious opera, as ono chooses to look upon
10. was specially composed at the instance
of the Grand Duke Of Weimar for d fes-
fvs' held at the Wsrtburg on August IS,
r'f5 IN commemoration Of the eighth CEN
t'nsry Of the founding. and in honor Of
'he restoration then just completed. Of the
Wsrtburs. near ESenach, where the ia
NOUS contest OF minstrels celebrated by
Wagner in his "Tannhauser" was held and
where Luther, iU hiding, translated the
BibIo into German and gave his country
mon literary language. All this Is true !
brt the legend was performed i'm Pcsth and |
U'-ensch two years before the Wartburg
festival. The famous castle had been en-
~.shs1 boy six frescos by MoritZ Won
>rhVinG illustrating the chief episodes i'm
'he history of St Elizabeth. and these we're
t.. starting point of LISTS inspiration |
OTTO RoGucttc wrote the words for six
scenes. which List grouped into three
divisions and set to music These scenes, in |
brief can be described as follows: l. Ar
rival Of Elizabeth, = ohid al the Wart-
ourc. She IS ACCOMPANIED by Hungarian
m1enat's and is received with Joy by the
children. her glaymates, and by the no
htity. ~. Elizabeth has maturcd and been
married &C. Ludwig OF Thuringia On a
hunting expedition the landsrave detects
0'r carrying bread and wine TO the poor.
contrary 20 his commands. He upbraids
h-r bur opening the basket discovers that a
miracle has changed the vands 10 roses
ILL., Ludwig al the head Of his vassals. sets
ont ON a crusade ~ Ludwig dies I'm the
HOLY Land and the landgravine Sophia.
'surps Eizabeths rights and drives her
't Of th" Wartburg. V Elizabeth dies
.rIoHnded by tho poor. whom she had be-
.Uended and with whom she shares her
last crust OF Dread. vi. Burial Of Elizabeth
800 'he Cathedral at Marpurg, in which she
was Canonized.
The dramatic idea has been kept upper-
most in the setting Of these scenes and
Naeners scheme Of typical melodies or
'1rdseS has been accepted and consistently
'diied out. I'm the choice Of his themes
List has proceeded iu manner which
enables him 10 infuse poeticsl purposes into
the Work which were touched uDou only
|-ttl| hF the poet One of them has added
local color TO the score. which greatly beIns
..s plcturcsqueness and variety The mel
"dN used to typify Elizabeth is q church
tune, am 'antphOna iu fcsto :. Eliza beth "
luImcry sung in Hungarian churches tn o
hymn beginning, quasi Stella matutios "
with this hc has associated an Hungarian
Iatonal tune. with all the rhythmical char
actcrisucs which the rhapsodies for piano.
forte have made familiar. Another phrase
is GrcgOrian intonation OF three notes
which plays conspicuous part in the
pompOus scene Of the Crusaders List de-
scrbed the Iutouatiou as "tonal symbol
Of the cross" and IT'S appropriateness is as