New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-02-08
MUSIC
THE KNEIsEL QUARTET
Music by Beethoven, Bach and
Brahms.

tne uNlnV iihhtS III music was constituted
Of the three Is s,-Bach. Beethoven and
Brahms. whether or not the remark in
fluenced Mr.. kneisel in making up the pro-
Eramme Tor his fourth concert of chamber
music i'm Mcndelssohn Hall last night cam
not be said. In greatest probability il did
not There is no need TO look for fantastic
reasons for the coincidence that the three
Us were the composers represented II
has long been Mr.. Kneisers custom to pro-
duce ono % the last five quartets of Bee
thoven each season. Like so many true
musicians he and his fellows look upon
these works as the final revelation to hu-
roanity Of Beethoven. the prophet and seer
revelations which are not to be ap-
proached perfunctorily. but always reveren-
rally and after the equivalent Of fasting
and prayer. When he played the C-sharp
minor quartet, Op lei. for the first time
eleven wears ago at an afternoon concert he
repeated il at the evening concert a week
,a+er Having placed II at the head Of his
LET for last night. II was necessary TO ina
companion pieces for it which should oe
,yorthv Mr. Wileke was ready with
Iacb's suite in u for violoncello solo. winch
COULD make the transition TO the pianoforte
ouartct in 10y Brahms dear to the heart
~ Arthur Whiting as we'll as TO the quar-
,eD without abruptness or loss OF dleihIF'
And So no doubt the programme grew
uootboyen making his proclamation WINE
,be minds Of the audience-always the ele0.
- New Yorks music lOvers-were fresh ana
,o,optive. and the music which followed
,,ocping them in the realm Of the IDEAL WING
stll affording relaxation. r
II was pity that the concert mad 10 la,
,,,op a night when there were powerful
..,-aals 10 music lovers elsewhere 'he
,,h,,bsrmonic Society. which has strong
,y-oisel clientele playing in Carnegie man.
and Mr. Dippel's company "nerins reiiea'
=, NHiSandc" at the Metropolitan opera
House But this is one Of the unfortunate
,,cidcrts OF heavily overwhelmed season
,or which those who are least 10 DIANE
Love 70 nav the penalty. However the
,.ccssions which can tempt the subscribers
. the Kneisel Quartet G. truancy are
%, and As the subscribers All the concert
,,or7 there could have been nc larger audi
.,rs than that Of last night had there been
,,o music elsewhere. Whatever disappoint-
,,ent was caused by the other offerings
@,u upoD some of these subscribers. ana
Cor il they seemed 10 find compensation IN
,is,.rirc 10 the music which they knew
,ros NJ n divinor essence than that which
.r,rred tho air of the great hall in ostn
street and the lyric theatre only a stones
throw distant.
NJ Kneisel produced the quartet last
on March 10. 1905. Then he put it last on
,be programme. not wishing that late
,o,,or.. whose hardness is not always
,seir fault. should lose any of the music
Or 10 compelled to wait till pause could
conveniently be made. If Beethovens
wishes we're carried out the quartet
which lasts forty minutes, would be played
from beginning. to end without Interrupt
ton When Mr.. Kneisel played ii for the
first time he made two pauses-one before
and one after the Scherzo. Consent 10
make the first pause was wrung from the
cor,noser bv the musicians of his day on
the grounds that the listeners needed
rrief rest and the players an opportunity
to bring their instruments into accord
out Of this liberty grudgingly bestowed
lie Russian violinist Laub developed the
license to add the second pause, and IN
mis- Mr.. Kneisel followed him in 1901
I.ut last night he made only the one pause
sanctioned by Beethoven. though the au-
Jiorce compelled a brief one after the
Scherzo by a pardonable outburst Of APP
~
The Tribune's reviewer before, must have
Jared on the feelings of some Of the lis
tenere More markedly than any other of
Beethoven's works in various movements
this quartet is a unit, one-thing, and
its ovangel would be felt in its fulness
81 II could be played not only without in
rcrruptiop between its parts. but without
any music before or after it. Last night
sII his audience had arrived. but there
were nevertheless twoscOre of devotees
who had 10 mar the wonderful variations
As they came floating down into the cor
,fdor. As for the performance it was the
finest. the most enraptured. the most
TRANSPORTED. that Mr. Kneisel and his fell
lows have ever given il in New York and
when the Kneisel Quartet are "in the
spirit" like 81. John the Divine on the
isle Of Patmos. anything more perfect in
me way of Interpretation is scarcely to be
imagined.
When Nj Kneisel played the G sharp
MINOR quartet the second time, in March.
1900 he had it followed by Bachs violon-
cello suite i'm q major. played by Mr..
schroeder There was therefore prece-
dent for last nights proceeding when Mr..
E1IllkC played the one IN -, "ulNH' tHOu6
generally associated with the unaccom-
panied solos for violoncello, was composed
for the viola pomposa, an instrument in
,cuted by Bach--a smaller knee viol with
an additional high string, which 1t has been
surmisod was the violoncello piccolo which
figures in some Of Bachs orchestra scores.
ic therefore open 20 question whether or
rot last nights audience heard the music
exactly as il sounded in the ears of Bach
Tho voice Of the viola pomposa, we fancy,
was Of a somewhat lighter timhre than that
of the violoncellO. and probably approx
rated that of Filters viola tenore, which
was heard at one OF the concerts Of the
symphony Society last year. But Mr.. Will
like who played four of the movements
sllamande chaconre, saraband and the
double gavotte. emitting the overture and
cigue-played it with all the nuency pos
sible on the obsolete instrument and filled
It with charm without sacrificing little
Of its breadth and dignity. 1t was splen-
did achievement, and preserved the lofty
mood into which the quartet had lifted the
audience