New-York tribune., 1912-01-22
MUSICAL COMMENT
observations on a Symphony
and Other Things.
a spurious Love Letter and a
Pianist Bent on Advertising.

-, 'iioIlc society in Carnegie Hall yes
oiuaS afternoon a symphony was per-
iornheu Which has been widely heralded
anu also widely qestioned as a Youthful
"orh py Beethoven. History shows no
iehow it with the greatest of all symphonists
!" ieSPect OF his capacity for self-criticism
anu also IN his appreciation of the material
"Ilch ne used in the construction Of his
great works. II is in no sense startling TO
deep students of his works to learn that
now and then something has been found
bearing his name which had not been re-
corded In the list of his notwithstanding
MS name, however, oftener than the hall
mark Of his genius. To such students
there was nothing startling in the an
nouncement some years ago that Professor
Fritz Stein had found the parts OF a SYM
phony In the archives of the University OF
Jena which he believed to be the work of
Beethoven In his youth-that is In the
period when he still lived in his native
city or Bonn or In the early career OF his
lie In Vienna. Later II could not be, for
In lSOl Beethoven already gave out his first
symphony. and to think that the newly
discovered work could have been written
after that was impossible. The story Of
the discovery and the general line of the
argument relied upon to establish its au-
thentcity were set forth In full in yes
terday's Tribune and those who did not
read them then do not deserve to have
them set forth again.
The writer 10 whom the historical facts
have been familiar for several years, has
teen entirely willing TO accept them as
proving remote possibility that the sym
phony was composed by Beethoven while
he was youth at Bonn, but has remained
skeptical nevertheless as 10 the concrete
fact on the basis of both external and IN
ternal evidence. In the first place, there
was never composer so critical Of himself
and therefore so careful to conserve his
thoughts for future analysis as Beethoven.
Some years ago a cantata composed by him
on the death OF the Emperor of Austria was
discovered. The incident OF It's composition
had been forgotten, although the close asso-
citation between the imperial house of Aus
tria and the electoral house Of Cologne (of
which Beethoven was a servanD ought TO
have kept II alive. But when students got
TO work on the opera "Fidelio" they found
that the one beautiful idea in the cantata
had been preserved by the composer In the
finale Of the opera. Plainly he was not
willing TO let anything good Of his Invention
go to waste. Now, there is nothing in the
so-called Jena symphony TO place In
parallel with this oboe melody in "Fidelio,"
but II Beethoven mad written symphony
before he went TO Vienna and had sent II
through a bosom friend for performance
at Jena the fact would scarcely have es-
caped notice. If, as the story goes. the
cataloguer Of the music society at the Uni
versity at Jena put his pencil through the
name of Beethoven written on the score he
probably had his reasons for doing so.
Professor Fritz Stein. who has made him.
self the champion of the symphony as
Beethoven product. says he cannot realize
Qaaydn, Dittersdorf and Mozart being out
OF the case) who else than Beethoven could
have written Il. Here we have a striking
Illustration OF the short-sightedness OF MIS-
torical criticism. The writer has said be-
fore land now that occasion offers he can
not do better than TO repeat his words)'
that the dividing lines commonly consid-
cred as existing between periods. schools
and artistic forms Che might have addeo
artists do not really exist We recognize
them, note their elements. give Them names
and employ these names in broad charac-
terization after a man Of strong indiWdu-
sIity has arisen and stamped them with
the hallmark of his genius. Such a man
the people of later day are prone 10 look
upon as an innovator or inventor when IN
point of fact, he is only continuator or
at the best, a perfector so Palestina' so
Bach. SO Haydn, so Beethoven, so Wagner
all these are but products OF an evolution
of vast scope and antiquity. and were sur
by men who worked with them
on the lines which they afterward drew
broad and luminous across the pages or
musical history. That fact II Is necessary
TO know to understand the fact that some
of tbem-alI of them. in fact-seemed less
great to their contemporaries than to those
who came after them They were not so
pre-emlnent in their day. because they were
surrounded by composers whose learning
and skill satisfied the critical demands and
the popular taste of their times Ana
sometimes. from a historical point Of view
Of our own. We think Of Bach as supreme
in his department Of musical creation-and
he is but do we know how closely ana
Justly some Of his contemporaries pushed
him for his title Of supremacy? Some years
ago we heard some music by Del Aoaco.
Was anybody among us ready to rise up
and show its inferiorty to Bach on the
same lines? Sarh is much abused mu-
sician because he criticised some harsh
harmonies in a Mozart quartet; yet we nave
hoard an opera air by Sarti which nobody
unfamiliar with II would have suspected as
not being Mozart's.
so with this newly found symphony. 1t
NAV be by Beethoven, not because we can
NOT mention the name of the man VINO
yrote II. but because we believe that there
y,are many good musicians who might nave
written it-men whose names have not peeh
tiazoned on the pages OF history. 1t is
.airoriv Ane music Of It's Hind and period,
and we cannot discover the strong ana TOT
ward man in II. Moreover, knowing inc
character of Beethoven, as IT has beN so
clearly outlined in Thayer's biography we
beIieve that had he sent symphony 10
lena any time between 17SS and lSol the
Fact would have become known ana hdu
tho score OF such a work reposed IN the
.orcbives of the university II would not nave
.aLon an inquIsitive world a century TO
find II out.
rr,,o all sorts of things are possible
Many compositions by Beethoven have
haen found, even after Thayer and Notte-
bobro ended their researches-but moth
to of large significance And to ofset
,,or, the world has had fctions thrust
,.nor q To one of these The Tribune
aa,otod considerable space some months
- 7, was q letter which purported TO
ae,,,nue the passionate correspondence
S.,-,onn beethoven and the Immortal
D,d" The letter was published In fac
si,riIe. and, practically youched Tor by the
Journal called "Die Muslk'" critical readers
At once expressed their douots as 10 the