The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-08

1 v i alarms. promises to produce
among other things Burodn's
opera prince Igor" Without doubt
this will he one Of tho interesting fea-
lures OF an opera season which promises
TO have unusual attractions Many
music lovers. however. Will wish that
the dis inguishcd inlpresario had seen
his way to the introduction here Of
som hing more from the pen Of Nous
sorgsky, whose great Boris Godunov"
has been one OF the most striking sue
cesses of recent years.
Russian music has noi altogether fu.-
filed its early promise. For that rea
son II for no other We ought 10 hear
the older works Of the Russian masters
before those of the lates. school, In
Paris and London Scr!ab.n and SRA
whisky have made great stir in the
last two or three seasons. over here
we have not heard much of them. bat
neither have We heard the largest crea-
tions of their immediate predecessors.
II is altogether unusual for any def
mite movement IN instrumental music 20
pass us without our recognition yet the
fact is that he Russians have entered
upon a phase Of their musical develop
ment Of which only echoes have yet
reached us. Mr.. Stransky conducted al
q Philharmonic concert few days ago
thin piece OF orchestral smartnsss
called "Flreworks" This Is one o: Stra
vlnsky's compositions and II is accepted
as belonging to his early style. For
this musician, whose compositions have
been before the world only seven years.
has already put away what seemed to
him childish things aud is grapplins
with larger problems uf harmonic con-
struc;ion.
Scriabn has visited vs. ana lie m1de
an impression entirely different from
that which he appears To- have made
lately in England. He entertained ~
with some elegant piano rifles, a.mo.t
TOO fragile to be dragged into the eariS
light of public halls. and We heard some
orchestral pieces. Non" Of these Grav-d
any scars upon the heart.
The first symphony indeed swan into
view of the present writer as an at
tempt TO study the SORROWS Of mankind
through the wrong end Of an opera
glass The tenuous character of the
thematic material and the fidelity " the
hlmy structure to The pattern made ny
Tschaikowsky We're paired with the
anamic nature OF the emotional content.
The presen; writer was moved 10 say;
1T is as II he strove decorously to
paint in tones some tumu,tuous tragedy
in the life of a butterfly or - narrate
the history of a cold, old crime misbe-
gotten under the harvest moon by an
erring katydid.'
His third symphony. which bears the
title THE Divine Poem" was produced
here by the indefatigabie Russian SYM
phony Orchestra on March II, 1907.
Three movements, named struggles,
"Ecstasies' and "Jeu OWN constitute
the work. In this We saw the com
poser essay Wing 10 embudy in music the
affirma ton of conscious existence OF the
coexistcnce Of matter and spirit in the
ego"
Also We had no difficulty in perceiving
that this incursion into the realms Of
philosophy had no amazingly novel mu-
steal results. Tie struggles were de
picted in an approved first movement
form with the accustomed agoni2ing
climaXes sought in the working out.
Ecstasies could be sung in nothing else
than a slow movement aud the divine
spirit the crowning OF the ego, could
he published best in n finae Il trium-
phant character lineally descended from
the last movement OF BeethOven's NTH
symphony.
= But We ought 10 near Scriabin' :
"prometheus." for in this, we are told,
he has preached more philosophy. He
has even taught theosophy As for
Stravinsky, he has gone as far as
Scriabin and perhaps further. In the
designation OF the harmonic" scale as
proper vehicle for the expression Of
theosophic thought he certainly has
done SO.
In his ballet "The Growing OF
Spring" Stravinsky is said 10 have ere
ated the ritual of an imaginary religion,
but writer on Russian music declares
that there IL much that sets forth the
pagan thought of old Russia. We are
gravely assured that in creating this
extraordinary score the composer has
turned his back on everything which is
recognized as music and has made
something which is most readily de-
scribed as a rhythmic commentary on
what is done on the stage, All OF which
is OF importance and serves to whet the
appetite
Furthermore. it is indisputable that
Stravinsky defies the time honored con-
ceptions OF harmony and counterpart.
He reves in shreking dissonances which
cannot be classified under any rules
known to the theoreticians. He loves to
write in two or three unrelated keys at
the same time. II Is generally felt that
when the harmless necessary cat suffer
ing from insomnia sits upon the summit
50 the back fence and apostrophizes the
accomplishing moon he sings in sew
eral different keys in succession, and
when another cat comes to help him and
does the same thing We get something
- the same type as the most modern
music.
whether there is anything left in all
these newest Russian works for
Scriabin has been placed by Europeans
IN the rank with Stravinsky would
best he demonstrated to us by
numerous performances. Some com