New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-03
New Edition of Chopin
Recalls the Real JOSeffy
Iovable Traits of the Famous Panoforte Player Brought
to Mind by His Revision and Editing OF
forthcoming Work.
Bv II. f. KREHBIEL.

F
met IN spirit of unselhsh sympathy.
lie took Conrad Ansorgc under his
wing. metaphorically speaking. and al
ways treated HIM and spoke OF him as
II ne were % peer II not better. lie
acclaimed Rosen,hal and always hast
ercd 20 che artists room with ms
Fluctuations whenever new candidate
for public favor presented himself. ms
conduct was not always appreciated OF
rcci0rocatcd. as an anecdote frequently
repeated by his friends indicates.
When dc pachmann gave his FIRST re-
cItal in New York Josefy was as usuai
among the first TO offer his eongratuIa-
Herr Pachmann," he said, you
PLAYED like o little god
who's the big eod?' was the IN
gracious retor'. "lou, perhaps
But JoseTy expressed no resentment
at the rebuff; he kept on admirng tnt
admirable things in de Pachmann B.
PLAYING Just the same and also express
ing TO-
The essay which Mr. Huneker has
writtan as q preface 20 the frst vol
ume OF the new edition OF Chopln
works is more like the playing OF
Rosenthal than that Of Josefy. II rs
scintilant. II glitters and flashes ana
coruscates and amezes, ana burns lt'
way 90 acceptance OF It's olclums' ~
docs not WOO and charm and persuade
with delicious cadence and dainty. ca
ressing euphony. as Josefy's playing o.
the c0nccrtos was won't 20 do. II IS
persistently extravagant IN estimate
KEYED high up in the sharps and rcheI
I'm brilliant transitions than 10 gra-
ciously guiding modulations. II Is mar
vellously stirring and powerfully. sug-
FESTIVE. No i0liyp0p for schoolgirls
here. lie puts Chopin on crystal pm
nacle. and II there are any flaws M
The monument bids US look Tor them
in the pedestal not the statue. FER
haps he clears away more or the
Growth in the garden Of music than ne
means TO while opening the vista
through which he wants US 70 view IL.
We are not willing 10 subscribe 10
more than half of what he says about
his hero. and would like 20 have seen
a larger number Of qualifications IN
his praise. il Chopin fills so much OF
space in the musical pantheon then II
must be infinite TO afford room for all
whom we think entitled 10 place
there among the Poles predecessors.
contomporaries and successors. Has
ne always considered the equations OF
variable taste and fashion? We fear
not. We may say without let or nm
drance that Chopin IS the greatest OF
all composers for his instrument but
only one-sided devotees of the piano
forte will agree with Huneker that
Chopin's music is "the most ravishing
i'm the musical art; that he IS the
most individual composer that ever set
humminc the looms Of our Dreams
the most poetic among composers
.echoing Sc:umann and Llszt here e
the Cast Of Hhe idealists and first Of
realists." the most daring harmonist
since Bach"
Here we have much truth, but also
an alloy Of hyperbole. and we prefer
sweet and sober truth in the discus
sion q an art concerning which there
is so much ignorant rhapsody -igno-
rant and corrupung, dangerous 20 taste
and good artistic morals. But there is
much keen discernment in the COM
rarisons which the essayist draws be-
tween his hero and the larger geniuse5
iu art. and ~e would rather read the
essay again than hear anybody play one
of the waltzcs unless it were Joseify.
whom. alas, we shall never hear more.
Let this suffice as recommendation OF
the new edition, for We must make
room for Mr.. Huneker's characterize
tion Of the waltzes.
"Of the Chopin waltzes. ! have said
that they are dances for the soul, not
the body. But their animated rhythms.
insouciant airs and brilliant. coquettlsh
atmosphere. the true ballroom atnos-
ton. The waltzes are the most OBJ
jectivc OF the Chopin works. and only
I'm few Of them Is there hint of the
spleen and melancholy of the nocturnes
and scherZi. They are less intimate in
the psychic sense, but are exquisite eX-
omplars Of social intimacy and arsto-
cratic abandon. As Schumann declared.
the dancers Of these waltzes should be
al least countesses. Despite their in
toxicating movement, there is high bred
reserve. and never a hint OF the Jrawl-
ing peasants Of Beethoven, Grieg,
Brahms. Tschaikowsky or Dvorak. Yet
little Of Vienna is in Chopin. About
tho measures Of this popular dance he
has thrown mystery. allurement and Sc
cret whisperings. and in them there
may be found an invo .untary sigh. IL
ig going too far not 20 dance to some
Of this music. thus barring Chopin from
q world he loved. In reality. certain
OF the waltzes may be danced the first,
second. 18th. sixth and a few others;
the dancing would be more picturesque
and less conventional than demanded
by the average waltz, and there should
be fluctuations In tempo, sudden sur
prises. abrupt languors. The mazurkas
and polonaiscs are danced in Poland -
why not the waltzes? Chopin's genius
reveals itself i'm these dance forms. and
their presentation need not solely be a
psychic one. Kullak divided the waltzes
into TWO groups. the first dedicated 20
Terpsichore, the second frankly frame
for moods Chopin admitted that he
was unable 20 play waltz in the Wen
reese fashion, though he has rivalled
Strauss I'm has own genre. Some of the
waltzes are POLITICALLY morbid and even
stray across the border into the ;hythm
o. the mazurka. Nearly all OF them
have been reduced 10 the commonplace
by trite methods Of performance. but
are altogether sprghtly, delightful
specimens Of the composers careless,
vagrant and happiest moods"
s
Symphony Society of New York.
In spite Of the desrth Of European
novelties owing to the fact that so
many composers are now in the
/ trenches or doing other work for their
respective countries, Walter Damrosch,