New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-03-19
SCHOLA CANTORUM
GIVES A CONCERT
Some Unfamiliar Music
Presented by Chorus
of Women.
GRANGER CONDUCTS
FOR Irish TUNE"
"Ormazd" Finely Played at Last
Evening Performance of
Boston Orchestra.
BY II. T.. KREHBIEL.

BY II. T.. kREHBIEL.
About a hundred choristers grouped
together as from the selected choirs"
Of the Schola Cantorum gave a concert
in Aeolian Hall yesterday afternoon
under the direction Of Mr.. Kurt
SCHNEIDER. Four-ffths OF the singers
were women and the programme was
devoted chiefly to songs for female
voices, though there were three num-
bers in which tenors and bassos were
also heard, very much to the relief OF
the ears that are wont to grow weary
of music which lacks substantial
foundation. Nearly oil Of the music
was unfamiliar, the pieces that had
been heard before in our concert rooms
like Percy Grainger's Irish Tune
from County Derry" and the Chorus OF
Angels from the second part OF
Faust" ("Rosen, the blindenden"), in
LISTS setting-having had too few per
formances to gain firm place IN the
memory of concertgoers. Mr.. Gram
GERS Irish Tune" won much favor
when it was sung at former concert
of the Mcdowell Chorus, or Schola
Cantorum, under Mr.. SCHNEIDER. Yester-
day Mr.. Granger (who got the tune
from the Petri collection, we believer
conducted it, and again it gave pleas
ure. though we again wished that II
had been provided with words.
Why the noblest Of musical instru-
ments. the human voice, should be
treated as if it were no better than a
bappipe and made to hum and "ha
and buzz when it might be enlisted
to heighten the expressiveness OF
poetry. we are at loss to understand.
Folksingers use their tunes for many
and diverse songs and ballads, and
there il no reason why we should not
have had an articulate song yesterday.
Mr.. Granger has made plenty OF IN
strumental arrangements OF the Irish
Tune" and its treatment as song
would now be welcome.
Two, other songs OF Mr.. Grainger's
were on the programme as announced.
One, an arrangement for tenor solo and
chorus of an old English ballad called
"Brigg Fair" was sung; the other, an
original setting of kipling's Tiger
Tiger" was omitted without eXplGna-
ton. "Brigg Fair" was written down
by Mr.. Granger from the performan e
OF TO singer at competitive folk'
song festival held at Brigg. in North
Lincolnshire, in April, 1908. Mr.
Delius, an English composer OF German
antecedents, made it the theme OF an
orchestral rhapsody which Mr.. waiter
Damrosch brought forward here at
concert of the Symphony Society on
November 6, 1910. 1t failed OF erect
as The Tribune's reviewer thought ~
the time, because Of over-eiaboratlon
along the lines Of latter-day harmonic
ton, and the attempt OF Mr.. Dellus "a
express not the general mood OF the
song, but to delineate all Its pictures
and illusions.
! The same observation might be made
| of Mr.. Grainger's arrangement. The
! charm of folk melodies is always dis
/ sipated when artistic devices are toe
thickly thrust upon them. Mr.
, Granger held his choir well in hand
but those of his songs which have beer
sung here have all been better sung
than were those of yesterday. Mr.
George Harris. jr., sang the solo N
"Brigg Fair; folksong singer with
a drawing-room voice and style.
The most interesting feature OF the
eonsert was the group of Slavonlc folk
songs (MOYavian, Slovenic, SIlesian,
Polish, Wendsh and Serbian) arranged
for women's voices with four-hand pr
anoforte accompaniment, by Josef Suk.
Here the interest was divided pretty
equally between the poems, the melo-
dies and the artistic treatment given
them. They also showed the choir al
its best. and redeemed an unfortunate
beginning, faulty in intonatlon, and
wanting in precision. made with VIM
cent d'Indy's "Sur la Mer" for soprano
solo Miss Adelaide Fischer and
chorus.
A Ronde Bretonne arranged by
Bourgrault- Ducoudray lwho has done
SOME excellent work IN connection with
the folksongs Of modern Greece, ana
two of Schumann's songs for women'S
voices followed. There is good mate
rial in the choir which sang yesterday,
but it has not been brought TO sucn a
state of finish as TO command unquali-
fed commendation.
The fifth and last evening concert I
its twenty-ninth season IN New YORK
was given in Carnegie Hall yesterday
nv the Boston Orchestra. under the d.
rection Of DR.. Muck. There was no
solo performer, and the programme
COMPRISED three numbers only, two OF
which had had previous performances
in New York this season. They were
Frederick Conyerse's symphonic poem,
"Ormazd." and Tschaikowsky's over
ture-fantasia. Romeo and juliet" Mr.
Conversc's composition had quasi
public hearing last November at con-
cert of American music given by wal
ter Damrosch and the orchestra OF the
symphony Society for the ediiication Of
the American Academy and the Ma
tional Institute Of Arts and Letters and
their friends.
IL is a piece OF programme music of
large dimensions and equally large
strivings. it's theme. as was set forth
with considerable fullness in this jour
nal on the earlier occasion, being moth
ing less than the warfare between
Ormazd and Ahriman. the representa-
tives of good and evil in the religious
system Of Zoroaster. II was not thee
Nietzschean Interpretation Of the Zorro
astrian philosophy which Mr.. Con-
verse tried to set TO music. but
the contest between the two opposing
gods and their hosts conceived as Mil
ton conceived the battle of the angels.
with a relief bringing section in hich
the blest FravLshis (the souls of the
good hymn the virtues OF Ormazd,
and a finale in which Ahriman and his
followers are purified by the purging
fires OF Ormazd. In these two sections
the most of Mr.. Converse's music
which appeals 10 ears attuned TO
beauty and TO the emotions and imagi-
nation is found. Here there are plas-
tic themes as we'll az much fascinating
harmonic and instrumental color.
The work was magnitcently played.
II fell between Berlioz's Harold in
italy" symphony. which sounded de-
cidedly threadbare. though Mr. Ferrir
held the close attention OF the audi