Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-19
NEW SYMPHONY;
NEW VIOLINIST
WITH ORCHESTRA
Daniel Gregory Mason's wor,.
Heard for First Time in
America

An assisting artist new to the phu..
phia Orchestra, though by no rneara ,,'auel- 'unel-
10 Phiiadelphia, and n symphonv s.,VN wv
had never before been played In winch
or elsewhere, were the noyelt,as ~ va ,s
symphony concert yesterday aftos, II tns
at the Academy. BY no means nn,,ei nVon son
interesting In every way were tbs Vut
nlllar pieces and the entirely desIr.h'
smoothness and skill with ubIoL I'VE .,e
orchestra played them. we
Mr.. Albert Spalding was be,ra :,
last year in a recital and the re,,,.e nele
can recall the impression of solISI,'.
musicianship and of restrained ys.el VI
which he then received. Those o,,,ii.,1Oe 'Oe
with an addition Of some fro ,vi1L .,,
inklings of passion, were brought Nv, 'tN ,ne
Spalding to the playing of Brabmsi VT WI
ccrto In ID, happy and an intero.,Sa-
work Perhaps in the first alleTro NY
Spaldlng was bit cold certainly he vs.
that and more In the cadenza. which az.
played the least desirable to tbo .os us'
poser's attitudes except for brief scin,"
lant moments. But in the two o,s".
movements Mr.. Spalding came close 10
glow of feeling. And as his tecbr,,.i
abilities are superb, there is nothing rnos.
to say. ''o'e
The first symphony, by Daniel Grevo-,,
Mason, was received in the earlier mnvs,
d.
nothing overwhelming on the surface r.
this work. and, In fact, part of ,ha
interest to the conoisseur is necessar,,v
shut ous to the auditor uninterested In ~
play of motives. There are three rno,,,,..
on which the four movements of the avn
phony are based, and the first mnvs-
ment seems given over to a highly inter.
esting, but by no means affecting. intsr.
weaving of the three The tone of ,hs
T1Nn ts t,,Nz.
melancholy, but the persistence Of IN.
atmosphere is again and again imperilsS
by the inconsequent almost abortiye, pay
OF the themes. This must not ne tave,
TO mean that the movement lacks logical
development; on the contrary, the deye
opment may have been so logical that thu
material has crIimbled.
Fortunately. this fault does not obtain
in the rest of the work. The alegretto
capriccioso, based on variations on two
of the three original themes, ia light
with an obvious, but by no means vulgar
humor Its function Is to set off tha
gravity of the two movements between
which 1t lies The third movement is ths
climax in this drama of motives, and in
sustained beauty, in communication Of
rich feeling through beautiful sound, in
sober loveliness of theme and in skiful.
ness Of orchestration, 1t is Mr. Mason's
contribution to the music of genius The
employment of the English horn for the
main theme, the recurrence, In brass, Of
variations or memories of other themes,
are deXterous and effective. From this,
without pause, the symphony runs to It's
finale, not so appealing in content but
vastly interesting. Notable in every way
is Mr.. Mason's transformation of a theme
originally set forth in 3-4 time TO the
difficult rhythm of 5-4, and notable also
is the freedom of orchestration with
which each theme is finally treated The
total impression of this work, heard but
this once, can be of only fragmentary
value. 1t may be said that there Is not Q
shoddy phrase in the whole, not a tricky
or unworthy appeal. Whether all Of tho
composers materials are solid may DO
questioned The writer thinks they are
thoroughly. But there seems no doubt in
his mind that the treatment has made
far too little for continuity of interest
and for an upheld or uplifting effect.
The concert opened with Beethovens
'Prometheus' overture and closed with
Wagners "Huldigungsmarsch."