The sun., 1916-02-13
Bv w. ]. HENDERSON.


interesting compositions Of ab.so-
iute music brought before this
public in the last two seasons
have bsen chiefly those in the cham
her music forms This Is a matter Of
no small Importance. because cham
ter m,isic affords smaller opportunity
than other varieties for creating false
Impressions by means OF Illusion. The
singer naturally excites as much In
teroet by his personality as he does by
his art. Indeed 1t is just his ar, which
escapes the detection of the majority
Of his adorers. who perceive only the
bsauty cf his voice.
The orchestra is a fine Held for effect
hunting. and any one who masters the
technir Of orchestration can make the
common chord OF G major sound as
tonishing and important. Indeed every
music lover knows that repeated hear
ings OF some very pretentious orchcs-
trsl compositions leads to the inevi-
table discovery that they consist of
much paint. little drawing and less
idea
A string quartet. on the other hand,
has to offer something more than mere
texture. \ trio for p.anoforte and
.strings may indeed be written IN such
a way that the brilliancy of the piano
part distracis the attention of the
listener from the poverty Of the other
two. But in string quartet the offer
of solo for first violin with accom-
, paniment of the other three iustru.
ments betrays Us own, ;cuu!ty in
stantly
Some NJ the later writer's have
fought shy of the quartet probably
because ~ its eNaCting nature. Schoen-
bergs remarkable quartet in II minor,
produced here by the Fionzaleys IS
one OF the rare examples OF sue
cessful creation in this form 10y con-
temporaneous master. II Is hardly
necessary 20 repeat that this work 5
one Of uncommon beauty and ot pro-
found interest TO musicians and mus. .C
lovers.
Floren, Schmitts quintet. which
was produced at "A Friends Of Mus
concert, may a.so be mentioned IS u..s
OF the greatest Of the ne'v mems
works. and now We may fairy adm.
to the distinguished company the octet
.,of Enesco. introduced ny the k"".s'.
Quartet last Tuesday
All these novelties must acquire
favor with ;hr pubic only Ivy frequent
performance. They uffrr from TOO
great length, but ;his is an unavoidable
outcome Of the character ot the works.
The composer of to-day j. more intro
,spective than his forerunrcr ~ The
middle OF the las; century. He APP
proachea music with d.ftugeu. con-
ception Of It's nature ana its poss!hll!-
L.. i ..+ q
movement WA two p:!nc.pl. me.od.c
IDEAS and shor; and pointed working
out. lie conccNes his composition a.
large working out IN .;sr.i, ana he
aims at a logical Presentation o: his
moods hy the treatment o: certain
meiodlc roots unear;hed N II. first
moveuent ami caused - Grow and
Blossom in the others. THr whole
plan is one which leads - !ntr. -acy O.
lpart writing. Il t"mp's 20 effects
watch frequently seem 20 us 10 We out
fof place in the ohamoe: music fs'd and
better left for the u;;erancr o. ,'rce
bodies of instruments.
In the creation Of Ms res.ing there
II some influence ~ tina. slavery "a
habit which mailcs y difficult Cor - e
cross new boundaries IN ar. Ni. there
is surely also AZ times ov"rAnN!et" IN
the technical methods q. som" Of ne
composers. They have no. ye: QG.tt
solved the problems q: s,yle. Some
where between to familiar method ~
building up the dramatic cries q: sr
orchestra and the sus;ere rrtiCercs al
the older Quarteis here * an ln>'rU,
mental dom Which WI give per..,
freedom - the composer seeking =
publish poieDiui emotion or ever
tragedy ilrouGh the medium o. = S"X
tet or an uCtet
Tbs .diom is no; IA" row from IAN
g!bility. In such work rs tn
Enesco octet there are moments %
overela boraiion. but there are MAJ,
more in which the composer deliver!
his message with firm strength an,
simple dlrectness. SChoenb bergs T
minor quartet, which docs not aim a
SO tumultous an expression Of emotion
has a finer texture, but 1t has n
richer quality.
II is 20 he hoped that the various
new chamber music composition.
which have aroused SO much discus
sion in the last two or three season
will not be permitted TO sink into dis
Use. They should lie heard often
They are mostly well worth rehear ng
and at any rate they represent;
clearly defined and significant phas
Of musical art.
Canada is uudu,y alarmed 10y III
threatened invasion by the Damroscl
company of musicians. The CanadiaY y
see visions OF Barrere with his quicl
firing flute. they have dreams .
forty-two centimeter bassoons and q
long range trombones Nr Damroscl
was born IN Germany, but he hi
been thorouGhiy Amer.cani2sd and /!
notoriousy deficient in Teuton!c en-
thusiasm AT the present time, II.
assistant conductor is Bohemia
Hs corcertmaster - Russian, II.
Nrst cellist is a Dutchman. His frs
flute Is a FrenChmar. He has ais
Italians and even some native hor
Americans in his orchestra German
form a very small percentage of tn
ensemble
A look AZ the list Of PLAYERS IN tn
Philharmonic Orchestra disCloses
similar state OF affairs. Among IN
violinistS one finds German tduai
Russian, Bohemian, Hungarian an
English names. The double basseS az
ITALIAN. ItMssian and German; mute
Italian and German; oboes. Frencl